:
1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. 13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. 14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. 16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him. 18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, 19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. 21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. 22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. 24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. 26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. 28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. 35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. 37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. 38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: 40 Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. 41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
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[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:1-12
(de Con. Evan. ii. 70) Matthew indeed subjoins that they answered and said, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, (Matt. 21:41) which Mark here says was not their answer, but that the Lord after putting the question, as it were answered Himself. But we may easily understand either that their answer was subjoined without the insertion of, they answered, or they said, which at the same time was implied; or else, that their answer, being the truth, was attributed to the Lord, since He also Himself gave this answer concerning them, being the Truth.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:1-12
(in Marc. 3, 42) Or else, the hedge is the wall of the city, the winefat is the altar, or1 those winefats, by which three psalms receive their name.

(ubi sup.) Not by any change of place, but He seemed to go away from the vineyard, that He might leave the husbandmen to act on their own freewill. It goes on: And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.

(ubi sup.) By the servant who was first sent, we must understand Moses, but they beat him, and sent him away empty, because they angered Moses in the tents. (Ps. 106:6) There follows, And again he sent unto them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. This other servant means David and the other Psalmists, but they wounded Him in the head and shamefully handled him, because they despised the songs of the Psalmists and rejected David himself, saying, What portion have we in David? (1 Kings 12:16) It goes on, And he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; heating some, and killing some. By the third servant and his companions, understand the band of the prophets. But which of the prophets did they not persecute? In these three kinds of servants, as the Lord Himself elsewhere pronounces, may be included in a figure all the doctors under the law, when He says, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. (Luke 24:44)

(ubi sup.) Or else, this is not said in ignorance, but God is said to doubt, that freedom of will may be left to man.

(ubi sup.) The Lord proves most clearly that the chiefs of the Jews did not crucify the Son of God through ignorance, but through envy; for they understood that this was He to whom it was said, I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. (Ps. 2:8) But these evil husbandmen strove to seize upon it by slaying Him, when the Jews crucifying Him tried to extinguish the faith which is by Him, and rather to bring forward their own righteousness which is by the Law, and to thrust it on the nations, and to imbue them with it. There follows: And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

(ubi sup.) But that this was done by Divine interposition he affirms, by immediately afterwards adding, And have ye not read this Scripture, The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone in the corner? As if he had said, how is this prophecy to be fulfilled, save in that Christ, being rejected and slain by you, is to be preached to the Gentiles, who will believe on Him? Thus then as a corner stone, He will found the two people on Himself, and of the two people will build for Himself a city of the faithful, one temple. For the masters of the synagogue, whom He had just called husbandmen, He now calls builders, because the same persons, who seemed to cultivate His people, that they might bear the fruits of life, like a vineyard, were also commanded to construct and adorn this people, to be, as it were, a house worthy to have God for its inhabitant.

(ubi sup.) But the Chief Priests showed that those things which the Lord had spoken were true; which is proved from what follows: And they sought to lay hold on him; for He Himself is the heir, whose unjust death He said was to be revenged by the Father. Again, in a moral sense, each of the faithful, when the Sacrament of Baptism is intrusted to him, receives on hire a vineyard, which he is to cultivate. But the servant sent to him is evil intreated, beaten, and cast out, when the word is heard by him and despised, or, what is worse, even blasphemed; further, he kills, as far as in him lies, the heir, who has trampled under foot the Son of God. The evil husbandman is destroyed, and the vineyard given to another, when the humble shall be enriched with that gift of grace, which the proud man has scorned. And it happens daily in the Church, that the Chief Priests wishing to lay hands on Jesus, are held back by the multitude, when some one, who is a brother only in name, either blushes or fears to attack the unity of the faith of the Church, and of its peace, though he loves it not, on account of the number of good brethren who dwell together within it.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:1
And he began to speak to them in parables: A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit, and built a tower. This man who planted the vineyard is the same who in another parable hired laborers into his vineyard. He planted the vineyard about which Isaiah speaks most fully in a song, ultimately saying: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And in the psalm, it is said: You have transplanted a vineyard from Egypt; you expelled the nations and planted it. And he set a hedge around it, whether a city wall or the assistance of angels. And he dug a pit in it, whether a winepress, or an altar, or those winepresses whose titles are marked by three psalms, the eighth, the eightieth, and the eighty-third. And he built a tower, undoubtedly the temple about which it is said through Micah: And you, O tower of the flock, daughter of Zion.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:1
And he leased it to husbandmen. Elsewhere, he called these workers of the vineyard, who had been hired at the first, third, sixth and ninth hours. And he went away on a journey, not by changing location. For where can God be absent from, since all things are filled by him? And he who says through Jeremiah: I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off, says the Lord? But he seems to go away from the vineyard to leave the vine-dressers free will in working.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on Mark 12:1-12
Or, the hedge is the law, which prohibited their mingling with strangers. There follows, And went into a far country.

Or else, By the first servant, understand the prophets who lived about the time of Elias, (2 Chron. 18:23.) for Zedekiah the false prophet beat Micaiah; and by the second servant whom they wounded in the head, that is, evil entreated, we may understand the prophets who lived about the time of Hosea and Isaiah; but by the third servant understand the prophets who flourished about the time of Daniel and Ezekiel. It goes on, Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, Perchance they will reverence my son.

Or else, He said this not as though He were ignorant of what was to happen, but to show what it was right and fitting that they should do. But those husbandmen said amongst themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.

That is, without Jerusalem, for the Lord was crucified out of the city.

The Lord of the vineyard then is the Father of the Son who was slain, and the Son Himself is He who was slain, who will destroy those husbandmen, by giving them up to the Romans, and who will give the people to other husbandmen, that is, to the Apostles. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find three thousand, and five thousand on a sudden believing and bearing fruit to God.

The stone then which the builders refused, the same has become the head-stone of the corner, that is, of the Church. For the Church is, as it were, the corner, joining together Jews and Gentiles; and this corner has been made by the Lord, and is wonderful in our eyes, that is, in the eyes of the faithful; for miracles meet with detraction from the faithless. The Church indeed is wonderful, as it were resting on wonders, for the Lord worked with the Apostles, and confirmed the word with signs. And this is what is meant, when it is said, This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:1-12
God the Father is called a man by a human conception. The vineyard is the house of Israel; the hedge is the guardianship of Angels; the winefat is the law, the tower is the temple, and the husbandmen, the priests.

The servants who were sent were the prophets, the fruit of the vineyard is obedience; some of the prophets were beaten, others wounded, others slain. Wherefore it goes on, And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

The well-beloved son and the last is the Only-begotten; and in that He says, They will reverence my son, He speaks in irony.

Or else, they cast Him out of the vineyard, that is, out of the people, saying Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil. (John 8:48) 1Or, as far as in them lay, they cast Him out of their own borders, and gave Him up to the Gentiles that they might receive Him. There follows, What then will the Lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy those husbandmen, and give the vineyard unto other.

Or else, the vineyard is given to others, that is, to those who come from the east, and from the west, and from the south, and from the north, and who sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

This rejected stone, which is borne by that corner where the lamb and the bread met in the supper, ending the Old and beginning the New Testament, does things marvellous in our eyes as the topaz. (Ps. 118, Ps. 127. Vulg.)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Glossa Ordinaria on Mark 12:1-12
(non occ.) After the Lord had closed the mouths of His tempters by a wise question, He next shows their wickedness in a parable; wherefore it is said: And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:2
And he sent a servant to the tenants at the proper time to receive from the tenants some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Indeed, he set the time for the fruit, not for the harvest. For no fruit was found from the obstinate people, no yield of this vineyard was found, even though it was often and diligently sought. Therefore, the servant who was sent first is understood to be Moses, the lawgiver, who for forty continuous years sought some fruit of the law he had given from the cultivators, but they beat him and sent him away empty-handed. For they provoked Moses in the camps and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. And Moses was vexed because of them, for they grieved his Spirit. This same servant also clearly declares in a song what he thinks about the fruit of this vineyard, saying, "For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their branching is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the venom of dragons, and the cruel poison of asps" (Deut. XXXII).

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:4
And again he sent another servant to them, and they wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully. The other servant signifies David the king and prophet and the other psalmists, who were sent after Moses, so that by the modulation of psalmody and the sweetness of the harp they might stir the cultivators of the vineyard to the practice of good works after the legal edicts. For David himself, who lifted up the hearts of the people to desire heavenly things, established that the continuous praises of the Lord be sung with sweet melody among the rites of carnal sacrifices. But they also wounded this devotion, treating it shamefully by wounding it in the head, because disregarding the songs of the psalmists which called to the praise of the Lord, they rejected David, who had shone as the head and source of psalmody in the Holy Spirit. For they said: "What portion do we have in David, or what inheritance in the son of Jesse?" (1 Kings 12) With these words, they both changed his kingdom with an ignoble stock, and his religion with impiety. Nevertheless, he prayed for this vineyard, which, transplanted from Egypt, had covered the mountains of Palestine with its shade, that it might not be utterly destroyed: "Lord God of hosts, return now, look down from heaven and see, and visit this vineyard, and protect what your right hand has planted" (Psalm 80). Here he equally explained who that man is who planted this vineyard, namely the Lord God of hosts.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:5
And again he sent another, and they killed him, and many others, beating some and killing others. A third servant with his companions, understand a chorus of prophets, who with continuous attestations confronted the people and predicted the evils that were imminent for this vineyard. But which of the prophets were they not persecuting? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Lord Savior (Acts VII). And all these spoke much about the barrenness of this vineyard, but the lamentation of one Jeremiah is sufficient to mention. But I, he says, planted you as a chosen vineyard, all true seed, how then have you turned into a degenerate shoot of a foreign vine (Jer. II)? Clearly, by these three ranks of servants all the figures of the teachers under the law can be understood, the Lord elsewhere openly declares, saying: For everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled (Luke XXIV).

