ver.
delivered and rescued Him from the madness of His c. xix. 16 murderers, he did not merely refrain from releasing ~ ' Him, but even gave Him up to them for the very purpose, that they might crucify Him.
16, 17 The^/ took Jesus therefore. And He went out, hearing the Cross for Himself, unto the 'place called the place of a
18 skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: ivhere they crucified Him, and with Him two others, 07i either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
They lead away, then, to death the Author of Life; and for our sakes was this done, for by the power and incomprehensible Providence of God, Christ's death resulted in an unexpected reversal of things. For His suffering was prepared as a snare for the power of death, and the death of the Lord was the source of the renewal of mankind in incorruption and newness of life. Bearing the Cross upon His shoulders, on which He was about to be crucified, He went forth; His doom was already fixed, and He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became a curse for us, according to the Scripture: For cursed Gal. iii. is everyone, it is said, that hangeth on a tree. And accursed are we all, for we are not able to fulfil the Law of God: For in many things lue all stumble; and s. James very prone to sin is the nature of man. And since, "^" ^' too, the Law of God says: Cursed is he which con- Gal. iii. tinueth not in all things that are written in the book of this Law, to do them, the curse, then, belongeth unto us, and not to others. For those against whom the transgression of the Law may be charged, and who are very prone to err from its commandments, surely deserve chastisement. Therefore, He That knew no sin was accursed for our sakes, that He might deliver us from the old curse. For all-sufficient was the God Who is above all, so dying for all; and by the death of
The Cross, then, that Christ bore, was not for His own deserts, but was the cross that awaited us, and was our due, through our condemnation by the Law. For as He was numbered among the dead, not for Himself, but for our sakes, that we might find in Him, the Author of everlasting life, subduing of Himself the power of death; so also. He took upon Himself the Cross that was our due, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law, that the mouth of all lawlessness might henceforth be stopped, according to the saying of the Psalmist; the Sinless having suffered condemnation for the sin of all. And of great profit will the deed which Christ performed be to our souls — I mean, as a type of true manliness in God's service. For in no other way can we triumphantly attain to perfection in all virtue, and perfect union with God, save by setting our love toward Him above the earthly life, and zealously waging battle for the truth, if occasion calls us so to do. Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ
S. Matt, says: Every man that doth mot take his cross and follow after Me, is not ^vorthy of Me. And taking up the Cross means, I think, nothing else than bidding farewell to the world for God's sake, and preferring, if the opportunity arise, the hope of future glory to life in the body. But our Lord Jesus Christ is not ashamed to bear the Cross that is our due, and to suflfer this indignity for love towards us; while we, poor wi'etches that we are, whose mother is the insensate earth beneath our feet, and who have been called into being out of nothing, sometimes do not even dare to touch the skirt of tribulation in God's service; but, if we have anything to bear in the service of Christ, at once account the shame intolerable, and shrinking from the ridicule of our adversaries, and those who sit in the seat of the scornful, as an accursed thing, and preferring to God's pleasure this paltry and ill-timed craving for reputation, fall sick of the disease c.xix.i7, of disdainful arrogance, which is the mother, so to say, of all evils, and so make ourselves subject to the charge. For thus is the servant above his lord, and cf. the disciple above his master, and thinks and acts ^' ^'*'"' accordingly. Alas, for this grievous infirmity, vs^hich always in some strange shape lies athwart our path, and leads us astray from the pursuit of what is meet!
Call to mind, too, how the inspired Peter could not endure Christ's prophecy, when He foretold His sufferings upon the Cross, for He said: Behold, we go up to S. Matt. Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is betrayed unto the ^'^^^{ hands of sinners; and they shall crucify Him, and 45, kill Him. The disciple, not yet understanding the mysterious ways of God's providence, God-loving and teachable as he was, was moved by his scruples to exclaim: Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall never Ibid. he unto Thee. What answered Christ 1 Get thee behind j^j^ "' Me, Satan; thou art a sturtiblinghlock unto Me: for ^er. 23. thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. But we may hence derive no small profit, for we shall know, that when occasion calls us to exhibit courage in God's service, and we are compelled to endure conflicts that ensue for virtue's sake; yea, even if they who honour and love us best strive to hinder us from doing anything that may tend to stablish virtue, alleging, it may be, our consequent dishonour among men, or from some worldly motive, we must not yield. For they, then, are in nowise unlike Satan, who loves and is ever wont to cast stumblinffblocks in our path by divers deceits, and sometimes by smooth words, so as to divert from the pursuit of what is meet, the man who is urged thereto by the spirit of piety. And methinks Christ meant something like this, when He said: If, therefore, thy right eye causeth thee to Ibid. stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. For that ^' ' which does us injury is no longer our own, even
Two robbers were crucified together with Christ, and this was owing to the malice of the Jews. For, as though to emphasize the dishonour of our Saviour's death, they involved the just Man in the same condemnation as the transgressors -of the Law. And we may take the condemned criminals, who hung by Christ's side, as symbolical of the two nations who were shortly about to be brought into close contact with Him, I mean the children of Israel and the Gentiles. And why do we take condemned criminals as the type? Because the Jews were condemned by the Law, for they were guilty of transgressing it; and the Greeks by their idolatry, for they worshipped the creature more than the Creator.
And after another manner those who are united with Christ are also crucified with Him; for enduring, as it were, death to their old conversation in the flesh, they are reformed into a new life, according to the Gospel.
Gal.v.24. Yea, Paul said: And they that are of Clii'ist Jesus have crucified the flesh, with the passions and the lusts thereof; and again, speaking of himself in words appli-
' ' the Law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ: yet I live; and yet no longer
Col. ii. Colossians: Wherefore, if ye died from the world, why do ye behave yourselves as though living in the world? For, by becoming dead unto worldly conversation, we are brought to the rudiments of conduct and life in Christ. Therefore the crucifixion of the two robbers, side by side with Christ, signifies in a manner to us, through the medium of that event, the juxtaposition of the two nations, dying together, as it were, with the Saviour Christ, by bidding farewell to worldly pleasures, and refusing any longer to live after the flesh, and preferring to live with their Lord, so far as may be, by fashioning their lives according to Him, andc.xix. 19. consecrating them in His service. And the meaning of the figure is in no way affected by the fact, that the men v^rho hung by His side were malefactors; /o?' Eph.ii. s. we tuere by nature children of wrath, before we believed in Christ, and were all doomed to death, as we said before.
19 And Pila'e wrote a title also, and 2)'ut it on the Cross. And there was written, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
This is, in fact, the bond against us which, as the inspired Paul says, the Lord nailed to His Cross, and in it led in triumph the princijoalities and the powers Col. ii. as vanquished, and as having revolted from His rule. ' ^ ' And if it were not Christ Himself that fixed the title on the Cross, but the fellow-worker and minister of the Jews, still, as He suffered it so to be, it is as though He were recorded as having inscribed it with His own Hand. And He triumphed over principalities in it. For it was open to the view of all who chose to learn, pointing to Him Who suffered for our sake, and Who was giving His Life as a ransom for the lives of all. For all men upon the earth, in that they have fallen into the snare of sin {for all have gone aside,'Ps.xir.8. and have all together become filthy, according to the Scripture), had made themselves liable to the accusation of the devil, and were living a hateful and miserable life. And the title contained a handwriting against us — the curse that, by the Divine Law, impends over the transgressors, and the sentence that went forth against all who erred against those ancient ordinances of the Law, like unto Adam's curse, which went forth against all mankind, in that all alike broke God's decrees. For God's anger did not cease with Adam's fall, but He was also provoked by those who after him dishonoured the Creator's decree; and the denunciation of the Law against transgressors was extended continuously over all. We were, then, accursed and
^•^^^•"^^- transgression, and through breach of the Law laid down after him; but the Saviour wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to His Cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the Cross which He underwent for the salvation of men, who lay under condemnation. For our sake He paid the penalty for our sins. For though He was One that suffered, yet was He far above any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as
Ps. cvii. the Psalmist says, the mouth of all knvlessness ivas stojyped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to speak against sinners. For we are justified, l8. liii. 5. now that Christ has paid the penalty for us; for by His stripes we are healed, according to the Scripture. And just as by the Cross the sin of our revolt was perfected, so also by the Cross was achieved our return to our original state, and the acceptable recovery of heavenly blessings; Christ, as it were, gathering up into Himself, for us, the very fount and origin of our infii-mity.
