Matthew 24

The magnificent splendor of the temple's design was shown to Christ immediately after he had warned of Jerusalem's desolation, as though to move him. Yet he said that everything had to be destroyed and the scattered stones of its entire foundation demolished, for an eternal temple was being consecrated as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. This eternal temple is the man who is made worthy of becoming God's habitation through knowledge of the Son, confession of the Father and obedience to the commandments.

Every man also, who, by taking into him the word of God, is become a temple, if after sinning he yet retains in part the traces of faith and religion, his temple is in part destroyed, and in part standing. But he who after sin has no regard for himself is gradually alienated, until he has altogether forsaken the living God, and so one stone is not left upon another of God's commandments, which he has not thrown down.

Then the Lord responds: do these things seem great to you? Isaiah 23:9: The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, etc. Hence he adds, Amen I say to you, there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone. Is this true? In the time of Chrysostom it had not yet entirely come to pass, but it was expected that it would come. Or it can be said that he means only that it would be destroyed. Or it should be said that, just as by God's providence the temple was at one time restored, so by God's providence, when the confirmation of the new law began, the temple was destroyed, lest sacrifices be offered in the temple. Hence, if it had not been destroyed, many who had become Christians would perform the ceremonies and would return to the temple; hence it was done by divine dispensation that it was destroyed. And this is found in Luke 21:6, where it says of the temple: The days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down. So it also happens that someone who is built up by good virtues, if he falls through some mortal sin and is negligent and not watchful, totally falls and is destroyed; Psalm 136:7: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. Hence he means to say that not only the temple, but also the things pertaining to it, which were a shadow, as Hebrews 10:1 states: The law having a shadow of the good things to come.

What then saith He? "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

For since they felt as being told of vengeance falling on others when hearing of that which was to be brought upon Jerusalem and as though they were to be out of the turmoils, and were dreaming of good things only, and looked for these to befall them quite immediately; for this cause He again foretells to them grievous things, making them earnest, and commanding them on two grounds to watch, so as neither to be seduced by the deceit of them that would beguile them, nor to be overpowered by the violence of ills that should overtake them.

But He answered nothing directly to this question, but first speaks of those other things that are urgent, and which it was needful for them to learn first. For neither concerning Jerusalem straightway, nor of His own second coming, did He speak, but touching the ills that were to meet them at the doors. Wherefore also He makes them earnest in their exertions, by saying, "Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ."

Afterwards, when He hath roused them to listen about these things (for, "take heed," saith He, "that no man deceive you"); and having made them energetic, and prepared them to be watchful, and hath spoken first of the false Christs, then He speaks of the ills of Jerusalem, assuring them ever by the things already past, foolish and contentious though they were, of those which were yet to come.

And Jesus answering said to them: See that no one seduces you. For many will come in my name saying that I am the Christ, and they will seduce many (24, 4. 5).

Those who understand simply suppose that these words signify only this: that many were going to come asserting themselves to be Christs, having in themselves also certain wonder-working powers and words by which they might provoke to belief many who had shown themselves worthy of seduction. But John in his epistle says: "and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, now many Antichrists have arisen; whence we know that it is the last hour". By these words he teaches that every word which is foreign to the truth and asserts itself to be the word of God is Antichrist; for it is thus possible to understand what he says: "and now many Antichrists have arisen", since there is one thing that is true. But as the record of the readings makes plain, there were not many men in the time of the apostles who said that they were Christs, unless perhaps Dositheus the Samaritan — whence they are also called Dositheans — and Simon, of whom the Acts report, who proclaimed himself to be the great power of God. Besides these, there were none either before or afterward, so far as my knowledge goes.

But every discourse which professes an exposition of the Scriptures and faith in them, yet does not have the truth, is rightly to be understood to be Antichrist, coming in the name of Christ and saying that I am the Christ, lying and by no means able to display in itself the form of truth. And since to those who examine the words of Scripture, in order to find its meaning, there frequently occur certain interpretations as if true when they are not true, and sometimes they are drawn also by other plausible, specious discourses, so that it is not easy to find which is the true meaning before against the lying estimations the truer and firmer meaning has been found — for this reason I think that Christ, to the question of his disciples saying: "when shall these things be? and what is the sign of your coming and of the consummation of the age?" answered thus: See that no one seduces you. For many will come in my name saying: I am the Christ, and they will seduce many. For truly he who fulfills that commandment which says: "be prudent money-changers", and that which says: "prove all things, hold fast what is good; abstain yourselves from every evil appearance", will see many being seduced by false interpretations and words professing themselves to be Christ the word of God. And would that only those who are outside the Church were seduced: it would be easy to guard against the seduction. But now those very people who profess themselves to be churchmen are deceived and seduced about various necessary chapters, as their very dissension is a testimony, since even those who are within are seduced.

But consequently, just as it is wont to be among those wandering these bodily roads that there is a difference of error, and some indeed even go against the very public road that is sought, wandering, while others turn aside a little something from the straight path so that they may be recalled, and there are many differences among those who wander — in this manner we see also those who stray from the truth. And the Marcionites indeed and Basilides, and the Valentinians and the Apellians and the Ophites wander much from the proposed way, since they hold opinions wholly contrary to the truth. But some do not indeed dissent about the public and manifest chapters — for instance, about the one God who gave the Law and the Gospel, or about Christ Jesus the firstborn of every creature, who at the end of the age according to the preachings of the prophets came into the world and took upon himself the true nature of human flesh, so that he even underwent birth from a virgin, and took upon himself the death of the cross and rose from the dead and deified the human nature which he had taken up. Furthermore also about the Holy Spirit, that he himself was the one in the patriarchs and prophets who afterward was given in the apostles, and about the resurrection of the dead as the Gospel teaches they most certainly believe, and all things whatsoever are handed down in the churches. But about other things not few, yet slight, they propose new dogmas, and they too indeed are among those who are seduced by false interpretations and words coming in the name of Christ, who is the word and the truth. And it is an evil indeed to find someone erring according to the conduct of life, but I think it is much worse to go astray in dogmas and not to hold opinions according to the truest rule of the Scriptures. For if for moral sins we are to be punished, still more those sinning through false dogmas. For if a good conduct of morals sufficed for men unto salvation, how is it that among the Gentiles many philosophers, or among the heretics many living continently, are by no means saved, as though the falsity of their dogma obscured and defiled their conduct?

But I think that the discourse, wishing to show a general cleanness which is not only in acts but also in knowledge, says in the twenty-third Psalm: who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? he that is innocent in hands and pure in heart, and in the Proverbs: who shall boast that he has a chaste heart? or who shall be confident that he is clean from sins? I therefore think that the one clean in heart and chaste in heart is no other than he who possesses a heart clean and chaste from every false dogma; so also I reckon him to be innocent in hands and clean from sins who is irreproachable in the acts of his life. And it must be known that (as regards the truth) it is impossible for anyone to be innocent in hands and clean from sins without being pure in heart and chaste from false dogmas; just as, on the contrary, it is impossible to be clean indeed and chaste in heart from false dogmas without being innocent in "hands" and clean from sins. For these follow one another mutually and are not separated from each other: a discourse clean in the soul and a life irreproachable. But we have treated this chapter more abundantly, teaching ourselves according to what has seemed good to us in the passage, that we may keep ourselves from every error of false dogmas, whether about the manifest and principal chapters or about those which seem lesser, that we may hear him who said: "you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left", from him who said: "I am the way", and that we may not be seduced, but may keep watch lest any of those deceive us who come in the name of Christ saying: I am the Christ, I am the truth and wisdom and the true light.

But I think that not only is discourse Christ and feigned discourse Antichrist, truth Christ and feigned truth Antichrist, wisdom Christ and feigned wisdom Antichrist (deceiving the lovers of the wisdom of God and of truth, all of which pertain to the account of faith), but also in these virtues by which we live according to God, we find that all the virtues are Christ and all the feigned virtues Antichrist, since all the kinds of good, whatsoever Christ has in himself in truth for the edification of men, all of these the devil has in himself in appearance for the seduction of the saints. For thus Christ is righteousness, yet "there are" frequently "ways of a man which seem to be righteous, but the last of them look down into the depth of hell". When therefore something seems to be righteousness, while it is not true righteousness, such righteousness is Antichrist against Christ who is righteousness. I think also that there is a chastity that is Antichrist, which is among the heretics sending men into error, that they may not understand the ecclesiastical chastity which is Christ. So also there is a mercy that is Antichrist against the mercy which is Christ, in those who give alms, but not for the sake of the righteousness of God. There is also a patience that is Antichrist in those who indeed seem to suffer for Christianity and "striving even to the shedding of blood", that is, lest they seem to deny Christianity; yet in that very shedding of their blood they "speak iniquity on high", and set "their mouth in heaven". There is also a power that is Antichrist seducing the ignorant, since many are going to say to Christ in that day: "Lord, in your name we cast out demons, and did many powerful works", to whom he will answer: "depart from me, all you who work iniquity, I never knew you". For if Christ never knew them, yet they boast that they did powerful works in the name of Christ, those powers were not from Christ who had not known them, but from him who "transfigures himself" not only "into an angel of light" but even into Christ himself. There is need therefore for us of God as helper and of Christ himself living in us, that with our eyes opened we may see, lest anyone seduce us — either a discourse or a power, whether from within or from without — promising itself to be Christ, when it is his enemy and the enemy of his other virtues.

Consider also this, that many come in nothing else but in my name; for Antichrist takes up only the name of Christ, and neither does the works nor teaches the words of his truth nor displays his wisdom in himself. And just as (according to some) Barabbas too was called Jesus, but was a robber having nothing of Jesus except the name, so I reckon there are many Christs, but in name only. Note, however, that nowhere in the Scriptures is the Lord found using this very expression and saying: I am the Christ, so that he might say nothing similar to the many who were going to come in his name and to say: I am the Christ. For there sufficed for him, unto the faith of believers (that he himself is the Christ), the works of God, which Christ alone could do, and the discourse which he taught and the power, above a thousand voices crying out: I am the Christ. And thus he never openly said: I am, but he said it through works and through the teaching of piety, so that he himself says to Peter, as to one who had never heard it from him but had learned from the Father, that he himself was "the Christ, the Son of the living God": "blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because not flesh and blood revealed it to you, but my Father who is in the heavens". For if he himself, while set in the body, had openly said to him: I am the Christ, flesh would have seemed to have revealed it to him, and not the Father only. Therefore it suffices for the seduction of the Antichrists this alone which they say: I am the Christ, which Christ is never read to have said, and there are many who are seduced; "for wide is the gate and spacious the way that leads to perdition, and many enter through it"; but few are those who find that way "which leads to life".

The character of the times in which we live is such as to call forth from us even this admonition, that we ought not to be astonished at the heresies (which abound) neither ought their existence to surprise us, for it was foretold that they should come to pass; nor the fact that they subvert the faith of some, for their final cause is, by affording a trial to faith, to give it also the opportunity of being "approved.

Many, He says, will come declaring themselves to be Christs. For Dositheus the Samaritan said, "I am that prophet foretold by Moses" (Dt. 18:18); and Simon the Samaritan called himself the great power of God.

In regard to the first, two things. First, he foretells those things which are antecedent to the destruction; secondly, the destruction itself, at when therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, etc. These preliminaries were both on the part of outsiders and of those who were contained within the Church. First, therefore, on the part of outsiders; secondly, on the part of those within the Church, at and many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many. In regard to the first, two things. First, he presents spiritual dangers; secondly, bodily dangers, at for you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. He says, therefore: so you ask about the consummation, yet first you should be concerned for yourselves, that you not be deceived; therefore he says, take heed that no man seduce you. Ephesians 5:15: See therefore, brethren, how you walk cautiously.

Long before [the Christian movement] became as important as that the real opposition would have begun, and to be on the Christian side would be costing a man (at the least) his career. But remember, in England the opposition will quite likely be called Christianity (or Christo-democracy, or British Christianity, or something of that kind).

(Verse 5.) For many will come in my name, saying: I am the Christ, and they will deceive many. One of them is Simon the Samaritan, whom we read about in the Acts of the Apostles, who claimed to be a great power of God (Acts 8). Leaving these things aside, he also wrote among other things in his own volumes: I am the word of God, I am beautiful, I am the Paraclete, I am omnipotent, I am all things of God. But even the apostle John speaks in his epistle: You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, now many antichrists are already here (1 John 2:18). I believe that all heresiarchs are Antichrists, and they teach under the name of Christ those things which are contrary to Christ. It is not surprising if we see some being led astray by them, since the Lord has said: And many will be led astray.

One of them of whom The speaks was Simon of Samaria, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles, that he gave himself out to be the great Power, leaving these things written in his worksa among others, I am the Word of God, I am the Almighty, I am all things of God. The Apostle John also in his Epistle, Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come; even now there are many Antichrists. (1 John 2:18.) I suppose all heresiarchs to be Antichrists, and under the name of Christ to teach those things which are contrary to Christ. No wonder if we see some led away by such teachers, when the Lord has said, And shall deceive many.

"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many."

For the war, saith He, shall be twofold that of the deceivers, and that of the enemies, but the former far more grievous, as coming upon them in the confusion and turmoils, and when men were terrified and troubled. For indeed great was the storm then, when the Roman power was beginning to flourish, and cities were taken, and camps and weapons were set in motion, and many were readily believed.

They that are deceived are many, because wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. (Mat. 7:13.) This one thing is enough to detect the Antichrists and seducers that they shall say, I am Christ, which Christ Himself is no where read to have said: for the works of God, and the word which He taught, and His power, were enough to produce belief that He is Christ. For every discourse which professes to expound Scripture faithfully, and has not the truth, is Antichrist. For the truth is Christ, that which feigns itself to be the truth is Antichrist. So also all virtues are Christ, all that feigns itself to be virtue is Antichrist; for Christ has in Himself in truth all manner of good for the edification of men, but the devil has forged resemblances of the same for the deceiving of the saints. We have need therefore of God to help us, that none deceive us, neither word nor power. It is a bad thing to find any one erring in his course of life; but I esteem it much worse not to think according to the most true rule of Scripture.

Many will come in my name, saying: I am Christ. Someone comes as sent by Christ; so the disciples came. But others are said to come in the name of Christ who say they are Christ, usurping for themselves a name that is not given to another; Philippians 2:9: He hath given him a name which is above all names. Hence many deceivers will come, who will come of themselves; but Christ did not come of himself, but from God; hence John 7:28: I am not come of myself. Although this is said specifically of the Antichrist, it can nevertheless be said of many others. Hence, because they did not adhere to the truth, they were given over to errors. And this happened in the case of Simon Magus, who wrote books and called himself the book of God, the great God, all things of God, and he seduced many. For it belongs to the foolish to be seduced, who are divided in errors, because the number of fools is infinite (Ecclesiastes 1:15). Hence truth gathers together, but error divides; and this is the danger. This can also be referred to the second coming, for these things will happen around the day of judgment.

(Ep. 199. 25.) To this enquiry of the disciples the Lord makes answer, declaring all things which were to come to pass from that time forwards, whether relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given occasion to their enquiry; or to His coming through the Church, in which He ceases not to come to the end of time; for He is acknowledged as coming among His own, while new members are daily born to Him; or relating to the end itself when He shall appear to judge the quick and the dead. When then He describes the signs which shall attend these three events, we must carefully consider which signs belong to which events, lest perchance we refer to one that which belongs to another.

Our Lord and Redeemer announces beforehand the evils that precede the perishing world, so that the things to come may disturb us less because they have been foreknown. For missiles that are foreseen strike less forcefully; and we endure the evils of the world more tolerably if we are fortified against them by the shield of foreknowledge. For behold he says: "When you hear of wars and seditions, do not be terrified; for these things must happen first, but the end is not yet at once." The words of our Redeemer must be weighed carefully, through which he announces that we will suffer one thing internally, another externally. For wars indeed pertain to enemies, seditions to citizens. Therefore, to indicate that we are troubled both internally and externally, he declares that we suffer one thing from enemies, another from brothers.

(Verse 6.) For you will hear of battles and rumors of battles: see that you are not troubled. For these things must happen; but the end is not yet. Therefore, when we see these things happening, let us not think that the day of judgment is imminent, but that it is reserved for that time, whose sign is clearly set forth in the following events.

That is, Think not that the day of judgment is at hand, but that it is reserved against another time; the sign of which is plainly put in what follows, For nation shall rise against-nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

But of wars in Jerusalem is He speaking; for it is not surely of those without, and everywhere in the world; for what did they care for these? And besides, He would thus say nothing new, if He were speaking of the calamities of the world at large, which are happening always. For before this, were wars, and tumults, and fightings; but He speaks of the Jewish wars coming upon them at no great distance, for henceforth the Roman arms were a matter of anxiety. Since then these things also were sufficient to confound them, He foretells them all.

Then lest on hearing of the showers of evils, they should suppose the gospel to be broken through, He added, "See, be not troubled, for all things must come to pass," i.e which I foretold, and the approach of the temptations will set aside none of the things which I have said; but there shall indeed be tumults and confusion, but nothing shall shake my predictions.

Then since He had said to the Jews, "Ye shall not see me, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord;" and the disciples supposed that together with the destruction would be the end also; to set right this secret thought of theirs, He said, "But the end is not yet." For that they did suspect even as I said, you may learn from their question. For, what did they ask? When shall these things be? i.e. when shall Jerusalem be destroyed? And what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?

For the war, saith He, shall be twofold that of the deceivers, and that of the enemies, but the former far more grievous, as coming upon them in the confusion and turmoils, and when men were terrified and troubled. For indeed great was the storm then, when the Roman power was beginning to flourish, and cities were taken, and camps and weapons were set in motion, and many were readily believed.

But of wars in Jerusalem is He speaking; for it is not surely of those without, and everywhere in the world; for what did they care for these? And besides, He would thus say nothing new, if He were speaking of the calamities of the world at large, which are happening always. For before this, were wars, and tumults, and fightings; but He speaks of the Jewish wars coming upon them at no great distance, for henceforth the Roman arms were a matter of anxiety. Since then these things also were sufficient to confound them, He foretells them all.

Then to show that He Himself also will assail the Jews with them, and war on them, He speaks not of battles only, but also of plagues sent from God, famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, showing that the wars also He Himself permitted to come upon them, and that these things do not happen for no purpose according to what has been before the accustomed course of things amongst men, but proceed from the wrath on high.

Therefore He saith, they shall come not by themselves or at once, but with signs. For that the Jews may not say, that they who then believed were the authors of these evils, therefore hath He told them also of the cause of their coming upon them. "For verily I say unto you," He said before, "all these things shall come upon this generation," having made mention of the stain of blood on them.

Then lest on hearing of the showers of evils, they should suppose the gospel to be broken through, He added, "See, be not troubled, for all things must come to pass," i.e which I foretold, and the approach of the temptations will set aside none of the things which I have said; but there shall indeed be tumults and confusion, but nothing shall shake my predictions.

Then since He had said to the Jews, "Ye shall not see me, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord;" and the disciples supposed that together with the destruction would be the end also; to set right this secret thought of theirs, He said, "But the end is not yet." For that they did suspect even as I said, you may learn from their question. For, what did they ask? When shall these things be? i.e. when shall Jerusalem be destroyed? And what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?

But He answered nothing directly to this question, but first speaks of those other things that are urgent, and which it was needful for them to learn first. For neither concerning Jerusalem straightway, nor of His own second coming, did He speak, but touching the ills that were to meet them at the doors. Wherefore also He makes them earnest in their exertions, by saying, "Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ."

Afterwards, when He hath roused them to listen about these things (for, "take heed," saith He, "that no man deceive you"); and having made them energetic, and prepared them to be watchful, and hath spoken first of the false Christs, then He speaks of the ills of Jerusalem, assuring them ever by the things already past, foolish and contentious though they were, of those which were yet to come.

But by "wars and rumors of wars," He meaneth, what I before said, the troubles coming upon them. After this, because, as I have already said, they supposed after that war the end would come, see how He warns them, saying, "But the end is not yet. For nation," He saith, "shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." Of the preludes to the ills of the Jews doth He speak. "All these are the beginning of sorrows," that is, of those that befall them.

But you shall hear battles and rumors of battles; see that you are not terrified, for these things must happen, but the end is not yet.

Luke, however, puts it this way: "when you hear of battles and seditions, do not be terrified; for these things must first happen, but the end is not at once". In these words he sets forth two things, one thus: you shall hear battles, the other: rumors of battles. And first let us see, according to the simple tradition, in the way that many understand it, how rumors of battles differ from battles. Suppose for me that battles exist where cities rise up against cities or nations against nations, so that the one may carry off the other's property or the stronger may kill the strong. What, then, do rumors of battles signify after battles? Especially since it is not said: you shall see battles and hear about battles, but on both sides he set you shall hear; that is, both you shall hear battles and you shall hear rumors of battles. And let us suppose that to hear battles is when the sons of peace keep their eyes clean from battles, so that they may not see wicked things; and (since they cannot look upon labors and pains) they hear about battles, what sort of city fights against what sort of city or what sort of nation is stormed by what sort of nation. But what else, besides this, will it be to hear battles and to hear rumors of battles? See, then, whether you can (I speak with regard to the simplicity of the word) give such a distinction: it is not one and the same thing to hear from far off, placed away from a battle, that a battle is happening, and to be beside the battle and to hear the very voices of those fighting. Each, therefore, has its own signification. And perhaps he indeed who hears the very voices which are made in battles, hears battles; but he who hears about battles waged far off, hears rumors of battles. For he does not hear the battles themselves. But since the words are ambiguous, someone may say the reverse, that he who is indeed far from the battles hears about them; while he who is beside the battles hears the rumors of the battles themselves. In both ways, therefore, there seems to be some understanding of the difference.

Rise now to the moral and spiritual understanding, if in any way you can find some interpretation worthy of the eminence of Christ's knowledge and of the subtlety of the evangelists, so that you may not lay aside the dignity of evangelical wisdom. See therefore whether, recalling those things which were set forth above concerning what he says: many will come in my name saying: I am Christ, and they will lead many astray, we can, according to their sequence, interpret these things also. Everyone therefore who is perfect and sees in his own soul the glorious coming of the Word — which corrupts and consummates the world and crucifies it to the just man, that all worldly things may die to him — and who has senses trained for grasping, must, as he seeks and examines, run into many battles of doctrines. He will hear also many professing the truth and diverse traditions concerning it, so that, like a good soldier of the Word, he may remain invulnerable in soul against all those professing the truth but not seeing it nor manifesting it, but rather pronouncing things contrary to the truth as though they were the truth; and he may be made worthy to receive into his soul the glorious coming of Christ, according to that whereby he is God the Word, which was in the beginning with God, which is wont to come to those who, after they have known Christ according to the flesh and have received the Word which was made flesh, ascend so far beyond the many that they can grasp not just any sort of glory, but glory as of the only-begotten from the Father.

And perhaps the Word of God appears in diverse glories, according to the power of each soul that sees, according to the capacity that each single soul has offered. To the one, therefore, who is perfect and has arrived at the consummation of the age, insofar as it depends on him, the Word appears such that whoever has seen him may say: "we have seen his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth". Therefore, if anyone is to be held worthy to receive such a Word and to see it, he must, before a vision of the word of this kind, hear in his soul battles; but through others, who assert as though it were truth whatever has seemed so to them, rumors of battles. And rightly, as his disciples were advancing toward perfection, after the Savior had spoken these things about battles, he added further: see, and did not say: hear, urging them to be watchful, so that they might be able to see with the eyes of the soul (after they have heard battles and rumors of battles) the nature of each of the things that are heard, and, seeing it, not be terrified: because such intelligible battles are wont to arise for righteous men amid diverse persuasions, and to disturb and shake their souls into doubting, lest perhaps those things be true which seem to be probable while they are false, or at any rate into believing them completely as though they were true.

As many, therefore, as set out toward the perfection which is in Christ and toward the manner of life of the heavenly church, when they have heard the battles of the heresies, which do battle against the true faith and against one another in turn, and when they have heard the rumors of battles of "philosophy and vain seduction according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of this world, and not according to Christ", exercising themselves in the things that are said, seek and ponder the commandment of Christ who says: see, and they do indeed see the things that are said, but seeing lies dressed up with the appearance of truth, they are not led astray, but they hope, without any wound from such battles, to see the glorious coming of Christ, who is the word; especially if, hearing according to Christ's commandment of battles and rumors of battles, they suffer no disturbance of soul, but, protected under the peace of God which guards the "hearts and minds" of the worthy, they are not terrified. But if anyone, hearing of battles and rumors of battles, according to what we have expounded, is not attentive to see the things that are said in their various appearances of truth, and because he was not attentive to see is terrified, he will not only be deceived by the many who come in the name of Christ and say: I am Christ, but he will even be slain by swords of this kind, receiving incurable wounds — of which swords it is said: "swords do wound", whose wounds "the tongues of the wise" are wont to heal. But these who are disturbed and, because they do not look out for themselves, fall into a battle of this kind, are those who are wounded in the valley of Zion. and they die, of whom Scripture says: "your wounded are not wounded by the sword, nor are your dead dead in battle", concerning whom it is fitting for us now only to give this indication.

But it is not for just any man to prepare himself to hear of wars and rumors of wars, so that hearing he may see and not be terrified, but for the man perfected in Christ, living indeed in the flesh yet not warring according to the flesh, whose weapons of warfare are not carnal but mighty toward God and able to destroy strongholds and the reasonings of those who exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. For, according to Solomon, the many "fortified cities" of the heresies, fortified by the persuasion of words, "a wise man ascended," and ascending he "destroyed the fortification in which the impious trusted." Paul destroyed it, who had been prepared "for the destruction of fortified cities" set against the truth. Such a man, after he has heard of wars and rumors of wars, seeing and, as one wise, ascending upon the "fortified cities" and destroying the "fortifications in which the impious trusted," praising God and giving thanks to God (from whom he learned to fight such wars, and to keep the commandment which says: "sanctify war"), cries out and says: "Blessed be the Lord God, who teaches my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; my mercy and my refuge." And because of wars of this kind it is said of David by the wife of Nabal: "My lord will fight the wars of the Lord." And I think that these wars, which are read of in the Scriptures, are also mysteries of such battles; and that the destruction of those who fight against the congregation of the truth is likewise a mystery — especially those things which are read in the book of Joshua the son of Nun concerning the destructions of cities, and they are mysteries of all the congregations of the adversary powers.

Hearing, therefore, of wars and rumors of such wars, let us attend to what he says: see that you be not terrified. And we ought to know that it is necessary for these things to happen to one awaiting the coming of the Word, that he may hear wars and rumors of wars, but not immediately, as soon as he has heard, will the end be. For this reason every man who wishes to be saved must await the end, since "whoever shall persevere unto the end, this one shall be saved". According to Luke, however, if we hear of "wars and insurrections", let us not be troubled — the wars being those that arise from "knowledge falsely so named" and from the wisdom of "the princes of this world", and the insurrections being those of people who do not agree among themselves in the assembly of the church. For we plainly hear differing opinions about various matters (especially we who wish to advance toward that perfection which is in Christ) — not only wars outside the church, but also insurrections within the church itself. From all these things the disciples of the apostles were strangers, of all of whom, as is written in the Acts of the Apostles, "there was one heart and one soul"; for they had been confirmed "in the same mind and in the same knowledge". Yet let us, even if we hear of wars of this kind and insurrections of this sort, not be terrified. For "these things must first come to pass", before we behold the perfection of the wisdom which is in Christ; "but the end" which we seek "shall not be at once". For we must be made stable and confirmed in peace, so that we may be without terror and not be troubled by insurrections, so that after these things we may be able to attain that end which lies not in the hearing of wars nor in the insurrections themselves; for the peaceful end is far removed from all these things.

To hear the shouts raised in the battles, is to hear wars; to hear rumours of wars, is to hear accounts of wars waged afar off.

This must come to pass before we can see the perfection of that wisdom which is in Christ; but not yet shall be that end which we seek, for a peaceful end is far from those men.

RABANUS.b Or, this is a warning to the Apostles not to flee from Jerusalem and Judæa in terror of these things, when they should begin to come upon them; because the end was not immediately, but the desolation of the province, and the destruction of the city and temple should not come till the fortieth year. And we know that most grievous woes, which spread over the whole province, fell out to the very letter.

He is speaking of the wars conducted by the Romans in Jerusalem. Not only does He say that there will be wars, but famines and plagues as well, showing that the wrath directed against the Jews is sent by God. For while it can be said that wars are caused by the violence of men, famines and plagues have no other cause than God. Then He says, lest they think that the world will come to an end before they have preached the Gospel, "Be not troubled, the end is not yet." For the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the whole world will not be at the same time. But "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom," He says, on account of the calamities soon to befall the Jews. And these calamities are the beginning of the pangs of labor; for just as the expectant mother goes into labor but does not give birth yet, so too this present age will first suffer turmoil and wars and then give birth to the things that shall be.

For you shall hear of wars, etc. Here, first, he sets forth the dangers; secondly, he gives comfort. He says, therefore: so it was said, take heed that no man seduce you, for you shall hear of wars, etc. And this happened immediately after the Passion. For immediately the most wicked tyrants were sent into Judea by the emperor, who burdened them marvelously, so that they could scarcely endure. Hence, you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, because in wars rumors count for much; hence it often happens that a few defeat many; Jeremiah 8:16: The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; all the land was moved at the sound of the neighing of his warriors. And see. Some might believe that the end of the world was coming immediately; hence it is said that the tribulation was so great that they believed the end of the world had come; therefore he says, see that you be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, as though the destruction of Jerusalem were meant, because its destruction did not come until fifty years after the Passion.

The final tribulation is preceded by many tribulations, and through the frequent evils that come before, the perpetual evils that will follow are indicated. And therefore after wars and seditions the end does not come immediately, because many evils must run before, so that they may be able to announce evil without end. But since so many signs of disturbance have been mentioned, we ought to touch briefly upon the consideration of each one, because it is necessary that we suffer some things from heaven, some from earth, some from the elements, some from men. For he says: "Nation will rise against nation"—behold the disturbance of men; "there will be great earthquakes in various places"—behold the look of wrath from above; "there will be pestilences"—behold the disorder of bodies; "there will be famine"—behold the barrenness of the earth. Because therefore all things are to be brought to an end, before the end all things are disturbed; and we who have sinned in all things are struck in all things.

(Verses 7, 8.) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences and famines, and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginnings of sorrows. I do not doubt that these things indeed shall come to pass literally as they are written. But it seems to me that the kingdom against kingdom and their pestilence, whose speech spreads like cancer (2 Timothy 2), and the famine to hear the word of God, and the commotion of the whole earth, and the separation from true faith, are more understood in heretics who fight against each other, making victory for the Church. But what he said: These things, however, are the beginnings of sorrows, are better translated as birth pains, so that it may be understood as a kind of conception of the coming of the Antichrist, not as childbirth.

Figuratively; Kingdom rising against kingdom and pestilence of that discourse which spreadeth as a plague-spot, and hunger of hearing the word of God, and commotion throughout the earth, and separation from the true faith, my be rather understood of the heretics, who fighting among themselves give the victory to the Church.

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."

But by "wars and rumors of wars," He meaneth, what I before said, the troubles coming upon them. After this, because, as I have already said, they supposed after that war the end would come, see how He warns them, saying, "But the end is not yet. For nation," He saith, "shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." Of the preludes to the ills of the Jews doth He speak.

Then to show that He Himself also will assail the Jews with them, and war on them, He speaks not of battles only, but also of plagues sent from God, famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, showing that the wars also He Himself permitted to come upon them, and that these things do not happen for no purpose according to what has been before the accustomed course of things amongst men, but proceed from the wrath on high.

Therefore He saith, they shall come not by themselves or at once, but with signs. For that the Jews may not say, that they who then believed were the authors of these evils, therefore hath He told them also of the cause of their coming upon them. "For verily I say unto you," He said before, "all these things shall come upon this generation," having made mention of the stain of blood on them.

For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places; for all these are the beginnings of sorrows (24, 7. 8).

Mark has the same things, but adds "and tumults"; Luke likewise has these same things, but adds "and there shall be terrors from heaven and great signs and storms". Let us first expound the simple and bodily meaning of the passage. For just as bodies fall sick before their death — the bodies, that is, of those who suffer no violence from outside — and just as in all cases it is through weakness that the way is made for separating the soul from its body, so also such and so great a creature as the world, when it has begun to be corrupted, as having, as it were, a beginning and an end (since "the things that are seen are temporal", and since "heaven and earth shall pass away"), must necessarily grow feeble before its corruption; so that the earth indeed is more frequently shaken and shattered by earthquakes, while the air, conceiving a certain disease-bearing force, becomes pestilential; and further still, the vital power of the earth, suddenly failing, chokes off the crops, and the generative power that produces every kind of tree, failing, chokes them off as well. Therefore, when these things happen, it follows that the movable nature also — being constituted, as it were, as some part of the whole world — must necessarily suffer along with the change of all things: for instance, not taking again its accustomed nourishment of foods, it comes to failure and is corrupted. For the heavens "shall perish", since "they shall grow old like a garment", and "whatever grows old and ages is near to destruction". It follows, then, that on account of the scarcity of foods men are stirred up to greed and to wars against those who do not suffer so great a scarcity; and that, by comparison with others who abound in the necessities of life, uprisings of some against others arise, and nation fights against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And it is possible that, together with the lack of other things, there should also come to be a lack of men possessing good sense, so that through this a tranquil and peaceful life is not found among many, but uprisings and quarrels and disturbances arise — sometimes indeed on account of greed, sometimes on account of the lust for rule, sometimes also on account of an insane craving for vainglory, and sometimes too through the desire for the vainglory of rulers, who are not content with their own kingdom, but wish to extend their own dominion and to subject many nations to themselves.

But someone will offer a still deeper explanation of the things that are to happen before the consummation of the world, and above all concerning the wars. For just as the coming of Christ made peace by divine power among very many nations — according to what the prophet says of him: "justice shall arise in his days, and abundance of peace until the moon be exalted" — and so the peace of the world was multiplied on account of the increases of the churches that were to come, in order that this peace might become an occasion of salvation for many, since they are not compelled to go out to wars and to fight for their homelands as formerly used to happen: so it follows also that, when on account of the abundance of iniquity "the love of many" has grown cold, and God and his Christ have for that reason forsaken them, wars come to pass once more — namely because the operations that sow wars are not prohibited by holiness, but are rather still further nourished on account of the ever-increasing malice of men — so that the cause of all the evils that befall is said to be those who did indeed come to the word, but afterward "all turned aside and together were made unprofitable" amid worldly evils. For as long as the salt of the earth stands firm — those to whom the Lord said: "you are the salt of the earth" — all things hold together, seasoned by the salt; but after the salt itself has become tasteless, then (to speak according to the Scripture) the very things that were salted by it, being as it were unsalted, become insipid, are corrupted and stink and are dissolved. And further, as long as the "light of the world" stands firm, all things are set aright, ordered by its clear illumination; but when this very light has been diminished in the souls of men — since it is not nourished by its proper and natural food — then, with darkness taking possession of all things, when all things have been brought into sorrow and calamities, there will come to be as it were an assembly of the adversary powers over all things, since they are not forbidden by the saints and by Christ in them, who used to forbid them, but as though in the darkness, without any prohibition, they will work in the hearts of men, so that they stir up nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And if (as some are also pleased to hold) famines and pestilences too come about from operations of this kind and from the angels of Satan, then likewise famines and pestilences will at that time grow strong from the adversary powers, when the disciples of Christ are no longer the salt of the earth and the light of the world — they who are the princes of God's power, destroying in men the wars that the adversary powers make, and all the things that are sown from their malice.

And at one time indeed in Israel famines and pestilences used to come about on account of sins and droughts, which the prayers of the saints dissolved — those of Samuel, of Jeremiah, and of others like them. And it is well put: there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places. For God does not will to destroy the human race all at once, but judging it by parts, little by little, while famines and pestilences and earthquakes come about in divers places, he grants a place for repentance to those who are amended by slight chastisements and are converted to God. And just as it is possible to bring medicinal aids to those who are beginning to fall ill, so, when famine and pestilences and earthquakes are beginning in divers places, it is possible to give to certain men purgative remedies toward the conduct and faith and wisdom of the saints. But if, when evils of this kind are beginning, no pious correction has been made, famines and pestilences and earthquakes will advance to worse, when the "abomination of desolation" has taken its place, not content with one part of the world: for it will come so that it may take its stand even "in the holy place".

Nevertheless the risings up of nations against nations and of kingdoms against kingdoms, and famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places continually arising, are said to be the beginnings of worse calamities, which the Lord called travail-pangs. If then such shall be the first-fruits of the pangs, what do you suppose the increases of the pangs will be? And what will the end also be of the general pangs in the whole world, so that they may exterminate not now by parts but the whole world? Yet I judge that the things which are to follow will be only against the impious, that they may be tortured with the sharpest and most prolonged pangs, until they lay down the seeds of sins which they have conceived and formed from the contrary operations. And Pharaoh indeed, desiring not to do well, commanded that every male whatsoever that should be born to the Hebrews be cast into the river; but God, being good, as one truly good, kills the seeds of evils which they have received, that through many labors and pains they may lay them down, since they conceived pain and brought forth iniquity. And what else befits God, save that he should kill every iniquity which sinners beget? For such men the day of a death of this kind is better than the day of their own nativity, according to what is written: "better is the day of death than the day of nativity?" So too one will rightly say that a miscarriage is better than that which is born: "and I said the miscarriage is better than it; for" a miscarriage of this kind "comes in vanity and walks in darkness, and in darkness shall its name be covered". And these things we have treated more abundantly, looking to what follows, according to what he says: all these things are the beginnings of pangs.

Since I also consider there to be a moral sense in this passage too, according to what I have said, the following things must consequently be said here as well: that if anyone is to see the glorious and royal form of the Word and His glorious coming, it is necessary for him to be roused not only to hear "battles and reports" of intelligible "battles," so that, seeing, he may learn to be in no way terrified, but also to see the nation of some falsehood and the movement of words drawing men toward some sect rising up against some other nation of falsehood, since for nations of this kind there is never a peaceful end. This we frequently see happening among the heresies and among the churches of the malignant, when the nation of one heresy rises up against the nation of another heresy; so too the kingdom of some word will rise up against the kingdom of another erring word: since Satan and every falsehood is always divided against itself, and therefore cannot stand. Therefore he who sets out to see the glory of Christ and the kingdom—that is, the perfection of the Word and the kingdom that reigns and holds dominion, placing all adversary discourses under His feet and for the trampling of His feet—it is necessary for him, while seeking the truth, frequently to suffer a want of understandings, by which the soul is properly nourished for the searching out of the things that are to be sought. And just as at one time those who were journeying toward the land of promise were afflicted and suffered so great a hunger for carnal foods, that they might receive the heavenly manna, so must he who is to be nourished by the perfection of the Word be frequently tried by a want of understandings and yet suffer nothing from it. And we see this very thing daily in ourselves, when we seek some sense of truth in the Scriptures: before we find what we seek, we suffer a certain want of understandings, until such a want of understandings is dissolved in us by God, who gives to the worthy "food in due season" to eat and clothing to put on.

It is also necessary that he who sees the glorious coming—that is, the coming of wisdom into his soul—must see the pestilences of diseased discourses and suffer nothing from them. Now pestilent discourses are all those that are brought forth by pestilent men, who speak "iniquity on high" and set "their mouth in heaven" in pride and great presumption: for instance, the discourses of Marcion against the creator of the world and certain impious blasphemies are pestilences of souls, corrupting the minds of men and making souls sicken in the suspicions of errors; the fables of Valentinus too, about masculine and feminine ages, and about the birth of the creator of the world, which they have fabricated out of a false wisdom, and whatever other things they prattle—what else are these but pestilences; the discourses of Basilides also, which disparage those who strive even unto death for the truth so as to confess Jesus "before men," but teach that one may act indifferently in denying Him and in sacrificing to strange gods, pestilate no less and corrupt those who hear them, since in these same discourses they teach that there are no other punishments for sins except transmigrations of souls after death. For, to pass over the fact that what is said is manifestly false, they further take away from men the salutary fear, and those who, even because of fear of future punishments, would have kept themselves from a multitude of sins, they nourish the boldness of their impiety. Many, therefore, will be the famines and pestilences for all who wish to see the glorious coming of Christ into their soul. But these will do them no harm; for they will only see them, and will suffer nothing from them. They will also suffer the movements of those things which are sought in very many places of the Scriptures that have an appearance of contradiction or of falsehoods; but afterward they will suffer nothing. Nor will the movement of false reports tear them away from the expectation of the glorious and divine and perfect coming of Jesus Christ the Word. And he who is to say: "from fear of You, O Lord, we conceived in the womb and were in travail, and we brought forth the spirit of salvation which You made upon the earth," or according to what has been said: "my children, of whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you," must first of all come to be, amid all these pains, in famine and pestilences and movements, which, enduring, he will bring forth what he has conceived and formed within himself—Christ the Word—so that he may say at His birth: "behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy," and "glory to God in the highest and peace upon the earth."

Or otherwise; As the body sickens before the death of the man, so it must needs be that before the consummation of this world the earth should be shaken, as though it were palsied, with frequent earthquakes, the air should gather a deadly quality and become pestilential, and that the vital energy of the soil should fail, and its fruits wither. And by consequence of this scarcity, men are stirred up to robbery and war. But because war and strife arise sometimes from covctousness, and sometimes from desire of power and empty glory, of these which shall happen before the end of the world a yet deeper cause shall be assignable. For as Christ's coming brought through His divine power peace to divers nations, so it shall be on the other hand, that when iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, and God and His Christ shall desert them; wars shall be again when actions which beget wars are not hindered by holiness; and hostile powers when they are not restrained by the Saints and by Christ shall work unchecked in the hearts of men, stirring up nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. But if, as some will have it, famine and pestilence are from the Angels of Satan, these shall then gather might from opposite powers, when the salt of the earth, and the lights of the world, Christ's disciples, shall be no longer, destroying those things which the malice of dæmons hatches. Ofttimes in Israel famines and pestilences were caused by sin, and removed by the prayers of the Saints. (1 Kings 17:1. Jer. 14. James 5:17, 18.) Well is that said, In divers places, for God will not destroy the whole race of men at once, but judging them in portions, He gives opportunity of repentance. But if some stop be not put to these evils in their commencement, they will progress to worse, as it follows, These all are the beginnings of sorrows, that is, sorrows common to the whole world, and those which are to come upon the wicked who shall be tormented in most sharp pains.

Nation shall rise against nation, shows the disquietude of men's minds; pestilences, the affliction of their bodies; famines, the barrenness of the soil; earthquakes in dicers places, wrath from heaven above.

But someone might say: you say that we will hear of wars, but there have always been wars. He responds: you have never seen such things. For nation shall rise against nation, namely, the Roman nation against the Jewish nation, and kingdom, namely, the Roman kingdom against the Jewish kingdom. And there shall be pestilences, etc. Someone might say: these wars happen by chance and not from God's vengeance. But that they come from God's vengeance is evident, because not only will these evils be inflicted by men, but by God, because there shall be pestilences, which come from the corruption of the air, and famines, and earthquakes in places. And all these things happened before the destruction of Jerusalem.

These all are the beginnings of sorrows, is better understood of pains of labour, as it were the conception of the coming of Antichrist, and not of the birth.

"All these are the beginning of sorrows," that is, of those that befall them.

Seest thou in what a state things were then, and how manifold was the war? And this is the beginning, when each of the things to be effected most required quiet. In what state then were they? for nothing hinders us from resuming the same things again. The first war was that of the deceivers; "For there shall come," He saith, "false Christs and false prophets:" the second, that of the Romans, "For ye shall hear," He saith, "of wars:" the third, that which bringeth on the "famines:" the fourth, "the pestilences" and "the earthquakes:" the fifth, "they shall deliver you into afflictions:" the sixth, "ye shall be hated of all men:" the seventh, "They shall betray one another, and hate one another" (an intestine war doth He here make known); then, "false Christs," and false brethren; then, "the love of the most shall wax cold," which is the cause of all the ills.

Seest thou numberless kinds of war, new and strange? Yet nevertheless in the midst of these things, and much more (for with the intestine wars was mingled also that of kinsmen), the gospel prevailed over the whole earth. "For the gospel," He saith, "shall be preached in the whole world."

