Lucas 7
Maximus of Turin · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Lucas 7:4-5
In order to praise the centurion more, the Jews said to the Lord, "It is right that you should help him, for he is a lover of our nation, and he himself has built us a synagogue." If one who has constructed a place where Christ is always denied is visited with heavenly mercy, how much more to be visited is one who has built a tabernacle where Christ is daily preached! The Lord did not approve the work that the centurion had done but the spirit in which he accomplished it. If he eagerly built a synagogue at a time when there were as yet no Christians, it is understood that he would all the more eagerly have built a church had there been Christians. He still preaches Christ even though he builds a synagogue. — SERMON 87.1
Lucas 7:6
See how the devout centurion becomes worthier to receive health as he confesses that he is unworthy. In considering his dwelling unacceptable, he has made it the more honorable and acceptable.… The Lord does not go to his house, but the Lord's healing goes. The Savior does not visit the sick man, but the Savior's health visits him. — SERMON 87
Lucas 7:32
People are in the habit of dancing or singing as the custom is with vows, particularly at marriages, and so we have marriages to which a vow is attached and at which we are expected to dance or sing. Our vows are celebrated when the church is united to Christ. John says, "The one who has the bride is the bridegroom." It is good for us to dance because of this marriage, for David, both king and prophet, danced before the ark of the covenant "with much singing." He broke into dancing in high rejoicing, for in the Spirit he foresaw Mary, born of his own line, brought into Christ's chamber. He says, "And he, like a bridegroom, will come forth from his chamber." He sang more than the other prophetic authors did because he was gladder than the rest of them. By these joys, he united those coming after him in marriage. By inviting us to his own vows in a more charming way than usual, having danced with such joy in front of the ark before his marriage, he taught us what we ought to do at those other vows. The prophet David danced. — SERMON 42.5