20 This title therefore read many of the Jews: for the 2)lace where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hehreiv, and in Latin, and in Greek.
We may remark that it was very providential, and the fruit of God's inexpressible purpose, that the title that was written embraced three inscriptions — one in Hebrew, another in Latin, and another in Greek. For it lay open to the view, proclaiming the Kingdom of our Saviour Christ in three languages, the most widely known of all, and bringing to the crucified One the firstfruits, as it were, of the prophecy that had been spoken
Dan. vii. concerning Him. For the wise Daniel said that there was given Him glory and a Kingdom, and all nations and languages shall serve Him; and, to like eSect, the
Phil. ii. holy Paul teaches us, crying out that every knee shall bow; of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that the universality of Christ's Kingdom. 629
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. o.xix.2l- Therefore the title proclaiming Jesus King was, as it ^^' were, the true firstfruits of the confession of tongues. And, in another sense, it accused the impiety of the Jews, and all but proclaimed expressly, to those who congregated to read it, that they had crucified their King and Lord, purblind wretches that they were, without thought of love toward Him, and sunk in crass insensibility.
2 1 The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jeivs, but, that He said, I am King
The rulers of the Jews took ill the writing on the title, and, full of bitter hatred, once more denied the Kingship of Christ, and said in their great folly that He had^never reigned in fact, nor been accepted as King, but had merely used this expression: not knowing that to lie is contrary to the nature of truth, and Christ is Truth. He was, then. King of the Jews, if He was proved to have given Himself this title, as they themselves also confirmed by their own words. And Pilate rejected their request that he should alter the inscription, not consenting in all things to do despite unto the glory of our Saviour, doubtless owing to God's Ineffable Will. For the Kingship of Christ was fii-mly rooted, and beyond the reach of calumny, though the Jews might not consent thereunto, and might strive to deface the confession of His glory.
23 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four 2)arts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat tvas without seam, woven
24 from the top throughout. They said therefore one to another. Let us not rend it, hut cast lots for it, ivhose it shall he: that the Scrip)ture might be fulfilled, which saith, They j)arted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast Jots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
Book 12. among themselves, and this is indicative of their brutal c.^xis.—, £g^.Qg^^y ^j^^ inhuman disposition. For it is the custom of executioners to be unmoved by the misery of condemned criminals, and to obey orders sometimes with unnecessary harshness, and to show a masculine indifference to the fate of the sufferers, and to divide their garments among themselves, as though the lot fell upon them by some sufficient and lawful reason. They divided, then, the dissevered garments into four portions, but kept the one coat whole and uncut. For they did not choose to tear it in pieces, and make it altogether useless, and so they decided it by casting lots. For Christ could not lie, Who thus spake by the voice of the Ps. xxii. Psalmist: 27iey dividecl My raiiinent among them, and ^^' upon My vesture did they cast lots. All these things were foretold for our profit, that we might know, by comparing the prophecies with the events, what He is of Whom it was foretold that He should come for our sake in our likeness, and of Whom it was expected that He should die for the salvation of all men. For no man of sense can suppose that the Saviour Himself, like the S. Matt, foolish Jews, would strain out the gnat, that is, foretell a xxiu. 24. ^j.j£ij-,g detail concerning His sufferings, as in this mention of the partition of His raiment, and, as it were, swallow the camel, that is, think of no account the great lengths to which the impious presumption of the Jews carried them. Rather, when He foretold these details, He foretold also the great event itseK; firstly, in order that we might know that, as He was by Nature God, He had perfect knowledge of the future; secondly, also, that we might believe that He was in fact the Messiah of prophecy, being led to the knowledge of the truth by the many and great things fulfilled in Him.
And if it behoves us also to declare another thought which strikes us with regard to the partition of the garments — a thought which can do no harm, and may possibly do good to those who hear it — I will speak as follows: Their division of the Saviour's garments into four parts, and retention of the coat in its undivided c. xix. 23, state, is perhaps symbolical of the mysterious providence whereby the four quarters of the world were destined to be saved. For the four quarters of the world divided, as it were, among themselves the garment of the Word, that is, His Body which yet remained indivisible. For though the Onlj^-begotten be cut into small pieces, so far as individual needs are concerned, and sanctify the soul of every man, together with his body, by His Flesh; yet is He, being One, altogether subsistent in the whole Church in indivisible entirety; for, as Saint Paul saith, Christ cannot be divided. That such is the meaning Cf. i Cor. of the mystery concerning Him, the Law dimly shadows ^" ^^' forth. For the Law represented the taking of a lamb at the fitting time, and the taking, not of one lamb for every man, but of one for every house, according to the number of the household; for every man (if his household were too small) was to join with his neighbour that was next unto his house. And so the command was, that many should have a part in one lamb; but, in order that it might not appear, therefore, to be physically divided, by the flesh being dissevered from the bones, and taken from house to house, the Law laid down the further injunction: In one house shall it he eaten: ye shall not Ex. xii. carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house. ' For observe how, as I said just now, the Law took care that many who might be in one household should have a part in one lamb, but most carefully also took great precautions that it should not appear physically divided, but should be found in its completeness and entirety as one in all who partook of it, being, at the same time, divisible and indivisible. We must entertain some such view with regard to Christ's garments, for they were divided into four portions, but the coat remained undivided.
And it can do no harm also to add, that if any man choose, by way of speculation, to look upon the coat that was woven from the top throughout, and seamless, as an
Book 12. illustration of Christ's holy Body, because It came into ■ ^^^' " ■ being without any connexion or intercourse of man with woman, but woven into its proper shape by the effective working of the Spirit from above, this view is worthy our acceptance. For such speculations as do no damage to the elements of the faith, but are rather fertile of profit, it would surely be ill-advised for us to reject; nay, we ought rather to commend them, as the fruit of an excellent disposition of mind.
25 But there loere standing hy the Cross of Jesus His mother, and His mothers sister, Alary the wife of Cloims, and Mary Magdalene.
