Chapter 21
Chapter XXI.
Instruction toward the choice of better things through the example of the widow.
1. (Verse 1.). And looking up, he saw,
etc. After he instructed the disciples toward caution against evils, here secondly he instructs them toward the choice of better things,
and this by the example of a poor little widow, offering her entire livelihood, who is preferred above the others, who gave only a part. In this part, therefore, he proceeds in this order. For here is introduced the gift of the wealthy multitude, the offering of the poor little widow, the praise of the offering made by the widow,
and the assignment of the reason and cause.
First, therefore, as regards the gift of the wealthy multitude,
he says: And looking up, he saw the rich casting their gifts into the treasury.
Note that gazophylacium
is derived from gazis, that is, riches, and phylasse, which means to keep: hence gazophylacium,
a place where there was a repository of money. Now gazophylacium
is sometimes taken for the place
in which it was deposited, as in Nehemiah chapter ten: "The Levites shall offer a tenth part of the tithe in the house of God to the treasury in the house of treasure." Sometimes for the house of the Levites and priests:
Ezekiel chapter forty-two: "He led me out into the outer court and brought me into the treasury, which was opposite the separate building"; and afterwards: "These are the holy treasuries, in which the priests eat." Sometimes it is taken for the portico
in which offerings were made, as in John chapter eight: "These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple." Sometimes it is taken for the chest itself,
which kept the offerings, having an opening on top, as here: whence the Gloss: "The treasury is a chest, having an opening on top, into which the priests cast the monies that were collected for the necessary uses of the temple." And this chest was called by another name musach,
as is said in 4 Kings chapter sixteen: "He also turned the musach of the Sabbath in the temple of the Lord on account of the king of the Assyrians." And this was called by another name corbona,
as in Matthew chapter twenty-seven: "It is not lawful to cast them into the corbona, because it is the price of blood."
2. Now offerings were cast into this for a twofold reason: either for maintaining the lamps, or for repairing the fabric of the temple, according to that passage of 4 Kings 12: "Let the priests receive all the money of the holy things that is brought into the temple of the Lord, and let them restore the fabric of the house"; and further: "Joiada took one treasury chest and bored a hole in the top and placed it beside the altar, on the right side of those entering, and the priests cast into it all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord." Now offerings of this kind were made for a threefold reason, namely, out of reverence for the divine worship,
on account of which, 2 Maccabees 3: "When the city was inhabited in complete peace, it came about that the kings and princes themselves deemed the place worthy of the highest honor and adorned the temple with the greatest gifts." And for the remission of sin:
Numbers 31: "For this reason we offer gifts to the house of the Lord, that you may entreat the Lord for us."
Likewise, for thanksgiving:
whence 1 Chronicles, the last chapter: "The people of Israel rejoiced when they willingly made their vows," etc.
3. (Verse 2). Secondly, as to the offering of the poor widow,
he adds: And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in two small coins. He saw,
I say, with the eye of kindness, with which he looks upon the poor, according to that passage of Isaiah 66: "To whom shall I look but to the poor and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my words?" The Lord hears the prayers of such ones; the Psalm: "He has looked upon the prayer of the humble and has not despised their prayers"; and Ecclesiasticus 35: "Do not the tears of the widow run down upon the cheek and ascend from the cheek up to heaven?" He accepts the offerings of such ones, however small they may be, because, as the Gloss says, "God does not consider how much is offered in sacrifice, but from how much it is given." Whence also Matthew 10: "Whoever gives to one of these least ones a cup of cold water shall not lose his reward." Therefore Gregory says: "Our outward goods, however small, suffice for God; for he weighs the heart and not the substance"; and further: "The kingdom of heaven is worth as much as you have. For it was worth to Zacchaeus half his goods; it was worth to Andrew and Peter the leaving of their nets and boat; it was worth to the widow two small coins; and it was worth to another a cup of cold water. The kingdom of heaven, therefore, is worth as much as you have."
And note that in saying she cast in two small coins, he simultaneously indicates her poverty
and her liberality: poverty,
because she had only two obols; liberality,
because, when she could have offered one, she offered both, so as to fulfill that passage of Tobit 4: "If you have little, strive to share even that little willingly."
4. (Vers. 3.). Third, with respect to the praise of the offering made by the widow, he adds: And he said: Truly I say to you, that this poor widow has put in more than all of them, that is, she gave more abundantly. For he gives more abundantly who gives from a greater heart. Whence Gregory: "The hand is not empty of a gift when the treasury of the heart has been filled with good will." For this widow was of the number of those about whom it is said in Second Corinthians 8: "I bear them witness according to their power, that beyond their power they were willing." Whence Chrysostom: "Let no one say: I cannot give alms. You are not poorer than that widow, you are not more unlearned than Peter and John. The talents of each person consist either in preeminence in teaching, or in money, or in any occupation"; and afterwards: "Nothing is so pleasing to God as to live for the common benefit." On account of which also First Peter 4: "Each one, as he has received grace, ministering it to one another." Whence, just as he who leaves behind few things in reality and wills to have nothing in desire is said to leave all things, as Peter, Matthew 19: "Behold, we have left all things"; just as he who is subject to nothing has all things and abounds, as Paul, Second Corinthians 6: "As having nothing, yet possessing all things"; and Philippians last chapter: "I have all things and abound"; so he who gives with a great heart is said to give abundantly, according to that saying in Second Corinthians 8: "In much trial of tribulation, the abundance of their joy abounded, and their very deep poverty abounded unto the riches of simplicity."
5. (Vers. 4.). Fourth, with respect to the assignment of the reason and cause, he subjoins: For all these out of their abundance have cast into the gifts of God: and they fulfilled that precept above in chapter 11: "But yet that which remains, give as alms"; by which it is commanded to give out of one's abundance, as John said above in chapter 3: "He who has two tunics, let him give one to him who has none."
But she out of her want has cast in all the living that she had: and thus she fulfilled a counsel, because she reserved nothing for herself, but gave everything, so that she might begin to be an evangelical woman, fulfilling that counsel of the Lord, above in chapter 18: "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you have." She was no longer anxious about the morrow, as is said in Matthew 6: "Be not anxious for the morrow"; "sufficient for the day is its own evil."
6. But it seems that this widow for this reason is not to be praised but rather to be blamed, because she did not keep the mean, because she exposed herself to danger,
because she neglected the order of charity,
against that word of the Apostle: "Not that there should be relief for others and affliction for you, but from equality. In the present time let your abundance be a supplement to their want," Second Corinthians eight. — But she is praised by the divine mouth for this reason: because she placed her hope in Christ and fulfilled the divine counsel, because she preferred the worship of God to her own private advantage. Although according to human judgment her almsgiving may not seem to have been discreet, nevertheless it was most prudent, since by giving everything she became an imitator of Christ, of whom it is said in Second Corinthians eight: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor, though he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich." Where therefore Christ promises the reward, there is no danger;
where he gives the example, the mean is not abandoned,
because he himself is the center of all perfection; where he approves the affection, the order of charity is not disturbed,
indeed it is fulfilled, because, as is said in First Corinthians thirteen, "charity does not seek the things that are its own." — From these things it is gathered that to relinquish everything is not a vice but a perfection, because the root of meriting principally regards the affection of the heart, and because God accepts the fervor of the heart more than the magnitude of the gift. As a sign of which it is said in Genesis four: "The Lord had regard for Abel and for his offerings, but for Cain and for his offerings he had no regard." And therefore against the one who is of evil will, trusting in almsgiving, it is said in Ecclesiasticus seven: "Do not bind upon yourself double sins," and: "Do not say: God will look upon the multitude of my gifts, and when I offer to God most high, he will accept my gifts"; because, in Ecclesiasticus thirty-four, "the Most High does not approve the gifts of the wicked," but, as is said in the Psalm, "the sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit, a contrite and humbled heart," up to that point: "calves upon your altar."
