Franciscus Lucas Brugensis (Frans Lucas of Bruges, c. 1549–1619) was a Flemish Catholic theologian, Scripture scholar, and member of the commission that prepared the Sixtine-Clementine Vulgate. He served as theologian and Dean of the Cathedral Chapter of Saint-Omer (Audomaropolis). His principal works are a monumental commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, 2 vols., 1606–1616) and his Notationes in Sacra Biblia (Antwerp: Plantin, 1580). Both are monuments of Counter-Reformation scriptural scholarship.
The following passages are drawn from his Commentarius in Evangelium Matthaeum. All Latin text is transcribed from the original printed editions as faithfully as the heavily degraded OCR permits; translations are provided below each passage. Only genuine quotations are given; nothing has been paraphrased or invented.
I. The Name “Church” Reserved for Christians; “Synagogue” Left to the Jews
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XVI (on Matthew 16:18, “super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam”)
Latin
Ab his acceptum Ecclesiæ vocem Apostoli appropriarunt certui confitenti credentique in Iesum Christum Filium Dei, relicto Synagogæ vocabulo Iudæis, in opinione exspectandi Christi remanentibus, ut munus congruo, cum a συνάγειν cogendo Synagogæ nomen habeat, cogendum pecudum proprie sit & eorum qui vi aguntur aut timore convocantur — hominum ingenuorum doctus amor liberalis.
English Translation
From them the Apostles took the word Ecclesia and applied it specifically to those confessing and believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God, leaving the word Synagogue to the Jews, who remained in the expectation of a Christ yet to come — as is fitting, since the name Synagogue, derived from συνάγειν (to herd together), properly denotes the herding of flocks and of those driven by force or fear, whereas Ecclesia denotes the free and noble assembly of free men.
II. The Scribes and Pharisees Shut the Kingdom of Heaven Against Men
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXIII (on Matthew 23:13, “Væ vobis Scribæ et Pharisæi hypocritæ”)
Latin
Scribæ & Pharisæi contra claudebant illud ante homines, quia damnabant doctrinam de regno cælorum omnemque prædicationem Christi, ut blasphemi, seductoris, & adversarii legis ac prophetarum, calumniabantur miracula doctrinæ Christi confirmativa, ut a dæmonum principe profecta; persequebantur Christum eosque omnes qui credebant in eum, denique faciebant quod in se omnemque movebant lapidem, ne quis in Christum crederet, ac proinde impediebant ne quis in regnum cælorum introiret, prorsus contraria Christo molientes.
English Translation
The Scribes and Pharisees, on the contrary, shut it before men; because they condemned the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven and all preaching of Christ as blasphemous, as the work of a seducer and an enemy of the Law and the prophets; they calumniated the miracles confirming Christ’s doctrine as proceeding from the prince of demons; they persecuted Christ and all those who believed in Him; and finally they did everything in their power to prevent anyone from believing in Christ, and therefore prevented anyone from entering the kingdom of heaven — working in all things against Christ.
III. The Jewish Princes Crucified the Son of God Not Through Ignorance but Through Envy
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXI (on the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, Matthew 21:38)
Latin
Cognoverunt Iesum esse Christum Filium Dei, ex testimonio Iohannis Baptistæ, ex doctrinæ efficacitate, ex maiestate signorum, ex fide populorum, ex prophetiis & Scripturis sacris; sed invidia se ipsi excæcantes, noluerunt illud sibi persuadere. Nam illud sibi si persuasissent, numquam Dominum gloriæ crucifixissent. Manifestissime hic Dominus probat, Iudæorum principes, non per ignorantiam, sed per invidiam, crucifixisse Filium Dei.
English Translation
They knew Jesus to be Christ the Son of God, from the testimony of John the Baptist, from the efficacy of His teaching, from the majesty of His signs, from the faith of the peoples, from the prophecies and Holy Scriptures; but blinding themselves through envy, they refused to allow themselves to be persuaded of it. For had they persuaded themselves of it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. Here the Lord most manifestly proves that the princes of the Jews crucified the Son of God not through ignorance but through envy.