Someone might say: all these things happened by chance and were not indicative of sorrow. On the contrary. Hence he says, now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Isaiah 13:8: They shall be in pain as women that are in labor. So Chrysostom explains it. But insofar as it is referred to the consummation of the world, Origen explains it thus. We should consider the world as one man, because when it tends toward death, the vital powers begin to weaken. So in showing the universal change, the Lord will send some particular change, so that they will not have any strength, and then there will be pestilences, because the air that serves us in two ways will be corrupted. Likewise the earth, which serves us for food because it produces herbs and grain from which food comes, will be weakened, so that there will be famine in the land. Likewise the earth supports us, and against this the earth will be disturbed; hence there will be earthquakes. The first two are universal, but the last will be particular, because it will be in places. And why will it not happen universally throughout the whole world? So that men, seeing it, may return to their hearts and be converted. Likewise it happens that famine arises from a scarcity of things, and then on account of the famine nation rises against nation; and this could happen near the end of the world. It can also be, however, that sometimes nation rises against nation not on account of scarcity, but on account of vainglory. Sometimes it happens on account of the injustices of men. Sometimes God has mercy and restrains the evil angels through the good angels, as Ezekiel 13:5: You have not gone up to face the enemy, nor have you set up a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in battle in the day of the Lord. Hence the world stands through the prayer of the good. And then, namely at the end of the world, the charity of many shall grow cold, and then there will be many evils, because then the good angels will release the demons, who have power to harm the land and the sea; therefore, because they have power over the land and the sea, they will disturb the whole earth. And that they can do this is found in Job 1:7ff. Jerome says that this can be said of the coming of the Lord by which he comes daily in the Church. For insofar as heretics impede the goods of the Church, then spiritual pestilences occur, and famine, namely, a want of good teaching, Amos 5, and earthquakes, i.e., men who are solid will be shaken.

But because all these things come not from the injustice of the one striking but from the merit of the world that suffers, the deeds of wicked men are set forth first when it is said: "But before all these things they will lay their hands upon you and persecute you, and deliver you to synagogues, leading you before kings and governors for my name's sake." As if he were saying openly: First the hearts of men are disturbed, and afterward the elements, so that when the order of things is thrown into confusion, it may be shown from what retribution this comes.

(V. 9.) Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. The apostles are a representation of all believers, not that the apostles themselves will be found in physical form at that time.

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you."

In good season did He introduce their ills, having a consolation from the common miseries; and not in this way only, but also by His adding, that it is "for my name's sake. For ye shall be hated," He saith, "of all men for my name's sake. Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and many false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

This is the greater evil, when the war is intestine too, for there were many false brethren. Seest thou the war to be threefold? from the deceivers, from the enemies, from the false brethren. See Paul too lamenting over the same things, and saying, "Without were fightings, within were fears;" and, "perils among false brethren," and again, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."

After this again, what is more grievous than all, they shall not have so much as the consolation from love. Then indicating, that these things will in no degree harm the noble and the firm, He saith, Fear not, neither be troubled. For if ye show forth the patience that becomes you, the dangers will not prevail over you.

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you."

In good season did He introduce their ills, having a consolation from the common miseries; and not in this way only, but also by His adding, that it is "for my name's sake. For ye shall be hated," He saith, "of all men for my name's sake. Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and many false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

This is the greater evil, when the war is intestine too, for there were many false brethren. Seest thou the war to be threefold? from the deceivers, from the enemies, from the false brethren. See Paul too lamenting over the same things, and saying, "Without were fightings, within were fears;" and, "perils among false brethren," and again, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."

After this again, what is more grievous than all, they shall not have so much as the consolation from love. Then indicating, that these things will in no degree harm the noble and the firm, He saith, Fear not, neither be troubled. For if ye show forth the patience that becomes you, the dangers will not prevail over you. And it is a plain proof of this, that the word shall surely be preached everywhere in the world, so much shall ye be above the things that alarm you. For, that they may not say, how then shall we live? He said more, Ye shall both live and preach everywhere. Therefore He added moreover, "And this gospel shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come," of the downfall of Jerusalem.

Then they will hand you over to tribulations and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations for my name's sake. And then many will be scandalized and will hand one another over and will hate one another; and many false prophets will rise up and will lead many astray; and because iniquity will abound, the charity of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, this one will be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Even without exposition the text is clear of itself, since Christ's disciples have frequently been handed over to tribulations and have been killed for the sake of the word and have been hated by the nations on account of Christ. But if anyone wishes to examine what he says, by all the nations, he will not find it sufficiently certain. For is the people of Christ hated by all the nations, even by those dwelling in the farthest parts of the earth? — unless perhaps here too someone should say that all is set down for many by way of exaggeration of the great number. But if you set before yourself what he says, then they will hand you over, you will find a difficulty. For it was not after "nation had risen against nation and kingdom against kingdom", and after "famines and pestilences in various places", that they were then handed over to tribulations and killed and hated by all the nations for Christ's name's sake: for even before these things came to pass, Christians were handed over to tribulations and, giving testimony to the truth, were killed and were hated by the nations among whom they dwelt. But against this difficulty, one who wishes to understand according to the words will answer that then most of all will Christians be handed over to tribulations as never before, then are they to be hated most of all by all the nations dwelling together with them as never before, and they will suffer all things for Christ's name's sake, when "nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places". For those who are in calamities love, as they examine the causes of these things, to find something to say. When therefore these things befall the world, it follows — men, as it were, forsaking the worship of the gods — that they say that on account of the multitude of Christians wars and famines and pestilences come to pass. For frequently the Gentiles, and whoever were wise in the things of the nations, blamed the Christians as the cause of famine, but they also referred the causes of pestilences to the Church of Christ. And we know too that among us an earthquake occurred in certain places, and that certain collapses of buildings took place, so that those who were impious, outside the faith, said the Christians were the cause of the earthquake — on account of which the churches also suffered persecutions and were burned — and not only so, but even those who seemed prudent would say such things in public, that on account of the Christians the gravest earthquakes come to pass.

But as for what is said, and you will be hated by all the nations for my name's sake, one will be able to save it thus. For never indeed have all the nations agreed together as one against the Christians; but when the things Christ foretold come to pass, then all, as it were, are to be set aflame by certain nations beginning to blame the Christians, so that then persecutions may arise no longer in part, as before, but generally everywhere against the people of God. Then it will come about that many are scandalized who seem to stand firm in the faith; and the one will hand over the other. And there will be hatred even among those very ones who seem faithful. Then many false prophets will rise up, deceiving the multitude of the senseless; then also, charity growing cold not only among the unbelievers but even among the faithful themselves, the fervor of charity will grow cold from the many iniquities, so that few remain contending for the truth unto the end, who alone are also to be saved. And with matters established in this state, the Gospel, which before had not been preached in the whole world (for many not only of the barbarian nations but even of our own nations have not until now heard the word of Christianity) — then it will be preached, so that every nation may hear the Gospel proclamation and no one be left who has not heard. And then will be the end of the age.

But if these things are so, we shall no longer be in ignorance about what he says, then they will hand you over, nor shall we suspect that what he says is false — and you will be hated by all the nations for my name's sake — saying that the truth of this word is not yet fulfilled, so long as what he says has not come to pass, then many will be scandalized and will hand one another over. For not yet have many betrayers been made out of the Church, and not yet have many false prophets arisen deceiving many. So too, they have not yet been hated by all the nations, even by those dwelling in the farthest parts of the earth, for Christ's name's sake; so too, the Gospel of the kingdom has not yet been preached in the whole world. For the Gospel is not reported to have been preached among all the Ethiopians, especially among those who are beyond the river, nor among the Seres nor among the Ariacin nor … have heard the word of Christianity. And what shall we say of the Britons or the Germans, who are around the Ocean, or among the barbarian Dacians and Sarmatians and Scythians, of whom very many have not yet heard the word of the Gospel, but are to hear it at the very consummation of the age? For consider what he says: and this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will be the end. But if anyone wishes rashly to say that the Gospel of the kingdom has already been preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, one will consequently be able to say to him that, as regards what he says, then will be the end, the end has already come — which to say is a mark of great rashness and of a man not understanding what Paul says to the Thessalonians in his second epistle, saying: "Let no one deceive you in any way (as though the day of the Lord were at hand); for unless the falling-away come first and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (and the rest), the day of the Lord will not be".

These things we have expounded according to the simple tradition. But if we ought, in accordance with what we have handed down morally above, to understand here too a moral treatment, we shall expound such things as these: that he who is to see, according to the glorious coming of the word of God, that coming into his own soul, must, according to the measure of his progress toward the perfection of the word, suffer ambushes from the contrary operations, like a great athlete, and, handed over into tribulations, be forsaken. For "many are the tribulations of the righteous", and the more righteous anyone wishes to become, so much the more, walking as it were with resolve the narrow and tribulated way, does he run into tribulations and, tribulated, is killed to the world; and the more he advances toward a clearer vision of the word, so much the more (since Christ is found more perfect in him) will he be hated by all who hate Christ, not so much by all the nations according to the flesh as by the nations of spiritual wickednesses. For the very implanted manifestation of the properties of Christ in him, on account of which he is also called a Christian, makes him hated by all who have the spirit of the world, while he still strives more and more toward the perfection of Christ.

But also, in discussions and questions, few will be untouched, attaining the truth more fully. But more will be scandalized and will fall away from it, becoming betrayers and accusers of one another on account of dissension over the doctrines of the truth, which not all are able to grasp: which will become the cause of their hating one another. And when questions of this kind come upon the greater number, many indeed there will be who do not soundly hand down the discourse concerning things to come and who interpret the prophets in a way that is not fitting, whom one will not sin in calling false prophets, deceiving many; but very few there will be who search out the truth. But the false doctrines will not indeed loosen the strong man from his purpose of truth. Those, however, who are itching in the ear they will multiply, speaking for their delight iniquity contrary to the law. And the contrary words of the many teachers will do so much harm that they will even make the fervent love (which before had been in the simplicity of faith) grow cold, through a supposed comprehension of the divine mysteries and of the truth. But he who is able, seeing all these things, to abide in the first purpose of the apostolic tradition and of the ecclesiastical leading, this one will be saved, and thus the Gospel, having been preached into the souls of all, will be as a testimony to all the nations, that is, to all the unbelieving thoughts of all souls.

But how should the people of Christ be hated by the nations who dwelt in the uttermost parts of the earth? But one may perhaps say, that in this place all is put hyperbolically for many. But this that He says, Then shall they deliver you, presents some difficulty; for before these things the Christians were delivered to tribulation. To this it may be answered, that at that time the Christians shall be more delivered to tribulation than ever. And persons in any misfortune love to examine into the origin of them, and to talk about them. Hence when the worship of the Gods shall be almost deserted by reason of the multitude of Christians, it will be said that that is the cause of the wars, and famines, and pestilences; and of the earthquakes also they will say that the Christians are the cause, whence the persecution of the Churches.

And that, Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, might be then applied thus; That indeed at this time all nations are conspired together against the Christians, but that when the things foretold by Christ shall have come to pass, then there shall be persecutions, not as before in places, but every where against the people of God.

Morally; He who shall see that glorious second coming of the word of God into his soul, must needs suffer in proportion to the measure of his proficiency assaults of opposing influences, and Christ in him must be hated by all, not only by the nations literally understood, but by the nations of spiritual vices. And in such enquiries there will be few who shall reach the truth with any fulness, the more part shall be offended and fall therefrom, betraying and accusing one another because of their disagreement respecting doctrines, which shall give rise to a mutual hatred. Also there shall be many setting forth unsound words concerning things to come, and interpreting the Prophets in a manner in which they ought not; these are the false Prophets who shall deceive many, and who shall cause to wax cold that fervour of love which was before in the simplicity of the faith. But he who can abide firmly in the Apostolic tradition, he shall be saved; and the Gospel being preached to the minds of all shall be for a testimony to all nations, that is, to all the unbelieving thoughts of the soul.

For what desert so many evils are to be brought upon Jerusalem, and the whole Jewish province the Lord shows, when He adds, Then shall they deliver you up,&c.

He foretells the evils that will occur, strengthening His disciples by speaking of these things beforehand. It is often the unexpected that strikes terror and disarray, so He mitigates their fear beforehand by speaking in advance of the terrible events that will be: the spite, the enmity, the snares, and the false prophets who are the forerunners of the Antichrist, deceiving many who will then hurl themselves headlong into every type of iniquity. Because of the burgeoning of iniquity stemming from the deceit of the Antichrist, men will become so savage that not even towards those closest to them will they preserve the milk of human kindness, but will betray each other. But he that endures patiently until the end, steadfastly withstanding and not giving in to the assaults brought upon him, he it is who will be saved as the proven and tested soldier.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted. Then he sets forth certain things that were to come in the Church. In the Church there were to be both prosperous things and adverse. And first he sets forth the adverse; secondly, the prosperous, at and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. He announces the adverse in two ways: from those outside and from those inside. Deuteronomy 32:25: Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and within, terror. And he touches on three dangers: tribulation, killing, and hatred. They might say: it is true that the world will suffer these things, but what does that have to do with us? On the contrary, he says. And therefore he says, you; as if to say, you will not be immune, but you will be afflicted, literally; 2 Corinthians 6:4: In tribulations, in necessities, etc. Likewise, they shall put you to death, as was evident when they killed Stephen and James; hence Psalm 43:22 says: We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Likewise, you shall be hated by all nations, i.e., by the Jews. Or by all, who were spread throughout the whole world; above, 5:10: Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake. And he gives a consolation, because though all suffer, you will suffer these things for my name's sake. Jeremiah 45:4: Behold, those whom I have built, I destroy, and after: and do you seek great things for yourself? Origen says that this should be referred to the second coming, because there will be such a universal persecution that all the wicked will persecute the good; and on account of this he says then. For it was customary that when evils occurred, they would say it was on account of the sin of the Christians. Hence they rose up against them; hence, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted.

"Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and many false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many."

This is the greater evil, when the war is intestine too, for there were many false brethren. Seest thou the war to be threefold? from the deceivers, from the enemies, from the false brethren. See Paul too lamenting over the same things, and saying, "Without were fightings, within were fears;" and, "perils among false brethren," and again, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ."

But the whole passage might be referred to the end of the world. For then shall many be offended, and depart from the faith, when they see the numbers and wealth of the wicked, and the miracles of Antichrist, and they shall persecute their brethren; and Antichrist shall send false Prophets, who shall deceive many; iniquity shall abound, because the number of the wicked shall be increased; and love shall wax cold, because the number of the good shall diminish.

And then shall many be scandalized. Here he sets forth the dangers from those within. For there is a threefold scandal that you will suffer: namely, that of the weak, mutual injury, and debility. Hence he says, then shall many be scandalized; because even the very perfect will be scandalized; hence above, 18:7: It must needs be that scandals come. Hence even the elect are troubled when they see scandals; hence Paul was saying, 2 Corinthians 11:29: Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? And they shall betray one another. From this the tribulation is evident. Above, 10:21: And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, etc. And not only bodily, but also spiritually, because some are the source of error; and from this it will follow that they shall hate one another.

Such was Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, who led astray many by his pretences. And Simon Magus who, armed with diabolic works and words, perverted many by false miracles.

The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ, yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be more faithful and stedfast in the hope announced by Him. For what things He predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually accomplished in our sight. For he said, "Many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, "There shall be schisms and heresies." And, "Beware of false prophets, who shall come to you clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, "Many false Christs and false apostles shall arise, and shall deceive many of the faithful." There are, therefore, and there were many, my friends, who, coming forward in the name of Jesus, taught both to speak and act impious and blasphemous things; and these are called by us after the name of the men from whom each doctrine and opinion had its origin.

As the capture of Jerusalem approached, many rose up, calling themselves Christians, and deceived many; such Paul calls false brethren, John Antichrists.

And many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many. Such are those who seduce many in the Church; 2 Peter 2:1: There were also false prophets among the people. Likewise, 1 John 2:18: Many antichrists have arisen. They went out from us, but they were not of us. Hence these evils will happen: brothers will corrupt, and they will seduce many.

(Verse 12, 13.) And since iniquity will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who perseveres to the end, he will be saved. He did not deny the faith of all, but of many. For many are called, but few are chosen. For in the apostles and those like them, charity will remain, of which it is written: 'Many waters cannot quench love' (Song of Solomon 8:7). And even Paul himself said: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' tribulation, or distress, or famine (Rom. VIII, 35)? and so on.

Observe, He says, the love of many, (Rom. 8:35.) not 'of all,' for in the Apostles, and those like them, love would continue, as Paul speaks, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

After this again, what is more grievous than all, they shall not have so much as the consolation from love. Then indicating, that these things will in no degree harm the noble and the firm, He saith, Fear not, neither be troubled. For if ye show forth the patience that becomes you, the dangers will not prevail over you.

And if thou art minded to learn these things more distinctly, I mean, the famines, the pestilences, the earthquakes, the other calamities, peruse the history about these things composed by Josephus, and thou wilt know all accurately. Therefore Himself too said, "Be not troubled, for all must be;" and, "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved;" and, "The gospel shall surely be preached in all the world." For when weakened and faint at the fear of what had been said, He braces them up by saying, Though ten thousand things be done, the gospel must be preached in every part of the world, and then shall the end come.

That is, true love towards God and our neighbour, in proportion as each surrenders himself to iniquity, in that proportion will the flame of charity in his heart be extinguished.

But as the conquering power of things evil is on the increase-which is the characteristic of the last times -things good are now not allowed either to be born, so corrupted are the seminal principles; or to be trained, so deserted are studies; nor to be enforced, so dined are the laws.

Likewise, a third thing, because they will not only do this but will also corrupt, and so they will fail: because iniquity shall abound, the charity of many shall grow cold. Apocalypse 2:4: But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity. It can be said to grow cold, because when they see others abandoning charity, they too grow cold, although it does not entirely perish; and in many, but not in all, because it was always fervent in the apostles; Romans 8:35: Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword? Hence it will be so in many, but not in all.

The long, dull monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to persevere. The routine of adversity, the gradual decay of youthful loves and youthful hopes, the quiet despair (hardly felt as pain) of ever overcoming the chronic temptations with which we have again and again defeated them, the drabness which we create in their lives and the inarticulate resentment with which we teach them to respond to it—all this provides admirable opportunities of wearing out a soul by attrition.

"In your patience you shall possess your souls." The possession of the soul is placed in the virtue of patience because patience is the root and guardian of all virtues. Through patience we truly possess our souls, because while we learn to master ourselves, we begin to possess that very thing which we are.

Patience, however, is to endure the evils of others with equanimity, and to feel no sting of resentment even against the one who inflicts the evils. For whoever bears the evils of a neighbor in such a way that he nevertheless grieves silently and seeks an opportunity for fitting retribution does not display patience but merely shows it outwardly. For it is written: "Love is patient, love is kind." It is patient so as to bear the evils of others, and kind so as to love even those whom it bears. Hence Truth says through Himself: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute and slander you." It is therefore a virtue before men to tolerate adversaries, but the virtue before God is to love them, because God accepts only that sacrifice which the flame of charity kindles before His eyes on the altar of good works.

For Solomon indicates how great is the height at which the virtue of patience excels, saying: "The patient man is better than the strong man, and he who rules his spirit than he who captures cities." It is therefore a lesser victory to capture cities, because what is conquered is external. But what is conquered through patience is greater, because the mind is overcome by itself, and it subjects itself to itself, when patience prostrates it in the humility of forbearance.

Whoso shall endure unto the end, i. e. to the end of his life; for whoso to the end of his life shall persevere in the confession of the name of Christ, and in love, he shall be saved.

But "by patience," says He, "ye shall yourselves be saved." Of this very patience the Psalm says, "The patient endurance of the just shall not perish for ever; " because it is said in another Psalm, "Precious (in the sight of the Lord) is the death of the just"-arising, no doubt, out of their patient endurance, so that Zechariah declares: "A crown shall be to them that endure.

To speak plainly, if they who reproach us with harshness, or esteem heresy (to exist) in this (our) cause, foster the "infirmity of the flesh" to such a degree as to think it must have support accorded to it in frequency of marriage; why do they in another case neither accord it support nor foster it with indulgence-when, (namely), torments have reduced it to a denial (of the faith)? For, of course, that (infirmity) is more capable of excuse which has fallen in battle, than (that) which (has fallen) in the bed-chamber; (that) which has succumbed on the rack, than (that) which (has succumbed) on the bridal bed; (that) which has yielded to cruelty, than (that) which (has yielded) to appetite; that which has been overcome groaning, than (that) which (has been overcome) in heat. But the former they excommunicate, because it has not "endured unto the end: " the latter they prop up, as if withal it has "endured unto the end.

Because he that shall persevere to the end, namely, of the present life, he shall be saved. The same is found above, 10:22.

(Ep. 199, 46.) But that this preaching the Gospel of the kingdom in all the world was accomplished by the Apostles, we have not any certain evidence, to prove. There are numberless barbarous nations in Africa, among whom the Gospel is not even yet preached, as it is easy to learn from the prisoners who are brought from thence. But it cannot be said that these have no part in the promise of God. For God promised with an oath not the Romans only, but all nations to the seed of Abraham. But in whatever nation there is yet no Church established, it must needs be that there should be one, not that all the people should believe; for how then should that be fulfilled, Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake, unless there be in all nations those who hate and those; who are hated? That preaching therefore was not accomplished by the Apostles, while as yet there were nations among whom it had not begun to be fulfilled. The words of the Apostle also, Their sound hath gone out into all the world, though expressed as of time past, are meant to apply to something future, not yet completed; as the Prophet, whose words he quotes, said that the Gospel bore fruit and grew in the whole world (Ps. 19:4.), to show thereby to what extent its growth should come. If then we know not when it shall be that the whole world shall be filled with the Gospel, undoubtedly we know not when the end shall be; but it shall not be before such time.

The Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world: and along with it shall the woman too be told of who did him a kindness—and we see that all these predictions have been fulfilled. For the Christians who were at one time persecuted by the Greeks and Jews have conquered, and drawn their persecutors over to their own side. In like manner we see that the Church has never been destroyed, but that its adherents have been greatly multiplied, and that similarly the whole earth has been filled with the doctrine of the Lord Christ, and is still being filled, and that the gospel is preached throughout all the world. This I avouch to be the veritable fact, from what I have seen and heard in the many places which I have visited.

Even in Taprobanê, an island in Further India, where the Indian sea is, there is a Church of Christians, with clergy and a body of believers, but I know not whether there be any Christians in the parts beyond it. In the country called Malê, where the pepper grows, there is also a church, and at another place called Calliana there is moreover a bishop, who is appointed from Persia. In the island, again, called the Island of Dioscoridês, which is situated in the same Indian sea, and where the inhabitants speak Greek, having been originally colonists sent thither by the Ptolemies who succeeded Alexander the Macedonian, there are clergy who receive their ordination in Persia, and are sent on to the island, and there is also a multitude of Christians. I sailed along the coast of this island, but did not land upon it. I met, however, with some of its Greek-speaking people who had come over into Ethiopia. And so likewise among the Bactrians and Huns and Persians, and the rest of the Indians, Persarmenians, and Medes and Elamites, and throughout the whole land of Persia there is no limit to the number of churches with bishops and very large communities of Christian people, as well as many martyrs, and monks also living as hermits. So too in Ethiopia and Axôm, and in all the country about it; among the people of Happy Arabia—who are now called Homerites—through all Arabia and Palestine, Phoenicia, and all Syria and Antioch as far as Mesopotamia; among the Nubians and the Garamantes, in Egypt, Libya, Pentapolis, Africa and Mauretania, as far as southern Gadeira, there are everywhere churches of the Christians, and bishops, martyrs, monks and recluses, where the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed. So likewise again in Cilicia, Asia, Cappadocia, Lazica and Pontus, and in the northern countries occupied by the Scythians, Hyrcanians, Heruli, Bulgarians, Greeks and Illyrians, Dalmatians, Goths, Spaniards, Romans, Franks, and other nations, as far as Gadeira on the ocean towards the northern parts, there are believers and preachers of the Gospel confessing the resurrection from the dead; and so we see the prophecies being fulfilled over the whole world.

(non occ.)c. But it is possible to maintain both applications of the passage, if only we will take this diffusion of Gospel preaching in a double sense. If we understand it of fruit produced by the preaching, and the foundation in every nation of a Church of believers in Christ, as Augustine (in the passage above quoted) expounds it, then it is a sign which ought to precede the end of the world, and which did not precede the destruction of Jerusalem. But if we understand it of the fame of their preaching, then it was accomplished before the destruction of Jerusalem, when Christ's disciples had been dispersed over the four quarters of the earth. Whence Jerome says, (Hieron. in loc.) I do not suppose that there remained any nation which knew not the name of Christ; for where preacher had never been, some notion of the faith must have been communicated by neighbouring nations.

(Verse 14) And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. The sign of the Lord's coming is the preaching of the Gospel in the whole world, so that no one may be without excuse; which has either already been fulfilled, or is about to be fulfilled very soon. For I do not think that any nation remains which does not know the name of Christ. And although it may not have had preachers, it cannot ignore the expectation of faith from neighboring nations.

And the sign of the Lord's second coming is, that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world, so that all may be without excuse.

This, we may observe, He saith elsewhere also; "This gospel shall be preached in all the world for a testimony to all the nations, and then shall the end come;" to the nations, to them that obey not, to them that believe not. Thus, lest any one should say, "And wherefore preach to all, if all are not to believe?"-it is that I may be found to have done all my own part, and that no man may hereafter be able to find fault, as though he had not heard. For the very preaching shall bear witness against them, and they will not be able hereafter to say, "We heard not;" for the word of godliness "hath gone out unto the ends of the world."

For in proof that He meant this, and that before the taking of Jerusalem the gospel was preached, hear what Paul saith, "Their sound went into all the earth;" and again, "The gospel which was preached to every creature which is under Heaven." And seest thou him running from Jerusalem unto Spain? And if one took so large a portion, consider what the rest also wrought. For writing to others also, Paul again saith concerning the gospel, that "it is bringing forth fruit, and growing up in every creature which is under Heaven."

But what meaneth, "For a witness to all nations?" Forasmuch as though it was everywhere preached, yet it was not everywhere believed. It was for a witness, He saith, to them that were disbelieving, that is, for conviction, for accusation, for a testimony; for they that believed will bear witness against them that believed not, and will condemn them. And for this cause, after the gospel is preached in every part of the world, Jerusalem is destroyed, that they may not have so much as a shadow of an excuse for their perverseness. For they that saw His power shine throughout every place, and in an instant take the world captive, what excuse could they then have for continuing in the same perverseness? For in proof that it was everywhere preached at that time, hear what Paul saith, "of the gospel which was preached to every creature which is under Heaven."

Which also is a very great sign of Christ's power, that in twenty or at most thirty years the word had reached the ends of the world. "After this therefore," saith He, "shall come the end of Jerusalem." For that He intimates this was manifested by what follows.

When every nation shall have heard the preaching of the Gospel, then shall come the end of the world. For at this time there are many nations, not of barbarians only, but of our own, who have not yet heard the word of Christianity.

Morally; He who shall see that glorious second coming of the word of God into his soul, must needs suffer in proportion to the measure of his proficiency assaults of opposing influences, and Christ in him must be hated by all, not only by the nations literally understood, but by the nations of spiritual vices. And in such enquiries there will be few who shall reach the truth with any fulness, the more part shall be offended and fall therefrom, betraying and accusing one another because of their disagreement respecting doctrines, which shall give rise to a mutual hatred. Also there shall be many setting forth unsound words concerning things to come, and interpreting the Prophets in a manner in which they ought not; these are the false Prophets who shall deceive many, and who shall cause to wax cold that fervour of love which was before in the simplicity of the faith. But he who can abide firmly in the Apostolic tradition, he shall be saved; and the Gospel being preached to the minds of all shall be for a testimony to all nations, that is, to all the unbelieving thoughts of the soul.

For the Lord knew that the hearts of the disciples would be made sad by the destruction of Jerusalem, and overthrow of their nation, and He therefore comforts them with a promise that more of the Gentiles should believe than of the Jews should perish.

Take courage, you will not be hindered from preaching. For the Gospel will be preached to all the nations as a witness, that is, as a reproof, a condemnation of those who do not believe, and then the end will come, not of the world, but of Jerusalem. For prior to the taking of Jerusalem, the Gospel was already preached [as a witness to all the nations], for St. Paul, in writing to the Colossians, speaks of "the Gospel which was preached to every creature under heaven" (Col. 1:23). That Christ is speaking of the end of Jerusalem is clear from what follows, for He says:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. Above, the Lord foretold the adverse things that would come in the Church; now he foretells the prosperous, because the apostles, who were born from the Jews, were zealous for their own flesh; Romans 9:2: I have great sadness and continual sorrow in my heart; therefore, for their consolation, because many more were to be called to the faith, he says: this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. For he himself, beginning his preaching, said: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But this shall be preached in the whole world: for the new law is not determined to one people, as the old law was. Mark 16:15: Preach the gospel to every creature. And Chrysostom says that this was fulfilled before the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and he proves this through the Apostle in Romans 10:18, where the Apostle says: Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth. Therefore the evangelical teaching seemed to have been spread throughout the whole world. Likewise through another authority found in Colossians 1:6: The preaching of the gospel bears fruit. And this is not surprising, because one apostle, namely Paul, expanded it so much that he reached Rome and Spain; hence what is found in Isaiah 57:9 was fulfilled: Thou hast sent thy messengers far off. And therefore Chrysostom says that in this the power of Christ is to be admired, that within the space of forty years his teaching grew so much that it filled the whole world; hence he rightly says, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. But will everyone believe? No; some will believe and some will not. And the fact that some will believe will be as a testimony against those who do not believe, as Jerome says. For a testimony to all nations; Romans 1:5: We have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith in all nations, so that they are without excuse. And then, namely, when all nations believe, the consummation shall come, i.e., the destruction of Jerusalem; and about this can be understood what is said in Ezekiel 7:3: The end is come upon thee, and I will send my fury upon thee. For he worked signs, he spread the gospel, and they did not wish to believe; therefore what is said in Malachi 1:10 happened to them: I will not receive a gift of your hand. Augustine holds that this should not be referred to the consummation of Jerusalem, but of the world; hence he says, it shall be preached, namely, before the end of the world, for a testimony to all nations, because not all will believe; and then the consummation shall come, i.e., the end of the world. And this is one sign: that as long as the preaching of the gospel has not been spread throughout the whole world, the end will not come. But it had not yet come, as Augustine says, to certain barbarians in Africa. And he responds to the text, Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth (Psalm 18:5), that it used the past tense for the future. And to what is written in Colossians 1:6, he says that it was not yet bearing fruit fully, but was already beginning to do so. And it can be distinguished thus: the diffusion of the gospel can be understood in two ways. Either as to fame only, and in this way it was completed before the destruction of the city; for although some had not received it, nevertheless there was no nation to which the fame had not reached. But if the diffusion is understood with its effect, then it is true what Augustine says, that it had not yet come to all nations.

(Ep. 199. 31.) Luke, in order to show that the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel had reference to the time of the siege of Jerusalem, repeats these words of our Lord, When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed by armies, then know ye that its desolation draweth nigh. (Luke 21:20.)

(ubi sup.) For let us not suppose that the computation of Daniel's weeks was interfered with by this shortening of those days, or that they were not already at that time complete, but had to be completed afterwards in the end of all things, for Luke most plainly testifies that the prophecy of Daniel was accomplished at the time when Jerusalem was overthrown.

Or otherwise; It is a sign of His future coming that the Lord gives, when He says, When ye shall see the abomination. For the Prophet spoke this of the times of Antichrist; and he calls abomination that which coming against God claims to itself the honour of God. It is the abomination of desolation, because it will desolate the earth with wars and slaughter; and it is admitted by the Jews, and set up in the holy place, that where God had been invoked by the prayers of the saints, into that same place admitted by the unbelievers it might be adored with the worship of God. And because this error will be peculiar to the Jews, that having rejected the truth they should adopt a lie, He warns them to leave Judæa, and flee to the mountains, that no pollution or infection might be gathered by admixture with a people who should believe on Antichrist.

(Verse 15.) When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth, let him understand. When we are called to understanding, it is shown to be a mystical happening. We read in Daniel in this way: And in the middle of the week, sacrifice and oblation shall be taken away: and in the temple shall be the abomination of desolation: and the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end. The apostle speaks about this (II Thess. II): that the man of sin and the adversary will be exalted against everything that is called God and worshiped, so that he dares to stand in the temple of God and show himself to be God, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and destroys those who do not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. It can be understood either simply or of the Antichrist, or of the image of Caesar, which Pilate placed in the temple, or of the equestrian statue of Hadrian, which stood in the holy of holies until the present day. Abominatio quoque, secundum veterem Scripturam, idolum nuncupatur; et idcirco additur, desolationis; quod in desolato templo atque destructo idolum positum sit.

That, Let him that readeth understand, is said to call us to the mystic understanding of the place. What we read in Daniel is this; And in the midst of the week the sacrifice and the oblation shall be taken away, and in the temple shall be the abomination of desolations until the consummation of the time, and consummation shall be given upon the desolate. (Dan. 9:27. sec. LXX.)

Or it may be understood of the statue of Cæsar, which Pilate set up in the temple; or of the equestrian statue of Adrian, which stood to the present time in the very Holy of Holies. For, according to the Old Scripture, an idol is called 'abomination;' of desolation is added, because the idol was set up in the desolated and deserted temple.

Whence one may most marvel at Christ's power, and their courage, for that they preached in such times, in which most especially the Jewish state was warred against, in which most especially men regarded them as movers of sedition, when Caesar commanded all of them to be driven away. And the result was the same as if any one (when the sea was stirred up on every side, and darkness was filling all the air, and successive shipwrecks taking place, and when all their fellow-sailors were at strife above, and monsters were rising up from beneath, and with the waves devouring the mariners, and thunderbolts falling, and their being pirates, and those in the vessel plotting one against another), were to command men inexperienced in sailing, and who had not so much as seen the sea to sit at the rudder, and to guide and fight the vessel, and when an immense fleet was coming against them with a great array, making use of a single bark, with her crew in this disturbed state, to sink and subdue the fleet. For indeed by the heathens they were hated as Jews, and by the Jews were stoned, as waging war against their laws; and nowhere could they stand.

Thus were all things, precipices, and reefs, and rocks, the things in the cities, the things in the fields, the things in the houses, and every single person was at war with them; generals and rulers, and private persons, and all nations, and all people, and a turmoil which cannot be set forth by words. For the Jewish race was exceedingly detestable to the government of the Romans, as having occasioned them endless trouble; and not even from this did the preaching of the word take hurt; but the city was stormed and set on fire, and involved its inhabitants in countless evils; but the apostles that came from thence, introducing new laws, prevailed even over the Romans.

O strange and wonderful facts! Countless myriads of Jews did the Romans then subdue, and they did not prevail over twelve men fighting against them naked and unarmed. What language can set forth this miracle? For they that teach need to have these two things, to be worthy of credit, and to be beloved by them whom they are instructing; and together with these, and besides them, that their sayings should be easy of reception, and the time should be free from trouble and tumults.

But then were all the contraries to these. For while they did not seem worthy of credit, they were withdrawing from such as did seem worthy of it, those who had been deceived by them. So far from being loved, they were even hated, and were taking men away from what they loved, both habits, and hereditary customs, and laws.

Again, their injunctions had great difficulty; but the things, from which they were withdrawing men, much pleasure. And many were the perils, many the deaths, both themselves and they that obeyed them underwent, and together with all this, the time also occasioned them much difficulty, teeming with wars, tumults, disturbance, so that, even if there had been none of the things we have mentioned, it would have quite thrown all things into confusion.

We have good occasion to say, "Who shall tell the mighty works of the Lord, and make all His praises to be heard." For if his own people amid signs hearkened not to Moses, because of the clay only, and the bricks; who persuaded these that every day were beaten and slain, and were suffering incurable evils, to leave a quiet life, and to prefer thereto this which was teeming with blood and death, and that when they who preached it were strangers to them, and very hostile in every way? For I say not unto nations and cities and people, but into a small house let one bring in him that is hated of all that are in the house, and by him endeavor to bring them away from those whom they love, from father, and wife, and child, will he not surely be seen torn in pieces, before he hath opened his mouth? And if there be added moreover a tumult and strife of husband and wife in the house, will they not stone him to death before he steps on the threshold? And if he also be one whom they may readily despise, and who enjoins galling things, and commands them who are living in luxury to practise self restraint, and together with this the conflict be against those who are far more in numbers and who excel him, is it not quite manifest that he will be utterly destroyed? Yet nevertheless, this, which is impossible to be done in one house, this hath Christ accomplished in all the world, through precipices and furnaces, and ravines, and rocks, and land and sea at war with Him, bringing in the healers of the world.

For He brought in also a prophecy, to confirm their desolation, saying, "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let him that readeth understand." He referred them to Daniel. And by "abomination" He meaneth the statue of him who then took the city, which he who desolated the city and the temple placed within the temple, wherefore Christ calleth it, "of desolation." Moreover, in order that they might learn that these things will be while some of them are alive, therefore He said, "When ye see the abomination of desolation."

Observe this economy of the Holy Spirit in this, that John wrote nothing of all this, that he might not seem to be writing a history after the event; for he survived sometime the taking of Jerusalem. But these who died before it, and saw nothing of it, these write it, that the power of prophecy may shine manifestly forth.

When you see the abomination of desolation, which was written of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand.

The words of the prophet which he spoke concerning the abomination of desolation that was to come are these: "and he shall confirm the covenant to many for one week, and in the middle of the week the sacrifice and the offering shall be taken away, and upon the temple there shall be an abomination of desolation, and even unto the consummation of the time the consummation shall be given upon the desolation". Truly indeed to grasp the sayings of Daniel belongs to no other than the Holy Spirit who was in Daniel, so as to make plain the whole discourse concerning the weeks and concerning the abomination of desolation spoken by him. But if it behooves us also to set forth a few things, according to what seems good to us, about this passage, it must be said that the discourse seems to indicate the seventy years which were after the coming of our Savior. For this week, which because of the seven decades of years is called a week, confirmed the covenant to many, when the apostles of Christ also, after his ascension, being intent upon prayer and the word, were illumined by God into all knowledge of the will of the divine Scriptures by the Holy Spirit. But in the middle of the week, that is, in three and a half decades of years, the sacrifice of the altar was taken away, that is, in thirty-five years was fulfilled what had been written: "in the middle of the week the sacrifice and the offering shall be taken away". And then also upon the temple which was in Jerusalem was made the abomination of the desolation of the temple and of the city, namely at that time "when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by an army", so that (according to what the Savior had prophesied concerning it) they might recognize "that its desolation had drawn near". And this abomination of desolation made upon the temple by the army surrounding Jerusalem, the prophet says remains "until the time of consummation", so that the consummation of the world may come upon the desolation of Jerusalem and of the temple which is in it. And where are they "who say they are Jews and are not"? who say: The Jerusalem which is below shall be built, before the consummation of the age comes to pass? "The consummation", he says, "shall be given upon its desolation". But if the temple shall also be built, it shall be built for him "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits in a temple" of this kind, "showing himself as though he were God": "whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the illumination of his coming". Whether therefore it pleases some that this Jerusalem be built upon the earth, nevertheless it will not be false which is said, that the consummation is to be given "upon its own desolation".

But if it behooves us also to say something about the times, we say that in the Chronicles of a certain Phlegon it is said (if however we ought to accept even this man as speaking truly about the temple) that around the fortieth year from the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple which was in it took place. Deduct therefore about three years of the Lord's preaching and the time of his resurrection, when "appearing to them for forty days" he taught "them concerning the kingdom of God", and you will find perhaps more or less that around the middle of the "week" (reckoning by decades of years) was fulfilled what was said: "my sacrifice and offering shall be taken away", when also "upon the temple the abomination of desolation" was made, which desolation will remain until the time of consummation; for the "consummation", according to what we have said, "shall be given upon the desolation". But if such a tradition of the "week" is established for us, we saying (as far as concerns the saying) that there has been fulfilled what was said, not only: "my sacrifice and offering shall be taken away", but also that which is written, that the abomination of desolations should befall upon the temple, then without doubt the coming of Christ is manifestly shown even from the words of Daniel the prophet saying: "seventy weeks are cut short upon your people and upon the holy city, that sin may be consummated and sin be sealed and iniquities be blotted out, and that eternal justice may be brought in, and that vision and prophet may be sealed, and the holy of holies be anointed. And you shall know and understand: from the going forth of the word to answer and to build Jerusalem unto Christ the leader there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and it shall be turned back and the street and wall shall be rebuilt, and the times shall be emptied out. And after sixty-two weeks the anointing shall perish and judgment is not in it; but the city and the sanctuary he shall corrupt with the leader who comes, and they shall be cut off in a flood; and even unto the end of the war there is a cutting-off of destruction. And he shall confirm the covenant to many for one week; and in the middle of the week my sacrifice and offering shall be taken away, and the pinnacles, from the destruction unto the consummation of the haste". After these things follows the discourse which we have expounded, running thus: "and he shall confirm the covenant to many for one week" and the rest.

But I think that the seventy weeks cut short "upon the people and upon the holy city, that sin may be consummated" are four thousand nine hundred years from Adam unto the seventy years which were after the dispensation of Christ. For the sin of the people was consummated, on account of which it was also forsaken by God. And their sin indeed was sealed. But the injustice of believers was blotted out, and after its blotting out eternal life was brought in in Christ. But "since the law and the prophets were until John" who pointed out Christ, therefore I think it is said that vision and prophet are sealed. For since there are by no means visions among the prophets after John, therefore vision and prophet have been sealed. And vision and prophet being sealed, the only-begotten holy of holies Christ was anointed. Which Christ the anointed one the prophets and Daniel came to know, and understood in some manner "from the going forth of the word", when "by the word of the Lord the heavens were established". And "from the going forth of the word to answer" in the saints who were from the beginning and the prophets of the Lord, but also "to build Jerusalem unto Christ the leader" there passed "sixty-two weeks": that is, first indeed four hundred and ninety years, which are made by the decades of the seven weeks reckoned, but after this four thousand three hundred and forty years, which are likewise made by the decades of the sixty-two weeks reckoned. After which Christ returned, and built the street in which wisdom "acts with confidence", and the wall on whose summit "he is proclaimed". But the times of the people were emptied out, on account of which, upon the sixty-two weeks added to the seven weeks, the chrism which was in the temple was taken away from the people, so that there might now no longer be judgment among them. But both the city and the sanctuary were corrupted with the leader coming afterward upon that people, whether Herod or Agrippa (for the history of the Jews says it is this man).

But see that you do not suppose that what he says, that it is corrupted "with the leader who comes", is referred to Christ; for where he wished him to be understood as Christ, Daniel used both names, saying "unto Christ the leader", but when he keeps silent the name of Christ, he brings in a leader who is to corrupt, since the leader failed after Christ, and "the leader from his thighs", for he came "for whom the things were laid up". After whom the people was cut off "in a flood" "unto the end of the war" cut short upon them. But these things happening to them, God confirmed "the covenant to many" in one week: in the middle of which week he caused the incense and the sacrifices and the temple to cease (which I think he named from the pinnacle) that was to perish "unto the consummation" in haste, when also their house was forsaken to them who sinned. But the things which follow in the text of Daniel we have expounded as best we could. And all these things it has seemed good to us to set forth from Daniel alongside the interpretation of the Gospel text, so that we may make plain the saying which he speaks: when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let him who reads it understand.

But if it is necessary, for the sake of those who wish and are able to ascend by the word to loftier things, let us take up again from the beginning the words of the Gospel set forth, and, so far as we can, let us expound the same once more spiritually.

And first let us take up the word about the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. For he who reads must be diligent and understanding, so that he not be led astray by the abomination of desolation. The holy place, then, understood spiritually, is every utterance of divine Scripture which the holy prophets who were from the beginning spoke — Moses and, after him, the rest; and not only they, but also the utterance of the evangelists and apostles of Jesus Christ. In this holy place, then, of all the Scriptures, both of the Old Testament and of the New, the Antichrist, which is the false word, has frequently stood, showing himself — through this very fact that he seems to stand in the divine Scriptures — as though he were God and as though he himself were Christ the Word of God; and he himself is the abomination of desolation. For one may frequently see, in the impious argumentations of doctrines among the heresies, this abomination of desolation, that is, the Antichrist, the false word, the abomination that desolates of God every man who has received into himself that abomination opposing the truth, exalting itself above every word that is outside it which is announced to be the word of God, exalting itself also above everything that any one of men wishes to worship, whether truly or falsely (for each doctrine of the heresies is not only opposed to the truth, but also to the other doctrines that are likewise false); and since it is so exalted that it even sits in the temple of the Scriptures, through that very temple, that is, through the Scriptures themselves, it wishes to show itself to be truly God the Word.

