Isaiah 62

For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteous one goes forth as brightness, and her savior is kindled as a lamp. And the nations will see your righteous one, and all kings your renowned one, and a new name will be called for you, which the mouth of the Lord has named. And you will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of your God. LXX: For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not leave off, until her righteousness goes forth as light, and her salvation burns as a lamp. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and he will call you by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. And you will be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of your God. The Lord and Savior had said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me (Luke 4:18), up to the place where it is written, All who see them will recognize them, that these are the seed which the Lord has blessed (Isa 61:1). After this promise the Church answered, Rejoicing I will rejoice in the Lord, she who in the third of the Psalms of the Steps, in the person of the repentant people, sang joyfully: I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord (Ps 121 [122]:1). Now the person of the prophet is brought in, saying: For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest. By day and by night, he says, I will not close my mouth, nor will my prayer ever be silent; but I will cry out so long, and join prayers to prayers, until he who was promised comes and enlightens the whole world with his brightness. Who it is whom he seeks, whose coming he longs for, he puts more plainly: Until her righteous one goes forth as brightness, and her savior is kindled as a lamp. Or, according to the Seventy: Until her righteousness goes forth as light, and her salvation burns as a lamp: the light which said in the Gospel, I am the light of the world (John 8:12); which, when it has been kindled in Zion and in Jerusalem, will by no means shine in Judea alone, but it will be said to her: The light that is in you has been kindled; the light that went forth from the Father has begun to burn within your borders, and it will enlighten all the nations (Matt 6).

1086. For Zion's sake. Here he promises the honor of glory to the people.

And first, the petition of the prophet is set out;

second, the promise of the Lord: the Lord has sworn (Isa 62:8).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he himself asks;

second, he leads others to ask: you that are mindful of the Lord (Isa 62:6).

1087. Concerning the first, he does two things.

First, he himself asks for the birth of a savior: for Zion's sake, namely, for her advantage, or for love of her, I will not hold my peace, from prayers before God; her savior, Cyrus; as brightness, in the glory of his kingdom. Mystically: I will not hold my peace, from the preaching of Christ because of contradiction; Zion, of the king; Jerusalem, of the priests; her savior, Christ: his face as the appearance of lightning (Dan 10:6).

1093. Note on the words, for Zion's sake I will not hold my peace (Isa 62:1), that the saints hold not their peace

first, because of the desire inflamed in them: there came in my heart the word of the Lord as a burning fire (Jer 20:9);

second, because of the truth evident to them: for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen (Acts 4:20);

third, because of the office enjoined on them: for a necessity lies upon me. For woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel (1 Cor 9:16);

fourth, because of the reward expected by them: in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing (Gal 6:9).

1094. Note also on the words, till her just one come forth as brightness (Isa 62:1), that Christ shines

first, in the image of the Father: being the brightness of his glory and the figure of his substance (Heb 1:3);

second, in the light of the saints: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot you (Ps 109[110]:3);

third, in the fullness of glory: his face did shine as the sun (Matt 17:2);

fourth, in rightness of doctrine, above: the Gentiles shall walk in your light, and kings in the brightness of your rising (Isa 60:3).

And all kings will see your renowned one, O Jerusalem and Zion: he who was begotten of your stock, who, lifted up in you on the gibbet, drew all men to himself; so that the nations see his righteousness, by which the Creator of all has had mercy on the nations, and kings his glory, by which he was glorified on the cross and subjected all kingdoms to his rule. Indeed she will no longer be called Jerusalem and Zion, but she will receive a new name, which the Lord will have given her, saying to the apostle Peter: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt 16:18). This title he derived from the name of the Lord, so that she is called the Lord's. And her people will no longer be called by the old name, Israel, but by a new one, that is, Christian.

1088. Second, he shows the fruit of the coming of the Savior.

First, as to the glory of the city, promising this glory in three things.

In the dignity of the king: and the Gentiles shall see, admiring and revering, your just one, Christ or Cyrus: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God (Ps 97[98]:3).

In the newness of its name, and you shall be called by a new name, according to the custom of the ancients, who gave new names from new events, and afterwards he will pronounce this name. Mystically, the Church, which was formerly the Synagogue: I will give him a white counter: and in the counter, a new name (Rev 2:17).

"You will be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." For each holy soul, and the Church as a whole, that is, the communities of the saints, must be compared to a crown composed of many flowers, or to a royal diadem, shining with Indian stones, and having manifold excellence: for the heroic deeds of the saints are very many, and the manner of their boasts is not one, but many and various. And indeed the divine David introduces the Church of Christ clothed in gold-fringed garments, variegated, but the phrase "In the hand of the Lord," he says, that is, under the shadow of my hand I will cover you: and Christ himself somewhere concerning his own flock, that is, of the flock of those who have believed in him, says, that "No one will snatch them out of my Father's hand."