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Mark 12:6
Matthew and Mark say: “He sent his only son, saying ‘they will respect my son.’ ” Luke sounds as though the outcome is in doubt, as though he did not know without doubt. But in Matthew and Mark he says: “they will respect my son,” that is, it is declared that respect will be shown. God can neither be in doubt, nor can he be deceived. For one can only be in doubt who is ignorant of the future. One is deceived who has predicted one thing while another happened. Yet what is plainer than the fact that Scripture states the Father to have said one thing of the Son, and the same Scripture proves another thing to have taken place? The Son was beaten, mocked, crucified, and died. He suffered much worse things in the flesh than those tenants who had been sent to help out. Was the Father deceived, or was he ignorant? Or was he powerless to give help?… Neither is the Father deceived nor does the Son deceive. It is the custom of holy Scriptures to speak in these many voices, as I have shown in many examples. In such instances, God feigns not to know what he does know. In this then is shown the unity of Godhead. A unity of character is shown to exist in the Father and the Son. For as God the Father seems to hide what is known to him, so also the Son, who is the image of God, seems to hide what is known to him.

Source: Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.17.214-18
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:6
Therefore, still having one beloved son, he sent him to them last, saying: They will respect my son. What he said: They will respect my son, does not come from ignorance. For what does the head of the household not know, who is understood as God the Father in this place? But God is always said to be in doubt so that free will may be reserved for man. Let us ask Arius and Eunomius. Behold, the Father is said to be ignorant, and moderates his judgment, and as much as it depends on us, is proven to be lying. Whatever they respond on behalf of the Father, let them understand the same for the Son, who says he does not know the day of completion.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:7
But how will you insure that the inheritance will be yours? Merely because you killed him? Hold on! You in fact did kill him, yet the inheritance is still not yours. Do you not recall the Psalm which says: “I lie down and sleep,” and then adds, “I wake again”? did you miss that point? While you were gloating that you had killed him, he was sleeping. The Psalm says: “I slept.” Just while they were raging and would kill me, what was I doing? “I slept.” And if I had not willed it, I would not even have slept, for “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again.” So let the oppressors rage. Let the earth even be “given into the hands of the wicked,” let the flesh be left to the hands of persecutors, let them suspend him on wood with nails transfixed, pierced with a spear. The one who lies down and sleeps simply adds: “I rise again.”

Source: ON PSALM 41: ON THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS 9
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:7
The husbandmen said to one another: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. Most plainly the Lord proves that the leaders of the Jews crucified the Son of God not out of ignorance, but out of envy. For they understood this to be the one of whom it was said: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance (Psalm II). And so, as if consulting for themselves, they said: Behold, the whole world has gone after him. And if we let him thus alone, all men will believe in him (John XII). Therefore the inheritance of the Son is the Church, given to him from among all the nations, which the Father did not leave to him by dying, but he himself wondrously acquired by his own death, which he possessed by rising again. However, after killing him, the evil husbandmen sought to seize it, when the Jews, crucifying him, endeavored to extinguish the faith that comes through him and preferred rather their own righteousness, which is by the law, and sought to instill it in the gentiles.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:8
And taking him, they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. It notes their persistent malice, who, even with the Lord crucified and risen from the dead, did not wish to believe in the preaching of the apostles but cast him away as if he were a vile corpse. For, as far as it was in their power, excluding him from their borders, they delivered him to be received by the gentiles.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:9
What will the Lord of the vineyard do, therefore? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and give the vineyard to others. The Lord himself explained this verse shortly afterward in Matthew, saying: Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matthew XXI). He also figuratively showed this was about to happen when he cursed the unfruitful fig tree as an example of the unbelieving Jews. Conversely, he compared those who afterward believed, whether from the Jews or the gentiles, to a fruitful and excellent tree, saying: I am the vine; you are the branches. He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit (John XV). When he had said that the Lord of the vineyard, after the destruction of the wicked husbandmen, would give the vineyard to others, he immediately affirmed that this was procured by divine guidance in a prophetic example, saying:

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:10
Have you not read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. How, he says, will this prophecy be fulfilled, that the stone rejected by the builders is said to be placed as the cornerstone, unless because Christ, rejected and killed by you, is to be preached to the Gentiles who will believe, so that, like a cornerstone, he may unite the two in himself and build from both peoples one faithful city for himself, one temple? For he now calls the same synagogue teachers, whom he previously called tenants, builders. For those who were commanded to cultivate the people subject to them to bear the fruits of life, like a vineyard, were also commanded to construct and adorn it as a house worthy of God as its inhabitant. Hence, the Apostle, writing to the faithful, says: You are God's field, God's building (I Cor. III). But those who refused to return the fruit of God's vineyard to the great householder, like the worst tenants, the same, like evil masons, strive to remove from the house of God the precious and chosen stone, which was to be placed either in the foundation or in the corner, that is, they sought to take away the faith of Christ from their listeners.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:12
And they sought to seize him, and they feared the crowd. For they understood that he had spoken this parable against them, and leaving him, they went away. The chief priests and the scribes, as if they found the Lord lying against them, sought to kill him. But by seeking this, they taught that what he had said was true. For he himself is the heir, whose unjust death he declared would be avenged by the father. Those wicked tenants, who from killing the Son of God were indeed delayed a little by human fear, until his hour had come, could never be restrained by divine love. Surely, in a moral sense, for each of the faithful, when the mystery of baptism entrusted to him is exercised by working, it is as if the vineyard he cultivates is leased out. One servant is sent, another, and a third, to receive produce, when law, psalms, prophecy, whose admonition to follow by doing well, are read. But the sent servant, afflicted with insults or beaten, is cast out, when the word heard is disdained, or (what is worse) even blasphemed. Moreover, the sent heir is killed, as far as it depends on them, who have also trampled the Son of God and insulted the spirit of grace by which he was sanctified. With the wicked tenant destroyed, the vineyard will be given to another, when the gift of grace which the proud one spurned, the humble one will be enriched. But even this, that the chief priests, scribes, and elders seeking to lay hands on Jesus are restrained by fear of the crowd, happens daily in the Church, when anyone, merely on account of the name "brother," does not love the unity of ecclesiastical faith and peace, either out of shame or fear of the multitude of good brothers living together, refrains from attacking it. Yet, as the Lord says of the most foolish bird, the ostrich, when the time comes, it raises its wings on high, because by persecuting the Church, he will rejoice to have crucified the Lord and have him as a showpiece.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Mark 12:13
They were breathing anger, and straining to plot against him, while they feigned respect.

Source: THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW, HOMILY 70.1
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:13-17
(ubi sup.) The Chief Priests though they sought to take Him, feared the multitude, and therefore they endeavoured to effect what they could not do of themselves, by means of earthly powers, that they might themselves appear to be guiltless of His death; and therefore it is said, And they send, unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

(ubi sup.) But this bland and crafty question was intended to induce Him in His answer rather to fear God than Cæsar, and to say that tribute should not be paid, so that the Herodians immediately on hearing it might hold Him to be an author of sedition against the Romans; and therefore they add, And carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of any.

(ubi sup.) A denarius was a piece of money, accounted equal to ten smaller coins, and bearing the image of Cæsar; wherefore there follows: And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar's. Let those who think that our Saviour asked the question through ignorance and not by an economy, learn from this that He might have known whose image it was; but He puts the question, in order to return them a fitting answer; wherefore there follows: And Jesus answering said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's.

(ubi sup.) That is, tithes, first-fruits, oblations, and victims. In the same way as He gave tribute both for Himself and Peter, He also gave to God the things that are God's, doing the will of His Father.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:13
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and Herodians, to catch him in his words. The Herodians are said to be soldiers of Herod the tetrarch, who was also at that time in Jerusalem, and in scorning and mocking the Lord, he agreed with Pilate and the Jews, as the evangelist Luke attests. Therefore, seeking to seize the Lord, the chief priests, scribes, and elders feared the crowd. And thus, since they could not do so by themselves, they attempted to accomplish it through the hands of earthly authority, so that they themselves might seem to be free of his death. For recently under Caesar Augustus, Judaea was subjected to the Romans when a census was celebrated throughout the whole world, and it had become tributary, and there was great sedition among the people, some saying that for the sake of security and peace, for which the Romans fought for all, tribute ought to be paid; but the Pharisees, who prided themselves on righteousness, contended otherwise, that the people of God, who paid tithes, and gave firstfruits, and all other things written in the law, ought not to be subject to human laws. The spark of this sedition grew so strong that after the resurrection of the Lord, the Romans pressed on and the native people, the kingdom, as well as that august temple with its religion, moreover even the light itself, chose rather to perish than to pay tribute.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on Mark 12:13-17
We have said elsewhere of the Herodians, that they were a certain new heresy, who said that Herod was the Christ, because the succession of the kingdom of Judah had failed. Others however say that the Herodians were the soldiers of Herod, whom the Pharisees brought as witnesses of the words of Christ, that they might take Him, and lead Him away. But observe how in their wickedness they wished to deceive Christ by flattery; for it goes on: Master, we know that thou art true.

So that thou wilt not honour Cæsar, that is, against the truth; therefore they add, But teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? For their whole plot was one which had a precipice on both sides, so that if He said that it was lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, they might provoke the people against Him, as though He wished to reduce the nation itself to slavery; but if He said, that it was not lawful, they might accuse Him, as though He was stirring up the people against Cæsar; but the Fountain of wisdom escaped their snares. Wherefore there follows: But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it.

As if He had said, Give what bears an image to him whose image it bears, that is, the penny to Cæsar; for we can both pay Cæsar his tribute, and offer to God what is His own.

The inevitable wants of our bodies is as Cæsar unto each of us; the Lord therefore orders that there should be given to the body its own, that is, food and raiment, and to God the things that are God's. It goes on: And they marvelled at him. They who ought to have believed, wondered at such great wisdom, because they had found no place for their craftiness.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:13-17
For they questioned Him with honied words, and they surrounded Him as bees, who carry honey in their mouth, but a sting in their tail.

Render to Cæsar the money bearing his image, which is collected for him, and render yourselves willingly up to God, for the light of thy countenance, O Lord, and not of Cæsar's, is stamped upon us. (Ps 4:7. Vulg.)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Mark 12:14
So we worship God only, but in temporal matters we gladly serve you, recognizing you as emperors and rulers, and praying that along with your imperial power you may also be found to have a sound mind. Suppose you pay no attention to our prayers and our frank statements about everything. That will not injure us, since we believe, and are convinced without doubt, that everyone will finally experience the restraint of divine judgment in relation to their voluntary actions. Each will be required to give account for the responsibilities which he has been given by God.