This also the inspired Evangelist mentions to our profit, showing herein also, that none of the words of Holy Writ fall to the ground. What do I mean by this? I will tell you. He represents, as standing by the Cross, His mother, and with her the rest, clearly weeping. For women are ever prone to tears, and very much inclined to lament, especially when they have abundant occasion for shedding tears. What, then, induced the blessed Evangelist to go so much into detail, as to make mention of the women as staying beside the Cross? His object was to teach us that, as was likely, the unexpected fate of our Lord was an offence unto His mother, and that His exceeding bitter death upon the Cross almost banished from her heart due reflection; and, besides the insults of the Jews, and the soldiers also, who probably stayed by the Cross and derided Him Who hung thereon, and who presumed, in His mother's very sight, to divide His garments among themselves, had this effect. For, doubtless, some such train of thought as this passed through her mind: " I conceived Him That is mocked upon the Cross. He said, indeed, that He was the true Son of Almighty God, but it may be that He was Supra deceived; He may have erred when He said: / am the TAfe. How did His crucifixion come to pass 1 and how was He entangled in the snares of His murderers? How was it that He did not prevail over the conspiracy of c. xix. 25. His persecutors against Him? And why does He not come down from the Cross, though He bade Lazarus return to life, and struck all Jud?ea with amazement by His miracles? " The woman, as is likely, not exactly understanding the mystery, wandered astray into some such train of thought; for we shall do well to remember, that the character of these events was such as to awe and subdue the most sober mind. And no marvel if a woman fell into such an error, when even Peter himself, the elect of the holy disciples, was once offended, when Christ in plain words instructed him that He would be betrayed unto the hands of sinners, and would undergo s. Matt. crucifixion and death, so that he impetuously exclaimed: ^^^^' ^^" Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall never he unto Thee. Ibid. xvi. What wonder, then, if a woman's frail mind was also plunged into thoughts which betrayed weakness ■? And when we thus speak, we are not shooting at a venture, as some may suppose, but are led to suspect this by what is written concerning the mother of our Lord. For we remember that the righteous Simeon, when he received the infant Lord into his arms, after having S. Luke blessed Him, and said: Now lettest Thou Thy servant "" ~ ' depart, 0 Lord, according to Thy Word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy scdvation, he also said to the holy Virgin herself: Behold, this Child is set for the Ibid. fcdling and rising up of many in Israel; and for a ' sign which is spoken against; yea, and a siuord shall pierce through thine own soul, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revecded. By a sword he meant the keen pang of suffering, which would divide the mind of the woman into strange thoughts; for temptations prove the hearts of those who are tempted, and leave them bare of the thoughts that filled them.
He took thought for His mother, paying no heed to His own bitter agony, for His sufferings affected Him not. He gave her into the charge of the beloved disciple (this was John, the writer of this book), and bade him take her home, and regard her as a mother; and enjoined His own mother to regard him as none other than her true son — by his tenderness, that is, and affection, fulfilling and stepping into the place of Him, Who was her Son by nature. But as some misguided men have thought that Christ, when He thus spake, gave way to mere fleshly affection — away with such folly! to fall into so stupid an error is only worthy of a madman — what good purpose, then, did Christ hereby fulfil? First, we reply, that He wished to confirm the command on which the Law lays so much Ex. XX. stress. For what saith the Mosaic ordinance 1 Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may he well tvith thee. His commandment unto us did not cease with exhorting us to perform this duty, but threatened us with the extreme penalty of the Law, if we chose to disregard it, and has put sin against our parents after the flesh on a par with sin against God. For the Law which ordered that the blasphemer should undergo the sentence
Lev.xxiv. of death, saying: Let him that hlasphemeth the Nartie of the Lord, he i^ut to death, also subjected to the same penalty the man who employs his licentious and unruly
Ex. xxi. tongue against his parents: He that curseth father or mother shall surely he put to death. As, then, the Lawgiver hath ordained that we should pay such honour to our parents, surely it was right that the commandment thus proclaimed should be confirmed by the approval of the Saviour; and as the perfect form of every excellence and virtue through Him first came into the world, why should not this virtue be put on the same footing as the rest? For, surely, honour to parents is a very precious kind of virtue. And how could we learn c. xix. 28, that we ought not to lightly regard love toward them, ^^* even when we are overwhelmed by a flood of intolerable calamities, save by the example of Christ first of all, and through Him? For best of all, surely, is he who is mindful of the holy commandments, and is not diverted from the pursuit of duty in stormy and troublous times, and not in peace and quietness alone.
Besides, also, was not the Lord, I say, tight to take thought for His mother, when she had fallen on a rock of offence, and when her mind was in a turmoil of perplexity? For, as He was truly God, and looked into the motions of the heart, and knew its secrets, how could He fail to know the thoughts about His crucifixion, which were then throwing her into sore distress 1 Knowing, then, what was passing in her heart, He commended her to the disciple, the best of guides, who was able to explain fully and adequately the profound mystery. For wise and learned in the things of God was he who received and took her away gladly, to fulfil all the Saviour's Will concerning her.
28 After this, Jesus, hioiving that cdl things are now finished, that the Scripture might he accoinplished, said, I thirst.
29 There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they jmt a sjionge full of the vinegar U2)on hyssoji, and brought it to His mouth.
When the iniquity of the Jews had fully wrought the impious crime against Christ, and when there was nothing left wanting to the perfect satisfaction of their savage cruelty, the flesh, at the last extremity, felt a natural craving, for it was parched by the various acts of outrage, and felt thirst. For pain is very apt to provoke thirst, spending the natural moisture of the body in excessive inward heat, and burning the inward parts with the pangs of inflammation. It would have been easy for the Word, the Almighty God, to have released His Flesh from this torment; but, just as He willingly underwent His other sufferings, so He bore this also c^xix. 28, pit,iless and far removed from the love of God were they, that, instead of liquid to quench His thirst, they gave Him something to aggravate it, and, in rendering the very service of love, committed a further act of impiety. For, in acceding at all to His request, were they not assuming the appearance of affection 1 But it was impossible that the inspired Scripture should ever lie, which put into the mouth of the Saviour these
The blessed Evangelist John says that they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on hyssop, and so brought it. Luke makes no mention of anything of the kind, but merely declares that they brought Him
S^Matt. V^'-'-i on a reed. Some may perhaps think there is a xxvii. 48, discrepancy in the accounts of the holy Evangelists; but
XV. 36. no one who IS right-minded Will be so persuaded. We must rather try to search, and see by every means in our power, in what way the act of impiety was effected. The inspired Luke, then, disregarding the way in which the vinegar was brought, says, in brief, that vinegar was brought to Him when He was athirst. And there can be no question, that the Evangelists would not have disagreed with each other in these trifling and unimportant details, when, in all essential matters, they are in such perfect harmony and concord. What, then, is the difference between them? and of what treatment is it susceptible? There is no doubt, that the ofiicers who executed the impious crime against Christ were many in number, I mean the soldiers who brought Him to the Cross; several also of the Jew^s shared in their cruelty, some putting the sponge on a reed, others on a stick of what is called hyssop — for the hyssop is a kind of shrub — and gave Jesus todrink of it; doing this, purblind wretches that they were, to their own condemnation. For, unawares, they were proving themselves utterly undeserv- ing of compassion, when they thus altogether discarded c. xix. 30. mercy and humanity, and with unparalleled audacity vied with each other in impiety alone. Therefore, by the mouth of the Prophet Ezekiel, God thus spake unto the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem: As thou hast Obad. 15. done, so shall it be done unto thee: thy reiuard shall return upon thine otun head; and by the mouth of Isaiah, to lawless Israel: Woe unto the ivicked! It shall is. iii. n. he ill with him: for the retvard of his hands shall be given him. This completed the measure of all the crimes that had been committed against Christ; but here, too, we may find a lesson to our profit. For hereby we may know that those who are of a God-loving temper, and who are firmly rooted in the love of Christ, shall wage, as it were, a ceaseless war with those who are of a different spirit; who will not, even to their latest breath, desist from raging against them, preparing for them severe temptations from every quarter, and eagerly devising every sort of thing that may hurt them. But, just as the wicked cease not from troubling them, so also shall their courage be continually sustained; and just as their trials, and the tribulation of temptation, have no abatement, so also the blessedness of the Saints shall have no end, and the joy of their state of glory shall remain for evermore, and world without end.
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He boived His Head, and gave uj) His Spirit.