Always, therefore, let him who reads the divine Scriptures understand them, most of all when he shall have seen the abomination of desolation (according to the things we have said) standing in that holy place which we have expounded, of the holy Scriptures. But he who has understood it will destroy it by the true tradition, that is, by the "illumination of the coming" of Christ who is the truth — that word which seems to stand in another's holy place; and, understanding such an abomination of desolation, he will render it void, and will cast it out from the holy place in which it seems to stand. But most of all will Christ destroy it, who speaks in him, the true light. And this Christ, if he speaks in someone who is willing to hear and to be profited, is not weakened, but every false word, which is the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place and sitting in the temple of God (which is the Antichrist), he "will slay with the spirit of his mouth" through those who have offered themselves as capable of him. And that false word frequently does not merely stand, but even sits in the temple, when it seems to be constructed as if reasonably and well. But those who see this abomination of desolation, so that they can say concerning it: "for we are not ignorant of its cunning", understanding therein while they read the things that are true, let them flee the false, and let them withdraw where falsehood will not be able to seize them.

But falsehood cannot seize those who flee from the Judea of the letter to the spiritual and intelligible things and the sublime mountains of truth. And that we may understand let them flee into the mountains, take as an example what is said manifestly of a praiseworthy flight, such as what the Apostle says: "flee fornication", and what Wisdom says: "as from the face of a serpent, flee sin", or such as what Rebecca says to Jacob in a mystery: "behold, Esau thy brother threatens to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and rising up flee to Laban my brother in Haran; and dwell with him some days, until the wrath of thy brother be turned away". And everyone (I think) who is a son of Jacob, completing the works of Jacob, understanding every disposition hateful to God, which is Esau, flees as one who understands. But if he does not flee it, he is a fornicator and defiled like Esau, and, as one not fleeing Esau but dwelling together with him, he does not become a son of Jacob, who had fled it. But Jacob himself, dwelling with Laban usefully for himself and for the dispensation which was according to God, "hid the heart of the Syrian, so that he did not announce to him that he was fleeing", and he himself was fleeing "and all that was his". It is good, therefore, to flee even from Laban, from the counselor of carnal qualities, in which one who dwells ought not to remain, but to flee with his whole household. For even if he should wish to pursue after him, God will turn him away from those fleeing him, so that, even if he should afterward at some time seize him, he can do him no evil while he confidently declares and says: "with whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, let him not live in the sight of our brethren: recognize what of thine is with me, and take it"; for nothing can be recognized among Jacob of the things of Laban.

In these Gospel sayings, then, which we are treating in the present, it is commanded that those who recognize the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place should understand therein while they read, so that they may flee into the mountains. He, therefore, who is held established in such a Judea as we have spoken of, that is, "in the oldness of the letter", let him flee into the mountains of spiritual newnesses. And if anyone be found to have ascended upon the housetop of the word and to stand upon the summit of its edifice, let him not come down thence on the occasion of taking anything out of his house; for he will have no need, remaining on the housetop and restraining himself lest ever he come down thence. And if anyone be in the field — whether in that in which a treasure is hidden, as the Lord says in a certain parable, or such as was that full field of Jacob, to which his father, blessing him, had likened him, saying: "behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field which the Lord hath blessed", in which field, according to the spiritual blessings of the law, everyone is blessed who has lived according to the law, as the Scripture says: "blessed art thou in the city, and blessed art thou in the field" — he, therefore, who is in such a field of the whole planting "which the heavenly Father planted", let him not return back. For not only is that man "who puts his hand to the plough and has turned back, not fit for the kingdom of God", but also he who is in the field which we have handed down, and has turned back for the sake of the things which he ought to have forgotten, will without doubt fall into the abomination of desolation, that is, into the seduction of the lying word: and most of all if he has stripped himself of his old garment, that is, of "the old man with his deeds", and has again turned back to take his garment. Diligently, therefore, ought we to attend, lest perchance we should wish, descending, to take any of those things which are below and are in the house, or, leaving the field and turned back, to seek again the garment left behind — when we ought "to reach for the things that are before, and to forget the things that are behind", and neither to stand in any of that region, but to be saved on the mountain, so that we be not seized together with those who were burned up because they were caught in Sodom.

But now let us set forth the very text of the Gospel. We have said that the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place is the general who surrounded Jerusalem with his army. And so, since the worst of things befell those who were then in Judea, therefore, prophesying that these things would come to pass, the Lord says to the people: then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. And such were the things that befell in that time — so to speak — that whoever was upon the roof of the house had no time to come down and take anything out of his house, and he who was in the field could not return to the city and take his garment. And there was then no time for mercy, neither upon those with child nor upon those giving suck nor upon their infants; therefore he says (I speak with respect to the words): "woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing in those days". And as though speaking to the Jews, who supposed that on the Sabbath one ought neither to do work nor to walk a road farther than is a Sabbath's journey, therefore he says: "but pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath"; for not only on the "Sabbath", but also in "winter" it was a most grievous thing to seek safety through flight.

Moreover, it is reported by those who wrote down the Jewish history concerning the things that then befell, that "great tribulation" came upon the people "such as never was from the beginning of the world unto" the time of Christ. But neither afterward can it come to pass that such things befall them, because they dared to lay hands upon the true Christ of God, whose mystery and name David venerated when he said concerning Saul, who was persecuting him and wishing to kill him: "I will not lay my hands upon the Lord's anointed". And by the cutting short of those days that was to come "for the sake of the elect" of God who believe in Christ, we understand a shortening of those days. But then, when the people were set in great calamity and the elect who are in Judea were suffering perils, many seducers were saying: "behold, here is Christ, behold, there". Teaching his disciples to be on guard against them, he said: "then if anyone shall say to you: behold, here is Christ, behold, there, do not believe; for false christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall give great signs and wonders". And one may name either Simon Magus, who said that he was the great power of God, or anyone who was like him, wishing "to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect". These things we have set forth by way of anticipation, adding in this place no other exposition than the one that is according to the text, for the sake of those who take delight in a simple tradition, so that we might say the things that seem useful to them, since the Lord, prophesying that these things would come to pass, foreknowing the truth, expounded them.

Mystically; In the holy place of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, Antichrist, that is, false word, has often stood; let those who see this flee from the Judæa of the letter to the high mountains of truth. And whoso has been found to have gone up to the house-top of the word, and to be standing upon its summit, let him not come down thence as though he would fetch any thing out of his house. And if he be in the field in which the treasure is hid, and return thence to his house, he will run into the temptation of a false word; but especially if he have stripped off his old garment, that is, the old man, and should have returned again to take it up. Then the soul, as it were with child by the word, not having yet brought forth, is liable to a woe; for it casts that which it had conceived, and loses that hope which is in the acts of truth; and the same also if the word has been brought forth perfect and entire, but not having yet attained sufficient growth. Let them that flee to the mountains pray that their flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath-day, because in the serenity of a settled spirit they may reach the way of salvation, but if the winter overtake them they fall amongst those whom they would fly from. And there be some who rest from evil works, but do not good works; be your flight then not on such sabbath when a man rests from good works, for no man is easily overcome in times of peril from false doctrines, except he is unprovided with good works. But what sorer affliction is there than to see our brethren deceived, and to feel one's self shaken and terrified? Those days mean the precepts and dogmas of truth; and all interpretations coming of science falsely so called (1 Tim. 6:20.) are so many additions to those days, which God shortens by those whom He wills.

Whence I think that by the abomination of desolation, He means the army by which the city of the holy Jerusalem was desolated.

The "abomination of desolation" means the monument of the city's captor which he set up in the inner sanctuary of the temple. "Of desolation," because the city had been ravaged; "abomination," because statues and images of men were called "abominations" by the Jews, who hated idolatry.

Having already presented the destruction, in this part he sets forth the coming of the consummation; and he presents certain preliminaries. And first he sets forth the prophecy; secondly, the admonition, at then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; thirdly, the reason for the admonition, at for there shall be then great tribulation. So he said, the consummation shall come, when therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, etc. What is it that he calls the abomination? It can be said that the abomination refers to the Roman army, and they are called abominations of desolation because they were desolators of the land. Or by abominations, idols: and this can be said of a twofold idol. It is recorded that Pilate introduced the eagle into the temple, which was the standard of the Romans, which the Jews called an abomination. Hence, when you shall see the idol placed in the holy place, then you can recognize the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel about the destruction of Jerusalem. Or it can be said that Jerusalem was destroyed twice. First by Titus and Vespasian, and then the temple was burned, and then some were still permitted to remain. Afterward some rebelled again, and then Hadrian, who succeeded Trajan, destroyed it utterly and gave a law that no Jew should henceforth dwell there, and he called the city by his own name; likewise he placed an idol in the sacred place. Hence, that idol which Hadrian placed can be called the abomination; hence, when you shall see this, etc. About this destruction, much is found in Lamentations 2. He that readeth, let him understand. And why does he say this? Because in that prophecy of Daniel many things are said about the Passion of Christ. For these are words to be carefully observed; hence it says there: Christ shall be slain, and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation, and unto the consummation and to the end the desolation shall continue. Hence he who sees, let him understand that such things have come to pass.

Hilary explains that these words are referred to the end of the world. When you shall see this abomination, he names the Antichrist. 2 Thessalonians 2:2: Be not terrified, neither by spirit nor by word, as if the day of the Lord were at hand; let no man deceive you by any means. Likewise, Origen says that just as the word of the gospel was spread abroad when Christ himself came, so false teaching will be spread abroad when the Antichrist comes; and just as Christ had his prophets, so also will the Antichrist.

(Verse 16 onwards) Then those who are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and those who are on the roof, let them not come down to take anything from their house; and those who are in the field, let them not turn back to take their cloak. The abomination of desolation can be understood, and every perverse teaching; when we see it standing in the holy place, that is, in the Church, and proclaiming itself as God, we must flee from Judea to the mountains, that is, leaving behind the letter of the law and Jewish corruption, and approach the eternal mountains, from which God wonderfully enlightens (Psalm 75); and be on the roof and in the inner room, where the fiery darts of the devil cannot reach: neither coming down and taking anything from the former way of life: nor turning back are they to seek; but rather to sow in the field of spiritual Scriptures, so that we may bear fruit from it. Neither to take off the other tunic, which the apostles are forbidden to have. On this subject, that is, on the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, Porphyry blasphemed against us in the thirteenth volume of his work, while standing in a holy place. To him, Eusebius of Caesarea, the bishop, responded in three volumes: the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth. Apollinaris ((also known as Apollinarius)) also wrote extensively, and attempted to discuss in one chapter what has been disputed in so many thousands of verses.

Having spoken of the ills that were to overtake the city, and of the trials of the apostles, and that they should remain unsubdued, and should overrun the whole world, He mentions again the Jews' calamities, showing that when the one should be glorious, having taught the whole world, the others should be in calamity.

And see how He relates the war, by the things that seem to be small setting forth how intolerable it was to be. For, "Then," saith He, "let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains." Then, When? When these things should be, "when the abomination of desolation should stand in the holy place." Whence be seems to me to be speaking of the armies. Flee therefore then, saith He, for thenceforth there is no hope of safety for you.

For since it had fallen out, that they often had recovered themselves in grievous wars, as under Sennacherib, under Antiochus again (for when at that time also, armies had come in upon them, and the temple had been seized beforehand, the Maccabees rallying gave their affairs an opposite turn); in order then that they might not now also suspect this, that there would be any such change, He forbids them all thought of the kind. For it were well, saith He, to escape henceforth with one's naked body.

And this we know was so done when the fall of Jerusalem drew near; for on the approach of the Roman army, all the Christians in the province, warned, as ecclesiastical history tells us (Euseb. H.E. iii. 5.), miraculously from heaven, withdrew, and passing the Jordan, took refuge in the city of Pella; and under the protection of that King Agrippa, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles, they continued some time; but Agrippa himself, with the Jews whom he governed, was subjected to the dominion of the Romans.

To suggest the utter inevitability of the calamities, He says that one must flee without turning back, and without taking any thought for what is in the houses, neither clothing nor any other possessions. Some say that the "abomination of desolation" means the Antichrist who will come at the time of the desolation of the world and the destruction of the churches and will sit in the temple. They also interpret these things as follows: he who is on the housetop, that is, he who has attained the heights of the virtues, let him not come down from that height in to order to take with him the things of the body. For the house of the soul is the body. But he must also depart from the field, that is, from earthly things, for the field is earthly life. Neither must we return to take our clothing, which is the former wickedness which we have put off.

Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains. He sets forth a useful admonition. And first he presents it; secondly, he excludes impediments to flight. For some impediments are avoidable, and some unavoidable. He says, then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains. Then, namely, in the time of Vespasian. At that time a certain man named Agrippa ruled in the mountains, and he obeyed the Romans and did not rebel against them; hence, while other peoples were at war, he and his people were at peace. Hence, by God's providence the faithful who were in Judea were admonished to withdraw and go to the kingdom of this Agrippa, and so they did; hence, then they that are in Judea, namely, the faithful, let them flee to the mountains; Zechariah 2:6: Flee from the land of the north, etc.

Hilary explains: and then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; because the Jews will fail, hence they will flee the land of the Jews and will be converted to the mountains of Christianity. Origen says: then let those who are in the city flee to the mountains, of perfect justice.

(ubi sup.) For in tribulations we must beware of coming down from the spiritual heights, and yielding ourselves to the carnal life; or of failing and looking behind us, after having made some progress forwards.

(Quæst. Ev. I. 37.) That no one be found in that day in either joy or sorrow for temporal things.

The roof is the summit of the house, the noble perfection of the entire dwelling. For one may not even say that a house exists if it does not have a roof. Whoever therefore is established at the summit of his house—that is, in the perfection of his body made new by regeneration, raised high by the Spirit and perfected by the absolution of the divine gift—should not allow himself to be provoked within by bodily enticements and to descend to the sinful desire for the lowly things of this world or fall from the heights of the roof."And let whoever is in the field not return to retrieve his tunic," that is, if he is busy fulfilling the commandments, he should not return to his previous cares or desire clothing for this body, lest he restore and wear again the old tunic of sin with which he was once covered.

That He says, Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take ang thing out of his house, is thus understood. The roof is the highest part of the house, the summit and perfection of the whole building. He then who stands on the top of his house, i. e. in the perfection of his heart, aloft in the regeneration of a new spirit, ought not to come down to the lower desire of things of the world.

Therefore them also that are on the housetop, He suffers not to enter into the house to take their clothes, indicating the evils to be inevitable, and the calamity without end, and that it must needs be that he that was involved therein should surely perish. Therefore He adds also, him that is in the field, saying, neither let this man turn back to take his clothes. For if they that are in doors flee, much more they that are out of doors ought not to take refuge within.

Then he removes the impediments to flight. And because some impediments are avoidable and some are not, therefore he first sets forth the avoidable dangers; secondly, the unavoidable, at and woe to them that are with child, etc. Those that are avoidable are the concerns of earthly affairs; and some of these occur in the city, and some outside; therefore he presents both. He says, therefore, and he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of his house; i.e., whoever dwells in the city, even if he is in his house, let him not turn back to take anything, etc.

Hilary explains: and he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of his house. He means to say that the perfect should not be moved from their perfection. Hence he touches on the contemplative life, which is signified by the housetop; hence such persons should not withdraw from their contemplation.

The holy reading continues: "Let him in the field not turn back." This field represents the church, as was demonstrated by the blessing our blessed patriarch Isaac gave to his son Jacob: "Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a bountiful field which the Lord has blessed." The field was replete with a multitude of flowers and was redolent with the sweetest aroma. Clearly this signifies the church where the Lord's flowers—that is, virginity, chastity, continence, confession, faith, mercy, justice, truth and martyrdom—are perfected. These are the flowers of the field, which is the church; the flowers in which the Son of God rejoices, which have merited God's blessing. Therefore he said, "Let him in the field not turn back." Likewise, the same Lord once said, "Remember Lot's wife." While fleeing the conflagration of Sodom, she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt, leaving an example of foolishness behind her. Therefore the Lord admonishes us that clinging more fully to his love and faith, we would not turn back, yet rather would save our souls for eternal life.

Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his coat; i. e. He that has attained to obedience to the command, let him not return back to his former cares, to take on him again the coat of his former sins in which he once was clothed.

Likewise, he that is in the field, let him not go back, to his house, to take his coat, namely, whatever things are necessary, because all that a man has he will give for his life. And why does he say this? Because when the feast of Passover was approaching, many gathered in Jerusalem; knowing this, Titus besieged the city while they were thus assembled. Hence he means to say: this evil will come so quickly that no one will be able to protect himself.

Hilary explains: likewise, he that is in the field touches on the active life. Such persons should not return to their former way of life, but should remain in their purpose.

This firmness of faith was shaken violently in the beginning when the martyrs were crucified by idolaters. It was also shaken in intermediate times by different heresies. It will be shaken most violently at the end of the time of the Church through torment, argument, and the working of miracles. Hence, woe to those who are with child, or have infants at the breast in those days! And the meaning here is, woe to those whose faith is not sufficiently strong. Clearly, then, it is necessary that faith be strengthened by the Inspired Word.

The holy reading continues: "Woe to those who are with child and to those who are nursing in those days." This means woe to those who have conceived suffering and begotten iniquity by neglecting the faith. For just as a pregnant woman in flight has no rest but only pain and tribulation, so also sinners and disbelievers in the Christian faith will have nothing but grief when the day of judgment comes upon them.The holy Gospel next says, "Pray that your flight not fall in the winter or on the sabbath, for there will be a tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world." These two times, winter and the sabbath, represent two races of people: the Gentiles and the Jews. Just as everything is fruitless, desolate and dead in the winter, so also are the Gentiles. The Lord is hereby warning us therefore not to be found as the Gentiles: desolate, dead and without the fruit of good works on the day of judgment or in the time of persecution. The sabbath … is a day reserved entirely for leisure. The Jews do nothing on the sabbath other than rest. We ought to be vigilant then that the time of persecution or the day of judgment does not find us resting. Whoever is found like this will deservedly suffer "a tribulation such as the world has not seen since its beginning."

One must not believe that the Lord was drawing our attention to the burden of pregnant women when he said, "Woe to those who are with child." Instead, he wanted to demonstrate the heavy weight of souls filled with sins, a weight which prevents them from escaping the storm of wrath stored up for them, whether they are on the roof or in the field. Suffering naturally accompanies pregnancy, and no one is born into the world without his entire body being shaken by the experience. Souls therefore who are found in a similar condition will continue in their suffering and burdens."Woe also to those who are nursing." The weaned infant is no less unfit for flight than is the one who is still nursing. But if the difference in age and status between those who are nursing and those who are weaned is of no importance, how are we to understand "Woe also to those who are nursing"? This warning is meant to show the infirmity of souls who were being taught to know God as though they were being nursed. But in fact they only had a weak foretaste of the knowledge of God and were deprived of the strength which comes from the perfect food. The Lord's woe therefore is said to the souls themselves who are too weighed down to escape the antichrist or too weak to face him because they had not been avoiding sin and because they had not been fed with the true bread. Therefore we are admonished to pray that our flight does not take place in the winter or on the sabbath. In other words, let us not be found in the coldness of our sins or in the absence of good works. A heavy, intolerable affliction will be visited upon everyone, unless those days are shortened because of the elect of God.

That which is said, Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, is not to be taken literally as an admonition to women pregnant, but as a description of souls burdened with the weight of sin, that neither in the house, nor in the field, may escape the storm of the wrath that is in store for them. Woe also to those that are being suckled; the weak souls, that is, who are being brought to the knowledge of God as by milk, to whom it shall be woe, because they are too laden to fly, and too inexperienced to resist Antichrist, having neither escaped sin, nor partaken of the food of true bread.

(Verse 19.) But woe to those who are pregnant and nursing in those days. Woe to those souls who have not brought forth their offspring to perfect manhood, but have the beginnings of faith, that they should need the nourishment of masters. This can also be said, that in the persecution of Antichrist, or the Roman captivity, those who are pregnant and nursing, burdened with the weight of their wombs and their children, were unable to make an easy escape.

What is meant by the fact that it is written in the same Matthew, Woe to those who are pregnant and those who nurse in those days. And: Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath (Matthew 24:19-20). This is clearly dependent on the earlier statements. For when the Gospel of Christ has been preached to all nations and the end has come, and they see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place (Mark 13): then those who are in Judea are commanded to flee to the mountains; and those who are on the housetop, not to come down and take anything from their house; and those who are in the field, not to turn back and take their cloak. We have spoken more fully on these matters in the Commentaries of the same Matthew. And at once it is joined: Woe to the pregnant and nursing women in those days. In which days? when the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place. Indeed, it is not doubtful that this is preached according to the letter concerning the advent of Antichrist: when the magnitude of persecution compels them to flee, and heavy wombs, and nursing infants impede flight. Although some want it to mean the siege and battle against the Jews, and especially Jerusalem, by Titus and Vespasian. Winter and Sabbaths are also interpreted thus so as not to compel flight at that time when the severity of the cold in the fields and in desert places does not allow refugees to hide: and the observance of the Sabbath either makes deserters if they flee, or exposes them to the swords of the enemy if they keep Sabbath rest and commandments. But let us, hearing the Lord and Savior, flee to the mountains with those who are in Judea; let us also raise our eyes to the mountains, of which it is written: "I lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help" (Psalm 120:1). And in another place: "His foundation is in the holy mountains" (Psalm 87:1). And, "The mountains are around him and the Lord is around his people" (Psalm 124). And, "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:14). Let us also, taking off the skin of letters, and going up the mountain with bare feet with Moses, say: "I will go over and see this great sight" (Exodus 3:3); so that we may understand the pregnant souls, which conceived the beginnings of faith from the seed of doctrine and the Word of God, and say with Isaiah, "By your fear, O Lord, we have conceived, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the spirit of your salvation, which you have placed upon the earth" (Isaiah 26:14). For just as seeds are gradually formed in the womb, and a person is not considered or thought to be formed until the confused elements receive their shapes and members, so a sense concept conceived by reason, unless it breaks forth into works, is still retained in the womb; and it quickly perishes as an abortion, when it has seen the abomination of desolation standing in the Church (Dan. 9. 27, Mat. 24. 15, Mark. 13. 14) and Satan being transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11.14). Of such fetuses Paul speaks when he says: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you" (Galatians 4. 10). So I consider that women are akin to the mystical understanding, about whom the same Apostle writes: The woman was seduced and became a transgressor. But she will be saved by childbearing, if they remain in faith and love and sanctity with prudence (1 Tim. 2:14-15). For if she ever gives birth to anything related to divine teaching, it is necessary for what is born to grow; and to receive first the milk of infancy, until they reach solid food, and mature age in the fullness of Christ (1 Cor. 3:2; Eph. 4:13). For every one that is fed with milk, is unskillful in the word of justice: for he is a little child. Therefore, those souls which have not yet brought forth, or which, having brought forth, have not yet suckled them, seeing a heretical discourse standing in the Church, are presently scandalized and destroyed; they can't endure in times of trials and persecutions, especially if they have had leisure to perform good works and have not walked in the way that is Christ's (John 14:6). The Apostle said of this abomination of heretical and perverse doctrine that the man of iniquity and the adversary raises himself up against everything called God and religion, so that he dares to stand in the Temple of God, and show himself as if he were God (2 Thess. 2:4); whose coming is according to the working of Satan; and he destroys what is conceived by abortion; and what is born cannot reach childhood and perfect age. Therefore we must pray to the Lord, lest in the beginning of faith and growing age there arise a winter, of which it is written: Winter has passed, the rain is over and gone (Song of Solomon 2.11); lest we become sluggish in idleness, but with shipwreck imminent, let us awaken the sleeping Lord and say: Master, save us, we perish (Matthew 8.25).

"Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck," to the one because of their greater inertness, and because they cannot flee easily, being weighed down by the burden of their pregnancy; to the other, because they are held by the tie of feeling for their children, and cannot save their sucklings. For money it is a light thing to despise, and an easy thing to provide, and clothes; but the bonds of nature how could any one escape? how could the pregnant woman become active? how could she that gives suck be able to overlook that which she had borne?

But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in those days. That there are also some souls that conceive offspring, the prophet made clear when he said: "from fear of you, Lord, we conceived in the womb and travailed and gave birth to a spirit of salvation which you made upon the earth". For just as in those who are pregnant the seed is formed and shaped, so also in the soul that receives the word, the conception of the word is gradually formed and shaped within it. And this I think is what Paul says to the Galatians: "my children, whom I again bring forth in travail until Christ be formed in you", which is as though he were to say: until the word be formed and made manifest in you. In the epistle to Timothy he says likewise that a woman shall be saved "through the bearing of children, if she abide in faith and love and holiness with chastity". But who is this woman, if not the soul that conceives the word of God and of truth, and gives birth to good works like to Christ? But it is irrational to suppose that what he says was said of a bodily bearing: "the woman, being seduced, fell into transgression; but she shall be saved through the bearing of children, if she abide in faith and love and holiness with chastity". Therefore the souls that have newly received the word and, being still established as pregnant, have not yet borne fruit in it, having it intelligibly in the womb, cannot endure the discourse that stands "in the holy place" opposing the truth, nor stand firm so as not to be seduced by its persuasions. Therefore if at any time the soul that has it in the womb, and has not yet borne fruit from the word, sees the "abomination of desolation" (according to what we have handed down) "standing in the holy place", it falls under the woe which the Lord speaks: woe to those who are pregnant; for it will cast forth the conception and will be emptied of the hope that is in the acts of truth.

But even if the word seem to be formed and to have borne fruit, yet has not been nourished sufficiently with the nourishments that increase it and make it great, but has remained immature, after the likeness of a nursling that suckles, then upon offspring of this kind also there will come what comes upon those who suckle. But if (as in many copies) it is written woe to those who suckle, it must be said that there are souls that are still being suckled with milk, to whom the apostle says: "I gave you milk to drink, not food; for you were not yet able, nor even yet are you able, for you are still carnal". And he says also elsewhere: "you have become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. For everyone who is fed on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness: for he is an infant". These, then, are the souls which, on account of their weakness, and because they are easily seduced, cannot remain unseducible from the sight of the abomination of desolation standing "in the holy place": for, being seduced, they consent to it as though to God. And one may see the churches of the heretics full of those to be lamented — the pregnant or nursing or suckling. For very often souls that were in the Church pregnant or nursing or suckling and were seduced by the abomination of desolation, and seduced by that false word which stands "in the holy place" through the false tradition of perverse doctrines, have received the woe of that abomination which was spoken by the Lord: woe to those who have in the womb and to those who are nursing, yet not at any time whatever, but in the days of that abomination of desolations. For everyone who hears the words of those who speak "iniquity on high", and receives them in its days, that man becomes subject to the abomination of desolation.

Or because that will not be a time of showing pity, neither upon them who are with child, nor upon them who are suckling, nor upon their infants.

(Aug. Serm. App. 75. 2.) Or, They that are with child, are they who covet what belongs to others; they that give suck, are they who have already forcibly taken that which they coveted; to them shall be woe in the day of judgment. Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath day; ...

For why should we be eager to bear children, whom, when we have them, we desire to send before us (to glory) (in respect, I mean, of the distresses that are now imminent); desirous as we are ourselves, too, to be taken out of this most wicked world, and received into the Lord's presence, which was the desire even of an apostle? To the servant of God, forsooth, offspring is necessary! For of our own salvation we are secure enough, so that we have leisure for children! Burdens must be sought by us for ourselves which are avoided even by the majority of the Gentiles, who are compelled by laws, who are decimated by abortions; burdens which, finally, are to us most of all unsuitable, as being perilous to faith! For why did the Lord foretell a "woe to them that are with child, and them that give suck," except because He testifies that in that day of disencumbrance the encumbrances of children will be an inconvenience? It is to marriage, of course, that those encumbrances appertain; but that ("woe") will not pertain to widows.

A third saying let them add, "Let us eat, and drink, and marry, for to-morrow we shall die; " not reflecting that the "woe" (denounced) "on such as are with child, and are giving suck," will fall far more heavily and bitterly in the "universal shaking" of the entire world than it did in the devastation of one fraction of Judaea.

Those who are with child will not be able to flee, weighed down as they are by the burden of their womb. Those who give suck, because of their compassion for their children, will not be able to leave them, nor to carry them and survive together, and so they will not escape the wrath that will be. Christ is also implying the eating of children, for Josephus speaks of a woman who, on account of the starvation during the siege, cooked her child and ate it.

Then he presents the unavoidable impediments. And because there were some impediments that were unavoidable by human power and absolutely, and some that, although unavoidable by human power, were avoidable by the power of God, therefore first about the first; secondly about the second, at pray, etc. That which, when present, can in no way be avoided is the burden of children. For although one might be told: save your life, he could say: how can I leave my child? Therefore he explains this: woe to them that are with child and that give suck, because such women could not flee, for neither should they be told to procure an abortion, nor those nursing to kill their children; and so what is said in Luke 23:29 is fulfilled: Blessed are the breasts that have not given suck.

Hilary explains: and what is meant by those who are with child? Men burdened with sins. Those who are nursing are imperfect men. Hence he means to say: woe to men burdened with sins and not confirmed in virtue. According to Augustine, those with child are those who conceive to do evil; those nursing are those who already carry out the deed. Origen says: those with child are said to be those who are still pursuing the word of salvation; those nursing, those who have already accomplished something.

Perhaps this saying contains a puzzle. It admonishes us to pray that our departure from this body would not happen in the time of rest from good works, which the sabbath signifies, nor in the time of unfruitfullness, which is winter. It is notable, however, that God did not create the winter of misfortunes. Winter means the time that we are possessed by the fleshly passions.

Let us therefore, dearest brethren, now carefully consider these things, lest our time pass away in vain, and then we seek to live for doing good when we are already being compelled to depart from the body. Remember what the Truth says: "Pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath." For by the commandment of the law it is not permitted to walk far on the Sabbath; winter also is a hindrance to walking, because the numbness of cold restrains the steps of those who walk. He says therefore: "Pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath." As if He were to say openly: See that you do not seek to flee your sins when it is no longer permitted to walk. That time therefore when flight is not permitted ought to be thought about now while it is permitted. That hour of our departure is always to be kept in view, this admonition of our Redeemer is always to be placed before the eyes of our mind, wherein He says: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour."

Or; That we be not taken in the frost of sins, or in discontinuance of good works, because of the soreness of the affliction; notwithstanding that for the sake of God's elect, those days shall be shortened, that the abridgment of the time may disarm the force of the calamities.

On account of this, the Lord, foreseeing these things, says, "Pray that your flight does not happen in winter or on the Sabbath, you ought not to rest from righteousness nor engage in the matters of this life, as in winter, lest that day unknowingly fall upon you as a trap." [Matthew 24:20; Luke 21:34] "For if," he says, "those days were not curtailed, not any flesh would be saved. But on account of the elect those days will be curtailed." [Matthew 24:22]

(Verse 20.) Pray, however, that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. If we wish to receive the captivity of Jerusalem, when it was captured by Titus and Vespasian, they ought to pray that their flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath; for in the former, the harshness of the cold prevents them from going to the desolate places and hiding in the mountains and deserts; in the latter, it is either a violation of the Law if they wish to flee, or imminent death if they remain. But if the end of the world is understood, this commands us, that our faith may not grow cold and our love for Christ may not grow dim, nor may we become idle in the work of God, languishing in the virtues of the Sabbath.

Because in the one the severity of the cold prevents your flight to the deserts, and your lurking in mountains and wilds; in the other, you must either transgress the Law, if you will fly, or encounter instant death if you will stay.

Then, to show again the greatness of the calamity, He saith, "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be."

Seest thou that His discourse is addressed to the Jews, and that He is speaking of the ills that should overtake them? For the apostles surely were not to keep the Sabbath day, neither to be there, when Vespasian did those things. For indeed the most part of them were already departed this life. And if any was left, he was dwelling then in other parts of the world.

But wherefore neither "in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day?" Not in the winter, because of the difficulty arising from the season; not on the Sabbath day, because of the absolute authority exercised by the law. For since they had need of flight, and of the swiftest flight, but neither would the Jews dare to flee on the Sabbath day, because of the law, neither in winter was such a thing easy; therefore, "Pray ye," saith He; "for then shall be tribulation, such as never was, neither shall be."

And let not any man suppose this to have been spoken hyperbolically; but let him study the writings of Josephus, and learn the truth of the sayings. For neither can any one say, that the man being a believer, in order to establish Christ's words, hath exaggerated the tragical history. For indeed He was both a Jew, and a determined Jew, and very zealous, and among them that lived after Christ's coming.

What then saith this man? That those terrors surpassed all tragedy, and that no such had ever overtaken the nation. For so great was the famine, that the very mothers fought about the devouring of their children, and that there were wars about this; and he saith that many when they were dead had their bellies ripped up.

I should therefore be glad to inquire of the Jews. Whence came there thus upon them wrath from God intolerable, and more sore than all that had befallen aforetime, not in Judaea only, but in any part of the world? Is it not quite clear, that it was for the deed of the cross, and for this rejection? All would say it, and with all and before all the truth of the facts itself.

But mark, I pray thee, the exceeding greatness of the ills, when not only compared with the time before, they appear more grievous, but also with all the time to come. For not in all the world, neither in all time that is past, and that is to come, shall any one be able to say such ills have been. And very naturally; for neither had any man perpetrated, not of those that ever have been, nor of those to come hereafter, a deed so wicked and horrible. Therefore He saith, "there shall be tribulation such as never was, nor shall be."

But pray that your flight be not in winter or on the sabbath. There is, as we have said, a certain flight of men according to the precept of the word, so that he who flees the things that ought to be fled is better than he who does not flee and therefore commits such and greater offenses by this, that he does not flee, but makes himself subject to the evils that destroy the soul. But that there is an appointed and praiseworthy flight, the Apostle plainly teaches, saying: "Flee fornication". Now he flees fornication who avoids every occasion that irritates and provokes to fornicating, and neither mingles with the young in youthful tales (as far as he is able), lest perhaps he be consumed through them, nor descends to the customs of such men, but turns himself away entirely from the incitements of men of this kind. Let him who wishes to flee fornication hear also that which is said: "Be not continually with a woman that is a singer, lest perhaps you be consumed by her desires." But he flees fornication more abundantly who avoids, as far as he is able, the foods that kindle and stir up the seed, and, if it can be done, does not use wine until the more fervent age has passed; but if he does use it, let him use a little according to the apostolic precept which says: "Timothy, no longer drink water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities". And what more? He it is who flees fornication, and always works that praiseworthy flight which does not permit one to flee from God. Now he works this flight who is prompt to flee fornication. And not only is fornication to be fled by us, but also every sin. Therefore the scripture said well: "Flee sin as from the face of a serpent". But frequently it is fitting to flee from the Antichrist word and from "knowledge falsely so named", especially when a man is not yet so fit as to have the Lord working in him, who slays "by the breath of his mouth" the persuasions of lies, nor has he ascended to such a height as to have in himself him who destroys "by the illumination of his coming" every persuasion that has the likeness of truth and likens itself to the truth.

But he who flees ought to know also the place to which he ought to flee, and to pray also on account of the time, that he flee not at that time which is adverse to flight. The places, then, for those who flee will be the mountains, which Christ points out, saying: "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains". And let him who flees to those mountains say the Psalm of degrees which runs thus: "I have lifted up my eyes unto the mountains, whence help shall come to me". And for this reason he lifts up his eyes to the mountains: because he knows the abundance that is in those mountains; therefore he says: "its foundations are in the holy mountains". And if he flees to the mountains which the Lord commanded, he will come to the holy place, in which, being made and seeing that great vision, he will say what was said: "Passing over, I will see this great vision". And whoever is of this kind will hear: "Loose the sandal of your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground". Therefore let those "flee to the mountains" who flee according to God's command. Since, then, those who are established in tranquility of soul are able to obtain the flight of salvation, but with winter overtaking them they run into those whom they flee, therefore let them pray that their flight be not in winter or on the sabbath, if indeed Christ has kept watch in them. But if he has fallen asleep, then, "a storm of wind" descending "upon the lake", it will descend also upon him who flees, because Jesus does not flee together with him, showing him the flight of the best way. Yet if at some time a storm has descended and has wrought winter, let one pray and rouse Christ by his prayers, that he may rebuke "the wind and the sea", so that, "calm being made", he may flee again, that he be not overtaken by fornication or by avarice or by vainglory or by any evil pursuing him, or by the very abomination of desolation, that is, by false doctrine.

Pray that your flight may not happen in winter or on the Sabbath. God made the works of the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath (but he "rested from the works" of the world which he had begun to make); yet the works of righteousness he always works, without beginning, and will work without end. So too, before the coming of Christ, the whole race of men wrought all the works of the world, and no one rested from them, keeping a perpetual Sabbath from good works. But when our Lord came—our Sabbath and our rest—he brought to us the rest of his Sabbath, so that, just as he rested on the Sabbath from the works of the world, yet did not rest from the works of righteousness, so too we, through him, might keep Sabbath from the worldly and carnal and harmful works, but might always practice the works of righteousness. And that he himself was going to bring us a Sabbath of this kind, in which we do no servile work, he himself bears witness through the prophet, speaking thus of the unworthy Jews: "until I swore in my wrath: they shall not enter into my rest". And again Lamech, in imposing on his son the name Noah in a mystery of Christ, spoke thus of him: "and he called his name Noah, saying: this one shall give us rest from our sorrows and from the works of our hands and from the earth, which the Lord has cursed".

Everyone, therefore, who lives in Christ always lives in the Sabbath and rests in rest, resting from evil works, but he works the works of righteousness without ceasing. But many, having the name of Christ, not the grace, on the contrary keep Sabbath from good works, but work evil works. And the middling sort sometimes give up the Sabbath-keeping of evil works and keep Sabbath from good works, not working good things but evil. But certain ones both keep Sabbath from evil works, yet do not practice good works, whereas one ought not only to flee evil things but also to practice good ones. On such a Sabbath, then, of good works—when the Christian man does not do good works—Christ commands us to pray that our flight may not happen on it. For when you cease from good works, if indeed you stand before the face of the abomination and of your own accord submit yourself to it, you have willingly died by the sword of the lying word. But if you should wish to flee and the abomination of desolation should pursue you: either it will break you by its persecutions, because your good works do not work in you the virtue of patience; or it will capture you by its seductions, because your good works do not work in you the light of understanding. For no one in such a peril of false doctrine is easily overcome and deceived, except one who is stripped of good works. Therefore the Apostle too says concerning this very peril: "because they did not receive the love of the truth, he will give them the working of error, that they may believe the lie, that all may be judged who did not believe the truth but consented to iniquity".

But when we shall have seen "the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place", we shall also see a great tribulation at hand, such as was not made from the beginning of the world until that very one, nor shall be afterward. For what greater tribulation is there than to see our brothers seduced, on account of the holy place, by the abomination of desolation standing in it? And if indeed the bodily death of some friend or neighbor works great tribulation for one who has not been prepared to endure it, what tribulation do you suppose comes to be for him who suffers-together, when one member has suffered, and for him who is even set on fire, when some brother has been made to stumble? But if anyone should see himself moved and disturbed by the abomination "of desolation" as though it were not the abomination of desolation, and should see himself imperiled on account of the love which he has for the holy place, so that he almost consents to that abomination as though it were God and hands himself over to the abomination as though to God, how great a tribulation do you suppose he is troubled with—such as was not for him from the beginning, from when he came into the world, until that time? But neither will any other such tribulation ever be able to seize him, and most of all if one is drawn to reckon "the abomination standing in the holy place" to be not "the abomination of desolation", but God the Word.

Furthermore, even if someone should indeed see plainly "the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place", and should follow it, taking to himself an excuse from the divine Scriptures, as though it were a matter of indifference and permitted to deny Christianity—saying that denial is not denial, and reckoning the foods of things sacrificed to be as though harming nothing the one who eats them (bringing forward examples from the Scriptures), and that it is indifferently permitted at one and the same time to be joined to diverse women, as though the fathers too did these things of old—greater than all these sins is the abomination of desolation, that is, the word which takes its stand in the place of the holy Scriptures, speaking "iniquity on high" and persuading men to depart from the Creator, who alone is also the true God, and to believe in some other god I know not whom above this one, to whom none is like, though our Savior, being such as he is, says: "the Father, who sent me, is greater than me". A great tribulation, therefore, is generated by the abomination of desolation standing "in the holy place", so that such things as these are said of it: and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been made safe; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. And so great and so great a tribulation comes to be in that abomination of desolation, that God works a shortening of the days of that tribulation, cutting off the superfluity of them which is added by the abomination of desolation. For otherwise it is not possible that all the flesh which is to be healed should be healed, unless it should receive a shortening from God.

Those days are understood as the precepts and doctrines of the truth set in the Scriptures for the illumination of the souls that understand. But all the understandings coming from the "knowledge of the false name", which are added to and joined to the words of the Scriptures—understand these, I pray you, to be additions upon the natural magnitude of the days of Scripture; and this addition the good God shortens through whom he wills. And as often as you see, at the coming of the word of truth into your understanding, the heights that exalt themselves "against the knowledge of God" being cut off, so often understand that the days of tribulation are shortened and that the superfluous magnitude is circumcised, which, contrary to nature, the abomination of desolation always adds to the days of the Lord that are in the Scriptures. And for the sake of the elect those days are shortened, so that, seeing in their understanding the cutting-off of the superfluity of the days and that light alone remaining which is according to the word of truth, they may suffer nothing from the abomination of desolation, or from that which had been added upon the true and natural days of the Scriptures.

And as speaking to Jews who thought they might travel no more upon the sabbath than a sabbath-day's journey, He adds, But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath.

He addresses these words to the Jews in the person of the apostles; for the apostles would have already departed from Jerusalem by the time that flight would be necessary. To the Jews, then, He says to pray that their flight not be in winter when they would not be able to flee on account of the severity of the weather; and that it would not be on the sabbath day when they rested according to the law and would not dare to flee. But you, O reader, understand it also in this manner: we must pray that our flight from this life, that is, our end, not be on the sabbath during idleness from good deeds, nor in winter, when no good fruit is brought forth, but rather in tranquility of soul, free from all disturbance.

Likewise, there are other impediments where man cannot provide a remedy except through God. For some time is unsuitable either by nature or by law: by nature, as wintertime, because then a man is impeded from fleeing on account of the harshness of the weather. Likewise by law, as if it should happen on the sabbath, because God commanded that they should not go beyond one mile. And because this is not in our power but in God's, therefore, pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath, because in such matters one must have recourse to God alone. Hence Hosea 6:1: Come, and let us return to the Lord, for he hath taken us and he will heal us. Pray that it be not in winter, because it impedes flight naturally on account of the difficulty of the road; nor on the sabbath, because it impedes according to the law of God. Likewise note that he says on the sabbath, by which he signifies that on a feast day they were duly slain.

Hilary explains: and what does he say about winter and the sabbath? By winter is signified sadness, by the sabbath joy. Hence, let it not happen in winter through a sorrow that overwhelms, or on the sabbath through a joy that exalts the soul. Or by the sabbath, idleness from good works; by winter, the cooling of charity. Origen says: pray, therefore, that they be not impeded through slothfulness and torpor.

(Ep. 199. 30.) In Luke it is thus read, There shall be great distress upon the earth, and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. (Luke 21:23.) And so Josephus, who wrote the Jewish History, (B. J. vii.) relates evils so great happening to this people as to seem hardly credible. Whence it was not unreasonably said, that such tribulation had never been from the beginning of creation, nor should be; for though in the lime of Antichrist shall be such, or perhaps greater; yet to the Jews, of whom we must understand this, such shall never more befal. For if they shall be the first and the chief to receive Antichrist, they will then rather inflict than suffer tribulation.

There was at that time [of the capture of Jerusalem] unendurable tribulation. For the Roman soldiers were commanded to spare no one; but God, for the sake of those who would believe or who had already believed, did not allow them to be completely destroyed, but curtailed both the tribulations and the war. For if war had continued any longer, everyone within would have perished of starvation. Some understand these words to refer to the days of the Antichrist; but they are not concerning the Antichrist, but the capture of Jerusalem. That which concerns the Antichrist begins from this point. Listen, then:

Hence, the necessity for fleeing? From the magnitude of the tribulation. Hence, first he sets forth the tribulation and its magnitude; secondly, he sets forth the cause, at and unless those days had been shortened, etc. He says, therefore, for there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world. And this can be sufficiently perceived by one who reads the history of Josephus: that many died of hunger. Likewise, there were seditions in the city, so that they killed one another; hence, when Titus, who was most merciful, wished to spare them, they themselves refused. Likewise, there were brigands among them who killed many. And a certain woman ate her own son. Hence there was such tribulation as had never been seen. And Luke 21:23-24 says this: There shall be tribulation, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword. But will it be greater in the time of the Antichrist? Yes; but it will not be among the Jews. And Chrysostom asks on account of what sin this happened, because not even the punishment of the Sodomites was so great; hence there would not have been a greater punishment unless the sin was greater. And because they might say that these things happened to them on account of the sins of the Christians, he therefore says that this was not the case.

Origen explains: for there shall be then great tribulation, because there will be a perversion of Christian teaching through false doctrine.

Indeed some persons seem to me not unfitly to understand by these days the evils themselves, as in other places of divine Scripture evil days are spoken of; not that the days themselves are evil, but the things that are done on them. And they are said to be shortened, because they are less felt, God giving us endurance; so that even though grievous, they are felt as short.

For we ought not to doubt that when Jerusalem was overthrown, there were among that people elect of God who had believed out of the circumcision, or would have believed, elect before the foundation of the world, for whose sake those days should be shortened, and their evils made endurable. Some there are who suppose that the days will be shortened by a more rapid motion of the sun, as the day was made longer on the prayer of Jesus Naue.

[Daniel 7:25] "And he shall utter (variant: "he utters") speeches against the Lofty One." Or else, as Symmachus has rendered it: "He utters speeches like God," so that one who assumes the authority of God will also arrogate to himself the words of divine majesty.

"...And he shall crush the saints of the Most High, and will suppose himself to be able to alter times and laws." The Antichrist will wage war against the saints and will overcome them; and he shall exalt himself to such a height of arrogance as to attempt changing the very laws of God and the sacred rites as well. He will also lift himself up against all that is called God, subjecting all religion to his own authority.

"...And they shall be delivered into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time." "Time" is equivalent to "year." The word "times," according to the idiom of the Hebrews (who also possess the dual number) represents "two years." The half a year signifies "six months." During this period the saints are to be given over to the power of the Antichrist, in order that those Jews might be condemned who did not believe the truth but supported a lie. The Savior also speaks of this period in the Gospel, saying: "Unless those days had been cut short, no flesh would be saved" (Matthew 24:22). In the final vision we shall assert the inappropriateness of this period to Antiochus.

(Verse 22.) And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. The shortened days, not according to the delusions of some (who think that the moments of time can be changed; and do not remember that writing: Your ordinance endures (Ps. CXVIII, 91)), but we should understand it according to the quality of time, that is, the days are shortened not in measure, but in number; just as in the blessing it is said; I will satisfy him with long life (Ps. XC); so now the shortened days should be understood: lest the delay of time shake the faith of the believers.

Not remembering that which is written. The day continues according to thy ordinances. (Ps. 119:91.) We must understand it of their being shortened not in measure, but in number, lest the faith of believers should be shaken by lengthened affliction.

"And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." By these things He shows them to be deserving of a more grievous punishment than had been mentioned, speaking now of the days of the war and of that siege. But what He saith is like this. If, saith He, the war of the Romans against the city had prevailed further, all the Jews had perished (for by "no flesh" here, He meaneth no Jewish flesh), both those abroad, and those at home. For not only against those in Judaea did they war, but also those that were dispersed everywhere they outlawed and banished, because of their hatred against the former.

But whom doth He here mean by the elect? The believers that were shut up in the midst of them. For that Jews may not say that because of the gospel, and the worship of Christ, these ills took place, He showeth, that so far from the believers being the cause, if it had not been for them, all had perished utterly. For if God had permitted the war to be protracted, not so much as a remnant of the Jews had remained, but lest those of them who had become believers should perish together with the unbelieving Jews, He quickly put down the fighting, and gave an end to the war. Therefore He saith, "But for the elect's sake they shall be shortened." But these things He said to leave an encouragement to those of them who were shut up in the midst of them, and to allow them to take breath, that they might not be in fear, as though they were to perish with them. And if here so great is His care for them, that for their sakes others also are saved, and that for the sake of Christians remnants were left of the Jews, how great will be their honor in the time for their crowns?

By this He also encouraged them not to be distressed at their own dangers, since these others are suffering such things, and for no profit, but for evil upon their own head.

But He not only encouraged them, but also led them off secretly and unsuspectedly from the customs of the Jews. For if there is not to be a change afterwards, and the temple is not to stand, it is quite evident that the law also shall be made to cease.

However, He spake not this openly, but by their entire destruction He darkly intimated it. But He spake it not openly, lest He should startle them before the time. Wherefore neither at the beginning did He of Himself fall into discourse touching these things; but having first lamented over the city, He constrained them to show Him the stones, and question Him, in order that as it were in answering them their question, He might declare to them beforehand all the things to come.

But mark thou, I pray thee, the dispensation of the Spirit, that John wrote none of these things, lest he should seem to write from the very history of the things done (for indeed he lived a long time after the taking of the city), but they, who died before the taking, and had seen none of these things, they write it, in order that every way the power of the prediction should clearly shine forth.

Hence, unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved. Augustine says that some have explained this as meaning that the days were then made shorter, as in the time of Joshua a day was made longer. But against this Psalm 118:91 says: By thy ordinance the days continue; therefore it can be said in two ways. First, that the days of tribulation were shortened in number. Hence, if that time had lasted longer, all would have been killed, because none would have remained. And why? Because the Romans dominated throughout the whole world, and the Jews were already scattered throughout the whole world; therefore, if that time had lasted, they would have been killed everywhere. Or the days are said to be shortened when the evils are made brief. And why are they shortened? For the sake of the elect: not that the word of God had failed. For many of that people had been converted and were praying for the people that a remnant might be left; Isaiah 1:9: Unless the Lord had left us seed, we would have been as Sodom, etc. Then Chrysostom presents two considerations for why this is said: because there were some disciples there, and also John still lived beyond that time. Therefore he says that John did not mention this in his Gospel, because he wrote after it had taken place; hence he would have spoken of past events. But Matthew and Luke, who wrote before, mentioned it, because at that time it was still future. Therefore he says that it was a manifest miracle that, while the Romans were attacking the Jews and almost the whole Jewish nation was undergoing destruction, so few Jews could go throughout the whole world to convert almost the entire world; and this was the marvelous power of Christ.

Hilary explains: and unless those days had been shortened; because it will last only a short time, and if it were to last longer, no flesh should be saved, i.e., no one who is carnal. Origen explains: and unless those days had been shortened, namely, by the teaching of doctrine, through additions of true teaching, no flesh should be saved, i.e., all would be converted to false doctrine.

The demons, wanting to tempt a hermit, said to him, 'Would you like to see Christ?' He said, 'A curse be upon you and him by whom you speak. I believe my Christ when He said, "If anyone says to you, 'Lo, here is Christ,' or 'Lo, there,' do not believe him" (Matt. 24:23).' They vanished at the words.

Notwithstanding, by reason of the great tribulation in which men shall be cast, false prophets promising to show aid present from Christ, will falsely affirm that Christ is present in divers places, that they may draw into the service of Antichrist men discouraged and distracted.

(Verse 23.) Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. Many leaders arose during the time of the Jewish captivity who claimed to be the Christ, to the extent that there were three factions inside the besieged Romans. But the end of the world is better understood.

Having finished what concerned Jerusalem, He passes on to His own coming, and tells the signs of it, not for their use only, but for us also, and for all that shall come after us.

"Then." When? Here, as I have often said, the word, "then," relates not to the connection in order of time with the things before mentioned. At least, when He was minded to express the connection of time, He added, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days," but here not so, but, "then," not meaning what should follow straightway after these things, but what should be in the time, when these things were to be done, of which He was about to speak.

Awhile He secures them by the place, mentioning the distinguishing marks of His second coming, and the indications of the deceivers. For not, as when at His former coming He appeared in Bethlehem, and in a small corner of the world, and no one knew Him at the beginning, so doth He say it shall be then too; but openly and with all circumstance, and so as not to need one to tell these things. And this is no small sign that He will not come secretly.

Then if anyone says to you: Behold, here is Christ. Behold, there. Do not believe. For false Christs and false prophets shall arise. And they shall give great signs and wonders, so that even the elect, if it be possible, may be led into error. Behold, I have foretold it to you. But if they say to you: Behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go out; behold, he is in the houses, do not believe. For as lightning goes forth from the east and appears even to the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man; for wherever the corpse shall be, there shall the eagles be gathered together..

Since we have said that the "abomination of desolation standing in the holy place" is the word of falsehood which appears to stand in the holy place of the scriptures, someone will say: and how, as though it were not standing there, will someone thus say to the disciples of Christ behold, here is Christ. behold, there? and another will say: behold, he is in the wilderness, and another: behold, he is in the houses? See therefore whether to this we can say, as to what he says: behold here, behold there, that when he says behold here, behold there it is not to be looked for outside the scripture. For he who wishes to seduce us and to defend things contrary to the truth will say: behold, here is Christ, pointing, for example's sake, to this passage of the Gospel. And the author of another error will say: behold, here is Christ, offering as an example another text, which seems to defend that word of falsehood which he set out to vindicate. And so from the law, from the prophets, from the apostles, each one brings forth what seem to defend that falsehood as though it were the truth. Or thus is fulfilled what he says: behold, here is Christ, behold, there, pointing not to Christ, but to some fabricated figure bearing the same name, as for instance according to the doctrine of Marcion and according to the traditions of Valentinus or the long fabrication of Basilides, or according to the false testimony of Apelles against Paul. But there will also be many others who will say to the disciples out of the divine scriptures, joining to them their own private meaning: behold, here is Christ, behold, there.

But if they say to you: behold, in the wilderness, do not go out; behold, in the houses, do not believe. For some, bringing forth certain secret things, say: behold, in the wilderness. When therefore they bring forth secret and not commonly known scriptures for the confirmation of their falsehood, they seem to say: behold, in the wilderness is the word of truth. For secret scriptures are rightly called wildernesses, in which either few are believers or none. But whenever they bring forth the canonical scriptures, in which every Christian consents and believes, they seem to say: behold, in the houses is the word of truth.

But we ought not to believe them, nor to go out from the first and ecclesiastical tradition, nor to believe otherwise than as they have handed down to us through the succession of the Church of God.

Or thus: some professors of those false words do not indeed from the beginning counterfeit the scriptures, and thus attempt to deceive. Therefore (I reckon), wishing to point out those discourses which are altogether outside the scripture, he said: if they say to you: behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go out, from the rule of faith.

And wishing to point out those who counterfeit the divine scriptures unto schism, he said: if they say to you: behold, in the houses, do not believe.

Whatever they may profess concerning the scriptures and concerning the mysteries which are in them for demonstration, "do not believe" the things that are said.

For the truth is like lightning going forth from the east and appearing even to the west: such is the truth of the Church of God; for from it alone "the sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world", and it alone, the true truth of God, runs swiftly.

For as the lightning goes forth from the east and appears as far as the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. But we ought to know this also, that the lightning of truth does not appear in some one place of the Scriptures, while from another place of the Scriptures it is not upheld; rather it is upheld from every place of the Scriptures, that is, whether from the Law or from the prophets or from the Gospels or from the writing of the apostles. And this lightning of truth, going forth from the east — that is, from the beginnings of Christ — appears as far as the dispensation of his passion, in which is its setting. And to such a lightning as this is like the coming of the Son of man, that is, of the word of truth. And in this way too we can understand what he says: it goes forth from the east and appears as far as the west. That Christ is the Word and the truth and the wisdom of God is shown from the first beginning of the creation of the world down to the last writing of the apostles (that is, from Genesis down to the apostolic books), after which no writings are to be believed as those are. Or thus: because "the Law and the prophets were until John", in which is the lightning of truth, and the east indeed is the Law, but the west, the "end of the Law", is John. But the Church alone neither subtracts the word and meaning of this lightning, nor adds anything else as though a prophecy. But if we must inquire more subtly why it is said not "east" in the singular nor "west" in the singular, but thus: from the easts as far as the wests, we shall say that one east and one west is "the Law and the prophets until John"; another east as far as the west is Christ Jesus as far as Paul, to whom, the last of the apostles, "as to one born out of due time, Christ appeared".

But consider this also, that above we spoke of one "abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place", but he adds, as concerning many, for there shall arise false Christs. For generally the Antichrist is one, but his kinds are many, as if we should say: falsehood generally is one, but according to the differences of false doctrines there are found to be many falsehoods.

For if falsehood differs in nothing from falsehood — for instance that of Basilides or of Marcion or of Valentinus or of Apelles or of any similar men — the falsehood seems to be one. But if according to diverse doctrines they lie, then many are those who arise. For these are Antichrists; and whoever shall arise after them.

But just as of the true word of Christ, and made one, were the holy prophets who from the beginning of the age proclaimed the passions of Christ and afterward the glories that were to be his, so understand for me, according to each single false Christ, his many false prophets.

Therefore they are not teachers of some one falsehood, but false prophets of all of them — of that Antichrist, whose false words they preach as though true, and teach. According to these things, therefore, which we have said, those who teach the word in the manner of the Church are prophets of Christ; but those who preach the false word of Marcion or of any of them are prophets of that Antichrist which is according to Marcion, that is, of that falsehood which Marcion introduced; and others are false prophets of that falsehood which is according to Basilides, and others of that which is according to Apelles. Likewise you will say also concerning the preachers of the several heresies. For all the persuasive things that are brought forward for the defense of the word of Antichrist are the signs of that Antichrist and wonders: whatever things are suggested by the serpent, wisest "of all the beasts of the earth", and by the prince of the Assyrians of great cunning, are great signs and wonders, so that even the elect, if it be possible, may be led into error. But it is a word of exaggeration when he says if it be possible; for he did not declare nor say, so that even the elect may be sent into error, but he wishes to show that very frequently the words of heretics are persuasive and able to move even those who hear wisely. But since the Savior has foretold us all things, let us neither go out into the wilderness nor believe those who profess Christ in the houses.

But to these things which we have said let us still add that every word professing itself to be the truth, when it is not the truth, whether among the Gentiles or among the barbarians, is in some way Antichrist, wishing to seduce as though it were the truth and to separate us from him who said: "I am the truth". Therefore we ought not to give heed to those who say: behold, here is Christ, but do not show him in the Church, which is full of lightning from the east as far as the west, which is full of the true light, which is "the pillar and ground of the truth", in which wholly and entirely is the coming of the Son of man, saying to all who are everywhere: "behold, I am with you all the days of your life until the consummation of the age".

And wherever there shall be, according to the dispensation of his passion, the corpse of Jesus, who fell for this reason, that he might raise up those who had fallen, thither shall be gathered together not any kind of birds, but eagles, the disciples; concerning whom the prophet also said: "they shall take wing like eagles, and they shall run and not grow weary, and they shall go and not hunger", and Solomon in the Proverbs likens to it him who "is rich in God", saying: "wings are prepared for him like an eagle's, and he shall return into the house of his overseer". And see that he did not say: wherever the corpse shall be, there shall be gathered together vultures or ravens; but wishing to show that all who have believed in the passion of the Lord are magnificent and royal.

He aptly said: where the corpse shall be, there shall be gathered together also the eagles.

The genus of Antichrist is one, the species many, just as all lies are of one sort. As all the holy Prophets were Prophets of the true Christ, so understand that each false Christ shall have his own false Prophets, who shall preach as true the false teachings of some Antichrist. When then one shall say, Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there, we need not look abroad out of the Scriptures, for out of the Law, the Prophets, and the Apostles, they bring the things which seem to favour their lie. Or by this, Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there, they show that it was not Christ, but some impostor under the same title, such for example as Marcion, or Valentinus, or Basilides taught.

Since the disciples had brought two questions to Him, one concerning the captivity of Jerusalem, and the other, the Lord's second coming, having already spoken of the captivity of Jerusalem, here He begins to speak of His own coming, and of the end of the world. When He says, "Then if any man shall say unto you," "then" does not mean immediately after the capture of Jerusalem, but rather at that time when this shall occur. So it means, "Then," that is, when the Antichrist is about to come, there will be many false christs and false prophets who, by means of the apparitions of demons who, in order to deceive, will play tricks with the eyes of those who see the apparitions. So that if the righteous were not sober minded, even they would be deceived. But, behold, I have foretold these things to you; you have no excuse, for it is within your power not to be deceived.

After the Lord answered the disciples' question about the destruction of the city, here he begins to answer those things that pertain to the second coming. Now this coming is the coming for judgment; therefore it is divided, because first he sets forth the signs and manner of his coming; secondly, he treats of the judgment, below at 25:1, the kingdom of heaven shall be like ten virgins. Regarding the first he does two things. First, he sets forth the signs preceding the coming of Christ; secondly, he treats of the coming itself, at and they shall see the Son of man etc. Regarding the first there are two parts, because two things will precede: first, on the part of men and the elect; secondly, on the part of the elements, at and immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened etc. Regarding the first he does two things. First, he sets forth a certain warning; secondly, the reason for this warning, at for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets. He says therefore, then if any man shall say to you: lo, here is Christ etc. It should be noted that the word then does not indicate a determinate time, but a vague time, because this did not happen immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem, but is expected to happen in the end. Something similar is found above in chapter 2, where it says that the Lord dwelt in Nazareth, whence he is called a Nazarene, and there follows: then came John the Baptist preaching in the desert of Judea; not that he came at that time, because there were perhaps twenty years between the two events; hence it is taken as a vague time. So also here. For it will happen that many deceivers will come, and will say that the Antichrist is God. Then if any man shall say to you: lo, here is Christ, or there, do not believe him. 2 Thessalonians 2:2: Be not terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.

(Lib. 83 Quæst. q. 79.) Here the Lord forewarns us that even wicked men shall do some miracles which the saints cannot do, yet are they not therefore to be thought to have a higher place in the sight of God. For the Egyptian magi were not more acceptable to God than the people of Israel, because they could do what the Israelites could not; yet did Moses, by the power of God, work greater things. This gift is not bestowed on all the saints, lest the weak should be led astray by a most destructive error, supposing such powers to be higher gifts than those works of righteousness by which eternal life is secured. And though magi do the same miracles that the saints do, yet are they done with a different end, and through a different authority; for the one do them seeking the glory of God, the others seeking their own glory; these do them by some special compact or privilege granted to the Powers, within their sphere, those by the public dispensation and the command of Him to whom all creation is subject. For it is one thing for the owner of a horse to be compelled to give it up to a soldier, another for him to hand it over to a purchaser, or to give or lend it to a friend; and as those evil soldiers, who are condemned by the imperial discipline, employ the imperial ensigns to terrify the owners of any property, and to extort from them what is not required by the public service; so some evil Christians, by means of the name of Christ, or by words or sacraments Christian, compel somewhat from the Powers; yet these, when thus at the bidding of evil men, they depart from their purpose, they depart in order to deceive men in whose wanderings they rejoice. It is one way then in which magi, another in which good Christians, another in which bad Christians, work miracles; the magi by a private compact, good Christians by the public righteousness, evil Christians by the signs of public righteousness. And we ought not to wonder at this when we believe not unreasonably that all that we see happen is wrought by the agency of the inferior powers of this air.

(de Trin. iii. 8.) Yet are we not therefore to think that this visible material world attends the nod of the disobedient angels, but rather the power is given them of God. Nor are we to suppose that such evil angels have creative power, but by their spirituality they know the seeds of things which are hidden from us, and these they secretly scatter by suitable adaptations of the elements, and so they give occasion both to the whole being, and the more rapid increase of substances. For so there are many men who know what sort of creatures use to be generated out of certain herbs, meats, juices and humours, bruised and mingled together in a certain fashion; save only that it is harder for men to do these things, inasmuch as they lack that subtlety of sense, and penetrativeness of body in their limbs dull and of earthly mould.

The fifth time, at the end, is that of the restoration of ruins, for "Elias indeed is to come and to restore all things," and with him Henoch will come too. For "the beast will conquer them." And so, it is necessary that they fail, so that there be first a ruin and then a restoration; and there will be so great a "tribulation as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect."

We are warned by the Lord so that if anyone were to come to us falsely in his name, none of us would believe in such a person, having already been prepared. Henceforth how great will be the signs by which the faith of the elect is demonstrated! But whoever builds his house on the rock, that is, establishes his faith on Christ, cannot be destroyed by winds or rains. The rock represents Christ, the floods are the kings, and the winds are the kings' orders to persecute the servants of God.The holy reading continues: "False Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so that even the elect would be led into error, if possible. Behold, I have told you." You see then, beloved, what great love the Lord displays toward us. He carefully instructs each one of us individually regarding the future so that even if we see all these signs come to pass (having been forewarned by him) we will be wise to the enemy and accept nothing contrary to Christ and the catholic faith. In the Acts of the Apostles, Simon declared himself to be the power of God. Likewise, in the last days, the antichrist will declare himself to be God, as the apostle says, "Thus he will sit in the temple of God, calling himself God … whom the Lord Jesus Christ will kill with the breath of his mouth." The day of judgment will come upon the antichrist also, and the Lord will kill him with the sword of his mouth.

(Mor. xv. 61.) When then Antichrist shall have wrought wonderful prodigies before the eyes of the carnal, he shall draw men after him, all such as delight in present goods, surrendering themselves irrevocably to his sway, Insomuch that if it were possible the very elect should be led astray.

(Hom. in Ev. xxxv. i.) Or, because the heart of the elect is assailed with fearful thoughts, yet their faithfulness is not shaken, the Lord comprehends both under the same sentence, for to waver in thought is to err. He adds, If it were possible, because it is not possible that the elect should be taken in error

(Verse 24) For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand. There are three ways, as I have already said, in which this may be interpreted: either concerning the time of the siege of Rome, or concerning the end of the world, or concerning the struggle of heretics against the Church and similar antichrists, who under the guise of false knowledge fight against Christ.

Or otherwise; This may be understood of the false prophets. At the time of the Jewish captivity, there were many leaders who declared themselves to be Christs, (Joseph B.J. v. 1) so that while the Romans were actually besieging them, there were three factions within. But it is better taken as we expounded it above, of the end of the world. Thirdly, it may be understood of the warfare of the heretics against the Church, and of those Antichrists, who under pretext of false science, fight against Christ.

But mark how here He saith nothing of war (for He is interpreting the doctrine concerning His advent), but of them that attempt to deceive. For some in the days of the apostles deceived the multitude, "for they shall come," saith He, "and shall deceive many;" and others shall do so before His second coming, who shall also be more grievous than the former. "For they shall show," He saith, "signs and wonders, so as to deceive if possible the very elect:" here He is speaking of Antichrist, and indicates that some also shall minister to him. Of him Paul too speaks on this wise. Having called him "man of sin," and "son of perdition," He added, "Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders; and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."

That, If it were possible, is spoken hyperbolically; not that the elect can be led astray, but He wishes to show that the discourse of heretics is often so persuasive, as to have force to prevail even with those who act wisely.

He says not this because it is possible for the divine election to be defeated, but because they, who to men's judgment seemed elect, shall be led into error.

We know that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" -much more into a man of light-and that at last he will "show himself to be even God," and will exhibit "great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, he shall deceive the very elect." He hardly hesitated on the before-mentioned occasion to affirm himself to be a prophet of God, and especially to Saul, in whom he was then actually dwelling.

He Himself afterwards deprived it of its authority, because when He declared that many would come and "show great signs and wonders," so as to turn aside the very elect, and yet for all that were not to be received, He showed how rash was belief in signs and wonders, which were so very easy of accomplishment by even false christs.

Then when he says, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, he assigns the reason for the warning. And first he sets forth the reason from necessity; secondly, from the falsity of their teaching, at for as lightning comes out of the east etc. Regarding the first he does three things. First, he introduces the deceivers; secondly, the vehemence of the deception; thirdly, the warning. He says therefore: you say that some will claim to be Christ; but will there be others? Yes, for there shall arise false Christs, i.e., those who will say they are christs, and this happened before the destruction of Jerusalem; 1 John 2:18: But you have heard that Antichrist comes, and many antichrists have arisen. And false prophets. For just as Christ had true prophets, who foretold him, so the Antichrist will have false ones; and this is what is said in 1 John 4:1: Many false prophets have gone out into the world. But will they perform miracles and wonders? Hence, they shall show great signs and wonders; 2 Thessalonians 2:9: Whose coming is according to the working of Satan; Apocalypse 16:13: 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 like frogs. But here there is a question: can demons work miracles? It must be said that they cannot, if miracle is taken in the proper sense, because a miracle properly speaking is not something done outside the order of some particular cause, but something done outside the order of all creation, and this is done by the power of God alone. But it is indeed possible that a higher creature is not contained within the order of a lower creature; hence something is done by the power of higher beings that is not done by the power of the elements. So among men, someone produces by art something that seems marvelous to others. So it is with demons, because they are of a more subtle intelligence; therefore, just as certain artisans do things that seem marvelous to others, so also demons do certain things naturally that seem marvelous to us. But how will this happen? It was the opinion of Avicenna that corporeal nature obeys the mere will of an intelligence, so that a body is changed at the apprehension of an intelligence. But Augustine sets this aside, because corporeal nature does not obey the mere will of any creature, but of God alone. Therefore it must be said that in natural things there are powers determined to produce certain things, such as frogs and the like; demons know these powers better than anyone else. And Augustine proves this, because the fire that descended upon the sheep of Job was natural. For a demon can excite and gather bodies so as to produce such miracles. But those miracles that do not proceed from the power of any natural thing, these they cannot do, namely, to raise the dead. Hence they do not perform such things except in illusions, as Simon Magus made a head move. Hence those things that are not done by the power of nature, they cannot do; thus they shall show great signs, i.e., signs that men consider great. But what will be the effect? So as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. And Origen says that this statement is made by way of exaggeration, because any man in this life, considered in himself, can be deceived; yet, considered in relation to God's election, that the elect should be deceived is impossible. Therefore, speaking in an aggravated way, he says that so great will be the force that unless they were preserved by divine predestination, they would be deceived. Or it can be said that they are not truly elect, but elect according to appearance; 1 Timothy 1:19: Which some rejecting have made shipwreck concerning the faith; Isaiah 19:14: The Lord has mingled a spirit of giddiness in the midst thereof, and they have caused Egypt to err.

And as darts, when foreseen, are less likely to hit, He adds, Lo, I have told you. Our Lord announces the woes which are to precede the destruction of the world, that when they come they may alarm the less from having been foreknown.

(Verses 25, 26.) So if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. If someone promises you that Christ is staying in the wilderness of the Gentiles and philosophers' doctrine, or in the inner rooms of heretics who promise the secrets of God, do not go out, do not believe it; or (because during times of persecution and distress false prophets always find a place for deception) if someone wants to boast under the name of Christ, do not immediately give them your trust.

If then any one assert to you that Christ tarries in the desert of the Gentiles, or in the teaching of the Philosophers, or in the secret chambers of the heretics, who promise the hidden things of God, believe Him not, but believe that the Catholic Faith shines from east to west in the Churches.

Or by this, in the desert, or in the secret chambers, He means that in times of persecution and distress, the false Prophets always find place for deceiving.

Behold I have told it to you beforehand, because, according to Gregory, darts that are foreseen wound less; Amos 3:7: The Lord God will do nothing without revealing his secret.

(Quæst. Ev. i. 38.) By the east and west, He signifies the whole world, throughout which the Church should be. In the same way as He said below, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, (Mat. 26:64.) so now He likens His coming to lightning, which uses to flash out of the clouds. When then the authority of the Church is set up clear and manifest throughout the whole world, He suitably warns His disciples that they should not believe schismatics and heretics. Each schism and heresy holds its own place, either occupying some important position in the earth, or ensnaring men's curiosity in obscure and remote conventicles. Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there, refers to some district or province of the earth; the secret chambers, or the desert, signify the obscure and lurking conventicles of heretics.

The false prophets, of whom He had spoken above, shall say of Christ one while, Lo, He is in the desert, in order that they may cause men to wander astray; another while, Lo, He is in the secret chambers, that they may enthral men under the dominion of Antichrist. But the Lord declares Himself to be neither lurking in a remote corner, nor shut up to be visited singly, but that He shall be exhibited to the view of all, and in every place, As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

And see how He secures them; "Go not forth into the deserts, enter not into the secret chambers." He did not say, "Go, and do not believe;" but, "Go not forth, neither depart thither." For great then will be the deceiving, because that even deceiving miracles are wrought.

Or, when they allege secret and before unpublished Scriptures, in proof of their lie, they seem to say, Lo, the word of truth is in the desert. But when they produce canonical Scripture in which all Christians agree, they seem to say, Lo, the word of truth is in the chambers. Or wishing to point out such discourses as are altogether without Scripture, He said, If they shall say to you, Lo, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. Truth is like the lightning that cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west. Or this may mean, that truth can be supported out of every passage of Scripture. The lightning of truth comes out of the east, that is, from the first beginnings of Christ, and shines throughout even to His passion, which is His setting; or from the very beginning of creation, to the last Scripture of the Apostles. Or, the east is the Law, the west is the end of the Law, and of John's prophecy. The Church alone neither takes away word or meaning from this lightning, nor adds aught to its prophecy. Or He means that we should give no heed to those who say, Lo, here is Christ, but show Him not in the Church, in which alone is the coming or the Son of Man, who said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. (Mat. 28:20.)

If the deceivers should come and say, "Christ has come, but He is hiding in the desert, or in a house within its inner chambers," do not be deceived.

Hence, if they shall say to you: behold, he is in the desert, go not out. Having set forth the necessity in general, he now sets it forth more specifically: if they shall say to you, behold, he is in the desert etc. It should be noted that true teaching is done in public; above 10:27: That which I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; but false teaching always seeks corners; Proverbs 1:20: Wisdom cries aloud in the streets. Hence truth is light, and seeks to be seen in the light; but if it is a perverse doctrine, it seeks hidden places. Proverbs 9:14: Wisdom sits in the doorways, and there follows, stolen waters are sweeter. Hence the desert is a hidden place, because it lacks people, or because it is enclosed; therefore, if they shall say to you, behold, he is in the desert, go not out. And what does he mean? These unfaithful men and heretics, while they are in the society or congregation of the faithful, cannot deceive; but they strive to have people separated from the society, and then they deceive. And this is what he means: if they shall say to you, behold, he is in the desert, go not out. Do not allow yourselves to be separated from good society and congregation. Likewise, if in the inner chambers, because they always seek a secret place, nor do they dare to speak their teaching in public; hence John 18:20: I have spoken openly to the world. Do not believe it, for he who is quick to believe is light of heart, Sirach 19:4. According to Jerome this can be referred to the time before the destruction; but it is better to refer it to the end. Likewise, it can be understood of deception practiced in the Church. False christs give a document of falsehood, and it is called one document, because all are united in one thing; and every falsehood has its own prophets. Hence they say: here is Christ, or there; Ezekiel 13:6: They persevered in confirming their word; and sometimes they try to confirm it by apocryphal scriptures, sometimes by hidden senses of Scripture. When by apocryphal writings, they say he is in the desert; when by hidden senses, they say he is in the inner chambers. Or according to Augustine, true teaching has two characteristics: it is the same in every place and is to be proclaimed publicly, and heresy falls short of both; hence one says here is Christ, i.e., in this land and not in another. Likewise, because their teaching is not public, they say he is in the inner chambers; hence, do not believe it.

(Verse 27.) For as the lightning comes from the east and shines even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Do not go out, do not believe that the Son of man is in the deserts of the nations or in the inner chambers of heretics; but rather that from the east even unto the west, his faith may shine forth in the Catholic Churches. It must also be said that the second coming of the Savior will not be in humility as before, but in glory to be shown. It is foolish, therefore, to seek him in a small or hidden place, who is the light of the whole world.

Wherein He shows that His second coming shall be not in lowliness as His first, but in glory; and therefore it is folly to seek in places little and obscure for Him who is the Light of the whole world. (John 8:12.)

Having told them how Antichrist cometh, as, for instance, that it will be in a place; He saith how Himself also cometh. How then doth He Himself come? "As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there also will the eagles be gathered together."

How then shineth the lightning? It needs not one to talk of it, it needs not a herald, but even to them that sit in houses, and to them in chambers it shows itself in an instant of time throughout the whole world. So shall that coming be, showing itself at once everywhere by reason of the shining forth of His glory. But He mentions also another sign, "where the carcase is, there also shall the eagles be;" meaning the multitude of the angels, of the martyrs, of all the saints.

For it is much the same with lightning. Lightning is figuratively compared with truth. It is likened to the coming of the Son of man, which is explained in every Scripture, whether it concerns the law, prophecy, the gospel or apostolic testimony. It flashes out from the east, the region of principalities and spiritual powers, and shines all the way to the west, the realm of darkness and Satan, in the time of the Passion. Note that if the law is rising in the east, the end of the law is setting in the west. But from Jesus Christ to Paul is a rising and setting. He was revealed to Paul last of all as "to one abnormally born."

For the coming of Christ needs no one to point it out, but it will be utterly clear to all, like the lightning. For just as the lightning is sudden and seen by all, so too will the Lord's coming be visible to everyone on earth. It will not be as in the first coming when He went about from place to place, but at the second coming He will appear in a twinkling of an eye.

For as lightning comes out of the east etc. Here he assigns another reason, because they speak falsely who say that Christ will come in secret; rather, he will come manifestly. And he gives two reasons. One from the manifestation of Christ, another from the gathering of the saints. He says, do not believe that he will not come manifestly: for as lightning comes out of the east, and appears even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be; Psalm 49:3: God shall come manifestly. But will he come like lightning, which is seen here one moment and then toward the east the next? Therefore do not understand it as though he will be manifest only in one direction, but in all directions. If we wish to refer this to its mystical meaning, the lightning is the coming of truth. Do not therefore seek hidden teaching, because truth is manifested throughout the whole world. Or the east signifies the beginning, and the west the end. Hence the truth of teaching always has harmony from beginning to end; for true teaching accepts all of Scripture. Some do not accept the Old Testament, some do not accept the prophets, and thus they could not be confirmed by other Scriptures; but true teaching from the beginning of the Church's birth until the end will have confirmation; hence it is said below at the end (28:20): Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world.

Jesus spoke in a kind of comparison, as in the form of an illustration and example. For, he says, the appearing of the Son of man will be much the same as when eagles and other flesh-eating birds find a carcass and dead body lying on the ground. They secretly and unexpectedly bear them through the heights and by doing so will provide food for themselves. In the same way, he will appear again on the earth a second and glorious time to judge the world. Ranks of angels will be seen serving as an escort with all the saints rising up "in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye," according to the last trumpet.… But some attempted to explain this text as teaching that at the second coming of the Lord all who conducted themselves uprightly, corresponding with eagles in their lofty and spiritual outlook, will leave paradise behind and be gathered to that place where the fall of Adam occurred. This is the place where Adam violated the commandment and through his disobedience fell into sin.

(Mor. xxxi. 53.) We may understand this, Wheresoever the carcase is, as meaning, I who incarnate sit on the throne of heaven, as soon as I shall have loosed the souls of the elect from the flesh, will exalt them to heavenly places.

That we might not be ignorant of the place in which He should come, He adds this, Wheresoever the carcase, &c. He calls the Saints eagles, from the spiritual flight of their bodies, and shows that their gathering shall be to the place of His passion, the Angels guiding them thither; and rightly should we look for His coming in glory there, where He wrought for us eternal glory by the suffering of His bodily humiliation.

(Verse 28.) Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. From the natural example that we see every day, we are instructed by the sacrament of Christ. Eagles and vultures are also said to sense corpses even across the seas, and to gather for such food. Therefore, if irrational birds with their natural sense can feel a small corpse wherever it lies, separated by such vast distances of land and the waves of the sea: how much more should we and the whole multitude of believers hasten to him, whose lightning comes from the East and appears even to the West! But we can understand the body, that is, the corpse, which is more significantly called cadaver in Latin, as a representation of the passion of Christ, in which we are called to participate. So whenever it is read in the Scriptures, let us gather and through it, come to the Word of God, as it is written: They have pierced my hands and feet (Ps. 22:17). And in Isaiah: Like a sheep being led to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7). And similar things can be found in other passages. But the holy ones are called eagles, to whom youth is renewed like the eagles; and they who grow feathers like Isaiah, and assume wings, so as to come to Christ's passion.

By an instance from nature, which we daily see, we are instructed in a sacrament of Christ. Eagles and vultures are said to scent dead bodies even beyond sea, and to flock to feed upon them. If then birds, not having the gift of reason, by instinct alone find out where lays a dead body, separated by so great space of country, how much more ought the whole multitude of believers to hasten to Christ, whose lightning goeth forth out of the east, and shines even to the west? We may understand by the carcase here, or corpse, which in the Latin is more expressively 'cadaver,' an allusion to the passion of Christ's death.

They are called eagles whose youth is renewed as the eagle's, and who take to themselves wings that they may come to Christ's passion. (Ps. 103:5. Is. 40:31.)

We are invited to flock to Christ's passion wheresoever in Scripture it is read of, that through it we may be able to come to God's word.

And observe, He says not vultures or crows, but eagles, showing the lordliness and royalty of all who have believed in the Lord's passion.

And as the eagles, that is, the vultures, swiftly converge on a corpse, so too all the saints, who soar in the heights, will come where Christ will be and they will be snatched up into the clouds as the eagles. Certainly the corpse is Christ Who died for us and lay as a corpse. As St. Symeon also says, "Behold, this child is laid out for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel" (Lk. 2:34).

Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. For someone might say: they say here is Christ, or there; how shall we know when he comes? But he shows that there will be no need to search, because his coming will be manifest, since others also will be gathered together. And it will be like what happened when someone asked his lord, who was keeping his counsel very secret about moving camp, and said: when will you move camp? And the lord said: will you not hear the trumpet? Why do you ask? So it is said here: you say that he will be here or there; I know that where the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Note that in the Hebrew there is the word anathe, which means cadaver; hence he wished to signify the passion of Christ, because Christ will come showing the signs of his passion. And he speaks by way of similitude, where the body is etc. 1 Thessalonians 4:16: We shall be taken up in the clouds to meet Christ. But some are eagles, some are vultures and crows. But he does not say vultures or crows, but eagles, by which the saints are signified. Isaiah 40:31: They shall take wings as eagles, they shall fly and not grow weary. Thus, as Jerome says, wherever the memorial of Christ's passion is celebrated, holy men ought to gather together through the continual remembrance of his passion. Hebrews 10:32: Remember the former days, in which, being illuminated, you endured a great conflict of sufferings.

(Ep. 199, 39.) Or, the Church is the sun, moon, and stars, to which it is said, Fair as the moon, bright as the sun. Then shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light (Song of Solomon 6:10.), because in that ungoverned fury of wicked persecutors, the Church shall not be seen. Then shall the stars fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken, because many, who seemed to be shining in God's grace, shall give way to their persecutors, and shall fall, and even the stoutest believers shall be shaken. And these things shall be after the tribulation of those days, not because they shall happen when the whole persecution is overpast, but because the tribulation shall be first, that the falling away may come after. And because it shall be so throughout all those days, it shall be after the tribulation of those days, yet on those very days.

The sun signifies spiritual combat. In this regard, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light." When the fight will be between Christ and Antichrist, between the teaching of truth and that of falsity, then "the sun" will become "black as sackcloth of hair," and a certain teacher of truth or superior in truth shall be obscured by errors, while others will stand firm, although they may seem to be darkened in their reputation.

as the Lord also in the Gospels speaks thus concerning the consummation: For the powers of heaven shall be shaken, thus calling the angels the powers of heavens, and by the expression they shall be shaken, He means they shall be set free from their former office. As the angels, therefore, who move the stars themselves and other things, are certainly set free from this office and ministry, He declares that the stars fall to the earth.

How will they not shudder with fear? For heaven and earth are transformed for the sake of God's own discretion (to speak something accurately about such things requires more than one word). The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will fall like flowers. Their very nature is again changed by the One who created them, just as he wills, and the heavenly bodies will be thrown into disorder. For as humanity is renewed the whole creation, which had been created for the sake of humanity, is recapitulated and restored.

(non occ.) As soon as the Lord has fortified the believers against the arts of Antichrist and his ministers, by showing that His coming would be public, He proceeds to show the order and method of His coming.

Our Lord and Redeemer, most beloved brethren, desiring to find us prepared, announces what evils will follow upon the aging world, so that He might restrain us from love of it. He makes known what great calamities will precede its approaching end, so that if we are unwilling to fear God in times of peace, we may at least fear His judgment drawing near, worn down by these afflictions.

Of all these things, we certainly see some already accomplished, and we dread others as soon to come. For we see nation rising against nation and their pressure bearing down upon the lands more in our own times than we read of in books. How often we have heard from other parts of the world that earthquakes have destroyed countless cities, you well know. We suffer pestilences without ceasing. Signs in the sun, and moon, and stars we do not yet see openly, but that these too are not far off we gather from the very changes in the atmosphere. Indeed, before Italy was handed over to be struck by the barbarian sword, we saw fiery battle lines in the sky, flashing with that very blood of the human race which was afterward shed. But since many things foretold have already been fulfilled, there is no doubt that the few which remain will also follow, for the fulfillment of past events is the certainty of things to come.

We say these things, dearly beloved brethren, so that your minds may be awakened to the pursuit of caution, lest they grow sluggish through security, lest they become feeble through ignorance, but that fear may always stir them and solicitude strengthen them in good work. For what does the Lord call the powers of heaven except angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, which at the coming of the strict Judge will then visibly appear to our eyes, so that they may then strictly demand from us what the invisible Creator now patiently bears with us?

The darkening of the sun, the failing of the moon, and the fall of the stars, indicate the glories of His coming.

"But after the persecution of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give its splendor and the stars shall burn out and fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then they shall see the Son of Man coming with power and great glory." [Matthew 24:29-30]

For if the devil receives for a little while authority to trouble the earth, as it is written, "God has given to him the authority to test those who dwell upon the earth," [Revelation 13:2, 12] how much more rather that the Son of God, when he takes all authority of heavenly and earthly and subterranean things, shall trouble all the earth and the elements in it, arriving to avenge the saints with angelic power and patriarchal glory, when he comes to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled by all who pray to him and to repay those who persecuted us with persecution, but to repay us who were persecuted with rest.

(Verse 29.) But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. The sun and the moon will be darkened and will not give their light; and the other stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, not by a diminishing of light (otherwise we read that the sun will have sevenfold light (Ibid. XXX)), but because all things will be dark to the sight compared to true light. Therefore, if that sun, which now shines throughout the whole world, and the moon, which is the next luminary, and the stars, which are kindled for the solace of the night, and all the powers (which we understand to be the multitudes of angels) shall be regarded as darkness in the coming of Christ, let the pride of those who, thinking themselves saints, do not fear the presence of judgment, be cast down.

We are invited to flock to Christ's passion wheresoever in Scripture it is read of, that through it we may be able to come to God's word.

These things, therefore, shall not come to pass by any diminution of light, for in another place we read that the light of the sun shall be sevenfold; but by comparison with real light, all things shall seem dim.

By the powers of heaven, we understand the bands of the Angels.

Rightly does He say, the tribes of the earth, for they shall mourn who have no citizenship in heaven, but are written in earth. (Jer. 17:13.)

Then He tells of fearful prodigies. What are these prodigies? "Immediately after the tribulation of those days," saith He, "the sun shall be darkened." Of the tribulation of what days doth He speak? Of those of Antichrist and of the false prophets? For there shall be great tribulation, there being so many deceivers. But it is not protracted to a length of time. For if the Jewish war was shortened for the elect's sake, much more shall this temptation be limited for these same's sake. Therefore, He said not, "after the tribulation," but Immediately "after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened," for almost at the same time all things come to pass. For the false prophets and false Christs shall come and cause confusion, and immediately He Himself will be here. Because no small turmoil is then to prevail over the world.

But how doth He come? The very creation being then transfigured, for "the sun shall be darkened," not destroyed, but overcome by the light of His presence; and the stars shall fall, for what shall be the need of them thenceforth, there being no night? and "the powers of Heaven shall be shaken," and in all likelihood, seeing so great a change come to pass. For if when the stars were made, they trembled and marvelled ("for when the stars were made, all angels," it is said, "praised Me with a loud voice"); much more seeing all things in course of change, and their fellow servants giving account, and the whole world standing by that awful judgment-seat, and those who have lived from Adam unto His coming, having an account demanded of them of all that they did, how shall they but tremble, and be shaken?

"Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven;" that is, the cross being brighter than the sun, since this last will be darkened, and hide himself, and that will appear when it would not appear, unless it were far brighter than the beams of the sun. But wherefore doth the sign appear? In order that the shamelessness of the Jews may be more abundantly silenced. For having the cross as the greatest plea, Christ thus cometh to that judgment-seat, showing not His wounds only, but also the death of reproach. "Then shall the tribes mourn," for there shall be no need of an accusation, when they see the cross; and they shall mourn, that by His death they are nothing benefited; because they crucified Him whom they ought to have adored.

Seest thou how fearfully He has pictured His coming? how He has stirred up the spirits of His disciples? For this reason, let me add, He puts the mournful things first, and then the good things, that in this way also He may comfort and refresh them. And of His passion He suggests to them the remembrance, and of His resurrection, and with a display of glory, He mentions His cross, so that they may not be ashamed nor grieve, whereas indeed He cometh then setting it forth for His sign. And another saith, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." Therefore it is that they shall mourn, when they see that this is He.

And forasmuch as He had made mention of the cross, He added, "They shall see the Son of Man coming," no longer on the cross, but "in the clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory."

For think not, He meaneth, because thou hearest of the cross, that it is again anything mournful, for He shall come with power and great glory. But He bringeth it, that their sin may be self-condemned, as if any one who had been struck by a stone, were to show the stone itself, or his garments stained with blood. And He cometh in a cloud as He was taken up, and the tribes seeing these things mourn. Not however that the terrors shall with them proceed no further than mournings; but the mourning shall be, that they may bring forth their sentence from within, and condemn themselves.

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, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn (24, 29—30ᵃ). Since we consider that greater themes here come under discussion than lie within the grasp of human understanding — even of those who have advanced in wisdom far beyond others — let us come and examine the passage: first inquiring into those things which can readily be admitted for an exposition of the Gospel text, as though the Lord Himself were prophesying in it; and afterward we shall look for what the truth of these words may be according to those who judge that there is something deeper and more subtle in the words, keeping to the sequence of the moral traditions in these matters as well, in the same manner as above.

Someone, then, will say: just as when great fires begin to be kindled a darkness seems to be raised up out of the abundant smoke, so at the consummation of the world, by the fire which is to be set alight, even the "great lights" shall be darkened, so that, the sun being darkened, and in consequence of the darkening of the sun, the moon too, hindered by the sun from receiving light, is not permitted even to give its own light. And thus of necessity a great darkness must first take hold of the nature of the world. And so, when the light of the stars has thus withered away, the remaining body of them, having become grosser, since it cannot be borne aloft as at first when it was lifted up carried by the light itself, will fall from heaven. And when these things happen, it follows that the rational powers of the heavens, suffering amazement, undergo a certain commotion and are troubled, being, that is, removed from their former functions. So he who understands these things to be thus will add that the sign of the Son of man, in whom "the things that were in the heavens and the things that were on earth" were made heavenly, shall then appear: namely, the power which the Son of man wrought when He was hung upon the tree; and in heaven above all shall His sign shine forth. And men out of all the tribes, who formerly did not believe in the Christianity that was proclaimed but even spoke evil of it, then, recognizing it through that sign made manifest, shall mourn and lament because of their ignorance and their sins, in that they did not receive the word of the Lord.

But another will judge otherwise concerning these words, holding that (as these words themselves show) the destruction of the world will not come about by fire, but by its own failing. And he will make use of such an illustration: that just as, when the light of a lamp fails, the light is little by little diminished, so, when the nourishment of the heavenly lights fails, the sun shall be darkened, no longer having the breaths that come to it from them coming upon it. And when the greater light suffers this, all the more will the moon too be unable to display that fiery splendor which appears according to its own phases. When, therefore, these things befall the sun, the light of the stars too will fail, so that what has remained in them, being as it were earthy, falls from heaven, and, these things happening, all the powers of the heavens shall be moved. For just as, in the dispensation of the cross, "when the sun failed, darkness came over all the earth", so also, when the sign of the Son of man appears in heaven, the light of the sun and of the moon shall fail, and yet more that of the stars, as though consumed by the great power of that sign; and when it appears, the tribes that shall then have remained on the earth shall mourn.

For these things he will use the illustration of the prophet Isaiah, who speaks in this manner: "For behold, the incurable day of the Lord comes, of wrath and fury, to make the circle of the earth a desert and to destroy sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and Orion and all the ornaments of heaven shall not give their light, and the sun shall be darkened in the east, and the moon shall not give her brightness. And I will command evils upon the circle of the earth, and their sins upon the ungodly." Likewise also such things from Joel: "Before His face the earth shall be confounded and the heaven shall be moved, the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall not give their light. And the Lord shall utter His voice before the face of His power, for exceeding strong is His camp, since mighty are the works of His words." Likewise: "And I will give portents in the heaven above, and on the earth blood and fire and vapor; the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and illustrious day of the Lord comes."

And many things like these you will find in the Scriptures, if you are willing to look at nothing else in the Gospel passages beyond the plain words. For according to this too, that it says, then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, as though needing no interpretation, you will receive from the prophet Zechariah such words as these: "And it shall be in that day that I will seek to take away all the nations that shall come against Jerusalem, and I will pour out upon the house of David and upon all the inhabitants in Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of compassion; and they shall look upon me because they danced, and they shall mourn over themselves with a mourning as over a beloved one, and they shall grieve with grief as over a firstborn. In that day the mourning shall be magnified over Jerusalem like the mourning of a pomegranate cut down in the plain, and the land shall mourn by tribes: the tribe of the house of David apart and their women apart, the tribe of the house of Nathan apart and their women apart, the tribe of the house of Levi apart and their women apart, the tribe of the house of Shimei apart and their women apart, all the tribes that are left remaining apart and their women apart." It will seem, then, to some that one ought to carry the interpretation this far and to examine nothing beyond the text.

But since one who speaks about the divine Scriptures ought to take care not only for the simple — lest, on their account, he neglect those who are able more abundantly to sustain the nature of subtle words — that perhaps such traditions be not false, and nothing of the sort as ought to be that which must be said by God concerning matters of this kind: therefore, for the sake of such men also, we shall expound a few things morally, as far as we can. Now men of this kind will say: how can it be said of the sun that its light shall be darkened, when the prophet Isaiah declares that there will be some increase of the sun at the consummation, but this present passage [declares] a taking-away? Similarly too concerning the moon, Isaiah indeed reports that it will be like the sun, but the present passage [says] that it shall not give its light. And concerning the stars they will say such things as these. Since from the earth to heaven there is a great space, especially up to the middle zone in which there are no wandering stars, one must therefore reckon, in view of the consideration of its height, that unless the stars were great beyond measure, their light would not be seen from so great a space by all who are in every part of the lands. And as some try to say — that either all or most of them are greater than the earth itself (using this as an argument to commend the reasoning of their words, namely that the whole heaven, gathered into the shape of a sphere, encompasses the entire earth) — they will also say something of this sort: that those who gather the truth of these sayings simply from the text itself declare as possible a thing that is by nature itself impossible, namely that stars of such great magnitude should fall from heaven. For whither will they even fall, when the earth does not suffice for their magnitude, nor can it hold, so to speak, the magnitude of two stars? But suppose it could hold two or three: can it possibly hold so great a multitude as well? Ought one not, therefore, perhaps to understand something else, in a moral sense, in the divine Scriptures? And this is indeed a matter of boldness, yet it is necessary; nevertheless much discussion is needed in these passages by one who wishes to show at once both the possibility of the Scriptures and their truth.

He will say, therefore, that the sun to be darkened is the devil, who "transforms himself into an angel of light" and, as though he were the sun, leads many astray. Since, therefore, he is to be exposed at the consummation — being darkness, though he pretends himself to be the sun — for this reason what he says, the sun shall be darkened, can be understood of him. And he will say that this explanation is more fitting than to suppose that such a sun will suffer darkening. All, he says, may fittingly assent, without any danger, to this approved account concerning such a sun being thus darkened. And in accordance with the analogy of such a sun, the moon also is to be understood, which appears to be illuminated by such a sun. For every "church of evildoers", which frequently promises that it has and gives light, but which then, being exposed and made manifest along with its reprobate teachings, shall not give its brightness.

But also whoever, whether in false doctrines or in false virtues, were promising truth to men yet by their lies were leading astray those who gave heed to them — these may fittingly be called stars falling from heaven, but (so to speak) from their own heaven, where there were established heights exalting themselves "against the knowledge of God". And to commend an account of this kind he will use the example of Proverbs, which says: "the light of the righteous is always unquenchable, but the light of the impious shall be quenched"; and he will add that the true knowledge (which those have kindled for themselves who heard him saying: "kindle for yourselves the light of knowledge") is the light of the righteous, but that false knowledge is the light of the impious, and that the light of the saints is always unquenchable, while the light of those who fall away from the truth is quenched. The light shall be darkened, therefore, of that sun of which we spoke and of that moon which we expounded; but also … all who exalt themselves "against the knowledge of God" shall fall from their height, which they supposed to be heaven; and perhaps in this way too that will fit which is said: "I was beholding Satan falling from heaven like lightning". And when these things befall such a sun and moon and stars, the divine powers of the heavens will not be wholly unmoved, but shall be moved, when that sun has been exposed and darkened, and that moon shall not display its brightness, and such stars have fallen — as Jude also says in his epistle. Then what is bright shall appear in heaven, and to everyone who has borne "the image of the heavenly one". And when these things have thus been done, the tribes of heaven indeed shall rejoice; but the tribes of the earth, which have borne the image of the earth, shall mourn. And further, to commend a tradition of this kind of his own, he who made this interpretation will add, saying that, with the perceptible sun darkened (granting that it be so) and the moon not giving its brightness and the stars falling, it is not even possible for there to be tribes of men upon the earth. But if it is not possible, then certainly neither (according to what the text says) shall the tribes of the earth mourn. Then therefore (as the Lord says in the Gospel) "those who now laugh" shall then mourn, and they will mourn as those who are earthly tribes. In accordance with these things, he who wishes to raise what has been said to a moral exposition will try to interpret also the words of Isaiah and of Joel.

Furthermore, with regard to what has been said concerning the falling stars, it is not without reason to take up something from the Revelation of John, concerning the third part of the stars dragged by the tail of the dragon to the earth. For it says thus: "and another sign was seen in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and upon its heads seven crowns, and its tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth". To expound all these things one by one concerning the seven heads of the dragon — which perhaps can be referred either to certain rulers of the affairs of wickedness, or to the great sins of those who lead "to death" — is not for this present time; but they will be expounded in their own time in the Revelation of John. But it is the time neither to speak of the ten horns (since they are kingdoms of serpentine malice, having the serpent's nature — to move upon breast and belly through sins), nor now to expound what the present narrative is concerning the seven diadems which the dragon appears to have upon its seven heads (namely, that some head of the dragon takes on a diadem for each of those who are conquered).

But the principal expositions and proofs of these things must be made when that book itself has been set before us for exposition; but now this alone must be expounded from that Revelation, namely that the tail of the dragon "drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth". For I reckon that he who ought to hear: "you shall go after the Lord your God" and "come after me", and yet stops his ears to these things but follows sin, is dragged by the tail of the dragon, going after it. But if it should befall one who has so lived as to hear: "you are the light of the world", and whose good works have at some time shone forth — this man, having at some time been established as a star and having his manner of life in heaven, if he be torn away by the dragon to the earth, this man will be a star drawn by the tail of the dragon and cast to the earth. Thus are stars drawn by the tail of the dragon and cast to the earth. But there are others (some part of which is darkened, while — what is indeed the greater part — is luminous), which the passage of the Revelation seems to point out, running thus: "and the fourth angel sounded the trumpet; and the third part of the sun was struck and the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars, so that the third part of them should be darkened". But there are some who have neither wholly kept what was said: "so let your light shine before men", nor been wholly extinguished and darkened, but in part. For some, on account of knowledge, have shone like the splendor of heaven, while others, on account of their manner of life, have become like the stars of heaven. But we may seem to some to have brought these things forward inconsistently with the preceding expositions, and to have expounded them only in part, since there we said that the stars which would fall were those who seemed to have been stars but were not, whereas here [we speak] of those who truly were stars and either fell fully or in part. To these we reply that, in bringing forward these examples which we have adduced, we have demonstrated this: that in every case the stars are to be understood as men, not what kind of stars they are. Otherwise, that passage has its own interpretation and this one its own.

Nevertheless, when these things have thus been done, there shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then the tribes of the earth shall mourn. For these things it is not absurd to use the examples of the prophet Zechariah, which run thus: "and it shall be in that day that I will seek to take away all the nations that come against Jerusalem, and I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of compassion; and they shall look upon me because they danced, and they shall mourn over themselves a mourning as over a beloved one, and they shall grieve with grief as over a firstborn. And in that day the mourning shall be magnified in Jerusalem like the mourning of a pomegranate cut down in the field, and the earth shall mourn by tribes: the tribe of the house of David apart by itself and their women apart by themselves; the tribe of the house of Nathan apart by itself and their women apart by themselves; the tribe of the house of Levi apart by itself and their women apart by themselves; the tribe of the house of Shimei apart by itself and their women apart by themselves; and all the remaining tribes apart by themselves and their women apart by themselves". Therefore every earthly company, since it is a tribe of the earth — which rank they attributed to themselves — will mourn together with those like itself, especially if in some category of sinners it must mourn more abundantly.

But I think that through these things there are shown the differences of those who seem to have been in the faith and in their own company, yet did not please God. There is, therefore, a house of David that mourns — those who, set up from among the people, did deeds worthy of mourning, or [those drawn] from among kings and magnates. But those from among the teachers who lived badly are the tribe of Nathan that mourns, since Nathan was a prophet; and to teach is to prophesy. So those who are sinners from among those who were set over the Church and had the priesthood enjoined upon them and did not administer their office well, are the tribe of the house of Levi that mourns. And to speak the truth, whether concerning those tribes which we have mentioned or concerning the tribe of Shimei, belongs to God alone. But we, for the present, think that all who were catechized and instructed in the divine mystery, and were not ordained in any of the tribes which we mentioned above, and committed grave sins (such as are very many of the laity), are the tribe of Shimei; while the remaining men are those he called the 'remaining' tribes, which he did not name specifically. But it is no trifling task to speak also concerning the women of the individual tribes, who mourn apart by themselves. And see whether you can, in each and every class, call those who were more bodily and more worldly the 'women', but say that those who by comparison with them were better were the 'men'.

One will say, As at the breaking out of great conflagrations, great darkness is at the first caused by the smoke, so when the world shall be consumed by fire, which shall be kindled, even the great luminaries shall be darkened; and when the light of the stars is decayed, the rest of their substance, incapable of exaltation, shall fall from heaven into what it was, when it was first raised aloft by the light. When this shall have taken place, it follows that the rational heavenly powers shall suffer dismay and derangement, and shall be suspended from their functions. Others will think otherwise, that as the light of a lamp dies away by degrees, so when the supply of the heavenly luminaries shall fail, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon and the light of the stars shall grow dim, and that which in their composition is earthy shall fall from heaven. But how can it be said of the sun that its light shall be darkened, when Esaias the Prophet (Is. 30:26.) declares, that in the end of the world, there shall be light proceeding forth from the sun? And of the moon he declares that it shall be as the sun. But concerning the stars, there are some that endeavour to convince us that all, or many of them, are larger than the whole earth. How then shall they fall from heaven, when this earth would not be large enough to contain them?

But as, at the dispensation of the Cross, the sun was eclipsed, and darkness was spread over the earth; so when the sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven, the light of the sun, moon, and stars, shall fail, as though waning before the might of that sign. This we understand to be the sign of the cross, that the Jews may see, as Zacharias and John speak, Him whom they have pierced, (Zech. 12:10. John 19:37.) and the sign of victory.

Morally, one may say that the sun, which shall be darkened, is the Devil, who shall be convicted in the end of the world, that whereas he is darkness, he has feigned himself to be the sun; the moon, which seems to receive its light from this sun, is the Church of the wicked, which professes to have and to give light, but then convicted with its sinful dogmas, shall lose its brightness; and all those who, either by false teaching, or false virtues, promised truth to men, but led them astray by lies, these are fitly called stars falling from, so to say, their own heaven, where they were raised on high, exalting themselves against the knowledge of God. For illustration of this discourse, we may apply that place in Proverbs, which says, The light of the just is unquenchable, but the light of the wicked shall be quenched. (Prov. 4:18) Then the brightness of God shall appear in every one who has borne the image of the heavenly; and they of heaven shall rejoice, but they of earth shall lament.

But nothing hinders our supposing that the sun and moon with the other stars shall for a time lose their light, as we know did the sun at the time of the Lord's passion; as Joel also says, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come. (Joel 2:31.) But when the day of judgment is passed, and the life of future glory shall dawn, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, then shall that come to pass of which Isaiah speaks, The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold. (Is. 30:26.) The stars shall fall from heaven, is expressed in Mark; There shall be stars falling from heaven, (Mark. 13:25.) that is, lacking their proper light.

Besides, the belief that everything was made from nothing will be impressed upon us by that ultimate dispensation of God which will bring back all things to nothing. For "the very heaven shall be rolled together as a scroll; '" nay, it shall come to nothing along with the earth itself, with which it was made in the beginning.

He says: after the coming of the Antichrist who will be swiftly destroyed, (for this is the meaning of "immediately"), "the sun shall be darkened," instead of being blackened; not disappearing, but being overwhelmed by the light of Christ's appearance, and so too will the stars and the moon. For what need is there for sensory light when the Sun of Righteousness has appeared and night is no more? But the powers of the heavens shall also be shaken, that is, the angelic hosts will be astonished and will tremble seeing creation changed, and all mankind from Adam until now about to give an account.

And because these things will not only be manifest through tribulations, therefore he says: and immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened etc. And here he treats of signs taken from other things that are above us. And first he sets forth the signs; secondly, the effects. In those things that are above us he shows a threefold order: the heavenly bodies, the angels, Christ. Ephesians 1:21: He set him above all power and principality etc. Therefore regarding the first he says, and immediately after the tribulation of those days, namely, when the Antichrist will come. Immediately, because not long after, since for many it would be a danger; and this is against those who set forth a fable about a thousand years. The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And what is this? This statement has both a literal and a mystical sense. Insofar as it refers to the last coming, it has a literal sense; insofar as it refers to another coming, a mystical sense. But it seems to be objected that he says the sun shall be darkened, because it is said in Isaiah 30:26: And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold. Hence to see this clearly you must distinguish three times: the time before the coming, the time of the coming, and after the coming. Before the coming of Christ these disturbances will occur, of which it is said here, and Joel 2:31: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. At the coming of Christ they will not be changed in substance, but by comparison, because so great will be the brightness of Christ and the saints that their brightness will not even appear; Isaiah 24:23: The moon shall blush and the sun shall be confounded. But after the day of judgment the brightness of the moon and stars will be increased. And then what is said in Isaiah 30:26 will be true, namely, that the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days. But it seems false that the stars will fall from heaven, because one star is larger than the whole earth. Rabanus solves this by the text of Mark 13:25, that the stars shall be falling, i.e., diminished in light. But from what could this diminution arise? The light of any luminary is diminished from two causes: either in itself, or on account of something interposed, as when a cloud is interposed, or when the moon is eclipsed, its light is diminished. Hence Origen says this can be understood in two ways. First, that what will be interposed is the fire that will precede Christ and consume all things up to the middle of the air, namely, as high as the waters of the flood rose, and much smoke will follow this fire, so that the luminaries of heaven will be darkened. Or it can be said that some held these bodies to be corruptible; and just as the elementary bodies will be changed, so also these. Concerning these three things there is one text, Apocalypse 6:12: The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars from heaven fell. The stars shall fall from heaven. Stars seem to fall from heaven when they are deprived of their light. So therefore there will be a change in the heavenly bodies. Likewise in the angels; hence he says, and the powers of heaven shall be moved, i.e., the powers that minister to God. And Augustine says that all bodies are administered by the spirit of life; hence they are said to be moved in their effect, because at the coming of the Lord the motion of heaven will cease. Hence those powers are said to be moved when those things that pertain to their office are changed into another state. Or the angels will be moved not by a movement of fear but of admiration, because they will admire the power of Christ. Or they will be moved with a movement of joy over the glorification of the saints. Of this can be taken what is said in Job 26:11, that the pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at his movement.

Origen says: by the sun the devil is signified, by the moon the Antichrist. Of these it is said in Job 31:27: If I beheld the sun when it shone, and the moon advancing in brightness, and my heart rejoiced in secret. I beheld, i.e., I approved the sun, i.e., those things that seem to have brightness and holiness and power; then they will appear. 1 Corinthians 4:5: He will bring to light the things hidden in darkness and will make manifest the counsels of hearts. Hence all teaching, all brightness will then appear, because the image of Christ will appear in all. Or by the sun the Church is signified; hence the Church on account of tribulations will seem not to shine. And why does he say after the tribulation? Origen answers: both after and at the same time. Likewise, stars, i.e., those who afterward seemed to shine. The powers of heaven, i.e., the saints, will be moved.

(Ep. 199, 41.) The first and most apparent meaning of this is of that time when He shall come to judge the quick and the dead in His body--that body in which He sits at the right hand of the Father, in which He died and rose again and ascended into heaven. As we read in the Acts of the Apostles; He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight, (Acts 1:9.) upon which it was said by the Angels, He shall so come as ye hare seen Him go into heaven, we may reasonably believe that He will come again, not only in the same body, but also in a cloud.

(ubi sup.) But because the Scriptures are to be searched, and we are not to content ourselves with the surface of them, let us look closely at what follows, When ye see all these things come to pass, know that he is near even at the door. We know then that He is near, when we see come to pass not any of the foregoing things, but all of them, among which is this that the Son of Man shall be seen coming. And he shall send his Angels, who from the four quarters of the world shall gather together His elect. All these things He does at the last hour (1 John 2:18.) coming in His members as in the clouds, or in the whole Church as in one great cloud, as now He ceases not to come. And with great power and glory, because His power and glory will seem greater in the Saints to whom He will give great power, that they may not be overcome of persecution.

And then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.

"And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and majesty." As if it were openly said: They shall see in power and majesty Him whom, placed in humility, they refused to hear, so that they may then feel His power all the more strictly, inasmuch as now they do not bow the neck of their heart to His patience.

The aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees therefore placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple, and cried out to him and said: 'You just one, in whom we ought all to have confidence, forasmuch as the people are led astray after Jesus, the crucified one, declare to us, what is the gate of Jesus.'

And he answered with a loud voice, 'Why do you ask me concerning Jesus, the Son of Man? He himself sits in heaven at the right hand of the great Power, and is about to come upon the clouds of heaven.'

(Verse 30) And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. Let us understand this sign, either as the cross, so that the Jews may see the one they crucified (according to Zechariah (Zech. XII) and John (John XIX)); or as the banner of triumphant victory.

And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Those who did not have citizenship in heaven will mourn, but they are written in the earth.

But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be still following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be which shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the Son of man, so Daniel foretold, and His angels shall come with Him. These are the words: [...he quotes Daniel 7:9-28]

And they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and much glory (24, 30ᵇ).

Since the catholic Church appears to have received, along with other traditions, this too concerning Christ's second coming—that it will be in glory—that much is manifest. But whether, according to what is written in this place, we ought to reckon corporeal and perceptible clouds to be his vehicle, and to expect that great power and glory in accord with clouds of this kind; or whether, following the observation of the more simple word, it is also to be considered morally; or whether we ought not to observe the simplicity of the word at all, but only to pursue the moral understanding—this belongs not to just anyone: to deliberate and diligently to scrutinize the individual passages, and, after one has treated the word according to them, then to pronounce which of them is especially the more true and contains the Gospel sense and the will of Christ, who spoke these things. But come, let us set forth in these places a few things out of our modest power, if indeed we have even that. And first, according to the text, they will see with corporeal eyes the Son of Man in human form coming upon the upper clouds, which clouds are for this reason called clouds of heaven, with power and much glory. And there agree with this exposition the things that are said above in the Gospel in this manner: "when Jesus had taken Peter and John and James, he led them up onto a very high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became like light. And there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him". "And behold (he says) a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear him." Just as, therefore, when "he was transformed, and his face shone like the sun and his garments became like light" and "a voice" came "out of the cloud saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", so, when he comes again, perhaps he will be transformed into a glorious appearance; or just as then he was transformed before his three disciples, afterward he will come not upon one cloud, but upon many, which will be his vehicle. And that it follows that he will be re-formed into a better glory than that into which he was transformed on the mountain, is manifest from this: that then indeed he was transformed on account of three only, but in the consummation of the whole world he will appear in much glory, so that all may see him in glory.

And then indeed, descending, "a bright cloud overshadowed them", but afterward many clouds will carry "the Son of Man coming" with a vehicle worthy of his glory. But someone will say that, just as in the fashioning of man God took "mud from the earth" and "fashioned man", so, in order that the glory of Christ might appear, God took from heaven and from the heavenly body and gave it bodily form, first indeed into a bright cloud, but in the consummation into bright clouds; on account of which the clouds too are called clouds of heaven, according as the mud too was called mud of earth. And it befits the Father to bestow such marvels upon his Son, who "humbled himself", and out of love "did not deem it robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant", and became "the Lamb of God" that he might take away "the sins of the world". For "on this account also God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name". And he exalted him not only according to the spirit, but also according to the body (that he might be exalted through all things), even the body which he took up from the power of the Most High and from the Virgin, she ministering a ministry of this kind. For it was fitting that it too be honored, so that he should come even upon such clouds; perhaps upon animate and rational clouds, so that the vehicle of the glorified Son of Man should not be without soul and irrational, just as without soul was the chariot, and irrational were the horses, in which Elijah was seen to be taken up, according to the Scripture which says: "and behold a chariot of fire and horses of fire".

But that they will be animate and rational clouds, which will be the vehicle of the Son of God, we bring forward for example that which is said: "and your truth reaches even to the clouds", and again: "I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it", but especially from that which is said: "and behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud saying"—not because the Father was the cloud of the Son, but (so to speak) the word of God came to it, just as it came to the prophets. And just as one who hears Isaiah saying: "I have begotten sons and exalted them, but they have spurned me", hears not Isaiah but God the Father in Isaiah, so those who heard the voice out of the cloud saying "this is my Son", heard not the cloud, but the Father testifying in it to the glory of the Son. If therefore, before the dispensation of the passion, such was the prophesying cloud, what ought we to say of the clouds of heaven upon which those who then see him will see the Son of Man coming with power and much glory? And if indeed, so that the Son of God might not tread the ground in Jerusalem, those who loved him "strewed their garments in the way", not willing that even the little donkey which carried him should tread the ground, what wonder if the Father and God of all should strew the heavenly clouds beneath the body of the Son descending to the work of consummation? And first indeed Jesus came with the power and glory with which the Father had glorified him, out of which power "he did signs and wonders among the people" and healed "every infirmity and weakness"; on account of which he also said: "someone touched me; for I know that power went out from me". But all that power, in comparison with that much power with which he is to come at the end, was modest; for it was the power of one emptying himself. But that much power, of which it is written: they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds with power and much glory, will be that of the Word of God, who has been restored to the state which he had "in the beginning with God", before he emptied himself. So too understand his much glory, beginning from the glory of the face of Moses and passing over to Elijah, who were seen in glory when "the appearance of the face" of the Son of God "was made other" and the garment was changed. Understanding also that which is said: "for if that which is done away is through glory, much more that which remains is in glory". You will see that much glory of the Son, of which it is written: with power and much glory.

But you will understand still more of what the text speaks. Taking from the Acts, which reads thus: "and when he had said these things, while they beheld, he was lifted up, and a cloud received him from their eyes. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold two men stood by in white garments, who also said: Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has been received up from you into heaven, will so come in the manner in which you saw him going into heaven".

For if we believe these men, by whom a cloud is said to have received him and borne him up into heaven, how will he not, according to the text, come from heaven, just as his disciples saw him "going into heaven"? And in the Revelation John likewise says: "behold he will come with the clouds, and every eye will see him and whoever pierced him". But let him understand who can, whether it is the very same thing—for him to come upon the clouds of heaven and to come "with the clouds"—or whether the clouds upon which he will come are one thing, and those "with which" he will come another. Consider also, in the vision of Egypt, Isaiah saying: "behold the Lord sits upon a light cloud, and he will come into Egypt", whether he means this Egypt which is commonly understood, or the whole world. For according to John himself, the place "in which their Lord was crucified" "is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt", whether the whole world or Judea is called Sodom and Egypt. But he who upon a light cloud will come into Egypt, will first make his ascent into Judea (for it is according to reason that, when he comes again, it should first happen there). But it is called "Sodom" "where their Lord was crucified", just as also once it was said to that people and their princes: "hear the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom; attend to the law of God, people of Gomorrah".

In these traditions one will use also that which is said: "we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord", and he will say: if blessed men shall be caught up in the clouds into the air, what wonder is it that the Son of God comes in the clouds with power and much glory? Likewise a cloud overshadowed the people coming out of Egypt. If these things are believed, how does it not follow that the heavenly clouds become a vehicle for the Lord of the people, so that he may sit upon them? But if the book is received which says that it is Wisdom which "became" for the people then "a pillar of cloud by day and a flame of fire by night", someone will say that the clouds upon which they will see the Son of Man coming, are "the power of the Most High" and "the Holy Spirit", which will become for him the clouds of heaven, so that he may come conveyed by them. Since therefore this reasoning is stronger and not contemptible, one who wishes indeed to receive what is said according to both modes, will not reject it, even if someone says that the clouds in which the Son of Man will come are intelligible—whether holy and divine powers or the most blessed prophets. And he will say so who confesses morally the second and glorious coming of the Word that is to be for men in the consummation of the age, as we said above is handed down, yet he will not destroy the text either. But he who, disregarding the glorious and admirable text of the passage, and like a "friend of God" thinks that the true consists in the spiritual alone, will say that pardon is to be granted, as to children and "little ones in Christ", to those who receive these things corporeally.

But with much power the second coming of the Word of God comes daily to the soul of every believer, in the prophetic and apostolic clouds, that is, in the Scriptures of the prophets and apostles, which make him manifest and in all their words show the light of the truth and declare him rising upon their divine understandings that are above human nature. And thus to those who understand the doctrines made manifest in the prophets and apostles, we say that there appears also much glory, which is seen in the second coming of the Word.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, that sign by which the heavenly things were made, that is, the power which the Son wrought when He hung upon the cross. And the sign shall appear in heaven, that men of all tribes who before had not believed Christianity when preached, then by that sign, acknowledging it as made plain, shall grieve and mourn for their ignorance and sins.

Therefore shall they see with the bodily eyes the Son of Man, coming in human shape, in the clouds of heaven, that is, on high. As at the transfiguration, a voice came out of the cloud, so when He shall come again transformed into His glorious appearance, it shall be not on one cloud, but upon many, which shall be His chariot. And if when the Son of God went up to Jerusalem, they who loved Him spread their garments in the way, not willing that even the ass that carried Him should tread upon the earth; what wonder, if the Father and God of all should spread the clouds of heaven under the body of the Son, when He comes to the work of the consummation? And one may say, that as in the creation of man, God took clay from the earth and made man; so to manifest the glory of Christ, the Lord taking of the heaven, and of its substance, gave it a body of a bright cloud in the Transfiguration, and of bright clouds at the Consummation; wherefore it is here said, in the clouds of heaven, as it was there said, of the clay of the ground. (Gen. 2:7.) And it behoves the Father to give all such admirable gifts to the Son, because He humbled Himself; and He has also exalted Him, not only spiritually, but bodily, that He should come upon such clouds; and perhaps upon rational clouds, that even the chariot of the glorified Son of Man should not be irrational. At the first, Jesus came with that power with which He wrought signs and wonders in the people; yet was that power little in comparison of that great power with which He shall come in the end; for that was the power of one emptying Himself of power. And also, it is fitting that He should be transformed into greater glory than at the transfiguration on the mount; for then He was transfigured for the sake of three only, but in the consummation of the whole world, He shall appear in great glory, that all may see Him in glory.

Or He comes every day with great power to the mind of the believer in the clouds of prophecy, that is, in the Scriptures of the Prophets and the Apostles, who utter the word of God with a meaning above human nature. Also we say that to those who understand He comes with great glory, and that this is the more seen in the second coming of the Word which is to the perfect. And so it may be, that all which the three Evangelists have said concerning Christ's coming, if carefully compared together and thoroughly examined, would be found to apply to His continual daily coming in His body, which is the Church, of which coming He said in another place, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven, (Mat. 26:6.) excepting those places in which He promises that His last coming in His own person.

The Cross will then be seen in heaven shining more brightly than the sun as a reproof to the Jews, for when the Lord comes He will display the Cross as the strongest evidence against the Jews, like one who shows the stone with which he was struck. He calls the Cross a sign, as a trophy and royal ensign. Then all the tribes of the land of Judea will mourn and bewail their own unbelief, and all those who care for earthly things will mourn, though they be Christians. For those who are attached to earthly things might also be called "the tribes of the earth." Although the Lord comes accompanied by the Cross, He also comes "with power and great glory."

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. Here is set forth the sign of the Son of man existing above the angels. The sign of the Son, i.e., the sign of the victory of Christ; because when the whole world will be renewed, it will be signified that he obtained victory over all things through his passion, which is not apparent now. Or the sign of the cross will appear, to show that all this glory is through his passion. Likewise, it will be signified that he acquired all judicial power through his passion. Job 36:29: If he shall spread his clouds like a tent etc. And there follows: for by these he judges peoples. Likewise, it will appear to confound the wicked who refused to follow Christ. Likewise, the sign of the cross will be brighter than the sun. But what will the effect be? Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, seeing such great power of Christ, which they despised, and such great wisdom, which they did not obey, and such great brightness of the saints; hence they will say what is said in Wisdom 5:3: These are they whom we once held in derision and as a parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their life madness and their end without honor. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints. Likewise, the tribes of heaven, i.e., those who bore the image of heaven; Isaiah 40:18: To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set up for him? They will impute to themselves that they suffer such things; Apocalypse 1:7: Every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. And Zechariah 12:10: They shall look upon me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they shall grieve over him as one grieves at the death of a firstborn.

And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven. Above the Lord foretold what would happen before the second coming; here, however, he foretells the coming itself. And regarding this he does three things. First, he sets forth his coming; secondly, the certainty of the coming; thirdly, the uncertainty of the hour or day. And how will he come? They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven. And who will see? All men, for he will come to judge. For he has a human nature and a divine nature. According to his divine nature he will not be seen except by the pure of heart, etc., according to what is said above at 5:8: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God; but according to his human nature even the wicked will see him; Luke 3:6: All flesh shall see the salvation of our God. Therefore they shall see the Son of man, because the Son of man and the Son of God are the same; but they will not see him as the Son of God, but as the Son of man; John 5:27: He gave him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man. But there can be a question whether both the good and the wicked will see him in his glorious form; and it must be said that they will. And the reason is given in Isaiah 26:10, where the Lord, disputing with the prophet, says: He shall not see the glory of the Lord. And the prophet answers: Lord, let your hand be exalted, that they may not see. To which the Lord answered: And let them be confounded. Hence the good will see him unto joy, the wicked unto torment and sorrow. For when someone fears being punished, the more the power of the judge appears against him, the more he is afflicted; so the more glorious Christ appears, the more the wicked will be tormented. And this is signified when it says, coming in the clouds of heaven. In lightning there are two things, splendor and terror. Splendor represents a certain joy, but terror comes from the sound, and a cloud brings refreshment; Isaiah 18:4: And it shall be like a cloud of dew in the day of harvest, which is then pleasant. Likewise, a cloud has darkness, and when it is thick, it is terrible on account of the lightning and rain that come from the clouds; and this corresponds to the terror of the wicked; Psalm 96:2: Clouds and darkness are round about him. Likewise, it is fitting that he come in clouds to designate the divinity of Christ, because the majesty of God appeared in a cloud, Exodus 16:10; hence it is said in 3 Kings 8:12: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud; therefore he will come in clouds. Likewise, it is fitting to show his humanity, because, as is recorded in Acts 1:9: While they looked on, he was raised up, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and they heard the angels saying: in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven, so shall he come. Therefore, to show that he is the same one who was taken up in a cloud, he will appear in a cloud. It is also fitting to signify glorification. For when he was transfigured, a bright cloud appeared, and then there was one; but then there will be many, because then he appeared only to three, but then he will appear to many more; Apocalypse 1:7: Behold, he comes with the clouds, and every eye shall see him. And what will these clouds be? They will be nothing other than certain splendors overflowing from the body of Christ and the other saints. Origen says that they will be angels assuming ministry not only intelligibly but truly. For in the first coming he came humbly; Zechariah 9:9: Behold your king comes to you meek. But afterward he will come in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. For in the first coming there were two things: he had weakness and ignominy. Weakness, because the Apostle says, 2 Corinthians 13:4: He was crucified through weakness. Ignominy, according to what is found in Isaiah 52:14: So shall his appearance be without glory among men, and his form among the sons of men. Consequently, corresponding to these two things, he says two things. Corresponding to the weakness, he sets forth power; hence of this it is said: all power is given to me in heaven and on earth, and this was given to him by generation, inasmuch as he is the Son of God. But he merited it inasmuch as he is man; and this will be manifested when all the angels and all the elements will minister to him. Likewise, against the ignominy, he says he will come in majesty, as judge of the living and the dead.

By saying that the Son of man will send his angels, he demonstrates that the Son of man is God. For they are God's angels, and to send them is solely God's prerogative. The saying "from one end of the heavens to the other" teaches us that the extremes of earth and heaven are the same. Hence it is necessary to believe in Christ and not to be deceived as though the smallest part of earth, situated in the midst of the heavens, was surpassed by their infinite greatness.

(Ver. 31.) And He will send His angels with a trumpet and a loud voice; and they will gather His chosen ones from the four winds, from the highest heavens to their ends. The Apostle speaks of this trumpet in I Corinthians XV; I Thessalonians IV: and we read in the Apocalypse of John (Apocalypse VIII): and in the Old Testament (Numbers X), we are instructed to make trumpets of gold, silver, and bronze, so that the lofty mysteries of doctrine may resound.

And then again, "He will send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other."

But when thou hast heard of this, consider the punishment of them that remain. For neither shall they suffer that former penalty only, but this too. And as above He said, that they should say, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord," so here, that they shall mourn. For since He had spoken unto them of grievous wars, that they might learn, that together with the fearful things here, the torments there also await them, He brings them in mourning and separated from the elect, and consigned to hell; by this again rousing the disciples, and indicating from how many evils they should be delivered, and how many good things they shall enjoy.

And why now doth He call them by angels, if He comes thus openly? To honor them in this way also. But Paul saith, that they "shall be caught up in clouds." And He said this also, when He was speaking concerning a resurrection. "For the Lord Himself," it is said, "shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel." So that when risen again, the angels shall gather them together, when gathered together the clouds shall catch them up; and all these things are done in a moment, in an instant. For it is not that He abiding above calleth them, but He Himself cometh with the sound of a trumpet. And what mean the trumpets and the sound? They are for arousing, for gladness, to set forth the amazing nature of the things then doing, for grief to them that are left.

And he will send his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the highest heavens even unto their ends.

Similarly in Mark he says it in this way: "and then he will send his angels, and they will gather the elect from the four winds, from the utmost part of the earth even unto the utmost part of heaven". As for his saying that the Savior sends his angels with a great trumpet (whatever that trumpet is) to gather his elect, it follows consistently upon those things which are related in another parable concerning the seeds and the tares; and interpreting the parable he speaks thus, that "the harvest is the consummation, the reapers are the angels. Just as therefore the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all offenses and those who work iniquity, and they will cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father". He says something of the same kind also in the parable "of the net cast into the sea".

Therefore "the reapers, the angels" are sent by the Savior to gather all the tares, so that after these things the saints may shine "as the sun in the kingdom of their Father", so that thereafter the elect may be gathered from the four winds, from the highest heavens even unto their ends. Consider whether (as the simpler sort suppose) he says that only those elect are to be gathered who shall at that time be found in the body, or rather all who are "beloved in God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ".

And see whether it is not better to say that all who have been called and elect from the coming of Christ even unto the consummation are to be gathered by the angels of Christ.

But you will inquire whether also those who lived from the foundation of the world even unto his coming are to be gathered — if indeed the elect of Christ are not only those who are holy from his coming (as certain teachers of the heresies say), but all who existed from the foundation of the world, who, like Abraham, saw the day of Christ and with divine exultation exulted over him.

But if the angels are to gather not only (as the simple think) those who shall be found in the body, but all the elect of Christ, it is worthy of consideration what they are doing in the meantime, or in what place they are staying, while they gather the elect. And that he says that not only those who have been comprehended in the body are the elect of Christ to be gathered, but also those who have departed out of their bodies, the passage makes plain when it says that the elect are to be gathered not only from the four winds, but also from the highest heavens even unto their ends. For I think that what he says — that they may be gathered from the highest heavens — fits no one who is upon earth, unless perhaps those who, while dwelling for a time among men, dwell among the angels teaching heavenly things; these the holy angels will gather, so that, being previously instructed in the highest heavens even unto their ends and equipped, they may hand them over to the perfect Master, the Word, the Son of God, to reign together with him and to receive those things which the Son will hand over to these who have previously received the heavenly teaching. And since this life of ours upon earth is a shadow, it follows that now they are instructed by the Law and the prophets — those who in that fullness of time are to know the remaining things, and to know fuller things from the Son of God according to the heavenly realities themselves — so that those who are in the highest heavens may be, as it were, in a kind of course of instruction, that they may afterward be able to receive the wisdom of God, or rather to receive as wisdom the very Son of God himself, "when that which" is truly "perfect shall have come". And let us understand, by inquiry, the four winds from which the elect of Christ are to be gathered, of what future good things those things had a shadow which are written in Numbers concerning each tribe of the sons of Israel. Whence the first order of the camp was that of Judah, setting up with their own force toward the east, and with these on either side Issachar and Zebulun. And toward the south the tribe of Reuben, and on either side Simeon and Gad. And the tribe of Ephraim toward the sea, and on either side Benjamin and Manasseh last. And the tribe of Dan toward the north, and on either side Asher and Naphtali. Perhaps therefore even at that time the tribes that had gone forth were shadows of the camps according to the mysteries of the true Israel. And just as at that time they were gathered from the four winds into Judea and were established in the inheritance through Joshua, after Moses their tutor and steward, so from the four winds the angels will gather the elect (from winds, however, not earthly but from the highest heavens even unto their ends), so that, gathered by our Joshua, they may obtain the divine and true inheritance.

In Matthew, therefore, those who are gathered, the elect of Christ, are gathered from the four winds, from the highest heavens even unto their ends; but in Mark "from the four winds, from the utmost part of the earth even unto the utmost part of heaven"; and afterward from the highest heavens even unto their ends. And you will understand those who are gathered "from the utmost part of the earth" by considering the manner of life of those who have been on earth, and, so far as is possible, the perfection of those who have lived their life on earth. All, therefore, who have lived well upon the earth are gathered not simply from the earth, but "from the utmost part of the earth", that is, as it were from the summit of those who live upon the earth. But if, after the summit of the manner of life which was on earth, there follows a subsequent manner of life to receive those who had their manner of life in the heavens, it does not simply receive them from the utmost part of heaven as "from the utmost part of the earth", but from the highest heavens, since each heaven has both the beginnings of its own instruction and its perfections, that is, its ends. For example, after the highest manner of life which was upon earth, the manner of life of one heaven receives a man again, and the perfection which is in it. Again the second manner of life of the second heaven receives him, and the perfection which is in it. Again the third manner of life of the third heaven receives him, and the perfection which is in it. And so understand for me that there are many beginnings of the manners of life of many heavens, and ends, that is, perfections, and that from these beginnings and ends of the diverse heavens God gathers his elect. Or thus from the highest heavens even unto their ends: the heavens are either the divine Scriptures or their authors, in whom God dwells; and the highest parts of the Scriptures are their beginnings, but the ends are their consummations. The saints, therefore, are gathered from the highest heavens, that is, from those things begun by them, who live in the beginnings of the Scriptures, even unto those who live in the consummations of them: to say it more amply, from the untrained among them even unto the perfect among them. But the angels who are sent by the Savior to gather his elect will gather them not with a voice of just any kind, but with a trumpet which is called great, not one that gives an uncertain sound, but a certain and manifest one, so that those who have heard and learned may prepare themselves for the way of perfection which leads to the Son of God.