Source: The First Apology 17
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:14
Those coming said to him: Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and do not care about anyone. For you do not look at the face of man, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? This flattering and deceitful question provokes the respondent, so that he fears God more than Caesar, and says that tribute ought not to be paid, so that immediately the Herodians, hearing this, could seize him as the author of sedition against the Romans.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:15
But knowing their deceit, he said to them: Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I may see it. And they brought it to him. Wisdom always acts wisely, so that the tempters are rather confounded by their own words: Bring me, he said, a denarius. This is a type of coin, which was accounted for ten nummi, and had the image of Caesar.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:16
The image of the Emperor appears differently in his son and in a piece of coin. The coin has no knowledge of its bearing the image of the prince. But you are the coin of God, and so far highly superior, as possessing mind and even life, so as to know the One whose image you bear.

Source: SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 43
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:16
And he said to them: Whose image and inscription is this? Those who think the question of the Savior shows his ignorance, and not his design, should learn from the present passage that Jesus could certainly have known whose image was on the coin: but he asks so that he might appropriately respond to their words.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Mark 12:17
And of civil government: "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things which are God's."

Source: Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book III
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:17
That means render the image of Caesar, which is on the coin, to Caesar, and the image of God, which is imprinted on the person, to God. You give to Caesar only money. But to God, give yourself.

Source: ON IDOLATRY 15
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:17
We pray for the safety of the emperors to the eternal God, the true, the living God, whom emperors themselves would desire to be benevolent to them, the One who is “above all others who are called gods.” We, looking up to heaven with outstretched hands, because we are harmless, with naked heads, because we are not ashamed, without a prompter, because we pray from the heart, constantly pray for all emperors, that they may have a long life, a secure empire, a safe center of governance, adequate defense, a faithful senate, a well-instructed people, a quiet state—whatever Caesar would wish for himself in his public and private capacity.

Source: APOLOGY 30
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:17
Idolatry is condemned, not on account of the persons which are set up for worship, but on account of those its observances, which pertain to demons. "The things which are Caesar's are to be rendered to Caesar." It is enough that He set in apposition thereto, "and to God the things which are God's.

Source: On Idolatry
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Mark 12:17
For the sake of those who were in captivity, like the bondage of the Hebrews, the Son of God took upon himself the form of a slave, yet doing nothing worldly or servile. As one who came in the form of a slave, he paid tax and tribute for us, in the same way that a restitution would be paid for his blood and that of his disciples.… Therefore, let anyone who possesses the things of Caesar render freely them to Caesar, so that he may be able then to render freely to God the things of God.… Just as our Lord paid our debt, not having initiated it, nor expended it, nor acquired it, nor at any time made it his own possession.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.10
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:17
We are God’s money. But we are like coins that have wandered away from the treasury. What was once stamped upon us has been worn down by our wandering. The One who restamps his image upon us is the One who first formed us. He himself seeks his own coin, as Caesar sought his coin. It is in this sense that he says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” to Caesar his coins, to God your very selves.

Source: TRACTATE ON JOHN 40.9
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:17
Caesar seeks his image; render it. God seeks his image; render it. Do not withhold from Caesar his coin. Do not keep from God his coin. To this they could not think of anything to answer. For they had been sent to slander him. And they went back saying: No one could answer him. Why? Because he had shattered their teeth in their mouth.

Source: ON THE PSALMS 58.8
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:17
They said to him: Caesar's. Then Jesus, answering, said to them: Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. What he said: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, the coin, the tribute, and the money; and unto God the things that are God's, we understand as tithes, first fruits, offerings, and sacrifices. Just as he himself pays the tribute for himself and for Peter, and rendered to God the things that are God's, doing the will of the Father. Another way: Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. Just as Caesar demands from us the impression of his image, so too does God, that just as the coin is rendered to Caesar, so the soul illuminated and marked by the light of his countenance is rendered to God. Hence the Psalmist says: The light of your countenance, O Lord, has been signed upon us (Psalm IV). This light is also the whole of man, and true good, which is seen not with the eyes but with the mind. He said it is signed upon us, just as a coin is engraved with the image of the king. For man was made in the image and likeness of God, which he corrupted by sinning. Therefore, his true and eternal good is if he is marked again by being reborn.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:17
And they marveled at him. Those who should have believed in such great wisdom, marveled because their cunning in plotting had found no place. And, as Matthew writes, they left him and went away, carrying their unbelief along with the miracle.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:18
They put to him the strongest case they could to impair his credibility. They fashioned a contorted argument to pursue the question which they had initiated. Their deceptive inquiry concerned the flesh, whether or not it would be subject to marriage after the resurrection. They assumed the case of a woman who had married seven brothers, so as to make it doubtful as to which of them she should be restored. Now, let the gist both of the question and the answer be kept steadily in view, and the discussion is settled at once in this way: The Sadducees indeed denied the resurrection, while the Lord affirmed it. In affirming it, he reproached them as being both ignorant of the Scriptures—which declare the resurrection—and disbelieving of the power of God as able to raise the dead. He then spoke without ambiguity of the dead being raised.

Source: ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE FLESH 36
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:18
Their specious inquiry concerned the flesh, whether or not it would be subject to marriage after the resurrection; and they assumed the case of a woman who had married seven brothers, so that it was a doubtful point to which of them she should be restored. Now, let the purport both of the question and the answer be kept steadily in view, and the discussion is settled at once.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:18
Therefore no solicitude arising from carnal jealousy will, in the day of the resurrection, even in the case of her whom they chose to represent as having been married to seven brothers successively, wound any one of her so many husbands; nor is any (husband) awaiting her to put her to confusion. The question raised by the Sadducees has yielded to the Lord's sentence.

Source: To His Wife Book I
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:18
If, then, forasmuch as there is in the law a precept that a man is to take in marriage the wife of his brother if he have died without children, for the purpose of raising up seed to his brother; and this may happen repeatedly to the same person, according to that crafty question of the Sadducees; men for that reason think that frequency of marriage is permitted in other cases as well: it will be their duty to understand first the reason of the precept itself; and thus they will come to know that that reason, now ceasing, is among those parts of the law which have been cancelled.

Source: On Monogamy
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:18-27
(ubi sup.) And fitly do they frame such a fable in order to prove the madness of those who assert the resurrection of the body. Such a thing however might really have happened at some time or other among them.

(ubi sup.) We must here consider that the Latin custom does not answer to the Greek idiom. For properly 1different words are used for the marriage of men, and that of women; but here we may simply understand that, marry is meant of men, and given in marriage of women.

(ubi sup.) Or else; because after proving that the soul remained after death, (for God could not be God of those who did not exist at all,) the resurrection of the body also might be inferred as a consequence, since it had done good and evil with the soul.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:18
The Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him. There were two sects among the Jews, one of the Pharisees and the other of the Sadducees. The Pharisees, who preferred justice of traditions and observances which they called "deuterosis," were commonly known as separated from the people. But the Sadducees, whose name means "just," also claimed what they were not. The former believed in the resurrection of both body and soul, and admitted angels and spirits; the latter, following the Acts of the Apostles, denied everything.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on Mark 12:18-27
A certain heretical sect of the Jews called Sadducees denied the resurrection, and said that there was neither angel nor spirit. These then coming to Jesus, craftily proposed to Him a certain tale, in order to show that no resurrection should take place, or had taken place; and therefore there is added, And they asked him, saying, Master. And in this tale they lay down that seven men had married one woman, in order to make men draw back from belief in the resurrection.

As if He had said, Ye understand not what sort of a resurrection the Scriptures announce; for ye believe that there will be a restoration of our bodies, such as they are now, but it shall not be so. Thus then ye know not the Scriptures; neither again do ye know the power of God; for ye consider it as a difficult thing, saying, How can the limbs, which have been scattered, be united together and joined to the soul? But this in respect of the Divine power is as nothing. There follows: For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven; as if He had said, There will be a certain heavenly and angelic restoration to life, when there shall be no more decay, and we shall remain unchanged; and for this reason marriage shall cease. For marriage now exists on account of our decay, that we may be carried on by succession of our race, and not fail; but then we shall be as the Angels, who need no succession by marriage, and never come to an end.

In another way also they are deceived, not understanding the Scriptures; for if they had understood them, they should also have understood how by the Scriptures the resurrection of the dead may be proved; wherefore He adds, And as touching the dead, that they rise, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

But I say, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As if He had said, The God of the living, wherefore He adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for He did not say, I have been, but I am, as if they had been present. But some one perhaps will say, that God spake this only of the soul of Abraham, not of his body; to which I answer, that Abraham implies both, that is, soul and body, so that He also is the God of the body, and the body lives with God, that is, in God's ordinance.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:18-27
But in a mystical sense: what can this woman, leaving no seed of seven brothers, and last of all dying, mean except the Jewish synagogue, deserted by the seven-fold Spirit, which filled those seven patriarchs, who did not leave to her the seed of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ? For although a Son was born to them, nevertheless He was given to us Gentiles. This woman was dead to Christ, nor shall she be joined in the resurrection to any patriarch of the seven; for by the number seven is meant the whole company of the faithful. Thus it is said contrariwise by Isaiah, Seven women shall take hold of one man; (Is. 4:1) that is, the seven Churches, which the Lord loves, reproves, and chastises, adore Him with one faith. Wherefore it goes on: And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scripture, neither the power of God?

Thus then they do not understand the Scripture, in that in the resurrection, men shall be as the Angels of God, that is, no man there dies, no one is born, no infant is there, no old man.

But 1 say, in the bush, in which is an image of you; for in it the fire was kindled, but it did not consume its thorns; so my words set you on fire, but do not burn off your thorns, which have grown under the curse.

But when He says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; by naming God thrice, He implied the Trinity. But when He says, He is not the God of the dead, by naming again the One God, he implies One Substance. But they live who make good the portion, which they had chosen; and they are dead, who have lost what they had made good. Ye therefore do greatly err.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Glossa Ordinaria on Mark 12:18-27
(non occ.) After that our Lord has prudently escaped the crafty temptation of the Pharisees, it is shown how He also confounds the Sadducees, who tempt Him; wherefore it is said: Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection.