When this indignity had been added to the rest, the Saviour exclaimed. It is finished; meaning that the measure of the iniquity of the Jews, and of their furious rage against Him, was completed. For what had the Jews left untried, and what extremity of atrocity had they not practised against Him? For what kind of insult was omitted, and what crowning act of outrage do they seem to have left undone? Therefore rightly did He exclaim. It is finished, the hour already summoning Him to preach to the spirits in hell. For He
Book 12. visited them, that He might be Lord both of the living °' ^'^' ■ and the dead; and for our sake encountered death itself, and underwent the common lot of all humanity, that is, according to the flesh, though being as God by Nature Life, that He might despoil hell, and render return to life 1 Cor. XV. possible to human nature; being thus proved thefirstfruits Col. i. 18. of til em that are asleep, and the firstborn from the dead, according to the Scriptures. He bowed His head, therefore; for as this generally befalls the dying, through the slackening of the sinews of the flesh, when the spirit or soul that united and sustained it is fled, the Evangelist made use of this expression. The expression also. He gave up His Spirit, does not differ from language usually employed, for the vulgar use it as equivalent to "his life was extinguished, and he died." But it is probable that it was of set purpose, and advisedly, that the holy Evangelist, instead of saying simply, He died, said. He gave up His Spirit; gave it up, that is, into the hands of God the Father, according to the saying that S.Luke He spake: Father, into Thy hands I commend My xxni. 46. gjj-i^if. ajj(j fQp ^g^ oigQ^ lYyQ meaning of the expression lays down a beginning and foundation of firm hope. For, I think, we ought to believe, and for this belief there is much ground, that the souls of Saints, when they quit their earthly bodies, are, by the bountiful mercy of God, almost, as it were, consigned into the hands of a most loving Father, and do not, as some infidels have pretended, haunt their sepulchres, waiting for funeral libations; nor yet are they, like the souls of sinful men, conveyed to the place of endless torment, that is, to hell. Rather, do they hasten into the hands of the Father of all, by the new way which our Saviour Chiist has prepared for us; for He consigned His Soul into the hands of His Father, that we also, making it our anchor, and being firmly rooted and grounded in this belief, might entertain the bright hope that when we undergo the death of the body, we shall be in God's hands; yea, in a far better condition than when we were in the flesh. Therefore, also, the wise Paul assures c. xix. 30. us that it is better to depart, and he with Christ. Phil.i.23.
And when He gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom. The veil of the temple was of fine linen, let down to the floor of the centre of the temple, and shrouding the inner portion thereof, and allowing only the high priest to enter into the innermost shrine. For it was not in the power of any one at will to penetrate into the interior with unwashen feet, and carelessly to gaze upon the Holy of holies. How very necessary it was that this curtain should make this division, Paul shows us by his words in the Epistle to the Hebrews: For there luas a taher- Heb. ix, nacle prepared; the first, ivhich is called the Holy place. "" ' And after the second veil, the tahernacle, ivhich is called the Holy of holies, having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about tuith gold, wherein was the golden pot holding the manna, and the tables of the covenant, and Aaron s rod that budded. But into Ibid. 6-8. the first tcdjernacle, he says, the priests go in, accomplishing the services; but into the second, the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offereth for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the Holy place hath not yet been made manifest, while as the first tabernacle is yet standing. For there can be no question, that a veil was let down at the very entrance of the temple. And so there came into his mind the first tabernacle, which he called holy; for no one could affirm that any part of the temple was not holy, or, if he did so, he would lie, for it was all holy. And after the first tabernacle came the veil which was betwixt, which is the second veil, separating the innermost portion, that is, the Holy of holies. But, as the blessed Paul said, the Spirit signified, by figures and types, that the more fitting way in which the Saints should tread had not yet been made manifest; for the people were still kept at a distance, and the
Book 12. first tabernacle was yet standing. For there had not, ■ ^'^' ■ as yet, in fact, appeared unto men the manner of the life that Christ gave unto those who were called by the Spirit unto sanctification; and not yet had the mystery concerning Him been made manifest, for the written commandment of the Law was still in force. Therefore, also, the Law placed the Jews in the outer court. For the dispensation of the Law was, as it were, a porch and vestibule leading unto the teaching and life of the Gospel. For the one is but a type, the other is the truth itself. The first tabernacle was, indeed, Rom. vii. holy, for the Law is holy, and the co'mmandvient righteous and good; but the innermost portion of the temple was the Holy of holies, for though the men who partook of the righteousness of the Law were holy, they became yet holier when they accepted the faith that is in Christ, and were anointed with the Holy Spirit of God. The righteousness of faith, therefore, is greater than the righteousness of the Law; and by faith we a.re far more abundantly sanctified. Therefore, also, the wise Paul says, that he gladly and readily endured the loss of the righteousness that is of the Law, Phil. iii. that he might gain Christ, and might he found in Cf Galv Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even 7,&.m.i. that tvhich is of the Latv, but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ. And some fell backwards, and, after running well for a time, were bewitched; and the Galatians were of this class: after pursuing the righteousness which is of faith, turning back to the commandment of the Law, and recurring to the state of life shadowed forth by types and figures; and to these Gal. V. Paul administered the well-merited reproof: If ye re- ^' ^' ceive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would he justified hy the Lcnu; ye are fallen away from grace. But (to bring our explanation of the passage to a good and proper conclusion) we will simply repeat, that the veil of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom; to signify, as it were, that God was in the very c. lix. 30. act of revealing the Holy of holier, and making the way into the inmost shrine open henceforth to those who believe on Christ. For the knowledge of the Divine mysteries is now laid bare before us; no longer shrouded in the obscurity of the letter of the Law, as it were a curtain, nor hidden by any covering from our quest, nor defended against the intrusion of the eye of the mind by types through which we could see but dimly. Rather are these mysteries now seen in simplicity of faith; yea, but few words suffice to explain them. For the luord is nigh thee, says Paul, in Rom. x. thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the luord of faith, tuhich lue preach: because, if thou shalt say ivith thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from ' the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Herein is seen in its completeness the mystery of piety towards God. But, while Christ had not as yet waged the conflict for our salvation, nor undergone the death of the flesh, the veil was still spread out, for the power of the commandment of the Law still prevailed. But when the iniquitous Jews, in their presumption, had wreaked to the utmost their malice upon Christ, and He had given up the ghost for our sake, and the sufferings of Emmanuel were accomplished, the time had then come that the broad veil, that had so long been spread out, should from henceforth be rent asunder — that is, the protection of the letter of the Law — and that the fair vision of the truth should lie bare and open before those who had been sanctified in Christ by faith. The veil was torn throughout; for what other meaning can be put upon the words: From the top to the bottom? And why was this? It was because the revelation of the message of salvation was not partial, but our enlightenment concerning the Divine mysteries was VOL. II. T t secrets of Thy tvisdom hast Thou revealed unto me; and, furthermore, the inspired Paul thus addresses 1 Cor. i. believers on Christ: / thank my God ahuays concern- ' ' ing you, for the grace which was given you in Christ Jesus; that in every thing ye were enriched in Him, in all utterance, and all wisdom, and all knowledge. The rending of the veil, then, not in part, but entirely throughout, signified then, that the worshippers of the Saviour were about to be enriched in all wisdom, and in all knowledge, and in all utterance, manifestly receiving the knowledge of the mystery concerning Him, undefiled and unclouded by blot or shadow. For this is what is meant by the words: From tlie top to the bottom. We say, then, that the most appropriate and fittingtime for the revelation of the Divine mysteries was the occasion on which the Saviour laid down His life for us, when Israel spurned His grace, and wholly started aside from the love of God, in his frenzy against Him, and headstrong impiety. For any one may see that the measure of their iniquities was complete, when lie learns that they persecuted, even unto death, the Giver of Life,
I think, therefore, that we have said enough on this subject, and that our explanation of the Divine purpose does not fall short of the mark. But, as we find the inspired Evangelist is very diligent to say: When He gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple ivas rent, thereby almost signifying as essential for us to know the occasion of that event, let us supplement our remarks by a further consideration, which savours, I think, of the spirit of pious research. For it is a thought which will be found in no way abhorrent to those fundamental doctrines, which are at once a blessing and a necessity to us. To proceed, then: the following custom was in vogue, both among the people and the rulers of the Jews. When they saw anything being done which they thought would especially offend the
Giver of the Law, or when they heard any outrageous c. xix. 31. or blasphemous utterance, they tore their garments, and put on the appearance of mourners; thereby, in a manner, taking up the defence of God, and by the intolerance they displayed of such offences, passing sentence of condemnation on the madness of the transgressors, and acquitting themselves of complicity therein. Moreover, the disciples of the Saviour, Barnabas and Paul, when certain of those who had not yet received the faith, thinking them to be gods (for they called Barnabas, Acta xiv. Ju])iter; and Paul, Mercury), brought sacrifices and "' garlands, in company with the priests, and attempted to make sacrifices in their honour, leapt down from the platform on which they stood, because of the outrage that would be inflicted upon the glory of God, if any sacrifice were offered to men, and rent their garments, as is Ibid. 14. recorded, and by fitting words prevented the ignorant endeavour of the worshippers of idols. Also, when our Saviour Christ was on His trial before the rulers of the Jews, and was required to say Who He was, and whence He came, and said plainly in reply: Verily^ I s. Matt. say unto you, henceforth ye shcdl see the Son of Man ^^'* ^^' sitting at the right hand of power, and coining on the clouds of heaven, Caiaphas leapt up out of his seat, and rent his garments, saying. He hath spoken blasphemy. Ibid. 65. The temple of God, then, followed, so to say, the custom that prevailed among the Jews, and rent its veil, as it had been clothes, at the moment when our Saviour gave up the ghost. For it condemned the impiety of the Jews as an insult against itself. And the accomplishment of this was God's work, that He might show unto us the temple itself bewailing Israel's guilt.