For the crown is really all those of Christ who, being set right through him, receive the diadem of the kingdom—those who sustained the struggle because of him, the holy martyrs whom the Father hand-picked to circle the crown for his son along with the royal "diadem" of honor, which is filled with the great number of those who have been saved by him.

And she will be as a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and as a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of her God, when the throng of believers has crowned her, and the diadem of empire, which the Martyrs have adorned with the variety of their gems, is in the hand of God, that he may crown his Son with their victories. Hence the apostle Paul too said to the saints: My joy and my crown.

In the translators the prophet holds forth like one caught up in delight: "For Zion's sake I will not keep quiet." For I will cry to God and ask to see the perfecting of what has been said—a time when "righteousness and the salvation of Jerusalem" will enlighten all. For after this a "light to the nations" will be passed on. For the choir of apostles extended the teaching to all the kingdoms, "and the kingdoms were like a jewel in the hand of God," and so on. This was the blessing of those who fulfilled the promises first of all, that is, the community among the Jews called Jerusalem. Some call these new, for the apostles of the church were the firstfruits. "And I will not stop," therefore, until God will fulfill his promises to it, the salvation through Christ for all the earth. For God is not of Israel alone but also of the nations. Some think that the words "my righteousness and my salvation" are actually spoken by the mouth of God promising to fulfill all these things.Christ is righteousness and salvation, just as a light in the world, saying, "When I am in the world, I am the light of the world," which was formerly discordant in godlessness and all shadows. "Righteousness and glory" are terms that once more name Christ. For we are justified in him, and we are enriched with glory from him. To the newness of life, in place of the synagogue is rendered the name "church" and house and city of God, in which David said, "Glorious things are said of you, city of God."

The new name means the names given to the Christians. For the person baptized into saving baptism is called by another name because he received a total change of condition. But the Jew fought against the new name. For that reason it says in the prophecy of Isaiah, "He put a new name on you." …A garland is composed from many different flowers, and the diadem of the kingdom denotes the ranks of apostles who led the churches, being Israelites by birth, and whom the new name suited since they were in communion so as to become a people. They are called "will," those who have done his will, those who are said to love as a young man dwells with a virgin. This does not denote corruption but the blooming of her condition, for in dwelling with the virgin the groom protects her. This indicates the present-day condition of the churches; day and night the people guard God's commands; the priests teach about God the whole night, and they praise the Lord and remember him.

In the defense of divine protection: and you shall be a crown of glory, because your God will glory in you, as a king glories in the crown of his kingdom; in the hand of the Lord, that is, in his protection: they shall receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord (Wis 5:17). Mystically: the Church is like a crown, with which the Son of God is crowned by the Father.

"Married," since on the days of the captivity [your land] had become a widow, without kings or children; now, on the contrary, because of the return, it will be a married woman and a mother of children. "Your land shall be married," that is, it will be sowed and made fertile, or it will now cooperate in its tilling and germination.

You will no longer be called Forsaken, and your land will no more be called Desolate; but you will be called My-will-is-in-her, and your land Inhabited, for the Lord has been well pleased in you, and your land will be inhabited. LXX: And you will no longer be called Forsaken, and your land will not be called Deserted any more. For you will be called My will, and your land Inhabited. Instead of Zion and Jerusalem you will be called the Church and the Lord's; instead of Jews they will be called Christians. Nor will you be content with this end of names; but you who before were called forsaken, which in Hebrew is AZUBA (עזובה), will be called EPESI-BA (חפצי־בה), which means my will is in her; and your land, which before was called SEMEMA (שממה), desolate or deserted, will afterwards be called BULA (בעולה), which Aquila translated ἐσχημένη, Symmachus and Theodotion συνωκισμένη, the Seventy οἰκουμένη, all of which signify inhabited and possessed. It is a custom of the Hebrews always to give names to things from what befalls them: as Abram, who was first called high father, when he heard the promise, And in your seed all the nations will be blessed (Gen 12:3), was named father of many nations, that is, Abraham. And above, a name is given to the Lord Savior: Quickly take the spoils, swiftly plunder (Isa 8:1). The sons of Zebedee too, one of whom could utter the voice of thunder (Mark 3), In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1), were called BANEREEM (בני רעם), which means sons of thunder. But what follows, For the Lord has been well pleased in you, and your land will be inhabited, has been passed over by the Seventy; and it gives the reasons why she is called EPHSI (חפצי) and why she is called BULA (בעולה): because the Lord has been well pleased in Zion, and has made habitable her land, which before had been deserted through the error of the Jews. Or we may refer this same thing to the Church, which, possessed before by idols, had been deserted by God.