(non occ.) That is, because they contradicted the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:19
And they questioned him, saying: Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children, and so on. Believing neither in the resurrection of bodies nor the survival of souls beyond death, they rightly concoct such a tale to ridicule those who assert the resurrection of bodies. Yet it could happen that such an event occurred in their nation.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Mark 12:23
Sed post resurrectionem, inquit, nec uxorem ducunt, nec hubnut.' "

Source: Clement of Alexandria Stromata Book III
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:23
To Christians, after their departure from this world, no restoration of the carnal aspect of marriage is promised in the day of the resurrection, translated as they will be into the condition and sanctity of angels. In the day of resurrection no dilemma arising from sexual jealousy will injure any of her so many husbands, even in the case of her whom they chose to represent as having been married to seven brothers successively.

Source: TO HIS WIFE 1.1
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:23
In the resurrection, when they rise again, to which of them will the woman be wife? For the seven had her as a wife. They use the absurdity of the story to deny the truth of the resurrection; but mystically, these seven brothers who died without children are like all the wicked, who, throughout the entire span of this life which revolves in seven days, are barren of good works. To each of them who is taken by a miserable death, ultimately worldly living itself, which they wasted without producing any vital work, will pass away like a barren wife.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:24
God; who have restored the honour of their flesh, and who have already dedicated themselves as sons of that (future) age, by slaying in themselves the concupiscence of lust, and that whole (propensity) which could not be admitted within Paradise! Whence it is presumable that such as shall wish to be received within Paradise, ought at last to begin to cease from that thing from which Paradise is intact.

Source: On Exhortation to Chastity
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Mark 12:24
Then Peter said: "If, therefore, some of the Scriptures are true and some false, with good reason said our Master, 'Be ye good money-changers,' inasmuch as in the Scriptures there are some true sayings and some spurious. And to those who err by reason of the false scriptures He fitly showed the cause of their error, saying, 'You therefore err, not knowing the true things of the Scriptures; for this reason you are ignorant also of the power of God.'" Then said I: " You have spoken very excellently."

Source: Homily 2
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Mark 12:24
"But one might with good reason maintain that it was with reference to those who thought Him to be such that the statement was made, 'No one knows the Father but the Son, as no one knows even the Son, but the Father.' And reasonably. For if they had known, they would not have sinned, by trusting to the books written against God, really for the purpose of trying. But somewhere also He says, wishing to exhibit the cause of their error more distinctly to them, 'On this account ye do err, not knowing the true things of the Scriptures, on which account you are ignorant also of the power of God.' Wherefore every man who wishes to be saved must become, as the Teacher said, a judge of the books written to try us. For thus He spoke: 'Become experienced bankers.' Now the need of bankers arises from the circumstance that the spurious is mixed up with the genuine."

Source: Homily 18
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:24
The Sadducees do not have our hope for the resurrection, since they “know neither the scriptures nor the power of God,” who is able to restore what is lost, to raise what is dead to life, to revive what has rotted away, to gather together what is corruptible and finite. The Lord promised to do this, and he gives as a guarantee the promises he has already fulfilled. So let your faith speak of this to you, since your hope will not be disappointed even though your love may be put to the test.

Source: LETTER 263, TO SAPIDA
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:24
And Jesus answered them, saying: Are you not mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? They err because they do not know the Scriptures. And because they are ignorant of the Scriptures, consequently they do not know the power of God, which is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor. I).

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Mark 12:25
But is it not absurd to say that these members will exist after the resurrection from the dead, since the Saviour said, "They neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but shall be as the angels in heaven? "

Source: Fragments of the Lost Work of Justin on the Resurrection
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:25
All the more we shall be bound to them [our departed spouses], because we are destined to a better estate, destined to rise to a spiritual partnership. We will recognize both our own selves and those to whom we belong. Else how shall we sing thanks to God to eternity, if there shall remain in us no sense and memory of this relationship? Or if we shall be reformed only materially, but not in consciousness? Consequently, we who are together with God shall remain together.… In eternal life God will no more separate those whom he has joined together than in this life where he forbids them to be separated.

Source: ON MONOGAMY 10
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:25
With what consistency do we mount that (future) judgment-seat to pronounce sentence against those whose gifts we (now) seek after? For you too, (women as you are, ) have the self-same angelic nature promised as your reward, the self-same sex as men: the self-same advancement to the dignity of judging, does (the Lord) promise you.

Source: On the Apparel of Women Book I
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:25
"But if 'in that age they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be equal to angels,' is not the fact that there will be no restitution of the conjugal relation a reason why we shall not be bound to our departed consorts? "Nay, but the more shall we be bound (to them), because we are destined to a better estate-destined (as we are) to rise to a spiritual consortship, to recognise as well our own selves as them who are ours.

Source: On Monogamy
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:25
For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in heaven. The Latin custom does not correspond to the Greek idiom. Women are properly said to marry, and men to take wives. But let us simply understand this to mean that marrying applies to men, and being married applies to wives. If in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, then bodies which can marry and be given in marriage shall rise. For no one says of a stone or a tree and those things which do not have genital members that they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but of those who, while able to marry, nevertheless do not marry for some reason. But what follows: “But are as the angels in heaven,” a spiritual conversation is promised. For they are as the angels in heaven, who, renewed by the glory of the resurrection, enjoy the perpetual vision of God without any fear of death, without any stain of corruption, without any activity of earthly state. To which anyone desiring to ascend to the equality of angelic dignity must now condescend by acting piously towards the least of the brethren.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 749] John Damascene on Mark 12:25
The body of the Lord after the resurrection was such that it entered through the closed doors without difficulty, and needed neither food, nor sleep, nor drink. “For they shall be,” says the Lord, “like the angels of God,” and there shall no longer be marriage or the procreation of children.

Source: ORTHODOX FAITH 4.27
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:26
But concerning the dead, that they will rise, have you not read in the book of Moses at the bush, how God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? To confirm the truth of the resurrection, he could use many more manifest examples, among which is this: The dead will be raised, and those in the tombs will rise. And in another place: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and ever-lasting contempt (Dan. XII). Therefore it is asked what the Lord meant by bringing forth this testimony, which seems ambiguous or not sufficiently relevant to the truth of the resurrection. We have previously said that the Sadducees, not confessing either angels, spirits, or the resurrection of bodies, also preached the destruction of souls. These Sadducees accepted only the five books of Moses, rejecting the prophecies of the prophets. Thus it was foolish to bring forth testimonies whose authority they did not follow. Now, to prove the eternity of souls, he presents the example: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Immediately he adds:

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Mark 12:27
"But to those who think, as the Scriptures teach, that God swears, He said, 'Let your yea be yea, and nay, nay; for what is more than these is of the evil one.' And to those who say that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are dead, He said, 'God is not of the dead, but of the living.' And to those who suppose that God tempts, as the Scriptures say, He said, 'The tempter is the wicked one,' who also tempted Himself. To those who suppose that God does not foreknow, He said, 'For your heavenly Father knows that ye need all these things before ye ask Him.' And to those who believe, as the Scriptures say, that He does not see all things, He said, 'Pray in secret, and your Father, who sees secret things, will reward you.' "

Source: Homily 3
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:27
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. So, when he proved that souls remain after death (for it could not be that he was the God of those who in no way subsisted), consequently, the resurrection of bodies which performed good or bad deeds together with their souls would also be introduced.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:28
For in this law given to Adam we recognise in embryo all the precepts which afterwards sprouted forth when given through Moses; that is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from thy whole heart and out of thy whole soul; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; Thou shalt not kill; Thou shall not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; False witness thou shall not utter; Honour thy father and mother; and, That which is another's, shall thou not covet.

Source: An Answer to the Jews
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:28-34
(de Con. Evan. ii. 73) Nor let it trouble us that Matthew says, that he who addressed this question to the Lord tempted Him; for it may be that though he came as a tempter, yet he was corrected by the answer of the Lord. Or at all events, we must not look upon the temptation as evil, and done with the intention of deceiving an enemy, but rather as the caution of a man who wished to try a thing unknown to him.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:28-34
(ubi sup.) He shows when he says, this is greater than all sacrifices, that a grave question was often debated between the scribes and Pharisees, which was the first commandment, or the greatest of the Divine law; that is, some praised offerings and sacrifices, others preferred acts of faith and love, because many of the fathers before the law pleased God by that faith only, which works by love. This scribe shows that he was of the latter opinion. But it continues, And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

(ubi sup) But the reason why he was not far from the kingdom of God was, that he proved himself to be a favourer of that opinion, which is proper to the New Testament and to Gospel perfection.

(ubi sup.) For since they were confuted in argument, they ask Him no farther questions, but take Him without any disguise, and give Him up to the Roman power. From which we understand that the venom of envy may be overcome, but can hardly lie quiet.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:28
And one of the scribes came up who had heard them disputing. And seeing that he had answered them well, he asked him which commandment was the first of all. Jesus answered him that the first of all commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. He says the first and greatest commandment is that before all things we each should place in our innermost heart, as the only foundation of piety. This he demonstrated more clearly in conclusion, when he said: There is no greater commandment than these. Therefore the first and greatest commandment is the acknowledgement and confession of divine unity along with the performance of good works. Good works are perfected in the love of God and neighbor. The Apostle commends this briefly in other words, saying: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5).

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on Mark 12:28-34
See how He has enumerated all the powers of the soul; for there is a 1living power in the soul, which He explains, when He says, With all thy soul, and to this belong anger and desire, all of which He will have us give to Divine love. There is also another power, which is called natural, to which belong nutriment and growth, and this also is all to be given to God, for which reason He says, With all thy heart. There is also another power, the rational, which He calls the mind, and that too is to be given whole to God.

He says that it is like, because these two commandments are harmonious one with the other, and mutually contain the other. For he who loves God, loves also His creature; but the chief of His creatures is man, wherefore he who loves God ought to love all men. But he who loves his neighbour, who so often offends him, ought much more to love Him, who is ever giving him benefits. And therefore on account of the connection between these commandments, He adds, There is none other commandment greater than these. It goes on: And the Scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God, and there is none other but he: and to love him with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

By which He shows that he was not perfect, for He did not say, Thou art within the kingdom of heaven, but, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:28-34
This question is only that which is a problem common to all skilled in the law, namely, that the commandments are differently set forth in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Wherefore He brought forward not one but two commandments, by which, as by two paps rising on the breast of the bride, our infancy is nourished. And therefore there is added, And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord thy God is one God. He mentions the first and greatest commandment of all; this is that to which each of us must give the first place in his heart, as the only foundation of piety, that is, the knowledge and confession of the Divine Unity, with the practice of good works, which is perfected in the love of God and our neighbour; wherefore there is added, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Or else, he is not far who comes with knowledge; for ignorance is farther from the kingdom of God than knowledge; wherefore he says above to the Sadducees, Ye err, not knowing the Scriptures, or the power of God. It goes on: And no man after that durst ask him any questions.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Glossa Ordinaria on Mark 12:28-34
(non occ.) That is, because they contradicted the Scriptures, and derogated from the power of God.