31 The Jews tJierefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the Sabbath {for the day of that Sabbath luas a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Book 12. for holy days felt by men inured to shed blood with c. X1X.32- |3rut,al ferocity, and found guilty of so monstrous an iniquity, that the blessed Evangelist says this; but rather from the wish to show that, in their gross stupidity, they committed that folly of which Christ s. Matt, spoke. For they strained out the gnat while they ^^"^" ■ siuallotved the camel; for they are found to reckon as of no account at all the most outrageous and awful of all crimes against God, while they exercised the greatest diligence with reference to the most paltry and insignificant matters, showing their folly in either case. The proof of this is not far to seek. For, behold, in the very act of putting Christ to death, they put great store on the respect due to the Sabbath; and, while they insulted the Lawgiver by outrages which surpass description, they parade their reverence of the Law; and, as that Sabbath was a high day, they affect to pay honour to it — the very men who destroyed the Lord of the high day; and they ask a favour, which well suited their cruel spirit. For they besought Pilate that theii" legs might be broken, wishing to embitter, by this last intolerable outrage, the pangs of approaching death, to those who were ah-eady in agony.
32 The soldiers therefore came, and hraJce the legs of the first,
33 and of the other which ivas crucified with Him: hut when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they
34 brake not His Legs: howheit, one of the soldiers with a s^iear 2)ierced His Side, and straightway there came out blood and
35 water. And he that hath seen hath borne ivitness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, tJiat ye
3G also 7nay believe. For these things came to pass, that the,Scrij)ture might be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be
37 broken. And again another /Scripture saith, They sJiall look on Him Whom they pierced.
In pursuance of the request of the Jews, men afflicted with a madness akin to their cruelty — I mean the soldiers of Pilate— break the legs of the two robbers, as they were still numbered among the living, inten- c,xix.38. sifying the bitter pang of their last agony, and finally despatching them by the most grievous act of violence. But when they found Jesus with His Head bowed down, and saw that He had already given up the ghost, they thought it lost labour to break His Legs; but, as they still had a faint suspicion that He might not be actually dead, they ivith a spear pierced His Side, which sent forth Blood, mingled with Water; God presenting us thereby with a type, as it were, and foreshadowing of the mystery of the Eucharist, and Holy Baptism. For Holy Baptism is of Christ, and Christ's institution; and the power of the mystery of the Eucharist grew up for us out of His Holy Flesh.
By his account of what took place, the wise Evangelist confirms his hearers in the belief that He was the Christ long ago foretold by Holy Writ; for the events of His life harmonised with what was written concerning Him. For not a bone of Him was broken, and He was pierced with the spear of the soldier, according to the Scripture. He says himself, that the disciple that bare record of these things was a spectator and eye-witness of what took place, and knew, in fact, that his testimony was true; and the disciple to whom he thus alludes is none other than himself. For he shrank from speaking more openly, putting away from himself the assumption of love of glory, as an unholy thing, and as a grievous infirmity.
38 And after these tJiings, Joseph of Arimathcea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate tluit he might take away the Body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took away His Body.
This saying is indeed fraught with a grievous charge against the Jews, as it shows that to become a disciple of Christ was dangerous, and exposed a man to penalties; for he plainly introduces this most excellent young man —
Book 12. I mean Joseph — to our notice, as most especially anxious C.X1X.39. ^Q escape the notice of the Jews, though he had been induced by Christ's teaching to choose that worship which was the reality itself, and better and more pleasing to the God Who loves virtue than the commandment of the Law, and at the same time gives us a proof necessary to confirm our faith. For it was necessary for us to believe that Christ laid down His Life for us. And is it not an inevitable consequence that, when a man is entombed, we must have a firm conviction that he also died? And we may well condemn, as guilty of gross brutality, the presumption, hardheartedness, and merciless temper of the Jews, who did not even pay unto Christ the respect due to the dead, nor honour Him with burial rites, when they saw Him lying before them an inanimate corpse; though they knew that He was the Christ, and had often been amazed by the marvellous works that He did, even though their bitter hatred might never have allowed them to profit by His miraculous power. The disciple of Arimathsea, therefore, passes judgment on the inhumanity of the Jews, and condemns the men of Jerusalem, when he goes and tends with fitting care the Body of Him Whom he did not as yet honour by an open confession of faith, but still believed on Him in secret, for fear of the Jeivs, as says the blessed Evangelist.
39 And tliere came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to Him hy night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred 2)ound iveight.
He says that this disciple was not alone in taking counsel wisely, as well as in fervent zeal, to go to dress the sacred Body for burial, but he makes mention of a second along with the first. This was Nicodemus, who completed the body of testimony to the event that is Deut.xix. respected by the Law. For, says the Law: In the viouth ^^' of two or three tvitnesses shall every ivord be established.
number, Joseph and Nicodemus; men who received c xix. 40, the faith inwardly in their hearts, but were still scared " by a foolish fear, and did not yet prefer to the honour and glory of the world that which is of God. For then they would have dismissed all fear of the Jews, and, paying slight heed to any danger from that quarter, would have indulged their faith fearlessly and freely, and thus have proved themselves holy, and good keepers of the commandment of our Saviour.
40 tSo they took the Body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths
41 ivith the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to hury. Noio in the ^;7«ce where He was crucified tJiere ivas a garden; and in the garden a new tcnnh, wherein was 'never man yet laid.