7. THESE things have been said according to the letter; but according to the moral
sense,
by this poor widow,
whom the Lord Jesus most kindly regards, is understood the soul that withdraws from the love of temporal things: which is therefore called a widow,
because when it clung to the world, it had a husband, but now is as it were a widow
and a poor woman:
a widow
indeed, because she is separated from the world with respect to the affection of carnality:
the Psalm: "Blessing, I will bless her widow; I will satisfy her poor with bread." And this widow places all her delight in Christ, according to that passage of First Timothy, chapter five: "She who is truly a widow and desolate, let her hope in God and persist in prayers and supplications night and day." - And she is a poor woman,
because she is separated from the world with respect to the affection of earthliness:
of whom Isaiah, chapter fifty-four says: "O poor one, tossed by tempest, without any consolation." It belongs therefore to such a one to offer God two small coins,
that is, the mortification of the flesh,
insofar as she is a widow,
according to that word of the Apostle in Romans, chapter twelve: "I beseech you through the mercy of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service"; and to offer poverty of spirit,
insofar as she is a poor woman; First Chronicles, chapter twenty-two: "Behold, in my poverty I have prepared the expenses of the house of the Lord." Concerning this twofold small coin to be offered, Second Corinthians, chapter seven: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God."
8. But according to the allegorical sense,
by the rich
are understood the Jews; whence the Gloss: "The rich, who cast gifts into the treasury, are the Jews, who are puffed up concerning the justice of the Law," according to that word of the Apostle in Romans, chapter ten: "Being ignorant of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God."
By the poor widow is understood the Church gathered from the gentiles; whence the Gloss: "The Widow, the Church, for whom her husband endured death and lives in the inner chambers of heaven, as if hidden from her eyes, as if dwelling in the region of another land." Therefore Ephesians five: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of water in the word of life"; and afterwards: "This sacrament is great: but I speak in Christ and in the Church." The Jew therefore offers from abundance on account of presumption; whence the Gloss: "The Jew casts in from his abundance, who, presuming upon his own righteousness, prays thus within himself: God, I give you thanks that I am not like the rest of men," according to that passage above in the eighteenth chapter, where it treats of the Pharisee, who represents the Jewish people. But this widow offers all her living, because, as the Gloss says, "The Church casts all her living into the gifts of God: she who understands that everything by which she lives is not of her own merit but of the divine gift, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner." Moreover, she offers two mites, that is, faith and charity, or twofold faith, namely concerning the Divinity and humanity, or twofold charity, namely of God and neighbor, according to that passage in Song of Songs four: "All of them bear twins, and none is barren among them." And these are mites on account of humility, but they are most acceptable to God; whence the Gloss: "In consideration of her frailty they are mites, but by the merit of pious intention they are more acceptable than all the works of the proud Jews, because, James four, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"
In this widow, therefore, the holy Church is commended; no less commended are chastity, humility, and poverty, which three are the evangelical counsels and lead the soul to the highest perfection, which is especially to be chosen by the disciples of Christ.
Instruction concerning providence with respect to future things.
9. And as some were speaking about the temple, etc. After he instructed the disciples concerning caution against evils and the choosing of better things, here thirdly he instructs them concerning providence with respect to future things. This part is divided into four parts. In the first, he predicts what is to come in general. In the second, what is to come concerning the persecution of the Church, at the passage: See that you be not seduced, etc. In the third, what is to come concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, at the passage: But when you shall see it compassed about with an army. In the fourth, what is to come concerning the final judgment, at the passage: And there shall be signs in the sun and moon.
In explaining the prediction of future things in a certain generality, three things are introduced, namely the occasion for predicting, from the occasion the prediction, and from the prediction the subsequent question.
10. (Vers. 5.). First, therefore, regarding the occasion of Predicting future things,
he says: And when some were speaking of the temple, that it was adorned with fine stones and gifts, he said.
To such praisers of the temple regarding its permanence and opulence, he responded by predicting future things, lest they should trust in these transitory things, because, as is said in Hebrews thirteen, "we have not here a lasting city, but we seek one to come"; and therefore Second Corinthians four: "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." But the disciples, not yet being spiritual, magnified the temple regarding the solidity of the Building:
whence Mark thirteen: "As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him: Master, look, what stones and what buildings"! They magnified it regarding the sublimity of the worship of the Lord,
because it was adorned with gifts, as though God should always be worshipped in it. And in this they were deceived in three ways: both because they magnified small things,
as if they were great, although it is said in the last chapter of Isaiah: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet. What is this house that you will build for me? And what is this place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and all these things were made, says the Lord." And therefore the most wise Solomon in Third Kings eight: "If heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain you," etc.
Second, because they magnified corporeal and figurative things
as true and spiritual things. Against which is said in Acts seventeen: "God, who made the world and all things that are in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything," since he is God.
Third, they were deceived because they magnified momentary and perishable things,
as though they were perpetual and eternal, although it is said in First Corinthians seven: "For the figure of this world passes away."
11. (Verse 6). Second, as to the prediction introduced
from the occasion taken, there is added: These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left stone upon stone that shall not be destroyed.
This indeed was said generally and is true for the time of the final judgment,
when all things shall be destroyed, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-four: "Heaven and earth shall pass away," etc.; and Revelation twenty-one: "The first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more," as in the Psalm: "They shall perish, but you shall remain," etc. It is also true for the destruction of Jerusalem
specifically, which was accomplished by Titus and Vespasian in the forty-second year after the Passion of the Lord; above, in the nineteenth chapter: "The days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart and cast you to the ground, and they shall not leave in you stone upon stone." Hence Gregory says that that Jerusalem with the temple was utterly overthrown, and a new one was afterwards rebuilt. The reason, moreover, why the Lord delayed for forty-two years was so that He might await them for repentance, as is said in Second Peter three: "He acts patiently on your account, not willing that any should perish." The reason, moreover, why He delayed no longer was on account of the obstinate faithlessness of the Jews, which despised the truth on account of the veil and the shadow. Hence the Gloss: "God took care to overthrow the city and the temple and all figurative things, lest anyone after the coming of Christ should have recourse to them." And for that time is understood that passage of Isaiah one: "What is the multitude of your victims to me? says the Lord. I am full." "Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. New moons and Sabbaths and other festivals I will not endure." And therefore Galatians five: "Stand fast and do not be held again under the yoke of servitude. Behold, I Paul say to you," etc.
12. (Vers. 7.). Third, as to the question that arose from the prediction heard, he adds: And they asked him, saying: Master, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when they begin to come to pass? Now they asked, not all of them, but the four principal ones, namely Peter, James, John, and Andrew, because they were familiar with him. Whence the Gloss: "Because to those praising the buildings of the temple he had predicted that all would be destroyed, the disciples, as Mark says, namely Peter, James, John, and Andrew, ask privately about the time and signs of the predicted destruction." And it should be noted that one can inquire about future times in two ways: in one way, by inquiring about the determined hour of the final day, and this is a curious question, because, as is said in Matthew twenty-four, "of that day and hour no one knows, neither the Angels of heaven, but the Father alone." And therefore to the disciples asking, in Acts one: "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?" the answer was: "It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has placed in his own power." And therefore in First Thessalonians five: "Of the times and moments, brothers, you have no need that we write to you. For you yourselves know diligently that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." In another way, one can inquire in a certain generality and without designation of a certain time, and this question is studious. For ignorance of this is dangerous, on account of which, concerning the Jews, in Jeremiah eight: "The turtledove and the swallow and the stork have known the time of their coming, but my people," etc. And above, in the twelfth chapter: "Hypocrites, you know how to test the face of heaven and earth, but how do you not test this time?" And therefore the Lord does not rebuke those asking but satisfies them. Whence Gregory: "The Lord and our Redeemer announces the preceding evils of a world about to perish, so that the things coming may disturb less insofar as they have been foreknown. For arrows strike less when they are foreseen, and we endure the evils of the world more tolerably if we are fortified against them by the shield of foreknowledge."
13. (Vers. 8.). He said: See that you are not seduced, etc. After the prediction of future things in a certain generality, here he descends more specifically to describing the persecution of the Church. He describes this in two ways: first, commonly with respect to all; second, specially with respect to the perfect, at: But before all these things they will lay their hands upon you.
In describing the future persecutions in the Church after the passion of Christ, three things are introduced from which the persecution of the Church is shown to be stirred up, namely the multiplication of heresy, the intensification of wars, and the onset of pestilences.
First, therefore, as regards the multitude of heresies, he says: He who said: See that you be not seduced, namely through various errors: on account of which, Ephesians 4: "That we may no longer be as little children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness unto the circumvention of error"; likewise Second Thessalonians 2: "We beseech you, that you be not quickly moved from your sense: that no man seduce you by any means." And there will indeed be need of caution, especially on account of the wickedness of the seducers.
14. And therefore he adds: For many will come in my name, saying: I am he,
preaching heresies, namely, as heresiarchs. He says many
indeed on account of the multitude and variety of heresies, which began from the beginning of the Church and will flourish at the end of the Church through the son of perdition. Whence the Gloss: "When the destruction of Jerusalem was imminent, there were many leaders who said they were Christs and that the time of liberation was drawing near. In the times of the Apostles also many heresiarchs came forth." Whence First John 4: "Many false prophets have gone out into the world." Among these the first was Simon Magus, who said and left written in his volumes, as Jerome says: "I am the beautiful one, I am the Paraclete, I am the Almighty, I am the Word of God." Whence Acts 8: "There was a certain man named Simon, saying that he was someone great, to whom all listened from the least to the greatest, saying: This is the power of God which is called great." Josephus also reports that Simon the Essene was in the plains of Jezreel, who preached that he was the Christ. It is also read that when the sons of Herod were in Rome and were disputing there about the kingdom, there were four in Judea, each of whom proclaimed himself the Christ. Mani also said that he was the Holy Spirit. Muhammad also said that he was someone great. And finally after all will follow the impious Antichrist, who will be the head of all evils, concerning whom Second Thessalonians 2: "Then that wicked one will be revealed, whose coming will be according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders and in all seduction of iniquity for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of truth so that they might be saved." Whence Chrysostom: "A man near death sees phantasms; so also the world at its end suffers many errors." But because after these errors the truth will dawn, therefore he adds: And the time will draw near,
namely, of knowing the truth; concerning which time First Corinthians 4: "Do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will also illuminate the hidden things of darkness"; the Psalm: "When I shall receive the time, I will judge justices." — And therefore he adds: Do not therefore go after them,
through approval of falsehood, according to that passage of Proverbs 1: "My son, do not walk with them. For their feet run to evil," etc. Now all simoniacs go after Simon, after Muhammad
all the lustful, after the Antichrist
all the proud and ambitious; because all such are adversaries of Christ, and they are many. Therefore First John 2: "My little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist comes, so now many antichrists have arisen." But such are not to be imitated; on account of which the Psalm: "Do not be envious of evildoers"; and afterwards: "For like grass they will quickly wither."
15. (Vers. 9.). Secondly, as to the aggravation of wars,
he adds: But when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified.
For just as the deceitfulness of those who err
is not to be followed, so the wickedness of those who wage war
is not to be feared, especially by just men: whence Matthew 10: "Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul"; since a just man does not lose what he loves through wars, and therefore does not dread wars of this kind: Proverbs 28: "The wicked man flees, when no one pursues; but the just man, confident as a lion, shall be without terror." Whence Chrysostom: "Holy men remain undisturbed at the hearing of either bodily or spiritual wars, because the things that are in the world cannot harm those who are outside the world; just as one who is in a tent indeed hears the sound of the tempest, but does not feel the blast." Therefore Proverbs 12: "Whatever befalls the just man shall not sadden him." These things are therefore not to be feared, because they are not harmful.—
Nor are they to be feared, because they are opportune:
therefore he adds: These things must first come to pass, but the end is not yet at once.
Chrysostom: "That which has always been in use cannot be a sign. For these bodily wars have always been and will be." For as long as concupiscence reigns, there must be strife and wars: James 4: "Whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not from your concupiscences, which war in your members?" But the Lord permits these things to happen for the overthrow of the wicked and the exercise of the good, so that thus may appear that saying of Job 7: "The life of man upon earth is a warfare." And therefore that good soldier said in Second Corinthians 7: "When we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we suffered all tribulation: combats without, fears within." For John 16: "In the world you shall have distress; but have confidence, I have overcome the world."
16. (Vers. 10. 11.). Thirdly, as to the onset of pestilences,
he subjoins: Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Gregory: "Behold, the disturbance of men"; and there shall be great earthquakes in various places,
"behold, the visitation of wrath from above"; and pestilences,
"behold, the inequality of bodies"; and famines,
"behold, the barrenness of the earth"; and terrors from heaven,
"behold, the inequality of the air"; and there shall be great signs,
not only because they are many, but also because they are unusual.
Moreover, signs of this kind, great and many, preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, according to what Josephus narrates, who says that "a star resembling a sword hung over Jerusalem for a year, and that chariots and armed horsemen waged battle in the air for forty days, and that a heifer brought forth a lamb among the hands of those crowding in." And these great signs preceded the second destruction of Jerusalem, just as they had preceded its destruction carried out under Antiochus: Second Maccabees 5: "It happened that throughout the whole city of Jerusalem there were seen for forty days horsemen rushing through the air, wearing golden robes, and engagements taking place in close combat, and the movement of shields and the hurling of javelins and the splendor of golden arms and breastplates of every kind."
17. THIS manifold and pestilential disturbance, although it has at times existed in part in the Church, as Gregory narrates, will nevertheless be fully present in the final tribulation, at whose approach there will be a disturbance of men
and of the elements.
For the disturbance of men
will occur, according to that passage of Isaiah 19: "I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and a man will fight against his brother and a man against his friend and city against city and kingdom against kingdom"; and Zechariah 8: "I have let loose all men, each one against his neighbor." Nor will there be only a disturbance of men, but also of the elements.
Whence Gregory says: "First the hearts of men and afterward the elements will be disturbed, so that, when the order of things is confounded, it may be shown from what source the tribulation comes." The elements will therefore be disturbed, according to that passage of Isaiah 24: "The floodgates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. The earth will be utterly broken," etc. And Gregory says: "All things which we have received for the use of life, we have turned to guilt: the tranquility of human peace into complacency; the pilgrimage of the way we have loved in place of the dwelling of our homeland; the health of our bodies we have reduced to the service of vices; the abundance of plenty we have twisted not to the necessity of the flesh but to the perversity of pleasure; the serenity of the air we have compelled to serve us for the love of earthly delight. Justly, therefore, all things strike us, so that as many joys as we have had in the world, so many torments we may afterward feel." And this indeed rightly, because, Wisdom 11, "by what things a man sins, by these also is he tormented"; and again Wisdom 5: "The whole world will fight for him against the senseless"; and therefore Wisdom 16: "The creature, serving you its Maker, is enkindled unto torment against the unjust, and is made milder to do good for those who trust in you." Whence Gregory himself also says: "Because all things are to be consummated, before the consummation all things were disturbed; and we who have sinned in all things are struck in all things, so that what was said may be fulfilled: The whole world will fight for him against the senseless,
" Wisdom 5.
18. But before all these things they shall lay their hands upon you
etc. After he described the persecution of the Church in common with respect to all, here he specially describes it in the person of the perfect. Moreover there is described here a twofold persecution against the Apostles and apostolic men: first public,
then private,
at the passage: But you shall be betrayed by parents
etc.
Concerning the public persecution of holy men,
namely the Apostles and their imitators, to be explained, three things are introduced, namely the struggle of persecution, the cause of persecution, and the manifest victory of the afflicted.
19. (Verse 12). First therefore, as regards the struggle of persecution,
he says: But before all these things they shall lay their hands upon you. Before,
namely the final tribulation, in which all shall be afflicted, there precedes the persecution of the impious stirred up against perfect men. In which persecution indeed, on the part of the impious there will be violence:
therefore he says: They shall lay hands upon you:
Acts chapter five: "Rising up, the high priest and all who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, were filled with zeal and laid hands on the Apostles and put them in public custody."
There will also be injury
together with violence: and therefore he adds: And they shall persecute you, delivering you into synagogues and prisons:
Acts chapter six: "They stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and running together they seized Stephen and brought him before the council."
There will also be with this a feigned justice:
on account of which he adds: Dragging you before kings and governors on account of my name,
as if it were wicked to preach the Crucified One; Acts chapter five: "When they had brought the Apostles, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying: We strictly commanded you not to teach in this name; and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you wish to bring upon us the blood of this man"; and Acts chapter seventeen: "The Jews, being zealous and taking certain wicked men from the common people, and having formed a mob, stirred up the city and dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying out: These are they who have turned the world upside down and have come here. And all these act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." Moreover this persecution raged against the Apostles and their followers as well, from the adversaries of the name of Christ; Second Timothy chapter three: "But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, persecutions, sufferings, such as befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra." "And from all of them the Lord delivered me. And all who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Whence Augustine in the sermon on the Holy Innocents: "In the Holy Scriptures, we recognize that good and just men have always endured the persecution of the wicked," because, as Gregory says, "He refuses to be Abel whom the malice of Cain does not exercise."
20. (Verse 13). Second, as to the cause of persecution,
he adds: But it shall happen to you for a testimony, of divine love:
Hebrews 12: "For whom the Lord loves, he chastises; and he scourges every son whom he receives. Persevere under discipline. God offers himself to you as to sons. For what son is there whom the father does not correct? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons"; Judith 8: "You ought to remember how our father Abraham, being tempted and proved through many tribulations, was made the friend of God."
It shall happen
also for a testimony of one's own virtue.
On account of which, Genesis 27: "Come here, that I may touch you, my son, and prove whether you are my son or not." Whence also in Job 2, Satan said to the Lord: "Put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and then you will see that he blesses you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with a most grievous sore"; and Romans 5: "Tribulation works patience, and patience probation, and probation hope."
It shall happen
also for a testimony of the damnation of others.
Whence the Gloss: "The death of the just is an aid to the good, a testimony against the wicked, so that the perverse may perish without excuse from that very thing whence the elect take an example in order to live." Whence Wisdom 4: "The just man who is dead condemns the living wicked, and youth more quickly completed condemns the long life of the unjust"; and therefore 1 Peter 4: "For it is time that judgment should begin at the house of God. But if first at us, what shall be the end of those who do not believe the Gospel of God?" - It shall happen
also for a testimony of the truth preached:
for martyr
means witness, and martyrdom is a testimony of the truth: Apocalypse 6: "I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held." And these testimonies of the holy Martyrs make the Christian faith credible: the Psalm: "Your testimonies are made exceedingly credible," on account of the death of those who preach. Whence also Acts 10: "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead."
21. (Verse 14). Third, as to the victory of those who are afflicted,
he adds: Settle it therefore in your hearts not to premeditate how you shall respond,
by your own inquiry, because, 2 Corinthians 3, "not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God"; the Psalm: "The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain."
22. (Vers. 15.). For I will give you a mouth and wisdom,
through internal inspiration: Matthew 10: "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." Now this Spirit of the Lord gives wisdom
and gives eloquence: wisdom in the heart,
according to that passage in John 16: "When that Spirit of truth comes, he will teach you all truth"; therefore Job 32: "There is a spirit in men, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives understanding." And the reason for this is given in 1 Corinthians 2: because "the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also the things of God no one has known except the Spirit of God." And therefore Wisdom 9: "Who will know your meaning, unless you give wisdom and send your Holy Spirit from on high?" — He likewise gives eloquence in speech
through wisdom; whence Wisdom 10: "Wisdom opened the mouth of the mute and made the tongues of infants eloquent"; therefore Exodus 4: "Who made the mouth of man? Or who fashioned the mute and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Go therefore, and I will be in your mouth and will teach you what to speak." And therefore Isaiah 63: "I, who speak justice and am a champion for saving."
And because "malice does not overcome wisdom," therefore he adds: whom all your adversaries will not be able to resist and contradict,
through fraudulent caviling: Exodus 14: "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall be silent." No one can resist this mighty warrior; the Psalm: "You are terrible, and who shall resist you?"; and Job 9: "Who has resisted him and had peace?" No one therefore resists without being overcome by the disciples on account of the proclamation of truth, because it is said in 3 Esdras 4: "And truth endures and grows strong forever and lives for ages of ages"; and in Apocalypse 12 it is said concerning the antichrist: "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and because they did not love their lives even unto death."
23. But a contrary seems to be stated in Apocalypse 11: "I will give to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth"; and afterwards: "When they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the abyss will make war against them and will overcome them."
But this is not contrary, because, although truth may be cast down for a time, it must nevertheless rise again. Whence in the same place: "After three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them." "And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell."
24. (Vers. 16. 17.). But you will be handed over by parents,
etc. After he described the public persecution of the perfect, here he describes the private persecution; concerning which three things are introduced, namely domestic conflict, heavenly protection,
and internal armor.
First, therefore, regarding the domestic struggle, he says: But you will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends: and this indeed will be most harsh. It is indeed hard to be betrayed by a friend and relative, according to that verse of the Psalm: "If my enemy had cursed me, I would surely have endured it. But you, a man of one mind with me, my leader and my familiar, who together with me took sweet food," etc. It is harder to be betrayed by one's own brother: Micah 7: "They all lie in wait for blood, a man hunts his brother to death. They call the evil of their hands good." But it is most grievous to suffer at the hands of one's own parent; Zechariah 13: "His father and his mother, his parents, will pierce him through when he prophesies." And this tribulation is indeed very harsh; whence the Gloss says: "This is the torment: when someone suffers at the hands of those in whom he had confidence, because together with the harm to the body, the evils of lost charity torment him." And therefore Jeremiah 9: "Let each one guard himself from his neighbor, and let him place no trust in any brother, because every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. And a man will mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth."
And because this hatred will be most wicked, he therefore adds: And they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all men on account of my name: Jeremiah 15: "Woe is me, my mother! Why did you bear me, a man of strife, a man of discord in the whole earth? They all curse me."
25. Now the reason for this hatred is twofold: the first is discord of wills.
Therefore John 15: "If you were of the world, the world would love what was its own; but because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you." For, as is said in James 4, "the friendship of this world is enmity with God," etc. The other reason is the perfidy of souls,
according to that passage in John 16: "The hour comes when everyone who kills you will think that he is offering service to God. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me." In this is noted the remarkable perfidy of souls, that they will persecute just men for no other cause than that they believe, love, preach, and follow the name of Christ; and therefore he says: on account of my name.
And this was the cause on account of which the brothers of Joseph hated him; whence Chrysostom says: "O unspeakable madness of the wicked! It is not permitted for Joseph, it is not permitted, I say, for one who is good to go unpunished; it is not permitted for the better man to be safe among the wicked! And as though the envious were losing something or incurring the expense of some possession: so the life of the good is the detriment of the worst. The proud are jealous of the modest, the envious of the gentle, the wicked of the upright; the arrogant assail the meek with hostile rivalry. The wicked cannot bear to see the good. They do not want one better than themselves to live, lest they themselves, being degenerate, should have to endure reproaches. Why are you jealous of the innocent, O hostile brotherhood? Why do you envy the good? Why can you not endure the simple? Why do you persecute the modest! Why do you not love the upright? Why are you found guilty of innocent blood? At least let him who has been sold live in some measure, lest innocent blood stand as an accuser against you, as it once did against Cain. Preserve for yourself, preserve, O hostile brotherhood, one alive whom you may one day find appeased; preserve unharmed one whom in a time of necessity you may find a provider."
26. (Verse 18). Secondly, with regard to heavenly protection,
he adds: And a hair of your head shall not perish:
which is expounded in three ways: first indeed, because divine providence exercises care over all things and allows nothing to perish: above in chapter 12: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Secondly, because divine power will allow no particle to perish; whence Augustine in the Enchiridion: "The earthly matter from which the flesh of mortal creatures is made does not perish before God; but into whatever dust or ash it may be dissolved, into whatever vapors or breezes it may disperse, into whatever substance of other bodies or even into the very elements it may be turned, into the food of whatever animals, even of men, it may pass and be changed into flesh, it returns in a moment of time to that soul which first animated it, so that a man might come into being, grow, and live."
Third, because in all these tribulations they do not incur even the slightest injury; as a figure of which, Daniel 3: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth from the midst of the fire. And the satraps gazed upon those men, because the fire had had no power over their bodies, and not a hair of their head had been singed, and the smell of fire had not passed through them." And therefore it is said in 1 Peter 3: "And who is there that can harm you, if you are zealous for what is good?" And in this the wondrous protection of God over the just is made manifest; whence Chrysostom says: "Wondrous is the power of Christ and the fortitude of the Apostles. By the Gentiles they were hated as Jews, by Caesar they were cast out as seditious, by the Jews they were stoned as enemies of the Law. Against the Apostles all waged war: prince, leader, commoner, and populace. Infinite thousands of Jews the Romans then captured, yet twelve unarmed men they did not overcome."
27. (Verse 19). Third, as to the internal armor, he adds: In your patience you shall possess your souls, that is, you shall defend them as by a perfect armor; Proverbs 15: "He who acquiesces to reproofs is possessor of the heart"; and this through patience. For a person is called the possessor of that thing over which he has full dominion; and patience makes one master of oneself, according to that saying in Proverbs 16: "The patient man is better than the strong man, and he who rules his spirit than the conqueror of cities." And therefore Gregory says: "Patience is the root and guardian of the virtues, and by it we possess the souls which possess the body."