(non occ.) After that the Lord confuted the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, who tempted Him, it is here shown how He satisfied the Scribe who questioned Him; wherefore it is said, And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

(non occ.) The words which are added, And with all thy strength, may be referred to the bodily powers. It goes on: And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 258] Cyprian on Mark 12:29
For both to prophesy and to cast out devils, and to do great acts upon the earth is certainly a sublime and an admirable thing; but one does not attain the kingdom of heaven although he is found in all these things, unless he walks in the observance of the right and just way. The Lord denounces, and says, "Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." There is need of righteousness, that one may deserve well of God the Judge; we must obey His precepts and warnings, that our merits may receive their reward. The Lord in His Gospel, when He would direct the way of our hope and faith in a brief summary, said, "The Lord thy God is one God: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment; land the second is like unto it: Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." He taught, at the same time, love and unity by His instruction. He has included all the prophets and the law in two precepts. But what unity does he keep, what love does he maintain or consider, who, savage with the madness of discord, divides the Church, destroys the faith, I disturbs the peace, dissipates charity, profanes the sacrament?

Source: Treatise I On the Unity of the Church
[AD 258] Cyprian on Mark 12:29
That God alone must be worshipped. "As it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Also in Exodus: "Thou shalt have none other gods beside me." Also in Deuteronomy: "See ye, see ye that I am He, and that there is no God beside me. I will kill, and will make alive; I will smite, and I will heal; and there is none who can deliver out of mine hands." In the Apocalypse, moreover: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach over the earth, and over all nations, and tribes, and tongues, and peoples, saying with a loud voice, Fear God rather, and give glory to Him: for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that therein is." So also the Lord, in His Gospel, makes mention of the first and second commandment, saying, "Hear, O Israel, The Lord thy God is one God; " and, "Thou shalt love thy Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. This is the first; and the second is like unto it, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." And once more: "And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."

Source: Treatise XI. Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus
[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on Mark 12:29
If sacred truth, when challenged by blasphemy, is met by silence, even that silence may be falsely construed as consent. This is what has happened in the case of the Arian assertion that because God is one, therefore his Son is not God.… The same one who authorizes us to confess the Son of God as God justifies us in proclaiming the one God.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 5.1-2
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Mark 12:29
Since God is one, it is ridiculous to suppose that there could be still another “Lord” of heaven and earth in addition to the Lord who is one. There is simply no room for a second Lord of all, if the one true God fills all things in the compass of heaven and earth.

Source: Against the Heathen 6.4
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Mark 12:29
"Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord."

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
[AD 400] Ignatius of Antioch on Mark 12:29
For Moses, the faithful servant of God, when he said, "The Lord thy God is one Lord," and thus proclaimed that there was only one God, did yet forthwith confess also our Lord when he said, "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the Lord." And again, "And God said, Let Us make man after our image: and so God made man, after the image of God made He him." And further "In the image of God made He man." And that [the Son of God] was to be made man [Moses shows when] he says, "A prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me."

Source: Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Antiochians
[AD 400] Ignatius of Antioch on Mark 12:29
There is then one God and Father, and not two or three; One who is; and there is no other besides Him, the only true [God]. For "the Lord thy God," saith [the Scripture], "is one Lord." And again, "Hath not one God created us? Have we not all one Father? And there is also one Son, God the Word. For "the only-begotten Son," saith [the Scripture], "who is in the bosom of the Father." And again, "One Lord Jesus Christ." And in another place, "What is His name, or what His Son's name, that we may know? " And there is also one Paraclete. For "there is also," saith [the Scripture], "one Spirit," since "we have been called in one hope of our calling." And again, "We have drunk of one Spirit," with what follows. And it is manifest that all these gifts [possessed by believers] "worketh one and the self-same Spirit." There are not then either three Fathers, or three Sons, or three Paracletes, but one Father, and one Son, and one Paraclete. Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," not unto one [person] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but into three possessed of equal honour.

Source: Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Philippians
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Mark 12:29
"But to those who are persuaded that He is evil, as the Scriptures say, He said, 'Call not me good, for One only is good.' And again, 'Be ye good and merciful, as your Father in the heavens, who makes the sun rise on good and evil men, and brings rain upon just and unjust.' But to those who were misled to imagine many gods, as the Scriptures say, He said, 'Hear, O Israel; the Lord your God is one Lord.'"

Source: Homily 3
[AD 1963] CS Lewis on Mark 12:29-31
Here is the paradox of Christianity. As practical imperatives for here and now the two great commandments have to be translated "Behave as if you loved God and man." For no man can love because he is told to. Yet obedience on this practical level is not really obedience at all. And if a man really loved God and man, once again this would hardly be obedience; for if he did, he would be unable to help it. Thus the command really says to us, "Ye must be born again." Till then, we have duty, morality, the Law. A schoolmaster, as St. Paul says, to bring us to Christ. We must expect no more of it than of a schoolmaster; we must allow it no less. I must say my prayers today whether I feel devout or not; but that is only as I must learn my grammar if I am ever to read the poets.

Source: LETTERS TO MALCOLM: CHIEFLY ON PRAYER, Letter 21
[AD 100] Didache on Mark 12:30-31
The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbour as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would should not occur to you, do not also do to another.

Source: The Didache, Chapter 1
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Mark 12:30
And that we ought to worship God alone, He thus persuaded us: "The greatest commandment is, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve, with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, the Lord God that made thee."

Source: First Apology of Justin
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Mark 12:30
When you decide to keep the command of this precept and reject all other gods and lords and have no god or lord except the one God and Lord, you have declared war on all others without treaty. When, therefore, we come to the grace of baptism, renouncing all other gods and lords, we confess the only God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Source: ON EXODUS, HOMILY 8.4
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Mark 12:30
It is not the privilege of any chance person to go forward to the perfection of love and to learn to know him who is truly beloved, but of him who has already “put off the old man, which is being corrupted through its deceptive lusts, and has put on the new man,” which is being renewed that it may be recognized as an image of the creator. Moreover, he who loves money and is aroused by the corruptible beauty of the body and esteems exceedingly this little glory here, since he has expended the power of loving on what is not proper, he is quite blind in regard to the contemplation of him who is truly beloved.

Source: EXEGETIC HOMILIES, HOMILY 17
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Mark 12:30
The expression, “with the whole,” admits of no division into parts. As much love as you shall have squandered on lower objects, that much will necessarily be lacking to you from the whole.

Source: EXEGETIC HOMILIES, HOMILY 17
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Mark 12:30
Human life consists in a threefold unity. We are taught similarly by the apostle in what he says to the Ephesians, praying for them that the complete grace of their “body and soul and spirit” may be preserved at the coming of the Lord. We use the word “body,” for the nutritive part, the word for the vital, “soul,” and the word “spirit” for the intellective dimension. In just this way the Lord instructs the writer of the Gospel that he should set before every commandment that love to God which is exercised with all the heart and soul and mind. This single phrase embraces the human whole: the corporeal heart, the mind as the higher intellectual and mental nature, and the soul as their mediator.

Source: ON THE MAKING OF MAN 8.5
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:31
Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbours may perish? Where, then, is (the command), "Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself? " "Care not merely about your own (things), but (about your) neighbour's? " No enunciation of the Holy Spirit ought to be (confined) to the subject immediately in hand merely, and not applied and carried out with a view to every occasion to which its application is useful.

Source: On the Apparel of Women Book II
[AD 250] Fabian of Rome on Mark 12:31
And He says also, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; "
[AD 400] Pseudo-Clement on Mark 12:31
So then, brothers, let us acknowledge him in our actions by loving one another, by not committing adultery12 or slandering one another or being jealous, but by being self-controlled, compassionate and kind. And we ought to have sympathy for one another, and not be avaricious. By these actions let us acknowledge him, and not by their opposites.

Source: 2 CLEMENT 3.4
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Mark 12:31
This is the summit of virtue, the foundation of all God’s commandments: to the love of God is joined also love of neighbor. One who loves God does not neglect his brother, nor esteem money more than a limb of his own, but shows him great generosity, mindful of him who has said, “Whoever did it to the least of my brothers did it to me.” He is aware that the Lord of all considers as done to himself what is done in generosity to the poor in giving relief. He does not take into consideration the lowly appearance of the poor, but the greatness of the One who has promised to accept as done to himself what is given to the poor.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS, HOMILY 55.12
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Mark 12:31
Christ looks for nothing else from you, in fact, Scripture says, than loving him with all your heart and carrying out his commands. I mean, obviously the person who loves him in the way he ought to love is also ready to carry out his commands. You see, when one is kindly disposed to another, he takes pains to do everything able to attract the loved one to love for him. So, we too, if we sincerely love the Lord, will manage to discharge his commands and do nothing capable of angering our loved one. This is the kingdom of heaven; this, the enjoyment of goods; this, blessings beyond number, being found worthy to love him sincerely and in the manner he deserves. Our love for him will be genuine if we give evidence of great love for our fellow servants as well as for him.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS, HOMILY 55.11
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:31
This virtue consists in nothing else but in loving what is worthy of love; it is prudence to choose this, fortitude to be turned from it by no obstacles, temperance to be enticed by no allurements, justice to be diverted by no pride. Why do we choose what we exclusively love, except that we find nothing better? But this is God, and if we prefer or equate any creature with God, we know nothing about loving ourselves. We are made better by approaching closer to him than whom nothing is better. We go to him not by walking, but by loving. We will have him more present to us in proportion as we are able to purify the love by which we draw near to him, for he is not spread through or confined by corporeal space; he is everywhere present and everywhere wholly present, and we go to him not by the motion of our feet but by our conduct. Conduct is not usually discerned by what one knows but by what one loves; good or bad love makes good or bad conduct.