Christ was numbered among the dead, Who for our sake became dead, according to the Flesh, but Whom we conceive to be, and Who is, in fact. Life, of Himself, and through His Father. And, that He might fulfil all righteousness, that is, all that was appropriate to the form of man, He of His own Will subjected the Temple of His Body not merely to death, but also to what follows after death, that is, burial and being laid in the tomb. The writer of the Gospel says that this sepulchre in the garden was a new one; this fact signifying to us, as it were, by a type and figure, that Christ's death is the harbinger and pioneer of our entry into Paradise. For He entered as a Fore- Ueh. vi. runner for us. What other signification than this ^*^- can be intended by the carrying over of the Body of Jesus in the garden? And by the newness of the sepulchre is meant the untrodden and strange pathway whereby we return from death unto life, and the renewing of our souls, that Christ has invented for us, whereby we baflie corruption. For henceforth, by the death of Christ, death for us has been transformed, in a manner, into sleep, with like power and functions. For we are alive unto God, and shall live for evermore, ii.
c.xix.. -pQ^i^ jjj g^ variety of places, calls those asleep who have died in Christ. For in the times of old the dread presence of death held human nature in awe. For death
Eom. V. reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transiCoT.xv. gression; and we bore the image of the earthy in his likeness, and underwent the death that was inflicted by the Divine curse. But when the Second Adam appeared among us, the Divine Man from heaven, and, contending for the salvation of the world, purchased by His death the life of all men, and, destroying the power of corruption, rose again to life, we were transformed into His Image, and undergo, as it were, a different kind of death, that does not dissolve us in eternal corruption, but casts upon us a slumber which is laden with fair hope, after the Likeness of Him Who has made this new path for us, that is, Christ.
And if any one choose to give an additional meaning to the saying that the sepulchre was a new one, and that no man had been lain therein, be it so. He says, then, we may suppose, that the sepulchre was new, and that no one had been ever laid therein, that no one might be thought to have arisen from the sleep of death save Jesus only.
42 T/iere, then, because of the Jeivs' 2)reparation {for tlie tomb ivas nigh at hand), they laid Jesus.
He not only says plainly that Christ's Body was dressed for burial, and that there was a garden nigh unto the cross, and that there was a new sepulchre in it, but he also explains that He was laid therein, not leaving the least of the things which were done untold. For most essential truly to any creed or system of the mystery of our faith is the confession and the knowledge that Christ died. Therefore, also, the wise Paul, defining our rule of Eom. X. faith, speaks as follows: The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the ivord of faith, ivhich ive preach: because, if thou shalt say with thy mouth, c.xx.l-9. Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Hi^n from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And in another passage also: For I delivered unto you l Cor. xv. first of all that which also I received, how that Christ ' died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried; and that He hath been raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Very essential, then, for us is the narrative which the writer of the book gives us on these points. For it was our bounden duty to believe that He died and was buried; after that will easily follow the true belief, that He burst asunder the bonds of death, and returned as God to the life that was His own. For it ivas not possible that He should Acts ii. be holden of death. For, being by Nature Life, how could ^^' He have undergone corruption? And how could He in Whom lue live, and move, and have our being, have ibid.xvii, been subjected to the laws to which our human nature ^^• is subject? Could He not rather, as God, have easily quickened that which lacked life?
XX. 1 Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the
2 sto7ie taken away from the tomb. She runneth, tlierefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disci2)le, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them.. They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid
4 tliey iveyit toward the tomb. And tJiey ran both together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the tomb;
5 and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths lying;
6 2/e< entered he not in. Simon Peter therefore cometh, folloiving him, and entered into the tomb; and he beholdeth the
7 linen cloths lying, and the napkin, that was upon His Head, not lying ivith the linen cloths, but rolled up in a pilace by
9 which came first to the tomb, and he satv and believed. For
This excellent and pious woman would never have endured to remain at home and leave the sepulchre, had not her fear of the law for the Sabbath, and the penalty which impended upon those who transgi'essed it, curbed the vehemence of her zeal, and had she not, allowing ancient custom to prevail, thought she ought to withdraw her thoughts from the object of her most earnest longings. But, when the Sabbath was already past, and the dawn of the next day was appearing, she hurried back to the spot, and then, when she saw the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, wellgrounded suspicions seized her mind, and, calling to mind the ceaseless hatred of the Jews, she thought that Jesus had been carried away, accusing them of this crime in addition to their other misdeeds. While she was thus engaged, and revolving in her mind the j)robabilities of the case, the woman returned to the men who loved the Lord, anxious to obtain the co-operation of the most intimate of His disciples in her quest. And so deep-rooted and impregnable was her faith that she was not induced to esteem Christ less highly because of His death upon the cross, but even when He was dead called Him Lord, as she had been wont to do, thereby showing a truly God-loving spirit. When these men (I mean Peter, and John the writer of this book, for he gives himself the name of the other disciple) heard these tidings from the woman's mouth, they ran with all the speed they could, and came to the sepulchre in haste, and saw the marvel with their own eyes, being in them- Of. Deut. selves competent to testify to the event, for they were xix. 15. ^^^ -^^ number, as the Law enjoined. As yet they did not meet Christ risen from the dead, but infer His Resurrection from the bundle of linen clothes, and henceforth believed that He had burst asunder the bonds of death, as Holy Writ had long ago proclaimed that He would do. When, therefore, they looked at the issues of events in the light of the prophecies which turned out c. xx. lo, true, their faith was henceforth rooted on a firm basis.
Observe that the blessed Evangelist, John, when he tells us the time of the Resurrection, says: On the Jirst day of the week early, while it was yet dark, cometk Mary Magdalene unto the tomb; while Matthew, also, wishing to indicate the time to us, says that the Resurrection took place when the night was far spent. No one, I suppose, will imagine that the inspired writers are at variance, or that they fix the time of the Resurrection differently. For any one that chooses to investigate the meaning of the indications they give of the time, will find that their accounts tally. For early dawn and late night fix the same point of time, that is, the very dead of night, so to say. There is, therefore, no discrepancy between them; for the one, taking as his starting-point the end of night, and the other the beginning, both reach the middle watch, and meet at the same point, that is, as I just now said, the dead of night.
10 So the disciples went away again unto their ovm home.
The wise disciples, after having gathered sufficiently satisfactory evidence of the Resurrection of our Saviour, being in travail, as it were, with their confirmed and unshaken faith, and by comparison of events as they had actually occurred with the prophetic utterances of Holy Scripture, went back home, and hastened, as is likely, to see their fellow-workers, to recount to them the miracle, and afterwards to consider the course to be pursued. And we shall not err if we think that they had another object in so acting. For wliile the passion of the Jews was at its height, and the rulers were thirsting eagerly for the blood of every man who marvelled at the teaching of the Saviour, and admitted His Divine and ineffable power and glory, but most of all for the blood of the holy disciples themselves, they had good reason
Book 12. for shrinking from encounterinsr them, and left the 11^ ' sepulchre before it was quite light, as they could not have done so without risk, if seen in the daytime, the sun's rays revealing them to all beholders. We are far from saying that unmanly cowardice was the motive of their cautious flight. Rather should we suppose that the knowledge of what was expedient for them was instilled in the minds of the Saints by Christ, Who did not permit Cf. Phil, these who were destined to be lights and teachers of the "■ world to run untimely risks. For it was necessary that the truth of His saying should be seen, which He spake Supra concerning them to the Father in heaven. Holy Father, j2"' ' keep therti, He says, in Thy Name which Thou hast given Me, that they "may he one, even as We are One. While I was with them, I kept them in Thy Name ivhich Thou hast given Me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition. The disciples therefore retired, thinking they ought to await the time when they should speak openly. And Acts i. 4, this they did in obedience to the Saviour's words. For He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, as it is written, but to luait for the p)romise of the Father, which they had heard of Him: for John indeed baptised with water, but they shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence; an event which we find actually came to pass in the days of the Holy Pentecost, when Ibid. ii. 3. there ajjpeared unto them tongues p)arting asunder, like as of fire j and it sat upon each one of them. For then were they invested with a spirit of the greatest courage and endurance, and, high exalted above the frailty of their fellow men, boldly encountered the madness of the Jews, and thought their plotting against them worthy of no account. The wise disciples, then, concealed themselves from the motive of expediency, as I said just now, while Mary, in her love of Christ free from all fear and not much suspecting the wrath of the Jews, sat on the watch persistently, and, affected after the manner of women, wept abundantly, and continually wiped away the tears that kept falling from her eyes, mourning not only c. xx. 11- because the Lord was dead, but also because she thought ^^' He had been taken away from the sepulchre.