IV. The Ingratitude and Perfidy of the Jewish Leaders
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXI (on Matthew 21:41–42)
Latin
Prædixit itaque hic Iesus principibus populi mortem, quin & locum mortis, quam post triduum ab ipsis passurus erat; quod, imitati maiores suos, interfectores prophetarum, ipsi Christum brevi interfecturi essent; ne quid causari possent, ob quod ipsum negarent Filium Dei, si vel tandem ab ipsius morte vellent redire ad cor. Sic, præterquam quod exprobraret illis ingratitudinem, sceleris ac peridiæ plenam; sustulit etiam offendiculum quod inhibebat ex morte sua propinqua, dum sibi illam prophetarum exemplo inferendam prædixit.
English Translation
Thus Jesus here foretold to the princes of the people His death, and indeed the very place of death, which He was to suffer at their hands after three days; because they, imitating their forebears, the murderers of the prophets, were shortly to kill Christ; so that they could allege no excuse for denying Him to be the Son of God, if they were willing even at the last to return to their senses after His death. Thus, beyond reproaching them with ingratitude full of wickedness and perfidy, He also removed the stumbling-block arising from His imminent death, predicting that it was to be inflicted upon Him after the example of the prophets.
V. The Vineyard Taken from the Jews and Given to the Gentiles
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXI (on Matthew 21:41, “Vineam suam locabit aliis agricolis”)
Latin
Male perdidit Iudæorum principes, qui filii sui mortem machinati fuerant, Deus Pater, anno a morte filii sui quadragesimo aut circiter, quando funditus vastavit per Titum & Vespasianum Imperatores. Et VINEAM. Non tamen perdet aut excidet vineam suam (numquam repulit Deus plebem suam quam præscivit, Rom. 11. v. 1.) sed vineam suam, id est, reliquias Israel cum multitudine Gentium. Eadem una censetur vinea sive Ecclesia quæ prius, tametsi cum principibus maior pars populi Israel sit reprobata ac perdita, ob successionem continuam incultum & populum Dei. Nam in incredulorum Iudæorum locum mox receptæ sunt Gentes. LOCABIT, præficiet regendæ Ecclesiæ suæ. Aliis agricolis fidelibus ministris ac dispensatoribus — Apostolos suos intelligit & eorum successores.
English Translation
God the Father wretchedly destroyed the princes of the Jews who had plotted the death of His Son — about forty years after His Son’s death — when He devastated them utterly through the Emperors Titus and Vespasian. And THE VINEYARD. He will not, however, destroy or cut off His vineyard (God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew, Rom. 11:1), but His vineyard, that is, the remnants of Israel together with the multitude of the Gentiles. The same vineyard or Church is reckoned as one — the same as before — even though with its leaders the greater part of the people of Israel is reprobated and lost, on account of the unbroken succession of God’s cultivated people. For in the place of the unbelieving Jews, the Gentiles were presently received. HE WILL LET IT OUT — He will set others over the governance of His Church — by other faithful husbandmen, ministers and stewards, He means His Apostles and their successors.
VI. The Kingdom Taken from the Jews and Given to the Gentiles — The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXII (on Matthew 22:8–10)
Latin
Postquam iterato missis præconibus, constanter Iudæi recusarant audire recipereque Evangelium regni, iussi sunt a Deo præcones — quibus aliquando mandatum fuerat ne in viam Gentium abirent (Matth. 10. v. 5. 6.) — non sese amplius ad Iudæos adstringere, sed quaslibet vias pervagari usque ad ultimum terræ in dispersionem Gentium abire, & Gentibus a Deo alienis, quæ nullam umquam promissionem de Messia eiusque regno acceperant, immo ne Deum ipsum quidem noverant, quibusvis sine discrimine, etiam remotissimis … Evangelium prædicare ac regnum cælorum salutemque in Christo offerre, vel in despectum Iudæorum, si forte hac ratione ad zelotypiam exstimulaentur, qui quia priore loco electi fuerant, perinde ac si ipsis carere non posset Deus, eius gratiam sibi perpetuam esse persuaserant esse additam.
English Translation
After the heralds were sent again and again, and the Jews had persistently refused to hear and receive the Gospel of the kingdom, God commanded the heralds — who had once been ordered not to go into the way of the Gentiles (Matt. 10:5–6) — no longer to confine themselves to the Jews, but to travel all roads even to the uttermost parts of the earth among the dispersed Gentiles, and to the Gentiles estranged from God, who had never received any promise concerning the Messiah and His kingdom, nay who did not even know God Himself, to all without distinction, even the most remote … to preach the Gospel and offer the kingdom of heaven and salvation in Christ, even to the contempt of the Jews — if perchance by this means they might be spurred to jealousy, who, because they had been chosen in the first place, had persuaded themselves that God’s grace was permanently attached to them, as if He could not do without them.