Source: LETTER 155, TO MACEDONIUS
[AD 1963] CS Lewis on Mark 12:31
You are told to love your neighbors as yourself. How do you love yourself? When I look into my own mind, I find that I do not love myself by thinking myself a dear old chap or having affectionate feelings. I do not think that I love myself because I am particularly good, but just because I am myself and quite apart from my character. I might detest something which I have done. Nevertheless, I do not cease to love myself. In other words, that definite distinction that Christians make between hating sin and loving the sinner is one that you have been making in your own case since you were born. You dislike what you have done, but you don't cease to love yourself. You may even think that you ought to be hanged. You may even think that you ought to go to the police and own up and be hanged. Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained. It seems to me, therefore, that when the worst comes to the worst, if you cannot restrain a man by any method except by trying to kill him, then a Christian must do that. That is my answer. But I may be wrong. It is very difficult to answer, of course.

Source: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON CHRISTIANITY, from God in the Dock
[AD 1963] CS Lewis on Mark 12:31
I said in a previous chapter that chastity was the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. But I am not sure I was right. I believe there is one even more unpopular. It is laid down in the Christian rule, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as theyself.' Because in Christian morals 'thy neighbor' includes 'thy enemy', and so we come up against this terrible duty of forgiving our enemies...

We might try to understand exactly what loving your neighbor as yourself means. I have to love him as I love myself. Well, how exactly do I love myself?

Now that I come to think of it, I have no exactly got a feeling of fondness or affection for myself, and I do not even always enjoy my own society. So apparently 'Love your neighbour' does not mean 'feel fond of him' or 'find him attractive'. I ought to have seen that before, because, of course, you cannot feel fond of a person by trying. Do I think well of myself, think myself a nice chap? Well, I am afraid I sometimes do (and those are, no doubt, my worst moments) but that is not why I love myself. In fact it is the other way round: my self-love makes me think myself nice, but thinking myself nice is not why I love myself. So loving my enemies does not apparently mean thinking them nice either. That is an enormous relief. For a good many people imagine that forgiving your enemies means making out that they are really not such bad fellows after all, when it is quite plain that they are. Go a step further. In my most clear-sighted moments not only do I not think myself a nice man, but I know that I am a very nasty one. I can look at some of the things I have done with horror and loathing. So apparently I am allowed to loathe and hate some of the things my enemies do...

Does loving your enemy mean not punishing him? No, for loving myself does not mean that I ought not to subject myself to punishment - even to death. If you had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged...

I imagine somebody will say, 'Well, if one is allowed to condemn the enemy's acts, and punish him, and kill him, what difference is left between Christian morality and the ordinary view?' All the difference in the world. Remember, we Christians think man lives for ever. Therefore, what really matters is those little marks or twists on the central, inside part of the soul which are going to turn it, in the long run, into a heavenly or hellish creature. We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it. In other words, something insude us, the feeling of resentment, the feeling that wants to get one own's back, must be simply killed... Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves - to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not.

I admit that this means loving people who have nothing lovable about them. But then, has oneself anything lovable about it? You love it simply because it is yourself. God intends us to love all selves in the same way and for the same reason: but He has given us the sum ready worked out in our own case to show us how it works. We have then to go on and apply the rule to all the other selves. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves.

Source: Mere Christianity, Chapter 7 - Forgiveness
[AD 220] Tertullian on Mark 12:32
Accordingly, God's judgment will be more full and complete, because it will be pronounced at the very last, in an eternal irrevocable sentence, both of punishment and of consolation, (on men whose) souls are not to transmigrate into beasts, but are to return into their own proper bodies. And all this once for all, and on "that day, too, of which the Father only knoweth; " (only knoweth, ) in order that by her trembling expectation faith may make full trial of her anxious sincerity, keeping her gaze ever fixed on that day, in her perpetual ignorance of it, daily fearing that for which she yet daily hopes.

Source: A Treatise on the Soul
[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on Mark 12:32
The answer of the scribe seems to accord with the words of the Lord, for he too acknowledges the inmost love of one God, and professes the love of one’s neighbor as real as the love of self, and places love of God and love of one’s neighbor above all the burnt offerings of sacrifices.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 9.24
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Mark 12:32
Which the law also does appoint: "To love the Lord God with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, who is the one and only God, besides whom there is no other; "

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:32
And the scribe said to him: Well said, teacher, you have truly said that there is one God, and there is none other besides him. And to love him with all your heart, and with all your understanding, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. It is shown by this response of the scribe that there was often a serious question debated among the scribes and Pharisees about what was the first or greatest commandment of divine law, some indeed praising offerings and sacrifices, others preferring with greater authority the works of faith and love, because many of the fathers before the law, without any custom of victims and sacrifices, pleased God through faith alone, which works through love, and were held in the highest regard by him; but none was ever found to have pleased God through holocausts and sacrifices alone without faith and love. In which opinion this scribe also declared himself to be.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 223] Callistus I of Rome on Mark 12:33
My brethren, shun not only the holding, but even the hearing, of the judgment that bans mercy; for better is mercy than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
[AD 223] Callistus I of Rome on Mark 12:33
My brothers, shun not only the holding, but even the hearing, of the judgment that bans mercy. For mercy is better than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Source: THE SECOND EPISTLE TO ALL THE BISHOPS OF GAUL 6
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:34
But Jesus, seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God. He was not far from the kingdom of God because he was shown to be a supporter of the precepts that are characteristic of the New Testament and evangelical perfection. Hence, it must be more carefully inquired how Matthew says that the scribe here or the doctor of the law (as he calls him) was testing the Lord, asking about the first or greatest commandment, whom, according to this evangelist, the Lord asserts is not far from the kingdom of God, whereas it is evident that those who seek wisdom through testing cannot find it, and therefore cannot approach the gate of the heavenly kingdom, which is revealed only to the wise. For Scripture says: "And seek him in the simplicity of heart, because he is found by those who do not test him" (Wisdom 1). Unless perhaps we say that he came indeed to test the Lord, but hearing His response, being corrected, soon returned to the grace of piety; and whom he previously thought was to be deceived by testing, he later recognized must be followed by embracing. Or certainly, let us not consider the very temptation to be evil, as if wanting to deceive an enemy, but rather cautious, as wanting to test more thoroughly someone unknown. For it is not written in vain: "He who easily believes will become less in heart" (Sirach 19).

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:34
And no one dared to question him anymore. The Pharisees and Sadducees, and other leaders of the Jews seeking an occasion for calumny and to find some word that could be subject to traps, because they were refuted in their words, no longer questioned him, but openly handed him over to the Roman authority. From this, we understand that the poison of envy can indeed be overcome, but it is difficult to be fully quieted.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 9999] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:34
To say “you are not far from” suggests that the scribe was still at some distance from the reign of God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON MARK
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:35
And answering, Jesus, teaching in the temple, said: How do the scribes say that Christ is the Son of David? For he himself says in the Holy Spirit: The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies as a footstool for your feet. For David himself calls him Lord, and how is he his son? The questioning of Jesus benefits us even today against the Jews. For even those who confess that Christ is to come assert that he is a simple and holy man from the lineage of David. Therefore, let us question them, instructed by the Lord, if he is a simple man, and only a son of David, how does David call him his Lord, not with uncertain error, nor of his own will, but in the Holy Spirit. They are not reprehended for calling him David's son, but because they do not believe him to be the Son of God: indeed, he himself is both Lord of David, remaining God before the ages, and appeared as the son of David, being born as a man at the end of time. But the fact that enemies are subjected to him by the Father denotes not the weakness of the Son, but the unity of nature, because in one the other works. For the Son also subjects enemies to the Father, because he glorifies the Father on earth.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:35-40
(ubi sup.) But the putting own of His enemies by the Father, does not show the weakness of the Son, but the unity of nature, by which One works in the Other; for the Son also subjects the Father's enemies, because He glorifies His Father upon earth.

(ubi sup.) The question of Jesus is useful for us even now against the Jews; for they, acknowledging that Christ is to come, assert that He is a mere man, a holy Person descended from David. Let us then ask them, as our Lord has taught us, if He be a mere man, and only the son of David, how David in the Holy Spirit calls Him Lord. They are not however reproved for calling Him David's son, but for not believing Him to be the Son of God. It goes on, And the common people heard him gladly.

(ubi sup.) To walk in long clothing is to go forth into public clad in garments too much ornamented, in which amongst other things, that rich man, who fared sumptuously every day, is said to have sinned.

(ubi sup.) We must observe that He does not forbid that those, to whom it falls by the rule of their office, should be saluted in the marketplace, or have chief seats and places at feasts, but He teaches that those who love those things unduly, whether they have them or no, are to be avoided by the faithful as wicked men: that is, He blames the intention and not the office; although this too is culpable, that the very men who wish to be called masters of the synagogue in Moses' seat, should have to do with lawsuits in the marketplace. We are in two ways ordered to beware of those who are desirous of vain glory; first, we should not be seduced by their hypocrisy into thinking that what they do is good; nor secondly, should we be excited to imitate them, through a vain rejoicing in being praised for those virtues which they affect.

(ubi sup.) But they do not only seek for praise from men, but also for gain. Wherefore there follows, Which devour widows' houses, under the pretence of long prayers. For there are men who pretending to be just hesitate not to receive money from persons who are troubled in conscience, as though they would be their advocates in the judgment. A hand stretched out to the poor is always an accompaniment to prayer, but these men pass the night in prayer, that they may take away money from the poor.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on Mark 12:35-40
Because Christ was coming to His Passion, He corrects a false opinion of the Jews, who said that Christ was the Son of David, not his Lord; wherefore it is said, And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple.

But Christ shows Himself to be the Lord, by the words of David. For it goes on: For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand; as if He had said, Ye cannot say that David said this without the grace of the Holy Spirit, but he called Him Lord in the Holy Spirit; and that He is Lord, he shows, by this that is added, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool; for they themselves were His enemies, whom God put under the footstool of Christ.

But they used to walk in honourable garments, because they wished to be highly esteemed for it, and in like manner they desired other things, which lead to glory. For it goes on: And love salutations in the marketplaces, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts.

He also especially teaches the Apostles, not to have any communication with the scribes, but to imitate Christ Himself; and in ordaining them to be masters in the duties of life, He places others under themv.