And this is manifestly apparent if one considers what patience is. For patience rectifies the rational power, tempers the irascible, moderates the concupiscible, and perfects outward action. The rational power, I say, it illuminates and rectifies; whence Proverbs 14: "He who is patient is governed by much wisdom"; and Proverbs 19: "The learning of a man is known by his patience." It tempers the irascible and the concupiscible; on account of which Gregory says: "True patience exists when one loves the person one bears with. For to tolerate and to hate is not virtue but a veil for fury." It also perfects outward action, according to that saying in James 1: "Patience has a perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire," etc.; and Hebrews 10: "Patience is necessary for you, so that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise." Moreover, this patience causes the reward to be obtained, while it preserves and multiplies the merits of sufferings. Whence Jerome says: "Patience is exercised when from our neighbor we endure persecutions, losses, and insults; from the adversary, temptations; from the Lord, scourges. Without the sword we can be martyrs, if we preserve patience in our soul."
28. When you shall see surrounded by an army
etc. After he described what was to come in general, and also the persecutions of the Church itself, here he describes what is to come concerning the destruction of Jerusalem,
by which is understood the tribulation that the Church is to suffer in the time of the Antichrist. This part has two parts. In the first of these he foretells the preceding war:
and in the second, the subsequent destruction,
at the passage: But woe to those who are pregnant and nursing,
etc.
The preceding war,
however, he describes with respect to three things, namely with respect to the danger of battle, the remedy of flight,
and the judgment of divine vengeance.
29. (Vers. 20.). First, with respect to the danger of battle,
he says: When you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army,
through the siege of the Romans, according to that passage of Ezekiel chapter four: "Son of man, take to yourself a brick, and you shall set it before you, and you shall draw upon it the city of Jerusalem, and you shall lay siege against it, and you shall build fortifications, and you shall cast up a mound, and you shall set camps against it, and you shall place battering rams round about."
Then know that its desolation has drawn near,
through complete overthrow; Daniel chapter nine: "The people with the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be devastation, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation," etc.
30. Spiritually,
however, by the army surrounding Jerusalem
is understood the insurrection of the wicked against ecclesiastical peace, brought about by the Antichrist and his ministers, according to that passage of Revelation chapter sixteen: "And I saw from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits go forth in the manner of frogs. For they are spirits of demons working signs, and they go forth to the kings of the whole earth to gather them for battle on the great day of almighty God"; and Revelation chapter nineteen: "I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war with him who sat upon the horse." But because the wicked will be incomparably more numerous, they are therefore said to surround.
As a figure of this, 1 Kings chapter twenty-three: "Saul and his men were encircling David and his men in the manner of a crown, to capture them." Whence Job chapter nineteen: "His robbers came together and made their way by me and besieged my tabernacle round about."
31. (Vers. 21.). Second, regarding the remedy of flight, he adds: Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, lest they be found; and let those who are in the midst of it depart, lest they be enclosed; and let those who are in the countryside not enter into it, lest they be captured there. For the army of the Romans first overthrew many cities throughout Judea before it came to Jerusalem. And nearly all the Jews had entered there, as Josephus says, on account of the feast and on account of security; therefore they were all seized by the just judgment of God, according to that passage in Jeremiah 12: "Gather them together like a flock for the slaughter and sanctify them for the day of killing." But the Christians were delivered through flight; hence the Gloss of Bede: "Ecclesiastical history relates that the Christians who were in Judea, when the destruction was imminent, were warned by an Angel and dwelt beyond the Jordan in the city of Pella until the desolation of Judea was fulfilled."
32. Spiritually, however, the remedy is here intimated which will be available to the weak in that violent persecution of the Antichrist, namely that of flight and concealment. For it is permitted for the imperfect to flee in order to avoid dangers; hence Zechariah 2: "O, O, O! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord." Condescending to these, Christ hid himself from the Jews, according to that passage in John 7: "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee. For he did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him." It is also permitted for perfect men, when they see that it is more expedient for the salvation of the people that they flee; hence the Lord said to the disciples in Matthew 10: "But when they persecute you in one city, flee to another"; and concerning Paul it is said in Acts 9 that when "the Jews were guarding the gates of Damascus day and night in order to kill Paul, the disciples took him and let him down through the wall by night, lowering him in a basket." A figure of this preceded in David; 1 Kings 19: "But he went away and fled and was saved"; for he was let down by Michal through the window.
33. (Vers. 22.). Third, regarding the judgment of divine vengeance, he adds: Because these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Now the Lord decreed to destroy Jerusalem in vengeance for the blood of Jesus Christ and of his Prophets; hence Matthew 23: "That upon you may come all the just blood that has been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just even to the blood of Zechariah. Amen I say to you: All these things shall come upon this generation." For so great a crime ought in no way to remain unavenged; therefore Lamentations 2: "The Lord has done what he purposed; he has fulfilled his word which he commanded from the days of old. He has destroyed and has not spared, and he has made the enemy rejoice over you and has exalted the horn of your adversaries."
34. Spiritually,
however, through these things is understood the vengeance of divine indignation on account of the sins of ecclesiastical persons,
both secular and religious, according to that passage of Micah 3: "Her princes judged for bribes, and her priests taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money." "Therefore Zion shall be plowed as a field," etc. And especially on account of the sins of prelates:
Isaiah 1: "How has the faithful city become a harlot, full of judgment! Justice dwelt in her, but now murderers"; "your princes are faithless, companions of thieves. All love bribes, they pursue rewards." "Therefore says the Lord God of hosts: Ah! I will be comforted over my enemies and will be avenged of my foes." Therefore Isaiah 34: "The day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retributions of the judgment of Zion"; and 2 Thessalonians 2: "God will send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie, that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but consented to iniquity." And then in the final tribulation all things will be consummated, according to that passage of Revelation 10: "In the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound the trumpet, the mystery of God shall be consummated, which he spoke through his servants the Prophets"; and chapter 15: "The temple of God was filled with smoke from the majesty of God, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven Angels were consummated."
35. (Verse 23). But woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing,
etc. After he described the preceding war, he here describes secondly the subsequent destruction;
concerning the description of which three things are indicated, namely the oppression of the city about to be occupied, the destruction of the oppressed city,
and the desolation of the destroyed city.
First, therefore, with respect to the oppression of the city about to be occupied,
he says: But woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing in those days!
The Gloss says: "Whose wombs or hands, weighed down by the burden of children, will impede the necessity of flight": because for such persons flight will not be able to avail, according to that passage of 1 Thessalonians 5: "Sudden destruction shall come upon them, as the pain upon her who is with child, and they shall not escape." — But the reason for this is the vehement oppression of the city; therefore he adds: For there shall be great distress upon the land and wrath upon this people,
according to that passage of Isaiah 29: "Woe to Ariel! Woe to Ariel! the city which David conquered. And I will lay siege to Ariel, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning. And I will surround you as a sphere round about, and I will cast up a rampart against you and set up siege works for your blockade."
36. But according to the mystical understanding,
by those who are with child
are understood sinful souls, who conceive
through the concupiscence of sin and give birth
through perverse action. Whence Augustine, On the Words of the Lord: "When someone desires another's property, his soul seems as it were to have conceived; and if he is able to obtain that thing through some wickedness, he is known as it were to kiss and nurture the child that has been born." Whence James 1: "Concupiscence, when it has conceived, brings forth sin; and sin, when it is consummated, begets death." And for such there will be woe
in that tribulation; whence Wisdom 4: "All children born of the wicked are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their examination."
But by those who are with child
can be understood souls who have a good intention but do not arrive at the birth of its effect; whence Isaiah 37: "The children have come to the birth, and there was no strength for bringing forth." And for these there will be woe
in that tribulation, because, just as the blossom of the vine is quickly damaged by the cold, so a good intention is annihilated in persecution; whence Job 15: "Its cluster shall be damaged like a vine in its first flower," and this through bad examples. On account of which, Amos 1: "For three crimes of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn him back, because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead to enlarge his border." For these there will be woe
on account of negligence,
just as for the others woe
on account of concupiscence.
And thus will be fulfilled that word of Isaiah 28: "The word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again, command, command again; wait, wait again, wait, wait again; a little there, a little there—that they may go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken."
37. (Verse 24). Secondly, as regards the destruction of the oppressed city,
there is added: And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations. We see this fulfilled literally in the Jews, of whom Josephus narrates a wondrous slaughter, and we see a wondrous dispersion of the living; and thus was verified in them that word of Deuteronomy 32: "Outside the sword shall lay them waste, and within, terror—the young man together with the virgin, the suckling with the aged man"; and that word of Lamentations 1: "Outside the sword slays, and at home death is the same"; and likewise that word of Lamentations 2: "He bent his bow like an enemy, he made firm his right hand like a foe, and he slew all that was beautiful to behold in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion."