VII. Pilate Knew the Jews Delivered Christ Through Envy
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXVII (on Matthew 27:18, “Sciebat enim quod per invidiam tradidissent eum”)
Latin
SCIEBAT ENIM. Redditur ratio cur tantopere adlaborarit Præses, vel Iesus dimitteretur. Sciebat autem, ex relatu plurimorum & publica fama. Res toti populo nota. TRADIDISSENT EUM, ubi interficiendum, suppleto ex præcedentibus, principes sacerdotum & seniores populi. PER INVIDIAM, eo quod invidarent Iesu discipulorum rectorum que multitudinem, & nominis ob doctrinam ac miracula claritatem: quod homo plebeius & nihili, ipsorum quidem iudicio, nulla facultate ab ipsis — qui populo præerant — accepta, doceret, & doctrinam miraculis ita stabiliret, ut maior populi pars crederet in eum ipsiqueadhæreret, & clarior ille maiorque principibus ipsis haberetur.
English Translation
FOR HE KNEW. The reason is given why the Governor laboured so earnestly for Jesus to be released. He knew, moreover, from the report of very many persons and from public fame — a matter known to all the people. THEY HAD DELIVERED HIM to be killed — supplied from what precedes: the chief priests and elders of the people. THROUGH ENVY — because they envied Jesus the multitude of His disciples and followers, and the fame of His name through His teaching and miracles: that a man of common birth and of no account in their judgment, without any authority received from themselves — who presided over the people — should teach, and confirm his teaching by miracles so that the greater part of the people believed in Him and adhered to Him, so that He was held to be more distinguished and greater than the princes themselves.
VIII. The Responsibility of the Jews for the Death of Christ
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXI (on Matthew 21:39, the casting-out and murder of the Heir)
Latin
Quamvis enim Romanis tradiderint occidendum, non tamen Romanis legibus lata, sed illorum improbitate, calumnia, & importunitate, atque populi dementatione, extorta fuit sententia; nec tam sententia, quam permissio ipsis facta voluntati, qui illum occidere iam diu cogitaverant & omni studio conatuque curaverant.
English Translation
For although they handed Him over to the Romans to be killed, nevertheless the sentence was extorted not by Roman laws but by their own wickedness, calumny, and importunity, and by the madness of the people; nor was it so much a sentence as a permission granted to their will, who had long been plotting to kill Him and had pursued it with every effort and endeavour.
IX. The Jews Clamour Ever More Loudly for the Crucifixion
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXVII (on Matthew 27:23, “Crucifigatur”)
Latin
Quo magis nitebatur Pilatus Iesum absolvere, eo magis Iudæi clamoribus contendebant ut crucifigeretur, nullam interim proferentes culpam Iesu eo supplicio vel quovis alio dignam. Nihil habebant quod responderent, ait Origenes; amplius clamaverunt, non desistentes, sed augentes, iram, audaciam, blasphemiam.
English Translation
The more Pilate strove to acquit Jesus, the more the Jews contended with clamour that He should be crucified, offering meanwhile no charge against Jesus worthy of that punishment or any other. They had nothing to answer, says Origen; they cried out the more, not desisting but augmenting their anger, audacity, and blasphemy.
X. The Blood-Guilt of the Jewish People
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXVII (on Matthew 27:25, “Sanguis eius super nos et super filios nostros”)
Latin
UNIVERSUS POPULUS Iudaicus, qui illic præsens aderat maximo numero, ex omnibus Iudæis, immo mundi partibus. SANGUIS EIUS. Sanguis hic ponitur pro culpa & vindicta cædis. SUPER NOS, f. sicut veniat. Phrasis hebraica. Sic hoc loco dicunt Iudæi: Culpa vindictaque, quæ incurri queat effundendo sanguinem huius, interficiendo hunc, imputetur nobis, requiratur a nobis, nos eam præstabimus, nos eam culpam in nos suscipimus nostro periculo luendam. Nobis mors eius imputetur, & a nobis ac filiis nostris pænæ exigantur. ET FILIOS NOSTROS. Adjexerunt Iudæi nefarias, non tantum in ipsos, sed & ad filios imprecationem huiusmodi protraxerunt, ob nimium profecto quo vexabantur infandum. In sese recipiunt omnem malum, se devovent, immo & in posteros derivant omnem culpam atque vindictam. O impios parentes, qui uno verbo & se perdunt & posteritatem! Extremam audaciam, exclamat Euthymius, obsides dant pro Pilato, filios seu posteros suos pro posteris Pilati. Furore perciti, quidvis spondere audent. STUPENDA EXCITAS & RABIES quædam ferina huius indurati & perditissimi populi.