But the Scribes used to come to women, who were left without the protection of their husbands, as though they were their protectors; and by a pretence of prayer, a reverend exterior and hypocrisy, they used to deceive widows, and thus also devour the houses of the rich. It goes on, These shall receive a greater damnation, that is, than the other Jews, who sinned.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:35-40
That is, He openly speaks to them of Himself, that they may be inexcusable; for it goes on: How say the Scribes that Christ is the Son of David?

After confuting the Scribes and Pharisees, He burns up as a fire their dry and withered examples; wherefore it is said, And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the Scribes, which love to go in long clothing.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Glossa Ordinaria on Mark 12:35-40
(non occ.) Thus then the Lord concludes from what has gone before the doubtful question. For from the foregoing words of David it is proved that Christ is the Lord of David, but according to the saying of the Scribes, it is proved that He is his son. And this is what is added, David himself then calls him Lord, how is he then his son?

(non occ.) Namely, because they saw that He answered and put questions wisely.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on Mark 12:36
The scribe, therefore, is not far from the kingdom of God when he acknowledges the one God who is to be loved above all things. But he is admonished by his own confession in that he does not fully grasp the mystery of the law as being fulfilled in Christ.… The scribe only recognized him according to the flesh and the birth from Mary, who was descended from David, rather than as David’s Lord.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 9.26
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Mark 12:37
What is lofty you are to apply to the Godhead, and to that nature in him which is superior to sufferings and incorporeal; but all that is lowly to the composite condition of him who for your sakes made himself of no reputation and was incarnate.

Source: ORATION 29, ON THE SON 18
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:37
For that through which Mary had been made was not dying, but that which was made from Mary was dying. The eternity of [his] divinity was not dying, but the weakness of [his] flesh was dying. Therefore he made that reply, distinguishing in the faith of believers the one who came from the one through whom he came. For he, God and Lord of heaven and earth, came through a woman as his mother. In regard to the fact that he was Lord of the world, Lord of heaven and earth, he was also, of course, Lord of Mary; and in regard to the fact that he was creator of the world, creator of heaven and earth, he was also the creator of Mary. But insofar as it was said, “made of a woman, made under the law,” he was the son of Mary. He was the Lord of Mary, he was the son of Mary; he was the creator of Mary, he was created from Mary. Do not be amazed that he is both son and Lord. For as he was [the son] of Mary, so, also, he was said to be the son of David; indeed the son of David precisely because the son of Mary. Hear the apostle speaking clearly: “who was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh.” Hear that he was also the Lord of David; and let David himself say this: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand.’ ” And Jesus himself proposed this to the Jews, and by it refuted them. Therefore just as he was both the son and the Lord of David, the son of David according to the flesh, the Lord of David according to [his] divinity, so he was the son of Mary according to the flesh and the Lord of Mary according to [his] majesty. Because, therefore, she was not the mother of [his] divinity and what she sought would be a miracle through [his] divinity, he answered her, “What is it to me and to you, woman?” But that you may not think that I am denying you as my mother, “My hour has not yet come.” For there shall I acknowledge you when the weakness of which you are the mother has begun to hang on the cross.

Source: TRACTATE ON JOHN 8.9
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:37
He spoke in the hearing of those whom he wished profitably to instruct on his authority, and to turn away from the teaching of the scribes, whose knowledge of Christ amounted then only to this, that he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. They did not understand that he was God, and on that ground also the Lord even of David.

Source: HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.74
[AD 1274] Glossa Ordinaria on Mark 12:37
Thus then Lord concludes from what has gone before the doubtful questions. For from the foregoing words of David it is proved that Christ is the Lord of David, but according to the saying of the Scribes, it is proved that He is his Son. And this is what is added, “David himself then calls Him Lord, how is He then his Son? "It goes on: “And the common people heard Him gladly.”.
Namely, because they saw that He answered and put questions wisely.
[AD 400] Hegemonius on Mark 12:38
The Pharisees looked to the “tithing of anise and cummin, and left undone the weightier matters of the law.” While devoting great care to the things which were external, they overlooked those which bore upon salvation of the soul. For they also paid much attention to “greetings in the marketplace,” and to the “uppermost seats at feasts.” To them the Lord Jesus, knowing their perdition, made this declaration: that they attended to those things only which were external, and despised as strange those things which were within, and did not understand that he who made the body made also the soul.

Source: THE DISPUTATION WITH MANES 21
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:38
And he said to them in his teaching: Beware of the scribes who desire to walk in long robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and to sit in the first seats in the synagogues, and to have the first places at feasts. Walking in long robes signifies appearing in public adorned in more splendid garments, in which among other things, that rich man who feasted sumptuously every day is described as sinning. However, it should be noted that he does not forbid those to whom it is appropriate by order of office to be greeted in the marketplace, or to sit or recline in the first places, but he certainly teaches that those who love these things inappropriately, whether they possess them or not, should be avoided by the faithful as wicked, rebuking the disposition, not the rank, with just discernment. Although this too is not free from fault, if those who desire to be called teachers in the chair of Moses in the synagogue are also involved in lawsuits in the marketplace. We are certainly commanded to beware of those desiring vain glory for two reasons, believing that what they do is good and should be done, or we may be inflamed with emulation, rejoicing in vain to be praised for the good they feign.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 160] Shepherd of Hermas on Mark 12:39
And ye be shut out with all your goods beyond the gate of the tower. Wherefore I now say to you who preside over the Church and love the first seats,
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Mark 12:39
Because righteous. And although here upon earth he be not honoured with the chief seat,
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:40
Those who devour widows' houses under the pretense of long prayers will receive a harsher judgment. He did not merely say, "They will receive judgment," but added "harsher," to insinuate that those who stand praying in corners to be seen by people deserve condemnation. And those who engage in such practices more extensively, as though they were more religious, not only seeking praise from people but also money, are to be punished with a severer judgment. For there are those who, pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, do not hesitate to take money from anyone of humble means and troubled by the awareness of their sins, as though they will act as their advocates in judgment. And while the outstretched hands of the poor typically bring aid through prayers, these individuals, mainly for the purpose of taking money from the poor, spend the night in prayer. To such individuals the curse of Judas fittingly applies: "When he is judged, let him come out condemned, and let his prayer become sin" (Psalm 108). When he is judged, he comes out condemned, and he takes his prayer into sin, as he, now held in high regard by humans, then finds himself not only incapable of interceding for others but also insufficient in his own merits before the divine judgment. In fact, he will bear the punishment for the very prayers by which he deceived human judgment.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:41
And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched how the crowd put money into the treasury. Because in Greek speech φυλάττειν is said to mean "to guard," and "gaza" in the Persian language means "riches," the treasury is customarily called a place where riches are kept. By this name both the chest in which the people's donations were collected for the temple's necessities and the porticoes where they were kept were called. You have an example of the porticoes in the Gospel. Jesus, He said, spoke these words in the treasury, teaching in the temple (John 8). You have about the chest in the book of Kings: And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord. And the priests that kept the door put all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord into it. And when they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's scribe and the high priest came up and tied up and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord (2 Kings 12). Therefore, the Lord, who warned that seekers of preeminence and vain glory should be avoided, who predicted with prolonged simulated prayers that judgment would be rendered, also judges those bringing gifts to the house of the Lord with a certain scrutiny, so that He may reward each according to their heart and deeds, because in the same manner the same internal judge always acts in the Church unceasingly.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:41
And many rich people put in large amounts. But when a poor widow came, she put in two small coins, which is a quadrans. Mathematicians call a quadrans the fourth part of anything, namely of a place, of time, or of money. Thus, perhaps in this passage, it signifies a fourth part of a shekel, that is, five obols.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:41-44
(ubi sup.) The Lord, who had warned them to avoid the desire of high place and vain glory, now distinguishes by a sure test those who brought in gifts. Wherefore it is said, And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury. In the Greek language, phylassein means to keep, and gaza is a Persian word for treasure; wherefore the word gazophylacium. which is here used means a place where riches are kept, which name also was applied to the chest in which the offerings of the people were collected, for the necessary uses of the temple, and to the porch in which they were kept. You have a notice of the porch in the Gospel, These words spake Jesus in the treasury as He taught in the temple; and of the chest in the book of Kings, But Jehoiada the priest took a chest. (John 8:20. 2 Kings 12:9)

(ubi sup.) Reckoners use the word 'quadrans' for the fourth part of any thing, be it place, money, or time. Perhaps then in this place is meant the fourth part of a shekel, that is, five pence. It goes on, And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for God does not weigh the property but the conscience of those who offer; nor did He consider the smallness of the sum in her offering, but what was the store from which it came. Wherefore He adds, For all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

(ubi sup) Again, in an allegorical way, the rich men, who cast gifts into the treasury, point out the Jews puffed up with the righteousness of the law; the poor widow is the simplicity of the Church: poor indeed, because she has cast away the spirit of pride and of the desires of worldly things; and a widow, because Jesus her husband has suffered death for her. She casts two mites into the treasury, because she brings the love of God and of her neighbour, or the gifts of faith and prayer; which are looked upon as mites in their own insignificance, but measured by the merit of a devout intention are superior to all the proud works of the Jews. The Jew sends of his abundance into the treasury, because he presumes on his own righteousness; but the Church sends her whole living into God's treasury, because she understands that even her very living is not of her own desert, but of Divine grace.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on Mark 12:41-44
But the Scribes used to come to women, who were left without the protection of their husbands, as though they were their protectors; and by a pretence of prayer, a reverend exterior and hypocrisy, they used to deceive widows, and thus also devour the houses of the rich. It goes on, These shall receive a greater damnation, that is, than the other Jews, who sinned.

Now there was a praiseworthy custom amongst the Jews, that those who were able and willing should put something into the treasury, for the maintenance of the priests, the poor, and the widows; wherefore there is added, And many that were rich cast in much. But whilst many people were so engaged, a poor widow came up, and showed her love by offering money according to her ability; wherefore it is said, And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

Or else; That widow is the soul of man, which leaving Satan to which it had been joined, casts into the temple two mites, that is, the flesh and the mind, the flesh by abstinence, the mind by humility, that so it may be able to hear that it has cast away all its living, and has consecrated it, leaving nothing for the world of all that it possessed.

