Treatises & Letters 14 part 3/8

Whence in the Gospel, Gabriel to Mary: 'And the angel answering said unto her: The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God.' Likewise in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: 'The first man was of the clay of the earth, the second man of heaven. As is the one of clay, such also are they that are of clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of him who is of clay, let us bear also the image of him who is of heaven.' THAT HE WAS TO BE BORN OF THE SEED OF DAVID ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. In the second of Kingdoms: 'And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: Go and say to my servant David, Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in:'

'but it shall be, when thy days are fulfilled and thou sleepest with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy womb, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will set up his throne for ever; and I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son; and his house shall obtain faith, and his kingdom for ever in my sight.' Likewise in Isaiah: 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and godliness; the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him.' Likewise in Psalm 131: 'The Lord hath sworn truth unto David, and will not make it void:'

'of the fruit of thy womb will I set upon my throne.' Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke: 'And the angel said unto her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace before God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.' Likewise in the Apocalypse: 'And I saw a book in the right hand of God sitting upon the throne, written within and behind, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to receive the book and to open its seals?'

'And no one was able, neither in heaven, nor upon the earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor even to look upon it. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look upon it. And one of the elders said unto me: Weep not; behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and its seven seals.' THAT HE WAS TO BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM. In Micah: 'And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art thou too little to be reckoned among the thousands of Judah? Out of thee shall one come forth to me, to be prince in Israel; and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.' Likewise in the Gospel:

'And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.' THAT IN HIS FIRST COMING HE WAS TO COME IN LOWLINESS. In Isaiah: 'Lord, who hath believed our report, and the arm of God, to whom hath it been revealed? We announced before him as children, as a root in a thirsty land. He hath no form nor glory; and we saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness, but his form was without honour, and failing beyond all other men. A man set in a wound, and knowing how to bear infirmity:'

'because his face is turned away, he was dishonoured and not esteemed. He beareth our sins, and grieveth for us; and we accounted him to be in sorrow and in stripes and in affliction. But he was wounded for our wickednesses, and was made weak for our sins. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; by his bruise we are healed. We all like sheep went astray; each man wandered in his own way. And God delivered him up for our sins; and he, because he was afflicted, opened not his mouth.' Likewise in the same: 'I am not rebellious, nor do I contradict; I set my back to the scourges and my cheeks to the palms; and I turned not away my face from the shame of spittings; and the Lord was my helper.' Likewise there:

'He shall not cry, neither shall anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, but in truth shall he bring forth judgment. He shall shine and not be broken, until he set judgment in the earth; and in his name shall the nations believe.' Likewise in Psalm 21: 'But I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. All they that saw me mocked me, and spoke with their lips and shook the head: He hoped in the Lord; let him deliver him, let him save him, since he delighteth in him.' Likewise there: 'My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws.' Likewise in Zechariah:

'And the Lord showed me Jesus, that great priest, standing before the face of the angel of the Lord; and the devil stood at his right hand to be his adversary. And Jesus was clothed in filthy garments, and stood before the face of that angel; and he answered and said to those who stood before his face, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said unto him: Behold, I have taken away thy iniquities. And clothe him with a robe and set a clean mitre upon his head.' Likewise Paul the apostle to the Philippians:

'Who, being constituted in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father.' THAT HE IS THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WHOM THE JEWS WERE TO SLAY. In the Wisdom of Solomon: 'Let us encompass the righteous one, since he is unprofitable to us and contrary to our works, and reproacheth us with the sins of the law.'

'He professeth to have the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the Son of God. He hath become to us a censure of our thoughts; he is grievous to us even to behold, because his life is unlike that of others, and his ways are changed. We are reckoned by him as triflers; he holdeth himself aloof from our ways as from uncleannesses, and preferreth the last end of the righteous, and glorieth that God is his father. Let us see therefore whether his words be true, and let us try what shall befall him. With insult and torment let us question him, that we may know his reverence and prove his patience. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death.' These things they thought, and they erred; for their own malice blinded them, and they knew not the mysteries of God.

