And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
Ver. 2. And have not charity] If I knew and did all for ostentation, not for edification; as Stephen Gardiner, who blew up his gifts to the view of others, as butchers blow up their flesh. Chrysostom saith that to show mercy is a more glorious work than to raise from the dead. Removing of mountains is instanced, because noted by our Saviour as a master miracle,Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:6. A man may cast out devils, and yet be cast to the devil.
And have not charity, it profiteth me nothing] The same is true of all other parts of obedience, whether active or passive. If we were as constant frequenters of the Church as Anna the prophetess was of the temple, Luke 2:36,38, si aures nostrae ad portam Ecclesiae fixae essent, saith one, if our ears were nailed to the church doors, if our knees were grown as hard as camel's knees with much kneeling before the Lord, if our faces were furrowed with continual weeping, as Peter's is said to have been, yet if we lacked charity, all were nothing.