12 and sJie beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the Body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?
Observe that the tears let fall for Christ do not lose their reward, nor is it long before love for Him bears fruit; rather will His grace and rich requital follow closely in the wake of pain. For, behold, as Mary was sitting there, her cheeks bedewed with mourning for her beloved Lord Whom she had lost, the Saviour vouchsafed unto her the knowledge of the mystery concerning Him, by the mouth of holy angels. For she saw angels in bright apparel, the garments wherewith they were clad signifying to her the perfect beauty of angelic purity, who interrupted her lamentations, and said unto her. Woman, luhy iveepest thou? It was not, indeed, that they desired to learn the reason why her tears were falling, for they would have known it even had the woman not told it them, and the very circumstances themselves were sufficient to indicate it. Rather do they bid her cease from weeping, as there was no occasion for tears, and as she had made what was a subject for rejoicing a cause of grief. Why, indeed, say they, when death has been subdued, and corruption lost its power, and our Saviour Christ has therefore risen again, and made a new pathway for the dead back to incorruption and to life, why dost thou, 0 woman, mistake the time, and why art thou so distraught by bitter pangs of woe, when the issue of events rather calls you to rejoice? For, in truth, thou should est be glad, and of good cheer. Why, then, iveepest thou, and thus in some sort detractest from the honour due unto a festival? ' The angels appeared sitting at the head and at the
Book \i. feet ivhere the Body of Jesus had lain; thereby, as it 14^' ' were, signifying to the woman, who thought that the Lord had been taken away, that no one could have done despite unto the holy Body while angels kept watoh and holy powers encompassed the Temple of God, for they knew their Lord. One may raise the question, not unreasonably, how it was that the blessed angels said nothing to the holy disciples, and did not even appear unto them, but were both seen by the woman and also spake unto her. We reply, then, that it was the object of the Saviour Christ to instil into the minds of those who loved Him the perfect knowledge of the mystery concerning Him; but that this perfect knowledge was in different ways given unto them, and adapted to the requirements of those who stood in need of it. The course of events itself, as compared with the expectations raised in Holy Writ, sufficed to give the holy disciples adequate knowledge, and begat in them a confidence that did not admit of doubt. For they went home trusting in the Holy Scriptures, and it would have been superfluous for those, whose faith was thus firmly grounded, to be taught by the mouth of the holy angels; but it was very necessary to the woman, who knew not the Holy and Divine Scripture, and by no other means could apprehend the deep mystery of the Resurrection.
13 She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my
14 Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him. When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it tvas Jesus.
The woman, or rather all womankind, is slow of understanding. For she does not understand the hidden meaning of what met her gaze, but rather announces it as the cause of her grief. But as she ceased not to call Christ Lord, and thereby signified her love towards Him, she is justly permitted to enjoy the sight of the object of her desire. For she beholds
Jesus, though she did not think Him to be at her side; c. xx. 15. and why 1 Either her ignorance was caused by our Saviour Christ still concealing Himself by His Divine power, and not allowing Himself very easily to be recognised by the eye of the beholder; or, as it was still early in the morning, she could not readily distinguish what was before her eyes, as night somehow prevented her from so doing, and scarcely revealed the Figure of Him Who was drawing nigh. Therefore, also, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in the Song of Songs, makes mention of His walk on this night, and the moisture of the morning dew, in the words: For My Song of Head is filled ivith detu, and My Locks ivith the drops of'^'^'' the night.
1 5 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why v>eepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou hast borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away.
As it was still dark, and the night had not yet wholly passed away, she sees Jesus, Who stood near her, but dimly, and knows not Who He is, being unable to distinguish the Form of His Body or His Features, but hears Him say. Woman, why iveepest thou? The Saviour's words are indeed words of courtesy, still such as to arouse in her the suspicion that they were most like the words of one of the gardeners. It follows, too, that the Lord, when He thus spake, was not in point of fact asking her the reason for her weeping, nor desirous to learn of whom she was in search; but was rather anxious to stop her lamentations, just as, indeed, were the two blessed angels, for it was in their company that He spake. Why, then, rveep)est thou, 0 woman? He says; Whom seekest thou? That is to say, wipe away thy tears, as thou hast the object of thy search. I, He says, am He Who is the occasion of thy mourning, as having been dead, and as having suffered a dreadful fate, and as having also been taken away out
For it was meet that the Lord should be our restorer in this way also. For by Adam's transgression, as in the firstfruits of the race, the sentence went forth to the
Gen. iii. wholc world: Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt shalt bring forth children. To be rich in sorrow, then, as by way of a penalty, was the fate of woman. It was, therefore, necessary that by the mouth of Him That had passed sentence of condemnation, the burden of that ancient curse should be removed, our Saviour Christ now wiping away the tears from the eyes of the woman, or rather of all womankind, as in Mary the fii'stfruits.
For she, first of women, being offended at the death of the Saviour, and grieving thereat, was thought worthy to hear the voice that cut short her weeping; the power of the word, in fact, extending also to the whole race of women, if indeed they be pained by the outrages against
21 22. ^ Lord, that hate Theet And am 1 not grieved with those that rise up against Tltee? I hate them with a
While, however, our Lord Jesus Christ says this to put a stop to her weeping, she, supposing the speaker to be one of the gardeners, undertook very readily to transfer the remains to another place, if only it were shown her where he had laid Him. For, not yet apprehending the great mystery of the Resurrection, she was disturbed by suspicions of this kind. For the feminine mind is slow-witted and ill-prepared to readily comprehend even what is not very difficult, far less miracles which baffle description.
1 6 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth Jierself, and saith c. xx. 16, unto Him in Hebrew, Rabhoni; vihich is to say, Master, and ran forward to touch Him.
He invites the recognition of the woman, whose mind had already been enlightened, and, allowing her to gaze upon Him without let or hindrance (for indeed she loved Him ardently), He almost rebukes her for having been so slow to perceive that He was Christ, for there is some such implied meaning in His calling her by name. She understood at once, and at the sight of Him casts aside the suspicions she felt at first, and offers Him the usual tribute of respect, calling Him Rahhoni, that is to say, Master; and, with her mind full of a heavenly joy, ran eagerly to touch the holy Body, and to gain blessing therefrom.
1 7 Jesus saith to her. Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended unto My Father.