But since we wish to understand what the great trumpet is, we ought to compare spiritual things with spiritual. Come now, let us also briefly expound about the trumpets, insofar as we are able to grasp it, to see whether we can, from the gathering together and the reminder of these examples, understand also the great trumpet of the angels. For it is written in Numbers: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Make yourself two silver trumpets; of beaten work you shall make them; and they shall serve you for gathering together the congregation and they shall serve you for setting the camps in motion. And you shall sound with them, and all the congregation shall be gathered together to you at the door of the tabernacle of testimony; but if they sound with one only, all the chiefs of the hosts of Israel shall come to you. And you shall sound the first signal, and the camps that lie toward the east shall set out; and you shall sound the second signal, and the camps that lie toward the south shall set out; and you shall sound the third signal, and the camps that lie toward the sea shall set out; and you shall sound the fourth signal, and the camps that lie toward the north shall take up their march; therefore they shall sound the trumpet at their setting out. And when you gather together the assembly, you shall sound, but not a signal. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall sound with the trumpets. And it shall be to you a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations. But if you go out to war in your land against your adversaries, you shall sound with the trumpets. And you shall be remembered in the sight of your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. And in the days of your gladness and in your feasts and in your new moons you shall sound with the trumpets, both over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and there shall be a remembrance of you in the sight of your God. I am the Lord your God."

See also in these words that at the first signal of the trumpet the camps set out that are toward the east, but at the second the camps set out that are toward the south, and — to put it briefly — from the four winds the priests sounding the trumpets gather together those who are of the camps of Israel; and, in correspondence with the priests sounding the trumpets, the angels of Christ with a great trumpet will gather together his elect from the four winds. But in Numbers these things are written as done on the earth, whereas in the Gospels they are done "from the height of the earth even to the height of heaven", and after these things from the heights of the heavens even to their heights. And perhaps, if "the law has a shadow of the good things to come", then in Numbers too what has been set down concerning the trumpets and the ranks of Israel is a shadow of things to come. Lest, then, perhaps the silver trumpets (since silver is in many places taken for the word) … the great voice of the word is understood as a silver trumpet gathering together each one "in his own order", according to the shadow indeed as Moses named it, but according to the mystery as Paul says in the first epistle to the Corinthians. And first, with the rational trumpets, they set the camps in motion. Thus the legislation is made concerning those matters which pertain to the war of Israel, since through that signal of the trumpets it calls to remembrance matters of war; which trumpets bring those who are called to remembrance through those signals of the trumpets in matters of war, to the saving of them from their enemies. But the sounds of the silver and beaten trumpets in the days of the gladness of Israel, which are taken up at their new moons, were shadows of the new moons to come, of which the Apostle says: "Let no one judge you in food or in drink or in respect of a feast day or of a new moon or of sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come". And they are taken up also over the burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of the peace offerings of Israel. And these signals of the trumpets, the examples and shadows of the heavenly worship, it is fitting to expound as belonging, as it were, to some Israel that is heavenly and has its manner of life in heaven.

But we have received these examples so that we may be able, at least in part, to understand what is written: he will send his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together his elect. And the Apostle shows the evangelical trumpets also in the first epistle to the Thessalonians, saying: "But this we say to you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who shall remain at the coming of the Lord, shall not go before those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord himself, at the command and at the voice of the archangel and at the trumpet of God, shall descend from heaven". Likewise in the first epistle to the Corinthians: "We shall indeed all fall asleep, but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for it shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorrupt, and we shall be changed." And there is also, according to the law, a certain festival even of trumpets, the new moon of the seventh month, perhaps the mystery of some true festival and of some spiritual and grandly-speaking trumpet.

Or He comes every day with great power to the mind of the believer in the clouds of prophecy, that is, in the Scriptures of the Prophets and the Apostles, who utter the word of God with a meaning above human nature. Also we say that to those who understand He comes with great glory, and that this is the more seen in the second coming of the Word which is to the perfect. 1And so it may be, that all which the three Evangelists have said concerning Christ's coming, if carefully compared together and thoroughly examined, would be found to apply to His continual daily coming in His body, which is the Church, of which coming He said in another place, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven, (Mat. 26:6.) excepting those places in which He promises that His last coming in His own person.

Because He had spoken of mourning, which shall be only that they may bear witness against themselves and condemn themselves, that none should suppose that that mourning will end their woes, He now adds, And he shall send his Angels with a trump and a loud voice.

It is written in Numbers (Numb. 10:3.), that the Priests shall summon by the sound of the trumpet from the four winds those who are of the camp of Israel, and it is in allusion to this that Christ speaks here of the Angels, And they shall gather together the elect from the four winds.

Some of little discernment think, that only those who shall then be found in the body shall be gathered together, but it is better to say that the Angels of Christ shall then gather together not only all who from the coming of Christ to the end of the world have been called and chosen, but all from the foundation of the world, who like Abraham have seen the day of Christ and rejoiced therein. (John 8:56.) And that He here means not only those that shall be found in the body, but those also who have quitted the body, the following words show, from one end of heaven to the other, which cannot be meant of any one upon earth. Or, the heavens are the divine Scriptures and their authors in which God dwells. One end of heaven is the beginning of the Scriptures, the other end is their conclusion. The saints there are gathered together from one end of heaven, that is, from those that live in the beginning of the Scriptures to those who live in the ends of them. They shall be gathered together with a trump and a loud voice, that they who hear and attend may prepare themselves for that way of perfection which leads to the Son of God.

Here we are not to think of a real trumpet, but of the voice of the archangel, which shall be so loud that at its sound all the dead shall rise out of the dust of the earth.

That is, from the four quarters of the world, north, south, east, and west.

Or otherwise; Lest any one should suppose that they should be gathered only from the four quarters of the world, and not from the middle regions, The adds this, And from one end of heaven to the other. By the heights of heaven meaning the central regions of the earth, which are under the heights of heaven; and by the ends of heaven, meaning the extreme parts of the earth, where the land seems to join a very wide and distant horizon.

He will send the angels to gather together the saints and those risen from the dead, so that they can meet Him in the clouds. He also honors them by calling them with angels. And if Paul says that they will be caught up in the clouds (1Thess. 4:17), this is not contradictory. For when they have been gathered together by the angels, the clouds will snatch them up. There will be the trumpet, to cause the greater consternation.

Then he will come and he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice. Here he treats of the gathering of the saints; and he sets forth three things. First, the ministers; secondly, those gathered; thirdly, from where they are gathered. The ministers are the angels, as is found in Psalm 102:21: His ministers who do his will. But he says, with a great voice and a trumpet. In the resurrection a threefold power will operate. First, the divine power; secondarily, the power of Christ's humanity, because his resurrection is the cause of our resurrection, as the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 15:22: As in Adam all have died, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Likewise, the angelic power will operate there for certain preparatory things, namely, for gathering the dust. And he touches on these three things. The angelic power, when he says, he shall send his angels; the power of God, when he says, with a trumpet; the power of his humanity in that he says, and with a great voice. Of this it is said in John 5:25: All who hear the voice of the Son of God shall live. And that voice must be great, because he shall give to his voice the voice of power, Psalm 67:34. By the trumpet the divinity is well signified, because the voice of a trumpet is greater than the human voice; Apocalypse 11:12: And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them, come up hither. And shortly after: and the seventh angel sounded the trumpet, and there were great voices in heaven. And note that the trumpet is quite fitting, because in Numbers 10:2 the Lord commanded Moses to make two trumpets; and they sounded the trumpets for assembly, for feasts, for battle, and for the moving of the camp. And so it will be at the judgment; because there will be an assembly, i.e., a gathering of all the saints, because the wicked shall not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the just, Psalm 1:5. Likewise, there will then be an everlasting feast. Likewise, there will be battle against the wicked, as is found in Zechariah 14:14: But Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem. Likewise, there will be a moving of the camp, because the saints will be transferred to the life of the saints; Zechariah 2:11: And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day. Likewise, some are now gathered, but not all; but then all will be gathered; below 25:32: All nations shall be gathered before him. Here only the elect are gathered, because they alone are gathered to reign with him; Psalm 49:5: Gather together his saints to him. Hence he says, and they shall gather together his elect. But from where will they be gathered? From the four winds of heaven, from the heights of heaven to the ends thereof. The winds of heaven are distinguished by the four parts of the world. From the east comes the subsolanus; from the west the favonius; from the north the boreas; from the south the auster; and all other winds are contained under these. Hence from the four winds of heaven, i.e., from all parts of the world. There follows, from the heights of heaven to the ends thereof. This can be expounded in two ways. Origen says thus: they shall be gathered. Someone might say that this gathering is only of the living and not of the dead; which he removes by showing that the dead also will be gathered; therefore he says, from the heights of heaven etc. You know that the saints ascend into the heavens, and some are lower, some higher, because according to the measure of merits will be the measure of reward. Hence this is what Augustine says, that from the four winds refers to the bodies, and from the heights of heaven refers to the souls. Remigius says thus, and it is in the Gloss: I shall gather etc. Someone might believe that the gathering is only from the extremities of the earth; but what about the middle of the earth? Hence to the ends thereof. And he means that the gathering will be not only from the extremities of the earth, but from heaven, i.e., from the middle of the world.

(Ep. 199, 22.) That now from the Evangelic and Prophetic signs that we see come to pass, we ought to look that the Lord's coming should be nigh, who is there that denies? For daily it draws ever more and more near, but of the exact time it is said, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons. (Acts 1:7.) See how long ago the Apostle said, Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Rom. 13:11.) What he spoke was not false, and yet how many years have elapsed, how much more may we not say that the Lord's coming is at hand now, that so great an accession of time has been made?

(Quaest. Ev. i. 39.) Or, by the fig tree understand the human race, by reason of the temptations of the flesh. When its branch is fender, i. e. when the sons of men through faith in Christ have progressed towards spiritual fruits, and the honour of their adoption to be the sons of God has shone forth in them.

Moreover, our Redeemer shows by a thoughtful comparison that the world ought to be trampled upon and despised, when He immediately adds: "See the fig tree and all the trees; when they now produce fruit from themselves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near." As if He openly said: Just as the approaching summer is known from the fruit of trees, so from the ruin of the world it is recognized that the kingdom of God is near. But the kingdom of God is rightly compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine bright with the radiance of the eternal sun.

The parable of the fig tree is offered as a lesson in recognizing the signs of the times. When its branches become tender and green we know that summer is near. Both this fig tree and this summer are very different from those found in nature, however. In nature there is a considerable interval between the onset of summer and the greening of a tree's branches, which begin to grow tender early in the spring. Consequently this parable cannot be about the tree. Indeed, we have already dealt above with the particular meaning of the tree. We saw that Adam had covered himself with its leaves to hide his shameful conscience, which is to say that he was bound under the law as though clothed in sin. The fig tree's branch therefore represents the antichrist, who is a son of the devil, a partaker of sin and protector of the law. When it begins to grow tender and green, then the summer, which here represents the day of judgment, is near. The greening of the tree then refers to the rise of sinners, a time that will be marked by the flowering of slanderers and the popularity of criminals and favor for blasphemers. This signals that summer, the heat of eternal fire, is near.

Mystically; The Synagogue is likened to the fig treeg; its branch is Antichrist, the son of the Devil, the portion of sin, the maintainer of the law; when this shall begin to swell and to put forth leaves, then summer is nigh, i. e. the approach of the day of judgment shall be perceived.

(Verse 32, 33.) But learn a parable from the fig tree: when its branch is already tender and the leaves have sprouted, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors. Under the example of the tree, he taught the coming of the consummation. How, he says, when the twigs of the fig tree become tender and a bud comes forth into a flower, and the bark brings forth leaves, you understand the coming of summer, and the entrance of the west winds and spring: so when you see all these things that have been written, do not think that the consummation of the world is already here, but rather like some preludes and forerunners coming, to show that it is near and at the doors.

As much as to say, When the tender shoots first show themselves in the stem of the fig tree, and the bud bursts into flower, and the bark puts forth leaves, ye perceive the approach of summer and the season of spring and growth; so when ye shall see all these things that are written, do not suppose that the end of the world is immediate, but that certain monitory signs and precursors are showing its approach.

Forasmuch as He had said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days;" but they sought of this, after how long a time it should be, and desired to know in particular the very day, therefore He puts also the similitude of the fig tree, indicating that the interval was not great, but that in quick succession would occur His advent also. And this He declared not by the parable alone, but by the words that follow, saying, "know that it is near, even at the doors."

Whereby He foretells another thing also, a spiritual summer, and a calm that should be on that day (after the present tempest) for the righteous; but to the sinners the contrary, winter after summer, which He declares in what follows, saying, that the day shall come upon them, when they are living in luxury.

But not for this intent only did He put forward this about the fig tree, in order to declare the interval; for it was possible to have set this before them in other ways as well; but that he might hereby also confirm His saying, as assuredly thus to come to pass. For like as this of the fig tree is of necessity, so that too. For thus, wherever He is minded to speak of that which will assuredly come to pass, He brings forward the necessary courses of nature, both Himself, and the blessed Paul imitating Him. Therefore also when speaking of His resurrection, He saith, "When the corn of wheat hath fallen into the earth, except it die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Whereby also the blessed Paul being instructed uses the same similitude, "Thou fool," he saith, "that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die."

But from the fig tree learn a parable: for when its branch has now become tender and puts forth leaves, know that summer is near; so also you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, at the door. Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass away, until all things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

How the comparison of the things that have been said can be understood from the fig tree, we shall expound according to our ability: lest perhaps this whole world and its consummation be likened to a fig tree, and each one of those setting out toward the blessed life, so as to see in himself the glorious and perfect coming of Christ's word, be held to be like a fig tree. For just as the fig tree in the time of winter indeed has in itself the life-giving power, but has it hidden and not sufficiently manifest, and afterward, when that very life-giving power begins to come forth into manifestation as the winter passes, out of its own vigor the branch is made tender, and it puts forth also leaves;

and just as the tree in that very power has leaves and fruits, and first indeed there is the bud, then little by little it advances, and last of all also by the actual effect: so also the world and each one of those who are saved, at the end before the coming of Christ (as it were in winter) has in himself the life-giving power hidden, but with Christ breathing upon them, those branches which are tender and not hard-hearted, and the things that were hidden in them, advance into leaves as the summer draws on and show forth manifest fruits, which he who beholds them in Christ already sees.

So too it is related in a certain parable of the Shepherd, if it please anyone to read that book also, that "the present age is winter for the just", who appear like their neighbors by nature, namely like the other dry trees, but in the opportune time appear in their fruits. But if in the first Psalm also there be some such thing, which is said concerning that blessed man, that "he shall be as the tree which is planted beside the running waters, which shall give its fruit in its time, and its leaf shall not fall off, and all things whatsoever he shall do shall prosper", do you also consider what is written. "The winter has passed, it has gone its way, the flowers have appeared in the land", as is written in the Song of Songs, from the time that Christ came, who introduced the mild season and made the wintry blasts to cease. And the fig tree, that is, the world, has now indeed made the tender branch, that is, the Church, to put forth leaves, while summer is at hand yet has not yet come; but when summer has come, it will more fully render fruits perfect and ripe for Christ, when according to Jeremiah the good figs are very good, gathered into baskets of good figs, from which Christ wishes to take and, as it were, to eat their sweetness. But far be it from us that, when Jesus comes to us and wishes to eat of the fig tree, no fruit should be found in it. For if no fruit be found in it, he will say to it at his coming, to the tree that has not shown fruits: "Never from you shall anyone eat fruit". And that fig tree can be understood as the people of the circumcision, to whom the Lord came hungering, and when he had not found "fruit in it" but only the appearance of life, he said: "Never from you shall anyone eat fruit". Wherefore at his coming "that fig tree was straightway withered", that is, that people; but that other fig tree, which (as regards the earlier times) was barren, which was already to be cut down because it had had no diligence applied to it by its own digger, when dung has begun to be put around it, will put forth fruits; the tree which had once drained the ground, but now will bring forth more abundant fruits even in return for the time gone by in which it was barren.

And each one of us, after the winters of temptations and after the sorrow of dangers past, hastens to summer, putting forth the tender branch — not that hard but the soft heart for believing God; and our advances put forth leaves meanwhile and the flowers of works, that afterward we may also exhibit the most perfect fruits "when that which is perfect has come", in Christ. Moreover, those very ones who are saved have in themselves the true vine (him who said: "I am the true vine") and, according to the reckoning of the vine, also the true fig tree the Holy Spirit offering salutary fruits, where "each one rests" according to the spiritual promise of God "under" his "vine" and "under his fig tree". And that vine indeed in those who make progress flowers and gives its fragrance, but the fig tree also puts forth its fruits, that after worthy progress their fruits may be made worthy of the heavenly winepresses, and of the baskets of very good figs of that fig tree, which brought forth tender and good fruits before the heat; whose fruits, even when languishing, provided they are not slothful to pray, are healed, as is written concerning King Hezekiah in Isaiah, who was saved through figs, that he might not die;

but also the sun upon him in the degrees showed his day made greater and brighter. Great therefore is the hope in the fig tree, which out of God's words first indeed made its tender branch, and afterward the leaves being born. For such as these summer is near, and near, at the door, is the glorious coming of Christ in the clouds, and the coming of the glory of the word of God, and "near" for men of this kind is "the kingdom of God".

As the fig has its vital powers torpid within it through the season of winter, but when that is past its branches become tender by those very powers and put forth leaves; so the world and all those who are saved had before Christ's coming their vital energies dormant within them as in a season of winter. Christ's Spirit breathing upon them makes the branches of their hearts soft and tender, and that which was dormant within burgeons into leaf, and makes show of fruit. To such the summer and the coming of the glory of the Word of God is nigh at hand.

Or, when this fig shall again bud, that is, when the synagogue shall receive the word of holy preaching, as the preaching of Enoch and Elias, then we ought to understand that the day of the consummation is at hand.

When all these things occur, He says, the time is not far off from the end and My coming. "Summer" means the age to come and serenity after the winter storm, but only for the righteous; for sinners, it is instead storm and tumult. For when you see, He says, the branches and leaves of the fig tree, you expect summer; so too, when you see those signs of which I spoke, the sun and the moon being altered, expect My coming.

From the fig tree learn a parable. Here he teaches about the certainty of his coming. He had said great things, and to some incredible things; now he certifies them in three ways. First, by a similitude; secondly, by an assertion; thirdly, by a reason. He says therefore, from the fig tree learn a parable. Chrysostom says: when God wishes to show something, he always introduces a natural similitude. Trees in winter have life, yet secretly; hence they do not produce leaves or fruit; but at the beginning of spring they begin to bud, and then life appears. So also the saints now do not appear, as is found in Colossians 3:3: You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God; but then the life of the saints will appear, namely, of those who will not be deceived in the time of the Antichrist. Then summer will come, i.e., the eternal reward; Psalm 125:6: Going they went and wept, casting their seeds; and there follows, but coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves. Hence he says, from the fig tree learn a parable. By the fig tree the synagogue is signified, of which it is found in Luke 13:6: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. When the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. And this can be expounded thus: the tender branch is the Antichrist, whose power will last but a short time, and as leaves cling closely to it, then his power will be made manifest. Or it can be expounded in a good sense. By the branch is meant the strength and fortitude of the saints. When the Church begins to come to its end, the power of Christ and the saints who will sustain it will appear; Song of Songs 2:13: The fig tree has put forth her green figs.

"So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near." As if He openly said: Just as the approaching summer is known from the fruit of trees, so from the ruin of the world it is recognized that the kingdom of God is near. By these words it is certainly shown that the fruit of the world is ruin. For it grows in order to fall. It sprouts forth in order to consume with disasters whatever it has sprouted. But the kingdom of God is rightly compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine bright with the radiance of the eternal sun.

"So likewise ye," (He adds), "when ye shall see all these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand." "Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things, and to stand before the Son of man; " that is, no doubt, at the resurrection, after all these things have been previously transacted.

So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors. Just as something is said to be near when it is at the doors; James 5:4: Behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped your fields, which by fraud has been kept back by you, cries, and the cry of them has entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Note that Augustine emphasizes the word all, when he says: when you shall see all these things etc. Above he had said that the Lord is near; but what does this mean? For the Lord is always near. Therefore he says: if we wish, let us say that none of this pertains to the end of the world, but to the coming of Christ through the Church; hence what was said, they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds, i.e., in preachers, with great power, since the Lord gives the word to those who preach with great power; and then he will come with majesty, since they give him reverence. Yet according to the exposition of others, we can refer it to the end of the world, and say otherwise. According to Augustine's exposition, he gives us to understand something that is near, i.e., that there are certain signs that it is near; hence what was said, they shall see etc., is referred to all the things said above, namely, to the signs, lightning, and earthquakes.

But there is worse to come. Say what you like, we shall be told. The apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the second coming in their own lifetime, and, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion.

He said, in so many words, 'This generation shall not pass till all these things be done.' And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement, 'But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.' The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side.

That they stood thus in the mouth of Jesus Himself, and were not merely placed thus by the reporter, we surely need not doubt. Unless the reporter were perfectly honest, he would never have recorded the confession of ignorance at all. He could have had no motive for doing so except a desire to tell the whole truth. And unless later copyists were equally honest, they would never have preserved the apparently mistaken prediction about this generation after the passage of time had shown the apparent mistake.

This passage, Mark chapter 13, verses 30-32, and the cry, 'Why hast Thou forsaken Me?' Mark chapter 15, verse 34, together make up the strongest proof that the New Testament is historically reliable. The evangelists have the first great characteristic of honest witnesses. They mention facts which are, at first sight, damaging to their main contention.

The facts then are these, that Jesus professed Himself in some sense ignorant, and within a moment showed that He really was so. To believe in the Incarnation, to believe that He is God, makes it hard to understand how He could be ignorant, but also makes it certain that if He said He could be ignorant, then ignorant He could really be. For a God who can be ignorant is less baffling than a God who falsely professes ignorance.

The answer of theologians is that the God-Man was omniscient as God and ignorant as man. This, no doubt, is true, though it cannot be imagined. Nor, indeed, can the unconsciousness of Christ in sleep be imagined, nor the twilight of reason in His infancy. Still less is merely organic life in His mother's womb.

But the physical sciences, no less than theology, propose for our belief much that cannot be imagined. A generation which has accepted the curvature of space need not boggle at the impossibility of imagining the consciousness of incarnate God. In that consciousness the temporal and the timeless were united. I think we can acquiesce in mystery at that point, provided we do not aggravate it by our tendency to picture the timeless life of God as simply another sort of time.

We are committing that blunder whenever we ask how Christ could be, at the same moment, ignorant and omniscient, or how He could be the God who neither slumbers nor sleeps while He slept. The italicized words conceal an attempt to establish a temporal relation between His timeless life as God and the days, months, and years of His life as man. And, of course, there is no such relation.

The incarnation is not an episode in the life of God. The Lamb is slain, and therefore presumably born, grown to maturity, and risen from all eternity. The taking up into God's nature of humanity, with all its ignorance and limitations, is not itself a temporal event, though the humanity which is so taken up was, like our own, a thing living and dying in time.

And if limitation, and therefore ignorance, was thus taken up, we ought to expect that the ignorance should, at some time, be actually displayed. It would be difficult and, to me, repellent, to suppose that Jesus never asked a genuine question, that is, a question to which He did not know the answer. That would make of His humanity something so unlike ours as scarcely to deserve the name.

I find it easier to believe that when He said, 'Who touched Me?' Luke chapter 8, verse 45, He really wanted to know.

All these things are confirmed with great certainty when the sentence is added which says: "Amen I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all things come to pass. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." For nothing in the nature of corporeal things is more enduring than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes as quickly as speech. For words, as long as they are incomplete, are not words; but when they have been completed, they no longer exist at all, because they cannot be completed except by passing away. Therefore he says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." As if he were saying openly: Everything that is enduring among you is not enduring unto eternity without change; and everything that is seen to pass away in me is held fixed and without passing away, because my speech which passes away expresses judgments that remain without mutability.

To give sure credit to the things which should come to pass He adds, Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled. By saying Verily, He gives asseveration to the truth.

(Verse 34) Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. Above, we mentioned the generations of the righteous and, on the contrary, the wicked being separate. Therefore, it either signifies all types of people or specifically the Jews.

Or, by generation here He means the whole human race, and the Jews in particular.

After this, that they might not straightway return to it again, and say, "When?" he brings to their remembrance the things that had been said, saying, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled!" All these things. What things? I pray thee. Those about Jerusalem, those about the wars, about the famines, about the pestilences, about the earthquakes, about the false Christs, about the false prophets, about the sowing of the gospel everywhere, the seditions, the tumults, all the other things, which we said were to occur until His coming. How then, one may ask, did He say, "This generation?" Speaking not of the generation then living, but of that of the believers. For He is wont to distinguish a generation not by times only, but also by the mode of religious service, and practice; as when He saith, "This is the generation of them that seek the Lord."

For what He said above, "All these must come to pass," and again, "the gospel shall be preached," this He declares here also, saying, All these things shall surely come to pass, and the generation of the faithful shall remain, cut off by none of the things that have been mentioned. For both Jerusalem shall perish, and the more part of the Jews shall be destroyed, but over this generation shall nothing prevail, not famine, not pestilence, not earthquake, nor the tumults of wars, not false Christs, not false prophets, not deceivers, not traitors, not those that cause to offend, not the false brethren, nor any other such like temptation whatever.

Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass away, until all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Let us see what this generation is, of which Christ speaks.

And the simple, indeed, refer these words to the destruction of Jerusalem; and they suppose it was said of that generation which existed in the time of Christ and looked upon his suffering, a generation that would not pass away before the destruction of that city came to pass.

But I do not know whether they can expound word for word what he says: "do you not see all these things? amen I say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be destroyed" down to that which he says: it is near, at the door. For perhaps in some points they will be able, but in others they will not be able at all, and, sufficiently hemmed in, I do not know whether they will have been able to say anything.

But we, observing in many passages the word "generation," take it in two ways. For we hold that there are two generations, one indeed of the Jews, the other of the Gentiles.

Thus we understand also Ecclesiastes saying: one generation passes away and another generation comes, and the earth stands forever. For, prophesying of the people of the Jews, who were to pass away, he says one generation passes away; but of the people of the Gentiles, who were to believe, he said another generation comes. Something of this kind I think is said also in the eighty-ninth Psalm by Moses in his prayer: Lord, thou hast become a refuge for us from generation to generation. For God is the refuge of the two generations, since there is one God who justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith. And since God is the God not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, therefore the generation shall not pass away of the new testament, which is in the face of the Savior, nor shall it depart to those blessed promises of that age, until all things be done which Christ has spoken. For to each one of us it is fitting that all things be done which have been foretold, as we have handed down through the several expositions. There is, therefore, one generation of the Church, which began from the teaching of the Lord the Savior and lasts until the consummation. And this same generation will indeed at some time pass through this whole age (and it will pass through it, so as to inherit that age which is to come), yet until all these things be done, it shall not pass away;

but when it shall have been sufficient in all these things and shall have remained impassible until the glorious coming of Christ, then it shall pass through.

Yet until all these things be done (not some of the things that have been said, while others are not), those things are not to be; nevertheless this generation shall pass away, when all these things shall have been done, when there shall have passed away not only the earth, but also the heaven, that is, not only those men whose life is earthly, and who for that reason are called earth, but also those whose "citizenship is in the heavens", and who therefore are called heaven. And they shall pass to the things to come, along with all their states, so that they may come to more eminent and better things. For the revelation of these (since they are sons of God) the expectation of the creature awaits, and "every creature groans together with them and is in pain", until, conceiving in the womb from the fear of the Lord, they bring forth "the spirit of salvation", making their own offspring; and then shall pass away the generation of which Christ speaks, and the heaven according to what we have expounded, and the earth according to what we have handed down.

But the words which were spoken by the Savior shall not pass away, since the things which are proper to them they work both now and shall always work. But the perfect, and those who do not receive so that they may now be made better, passing beyond what they are, arrive at that which they are not.

Now in that which he said: but my words shall not pass away, this too I think must be inquired into, lest perhaps the words of Moses indeed and of the prophets have passed away, while the words of Jesus Christ have not passed away: because the things that were prophesied by those men have indeed been fulfilled, but the words of Christ are always full and are ever in the act of fulfillment and are daily being fulfilled and are never fully completed; for they are the very things which in the saints both have been fulfilled and are being fulfilled and are yet to be fulfilled. Or perhaps we ought not to say that the words of Moses or of the prophets are altogether fulfilled: for properly those words too are the words of the Son of God and are always being fulfilled. It is therefore good to unfold the depths of the divine words in simple words; yet for the sake of the few let us examine this, understanding only this much: that the word which in the Word of God is human has not passed away from the creation of the world until the consummation. For it presses on and works, since neither did it receive the beginning of its working before the times of the days, but it began with the creature and with the creature will pass away. But the word which was before the creature will not pass away with the creature.

The uninstructed refer the words to the destruction of Jerusalem, and suppose them to have been said of that generation which saw Christ's death, that it should not pass away before the city should be destroyed. But I doubt that they would succeed in thus expounding every word from that, one stone shall not be left upon another, to that, it is even at the door; in some perhaps they would succeed, in others not altogether.

Yet shall the generation of the Church survive the whole of this world, that it may inherit the world to come, yet it shall not pass away until all these things have come to pass.

"Generation" here means, not that which was then, but the generation of all believers. It is as if He were saying, "The generation of believers shall not pass away till all these things have occurred." But when you hear of famines and plagues, do not understand that the generation of believers shall perish from these evil things, but it will remain, and no terrible thing will prevail over it. Some have understood "all these things" to refer only to the captivity of Jerusalem, and not to the second coming as well, and so they have interpreted it as follows: "This generation shall not pass away," that is, the generation of you apostles shall see the calamities that will befall Jerusalem. Confirming what has been said, He says that it would be easier for heaven and earth, those fixed and immoveable elements, to be destroyed than for My words to be proven false.

He has made it manifest therefore by a similitude; now he makes it manifest by an assertion, namely, with an oath, saying, amen I say to you, i.e., it is infallibly true, that this generation shall not pass away until all these things be done. Origen says: as if what you will hear were at hand. For someone might believe that these things were said about the destruction of Jerusalem, and since they were fulfilled at the destruction, because many survived until that time, hence this generation shall not pass away, i.e., the men now living, until all these things be done. But it would be a great stretch to refer everything said to the destruction of Jerusalem; therefore it must be said otherwise, that all the faithful are one generation; Psalm 23:6: This is the generation of those who seek the Lord; and he had premised that the earth is the Lord's. Hence he means, this generation shall not pass away, i.e., the faith of the Church will not cease until the end of the world, against some who said that it would last only until a certain time. The Lord refutes this, saying below at the end (28:20): Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world.

Nothing in Sacred Scripture is to be despised as useless, nothing rejected as false, nothing repudiated as wicked, because the Holy Spirit, its most perfect author, could say nothing false, nothing superfluous, nothing deficient. And therefore heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of sacred Scripture shall not pass away, without being fulfilled.

Our upbringing and the whole atmosphere of the world we live in make it certain that our main temptation will be that of yielding to winds of doctrine, not that of ignoring them. We are not at all likely to be hidebound: we are very likely indeed to be the slaves of fashion. If one has to choose between reading the new books and reading the old, one must choose the old: not because they are necessarily better but because they contain precisely those truths of which our own age is neglectful. The standard of permanent Christianity must be kept clear in our minds and it is against that standard that we must test all contemporary thought. In fact, we must at all costs not move with the times. We serve One who said "Heaven and Earth shall move with the times, but my words shall not move with the times."

Since, therefore, some corrupting the meaning of the divine scriptures have misinterpreted the saying of our Lord, namely: The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, failing to recognize that the mode of expression is hyperbolical, we shall interpret what their meaning properly is; for he says: It is possible for them to be dissolved, but for my words, never.

'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' The civilisation of antiquity was the whole world: and men no more dreamed of its ending than of the ending of daylight. They could not imagine another order unless it were in another world. The civilisation of the world has passed away and those words have not passed away. In the long night of the Dark Ages feudalism was so familiar a thing that no man could imagine himself without a lord: and religion was so woven into that network that no man would have believed they could be torn asunder. Feudalism itself was torn to rags and rotted away in the popular life of the true Middle Ages; and the first and freshest power in that new freedom was the old religion. Feudalism had passed away, and the words did not pass away. The whole medieval order, in many ways so complete and almost cosmic a home for man, wore out gradually in its turn: and here at least it was thought that the words would die. They went forth across the radiant abyss of the Renaissance and in fifty years were using all its light and learning for new religious foundations, new apologetics, new saints. It was supposed to have been withered up at last in the dry light of the Age of Reason; it was supposed to have disappeared ultimately in the earthquake of the Age of Revolution. Science explained it away; and it was still there. History disinterred it in the past; and it appeared suddenly in the future. To-day it stands once more in our path; and even as we watch it, it grows.

If our social relations and records retain their continuity, if men really learn to apply reason to the accumulating facts of so crushing a story, it would seem that sooner or later even its enemies will learn from their incessant and interminable disappointments not to look for anything so simple as its death. They may continue to war with it, but it will be as they war with nature; as they war with the landscape, as they war with the skies. 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' They will watch for it to stumble; they will watch for it to err; they will no longer watch for it to end. Insensibly, even unconsciously, they will in their own silent anticipations fulfil the relative terms of that astounding prophecy; they will forget to watch for the mere extinction of what has so often been vainly extinguished; and will learn instinctively to look first for the coming of the comet or the freezing of the star.

Christ as much as Aristotle lived in a world that took slavery for granted. He did not particularly denounce slavery. He started a movement that could exist in a world with slavery. But he started a movement that could exist in a world without slavery. He never used a phrase that made his philosophy depend even upon the very existence of the social order in which he lived. He spoke as one conscious that everything was ephemeral, including the things that Aristotle thought eternal. By that time the Roman Empire had come to be merely the orbis terrarum, another name for the world. But he never made his morality dependent on the existence of the Roman Empire or even on the existence of the world. 'Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away.'

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." For nothing in the nature of corporeal things is more enduring than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes as quickly as speech. For words, as long as they are incomplete, are not words; but when they have been completed, they no longer exist at all, because they cannot be completed except by passing away. Therefore he says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." As if he were saying openly: Everything that is enduring among you is not enduring unto eternity without change; and everything that is seen to pass away in me is held fixed and without passing away, because my speech which passes away expresses judgments that remain without mutability.

For heaven and earth have in their constitution no necessity of existence, but Christ's words derived from eternity have in them such virtue that they must needs abide.

(Verse 35.) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away by change, not by their destruction: otherwise, how will the sun be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall, if the heaven in which these things are, and the earth, do not exist?

And He adds, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, to confirm their faith in what has gone before; as though He had said, it is easier to destroy things solid and immovable, than that aught should fail of my words.

The heaven and the earth shall pass away by a change, not by annihilation; for how should the sun be darkened, and the moon not give her light, if earth and heaven in which these are should be no more?

Then to lead them on more in faith, He saith, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;" that is, it were more easy for these firm, fixed, and immoveable bodies to be blotted out, than for ought of my words to fall to the ground. And he who gainsays these things, let him test His sayings, and when he hath found them true (for so he surely will find them) from what is past, let him believe also the things to come, and let him search out all things with diligence, and he will see the actual events bearing witness to the truth of the prophecy. And the elements He hath brought forward, at once to declare, that the church is of more honor than Heaven and earth, and at the same time to indicate Himself by this also to be maker of all. For since He was speaking of the end, a thing disbelieved by many, He brought forward Heaven and earth, indicating His unspeakable power, and showing with great authority, that He is Lord of all, and by these things rendering His sayings deserving of credit, even with those who are much given to doubt.

But when all these shall have been fulfilled, then not the earth only but the heavens also shall pass away; that is, not only the men whose life is earthy, and who are therefore called the earth, but also they whose conversation is in heaven, and who are therefore called the heaven; these shall pass away to things to come, that they may come to better things. But the words spoken by the Saviour shall not pass away, because they effect and shall ever effect their purpose; but the perfect and they that admit no further improvement, passing through what they are, come to that which they are not; and this is that, My words shall not pass away. And perhaps the words of Moses and the Prophets have passed away, because all that they prophesied has been fulfilled; but the words of Christ are always complete, daily fulfilling and to be fulfilled in the saints. Or perhaps we ought not to say that the words of Moses and the Prophets are once for all fulfilled; seeing they also are the words of the Son of God, and are fulfilled continually.

The heaven which shall pass away is not the starry but the atmospheric heaven which of old was destroyed by the deluge.

For "the very heaven shall be rolled together as a scroll; '" nay, it shall come to nothing along with the earth itself, with which it was made in the beginning. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," says He.

And then he sets forth the reason: heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away; as if to say: it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for my words to pass away; Isaiah 40:8: But my word endures forever. And Psalm 32:6: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established. Hence the word is the cause of heaven, and a cause is always more powerful than its effect, therefore etc. And it is not said that heaven and earth will pass away in the sense that they will cease to exist, but that they will pass into another state; Apocalypse 21:1: I saw a new heaven and a new earth. According to Origen, the good are signified by heaven, the wicked by the earth; Isaiah 1:2: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Both will pass, the good into eternal life, the wicked into eternal fire. And that the word of God is said not to pass away does not mean that it will not pass away according to the substance of the word, but according to what it signifies; hence this, as Origen says, has something special, because the word of the Lord will not pass away. But the words of Moses and others pass away; hence the words of Moses are signs of the present Church. But the words of Christ foretell the state of eternal life. Hence the words of Moses pass away, i.e., what Moses promised passes away; but what Christ promised does not, because he promised future glory, which does not pass away. Likewise, the word of Christ insofar as it concerns earthly and temporal things passes away.

(de Trin. i. 12.) When He says here, Knows not, He means,' makes others not to know;' i. e. He knew not then, so as to tell His disciples; as it was said to Abraham, Now I know that thou fearest God; (Gen. 22:19.) i. e. 'Now have I caused that thou shouldest know,' because by the temptation he came to know himself.

(Serm. 97. 1.) He says that the Father knoweth, implies that in the Father the Son also knows. For what can there be in time which was not made by the Word, seeing that time itself was made by the Word!

(Lib. 83 Quaest. q. 60.) That the Father alone knows maybe well understood in the above-mentioned manner of knowing, that He makes the Son to know; but the Son is said not to know, because he does not make men to know.

(Ep. 199, 16.) The Gospel then says, Of that day and hour knoweth no man; but you say, That neither the month nor the year of His coming can be known. This exactness of yours up to this point seems as if you meant that the year could not be known, but that the week or the decade of years might be known, as though it was possible to fix or assign it to some seven, ten, or a hundred, or some number of years more or less. If you allow that you cannot so limit it, you think with me.

When Christ taught us that no one knows the day on which the end of time will come, not the angels and not even himself, he removed from us any need to be concerned about its date. O immeasurable mercy of divine goodness! Since the Son said, "All things have been delivered to me by my Father," we know that the Father did not deny him the knowledge of this day. If anything was denied him, he could not have said that all things were delivered to him. But because the Son has handed on to us everything the Father gave him and the Word of God does not contain in himself as much assurance of the future as of things already accomplished, therefore it was established by God that the date of the end should be indefinite. Thus he could allow us an abundant amount of time for repentance yet still keep us solicitous for fear of the uncertain and so as to avoid giving anyone the idea of a particular day by expressing his will. For just as at the time of the flood, in the normal course of our life, in our activities and in our sufferings, that great day will suddenly appear.

And has indeed God the Father denied the knowledge of that day to the Son, when He has declared, All things are committed to me of my Father? (Luke 10:22.) but if any thing has been denied, all things are not committed to Him.

(Ver. 36.) But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, except the Father alone. In some Latin manuscripts, it is added, not even the Son: since in Greek and especially in the exemplars of Adamantius and Pierius, this is not found written, but because it is read in some, it seems worthy of discussion. Arius and Eunomius rejoice, as if the ignorance of the teacher is the glory of the disciples, and they say: One who knows and one who is ignorant cannot be equal. Against whom are these things to be said briefly: When Jesus has done all things, that is, the Word of God: For all things were made through him, and without him was made nothing (John 1:3), in all times, even the day of judgment: by what consequence can he ignore a part of which he knows the whole? This also must be said: What is greater, the knowledge of the Father, or of the judgment? If he knows the greater, how does he not know what is lesser? We have read the scripture. All that belongs to the Father has been handed over to me (Luke 10:22). If all that belongs to the Father also belongs to the Son, then how is it that the Son reserved the knowledge of one day for himself and did not want to share it with the Son? But we must also infer this: If he is ignorant of the last day of times, he is also ignorant of nearly the last, and, looking backward, of all. For it cannot happen that one who is ignorant of the first knows what the second is. Therefore, because we have proven that the Son does not ignore the day of the consummation of all things (God is added in some versions), a reason must be given why he is said to be ignorant. The Apostle writes about the Savior: In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Therefore, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ, but they are hidden. Why are they hidden? After the resurrection, when questioned by the apostles, he answered more explicitly about the day: It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established in His own authority (Acts 1:7). When he says, 'It is not for you to know,' he shows that he himself knows, but it is not expedient for the apostles to know, so that they may always live uncertain about the coming of the Judge, as if every day were a different Judgment Day. Finally, the consistent sermon of the Gospel urges us to understand this same thing, saying that only the Father knows: in the Father he includes the Son. For every father, the name of the son is.

In some Latin copies is added here, "neither the Son:" but in the Greek copies, and particularly those of Adamantius and Pierius, it is not foundh But because it is read in some, it seems to require our notice.

Whereat Arius and Eunomius rejoice greatly; for say they, He who knows and He who is ignorant cannot be both equal. Against these we answer shortly; Seeing that Jesus, that is, The Word of God, made all times, (for By him all things were made, and without him was not any thing made that was made,) (John 1:3.) and that the day of judgment must be in all time, by what reasoning can He who knows the whole be shown to be ignorant of a part? This we will further say; Which is the greater, the knowledge of the Father, or the knowledge of the judgment? If He knows the greater, how can He be ignorant of the less?

Having then shown that the Son of God cannot be ignorant of the day of the consummation, we must now show a cause why He should be said to be ignorant. When after the resurrection He is demanded concerning this day by the Apostles, He answers more openly; It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in his own power. (Acts 1:7.) Wherein He shows that Himself knows, but that it was not expedient for the Apostles to know, that being in uncertainty of the coming of their Judge, they should live every day as though they were to be judged that day.

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." By saying, not the angels, He stopped their mouths, that they should not seek to learn what these angels know not; and by saying, "neither the Son," forbids them not only to learn, but even to inquire. For in proof that therefore He said this, see after His resurrection, when He saw they were become over curious, how He stopped their mouths more decidedly. For now indeed He hath mentioned infallible signs, many and endless; but then He saith merely, "It is not for you to know times or seasons." And then that they might not say, we are driven to perplexity, we are utterly scorned, we are not held worthy so much as of this, He says, "which the Father hath put in His own power." And this, because He was exceedingly careful to honor them, and to conceal nothing from them. Therefore He refers it to His Father, both to make the thing awful, and to exclude that of which He had spoken from their inquiry.

Since if it be not this, but He is ignorant of it, when will He know it? Will it be together with us? But who would say this? And the Father He knoweth clearly, even as clearly as He knoweth the Son; and of the day is He ignorant? Moreover, "the Spirit indeed searcheth even the deep things of God," and doth not He know so much as the time of the judgment? But how He ought to judge He knoweth, and of the secrets of each He hath a full perception; and what is far more common than that, of this could He be ignorant? And how, if "all things were made by Him, and without Him was not even one thing made," was He ignorant of the day? For He who made the worlds, it is quite plain that He made the times also; and if the times, even that day. How then is He ignorant of that which He made?

And ye indeed say that ye know even His substance, but that the Son not even the day, the Son, who is always in the bosom of the Father; and yet His substance is much greater than the days, even infinitely greater. How then, while assigning to yourselves the greater things, do you not allow even the less to the Son, "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." But neither do you know what God is in His substance, though ten thousand times ye talk thus madly, neither is the Son ignorant of the day, but is even in full certainty thereof.