Likewise in Isaiah: 'See how the righteous one perisheth, and no one considereth; and righteous men are taken away, and no one regardeth. For from before the face of iniquity the righteous one was taken away; his burial shall be in peace.' Concerning this very thing it was foretold in Exodus: 'The innocent and the righteous thou shalt not slay.' Likewise in the Gospel: 'Judas, led by repentance, said to the priests and elders: I have sinned in betraying righteous blood.' THAT HE WAS CALLED A SHEEP AND A LAMB, WHO WAS TO BE SLAIN, AND CONCERNING THE MYSTERY OF THE PASSION. In Isaiah: 'As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; but his generation, who shall declare it?'

'For his life shall be taken from the earth; from the wickednesses of my people he was led to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death, because he did no wickedness, neither was guile in his mouth. Therefore he shall obtain many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was delivered up to death, and he was reckoned among the wicked; and he himself bore the sins of many, and was delivered up because of their wickednesses.' Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: 'Lord, make it known to me, and I shall know; then I saw their devices. I, like an innocent lamb, was led to the slaughter; against me they devised a device, saying:'

'Come, let us cast wood into his bread, and let us cut off his life from the earth, and his name shall be no more in remembrance.' Likewise in Exodus, the Lord God said unto Moses: 'Let them take, every man, a sheep according to the houses of the tribes, a sheep without blemish, perfect, a male, of a year old shall it be unto you. From the lambs and the kids shall ye take it, and all the multitude of the assembly of the children of Israel shall kill it at evening, and shall take of the blood and put it upon the two posts and upon the lintel in the houses wherein they shall eat it; and they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread with bitter herbs shall they eat. Ye shall not eat of it raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted with fire, the head with the feet and the inwards:'

'ye shall leave nothing of it until the morning, and a bone of it ye shall not break. And that which is left of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it: your loins girded, and your sandals on your feet, and your staves in your hands; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Passover of the Lord.' Likewise in the Apocalypse: 'And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent throughout the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of God who sat upon the throne.'

'And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them golden harps and golden vials full of odours of supplications, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying: Thou art worthy to take the book and to open its seals; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us by thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign upon the earth.' Likewise in the Gospel: 'On the next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him that taketh away the sins of the world.' THAT HE WAS ALSO CALLED A STONE. In the prophet Isaiah the Lord saith thus:

'Behold, I lay in the foundations of Zion a precious stone, chosen, chief, a corner-stone, honoured; and he that believeth in him shall not be confounded.' Likewise in Psalm 117: 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save me; O Lord, prosper me well. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' Likewise in Zechariah: 'Behold, I bring forth my servant; the Branch is his name; for the stone which I have set before the face of Jesus, upon that one stone are seven eyes.' Likewise in Deuteronomy: 'And thou shalt write upon a stone all this law most plainly.'

Likewise in Joshua the son of Nun: 'And he took a great stone and set it up there before the Lord, and Joshua said unto the people: Behold, this stone shall be for a testimony, for it hath heard all the things that were spoken by the Lord, as many as he spoke unto you this day; and it shall be to you for a testimony in the last of days, when ye shall depart from your God.' Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter: 'Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: if we this day are questioned by you concerning the good deed done to an infirm man, by whom this man was saved, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him doth this man stand whole in your sight; but in no other.'

'This is the stone which was despised by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.' This is the stone in Genesis, which Jacob placed at his head—because the head of the man is Christ—and sleeping, he saw a ladder reaching to heaven, upon which the Lord was set, and the angels were ascending and descending; which stone he consecrated and anointed, signifying Christ by the mystery of anointing. This is the stone in Exodus, upon which Moses sat at the top of the hill when Joshua the son of Nun fought against Amalek; and by the mystery of the stone and the steadfastness of the sitting, Amalek was overcome by Joshua—that is, the devil was conquered by Christ.

This is the great stone [in First Kingdoms], upon which the ark of the covenant was set, when the oxen brought it back upon a cart, sent away and restored by the foreigners. This is the stone [in First Kingdoms] with which David struck the forehead of Goliath and slew him, signifying that the devil and his servants are thrown down thence, conquered, namely in that part of the head which they have not sealed; by which sign we too are ever safe and live. This is the stone which, when Israel had conquered the foreigners, Samuel set up and called its name Ebenezer, that is, the stone that helps. THAT THEREAFTER THE SAME STONE SHOULD BECOME A MOUNTAIN AND FILL THE WHOLE EARTH. In Daniel: And behold, an exceedingly great image, and the contemplation of that image was fearful, and it stood lifted up against thee;

whose head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, but its feet partly of iron and partly of clay, until a stone was cut out of the mountain without the hands of any who hewed it, and it smote the image upon its feet of iron and clay and ground them small to powder; and at once iron and earthenware and brass and silver and gold were made into fine pieces like chaff or dust on a threshing-floor in summer, and the wind carried them off, so that nothing remained of them; and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. THAT IN THE LAST TIMES THE SAME MOUNTAIN SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST, UPON WHICH THE NATIONS SHOULD COME AND ONTO WHICH ALL THE RIGHTEOUS SHOULD ASCEND. In Isaiah:

In the last times the mountain of the Lord shall be made manifest, and the house of God upon the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall come unto it; and many shall walk and shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it. For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and he shall judge among the nations and rebuke many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they shall learn war no more. Likewise in Psalm 23: Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? He that is innocent in hands and clean in heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God his Saviour. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek the face of the God of Jacob. THAT HE HIMSELF IS THE BRIDEGROOM, HAVING THE CHURCH AS HIS BRIDE, OF WHOM SPIRITUAL SONS SHOULD BE BORN. In Joel: Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, and proclaim a healing; gather the people, sanctify the church, take up the elders, gather the little ones that suck the breast; let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber and the bride from her bridal room. Likewise in Jeremiah: And I will take away from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of them that rejoice and the voice of them that are glad, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. Likewise in Psalm 18: And he, as a bridegroom, cometh forth from his chamber;

he rejoiced as a giant to run his course. His going forth is from the height of heaven, and his circuit even to the height thereof, and there is none that can hide himself from his heat. Likewise in the Apocalypse: Come, I will show thee the new bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he led me in the spirit into a great mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down from heaven, having from God the brightness of God. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: You yourselves bear me witness that I said to those who were sent to me from Jerusalem, that I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. For he that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom is he that standeth and heareth him and rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice.

The mystery of this matter was shown in the case of Joshua son of Nun, when he was bidden to put off his shoes, namely because he himself was not the bridegroom — for it was in the law that whoever refused a marriage should take off his shoe, but he who was to be the bridegroom should be shod — And it came to pass, when Joshua was in Jericho, that he looked about with his eyes and saw a man standing before his face and a sword held fast in his hand, and he said: Art thou ours, or of our adversaries? But he said: I am the captain of the host of the Lord; now I am come. And Joshua fell upon his face to the earth and said to him: Lord, what dost thou command thy servant? And the captain of the host of the Lord said: Loose the shoe from off thy feet, for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground.

Likewise in Exodus Moses is bidden to put off his shoe, because not even he himself was the bridegroom: And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the bush; and he saw that the bush burned with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. And Moses said: I will pass over and see this great sight, why the bush is not at all burned up. And when the Lord saw that he drew near to look, God the Lord called to him out of the bush, saying: Moses, Moses. And he said: What is it? And he said: Draw not near hither, unless thou loose the shoe from off thy feet, for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground. And he said to him: I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And this is made manifest in the Gospel according to John: And John answered them:

I indeed baptize with water; but there standeth in the midst of you one whom you know not: he it is of whom I said: After me cometh a man who is made before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. Likewise according to Luke: Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh they may open to him. Blessed are those servants whom the lord at his coming shall find watching. Likewise in the Apocalypse: The Lord God Almighty hath reigned; let us be glad and rejoice and give brightness to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. THAT THE JEWS SHOULD FASTEN HIM TO THE CROSS. In Isaiah:

I have spread out my hands all the day long to a people that is rebellious and that contradicteth me, who walk in ways that are not good but after their own sins. Likewise in Jeremiah: Come, let us cast wood into his bread and let us cut off his life from the earth. Likewise in Deuteronomy: And thy life shall hang before thine eyes, and thou shalt fear day and night and shalt not trust thy life. Likewise in Psalm 21: They have dug my hands and feet, they have numbered all my bones; but they themselves considered and looked upon me, they parted my garments among them and upon my vesture they cast lots. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help far from me; look to my defence. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog.

