And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Ambros., in Luc 7:19: Some understand it thus; That it was a great thing that John should be so far a prophet, as to acknowledge Christ, and to preach remission of sin; but that like a pious prophet; he could not think that He whom he had believed to be He that should come, was to suffer death; he doubted therefore though not in faith, yet in love. So Peter also doubted, saying, "This be far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee.” .
And perhaps the two disciples sent are the two people; those of the Jews, and those of the Gentiles who believed.
Scandalized in me. That is, who shall not take occasion of scandal or offence from my humility, and the disgraceful death of the cross which I shall endure: (Challoner) or on my account, that is, at the doctrine of the cross; or when I shall die on an infamous cross. (Witham)
Blessed is he That is, who shall not be offended by my doctrine or manners; for Christ was a stumbling block to many, but this was entirely their own fault. He seems indeed directly to mark the disciples of St. John, and at the same time to show that he knew their hearts. (Menochius)
Non occ.: The Evangelist had shown above how by Christ’s miracles and teaching, both His disciples and the multitudes had been instructed; he now shows how this instruction had reached even to John’s disciples, so that they seemed to have some jealousy towards Christ; “John, when he had heard in his bonds the works of Christ, sent two of his disciples to say unto him, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?.
non occ.: But it ought to be observed, that Jerome and Gregory did not say that John was to proclaim Christ’s coming to the world beneath, to the end that the unbelievers there might be converted to the faith, but that the righteous who abode in expectation of Christ, should be comforted by His near approach.
Hom in Ev. vi. 1: We must enquire how John, who is a prophet and more than aprophet, who made known the Lord when He came to be baptized, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sine of the world!—why, when he was afterwards cast into prison, he should send his disciples to ask, “Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? "Did he not know Him whom he had pointed outto others; or was he uncertain whether this was He, whom by foretelling, by baptizing, and by making known, he had proclaimed to be He?.
Hom in Ev., vi. 1: Otherwise; The mind of unbelievers was greatly offended concerning Christ, because after many miracles done, they saw Him at length putto death; whence Paul speaks, “We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews astumbling-block.” What then does that mean, “Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me,” but a direct allusion to the humiliation of His death; as much as to say, I do indeed wonderful works, but do not disdain to suffer humble things, Beca...
It is indeed certain, that he who as forerunner proclaimed Christ’s coming, as prophet knew Him when He stood before him, and worshipped Him as Confessor when He came to him, could not fall into error from such abundant knowledge. Nor canit be believed that the grace of the Holy Spirit failed him when thrown into prison, seeing He should hereafter minister the light of His power to the Apostles when they were in prison. But John’s disciples had somewhat of bitterness and jealousy towards the Lord, as their former enquiry shewed, “Why dothee and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?.
John then is providing not for his own, but his disciples’ ignorance; that they might know that it was no other whom he had proclaimed, he sent them to see His works, that the works might establish what John had spoken; and that they should not look for any other Christ, than Him to whom His works had borne testimony.
This saying, that they were blessed from whom there should be no offence in ...
And when the Lord had shown forth all of himself in miraculous works, in giving sight to the blind, the power of walking to the lame, cleansing to the lepers, hearing to the deaf, voices to the mute, life to the dead and preaching to the poor, he said, “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Now, had anything really been done through Christ that would cause John to take offense? Not in the least. For John himself also spent his time in his own teaching and work. However, one ought to look to a higher meaning that is both powerful and fitting. What does it mean that the poor have good news preached to them? Poor people are those who have abandoned their lives, who have taken up his cross and followed, who have been made humble in spirit. For such the kingdom of heaven is prepared. Because all experiences of this kind come together in the Lord and because his cross was to be a source of offense to many, he declared that people are blessed if their faith is not threatened by a cr...
Hence he frames his question thus, “Art thou he that is to come?” Not, Art ThouHe that hast come? And the sense is, Direct me, since I am about to go down into the lower parts of the earth, whether I shall announce Thee to the spirits beneath also; or whether Thou as the Son of God may not taste death, but will send another to this sacrament?.
This last is no less than the first. And understand it as if it had been said, Even “the poor;” that so between noble and mean, rich and poor, there may be no difference in preaching. This approves the strictness of the master, this the truth of the teacher, that in His sight every one who can be saved is equal.
He knows even their unuttered thoughts. For if He had said, I am He, both this would have offended them, as I have already said; and they would have thought, even if they had not spoken, much as the Jews said to Him, You bear record of Yourself. Wherefore He says not this Himself, but leaves them to learn all from the miracles, freeing what He taught from suspicion, and making it plainer. Wherefore also He covertly added His reproof of them. That is, because they were offended in Him, He by setting forth their case and leaving it to their own conscience alone, and by calling no witness of this His accusation, but only themselves that knew it all, did thus also draw them the more unto Himself, in saying, Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. For indeed His secret meaning was of them when He said this.
But in order to our making the truth more evident to you by the comparison of the several statements, producing not only our own sayings, but also what is stated by othe...
But this seems hardly reasonable. For John was not in ignorance of His death, but was the first to preach it, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh.away the sins of the world.” For thus calling Him the Lamb, he plainly shewsforth the Cross; and no otherwise than by the Cross did He take away the sins of the world. Also how is he a greater prophet than these, if he knew not those things which all the prophets knew; for Isaiah says, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.” .
But is this a more reasonable explanation than the other? for why then did he not say, Art Thou He that is coming to the world beneath? and not simply, “Artthou he that is to come? "And the reason of his seeking to know, namely, that he might preach Him there, is even ridiculous. For the present life is the time of grace, and after death the judgment and punishment; therefore there was no need of a forerunnner thither. Again, if the unbelievers who should believe after death should be saved, then none would ...
Jesus knew the mind of John who sent them, for he knew, as God knows, our inner thoughts. There he was, actively healing the blind, lame, and many others. He healed not to teach John, who was already convinced, but those who had come to him doubting. Having healed them he said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” And then he added pointedly, “And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” By saying this Jesus implied that he knew even his questioners’ unuttered thoughts. For if he had said simply “I am he,” this would have fallen short of overcoming their unstated sense of being offended. And it would have given fuel to some Jews who were already saying to him, “You bear record of yourself.” Hence he answered nothing directly concerning his identity but left them to learn of it from the miracles, freeing what he tau...
He did not say, "Declare unto John that I am He that cometh." But knowing that John had sent his disciples to see the miracles, He said, "Tell John what you see, and certainly he will use that opportunity to bear witness more fully to you concerning Me." By the words "the poor have the good tidings" understand either those preaching the Gospel, that is, the apostles, who were poor fishermen and despised as common lowly people, or those listening to the Gospel and hearing of the eternal good things. And to show John’s disciples that the thoughts they were thinking did not escape His notice, He said, "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me," for they had many doubts about Him.