For this cause, I say, when He had told all things, both the times and the seasons, and had brought it to the very doors ("for it is near," He saith, "even at the doors"), He was silent as to the day. For if thou seek after the day and hour, thou shall not hear them of me, saith He; but if of times and preludes, without hiding anything, I will tell thee all exactly.

For that indeed I am not ignorant of it, I have shown by many things; having mentioned intervals, and all the things that are to occur, and how short from this present time until the day itself (for this did the parable of the fig tree indicate), and I lead thee to the very vestibule; and if I do not open unto thee the doors, this also I do for your good.

But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone.

These words seem to refute those who promise that they can comprehend the consummation and destruction of the world and who declare "as though the day of the Lord were at hand" — such as certain people are said to have been at Thessalonica in the time of the Apostle, of whom he writes: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him, that you be not soon moved from your mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as though from us, as though the day of the Lord were at hand." Perhaps because among the Jews there were certain persons professing, whether through the scriptures, that they knew of the times of the consummation or of hidden things, therefore he writes these things, teaching his disciples that they should believe no one who professes such things. And the Savior, according to this passage, joins himself to those who are ignorant of that day and hour. And it must reasonably be asked how he who is confident that he knows the Father, saying: "No one knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son shall will to reveal him", knows the Father indeed, yet does not know the day and hour of the consummation, and why the Father hid this from the Son. For there must certainly be some reason why the time of the consummation is hidden even from the Savior and why he is ignorant concerning it.

But someone will dare to say that the man who exists according to the Savior is understood to be advancing "in wisdom and stature and grace before God and men", who in advancing did indeed advance above all in knowledge and wisdom, yet not so that there had already come to him that which was perfect, before he fulfilled his own dispensation. It is therefore no wonder if this alone he did not know out of all things, that is, the day and hour of the consummation.

But perhaps also, when he said that he did not know the day and hour of the consummation, he said this before his dispensation, because no one knows, neither the angels nor the Son, but the Father alone; but after his dispensation was fulfilled he by no means said this, after "God highly exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name".

For afterward the Son too came to know it, receiving knowledge from the Father even concerning the day of the consummation and the hour, so that now not only the Father might know concerning it but also the Son. And indeed in the Acts of the Apostles the apostles "coming together questioned him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? But he said to them: It is not for you to know the times or the moments which the Father hath set in his own power". And since he "set in his own power the times and moments" of the consummation of the world and of the restitution of the kingdom of Israel, therefore what had not yet been predefined by God no one could know. But each of the things which he predefines, he does not predefine from anything inexperienced (for this is impossible); but what he predefines, he predefines by making a beginning of predefining. And if this is so, he predefined indeed to bring about the consummation of the world, but he did not also predefine the "times and moments which he set in his own power", so that, if he wished to increase them, judging thus he might increase them, but if to shorten them, he might shorten them, no one knowing it. And therefore he set the times and moments of the consummation of the world in his own power, so that accordingly he might determine the due judgment for the human race (established in its own free will) acting in this way or that. Many things too are to be found in the prophets, written for the benefit of the hearers, in precepts and denunciations, as though God were not predefining anything about them, but punishing indeed if they should sin, and saving if they should keep the precepts. And just as in those cases the scripture did not introduce God as predefining, but as speaking forth according to the benefit of the hearers, so is it to be understood also concerning the day of the consummation and the hour.

Another explanation (which is more famous than those which have already been set forth) says something else about that which is written neither the Son, but the Father alone.

The Apostle, it says, speaks somewhere concerning the Savior and concerning the matters to be ordered at the end of the age in this manner: "But when all things shall be subjected to him, then shall the Son himself also be subject to him who subjected all things to himself, that God may be all in all."

By these words he seems to show that, before he subjected all things to him, he was not subject "to him who subjected all things to himself": which is demonstrated from this, that unless the Son had been subject to the Father, who subjected all things to himself, the Father would never have subjected all things to him.

And through these words he seems to say that the subjection of the Son becomes the subjection of all who were to be subjected to him, and their coming through the Son to God and to perfection.

If, then, this is rightly said concerning the future subjection of the Son to the Father — that then those who are to be Christ's and shall have cleaved to him may, together with Christ himself, be subjected to the Father — why shall we not likewise expound also that no one knows of that day and hour, neither the Son?

For as long as the Church, which is the body of Christ, does not know that day and hour, so long is the Son himself also said not to know that day and hour, so that he is understood to know then, when all his members shall have come to know it. And it is rightly said "to know" according to its proper signification, as is the custom of the scriptures. What is it to know? That he shall come to know that day and hour who shall arrive at the end and shortening of that day and hour.

But that "to know" and "to recognize" have some such signification in the scriptures is manifest from that which is said in Ecclesiastes in this manner: "He who keeps the commandment shall not know an evil word", that is, shall not experience an evil word. And in the Apostle it is said concerning the Savior himself: "Him who knew not sin, he made sin for us".

And he called the Savior one not knowing sin, as though he were to say one who did not sin nor was in the nature of sin.

It signifies something of this kind, that also which it says: "Adam knew Eve his wife".

For as long as she had not been joined to him, he did not know her.

And therefore no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son of God, the day of such a consummation and destruction of the age, since God provides better for the saints, that they may come to be together in the blessedness which is to be after the day and hour of that consummation. And just as it is written among the Hebrews concerning those who have testimony in faith, that "all these, having been attested through faith, did not receive the promise of God, God providing some better thing concerning us, that they should not be perfected without us", so is it to be known also in this matter, that, since God foresaw some better thing concerning those who were to be saved, they have not yet received the promise, who did not come to know concerning that day and hour, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son. For the Son prepares the knowledge of that day and hour for the coheirs of that promise, from the time that "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant", working out the way that leads to the restitution of all things, for whose sake he took "the form of a servant"; that all may together know (that is, may in the very reality experience) that hour and day, for "what eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and hath not ascended upon the heart of man, God hath prepared for those who love him" training and preparing in the knowledge of prior things every one whom he wills to know that day and hour together with the holy angels and with our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And the consummation of each single one, which is to be in these certain things aforesaid, and concerning individuals, the Father alone knows: since the Son, accompanying and going before those who follow after, and calling (so to speak), is to come, and delays. So that those who strive to follow him may be able to follow him, and, following him, may be found with him in that day and hour.

Otherwise; So long as the Church which is Christ's body knows not that day and hour, so long the Son Himself is said not to know that day and hour. The word know is used according to its proper usual meaning in Scripture. The Apostle speaks of Christ, as him who knew no sin, (2 Cor. 5:21.) i. e. sinned not. The knowledge of that day and hour the Son reserves in store for the fellow-heirs of the promise, that all may know at once, i. e. in the day when it shall come upon them, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor. 2:9.)

I have read also in some one's book, that the Son here is not to be taken of the Only-begotten, but of the adopted, for that He would not have put the Angels before the Only-begotten Son, saying, Not the Angels of heaven, neither the Son.i

And Mark has the addition. (Mark 13:32.)

He also introduces a parable of the mission to the vineyard of the Son (not the Father), who was sent after so many servants, and slain by the husbandmen, and avenged by the Father. He is also ignorant of the last day and hour, which is known to the Father only. He awards the kingdom to His disciples, as He says it had been appointed to Himself by the Father.

Here He teaches the disciples not to seek to know things that exceed human knowledge. By saying "not the angels," He restrains them from seeking to learn now that which even the angels do not know. By saying "My Father only," He also prevents them from seeking to learn thereafter. For if He had said, "I know, but I do not wish to tell you," they would have been grieved as though He had disdained them. But now by saying, "Not even the Son knows, but My Father only," He prevents them from asking. It is like a father who will often hold something in his hands and when his children ask for it and he does not want to give it, he hides it and says, "I do not have what you are asking for," and so the children stop crying for it. So too the Lord says, "Even I do not know, but My Father only," in order to put an end to the desire of the apostles to know the day and the hour. That He Himself does know that day and hour is clear from many other things. All that the Father has, belongs to the Son. As the Father has knowledge of the hour, so the Son surely has the same knowledge. It is even more clear from this: how is it possible for the Son to be ignorant of the day, when He knows the things that precede the day, that is, the signs that He has just foretold? For he who has lead another into the vestibule surely knows where the door is as well. But it was for their good that Christ did not open it. For it is never to our benefit to know the time of the end, lest we become lazy. Not knowing, we remain alert.

But of that day and hour no one knows. In this part he determines the uncertainty of the time. And regarding this he does two things. First, he sets forth the uncertainty of the time; secondly, he urges vigilance by a similitude; thirdly, he shows the future outcome. He says, they shall see the Son of man. You say this indeterminately; tell us determinately if it is true. But of that day and hour no one knows, not the angels of heaven. What he says about the angels of heaven is clear, and it presents no great difficulty, because there is natural knowledge in them, and this does not extend except to those things that happen according to the course of nature; but the judgment will not happen except according to the will of God. Likewise, there is another knowledge, the knowledge of glory, and in this they know only as much as the Lord wills to reveal, and this he has kept to himself; Malachi 3:2: Behold, the Lord shall come, and who shall be able to know his coming? 1 Thessalonians 5:2: The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. But there is a question here, according to Jerome, because Mark 13:26 says: nor even the Son of man; from which Arius seems to confirm his heresy, because if the Father knows what the Son does not know, then the Father is greater than the Son. Therefore it can be said that the Son knows, and that the day of judgment is determined according to a certain plan, and whatever is determined by God is determined by his eternal Word; therefore it is impossible that the Word should not know. But why is he said not to know? Augustine and Jerome say that it is a customary manner of speaking to say that someone does not know something when he does not make it known; just as it is said in Genesis 22:12: Now I know that you fear God, i.e., I have made it known. Therefore the Son is said not to know because he does not make it known. In another way, Origen says that Christ and the Church are like head and body, because just as head and body are like one person, so Christ and the Church. But Christ sometimes takes the form of the Church, as in Psalm 21:2: O God, my God, look upon me. Hence what is said, that Christ does not know, is understood to mean that the Church does not know; hence the Lord says in Acts 1:7: It is not for you to know the times or moments etc. Note that Augustine says that the Lord wished to show by certain signs that the coming of the judgment cannot be known determinately, because he does not determine any particular time. The proof says that it cannot be known, because as it is with the ages of man, so it is with the ages of the world. Hence just as the last age of man does not have a fixed term but sometimes extends more than the others, so also it must be said of the last part of the world, that it does not have a fixed term and could last longer than all the other parts.

(Verse 37 onwards) Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. It is asked how the following is written: For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes; and now they should remember those things that are signs of peace. But it is to be considered, according to the Apostle, that after wars, and strife, and plagues, and famines, and earthquakes, and other things by which the human race is devastated, peace will soon follow, which promises tranquility to all, so that the faith of believers may be confirmed, whether they may hope that the judge will come after the evils have been completed. For this is what we read in Paul: When they shall say, peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as the pain of a woman in labor, and they shall not escape (I Thess. V, 3).

It is asked here, how it was said above, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, &c. when here only tokens of peace are spoken of as what shall be then? We must suppose, that after the wars and the other miseries which shall waste the human race, shall follow a short peace, offering rest and quiet to approve the faith of the believers.

And that thou mayest learn by another thing also, that the silence is not a mark of ignorance on His part, see, together with what we have mentioned, how He sets forth another sign also. "But as in the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that the flood came, and took all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." And these things He spake, showing that He should come on a sudden, and unexpectedly, and when the more part were living luxuriously. For Paul too saith this, writing on this wise, "When they shall speak of peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them;" and to show how unexpected, He said, "as travail upon a woman with child." How then doth He say, "after the tribulation of those days?" For if there be luxury then, and peace, and safety, as Paul saith, how doth He say, "after the tribulation of those days?" If there be luxury, how is there tribulation? Luxury for them that are in a state of insensibility and peace. Therefore He said not, when there is peace, but "when they speak of peace and safety," indicating their insensibility to be such as of those in Noah's time, for that amid such evils they lived in luxury.

But not so the righteous, but they were passing their time in tribulation and dejection. Whereby He shows, that when Antichrist is come, the pursuit of unlawful pleasures shall be more eager among the transgressors, and those that have learnt to despair of their own salvation. Then shall be gluttony, then revellings, and drunkenness. Wherefore also most of all He puts forth an example corresponding to the thing. For like as when the ark was making, they believed not, saith He; but while it was set in the midst of them, proclaiming beforehand the evils that are to come, they, when they saw it, lived in pleasure, just as though nothing dreadful were about to take place; so also now, Antichrist indeed shall appear, after whom is the end, and the punishments at the end, and vengeance intolerable; but they that are held by the intoxication of wickedness shall not so much as perceive the dreadful nature of the things that are on the point of being done. Wherefore also Paul saith, "as travail upon a woman with child," even so shall those fearful and incurable evils come upon them.

And wherefore did He not speak of the ills in Sodom? It was His will to introduce an example embracing all men, and disbelieved after it was foretold. So therefore, as by the more part the things to come are disbelieved, He confirms those things by the past, terrifying their minds. And together with the points I have mentioned, He shows this also, that of the former things also He was the doer.

For as it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For those who understand the plain text of the present words, whether they wish to understand it spiritually or simply, it is consistent to say concerning the consummation of this world that "it shall come suddenly," like one who has already fallen sick beforehand with a sickness fit to make manifest his coming corruption. For this is shown especially from what he says, that the coming of the Son of man will be like the days of Noah; for then all things that were upon the earth suddenly perished. But whoever wishes to say that the consummation of the world will happen gradually will say that likewise it happened in the days of Noah. For with the rain descending for forty days and forty nights, it followed that those first perished who dwelt in the lower parts of the earth, and after them those who dwelt somewhat in the higher parts, and thus last of all those who dwelt in the highest mountains. So too (he says) in the consummation of the world, when the fire has descended, it will indeed begin from the more elevated places and gradually descend to the lower. But Luke, subjoining also the similitude of the fire of Sodom, gives us occasion to understand that the consummation is to come suddenly. But someone will say that by this it is declared that that rain, or that fire, did not happen according to the order of nature, but on account of the abundance of the sins of men.

In two ways, then, is the coming corruption of the world reckoned: in one way according to a natural descent of fire, in another according to the judgment of God. But the Gentiles do not say that those sins were the burning, or the cause of that burning, but that it was the power of fire. The divine discourses, however, teach that all things are held and governed by God, and they do not blame the violence of fire, but proclaim it the will of God — of God who saves upon the earth those who are worthy of salvation in it, but destroys those in whom, on account of the abundance of iniquity, "charity grows cold." For the comparison with the fire of Sodom teaches most manifestly that the corruption of the world will be sudden. This is clear from what the angel said to Lot: "behold, I have admired your face in this word, that I will not destroy the city of which you have spoken; hasten therefore to be saved there; for I cannot do anything until you go thither." You see that that fire which was sent upon Sodom was held back by the divine will, until Lot entered into Zoar. So I think it will be also in the consummation (according as Lot too was saved), that then that fire of the consummation will lay hold of the world according to the judgment of God, when the saved righteous shall shine "as the sun in the kingdom of their Father": then "they will gather the wicked out of the kingdom of Christ and cast them into the furnace of fire."

For how is it not manifest that the corruption of the world will be sudden, from what he says: they will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, which are signs of peace and security? For famines and pestilences will perhaps be some time before the consummation; but around the consummation itself there will be neither famine nor war. And how are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, planting and building, buying and selling to be understood, unless it is so ordered? But this too makes it manifest, what the Apostle says: "that the day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night. When they shall say: peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as the pain of childbirth upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape"; for he teaches us that the day of consummation will come upon men suddenly and unexpectedly, when the state of things shall seem to have been turned as it were for the better — from the former famine to abundance, from pestilence and battles to peace and security.

But those who hear the Gospel more deeply and do all things so that the Gospel may be in no part at all veiled to them, do not much care about the general consummation of the age, whether it is to be sudden and general or by parts; but they consider only this, that the consummation of each single person happens without his knowing either the day or the hour of his own departure, and that upon each one of us "the day of the Lord will so come as a thief." On which account it is needful to watch, whether in the evening (that is, in youth) or at midnight (that is, in the midst of dark human life) or at cockcrow (when one is now older) or in the morning (when one is now in advanced old age), so that when God the Word comes bringing the consummation of the setting-out of this life, he may be found who did not give "sleep to his eyes" nor "slumber to his eyelids," and who kept the commandment of him who says: "watch at all times." Yet all are vain, whether those who profess to know the consummation of the world, when it will be, or those who boast that they know the end of their own life, seduced either by the signs of birds or by ventriloquists or by magicians, and thinking to know the day and hour of their own departure. For as it is, no one can know, unless perhaps he be some prophet illumined by the Holy Spirit — like him who prophesied to the king's wife who wished to know whether her son would rise from his infirmity, and like Elijah who prophesied to Ahaziah, saying what had been determined for him by the Lord: "thus says the Lord: because there was no God in Israel, do you go to seek unto Baal the fly, the god of Ekron? not so; the bed upon which you have gone up, you shall not come down from it, for you shall surely die."

These things, even though we have said them in a digression, we have nevertheless introduced as useful, since concerning the consummation of each single person also (that is, concerning the day of his departure) no one can know — although many profess to know such things — except perhaps those who have heard from the prophets. I know also another consummation of the righteous man, who with apostolic advancement can say: "but far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world." For to him to whom the world is crucified, for him in a certain way the consummation of the world has already come; and he who is dead to worldly things, to him (having passed over days not of the Lord) there comes the day of the Lord, on which the coming of the Son of man takes place upon his soul, because he now no longer lives to sin and to the world.

As confirmation of the truth of His words, He draws upon the events that occurred at the time of Noah. Just as then there were those who scoffed at the construction of the ark until the disaster came upon them and destroyed them all; so now there are those who scoff at these words concerning the end. But, Christ says, the destruction will come upon them suddenly. He shows that when the Antichrist comes, men will be giving themselves over to pleasure, reclining at weddings and feasts in a most arrogant manner, just as the giants did in the time of Noah (Gen. 6:5).

But as in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Above the Lord set forth the uncertainty of the hour of his coming; now he adds a similitude. And first he sets it forth; secondly, he expounds it, at for as in the days before the flood etc. Moreover, he sets forth a fitting similitude, because while speaking of the end of the world, he rested on the end of the world. He therefore sets forth another similitude. For we read of a twofold destruction. One by water; 2 Peter 2:5: And spared not the original world, but preserved Noah, the eighth person, the preacher of justice, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. Hence it is said quite fittingly, because the first destruction was for cutting off carnal sins; hence it is said in Genesis 6:2: The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose. Therefore, against the ardor of this concupiscence the destruction had to be by water. But at the end of the world there will be sin, because charity will grow cold, as was said above; therefore fire will fittingly be the punishment. Hence he says, as in the time of Noah, namely, that the end was uncertain, as is found in Genesis 6:13: The end of all flesh is come before me. Hence just as those who clung to Noah were saved, so at the coming of the Son of man, those who will cling to Christ the Son will be saved.

Marriage and meats in themselves are not here condemned, as the error of Marcion and Manichæus teaches; for in the one the continuation of the species, in the other that of life, depends; but what is reproved is an unrestrained use of things lawful.

Secondly, he expounds this similitude regarding the uncertainty: for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking etc. In these words he seems to touch upon two things: namely, despair about the future coming, and its cause. Now the cause why a man does not hope for the future coming is that he is absorbed in the cares of the flesh, since he walks according to its concupiscences; James 5:5: You have feasted upon earth and in your luxuries you have nourished your hearts. Therefore they will devote themselves to debauchery, which has two parts, namely, in reveling and drunkenness, in debauchery and wantonness, Romans 13:13. Regarding the first he says, eating and drinking: not that eating and drinking is a sin, but to place one's end therein is a sin. Regarding the second he says, marrying and giving in marriage etc.

And there follows, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away, namely, those who did not cling to Noah, who was a figure of Christ. So shall also the coming of the Son of man be. But it is said in Luke 21:26: Men withering away for fear. And above in this same chapter it says that the sun shall be darkened. How then will men be secure enough to eat and indulge in luxury? There is a twofold answer. Jerome says that it is true that around the times of the Antichrist there will be many tribulations, and this for the testing of the elect; and afterward they will be restored to tranquility, and in that tranquility the wicked will devote themselves to pleasure. Hence Luke speaks according to the state of tribulation, but Matthew according to the time that will immediately precede the coming of God. Likewise in another way, because some are good, some wicked. And universally the Church will suffer tribulation, and the good will be punished by the wicked; hence it is said above at 10:22: You shall be hated by all men for my name's sake. Hence those who will suffer will be the good; but those who will carry out these tribulations will be the wicked. Therefore what is said here, eating and drinking etc., is understood regarding the wicked; but what is said in Luke, men withering away for fear, is understood regarding the good. Or thus: since it frequently happens that the good are corrected through tribulation but the wicked are not, therefore the wicked will wither away, but the good will not.

Then there shall be two men in the field, one is taken, and one is left; two women shall be grinding at the mill, one is taken, and one, is left; as if He said those in the field, namely, all those that are in the world whether rich or poor or middle-class, that is to say whatever be their rank in life, whosoever is found worthy is taken into heaven; but if he be not worthy, he is left upon the earth. Then when He speaks of those grinding at the millstone, He means those that are bond-servants, and such of those bond-servants as are found worthy are taken into heaven, while those that are unworthy are left upon the earth. By His using the masculine form in the first instance, and then the feminine form afterwards, He has indicated the difference of sex.

Christ shows that a judgment is coming, since between two people in a field, one is taken up and one left behind. Between two grinding at the mill, one is chosen and one rejected. Between two lying in bed, one departs and one remains. This teaching means that the separation of the faithful from the unfaithful will consist in one being accepted and the other abandoned. For, like the prophet says, when the wrath of God rises, the saints will be hidden in God's chambers but the faithless will be left exposed to celestial fire. The two in the field therefore represent the faithful and the unfaithful, both of whom will be surprised by the day of the Lord in the midst of the world, in the course of their life's work. They will be separated, one taken and the other left. It will be the same for the two grinding at the mill, which represents the work of the law. For only some of the Jews, like Elijah, believed through the apostles that they must be justified by faith. One group will be taken up through the faith that produces good works, and the other group will be abandoned in the fruitless works of the law, grinding in vain at a mill that will never produce heavenly food. The two lying in bed are proclaiming the repose of the Lord after his Passion, which both Catholics and heretics confess alike. But because the truth of the Catholic faith preaches the unity of the Father and the Son, which we call their deity, whereas the false doctrine of heretics attacks this unity with many different insults, one of the two lying in bed will be taken up but the other will be left behind. For by accepting one and rejecting the other, God's judgment will prove the merit of each confession.

Or, the two in the field, are the two people of believers and unbelievers, whom the day of the Lord shall overtake, as it were in the labours of this life. And they shall be separated, one being taken and the other left; this shows the separation that shall be between believers and unbelievers; when God's wrath is kindled, the saints shall be gathered into His garner, and the unbelievers shall be left as fuel for the fire from heaven. The same is the account to be given of that, Two shall be grinding at the mill. The mill is the work of the Law, but as some of the Jews believed through the Apostles, so some shall believe through Elias, and be justified through faith; and one part shall be taken through this same faith of good works, the other part shall be left unfruitful in the work of the Law, grinding in vain, and never to produce the bread of heavenly food.

(Verse 40, 41.) Then there will be two in the field: one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken, and one will be left. Then, He said, there will be two in the field, when, at the time of the consummation and judgment, two will be found in the field having the same labor and almost the same sowing, but not receiving the fruits of labor equally. Two women grinding together will also be there: one will be taken, and one will be left. In the two who reside in the field, and in the two who grind together, understand either the Synagogue and the Church, which seem to grind together in the Law, and to grind the flour of God's precepts from the same Scriptures, or the other heresies, which seem to grind the flour of their doctrines from either Testament or from the other, and when they have the same Christian name as their purpose, they will not receive the same reward: some being chosen, and others being left behind.

Or, Two men in one field shall be found performing the same labour, sowing corn together, but not reaping the same fruit of their labour.

Then again He sets another sign, by all which things He makes it evident, that He is not ignorant of the day. And what is the sign? "Then shall two be in the field; one shall be taken, and one left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken, and one left. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." And all these things are both proofs that He knew, and calculated to turn them from their inquiry. So for this cause He spake also of the days of Noah, for this cause He said too, "Two shall be on the bed," signifying this, that He should come upon them thus unexpectedly, when they were thus without thought, and "two women grinding at the mill," which also of itself is not the employment of them that are taking thought.

And together with this, He declares that as well servants as masters should be both taken and left, both those who are at ease, and those in toil, as well from the one rank as from the other; even as in the Old Testament He saith, "From him that sitteth upon the throne to the captive woman that is at the mill." For since He had said, that hardly are the rich saved, He shows that not even these are altogether lost, neither are the poor saved all of them, but both out of these and out of those are men saved, and lost.

And to me He seems to declare, that at night will be the advent. For this Luke too saith. Seest thou how accurately He knows all things?

Then two will be in the field, one is taken and the other left: two women grinding at the mill, one is taken and the other left; two in one bed, one is taken and the other left (24, 40. 41).

Just as in that which he says: "either make the tree bad and its fruit bad, or the tree good and its fruit good," there are two trees in general in the hearts of men, either the good tree of virtue or the bad tree of malice: so, for him to whom "the world is a field" according to a certain parable, there are two in general in it, the one indeed like Noah "a worker of the earth," the other however like Cain "working the earth." When such men have been set in the field of this world, one is taken, that is, he who is like Noah "a worker of the earth"; and the other is left, that is, he who is like Cain "working the earth." And such is "everyone who hates his brother," and on account of hatred of his brother he is called "a murderer" by the apostle John.

So too, concerning souls grinding at the heavy mill of the world or of the body, the good one indeed is taken, but the bad one is left, until it is made worthy to be taken. Or thus: two in the field, the mind of the good man and the mind of the bad man; the good mind is taken, the bad one is left.

For neither can we say that the spirit of the bad man is not taken, since I have learned from Ecclesiastes concerning every spirit that "it returns to God who gave it," just as also concerning all flesh that it returns to the earth from which it was taken; and just as the Lord himself taught us, that we should fear "him who is able to destroy body and soul in hell," and (by the fact that he said nothing about the spirit) he clearly showed that the spirit is not punished together with the sinful body or soul. For he who has sinned is divided, and one part indeed "of him is placed with the unbelievers," but that which is not his own "returns to God who gave it."

Two in one bed, one is taken and the other is left. Besides those who are two in the field and besides those who are two at the mill, there are two bodies in one matter, of which bodies the one is the body of a just man, which is taken, but the other is the body of an unjust man, of the same matter, which is left. And the body, being as it were weak, is in the bed of carnal passions, even though it is taken; but the soul, because of the many things which it endures in this world, grinds at the mill of the world: but the sense in the field, according to the things we have said, works the things that it works.

Or otherwise; The body is laid as sick on the bed of carnal passions, the soul grinds in the mill of this world, and the bodily senses labour in the field of the world.

Or, these words denote three orders in the Church. The two men in the field (prædicatores.) denote the order of preachers, to whom is committed the field of the Church; by the two grinding at the mill, (conjugati.) the order of the married priests, who while with a divided heart they are called first to one side, then to the other, do, as it were, ever turn round a mill; by the two in one bed, (continentes.) the order of the continent, whose repose is signified by the bed. But in all these orders are good and bad, righteous and unrighteous, so that some shall be taken, and some left.

Then, He says, when everyone is heedless and engaged in their own work, "the one shall be taken," that is, the righteous man shall be taken to meet the Lord in the air, while the other, that is to say, the sinner, is left behind. Even from among those who are servants and laborers who grind at the mill, the worthy are taken while the unworthy are left. From this we learn that no one, whether servant or woman, is hindered from acquiring virtue.

Then two shall be in the field: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. In this part he sets forth the outcome of this uncertainty. And what will it be? It will happen that men engaged in the same occupation, one will be taken and the other left. And this can be expounded, according to Chrysostom, as meaning nothing other than that in every condition of men and every occupation some will be reprobate and some elect: those who are good will be taken; those who are wicked will be left. How? As was said above at 13:41, because angels will come and take up the good, namely, to Christ. Likewise, some live in luxury, and some exercise certain occupations. Likewise, among laborers some occupations pertain to men, some to women; the labor of men is properly in the fields. Then two shall be in one field, literally, namely, laboring; one shall be taken, as one of the elect, and the other shall be left, as one of the reprobate.

This can also be expounded allegorically, and this is the exposition of Hilary. By the field the world is signified, as was said above. By the two men, the people of the faithful and the unfaithful. Of these, one shall be taken, namely, the people of the faithful; the other shall be left, namely, the unfaithful.

The two grinding together we may understand either of the Synagogue and the Church, which seem to grind together in the Law, and to make of the same Scriptures meal of the commandments of God; or of other heresies, which out of both or one Testament, seem to grind meal of their own doctrines.

Likewise, two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. This is the occupation of women. It used to be that women did the grinding, and he speaks according to the custom of the land where there is no water; and now grinding is done with horses or with men, but then it was the work of women; Isaiah 47:2: Take a millstone and grind meal. Hence two shall be grinding, i.e., exercising their occupation. And then, one shall be taken, expounded as above.

Likewise, two shall be in one bed: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. Chrysostom says that the rich do not labor but rest; therefore they are represented by those who lie in bed; and of these, one shall be taken and the other left.

This can also be expounded allegorically. The old law is signified by the mill, which is heavy and burdensome; Acts 15:10: This is a burden which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear etc. And of those who accept the old law, some accept Christ and some do not. All those are said to grind at the mill who accept the old law; and those indeed are taken who accept the old law together with the new; but those who do not are left. Likewise, those who accept Christ are like those lying in bed, because by the bed is signified the memory of the passion; and of such, some are taken and some are left: for some conform themselves to the passion through good works, and some do not. It can be expounded in another way, so that it refers to three states of the faithful; because there are three kinds of men: some contemplative, some prelates, some active. No state is so secure that some will not be condemned in it. The state of contemplation is signified by the bed. Of this it says in Song of Songs 1:15: Our bed is flourishing; and yet some in this state are condemned. The state of the active is signified by those grinding at the mill, because they bear a burden, and they are anxious; Luke 10:41: Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Hence they are wrapped up in worldly affairs; and therefore among them some are condemned. By the field, into which men go out to labor, are signified the prelates; Song of Songs 7:11: Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field. And among such, some are taken and some are left.

(Ep. 199, 3.) He said this Watch, not to those only who heard Him speak at the time, but to those who came after them, and to us, and to all who shall be after us, until His second coming, for it touches all in a manner. That day comes to each one of us, when it comes to him to go out of the world, such as he shall be judged, and therefore ought every Christian to watch that the Lord's coming may not find him unprepared; and he will be unprepared for the day of His coming, whom the last day of his life shall find unprepared.

(non occ.) Foolish are all they, who either profess to know the day of the end of the world, when it is to come, or even the end of their own life, which no one can know unless he is illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

His teaching on the subject quite clearly consisted of three propositions. One, that He will certainly return. Two, that we cannot possibly find out when. Three, and that therefore we must always be ready for Him. Note the therefore. Only because we cannot predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments. Our Lord repeated this practical conclusion again and again, as if the promise of the return had been made for the sake of this conclusion alone.

Watch, watch, is the burden of His advice. I shall come like a thief. You will not, I most solemnly assure you, you will not see Me approaching. If the householder had known at what time the burglar would arrive, he would have been ready for him. If the servant had known when his absent employer would come home, he would not have been found drunk in the kitchen. But they didn't, nor will you. Therefore you must be ready at all times.

The point is surely simple enough. The schoolboy does not know which part of his Virgil lesson he will be made to translate. That is why he must be prepared to translate any passage. The sentry does not know at what time an enemy will attack, or an officer inspect his post. That is why he must keep awake all the time.

The return is wholly unpredictable. There will be wars and rumors of wars, and all kinds of catastrophes, as there always are. Things will be, in that sense, normal, the hour before the heavens roll up like a scroll. You cannot guess it. If you could, one chief purpose for which it was foretold would be frustrated. And God's purposes are not so easily frustrated as that. One's ears should be closed against any future William Miller in advance. The folly of listening to him at all is almost equal to the folly of believing him. He couldn't know what he pretends, or thinks he knows.

Of this folly George MacDonald has written well. Do those, he asks, who say, lo here or lo there are the signs of his coming, think to be too keen for him, and spy his approach? When he tells them to watch, lest he find them neglecting their work, they stare this way and that, and watch lest he should succeed in coming like a thief. Obedience is the one key of life.

The doctrine of the second coming has failed, so far as we are concerned, if it does not make us realize that at every moment of every day in our lives Don's question, 'What if this present were the world's last night?'...

What is important is not that we should always fear or hope about the end, but that we should always remember, always take it into account. An analogy may help here. A man of seventy need not be always feeling, much less talking, about his approaching death. But a wise man of seventy should always take it into account.

(Hom. in Ev. ii, 3.) To watch is to keep the eyes open, and looking out for the true light, to do and to observe that which one believes, to cast away the darkness of sloth and negligence.

(Verse 42, 43.) Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming. But understand this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Clearly, he is showing why he said earlier: But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only: because it is not expedient for the apostles to know, so that they may always believe he is coming in uncertain expectation, whom they do not know when he is coming. And he did not say, because we do not know at what hour the Lord will come; but you do not know. And by giving the example of the father of the family, why he keeps silent about the day of the end, he teaches more clearly, saying:

Therefore, you also must be ready, for you do not know at what hour the Son of Man will come. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. He further emphasizes and repeats why he did not predict the day of judgment and hour to the angels or himself, but only to the Father, because it is not fitting for the apostles to know; and he uses the example of a householder, that is, himself and faithful servants, that is, the apostles, to encourage their anxious minds, so that they may provide spiritual nourishment to their fellow servants at the proper time.

Having declared that of that hour knoweth no man, but the Father only, He shows that it was not expedient for the Apostles to know, that being ignorant they might live in perpetual expectation of His coming, and thus concluding the whole, He says, Watch therefore, &c. And He does not say, 'Because we know not,' but Because ye know not, showing that He Himself is not ignorant of the day of judgment.

After this again, that they may not ask about it, He added, "Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." He said not, "I know not," but, "ye know not." For when He had brought them well nigh to the very hour, and had placed them there, again He deters them from the inquiry, from a desire that they should be striving always. Therefore He saith, "Watch," showing that for the sake of this, He did not tell it.

"But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh."

For this intent He tells them not, in order that they may watch, that they may be always ready; therefore He saith, When ye look not for it, then He will come, desiring that they should be anxiously waiting, and continually in virtuous action.

But His meaning is like this: if the common sort of men knew when they were to die, they would surely strive earnestly at that hour.

In order therefore that they may strive, not at that hour only, therefore He tells them not either the common hour, or the hour of each, desiring them to be ever looking for this, that they may be always striving. Wherefore He made the end of each man's life also uncertain.

After this, He openly calls Himself Lord, having nowhere spoken so distinctly. But here He seems to me also to put to shame the careless, that not even as much care as they that expect a thief have taken for their money, not even this much do these take for their own soul. For they indeed, when they expect it, watch, and suffer none of the things in their house to be carried off; but ye, although knowing that He will come, and come assuredly, continue not watching, saith He, and ready so as not to be carried away hence unprepared. So that the day cometh unto destruction for them that sleep. For as that man, if he had known, would have escaped, so also ye, if ye be ready, escape free.

He would have them ever ready, and therefore He says, Watch.

Watch therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. Not giving "sleep to the eyes" of our soul nor "slumber to the eyelids," so that we may await either our own end or the end of the age, whether that we should depart from this life or that this world should be brought to its consummation for us.

But someone will ask how the Lord, established as present among the disciples, speaks thus, as though not present but about to come, saying to them: watch, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. And the one who is more simple will say that he spoke this discourse concerning the second coming, in which he was to come. But another will say that he was speaking of the intelligible coming of the Word, still to come into the understanding of the disciples, because it was not yet in their understanding in the way it was going to be: since (as he shows through this passage) in those who watch he works the day of his coming in the soul of those who are illumined by the true light of him who comes to their souls.

But know this, that if the householder knew at what watch the thief comes, he would surely watch and would not allow his house to be broken into. How would he not allow it? Without doubt, through his watchfulness. Therefore be you also ready, because at what watch you do not expect it, the Son of Man is to come. But Matthew indeed speaks indefinitely, while Mark even defines the times of the day, as of a thief coming, saying: "watch therefore, for you do not know when the lord of the house will come, at evening or at midnight or at cockcrow or in the morning".

Now the householder is the understanding of the man, and his house is his soul; but the thief, who comes suddenly while the householder sleeps and breaks into the house, is, I think, the devil or every contrary word,

according to what the evangelist John teaches us, saying in this manner: "amen amen I say to you, he who does not enter through the door into the sheepfold but climbs up another way, that man is a thief and a robber". As, therefore, he who "enters through the door into the sheepfold" is "the shepherd of the sheep", for whom "the doorkeeper opens", but "he who does not enter through the door but climbs up another way is a thief and a robber", so the lord of the house enters into it confidently "through the door" when he wills, rewarding the one who watches; but the thief, being a thief, does not enter into the house to the soul of the negligent by the natural entrance, but (as one who has already broken into it)

first destroying certain natural buildings of his soul and natural understandings, in him who has not watched — the things which God the Word had built. And having entered through that very breach, the thief plunders it, disarming the understanding, when, despoiling the householder who does not watch, "he will distribute his spoils".

But sometimes someone catches the thief in the very act of breaking in, and seizing him as one having his own weapons, he strikes the thief, and, confuting the word that breaks in, he kills it, when, though killing, he is not reckoned a murderer, killing it without any delay. But if not in his own presence, yet in the presence of him who makes all hidden things manifest, someone catches him who has stolen his goods, and understands him and refutes him (that is, kills him), he has no pardon, the thief being dead and made manifest: for he too will die.

And see whether perhaps the law of Moses signifies some such thing, saying: "but if the thief is found in the very breaking in and, being struck, dies, there is no bloodguilt for him; but if the sun has risen over him, he is guilty: he shall die for it". For he who, before he does the evil, recognizes the evil and crushes it in himself, is the one who catches and kills it in himself, while it is being broken in upon by it. But he who, after he has done the evil, although he refutes it, is seen to have caught the evil outside himself and to have killed it outside his house — it profits him nothing, for he has been made guilty of death. For after any man has sinned and turned back into himself, the divine understanding which is in us illumines him like a light, so that we may understand that the evil we have committed was to our own condemnation, not to our salvation. Yet in the text of this Gospel of which we are speaking, the thief comes not by day, when the soul of the earnest man has been illumined by the sun of righteousness, but by night and in the time while malice still remains.

And when someone is in this state, it is possible that, even if he does not have the strength of the sun, yet he may be illumined by some slight brightness of the word which is a "lamp",

while still indeed remaining amid evils, yet already having a purpose of better things and a watchfulness, so that his purpose, looking toward better things, may not be broken in upon. For, as we read in the Shepherd, no one quickly tastes full vessels, for they are not easily changed; but the half-full ones, because they are readily believed to be changed, are frequently tasted.

And see whether you can draw to such an understanding that which is written elsewhere: "but let your loins be girded and your lamps burning; and be you like men awaiting their lord, when he shall return"; since he who is not yet in the light and in the day of the virtues, but already offers himself to the teaching that illumines his soul, so far as is possible, is in the first place girded. And turning himself away from the outpouring of malice, he uses not yet, as it were, the clear daylight of virtue, but the lamp by which it is possible for even one who is in malice to be illumined. This one, therefore, whose lamp is thus lit, is one awaiting his lord, God the Word,

that returning he may come to him who meanwhile has had within himself the lamp and has illumined his whole mind, evidently as it were a sun. And each one according to his own progress kindles his lamp either less or more from the light of knowledge, and pours oil into it through meditation, and watching in it against sinful works, hoping through abstinence of this kind and meditation to receive even the lord into himself. Yet to him who progresses more abundantly and forgets the things that are behind, that is, malice, but still having a little of it in himself already draws near to virtue, it is fittingly said: "the night has advanced, but the day has drawn near". And it is to be noted that he did not say: "but the day" is at hand. For it is at hand for the perfect who have in themselves no trace of night; but it draws near for the one progressing toward the better and meditating on the things that are of the day and receiving honorableness as in the day, and it is already near to that man who is such that he may say: "we are not of the night nor of the darkness".

But since we have once come to this passage, we ought also to give an account of the various watches. One person indeed is found keeping watch straightway in the evening itself and continues his watches until midnight, and further still until cockcrow, and still further until morning. For whoever, as soon as he has begun malice — that is, as soon as the infant has begun to bring forth full speech (for from this point he begins to be in malice, which is being in the night) — if he straightway hands himself over so that he becomes both a hearer of the law and a doer of it, "provided he shall have endured unto the end" in that same purpose, he has kept watch from the evening and has continued until midnight and has given neither "sleep to his eyes" nor until cockcrow nor until morning: a man of this kind is reckoned among the blessed servants. But whoever shall have been found, after the time when speech is completed, to pass some part of the night "in revelings and drunkenness and beds and shameless deeds," yet afterward has begun to keep watch — this one too will have good hope if he endures until morning, beginning to keep watch from midnight, that is, from manhood. But if, advanced in the time of his body's age, upon hearing the divine teaching he receives from it a lamp, as though willing to live according to the commandment of God, this one too, having a lamp from cockcrow and keeping watch and enduring until morning, does not lose the reward of good servitude in a short time. And if it is possible, even straightway around the very completion of the night (that is, after malice has consumed almost the whole time of his life), that as a believer he may kindle a lamp for himself and keep watch even in the remaining time — then, if the master of the house comes with his grace, with some indeed he will abide from evening until morning, but with others, enlightening them from midnight for what remains, and with others from cockcrow, dwelling less with them; but neither will he abandon those who in the morning kindle a lamp and keep watch on account of the expectation of the master, but even these, finding them by no means asleep nor attending to "beds and shameless deeds," he will honor them with the honor by which he shall have recognized them to be worthy.

And so the thief too comes at a certain watch and hour of the night and digs through the house of him whom he shall have found not keeping watch nor having a lamp lit. And upon some indeed he comes in the evening, but upon others at midnight, and upon some even at cockcrow, and there are also those upon whom he comes in the morning. And the master too comes at a certain watch and hour of the night, and perhaps the master comes to that man to whom the thief, in coming, could do nothing — namely, not being permitted to dig through the house of the one keeping watch and having a lamp lit. But to him who has his house dug through the master does not come, especially if anyone has learned what was said: "let your loins be girded and your lamps burning; and be yourselves like men awaiting their master", and, despising the things that were said, has given "sleep to his eyes and drowsiness to his eyelids". But to make clear the sense of this passage which has come upon us, let us use such an example: in the time of temptations or of calamities of whatever kind the thief is especially wont to come, wishing to dig through the house of the soul; but when the thief comes, the one who bears the mishaps and endures all things for the love of God, having suffered nothing from him, will straightway see the master coming to him. But whoever shall have had his house dug through by the thief in the time of his calamity will, as unworthy of the coming of his master to him, not be worthy to look upon him.

Those of more plain understanding say, that He spoke this of His second coming; but others would say that it applies to an intellectual coming of the word into the understanding of the disciples, for as yet He was not in their understanding as He was to be.

He bids us to keep vigil and to be ready, that is, to have stored up beforehand deeds of virtue so that when the Lord comes asking for the things that He wants, we will have them to give. See how He did not say, "I know not what hour the thief cometh," but "ye know not." A "thief" is what He names the end of the world as well as the death of each person. He also implies here that His coming will be in the night. Just as the thief comes unnoticed, so will My coming be; therefore, be not indolent, but sober and vigilant. For if we knew when our end would be, we would strive to please God only on that day. But since we do not know, we are always vigilant in the deeds of virtue.

