While almost all of the works in this vault use Victorian translations, due to the only English translation of this commentary being in copyright, it was machine-translated (by Claude, 2026) from the public-domain Latin. It has not been checked by a human translator.
Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, written about 353–356, before his exile to the East. Chapter 28: On the coming of the Son of man in His majesty.
-
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, and the rest. He Himself has given the whole meaning of this discourse. For He speaks of the time of the judgment and of His coming, when He will separate the faithful from the unfaithful, and distinguish the fruitful from the unfruitful, the goats, that is, from the lambs; and, placing each on the right hand or on the left, will set him in the seat worthy either of his goodness or of his wickedness: showing that it is He Himself who, in the least of His own — that is, in those who serve Him while they look for Him in His lowliness — is fed when they hunger, given drink when they thirst, cherished when they are strangers, covered when they are naked, visited when they are sick, comforted when they are anxious. For He is so poured into the bodies and minds of all the faithful that these duties of kindness, when they are performed, win His favour, and when they are refused, stir His displeasure.
-
After this discourse, in which He had shown that He would come in the return of His glory, He now warns them that He is about to suffer: so that they might recognise that the mystery of the cross was mingled with the glory of eternity. Meanwhile the Jews take counsel to put Him to death; and the chief priests being gathered together, an occasion for so great a crime is waited for.