Because she will be adorned and established in incomparable beauty, he adds, "You will be a beautiful garland." For every holy soul and the whole church must be compared with a garland put together from many flowers and a royal jewel. For David says that the church is adorned in gold-embroidered and multicolored clothing similar to what is said in our text. "In the hand of God" means "under his shelter." For he says, "Under my hand I will shelter you." And Christ concerning his own sheep said, "No one can steal them from the Father's hand." Some say that the garland of Christ are those corrected by him. And the jewel of his kingdom are those martyrs for his sake, whom in his hand the Father had chosen to put round the Son, garlanding him and placing as a royal jewel, with the fullness of those who have been saved through him and by him. Among these taking a new name, she will no longer be called "she who is left deserted" but "my will," that is, according to my will. This means that she who was previously deserted will be saved and placed with him, rather than deserted.…He says "will," meaning those doing his will, those who love him, as a young man loves a virgin.… For he protects and keeps her as virgin, according to the mystery mentioned by Paul when he discusses Christ and the church. He shows the present state of the churches under the guidance of the priests day and night. While the people are unconscious of God, the priests become their defending wall, unconquered and placing a faithful guard against any approach of the devil.

Those who believe in the Lord received a new title; they are not called after Abraham or Israel or Judah but are named after the master, Christ. For they are called Christians by everyone, since they have put on Christ through the most holy baptism.

And he excludes disgrace, and in so doing again pronounces a new name, you shall no more be called Forsaken: because they say of you (Ezek 36:13).

"As a young man marries a virgin." This is said to the church about the time in the beginning when it was constituted from the Jewish tribes. For the godly disciples were Jewish according to their human origin, but they stood out from the others and took the lead since they had apostolic status. Yet they retained a great love and respect for their religion, so that there seemed to be great affection toward it as a man ought to feel toward a young virgin bride when he lies with her.… "The Lord will rejoice over you." … For the only-begotten Word of God came down from heaven to make the church fertile, which he presented to himself as a pure virgin, without spot or stain, wholly blameless. She received from him the seeds of the evangelical citizenship, became pregnant and gave birth, not with blood … but rather as one shaped to the beauty of the truth.

"For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you." He calls sons the apostles, the priests and the righteous ones of the church, who constitute the head of the body of the church, as the husband is the head of a woman. These are like husbands to the church through its doctrine and constantly generate spiritual sons to it.

For the young man will dwell with the virgin, and your sons will dwell in you. And the bridegroom will rejoice over the bride; your God will rejoice over you. LXX: And as a young man dwelling with a virgin, so will your sons dwell. And it will be that as a bridegroom is glad over a bride, so the Lord will be glad over you. The Apostle too says: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church (Eph 5:25). And when in another place he had set down the example, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and will cleave to his wife, and the two will be in one flesh, he added: This is a great mystery; but I speak in Christ and in the Church (Eph 5:31, 32). If, then, because of the shortness of the time, which is straitened, husbands ought so to have their wives as though they had them not, how much more holy will the union between the bridegroom and the bride be? This is the bridegroom of whom it is sung in the eighteenth psalm: And he as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber (Ps 18 [19]:6). And this is the bride who is written of quite often in the Song of Songs, who has neither wrinkle nor spot (Song 4); whom Paul longs to present as a chaste virgin to one husband, so that she may be holy in body and spirit (1 Cor 2). Of her also, under the title of the beloved, the forty-fourth psalm sings: The queen stood at your right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety (verse 10). As, then, the bridegroom rejoices in the bride, and the young man with the virgin, examples in which there is a holy union, so the Lord will be glad in her whose names have been changed.

1089. Second, as to the joy of the inhabitants of the city; both as to boys: for the young man shall dwell with the virgin; and as to grown men: and your sons shall dwell in you; and as to married men: and the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride: there shall be heard again in this place (Jer 33:10). Mystically: the young man shall dwell with the virgin, chastely, as Mary dwelled with Joseph; the bridegroom, Christ; the bride, the Church.

Jerusalem … there is nothing like you; for there is nothing like you among us. Nevertheless, because whatever he has surpasses the human by the excess of glory, God outstrips us by the glory of his divinity in his being good and compassionate.…If you could correct yourself, Jerusalem, that is, if you could change to spiritual worship, if you could … take notice of the things written by Moses, if you would receive God's grace through faith and make his praise known through the earth, then you would make known the shining glory that is in Christ. This is the glory by which the Lord has sworn, since he has no one better to swear by. He has sworn "by his right arm," in that those who of old afflicted you with great injustice would no longer get in your way.