After the Lord set forth the uncertainty of the hour, he urges vigilance. And first he urges all; secondly, prelates in particular, at who, do you think, is the faithful and wise servant? etc. Regarding the first he does three things. First, he sets forth the admonition; secondly, a similitude; thirdly, he draws the conclusion. He says therefore: I say that the day is uncertain, and no one can be confident of his state, because of anyone, one will be taken and another left; therefore you must be diligent and watchful. Watch therefore. And, as Jerome says, therefore the Lord wished to make the appointed time uncertain, so that man would always be waiting. For in three ways a man is at fault: because his senses are idle; likewise, because he is idle from movement; likewise, because he lies down. Therefore watch, that your senses may be raised up by contemplation; Song of Songs 5:2: I sleep, and my heart watches. Likewise, watch, lest you become sluggish in death; for he watches who exercises himself in good works; 1 Peter 5:8: Be sober, and watch, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour. Likewise, watch, lest you lie down through negligence; Proverbs 6:9: How long will you sleep, O sluggard? But what does he say? Because you know not at what hour your Lord will come. He was saying this to the apostles, and it is not found elsewhere that he so expressly calls himself Lord as here, and in John 13:13: You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. But someone might say that the Lord was speaking to the apostles; but the apostles were not going to live until the end of the world. How then does he say, watch, because you know not at what hour your Lord will come? Augustine says that this was necessary even for the apostles and for those who were before us and for us, because the Lord comes in two ways. At the end of the world he will come to all in general; likewise, he comes to each one at his own end, namely, at death; John 14:18: I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. Therefore there is a twofold coming, at the end of the world and also at death; and he willed both to be uncertain. And these comings correspond to each other, because such as a person is found at the second, such he was at the first. Augustine says: the last day of the world finds that man unprepared whom his own last day finds unprepared. Likewise, it can be expounded of another coming, namely, the invisible one, when he comes into the mind; Job 9:11: If he comes to me, I shall not perceive him. Hence he comes to many, and they do not perceive it. Hence you must watch greatly, so that if he knocks, you may open to him; hence Apocalypse 3:20: I stand at the door and knock: if anyone shall open to me, I will come in to him, and will sup with him.

But to shake off the sloth of our mind, even external losses are brought forward through a comparison, so that through these the soul may be roused to guard itself. For it is said: "Know this, that if the master of the house knew at what hour the thief was coming, he would certainly watch and would not allow his house to be broken into." For while the master of the house is unaware, the thief breaks into the house, because while the spirit sleeps from guarding itself, unforeseen death coming bursts into the dwelling of our flesh, and slays as if sleeping the one it found as master of the house, because when the spirit fails to foresee the coming losses, death snatches him unknowing to punishment. But he would resist the thief if he were watching, because being on guard against the coming of the judge who secretly seizes the soul, he would meet him by repenting, lest he perish impenitent.

(Hom. in Ev. xiii. 5.) Or, the thief breaks into the house through the neglect of the master of the house, when the spirit has slept upon its post of guard, and death has come in unawares into the dwelling house of our flesh, and finding the lord of the house sleeping, slays him; that is, the spirit, little providing for coming evils, is taken off unprepared, to punishment, by death. But if he had watched he would have been secure from the thief; that is, looking forward to the coming of the Judge, who takes our lives unawares, he would meet Him with penitence, and not perish impenitent.

To teach us that our ignorance of the date of his return (which his silence has kept hidden from everyone) is not without its usefulness, Christ warns us to keep all his commandments. We should also be occupied with constant prayer in order to guard against the coming of the thief. For the thief is the devil who seeks to invade our bodily homes with the darts of his thoughts and allurements in order to ruin us while we are sleepy and careless. It is good therefore that we be prepared. Our ignorance of the day of Christ's return should provoke us to be careful as we eagerly await his coming.

And by the instance of the master of the household, He teaches more plainly why He keeps secret the day of the consummation.

In this He rebukes such as have less care for their souls, than they have of guarding their money against an expected thief.

The master of the household is the understanding, the house is the soul, the thief is the Devil. The thief is also every contrary doctrine which enters the soul of the unwary by other than the natural entrance, breaking into the house, and pulling down the soul's natural fences, that is, the natural powers of understanding, it enters the breach, and spoils the soul. Sometimes one takes the thief in the act of breaking in, and seizing him, stabs him with a word, and slays him. And the thief comes not in the day-time, when the soul of the thoughtful man is illuminated with the Sun of righteousness, but in the night, that is, in the time of prevailing wickedness; in which, when one is plunged, it is possible, though he have not the power of the sun, that he may be illuminated by some rays from the Word, as from a lamp; continuing still in evil, yet having a better purpose, and watchfulness, that this his purpose should not be broken through. Or in time of temptation, or of any calamities, is the time when the thief is most found to come, seeking to break through the house of the soul.

But know this, that if the master of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would watch at that hour and would not suffer his house to be broken open. But because he does not know at what hour, he must watch all night. Who is this master of the house? The house is the soul. In it a man ought to rest; Wisdom 8:16: Entering into my house, i.e., into my conscience, I shall rest with her. The master of the house is the reason; Proverbs 20:8: The king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his glance. Sometimes a thief breaks open his house. The thief is some persuasion of false doctrine, or some temptation. And he is called a thief, as is found in John 10:1: He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, he is a thief and a robber. The door properly speaking is natural knowledge, or the natural law. Therefore whoever enters through reason enters through the door; but whoever enters through the door of concupiscence, or anger, or the like, is a thief. Thieves are accustomed to come by night. In Obadiah 5: If thieves had come in to you, if robbers by night, how would you have held your peace? Hence if they come by day, they are not feared. So when a man is in the contemplation of divine things, then temptation does not come; but when he is relaxed, then it comes. Therefore the prophet says well, Psalm 70:9: When my strength shall fail, do not forsake me. Hence we must watch, because we do not know when the Lord will come, namely, for judgment. Or we can refer this to the day of death; 1 Thessalonians 5:3: For when they shall say, peace and security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them.

Our Lord willed that the final hour be unknown to us so that it might always be regarded with suspicion, so that since we cannot foresee it, we might prepare ourselves for it without ceasing. Therefore, my brothers, fix the eyes of your mind upon the condition of your mortality; prepare yourselves for the coming Judge through daily weeping and lamentation. And since certain death awaits all, do not think about the uncertain provision of temporal life. Let not the care of earthly things weigh you down. For however great the masses of gold and silver that surround the flesh, however precious the garments in which it is clothed, what is it other than flesh? Therefore do not consider what you have, but what you are. Do you wish to hear what you are? The prophet declares, saying: "Truly the people are grass." For if the people are not grass, where are those who celebrated with us the feast of blessed Felix's birthday a year ago, which we celebrate today? O how many and how great were the thoughts they had about provision for the present life, but when the moment of death crept upon them, they were suddenly found in those circumstances they had been unwilling to foresee, and they lost all the temporal things at once which, having been gathered together, they seemed to hold securely. If therefore the multitude of the human race that has passed flourished in the flesh through birth and withered to dust through death, it was evidently grass. Since therefore the hours flee with their moments, act, dearest brothers, so that they may be retained in the reward of good work. Hear what the wise Solomon says: "Whatever your hand is able to do, work at it earnestly, for there will be neither work, nor knowledge, nor reason, nor wisdom in the underworld, to which you are hastening." Since therefore we do not know the time of coming death, and after death we cannot work, it remains that before death we seize the time that has been granted. For thus, yes thus, death itself when it comes will be conquered, if before it comes it is always feared.

(Hom. in Ev. xiii. 5.) And the Lord would therefore have the last hour unknown, that it might always be in suspense, and that being unable to foresee it, we might never be unprepared for it.

And you also be ready, because at the hour that you think not, the Son of man shall come. Chrysostom says that men who are anxious about temporal things watch at night. And if they watch for temporal things, how much more must one watch for spiritual things; Apocalypse 3:3: If you shall not watch, I will come to you as a thief.

(ord.) For rare indeed is such faithful servant serving his Master for his Master's sake, feeding Christ's sheep not for lucre but for love of Christ, skilled to discern the abilities, the life, and the manner of those put under him, whom the Lord sets over, that is, who is called of God, and has not thrust himself in.

Though the Lord had given above a general exhortation to all in common to unwearied vigilance, yet He adds a special charge to the rulers of the people, that is, the Bishops, of watchfulness in looking for His coming. Such He calls a faithful servant, and wise master of the household, careful for the needs and interests of the people entrusted to Him.

Then, as He had fallen upon the mention of the judgment, He directs His discourse to the teachers next, speaking of punishment and honors; and having put first them that do right, He ends with them that continue in sin, making His discourse to close with that which is alarming.

Wherefore He first saith this, "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord shall set over His household to give them their meat in theirs due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that He shall make him ruler over all His goods."

Tell me, is this too the language of one who is in ignorance? For if because He said, "neither doth the Son know," thou sayest He is ignorant of it; as He saith, "who then?" what wilt thou say? Wilt thou say He is ignorant of this too? Away with the thought. For not even one of them that are frantic would say this. And yet in the former case one might assign a cause; but here not even this. And what when He said, "Peter, lovest thou me?" asking it, knew He not so much as this? nor when He said, "Where have ye laid Him?"

And the Father too will be found to be saying such things. For He Himself likewise saith, "Adam, where art thou?" and, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is waxed great before me. I will go down therefore, and see whether their doings be according to their cry which cometh unto me, and if not, I will know." And elsewhere He saith, "Whether they will hear, whether they will understand." And in the gospel too, "It may be they will reverence my Son:" all which are expressions of ignorance. But not in ignorance did He say these things, but as compassing objects such as became Him: in the case of Adam, that He might drive him to make an excuse for his sin: in that of the Sodomites, that He might teach us never to be positive, till we are present at the very deeds; in that of the prophet, that the prediction might not appear in the judgment of the foolish a kind of compulsion to disobedience; and in the parable in the gospel, that He might show that they ought to have done this, and to have reverenced the Son: but here, as well that they may not be curious, nor over busy again, as that He might indicate that this was a rare and precious thing. And see of what great ignorance this saying is indicative, if at least He know not even him that is set over. For He blesses him indeed, "For blessed," saith He, "is that servant;" but He saith not who this is. "For who is he," He saith, "whom His Lord shall set over?" and, "Blessed is he whom He shall find so doing."

But these things are spoken not of money only, but also of speech, and of power, and of gifts, and of every stewardship, wherewith each is entrusted. This parable would suit rulers in the state also, for every one is bound to make full use of what he hath for the common advantage. If it be wisdom thou hast, if power, if wealth, if what it may, let it not be for the hurt of thy fellow-servants, neither for thine own ruin. For this cause, therefore, He requires both things of him, wisdom, and fidelity: for sin arises from folly also. He calls him faithful then, because he hath purloined nothing, neither misspent his Lord's goods without aim or fruit; and wise, because he knew how to dispense the things given him, according as was fit. For indeed we have need of both things, as well not to purloin the goods of our Master, as also to dispense them as is fit. But if the one be wanting, the other halteth. For if he be faithful and steal not, yet were to waste and to spend upon that which concerned him not, great were the blame; and if he should know how to dispense it well, yet were to purloin, again there is no common charge against him.

And let us also that have money listen to these things. For not unto teachers only doth He discourse, but also unto the rich. For either sort were entrusted with riches; those that teach with the more necessary wealth, ye with what is inferior. When then at the time that the teachers are scattering abroad the greater, ye are not willing to show forth your liberality even in the less, or rather not liberality but honesty (for ye give the things of another), what excuse will you have? But now, before the punishment of them that do the contrary things, let us hear the honor of him that approveth himself. "For verily I say unto you, He will set him over all His goods."

What can be equal to this honor? what manner of speech will be able to set forth the dignity, the blessedness, when the King of Heaven, He that possesseth all things, is about to set a man over "all His goods?" Wherefore also He calleth him wise, because he knew, not to give up great things for small, but having been temperate here, hath attained to Heaven.

After this, as He ever doth, not by the honor only laid up for the good, but also by the punishment threatened against the wicked, doth He correct the hearers. Wherefore also He added, "But and if the evil servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken: the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

But if any one should say, "Seest thou what a thought hath entered into his mind, because of the day's not being known, 'my Lord,' he saith, 'delayeth His coming?'" we should affirm, that it was not because the day is not known, but because the servant is evil. Else wherefore came not this thought into the heart of the faithful and wise servant. For what, even though the Lord tarry, O wretched man, surely thou lookest that He will come. Why then dost thou not take care?

Hence then we learn, that He doth not so much as tarry. For this judgment is not the Lord's, but that of the evil servant's mind, wherefore also he is blamed for this. For in proof that He doth not tarry, hear Paul saying, "The Lord is at hand, be careful for nothing;" and, "He that cometh will come, and will not tarry."

But do thou hear also what followeth, and learn how continually He reminds them of their ignorance of the day, showing that this is profitable to the servants, and fitted to waken and thoroughly to rouse them. For what though some gained nothing hereby? For neither by other things profitable for them were some profited, but nevertheless He ceaseth not to do His part.

What then is the purport of that which followeth? "For He shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of;" and shall inflict upon him extreme punishment. Seest thou how even everywhere He puts this, the fact of their ignorance, indicating that it was profitable, and by this making them always earnest minded? For this is the point at which He labors, that we should be always on the watch; and since it is always in luxury that we are supine, but in afflictions we are braced up, therefore everywhere He saith this, that when there is relaxation, then come the terrors. And as further back He showed this by the example of Noah, even so here He saith it is, when that servant is drunken, when he is beating, and that his punishment shall be intolerable.

But let us not regard only the punishment appointed for him, but let us look to this other point too, lest we ourselves also be unawares to ourselves doing the same things. For to this servant are they like, who have money, and give not to the needy. For thou too art steward of thine own possessions, not less than he who dispenses the alms of the church. As then he has not a right to squander at random and at hazard the things given by you for the poor, since they were given for the maintenance of the poor; even so neither mayest thou squander thine own. For even though thou hast received an inheritance from thy father, and hast in this way all thou possessest: even thus all are God's. And then thou for thy part desirest that what thou hast given should be thus carefully dispensed, and thinkest thou not that God will require His own of us with greater strictness, or that He suffers them to be wasted at random? These things are not, they are not so. Because for this end, He left these things in thine hand, in order "to give them their meat in due season." But what meaneth, "in due season?" To the needy, to the hungry. For like as thou gavest to thy fellow-servant to dispense, even so doth the Lord will thee too to spend these things on what is needful. Therefore though He was able to take them away from thee, He left them, that thou mightest have opportunity to show forth virtue; that bringing us into need one of another, He might make our love for one another more fervent.

But thou, when thou hast received, so far from giving, dost even beat. And yet if not to give be blame, what excuse is there for beating? But this, it seems to me, He speaks, hinting at the insolent, and the covetous, and indicating the charge to be heavy, when they beat them, whom they were commanded to feed.

But He seemeth to be here hinting also at those that live in luxury, since for luxury too there is laid up a great punishment. "For He eateth and drinketh," it is said, "with the drunken," pointing at gluttony. For not for this purpose didst thou receive, that thou should spend it on luxury, but that thou shouldest lay it out on alms. What! are they thine own things which thou hast? With the goods of the poor hast thou been entrusted, though thou be possessed of them by honest labor, or though it be by inheritance from thy father. What, could not God have taken away these things from thee? But He doth not this, to give thee power to be liberal to the poor.

But mark thou, I pray thee, how throughout all the parables He punishes them that lay not out their money upon the needy. For neither had the virgins robbed other men's goods, but they had not given their own; neither had he that buried the one talent embezzled, but he had not doubled; neither are they that overlooked the hungry punished, because they seized the possessions of others, but because they did not lay out their own, like as also this servant.

Let us hearken, as many as please the belly, as many as lay out on costly banquets the riches that pertain not at all to us, but belong to the needy. For do not, because out of great love to man thou art commanded to give as of thine, therefore suppose these things to be indeed thine own. He lent them to thee, that thou mightest be able to approve thyself. Do not then suppose them to be thine, when giving Him His own. For neither, if thou hadst lent to any one, that he might go and be able to find means of gain, wouldest thou say the money was his. To thee then also hath God given, that thou mightest traffic for Heaven. Make not then the exceeding greatness of His love to man a cause of ingratitude.

Who then is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them food in due season?

That this parable pertains to the apostles and the other bishops and teachers is clear, especially from the fact that in Luke Peter asks, saying: "Do you speak this parable to us, or also to all?" Yet, although there are many stewards, it is difficult to find one who is both faithful and prudent. For this reason the Apostle says: "Let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among stewards that a man be found faithful." But he sins against God, whatever bishop ministers not as a servant to fellow-servants but as a lord, and often even as a bitter lord domineering by force — set up like the Egyptians who afflicted the life of the sons of Israel with violence. Therefore they ought to be mindful of the words of Christ, who says: "You call me master and lord, and you say well; for so I am. If then I have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another's feet; for I have given you an example, that as I have done, so you also should do." And that other saying: "The princes of the Gentiles domineer over them, and their greater ones exercise power over them. But among you it shall not be so; but whoever wishes to be first among you, shall be last; even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many." One ought also to hear Paul saying: "Whereas we might be a burden as apostles of Christ, we became little ones in your midst, just as if a nurse were to cherish her own children; so, in our longing, we desire to share with you not only the Gospel, but also our own souls"; and one ought not to strike fellow-servants, but to "rebuke the unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, and be patient toward all," since "the servant of God ought not to quarrel but to be gentle toward all, teaching with modesty those who resist." And as one himself withdrawing from the evil enticement of fellow-servants, Paul blames those who were not such, who were indeed subject to the proud but despised the gentle, speaking in this manner: "You endure it if any man reduces you to servitude, if any devours, if any takes, if any exalts himself, if any strikes you in the face, as though we had been weak."

But consider in these words how he reproves those who reduce to servitude and strike in the face — because of which they domineer the more bitterly — saying that he himself abstains from these things; not because he was too weak to do them, but that he might do the very things he teaches. And he teaches to teach "with modesty" "those who resist." For this reason too, defining what sort bishops ought to be, he speaks thus: "not quarrelsome, not strikers, but gentle, well-ordered," and whatever qualities are found among faithful and wise servants and stewards, whom "the lord has set over his household," as Luke says. And from these things it may be recognized that not only those who are faithful and wise does the lord set over his household, but also the wicked servants who say ever in their hearts: "My lord delays his coming"; and therefore they strike their fellow-servants, eat and drink with the drunken or with drunkards, and become inebriated. If, then, at any time those who preside over the churches of Christ suppose themselves to be at a great height, because "the lord has set them over his household," let them recognize that it is not this that saves them, that they were set by the lord over his household, but rather that they should give food in due season, and that they should abstain from strikings and from carousings and drinkings with drunkards. But if they do not abstain from such things, and are haughty because the lord has set them over his household, let them know that their lord will come in a day on which they do not look and at an hour which they do not know, and will divide them, and will set their portion with the hypocrites and the unfaithful; and when they have been set among the hypocrites and the unfaithful, it will profit them nothing that they were set by the lord over his household.

But that we may fear that which he says, he will divide him, it is fitting to recall the things said by Daniel against the wicked elders, namely that "the angel of God, having a sword, will cut you in two"; and in cutting, he divides.

We have ventured to use in this place the example from Daniel, not being ignorant that it is not found in the Hebrew, but because it is held in the churches; to inquire about such a matter belongs to another time.

But attend also to this, that he says faithful servant and prudent, hearing the word kindly and acquiescing in the will of Christ, who speaks these things, and of Matthew, who writes them down. Diligently, therefore, must we hear about the faithful and prudent servant: he who advances in faith, or (if he is not yet perfect in it) he who commonly is himself also called faithful, and he who has a natural quickness of mind and is called prudent. For the steward of iniquity too "acted prudently," not indeed acting according to prudence as one of the virtues, but because he was quick in wit. And "the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of light in their generation," not because they are prudent according to prudence as one of the virtues, or because the sons of light are inferior to them in any other respect in wisdom, except that in worldly wisdom or in natural sharpness of mind they are inferior; for the divine word knows also that prudence is one of the virtues, as it teaches in Proverbs, saying: Say that wisdom is your sister, and make prudence known to you, that it may guard you from the strange woman.

But now we ought to hear in a general sense what he says: who is the faithful and prudent servant, as though some indeed are faithful according to faith as commonly understood, but are not prudent nor quick in wit; and again others are indeed quick and, in the sense here signified, prudent, but not altogether faithful as well. But if one considers the multitude of those wishing to be Christians, he will find indeed many faithful and exercising zeal for the faith, but not also prudent, so that the sons of this age are more prudent than they in their generation, knowing that God has chosen the foolish things of the world, that he may confound the wise. And again he will see others, who are thought to have believed, who are indeed quick and wise, but of small faith and, if not unfaithful, yet less faithful than the foolish things of the world which God has chosen. But that faithful and prudent should meet together in one man, so that according to both he gives his fellow-servants food in due season, is very rare indeed. For to give food in due season to the needy, one has need of prudence; but that one should not withhold food in due season from the needy, there is need of faith.

Nor is it inopportune to give warning on account of the sins which, in men who seem to believe in Christ and in the stewards of the churches, are for the most part wont to occur, since even according to the simple sense many of us have need to be faithful and likewise prudent for dispensing the revenues of the church: faithful indeed, that we may not devour what belongs to widows and that we may be mindful of the poor, and, taking occasion from that which is written: the Lord has ordained for those who preach the Gospel to live by the Gospel, that we may not seek more than simple food and necessary clothing, that we may not keep back for ourselves more than we give to the hungry and thirsty and naked brethren and to those who suffer need amid worldly cares; prudent, moreover, that we may minister to each one according to each one's worthiness, remembering what has been said: "Blessed is he who has understanding concerning the needy and poor." For we ought not to give from the church's goods simply, so that we observe this one thing only, that we not devour what belongs to the poor or commit theft from it, but that we prudently understand the circumstances of the needy on account of which they are needy, and the standing of each — how he was brought up, how much he has need of, or for what cause he is in want. Therefore one must not act in the same way toward those who from infancy have been brought up hardly and strictly, and toward those who have been nourished lavishly and delicately and afterward have fallen. Nor are the same things to be ministered to men and to women, or to the very old and to the young, or indeed to the young but feeble (because of which they cannot procure food for themselves) and to those who can in part relieve themselves. It must also be inquired whether they have many children, not being negligent but doing all things and yet not sufficiently providing for themselves. And, that we may not say more, there is need of much wisdom for one who wishes to dispense well the revenues of the church, so that in these matters too, being found a faithful and prudent steward, he may be made blessed.

But perhaps also, on account of the multitude of Christians who are not held in sufficient regard concerning the searching of the word and yet are such as have been raised to leadership, we have all the more need to hear: who is the faithful and prudent servant whom the lord has set over his household, to give them food in due season? — that they may not pour out the rational and spiritual food upon fellow-servants of whatever sort indiscriminately and upon those to whom they ought not, wishing to show themselves prudent, when rather those have more need of the word that builds up their morals and orders their life, than of that which leads forward to wisdom and illuminates with the light of knowledge those whose mind can bear the splendor of such a light; or that they may not be reluctant to expound the higher things to those who are able to hear more keenly, lest by expounding cheap things they be despised by the more clever, who are naturally clever or perhaps are held to be sharp through the exercise of worldly wisdom. It is difficult, therefore, for both to be in one man, that he be both prudent and faithful, yet not impossible; for he does not pronounce blessed one who cannot exist, when he says: Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he comes, shall find so doing. Amen I say to you, that he will set him over all his goods.

Or, he that makes progress in the faith, though he is not yet perfect in it, is ordinarily called faithful, and he who has natural quickness of intellect is called prudent. And whoever observes will find many faithful, and zealous in their belief, but not at the same time prudent; for God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. (1 Cor. 1:27.) Others again he will see who are quick and prudent but of weak faith; for the union of faith and prudence in the same man is most rare. To give food in due season calls for prudence in a man; not to take away the food of the needy requires faithfulness. And this the literal sense obliges us to, that we be faithful in dispersing the revenues of the Church, that we devour not that which belongs to the widows, that we remember the poor, and that we do not take occasion from what is written, The Lord hath ordained, that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel, (1 Cor. 9:14.) to seek more than plain food and necessary clothing, or to keep more for ourselves than we give to those who suffer want. And that we be prudent, to understand the cases of them that are in need, whence they come to be so, what has been the education and what are the necessities of each. It needs much prudence to distribute fairly the revenues of the Church. Also let the servant be faithful and prudent, that he lavish not the intellectual and spiritual food upon those whom he ought not, but dispense according as each has need; to one is more behoveful that word which shall edify his behaviour, and guide his practice, than that which sheds a ray of science; but to others who can pierce more deeply let him not fail to expound the deeper things, lest if he set before them common things only, he be despised by such as have naturally keener understandings, or have been sharpened by the discipline of worldly learning.

The lord is Christ, the household over which He appoints is the Church Catholic. It is hard then to find one man who is both faithful and wise, but not impossible; for He would not pronounce a blessing on a character that could never be, as when He adds, Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

Nor yet does it imply the impossibility of attaining perfect virtue, but only the difficulty.

The Lord is doubtful who that wise and faithful servant will be "whom his lord hath made ruler over his household," to show that such a man is rare and hard to find. Two things are required of every steward: faith and wisdom. For if he is faithful and steals nothing, but lacks wisdom and foolishly squanders the household goods, he is of no use; and if he is wise but yet steals, likewise he is of no use. So whoever shall be found then to have been both faithful and wise will also obtain the things that are more excellent, that is, the kingdom of heaven. For the saints will be the inheritors of all of God's possessions. The faithful and wise servant is also every teacher who gives in due season food proper to each one who is taught by him. Such a one was Paul who at times gave milk to drink [to the young in faith] and at other times spoke wisdom [to the more mature], for he was a faithful servant, though before he had been a blasphemer; and he was also a wise servant understanding the thoughts of the enemy. So too everyone who receives anything from God, whether it be money, authority, or dominion, should administer these things faithfully and wisely, since he will give an account.

Who, do you think, is the faithful and wise servant whom his lord has set over his household? Here he specially admonishes prelates to watch. And first by enticing with rewards; secondly, by frightening with punishments. Regarding the first he does three things. First, he sets forth the suitability of a good prelate; secondly, his office; thirdly, his reward. The suitability is that he be faithful and wise. In every good work two things are necessary: that one's intention be directed to a due end, and that one take suitable means to that end; therefore in the office of prelacy these two things are necessary. First, that he fix his intention on a due end, which some fix on themselves, of whom it is said in Ezekiel 34:2: Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves; because those who fix their intention on the right end do not intend what is useful to themselves, but to the many, that they may be saved. And all this they rightly do for the glory of God. But he who seeks what is his own does not. Hence he must be faithful; 1 Corinthians 4:2: Now it is required among stewards that a man be found faithful. Likewise, he must be wise, because it is possible that someone seeks the glory of God but not according to knowledge. For it is the prelate's duty to correct vices. He could therefore rebuke in such a way as to lead others into sin. Therefore he must be wise. Above at 10:16: Be wise as serpents. And note that he calls him a servant, because there is a difference between a free man and a servant, since every action of a servant is referred to his lord, but not of a free man; so every action of a prelate ought to be referred to God. Thus Paul called himself a servant, when he said, 2 Corinthians 4:5: But ourselves your servants through Jesus. But why does he say, who, do you think, is the faithful and wise servant? Because the faithful are few; Philippians 2:21: For all seek the things that are their own, not the things of Jesus Christ; Proverbs 20:6: But who shall find a faithful man? And if the faithful are few, the wise are even fewer; therefore the Lord speaks thus, noting their fewness. Then he touches on their office, whom his lord has set over his household. And he does three things. First, he treats of his appointment over his office, when he says, whom his lord has set, not one who procured it for himself either by gifts or by entreaties; Hebrews 5:4: No man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, as Aaron was. Then he touches on over what he is set, because over his household, namely, over his Church, not over temporal things, as the Apostle says, 2 Timothy 2:4: No man being a soldier to God entangles himself with secular business. Likewise, he must be wise enough to be vigilant about the Church, not about other things that are outside the Church; 1 Corinthians 5:12: For what have we to do with those who are outside? Likewise, he touches on the office of the prelate, that he may give them food in due season: food, namely, of teaching, of good example, and of temporal support. Therefore the Lord said to Peter three times: feed, feed, feed my sheep. Feed with the word, feed with example, feed with temporal support. This is mentioned last, but still in due season; Ecclesiastes 3:1: All things have their season. Likewise, John 16:12: I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. For if one wishes to speak words when it is not fitting, he wastes them.

That is, obedient to his Lord's command, by the seasonableness of his teaching dispensing the word of life to a household which is to be nourished for the food of eternity.

Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he comes, shall find so doing. A great promise is proclaimed to faithful and prudent stewards, and it accords with those to whom he says: "be thou having authority over five cities", or: "be thou having authority over ten cities". For to be set over all the goods of the head of the household — what else does this make plain but that they are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" and reign together with Christ, to whom the Father has handed over all his own things, as he himself says: "all power has been given to me in heaven and on earth"? And (in the manner of the son of a good father) being set over all the substance of the father, he shares this same dignity and glory with his faithful and prudent stewards, so that they too may be over every creature and power, so that they may be with Christ. And observe his interpretation of what he says: amen I say to you, that he will set him over all his goods. Understand for me (taking it as if by way of example) some king who has an entire kingdom under himself, with whom are many nations and cities and diverse places. Let him, then, divide among his satraps and the other princes, who have done something notably well, the fullness of his kingdom; and let him indeed set all of them over his whole kingdom, yet not each one over all things — but each one of them over some part of his kingdom: for instance, one indeed over ten cities, another over five. And thus they will all be over all the goods, while he alone holds all things, being, as it were, the sole king of all. And such is what he says: he will set him over all his goods.

But just as we have heard concerning the blessedness to be given to the faithful and prudent servants, so let us also hear concerning the torments of the wicked servants. For the wicked servant speaks in his heart, preferring present pleasure to the goods to come, and, despising his lord, he says: my lord delays to come; but he says this lying, wishing to eat and drink with the drunkards. And he is always dreaming that after a long time his lord will come; and, as though his lord were delaying, he strikes the fellow servants who endure it, and reduces them to servitude, and beats them in the face; and, striking them, he eats and drinks with the drunkards, under the pretext of ecclesiastical service, and he does not receive the hungry but feasts with the drunkards. And there are many of this kind to whom the ecclesiastical charge has been committed, upon whom the lord will come, bringing about their consummation on the day on which they do not know and at the hour at which they do not expect, and he will divide them — those who have not feared him who "is able to destroy soul and body in hell".

And he will divide him, when "his spirit indeed returns to God who gave it", but his soul together with its body goes "into hell".

The just man, however, is not divided, but his soul goes with his spirit to the heavenly kingdoms; on account of which it is written: "bless the Lord, ye spirits and souls of the just". But of those who are divided and lay down the spirit that returns to him who had given it, and thereafter do not have in themselves any part which was from God, there is left to them their part which was their own, that is, the soul, which together with its body will be punished by the lord when he comes, with the hypocrites and the "unfaithful" in torments.

See, therefore, the difference among the servants whom the lord has set over his household, since certain ones indeed, as faithful and prudent stewards who gave food to their fellow servants in due time, are set over all the goods of the head of the household; but those who have done things contrary to these, apart from the fact that they have fallen from so great a glory, will moreover be divided, and their part will be placed with the hypocrites and the "unfaithful". There will be weeping for those who wickedly laughed in this world, as the Scripture says: "woe to you who now laugh, for you shall weep and mourn". And consequently, on account of the rest and the relaxation in which they took their rest and were relaxed, there will reasonably be for them a gnashing of teeth: which perhaps signifies this, that those who are punished, thinking that there will be an end of their pain and on this account wishing to endure it manfully, being driven by unendurable torments, gnash with their teeth — with those teeth, namely, with which they ate the bitterness of malice, and therefore they suffer a fitting gnashing of teeth.

There follows the reward; and first he says what it is; secondly, in what it consists. What is the reward? Blessedness; hence he says, blessed, whether at death or at the end of the world, is that servant whom, when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing, namely, administering, as has been said. Psalm 118:1: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Though the Lord had given above a general exhortation to all in common to unwearied vigilance, yet He adds a special charge to the rulers of the people, that is, the Bishops, of watchfulness in looking for His coming. Such He calls a faithful servant, and wise master of the household, careful for the needs and interests of the people entrusted to Him. That is, obedient to his Lord's command, by the seasonableness of his teaching dispensing the word of life to a household which is to be nourished for the food of eternity.

Or, shall set him over all his goods, that is, shall place him in the glory of God, because beyond this is nothing better.

That he may reign with Christ, to whom the Father has committed all that is His. And as the son of a good father set over all that is his, He shall communicate of His dignity and glory to His faithful and wise stewards, that they also may be above the whole creation.

Not that they only, but that they before others, shall be rewarded as well for their own lives as for their superintendence of the flock.

It should be observed, that as there is great difference of desert between good preachers and good hearers, so is there great difference between their rewards. The good hearers, if He finds them watching He will make to sit down to meat, as Luke speaks; but the good preachers He will set over all His goods.

And why are they blessed? Amen I say to you, he shall set him over all his goods. This is expounded in three ways. In one way, to show in what all blessedness consists. For blessedness consists in some good; but all goods are God's. Is blessedness then in some one of these? Blessedness is in that good which is above all goods; for no one is blessed except in that good which God is. Hence he shall set him over all his goods, i.e., he will be made blessed in him, namely, in God, who is above all things. In a second way, it can be expounded as said to show the preeminence that good prelates will have. In Luke 12:37 it says that he will make them sit down; but here it says that he shall set him over all his goods; because among all rewards the greatest is the reward of the good prelate; above at 5:19: He who shall do and teach, he shall be called great. Daniel 12:3: They who are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they who instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity. And this is over all his goods, i.e., over all the rewards of the saints. In a third way, it can be expounded through union with Christ; because just as in this world no one will attain to the state of perfection unless he follows the footsteps of Christ, so neither then, unless one is united to Christ; and they will have dominion over all things, inasmuch as their will is made conformed to the divine will; Luke 22:29: And I dispose to you, as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom. And Apocalypse 2:28: He who shall overcome, I will give him the morning star.

(Ep. 199. 1.) The temper of this servant is shown in his behaviour, which is thus expressed by his good Master; his tyranny, and shall begin to beat his fellow servants, his sensuality, and to eat and drink with the drunken. So that when he said, My Lord delayeth His coming, he is not to be supposed to speak from desire to see the Lord, such as was that of him who said, My soul is athirst for the living God; when shall I come? (Ps. 42:2.) This shows that he was grieved at the delay, seeing that what was hastening towards him seemed to his longing desires to be coming slowly.

This teaching is directed against the rulers who are leading a luxurious and leisurely lifestyle. He calls the negligent teacher a wicked and evil servant because he takes advantage of the judge's absence and believes he will not be observed because of the judge's forbearance. So he beats harshly those over whom he holds power and associates with those who are in love with the flesh. They sin both because the judge is not present and because they don't think judgment will ever arrive. By wounding some of them, he points out those who are disabled in soul because of the luxury of their exalted positions. Just as the apostle says, "When you sin against your brothers in this way [you] wound their weak conscience." Therefore he threatens to introduce the most severe punishments to those living self-indulgently.…Those who pretend to understand the principles of the good life are not thinking as they should but are only clothing themselves in the appearance of virtue. They will be cut into pieces on that fearful day of judgment. This is a judgment from the Spirit and results in a perpetual alienation.… Grace will be cut off from all the pollution of his soul, and his part will be reckoned with the hypocrites. Jesus calls hypocrites those who are cut into pieces and yet continue to teach others the way to live. They succeed only in making things worse for those learning the life of discipleship. Further, Jesus teaches that those who have not carried out faithfully the ministry given to them in this present life from the Lord will not receive another from him.… For the cutting Jesus reveals is not a bodily one but the stripping of their adoption as sons from the Spirit. Moreover, they are punished because they lived a life of derision. They will gnash their teeth when they consider the reason for their pain and the exceedingly severe character of their punishment.

(Verse 48, 49.) But if that wicked servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

(Verse 50, 51.) The lord of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and he will divide him and place his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This teaches that they should know when the lord is not expected, then he will come, and it warns the stewards of vigilance and diligence. Furthermore, when it says he will divide him, it does not mean that he will cut him with a sword; but rather, that he will separate him from the company of the saints and place his portion with the hypocrites; namely, with those who were in the field and grinding, yet were still abandoned. We often say that a hypocrite is one thing, and another thing to show: just as it seemed to be doing the same thing in the field and in the mill, that is, the man of the church, but the outcome of different wills appeared.

Having spoken of how the faithful servant will be honored, now He tells how the wicked servant will be punished. If anyone entrusted with the stewardship of a gift disdains the judgement that will take place and says, "My lord delayeth," that is, God does not impose swift and immediate punishment, the Lord "shall cut him asunder." And if he considers God's long-suffering nature an opportunity for wickedness and strikes his fellowservants by scandalizing them and shaking their conscience, as happens when those who are ruled see their rulers using for evil purposes what has been entrusted to them, the Lord shall likewise "cut him asunder." If a man, then, does such things, he shall be cut asunder, that is, he will be stripped of his gift, and then it will be seen what sort of man he is, and he will be cast into the darkness. Formerly he was able to deceive by means of his appearance, as are many hierarchs who are thought to be holy because of their rank. But then at the Judgement the grace will be taken from them, and they will be punished as hypocrites, being one thing but appearing another.

But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: my lord is long in coming. After he enticed them to be watchful through rewards, here he frightens them through punishments. And first he sets forth the fault; secondly, the punishment, at the lord shall come etc. In the fault there are two things, namely, the cause of the fault and the fault itself; and yet both are faults. The cause of the fault is despair about the coming: if he shall say: my lord is long in coming. Augustine says that someone might say this out of too great a desire, and this was what the one who said demonstrated: when shall I come and appear before the face of my God? Sometimes it is said out of despair about his coming soon; Ezekiel 12:22: Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying: the days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall perish? For it shall no more be delayed. 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord does not delay his promise. Hence this is the root of all evils.

And every Bishop, who ministers not as a fellow servant, but rules by might as a master, and often an harsh one, sins against God; also if he does not cherish the needy, but feasts with the drunken, and is continually slumbering because his Lord cometh not till after long time.

Typically, we may understand his beating his fellow servants, of offending the consciences of the weak by word, or by evil example.

But what are the things that follow from it? One of cruelty, another of pleasure. Regarding the first he says, and shall begin to strike his fellow servants, because he considers those subject to him as slaves, against that in 1 Peter 5:3: But willingly, neither as lording it over the clergy. And it is not enough for him; he even strikes and afflicts them; Micah 3:10: You who build up Zion with blood. Or they strike their brothers, whom they consider servants, by bad example. Likewise, this is not enough for them, but they turn to pleasures. And shall eat and drink with drunkards, i.e., he will have the company of the pleasure-seeking, if he himself is pleasure-seeking.

(Ep. 199 in fin.) Putting aside this wicked servant, who, there is no doubt, hates his Master's coming, let us set before our eyes these good servants, who anxiously expect their Lord's coming. One looks for His coming sooner, another later, the third confesses his ignorance of the matter. Let us see which is most agreeable to the Gospel. One says, Let us watch and pray, because the Lord will quickly come; another, Let us watch and pray, because this life is short and uncertain, though the Lord's coming may be distant; and the third, Let us watch, because this life is short and uncertain, and we know not the time when the Lord will come. What else does this man say than what we hear the Gospel say, Watch, because ye know not the hour in which the Lord shall come? All indeed, through longing for the kingdom, desire that that should be true which the first thinks, and if it should so come to pass, the second and third would rejoice with him; but if it should not come to pass, it were to be feared that the belief of its supporters might be shaken by the delay, and they might begin to think that the Lord's coming shall be, not remote, but never. He who believes with the second that the Lord's coming is distant will not be shaken in faith, but will receive an unlooked for joy. He who confesses his ignorance which of these is true, wishes for the one, is resigned to the other, but errs in neither, because he neither affirms or denies either.

(Verse 50, 51.) The lord of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and he will divide him and place his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This teaches that they should know when the lord is not expected, then he will come, and it warns the stewards of vigilance and diligence. Furthermore, when it says he will divide him, it does not mean that he will cut him with a sword; but rather, that he will separate him from the company of the saints and place his portion with the hypocrites; namely, with those who were in the field and grinding, yet were still abandoned. We often say that a hypocrite is one thing, and another thing to show: just as it seemed to be doing the same thing in the field and in the mill, that is, the man of the church, but the outcome of different wills appeared.

The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, is to rouse the stewards to watchfulness and carefulness.

And what will come of it? He sets forth the judgment. First, he sets forth the judgment as unexpected; secondly, the punishment. He says, the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopes not; because a man sometimes believes himself secure of a long life, and yet he suddenly fails; 1 Thessalonians 5:2: The day of the Lord shall come as a thief; Isaiah 30:13: Suddenly, while it is not hoped for, destruction shall come.

Let us investigate carefully what "to be cut into pieces means." When in ancient times Adam came into being, God made him a partaker of his own Spirit, giving to his nature a most perfect beauty. For "he breathed on his face the breath of life." For to truly give life is to have the Spirit of life, that is, of Christ. But because Adam was deceived and slipped into sin, he was cut off from the Spirit. For it pleased our God and father "to bring all things together under one head in Christ" and to restore the ancient beauty to human nature. We have received this through grace, but the stealthy entrance of sin stripped it from us. For Christ breathed into us after the resurrection, restoring ancient beauty to us. "Receive," he says, "the Holy Spirit." And so the Spirit is united to us. For "he who unites himself to the Lord is one with him in spirit." Surely, just as we have been compelled to be zealous in our efforts by a sense of devotion, we are receiving the utmost fullness since we now have the pledge of the Spirit at the appropriate time. We are deprived of that same foretaste of the Spirit when we stand accused in our own sin since the gift of the Spirit is cut off and sent away from us as in the time of the judgment. We affirm that it is this judgment that Jesus speaks of when he mentions cutting something apart. For one such as this who has the Spirit is not delivered over to punishment.

He shall cut him in sunder, is not to be understood of execution by the sword, but that he shall sever him from the company of the saints.

And shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, with those, namely, that were in the field, and grinding at the mill, and were nevertheless left. For as we often say that the hypocrite is one who is one thing, and passes himself for another; so in the field and at the mill he seemed to be doing the same as others, but the event proved that his purpose was different.

Or, He shall cut him in sunder, when his spirit, that is, his spiritual gift, shall return to God who gave it; but his soul shall go with his body into hell. But the righteous man is not cut in sunder, but his soul, with his spirit, that is, with his gift, spiritual enters into the kingdom of heaven. They that are cut in sunder have in the in thenceforth no part of that spiritual gift which was from God, but there remains to them that part which was their own, that is, their soul, which shall be punished with their body.

Or, there shall be weeping for such as have laughed amiss in this world, gnashing of teeth for those who have enjoyed an irrational peace. For being unwilling to suffer bodily pain, now the torture forces their teeth to chatter, with which they have eaten the bitterness of wickedness. From this we may learn that the Lord sets over His household not the faithful and wise only, but the wicked also; and that it will not save them to have been set over His household, but only if they have given them their food in due season, and have abstained from beating and drunkenness.

Or, appoints him his portion with the hypocrites, that is, a twofold share of punishment, that of fire and frost; to the fire belongs the weeping, to the frost the gnashing of teethk.

And what will happen? A threefold punishment follows. And shall separate him, not, as Jerome says, as if he would divide him with a sword, but from the company of the good; below 25:32: And he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And this is the greatest punishment. Origen says thus: in man there are three things: soul, body, and spiritual gift. And these in good prelates will not be divided, but in bad prelates they will. The spiritual gift will be divided, because he will take away the spiritual gift that he had given them; but their body and soul will be sent into the fire. Likewise, another punishment is that he will be numbered among the wicked; hence he says, and shall appoint his portion with the hypocrites. Hypocrites are dissemblers who profess one thing and do another; hence he will appoint his portion with such as these. And so it is taken in Psalm 10:7: Brimstone and storms of winds shall be the portion of their cup. Likewise, even this is not enough, but there will be another punishment, because there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Job 24:19: For they shall pass from the snow waters to excessive heat. Hence weeping is produced from smoke, and gnashing of teeth from cold. Origen says that from this we can consider that those speak badly who say that bad prelates are not prelates. Likewise, note a certain similitude that Augustine proposes. Let us remove from our eyes that servant of whom it is spoken, and let us suppose three servants who love the coming of their lord. Let one say: my lord will come soon, and therefore I will watch. Let another say: my lord will delay, but I want to watch. Let another say: I do not know when he will come, and therefore I want to watch. Which of these speaks best? Augustine answers that the first is badly deceived, because if he thinks his lord will come soon, and he afterward delays, he is in danger of falling asleep from weariness. The second can be deceived, but he is not in danger. But the third does well, who always waits in uncertainty; therefore it is wrong to determine any particular time.