Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?
All Commentaries on Luke 14:31 Go To Luke 14
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Or what king, going to make war against another king, &c. By this, says Titus , we are given to understand that we have a war to wage against the hostile powers of Satan and that law which, reigning in our members, is continually the cause of inward perturbation and strife.
So also S. Cyril: "The ten thousand of him who is going to fight with the king who has double the number, signify the simplicity of the Christian about to contend with the subtlety of the devil." And Theophylact: "The king is sin, and devils are his satellites, who, compared to us, are considered to have greater strength."
But S. Gregory (Hom37) gives another interpretation. "The king that is about to come against us is Christ, who will come with a double army against a single one. For while we are scarcely prepared in deeds only, He will discomfit us at once, both in thought and deed. Let us send Him therefore an embassy; our tears, our works of mercy, and propitiatory victim."