Instead of "there is none like you, until he sets Jerusalem right and makes it a shining example on the earth," Symmachus has, "do not be silent and do not let him be silent until he prepares and makes Jerusalem to sing on the earth." … For with the prophetic choir asking such questions, the Holy Spirit is encouraging them and exhorting them to continue in those prayers on behalf of those mentioned. So he says, "Don't be silent and give no silence, that is, to the Lord who promises these things, until he has prepared and makes Jerusalem to sing on the earth." He provides for the intercession made by the powers of all the people, that it should not be quiet or ever fall silent, but with shouts and unrestrained cries rouse him. The people's intercession should never give God peace.

Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they will never be silent. You who remember the Lord, do not be silent, and give him no silence, until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. LXX: And upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, all the day and all the night, who will never be silent, remembering the Lord: for there is none like you if he corrects, and he will make Jerusalem a joy upon the earth. The Prophet had said, For Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, and the rest, up to the place where the passage has now ended: The bridegroom will rejoice over the bride; your God will rejoice over you. And he had promised that he would pray by day and by night that the Savior and Righteous One who had been promised might come and, like a lamp, light up the whole world. After this is brought in the person of God speaking to Jerusalem, that is, to the Church of the firstborn, and to her that was built in the Apostles and through the Apostles: Upon your walls I have set watchmen, whom we can take to be either the angels, or the Apostles and all her princes and teachers. They guard the walls of the Church, so that our adversary the devil, who as a roaring lion goes about and seeks how he may enter (1 Pet 5), may not find an occasion for laying waste the Lord's flock. These watchmen ought not to be silent by day or by night, neither in glad times nor in sad, but ought always to entreat the Lord's mercy, so that his flock and the walls of Jerusalem may be guarded and fortified by his help. Hence the word is directed to these same watchmen and teachers: O you who remember the Lord, and weary his mercy with your prayers day and night, take care that prayer is never silent in your mouth.

Again, he gives the name Jerusalem to the bride but calls guards those who lead the godly people through city and town, those who night and day sing praises to God and guard the city. If one wants to take these as angels, one would not be far wrong. For it says, "The angel of the Lord will encircle those who are afraid and protect them."

1090. Third, as to the diligent guarding of the city's buildings, which is expressed in Nehemiah 4:17: with one hand they built, and with the other they fought. Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, and all the night, they shall never hold their peace. This is spoken according to the likeness of watchmen who guard the city; or by a metaphor it indicates the diligence of the princes, who governed the people, or of preachers in the Church: and they rested not day and night, saying: holy, holy, holy (Rev 4:8).

1091. You that are mindful of the Lord. Here he leads others to make a similar petition: hold not your peace, from prayer; and give him, God, no silence: always rejoice. Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:16–18).

Give him no silence, understand: the Lord; but be always troublesome, in season, out of season, and imitate the woman who importuned the hard judge. For if he laid aside the fierceness of his mind because of constant entreaty, how much more will the heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him? And you ought to ask for as long as it takes until Jerusalem, which fell in the Jews and is become an example and a curse, is turned into the praise of the whole world. And I wonder what the Seventy meant, instead of what is in the Hebrew, give him no silence, until he establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth, by saying what does not cohere in sense with what precedes: For there is none like you, if he corrects, and makes Jerusalem a joy upon the earth. Unless perhaps we fit it together with artful speech, so that it is said to the watchmen of the Church that there will be none like those who by their preaching have brought it about that Jerusalem is corrected and becomes the joy of the whole earth.

He promises those crying out and who give unceasing praise to the Lord, "While you are still speaking, behold, I am here." … Now to those who will be worthy of the new age and involved in the things the Lord promises, he will no longer give their fruit to their enemies, but they will profit from these themselves. For they are correcting their lives in the direction of virtue and in godly manner are pursuing righteousness and enjoying their own harvest.