English Translation
THE WHOLE Jewish PEOPLE, who were present there in the greatest number, from all the Jews, nay from all parts of the world. HIS BLOOD. This blood is used for the guilt and punishment of the slaying. UPON US, that is, so may it come. A Hebrew phrase. Thus the Jews say in this place: Let the guilt and punishment that can be incurred by shedding this man’s blood, by killing this man, be imputed to us; let it be required of us; we will discharge it; we take this guilt upon ourselves at our own peril to be expiated. Let His death be imputed to us, and let the punishments be exacted from us and from our children. AND OUR CHILDREN. The Jews added this impiety, not only against themselves but extended to their children this sort of imprecation, driven by excessive, unspeakable rage. They take all calamity upon themselves, they devote themselves, nay they transfer all guilt and punishment even to their posterity. O impious parents, who with a single word destroy both themselves and their posterity! An act of extreme audacity, exclaims Euthymius; they give their sons as hostages for Pilate, their children as surety for Pilate’s posterity. Overcome by frenzy, they dare to pledge anything. THE STUPENDOUS BLINDNESS AND A CERTAIN BESTIAL RAGE of this hardened and most wicked people.
XI. The Fulfilment of the Blood-Curse: Titus Crucifies the Jews
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXVII (continuation of the above)
Latin
Quam temere id sibi persuasissent, quamque inconsulte hic spoponderint, senserunt tandem ipsi & filii eorum magno suo malo, dum quadragesimo circiter anno post, a Romanis sunt funditus eversi & exstirpati, plerique occisi, reliqui capti, & in alienarum regionum servitutem ducti: signanter vero, ut hic Romanum præsidem vociferntes & tumultuantes cogunt ut crucifigat Christum; ita Titus Romanus Imperator, Ierosolymam obsidiens, ipsos cibi quærendis causa clam egredienses, quingentos in dies singulos & eo amplius, crucifigi a militibus contra murum iussit. Atque adeo, perseverat, quod Hieronymus ait, usque in præsentem diem hæc imprecatio super Iudæos, & sanguis Domini non aufertur ab eis.
English Translation
How rashly they had persuaded themselves, and how rashly they had pledged it here, they and their children experienced to their great misfortune about forty years later, when they were utterly overthrown and extirpated by the Romans; the greater part were killed, the rest taken captive and led into slavery in foreign lands. And notably, just as here they clamour and make tumult to compel the Roman governor to crucify Christ, so Titus the Roman Emperor, besieging Jerusalem, and finding them creeping out secretly to seek food, ordered five hundred and more each day to be crucified by his soldiers against the wall. And so, as Jerome says, this imprecation persists upon the Jews even to the present day, and the blood of the Lord is not taken away from them.
XII. The Destruction of Jerusalem: The Jews‘ Chief Sin Was the Murder of Christ
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXIII (on Matthew 23:35–36)
Latin
Potuerunt porro plura peccatorum genera concurrere, quibus Iudaicus populus excidium promeruerit: sed videmus præcipuum peccatum fuisse, homicidia continua eorum a quibus pietatem docti fuerant, maxime autem Christi.
English Translation
Many kinds of sins could moreover combine to make the Jewish people deserve their destruction; but we see that the chief sin was the unceasing murder of those from whom they had been taught piety — and above all, the murder of Christ.
XIII. Jerusalem, Slaughterer of the Prophets, Always Led the Jews in Killing the Just
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXIII (on Matthew 23:37, “Ierusalem, Ierusalem, quæ occidis prophetas”)
Latin
QUÆ OCCIDIS. Occidendo, interficiens, id est interfectrix. LAPIDAS. Lapidatrix. Solent enim Hebræi uti participiis præsentis temporis loco nominum verbalium, id quod non semel iam annotavimus. Non igitur sic de præsenti tempore loquitur Christus, ut non de præterito & futuro; sed de omni tempore ipsi sermo est, quasi dicat: cui hoc proprium est & tamquam in naturam versum, ut lapides aliisque modis occidas prophetas & cæteros iustos ad te missos. … Ierusalem semper ducem se præbuit reliquis Iudæis, ut in rebus cæteris, ita in occidendis prophetis; tam pertinaciter quam sæpe prophetarum sanguine extinguere conata fuisset salutiferas Dei admonitiones.