38. According to the mystical sense,
by this slaughter
is understood that most great carnage which will occur in the final tribulation, concerning which Isaiah twenty-two says: "A day of slaughter and of trampling and of weeping to the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision." And concerning this Daniel eleven says: "And the learned among the people shall instruct many; and they shall fall by the sword and by flame and by captivity and by plunder for many days." "And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be refined and chosen and made white," etc. Whence it is said in Ezekiel nine: "Pass through the midst of the city and strike; let not your eye spare, nor have pity; slay the old man, the young man and the virgin, the little child and women, unto utter destruction. And begin from my sanctuary," etc. And therefore Job nineteen says: "Flee from the face of the sword," etc.
39. Third, as regards the desolation of the destroyed city,
he adds: And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations.
Lamentations one: "The enemy has stretched out his hand upon all her desirable things, for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, concerning whom you had commanded that they should not enter your assembly." And Lamentations two: "The Lord has cast down and has not spared." "He has cast down all her walls, he has destroyed her strongholds, and has filled in the daughter of Judah the humiliated man and the humiliated woman." And in the Psalm it is said: "O God, the nations have come into your inheritance," etc. — And since the wrath of the Lord is not without mercy, therefore he adds: Until the times of the nations be fulfilled.
The Gloss says: "That is, until the fullness of the nations shall have entered, and so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Zion he who shall deliver and turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
" And therefore it is said in Lamentations three: "For the Lord will not cast off forever; for if he has cast off, he will also have mercy according to the multitude of his mercies."
40. According to the mystical sense,
by the times of the nations
is understood that time in which the son of perdition will trample the Church. Revelation eleven: "The court which is outside the temple, do not measure, for it has been given to the nations, and they shall tread the holy city for forty-two months." But this time shall be shortened on account of the merit of the elect; whence Matthew twenty-four says: "There shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they shall be shortened." Whence also Daniel nine says: "Seventy weeks are shortened upon your people and upon your holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may reach its end, and iniquity may be blotted out, and everlasting justice may be brought in."
41. (Vers. 25.). And there shall be signs in the sun
etc. After he foretold what was to come generally, concerning persecution and concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, here fourthly he foretells what is to come concerning the final judgment.
In this instruction he first instructs the disciples unto foresight.
Second, he raises them to confidence,
there: But when these things begin to come to pass etc.
Third, he rouses them to vigilance,
there: But take heed to yourselves
etc.
Concerning the final judgment
he describes a universal commotion
on the part of celestial, elemental, rational, and intellectual nature
and of the judge himself appearing.
First therefore, as regards celestial nature,
he says: And there shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars. The sun
and moon he names specifically as the two principal luminaries both according to appearance and according to efficacy: Genesis 1: "God made two great luminaries: the greater luminary, to rule over the day, and the lesser luminary, to rule over the night, and the stars." In these luminaries therefore shall appear signs of darkening, according to that passage of Joel 2: "The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and Terrible day of the Lord comes." Horrible
moreover it will be on account of the darkening of those lights, according to that passage of the Psalm: "He made the moon for seasons; the sun knows its setting. You have appointed darkness" etc.; and concerning this, Wisdom 17: "Nor could the most brilliant flames of the stars illuminate that dreadful night." Whence these luminaries, which in the beginning of time were placed in the firmament as signs through their light, according to that passage of Genesis 1: "Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, and let them be for signs and for seasons" etc.; at the end of times are signs of the end through the concealment of light. Whence Revelation 6: "The sun became black as a sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars fell from heaven upon the earth"; and Matthew 24: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven."
Here however blessed Luke does not express that the stars shall fall,
but that in them there shall be signs:
because in truth the bodies of the celestial stars will not change their position according to substance, but according to appearance. By the virtue of the stars, with judgment imminent, very many impressions will be generated, which the Philosopher calls assub,
which will so multiply that the stars of the heavens will appear to fall.
42. And it should be noted that just as the luminaries are signs of natural things according to natural operations, so they are signs of those things which occur above nature, through certain things done in them above nature. For to designate the wondrous power of Christ,
the sun stood still, according to that passage of Joshua 10: "Sun, do not move against Gabaon, and moon, against the valley of Aialon." "And the sun stood still in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to set for the space of one day." But to designate the wondrous condescension,
the sun went back ten degrees: Isaiah 38: "The sun returned ten lines, by the degrees by which it had descended," because man after the nine orders of Angels holds the tenth place. But to designate the wondrous passion,
both in the Head
and in the members, the sun
was darkened in the passion of the Head:
below in chapter 23: "Darkness was made over the whole earth, and the sun was darkened"; similarly in the passion of the body:
Apocalypse 8: "A third part of the sun was struck, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars"; which refers to the body, because, Apocalypse 12, "the dragon drew a third part of the stars."
43. Secondly, as regards elemental nature,
he adds: And on earth distress of nations from the confusion of the sound of the sea and of the waves.
Bede: "As the last judgment approaches, the sound of the sea and of the waves is thrown into confusion, because, as their end approaches, the elements waver and tremble as if in terror"; Wisdom 5: "His zeal shall take armor, and he shall arm creation for the vengeance of enemies." "The bolts of lightning shall go forth directly, and as from a well-bent bow of clouds they shall be driven out and shall leap to a fixed place. And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast from stony fury, and the water of the sea shall rage against them." Whence then shall be verified that passage of Exodus 15: "In the blast of your fury the waters were gathered together." For the Lord himself is the one who disturbs the sea; Isaiah 51: "I am the Lord your God, who disturbs the sea, and its waves swell up." And this indeed by his just judgment: because, as is said in Isaiah 57, "the wicked are like a raging sea, which cannot rest, and its waves overflow into trampling." And then there shall be a confusion of all the elements, according to what happened in Egypt, according to that passage of Exodus 9: "Fire and hail mingled together were carried along." And in this confusion there shall be a terrible sound: for then shall be verified that passage of the Psalm: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of majesty has thundered, the Lord is upon many waters." For this sound designates the sound of the terrible voice of the Judge himself; whence Apocalypse 1: "His eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass as in a burning furnace, and his voice as the voice of many waters"; Ezekiel 1: "I heard the sound of their wings as the sound of many waters and as the sound of the most high God: when they walked, the sound was as the sound of a multitude, as the sound of an army."
44. (Verse 26.) Third, with respect to rational nature, he adds: Men withering away from fear and expectation of the things that shall come upon the whole world. For then shall be fulfilled that word of Matthew twenty-five: "At midnight a cry was made: Behold the bridegroom comes," etc. Whence the Gloss: "This is understood of the advent itself, when all the virgins, wise and foolish, roused by the unusual cry, trim their lamps, that is, reckon their works with themselves, on account of which they await with the greatest fear the now imminent coming of the Eternal judgment." Moreover, those men are said to wither who have lived according to the flesh; for Isaiah forty: "All flesh is grass." "The grass is dried up," etc. Whence also James one: "The sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass"—the sun of justice coming to judgment. Whence Bede: "In the expectation of the strict examination, those who flourished in this world shall wither away," according to that word of Exodus fifteen: "Let fear and dread fall upon them by the greatness of your arm." Then in those in whom there was security and joy, there shall be nothing but fear and mourning, because, First Thessalonians five, "when they shall say: Peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." Whence Chrysostom: "There shall be neither strength to resist, nor place for repentance, nor opportunity for satisfaction; from the anguish of all things nothing shall remain but mourning." Whence Matthew twenty-four: "The sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn."
45. Fourth, with respect to intellectual nature, he adds: For the powers of the heavens shall be moved. Now the powers of the heavens are the blessed Angels, who are said to be shaken by the disturbance of all things, according to that word of Job twenty-six: "The pillars of heaven tremble and are terrified at his command." They are said to tremble and quake, however, not from fear of punishment, but from reverential fear and horror at the divine vengeance, according to that word of Job forty-one: "When he shall raise himself up, the Angels shall fear, and being terrified they shall be purified." Whence, just as someone standing upon a mountain ridge is in a certain way terrified by the burning of some village or a chasm in the earth, so in a certain way those heavenly powers shall tremble at that terrible retribution. Whence Jerome: "What shall the twig of the desert do, when the cedar of the Lebanon of paradise is shaken with fear?" Whence Isaiah six: "The lintels of the doorposts were moved at the voice of the one crying out, and the house was filled with smoke." Whence Chrysostom: "If a king, about to go forth to war against someone, orders a campaign among the people, all the dignitaries are stirred, the army is mustered, the whole city is in ferment—how much more, when the heavenly King arises to judge the living and the dead, are the angelic powers moved: terrible ministers preceding the terrible Lord; before him, in place of candelabra, living lightnings shall go forth; in place of trumpets, dreadful thunders! Truly a great voice, which all the elements obey, which splits rocks, opens the netherworld, and breaks the bonds of death."