The meaning of this saying is not easily understood by the vulgar, for a mystery underlies it; but we must probe it for our advantage. For the Lord will vouchsafe unto us the knowledge of His own Words. For He repulses the woman as she was running up to Him, and though she longed to embrace His Feet, He suffered her not; and, in explanation of His reason for so doing, said: For I am not yet ascended unto My Father. We must inquire into the meaning of this saying. For what if He were not yet ascended to His Father 1 How could this reason suffice to render it improper for those that loved Him to touch His holy Body? W^ould it not be blameworthy for any one to imagine that the Lord shrank from the pollution of the touch, and thus spake that He might be pure when He ascended to the Father in heaven? Would not such a man stand convicted of great folly and madness? For the Nature of God can never be polluted. For just as the light of the sun's ray, when it strikes upon a dunghill or any other
Book 12. earthly impurities, suffers no stain — for it remains as it c. XX. 17. -g^ ^i^g^^ -g undefiled, and partakes in no degree of the ill odour of the objects that it encounters — even so the all-holy Nature of God can never admit of the blemish of defilement. What, then, is the reason wh}^ Mary was prevented from touching Him, when she drew near and yearned so to do 1 What can the Lord mean when He says: For I am not yet ascended unto My Father? We must investigate this according to the best of our ability. We say, therefore, that the reasons for our Saviour's sojourn amongst us were manifold and diverse, but this one the principal of all, which is indicated in s. Matt. His own words: For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Therefore, before the saving Cross and the Resurrection from the dead, while as yet His providential scheme had not received its appropriate fulfilment, He mingled both with the just and the unjust, and ate with publicans and sinners, and allowed any that so willed to come to Him and touch His holy Body, that He might sanctify all men and call them to a knowledge of the truth, and might brins; back to health those who were diseased and enfeebled by the constant practice of sin. Therefore S. Luke also, in another place, He said unto them: They that are ^" ^^' u'hole have no need of a physician; hut they that are sick. Therefore, before His Resurrection from the dead, He had intercourse indiscriminately with the righteous and with sinners, and never frightened away any that came unto Him. Moreover, when He was once reclining at the house of a Pharisee, a woman came in unto Him Ibid. vii. weeping, who was a sinner in the city, as is written, and ^''- let down her wanton locks, scarcely released from the service of her past sins, and wiped His Feet therewith; and we see that He did not stop her. Again, when He was on His way to bring back to life the daughter of the leader of the Synagogue, once more a woman came Ibid. viii. near unto Him, who had an issue of blood, and touched the border of His garment; and we find that He was in nowise offended, but rather vouchsafed unto her the c. xx. 17. comforting assurance: BaugJder, thy faith hath made S.Jjuke thee whole; go in p>eace. But at that time, by His Provi- ^"^" ^^' dence, men who were still unclean, and who were polluted both in mind and body, were suffered without let or hindrance to touch the holy Flesh Itself of our Saviour Christ, and to gain every blessing thereby; but when, after having completed the scheme of our redemption. He had both suflered the Cross itself, and death thereon, and had risen again to life, and shown that His Nature was superior to death, henceforward, instead of granting them a ready permission. He hinders those who come to Him from touching the very Flesh of His holy Body; thereby giving us a type of the holy Churches, and the mystery concerning Himself, just as also the Law given by the all-wise Moses itself did, when it represented the slaughter of the lamb as a figure of Christ; for no uncir- Ex. xii. cuvicised person, said the Law, shall eat thereof, meaning ^^' by uncircumcised impure— and humanity may justly be deemed impure in its own nature. For what is the nature of man, as compared with God's inherent purity 1 We may not, therefore, while we remain uncircumcised, that is, impure, touch the holy Body, but only when we have been made pure by the true circumcision of the Spirit. For circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, as Rom. ii. Paul saith. And we cannot be spiritually circumcised " ' if the Holy Spirit hath not taken up His abode in us by faith and Holy Baptism. Surely, therefore, it was meet that Mary should for a while be restrained from touching His sacred Body, as she had not yet received the Spirit. For even though Christ was risen from the dead, still the Spirit had not yet been given to humanity by the Father through Him. For when He ascended to God the Father, He sent the Spirit down to us; wherefore also He said: It is expedierd for you that I go away: Suyra. for if I go not aiuay, the Conforter cannot come unto^^^' '' you; hut if I depart, I tuill send Him unto you. As, therefore, the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent down
Book 12. unto US, for He had not yet ascended to the Father, He c. XX. 7. 1'epulses Mary as not yet having received the Spirit, saying: Touch Me not, for I am not yet ascended unto the Father; that is to say, I have not yet sent down unto you the Holy Spirit. Hence the type is applicable to the Churches. Therefore, also, we drive away from the Holy Table those who are indeed convinced of the Godhead of Christ, and have already made profession of faith, that is, those who are already catechumens, when they have not as yet been enriched with the Holy Spirit. For He does not dwell in those who have not received Baptism. Eut when they have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, then indeed there is nothiug to hinder them from touching Our Saviour Christ. Therefore, also, to those who wish to partake of the blessed Eucharist, the ministers of Divine mysteries say, " Holy things to the holy;" teaching that participation in holy things is the due reward of those who are sanctified in the Spirit.
That the Son is by Nature God, even though we find Him calling- the Father His God.
XX. 17. But go unto My brethren, and say to them, I ascend Chap. 1. unto God.
For reasons which we have given, Christ suffers not Mary to touch Him, though, in her love of God, she greatl}^ yearned for this boon; but still rewards her for her watchful care, and doubly requites her for her passionate faith and love for Him, showing that those who are diligent in His service meet with a recompence. And, what was even yet more glorious, she achieved the deliverance of woman from the frailties of old; for in her first — I mean in Mary — all womankind, so to speak, are crowned with a double honour. For though at first she thus lamented, and made Christ an occasion for weeping, she turned her mourning into joy when she was told to forbear from tears by Him, Who, by His own sentence of old, had made woman easy to be overcome by the attacks of sorrow. For God had said to the woman: In sorroiu shalt thou bring forth cJtildren; but Gen. iii. just as He once made her subject unto sorrow in Paradise, when she hearkened to the voice of the serpent, and ministered to the devil's wiles, so now again in a garden He bids her refrain from weeping. Releasing her from that curse which bound her unto sorrow, He bids her be the first messenger of tidings of great joy, and proclaim
Book 12. to the disciplcs His journey heavenward; that as the c. XX. 17. gj,g^ woman, the mother of all mankind, was condemned for listening to the devil's voice, and through her the whole race of women, so also this woman, in that she had hearkened to our Saviour's words, and announced tidings fraught with life eternal, might deliver the entire race of women from the charge of old. The Lord, therefore, grants unto Mary that, besides being delivered from tears, and from a heart ever prone to sorrow, her feet also should be beautiful. For, as the Prophet exclaims: Rom. X. Hoiv beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad is.'iii. 7. tidings of good things! while the feet of that woman of old time were not beautiftd, for no good tidings did she bring when she enticed our forefather to transgress the Divine command. That Mary is worthy our admiration we may infer, from the fact that she was deemed worthy of mention in prophecy. For what said the Prophet concerning her, and the women with her, who announced unto the holy disciples the Resurrection of the Saviour? Is. xxvii. Ye women, tvho come from the sight, come hither; for it is a loeople that hcdh not understanding. For this Divine prophecy bids these women, true lovers of Christ, come, as it were, with quickened steps, that they may tell what they themselves have seen, and condemns the insensibility of the Jews in that they laughed to scorn the words of our Saviour Christ Himself concerning the Resurrection.
And though there were also other women there (for this the other Evangelists are pleased to record), and the wise John made mention only of Mary, we shall yet find no discrepancy in the accounts of these holy men. For it is probable that John made mention only of Mary Magdalene, because her love for Christ was more impassioned, and she outran the others, so that she first saw the tomb, and was in the garden, and visited every place that was nigh unto the sepulchre, to search for the Body; for she thought, in fact, that the Lord had been taken away. For results are always ascribed to those