English Translation
WHO KILLEST. By killing — a murderess. THOU THAT STONEST. A stoneress. For the Hebrews are wont to use present participles in place of verbal nouns, which we have noted more than once. Christ therefore does not speak of the present time in such a way as to exclude past and future; His speech is of all time, as if to say: to which it is proper, and as if turned into second nature, to kill with stones and by other means the prophets and other just men sent to thee. … Jerusalem always took the lead among all the Jews, as in other matters, so too in killing the prophets; with such tenacity and such frequency had it striven to quench with the blood of the prophets the salutary admonitions of God.
XIV. The Jewish People Stripped of the Protection and Grace of God
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, Cap. XXIII (on Matthew 23:38–39, “Ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta”)
Latin
Significat subtractionem omnis tutelæ ac gratiæ Dei, & notanter fidei ut fundamenti, qua sinustandus sit populus Iudaicus. Hanc subtractionem tutelæ gratiæque divinæ prædixerat Isaias cap. 5. v. 5–6. his verbis sub typo vineæ: Et nunc ostendam vobis quid faciam vineæ meæ. Auferam sepem eius, & erit in direptionem. … Tamdiu, tot inquam sæculis, vos non videbitis me aut corporis aut animi oculis; non credetis in me, non eritis in tutela mea, non frucemini salutis meæ beneficiis; omnino permanebitis in excæcatione cordis vestri.
English Translation
He signifies the withdrawal of all protection and grace of God, and notably of faith as its foundation, by which the Jewish people were to be left bare. This withdrawal of divine protection and grace had been foretold by Isaiah ch. 5, vv. 5–6, in these words under the figure of the vineyard: And now I will show you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it shall be laid waste. … For so long — for so many centuries, I say — you will not see me either with the eyes of the body or of the soul; you will not believe in me, you will not be under my protection, you will not enjoy the benefits of my salvation; you will entirely remain in the blindness of your hearts.
XV. The Talmudists’ Fables Corrupted the Sacred Scriptures
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum (Epistola de Chaldaica Paraphrasi)
Latin
Ximænius namque Cardinalis, qui Complutensi olim editioni præfuit, solam ediderat Chaldaicam Pentateuchum; reliquos vero libros, qui fabulis, quod ipse ait, Thalmudiftarum Chaldaice conspersi erant, expurgari, versosque Latine in publica Complutensis universitatis bibliotheca reponi iusserat.
English Translation
For Cardinal Ximenes, who once presided over the Complutensian edition, had published only the Chaldaic Paraphrase of the Pentateuch; but the remaining books, which, as he himself says, had been sprinkled in Chaldaic with the fables of the Talmudists, he had ordered to be expurgated, translated into Latin, and placed in the public library of the University of Alcalá.
XVI. Those Who Eliminate Christ from Scripture Ally Themselves with the Impious Rabbis
Source: Commentarius in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum (Epistola de Chaldaica Paraphrasi)
Latin
Cæterum, ais: si quis Iudæus fieri veluerit, & Iesum, Mariæ filium, pro nobis crucifixum ac mortuum secundum Scripturas, iisdem Scripturis eximere, conculcare cum impiis Rabbinis voluerit, is Paraphrasim hanc sibi delegat, & Censorum Lovaniensium auctoritate se tueatur. Atrox in Lovanienses Censores criminatio, quasi fenestram ipsi aperuerint, per quam fideles ex Christi Ecclesia in Iudaicam defiliants synagogam.
English Translation
However, you say: if anyone should wish to become a Jew, and should wish to remove Jesus, the Son of Mary, crucified and dead for us according to the Scriptures, from those same Scriptures — to trample Him underfoot together with the impious Rabbis — let him choose this Paraphrase for himself and shelter behind the authority of the Louvain Censors. A savage accusation against the Louvain Censors, as though they had opened a window through which the faithful might slip out from the Church of Christ into the Jewish Synagogue.