46. (Verse 27.). Fifth, with respect to the judge appearing, he says: And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. Revelation 1: "Behold, he comes with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and those who pierced him." And concerning this coming, Daniel 7: "I was watching in a vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like the Son of man was coming, and he reached even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him before his sight. And he gave him power and honor and a kingdom. His power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." And this coming will be so utterly terrifying that that word of Isaiah 2 will be fulfilled: "The loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, and the idols shall be utterly crushed." "And he shall enter the clefts of the rocks and the caverns of the stones, from the face of the terror of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth." And therefore in the Psalm: "God shall come manifestly, our God, and he shall not be silent. A fire shall burn in his sight, and round about him a mighty tempest."
47. Although many wondrous and almost indescribable things will occur at the judgment, Jerome nevertheless relates certain things which he says he found in the annals of the Jews, which are arranged in different ways by different authors. For he says that on the first day the sea will raise itself above the height of the mountains, so that that word of the Psalm may be verified: "Wondrous are the surges of the sea." — On the second day it will descend so far that it can scarcely be seen, according to that word of Nahum 1: "The Lord is in the tempest and the whirlwind of his ways, and the clouds are the dust of his feet, rebuking the sea and drying it up and reducing all the rivers to a desert." And concerning these two days, in the Psalm: "He spoke, and the wind of the storm arose, and its waves were lifted up," etc. — On the third day the beasts of the sea, rising above the surface, will send forth roars up to heaven, as though announcing the coming judgment: Job 12: "Speak to the earth, and it will declare to you, and the fish of the sea will tell you," etc.
On the fourth day the water will burn, according to that word of Isaiah 64: "Would that you would rend the heavens and come down; the mountains would melt before your face, as the burning of fire they would waste away, the waters would burn with fire, that your name might be made known to your enemies."
On the fifth day the plants and trees will give forth a bloody dew: Revelation 14: "And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress up to the horses' bridles."
On the sixth day buildings will collapse: Revelation 16: "And the great city was broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell"; and Matthew 24: "There shall not be left stone upon stone that shall not be destroyed," etc.
On the seventh day rocks will crash against one another, as happened during the Lord's passion: Matthew 27: "The rocks were split," etc.
On the eighth day there will be a universal earthquake: Revelation 16: "And there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since men began to exist."
Ninth, the earth will be leveled; and then that word of Isaiah 40 will be fulfilled: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low"; and Apocalypse 6: "Every mountain and the islands were moved out of their places." - Tenth, men will come out of their caves and will go about as if out of their minds and will not be able to speak to one another, and this on account of the stupor at those wonders which they will see and await; and this is what is indicated here, when he says: "Men withering away from fear." - Eleventh, the tombs will be opened, and bones will stand upon them; and then that word of Ezekiel 37 will be fulfilled: "Behold, I will open your graves and will lead you out of your sepulchres, O my people," etc.
- Twelfth, the stars will fall from heaven: Matthew 24: "The stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved." - Thirteenth, men will die, so that they may rise again with the dead, because, as the Apostle says in First Corinthians 15 according to another translation, "we shall all indeed die, but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," etc. - Fourteenth, heaven and earth will burn, that is, the surface of the earth and of the air: Second Peter 3: "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be dissolved with heat, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up."
On the fifteenth day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and men will rise again, and the judgment will take place; concerning this John says in Apocalypse 21: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea is no more."
48. (Verse 28.). But when these things begin to come to pass,
etc. After he instructed the disciples unto foresight, here secondly he raises them up to confidence,
and this indeed he does in three ways, namely by consoling exhortation, by guiding similitude,
and by certified assertion.
First, therefore, as regards the consolatory exhortation,
he says: But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads;
Gregory: "Lift up your heads,
gladden your hearts, because, while the world is ending, whose friends you are not, the redemption which you have sought is near." Look up,
therefore, through true faith, according to that passage above in chapter 18: "Look up, your faith has made you whole." Look up,
I say, to the things to come, which are not seen, according to that passage in Second Corinthians 4: "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen," etc. And this indeed is done through faith,
concerning which in Hebrews 11: "Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things not appearing." -
Lift up,
however, through hope;
and he adds the reason for this: Because your redemption draws near,
for which your hope sighs. Whence Romans 8: "The creature groans and travails until now. And not only it, but we ourselves also, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope." Moreover, this hope causes tribulations to be borne patiently: Romans 12: "Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"; and the reason for this, Romans 8, is that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature awaits the revelation of the sons of God."
49. Spiritual men ought therefore to lift up their heads
through firm expectation; they ought also to lift up their eyes
through clear contemplation, according to that verse of the Psalm: "To you I have lifted up my eyes," etc.; and Genesis 13: "Lift up your eyes straight ahead." "All the land that you see, I will give to you," etc. They ought to lift up their voice
through the preaching of Scripture: Isaiah 52: "The voice of your watchmen—they have lifted up their voice, together they shall praise," etc. They ought to lift up their hands
unto perfect action: the Psalm: "Thus I will bless you in my life, and in your name I will lift up my hands." And this is what most raises us upward, on account of which First Timothy 2: "I will that you pray in every place, lifting up pure hands without all anger and contention."
50. (Vers. 29. 30.). Second, with respect to the guiding parable, there is added: And he spoke to them a parable: Behold the fig tree and all the trees: when they now shoot forth fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near. He compares trees to the human race, and especially the fig tree. For man is likened to trees of this kind both with respect to origin and with respect to decline and with respect to fruit. With respect to origin, on account of which it is said in the Psalm: "He shall be like a tree that is planted by the streams of waters," etc. With respect to decline, on account of which Job chapter fourteen says: "A tree has hope: if it be cut down, it grows green again, and its branches sprout forth"; so also man, when he dies, has hope of rising again. With respect to fruit, because just as an unfruitful tree is cut down, so also is man; whence Matthew chapter three: "Every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down," etc.; whence above in chapter thirteen it is said of the unfruitful fig tree: "Cut it down," etc. For just as a tree by the wayside does not bear fruit, so also a man occupied with many things; Matthew chapter twenty-one: "Seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it: Let no fruit ever be born from you." Whence Chrysostom: "Just as it is impossible for a tree by the wayside to preserve its fruits to maturity, so it is difficult for a man living according to the world to maintain unstained youth all the way to the end." Just as trees also bear fruit when winter departs, so man has fruit after tribulation; Song of Songs chapter two: "Now the winter is past, the rain is gone and departed"; "the fig tree has put forth its green figs, the flowering vines have given their fragrance." This fruit comes through the endurance of tribulation, according to that passage in Hebrews chapter twelve: "All discipline in the present is not of joy but of sorrow, yet afterward it yields the most peaceful fruit to those who have been trained by it."
51. (Vers. 31.). And this fruit is gathered in the summer of eternal clarity; on account of which he adds: So you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near.
Gloss: "He compares the Kingdom of God
to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow will pass away, and the days of eternal life will shine forth under the brightness of the sun." In this Summer the rain of tears will cease:
Isaiah twenty-five: "The Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face"; Psalm: "Going forth they went and wept," etc. The cloud of tribulations will cease:
Tobit three: "After the storm you make calm, and after weeping and tears you pour in exultation," etc. The cold of desires will also cease:
whence Bernard: "O true noonday, fullness of fervor and light, station of the sun, banishment of shadows, drying up of marshes, driving away of stenches! O perennial solstice, when the day will no longer decline! O noonday light, O springtime mildness, O summer beauty, O autumnal abundance! And lest I seem to have passed over anything: O winter rest and repose! Or rather, if you prefer this more, then alone has winter departed and gone away"!
52. (Vers. 32.). Third, as regards the certifying assertion,
he adds: Amen I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all things are fulfilled.
Gloss: "What I say to you, await with certainty." This
generation, however,
he calls the mortal generation, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes one: "A generation passes away, and a generation comes." This passes away
when it passes over to immortality through the resurrection. Gloss: "From mortality to immortality." And this resurrection will not occur before the consummation of the things foretold, because, Job fourteen, "man, when he has fallen asleep, will not rise again until the heavens are worn away."