Deliver me from the lion's mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the church I will praise thee. Likewise in Psalm 118: Nail down my flesh with nails out of thy fear. Likewise in Psalm 140: The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice. Of which sacrifice Zephaniah said: Fear from the face of the Lord God, for his day is near, because the Lord hath prepared his sacrifice, he hath sanctified his called ones. Likewise in Zechariah: And they shall look on me, whom they have pierced. Likewise in Psalm 87: And I have cried to thee, O Lord my God, all the day long; I have spread out my hands to thee. Likewise in Numbers: Not as a man is God hung up, neither as a son of man doth he suffer threats.

Whence in the Gospel the Lord saith: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believeth in him may have eternal life. THAT IN THE PASSION OF THE CROSS AND IN ITS SIGN IS ALL POWER AND AUTHORITY. In Habakkuk: His power hath covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise; and his brightness shall be as the light, horns shall be in his hands. And there is his glory's power established, and he shall set strong love. Before his face the word shall go, and it shall go forth into the field according to his steps. Likewise in Isaiah: Behold, unto you is born a child, to us a son is given, whose government is upon his shoulders; and his name is called the messenger of great counsel.

By this sign of the cross Amalek also was conquered by Joshua through Moses. Likewise in Exodus Moses said to Joshua: Choose thee men and go forth and set the battle against Amalek on the morrow; and behold, I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. And it came to pass, when Moses lifted up his hands, that Israel prevailed; but when he let down his hands, Amalek grew strong. But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands on this side and that, and the hands of Moses were made steady until the going down of the sun, and Joshua put to flight Amalek and all his people. And the Lord said to Moses:

Write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for with blotting out I will blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. THAT IN THIS SIGN OF THE CROSS IS SALVATION FOR ALL WHO ARE MARKED ON THEIR FOREHEADS. In Ezekiel God saith: Pass through the midst of Jerusalem and thou shalt mark a sign upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and mourn for the iniquities that are done in the midst of them. Likewise there: Go and smite, and spare not your eyes; have no pity on the elders or young men, and slay the virgins and the little ones and the women, that they may be utterly destroyed; but every one upon whom the sign is written, touch not, and begin from my own sanctified ones. Likewise in Exodus God to Moses:

And the blood shall be to you for a sign upon the houses in which you shall be; and I will see the blood and will protect you, and there shall be no plague of destruction upon you when I smite the land of Egypt. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I saw, and behold a Lamb standing on mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. Likewise there: I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Happy are they who do his commandments, that their power may be over the tree of life. THAT AT MIDDAY IN HIS PASSION THERE SHOULD BE DARKNESS. In Amos: And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that the sun shall go down at midday, and the day of light shall be darkened;

and I will turn your feast days into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. Likewise in Jeremiah: She that bears is terrified, and her soul hath grown weary; the sun hath gone down upon her while it was yet midday; she is confounded and accursed. The remnant of them I will give to the sword in the sight of their enemies. Likewise in the Gospel: And from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour. THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE OVERCOME BY DEATH NOR REMAIN IN THE NETHER WORLD. In Psalm 15: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Likewise in Psalm 29: O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from hell. Likewise in Psalm 3:

I lay down and slept and rose up, for the Lord will sustain me. Likewise in the Gospel according to John: No one taketh my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again; for this commandment have I received from my Father. THAT HE SHOULD RISE AGAIN FROM THE NETHER WORLD ON THE THIRD DAY. In Hosea: He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up. Likewise in Exodus: And the Lord said to Moses: Go down and charge the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready against the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down upon mount Sinai. Likewise in the Gospel: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, and a sign shall not be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. THAT WHEN HE HAD RISEN AGAIN HE SHOULD RECEIVE FROM THE FATHER ALL POWER, AND THAT HIS POWER IS ETERNAL. In Daniel: I saw in a vision by night, and behold, in the clouds of heaven one as the Son of Man came even unto the Ancient of Days, and he stood in his sight, and they that stood by brought him near; and there was given to him royal power, and all the kings of the earth according to their kind, and all glory serving him; and his power is eternal, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be corrupted. Likewise in Isaiah: Now will I rise up, saith the Lord, now will I be glorified, now will I be exalted;

now shall you see, now shall you understand, now shall you be confounded; the strength of your spirit shall be vain, fire shall consume you. Likewise in Psalm 109: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send forth the rod of thy power out of Sion, and thou shalt rule in the midst of thine enemies. Likewise in the Apocalypse: And I turned and looked, to see the voice that spake with me; and I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the candlesticks one like to the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle;