Anf-03 v.iii.viii Pg 19
Ver. 26.
not yet did He charge them to “go into the way of the Gentiles.”1946 1946
Anf-03 v.iv.v.vii Pg 22
Matt. xv. 26.
—in order, forsooth, that Christ may not appear to be an Israelite. But facts will satisfy me instead of words. Withdraw all the sayings of my Christ, His acts shall speak. Lo, He enters the synagogue; surely (this is going) to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Behold, it is to Israelites first that He offers the “bread” of His doctrine; surely it is because they are “children” that He shows them this priority.3654 3654 Præfert.
Observe, He does not yet impart it to others; surely He passes them by as “dogs.” For to whom else could He better have imparted it, than to such as were strangers to the Creator, if He especially belonged not to the Creator? And yet how could He have been admitted into the synagogue—one so abruptly appearing,3655 3655 Tam repentinus.
so unknown; one, of whom no one had as yet been apprised of His tribe, His nation, His family, and lastly, His enrolment in the census of Augustus—that most faithful witness of the Lord’s nativity, kept in the archives of Rome? They certainly would have remembered, if they did not know Him to be circumcised, that He must not be admitted into their most holy places. And even if He had the general right of entering3656 3656 Etsi passim adiretur.
the synagogue (like other Jews), yet the function of giving instruction was allowed only to a man who was extremely well known, and examined and tried, and for some time invested with the privilege after experience duly attested elsewhere. But “they were all astonished at His doctrine.” Of course they were; “for, says (St. Luke), “His word was with power3657 3657
Anf-03 vi.iv.vi Pg 9
Tertullian seems to refer to Matt. xv. 26; Mark vii. 27.
and again, “Doth a father give his son a stone when he asks for bread?”8804 8804
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, Chapter 15
VERSE (26) - Mt 7:6 Mr 7:27,28 Ac 22:21,22 Ro 9:4 Ga 2:15 Eph 2:12 Php 3:2
