John 13:29

(Hom. lxxii. 2.) That thou doest, do quickly, is not a command, or a recommendation, but a reproof, meant to show too that He was not going to offer any hindrance to His betrayal. Now no man at the table knew for what intent He spake this unto him. It is not easy to see, when the disciples had asked, Who is he, and He had replied, He it is to whom I shall give a sop, how it was that they did not understand Him; unless it was that He spoke too low to be heard; and that John lay upon His breast, when he asked the question, for that very reason, i. e. that the traitor might not be made known. For had Christ made him known, perhaps Peter would have killed him. So it was then, that none at the table knew what our Lord meant. But why not John? Because he could not conceive how a disciple could fall into such wickedness: he was far from such wickedness himself, and therefore did not suspect it of others. What they thought He meant we are told in what follows: For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast, or, that he should give something to the poor.

(Hom. lxxii. 2.) None of the disciples contributed this money, but it is hinted that it was certain women, who, it is said, ministered to Him of their means. But how was it that He Who forbad scrip, and staff, and money, carried bags for the relief of the poor? It was to show thee, that even the very poor, those who are crucified to this world, ought to attend to this duty. He did many things in order to instruct us in our duty.

(Tr. lxii. 5) Our Lord then had bags, in which He kept the oblations of the faithful, to supply the wants of His own followers, or the poor. Here is the first institution of ecclesiastical property. Our Lord shews that His commandment not to think of the morrow, does not mean that the Saints should never save money; but that they should not neglect the service of God for it, or let the fear of want tempt them to injustice.

"Now no one of those at the table knew for what intent He spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the money-bag, that Jesus said unto him, Buy those things which we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor." The Lord, therefore, had also a money-box, where He kept the offerings of believers, and distributed to the necessities of His own, and to others who were in need. It was then that the custom of having church-money was first introduced, so that thereby we might understand that His precept about taking no thought for the morrow was not a command that no money should be kept by His saints, but that God should not be served for any such end, and that the doing of what is right should not be held in abeyance through the fear of want. For the apostle also has this foresight for the future, when he says: "If any believer hath widows, let him give them enough, that the church may not be burdened, that it may have enough for them that are widows indeed."

The disciples failing to understand the force of Christ's words, readily resort to their ideas of what was usual, and suppose that Christ is once more indicating such commands as it was His wont to give. For as the feast was near at hand, they expected He was ordering the one who had the bag to buy something of what was necessary for it, or at least was very probably bidding him discharge that duty of which Christ was ever careful, namely, to give to the needy what He could, according to the resources at His disposal. For the Lord is gracious and merciful, as it is written. And for us also, the example of this occurrence will be found to be most excellent. For I think that those who wish to celebrate a feast in purity of heart and in a manner well-pleasing to God must not regard their own enjoyment alone, nor must they even take thought as to how they themselves alone may keep the feast in all its fullest gladness; but rather they must interweave with their thoughtfulness about themselves the spirit of mercy towards others who are in need. For then, and then only, fulfilling the Divine law of mutual love, shall we in perfection celebrate a truly spiritual feast to the honour of the Saviour Christ. Therefore also the law ordained of old for the Jews concerning the ingathering of the manna, charges those who are able to gather it not to do so for themselves alone: for it says: Gather ye every man for your companions that are in the tents. For if any one of their tent-mates was troubled with sickness, those who were free from that affliction, lending him as it were their own vigour, gathered in with their own measure what was enough for the weak as well; so that, in the words of Scripture: He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. For so it happened, by a sort of mingling of their stores, that the principle of equality was preserved for all. He therefore does dishonour to the example suitable for holy feasts, who does not combine care for the needy with anxiety on his own account. For the union of these would in very truth make a festival perfect.

So no one understood the words "do what you do quickly," but they thought that the Lord was commanding Judas to buy something for the feast or to give something to the poor. For He cared greatly for the poor, and although He urged the others to have neither bag nor money, He Himself allowed a money box to be carried with Him, showing thereby that even one who is without possessions and has been crucified to the world must have great concern for this class of people — the poor.

For some thought, because Judas had the money bag, as steward, that Jesus had said to him: Buy those things which are needed for the feast day, or that he should give something to the poor, because he had the money bag especially on their account: in which it is signified that from the purses of the Church it is lawful for prelates to buy what is needed, that is, what is necessary, and to give the remainder to the poor; and to them especially the commandment was given concerning the feeding of the poor; whence Sirach twenty-nine: "For the commandment's sake receive the poor, and on account of his need do not send him away empty."

Now the Evangelist tells us what the disciples, ignorant of the real reason Jesus was speaking, thought he meant: some of the disciples thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him... Here we should note that the Lord God of Heaven, who feeds all living things, had a purse, not to own the things of earth, but to save the offerings of believers and so provide for his own necessities and the needs of others. This purse was in the care of Judas. As Augustine says, this teaches us that the Church can have and reserve money for its immediate needs. It also teaches us that the Church's money should be used for only two things. First, for what pertains to divine worship; for we read, Buy what we need for the feast, that is, what we can use to worship God on the festival day: "Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house" (Mal 3:10). Secondly, its money can be used to help the poor, so he adds, or that he should give something to the poor.

One might argue against this that Matthew (6:34) says, "do not be anxious about tomorrow." Augustine answered this and said that our Lord did not command the saints not to keep the money or other goods of one day for the next. Rather, he said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow." This means that we should not be preaching or doing other religious services in order to provide a future for ourselves; nor should we omit acting in a virtuous way because of fear of the future. Thus it is clear that when our Lord said "Do not be anxious about tomorrow," he was forbidding two things. First, we are not to do good to secure our future; secondly, we are not to omit doing good because we fear a future poverty.

Chrysostom explains this clearly when he says: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, that is, do not anticipate today the cares of the next day; the troubles of today are enough."

Some might also wonder why our Lord had a purse, since he told his disciples, "Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals" (Lk 10:4). According to Chrysostom, our Lord possessed a purse to provide for those in need and to teach us that no matter how poor and crucified to the world we may be, we should be concerned for the poor, according to "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor" (Ps 112:9). Or, we could say that when he told them to take nothing on their way, he was referring to individual preachers and Apostles, who should carry nothing when they went to preach. But it did not refer to the entire group which would need something for themselves and for the poor.