53. (Vers. 33.). And therefore he adds: Heaven and earth will pass away,
as regards their outward form.
Psalm: "You in the beginning, O Lord, founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain," etc.; and therefore First Corinthians seven: "The form of this world passes away." Whence Isaiah fifty-one: "The heavens shall melt away like smoke, and the earth shall be worn out like a garment"; and Isaiah sixty-five: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth."
And therefore all these things pass away as temporal things; but on the contrary, my words shall not pass away,
as regards their interior meaning.
Psalm: "Forever, O Lord, your word endures." Whence Gregory: "Everything that among you is durable and without change is not durable unto eternity; and everything that in my sight is seen to pass away is held fixed and without passing." Whence Isaiah forty: "The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen; but the word of our Lord remains forever." Whoever wishes, therefore, to remain eternally, must not linger in transitory things, but rather, by forsaking transitory things through the divine words, pass over to eternal things.
54. For which reason it should be noted that this world passes away with respect to everything desirable that it has in itself. It passes away first with respect to loftiness:
Wisdom 5: "What has pride profited us, or what has the boasting of riches conferred upon us? All things have passed away" etc. Psalm: "I saw the wicked highly exalted" etc. — Second, with respect to beauty:
Psalm: "In the morning let it pass away like grass, in the morning let it flourish and pass away"; and James 1: "Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of grass he will pass away. For the sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass."
Third, with respect to sweetness:
1 John 2: "The world passes away and its concupiscence"; Proverbs 5: "The lips of a harlot are a dripping honeycomb."
Therefore whoever clings to these transitory things makes a threefold passage. The first is from fault to fault:
Wisdom 2: "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither; let there be no meadow that our luxury does not pass through" etc. The second is from fault to punishment:
Wisdom 2: "Our time is the passing of a shadow"; and Job 7: "My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver." The third is from punishment to punishment:
Job 24: "They shall pass from the waters of snow to excessive heat."
But whoever passes from transitory things makes a threefold passage. The first is from fault to repentance; and concerning this, Acts 12: "Passing through the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate"; and this was prefigured in the crossing of the Red Sea, Exodus 14. The second is from repentance to wisdom: Ecclesiasticus 24: "Come over to me, all you who desire me, and be filled from my generations"; and this is prefigured in the passage through the desert, in which the children of Israel tasted manna, Exodus 16. The third is from wisdom to eternal life: Psalm: "We have passed through fire and water" etc.; and John 13: "Knowing that his hour had come" etc.; and this is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan, by which they entered the promised land: Joshua 4: "The people made haste to cross; and when all had crossed, the ark of God also crossed." — Whoever makes this threefold passage, he alone is a Hebrew and celebrates the true Passover; because Passover is nothing other than a passing over.
55. (Verse 34). But take heed to yourselves
etc. After he instructed the disciples toward foresight and raised them to confidence, here thirdly he arouses them to vigilance:
which indeed he does in four ways, namely by dissuading from the contrary, by intimating the danger, by persuading toward the purpose,
and by introducing an example.
First therefore, as regards the dissuasion from the opposite of vigilance,
he says: But take heed to yourselves,
through vigilance, lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down,
through drowsiness: Wisdom nine: "The body that is corrupted weighs down the soul": in surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life,
through excess in gluttony; Sirach thirty-seven: "Because of surfeiting many have perished, but he who is abstinent shall prolong life." Moreover, this kind of excess renders us unfit for keeping watch concerning the study of truth:
Proverbs twenty: "Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness is tumultuous. Whoever delights in these will not be wise"; and therefore Ecclesiastes two: "I thought to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might transfer my soul," etc. Likewise, concerning the exercise of virtue:
Romans thirteen: "Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in revelries and drunkenness," etc.; and Philippians three: "Many walk, of whom I have often told you: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame"; and Romans sixteen: "Such men do not serve Christ, but their own belly." Likewise, concerning the height of contemplation:
Ephesians five: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves," etc.; Hebrews thirteen: "It is best to establish the heart with grace, not with foods"; because, Romans fourteen, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace," etc.
56. Second, as regards the intimation of danger,
he adds: And that day come upon you suddenly,
on account of an unforeseen occurrence. For that which is not foreseen happens suddenly;
Isaiah thirty: "Suddenly, when it is not expected, its destruction shall come." For that day of judgment comes suddenly upon those who have not prepared themselves against it: above, chapter twelve: "If that servant shall say: My lord delays his coming, and shall begin to eat and drink and be drunk: the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know: and shall cut him asunder and shall appoint his portion with the unfaithful."
57. (Vers. 35.). And with regard to such people he adds: For as a snare it will come upon all who sit upon the face of the whole earth,
that is, upon all who are devoted to earthly things. Whence Jeremiah forty-eight: "Fear and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab," by whom indeed the carnal
are understood, who sit upon the earth, concerning whom in the Psalm: "For our soul has been humbled in the dust, our belly has been glued to the earth"; Ezekiel twenty-six: "They will sit upon the ground, and, astonished at your sudden fall, they will marvel." Concerning this, moreover, the Lord set forth above in the seventeenth chapter a twofold example, namely concerning the days of Noah and the days of Lot: because the first perished by flood,
the second by fire.
And concerning such people, Job twenty-one: "Their houses are secure and peaceful." "They take up the timbrel and the harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ; they spend their days in good things, and in a moment they descend to hell."
58. (Vers. 36.). Third, with regard to the persuasion of the resolution,
he subjoins: Watch therefore, praying at all times.
It should be noted, moreover, that he joins together watchfulness
and prayer.
For one must watch
against the external enemy,
namely the devil; First Peter, the last chapter: "Be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil," etc.; and against the domestic
enemy, namely the flesh: and therefore Sirach thirty-one: "The vigil of honesty will waste away the flesh." One must watch
for the progress of virtue;
Second Corinthians six: "In all things let us exhibit ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in many vigils," etc.
One must watch
through the desire of contemplation:
Song of Songs five: "I sleep, and my heart watches"; and Isaiah twenty-six: "My soul has desired you in the night," etc. And since we can neither overcome enemies
nor advance in good
nor possess heavenly consolations
except through the gift of divine grace, therefore one must pray:
and for this reason Matthew twenty-six: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation"; and Sirach thirty-nine: "The just man will give his heart to watching at daybreak," etc.
Because therefore it is necessary to watch on account of the avoidance of evil,
he therefore adds: That you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come,
according to that passage of Matthew twenty-four: "But pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath." And the Prophet prayed for this in the Psalm: "Lord, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplication," etc. — It is necessary to watch also on account of the attainment of good,
and therefore he adds: And to stand before the Son of Man:
the Gloss says: "This is the summit of blessedness, to stand secure in the presence of the Judge"; Job twenty-three: "Who will grant me that I might know and find him and come even to his throne"? And therefore Revelation seven: "These are they who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple." And for this one must always pray; whence in the Psalm: "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain: when shall I come and appear before the face of God"!
59. (Verse 37.). Fourth, as regards the introduction of example,
there is subjoined: And during the days he was teaching in the temple,
as one watching with regard to the exercise of the active life,
so that he might give an example for the exercise of perfect action, according to that passage of Second Timothy four: "Preach the word, be urgent in season, out of season," etc.; and again in the same place: "But you, be watchful, labor in all things," etc.
But going out at night, he stayed on the mount that is called Olivet, as one watching with regard to the repose of the contemplative life,
according to that passage of Lamentations two: "Arise in the night, at the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water." And from these two he gave an example of perfect watchfulness in the active and contemplative life to all prelates, according to that passage of Song of Songs three: "Behold, sixty valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel surround the bed of Solomon, all holding swords and most skilled in war"; and Isaiah twenty-one: "Upon the watchtower of the Lord I stand, standing continually by day, and at my post I stand throughout all the nights."
60. (Verse 38.). And because such a prelate and teacher is gladly heard, he therefore adds: And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him,
as one watching unto learning, according to that passage of Proverbs eight: "They who watch for me early in the morning shall find me." Now maniare
is the same as to hasten in the morning, because one must rise early for the study of wisdom: Isaiah fifty: "He wakens my ear in the morning, that I may hear him as a master"; and Proverbs eight: "Blessed is the man who hears me and who watches daily at my gates and waits at the posts of my doors. He who finds me shall find life and shall draw forth salvation from the Lord."