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 1274] Pseudo-Jerome on Mark 12:41-44
But in a mystical sense, they are rich, who bring forth from the treasure of their heart things new and old, which are the obscure and hidden things of Divine wisdom in both testaments; but who is the poor woman, if it be not I and those like me, who cast in what I can, and have the will to explain to you, where I have not the power. For God does not consider how much ye hear, but what is the store from which it comes; but each at all events can bring his farthing, that is, a ready will, which is called a farthing, because it is accompanied by three things, that is, thought, word, and deed. And in that it is said that she cast in all her living, it is implied that all that the body wants is that by which it lives; wherefore it is said, All the labour of man is for his mouth. (Eccl. 6:7)

Source: Catena Aurea by Aquinas
[AD 250] Commodian on Mark 12:42
In the treasury, besides, you ought to give of your labour, even as that widow whom the Anointed One preferred. [Mark 12:42; Luke 21:2]

Source: On Christian Discipline, LXXII
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Mark 12:42
Let such a one also be free from the love of money, free from arrogance, not given to filthy lucre, not insatiable, not gluttonous, but continent, meek, giving nobody disturbance, pious, modest, sitting at home, singing, and praying, and reading, and watching, and fasting; speaking to God continually in songs and hymns. And let her take wool, and rather assist others than herself want from them; being mindful of that widow who is honoured in the Gospel with the Lord's testimony, who, coming into the temple, "cast into the treasury two mites, which make a farthing. And Christ our Lord and Master, and Searcher of hearts, saw her, and said, Verily I say unto you, that this widow has cast into the treasury more than they all: for all they have cast in of their abundance, but this woman of her penury has cast in all the living that she had."

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 3.7
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Mark 12:42
Do not despair. One cannot buy heavenly things with money.… If money could purchase such things, then the woman who deposited the two small copper coins would have received nothing very large. But since it was not money but rather her intention that prevailed, that woman received everything because she demonstrated firm conviction. Therefore, let us not say that the kingdom may be bought with money. It is not bought with money, but rather with an unsullied intention that may demonstrate itself by means of money. Therefore, one answers, is there no need for money? There is no need for money, but for a Christian disposition. If you have this, you will even be able to buy heaven with two small copper coins. Without this disposition, one will not be able to do with ten thousand talents of gold the very thing that the two coins can do. Why? Because whenever you have many things and deposit a lesser amount, you have given alms, but not the same kind of alms that the widow gave. For you were not depositing it with the same kind of eagerness that she did. For she robbed herself of everything, or rather did not rob but gave to herself a free gift.

Source: Homily 15 on Philippians, 4:15
[AD 420] Jerome on Mark 12:42
The poor widow cast only two pennies into the treasury; yet because she gave all she had it is said of her that she surpassed all the rich in offering gifts to God. Such gifts are valued not by their weight but by the good will with which they are made.

Source: LETTER 118, TO JULIAN 5
[AD 420] Jerome on Mark 12:42
I pass on to the widow in the gospel who, though she was but a poor widow was yet richer than all the people of Israel. [Mark 12:43] She had but a grain of mustard seed, but she put her leaven in three measures of flour; and, combining her confession of the Father and of the Son with the grace of the Holy Spirit, she cast her two mites into the treasury. All the substance that she had, her entire possessions, she offered in the two testaments of her faith. These are the two seraphim which glorify the Trinity with threefold song [Isa. 6:2-3] and are stored among the treasures of the church. They also form the legs of the tongs by which the live coal is caught up to purge the sinner's lips. [Isa. 6:6]

Source: LETTER 54, TO FURIA 17
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Mark 12:43
When alms are given, we attend to nothing else except the disposition required. And if you say that money is needed, and houses and clothes and shoes, read those words of Christ, which he spoke concerning the widow, and stop being anxious. For even if you are extremely poor, and among those that beg, if you cast in your two small coins, you have done all in your power. Though you offer only a barley cake, having only this, you will have arrived at the heart of the matter.

Source: THE GOSPEL OF ST MATTHEW, HOMILY 52.5
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Mark 12:43
But what, brethren, is more mighty than that not only Zacchaeus should acquire the kingdom of heaven by the half of his goods, but even the widow for two pennies, and that each should possess an equal share there? What is greater than that the same kingdom should be worth treasures to the rich man, and a cup of cold water to the poor?

Source: ON THE PSALMS 112.3
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Mark 12:43
Therefore, those who possess good will have everything. This alone can be sufficient if there are no other things, but if it alone is lacking, whatever they possess profits nothing. If it is present, it alone suffices, but everything else avails nothing if charity alone is lacking.

Source: SERMONS 182.3
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:43
The treasure in one’s heart is the intention of the thought, from which the searcher of hearts judges the outcome. Hence it quite frequently occurs that some persons perform good deeds of lesser importance with a greater reward of heavenly grace. This is because of the intention in their hearts to accomplish greater good if they could. Others, though they display greater works of virtue, are allotted smaller rewards by the Lord on account of the indifference in their lukewarm hearts. The deed of the widow who contributed two copper coins to the temple was preferred to the large contributions of those who were rich by the One who weighs what is within our hearts.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 2.25
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:43
And he called his disciples and said to them: Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. This place morally indeed suggests to us that anything we offer with a good intention is acceptable to God, who values not the substance of the offerings, but the conscience; he does not consider how much is in the sacrifice, but from how much it is given. According to the rules of allegory, the rich who were putting gifts into the treasury represent the Jews proud of the righteousness of the law, whereas the poor widow signifies the simplicity of the Church. She is rightly called poor, because she has cast away either the spirit of pride or the desires for temporal things, as if they were the riches of the world. She is called a widow because her husband endured death for her, and now, hidden from her eyes in the recesses of heaven, lives as if in another part of the region. She puts two mites into the treasury, because into the sight of the Divine Majesty, where the offerings of our devout works, as if written and inscribed in a definite number, are kept, she brings either love of God and neighbor or the gifts of her faith and prayer. These, considered small due to her own frailty, but accepted because of the merit of pious intention, surpass all the works of the proud Jews.

Source: On the Gospel of Mark
[AD 399] Evagrius Ponticus on Mark 12:44
It is better to begin from one’s feeble state and end up strong, to progress from small things to larger, than to set your heart from the very first on the perfect way of life, then only to abandon it later—or keep to it solely out of habit, because of what others will think—in which case all this labor will be in vain. It is the same with people who travel: if they tire themselves out on the very first day by rushing along, they will end up wasting many days as a result of sickness. But if they start out walking at a gentle pace until they have gotten accustomed to walking, in the end they will not get tired, even though they walk great distances. Likewise anyone who wishes to embark on the labors of the virtuous life should train himself gently, until he gradually reaches the full extent of his abilities. Do not be perplexed by the many paths walked by our fathers of old, each different from the other. Do not overzealously try to imitate them all—this would only upset your way of life. Rather, choose a way of life that suits your feeble state; travel on that, and you will live, for your Lord is merciful and he will receive you, not because of your achievements, but because of your intention, just as he received the destitute woman’s gift.

Source: ADMONITION ON PRAYER
[AD 400] Hegemonius on Mark 12:44
For here I perceive that Jesus also looks on willingly at the gifts of the rich men, when they are put into the treasury. All too little, at the same time, is it if gifts are cast into the treasury by the rich alone; and so there are the two mites of the poor widow which are also received with gladness; and in that offering verily something is exhibited that goes beyond what Moses prescribed on the subject of the receipt of moneys. For he received gifts from those who had; but Jesus receives them even from those who have not.

Source: THE DISPUTATION WITH MANES 42
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Mark 12:44
When the widow put into the collection box only two small coins, the master did not give her a recompense worth only two coins. Why was that? Because he paid no attention to the amount of the money. What he did heed was the wealth of her soul. If you calculate by the value of her money, her poverty is great. If you bring her intention into the light, you will see that her store of generosity defies description.

Source: ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD 6.12
[AD 420] Jerome on Mark 12:44
There is an old saying that a miser lacks as much what he has as what he has not. The believer has a whole world of wealth; the unbeliever has not a single farthing. Let us always live "as having nothing and yet possessing all things." [2 Cor. 6:10] Food and raiment, these are the Christian's wealth. [1 Tim. 6:8] If your property is in your own power, [Cf. Acts 5:4] sell it: if not, cast it from you. "If any man... will take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also." [Matt. 5:40] You are all for delay, you wish to defer action: unless-so you argue-unless I sell my goods piecemeal and with caution, Christ will be at a loss to feed his poor. Nay, he who has offered himself to God, has given Him everything once for all. The apostles did but forsake ships and nets. [Matt. 4:18-22] The widow cast but two brass coins into the treasury [Mark 12:41-44] and yet she shall be preferred before Croesus with all his wealth. He readily despises all things who reflects always that he must die.

Source: LETTER 53, TO PAULINUS 11
[AD 431] Paulinus of Nola on Mark 12:44
We have been entrusted with the administration and use of temporal wealth for the common good, not with the everlasting ownership of private property. If you accept the fact that ownership on earth is only for a time, you can earn eternal possessions in heaven. Call to mind the widow who forgot herself in her concern for the poor and, thinking only of the life to come, gave away all her means of subsistence, as the judge himself bears witness. Others, he says, have given of their superfluous wealth; but she, possessed of only two small coins and more needy perhaps than many of the poor—though in spiritual riches she surpassed all the wealthy—she thought only of the world to come, and had such a longing for heavenly treasure that she gave away, all at once, whatever she had that was derived from the earth and destined to return there. Let us then invest with the Lord what he has given us, for we have nothing that does not come from him: we are dependent upon him for our very existence.… So let us give back to the Lord the gifts he has given us. Let us give to him who receives in the person of every poor man or woman. Let us give gladly, I say, and great joy will be ours when we receive his promised reward.

Source: LETTERS 34, 24
[AD 735] Bede on Mark 12:44
For all of them have contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, has given all she had, her whole livelihood. The Jew contributes to the gifts of God out of his abundance, who, presuming upon his own righteousness, prays to himself thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, etc. (Luke 18). But the Church gives all her living to the gifts of God, understanding that all she lives is not by her own merit, but by divine grace, saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner (Ibid.). And again: I will keep my strength for you, because you are my protector, my God; his mercy will precede me (Psalm 58).

Source: On the Gospel of Mark