The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength: If I give your wheat any more as food to your enemies, and if the sons of strangers drink your wine, for which you have labored! For those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who bring it in will drink it in my holy courts. LXX: The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the strength of his arm: If I give my wheat any more to be food for your enemies, and if the sons of strangers drink any more your wine for which you have labored! But those who have gathered will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who have gathered will drink it in my holy courts. Almighty God, who had said to the Church, Upon your walls I have set watchmen, who will never be silent, and whom I bid never to cease praying until they obtain what they pray for, now swears by his right hand and the arm of his strength. Of this we have often said that it is our Lord and Savior, who according to the Apostle is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1). And he swears that the wheat and wine of Jerusalem will by no means go to be food for enemies, nor will foreigners enjoy her labor; but whoever have sown in tears will reap in joy, and those who have harvested, and, the chaff cast away, have gathered the pure grain into the barns, will themselves eat the labors of their hands, and extol the Lord with everlasting praise, and drink the wine in his holy courts. By these we understand either the many mansions with the Father, if we take it of the future blessedness in the kingdom of heaven, or certainly the churches spread throughout the whole world, in which we are planted, and afterwards shall flourish in the house of the Lord. And when he says, I will by no means give your wheat any more to your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your wine for which you have labored, he shows that the labor of the Jews and all their works were formerly possessed by demons, when they wavered between God and idols, when Elijah said to them: How long do you limp on both feet? If the Lord is God, follow him (1 Kgs 18:21). And according to the typical history which is narrated in the book of Judges, the Midianites came and laid waste its fruits as far as Gaza, so that the food of men was turned into the fodder of brute beasts (Judg 6). Now this is the wheat and this the wine which they will not eat except praising the Lord, and will not drink except in his holy courts; of which the Lord said in his passion: Amen, amen, I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of this vine until I drink it new in the kingdom of my Father (Mark 14:25). These things are fulfilled in part in the Church, when the Lord says to his disciples: Drink, my friends, and be inebriated, brethren, for wine gladdens the heart of man (Ps 103 [104]). And it is drunk in full light and at midday by Joseph with his brothers (Gen 43). And it will be fulfilled more fully when the earth is inebriated with the blessings of the Lord. The wheat too, from which the heavenly bread is made, is that of which the Lord speaks: My flesh is truly food. And again of the wine: And my blood is truly drink (John 6).

As you battle courageously, I will lead from the front. Since there is no one else better by whom one should swear, then by my own glory and by my own power I swear, since I will guard your harvest for you and stop those who are perpetual thieves, while you will profit from your own labors. Wheat and wine and food, spiritually speaking, signify the harvest of righteousness.

1092. The Lord has sworn by his right hand. Here the Lord promises to fulfill the petition.

And first, as to driving back their enemies: if, supply: you do not trust in me, I will give your corn to be meat for your enemies: he that tills his ground (Prov 28:19), and eats not the fruit from it.

"They will eat and drink in the courts of my sanctuary." These are the many mansions with the Father. He mentions "courts," or "dwellings" as some prefer, and so consequently mentions the temple. He says, "Go out through my gates," meaning the heavenly city with its mansions and gates, which will be revealed to the saints in the future, in the place of those called. For no one will enter who is crippled by hate, or anyone who seeks to enter under false pretences. No demon will enter, or anyone who has obstructed the kingdom. "Make a road for my people," he says to the angelic powers. But some take these powers to signify the churches of the world, and that the stones in that road are snares laid by the enemy. But the guards (that is, the disciples) are told to keep those who enter on the way free from harm. For the Jews … like to dwell in legal figures, while Greeks stumble against the strange teaching. For they refer to words that the Jewish scribes have written. But the spiritual leaders cut down the wild thickets of scandalous unclarity and remove every obstacle to the knowledge of God. Therefore, Paul says to those from the circumcision, "There is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision" but only the keeping of God's commands.

"And salvation, along the way of his steps." Note the exact words, "his steps," where there are no rocks, where there are no thorns or thistles, where the path is even, where he may walk, where he cannot stumble. Let us, therefore, make way for the Lord in our heart, that way for which John [the Baptist] was giving his life's effort.… Although formerly we faced obstacles of thorns and thistles, although we had stones, he declares to us in Isaiah, "clear the highway of stones." He proclaims this, furthermore, lest he stumble on them when he is ready to walk in the way of our heart. Now the stones that he bids us to throw out from our way are our sins. Christ does not walk in our heart if there is any sin there. He stumbles at once against these stones. "And salvation along the way of his steps." Let us prepare the way, and Jesus will set his steps in it.

Pass through, pass through the gates, prepare the way for the people, make the road level, and pick out the stones; lift up a signal to the peoples. Behold, the Lord has made it heard at the ends of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your Savior comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they will call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you will be called a city sought out, and not forsaken. LXX: Go through my gates, and make a way for my people, and throw the stones off the way. Lift up a signal to the nations; for behold, the Lord has made it heard to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your Savior comes, having his reward with him, and his work before his face; and he will call it a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you will be called a city sought after, and not forsaken. He commanded the watchmen of the walls of Jerusalem, whom he had commanded before not to be silent and never to cease praying, to pass through the gates of Jerusalem and make a way for the people. This the half-Jews contend will come to pass in the last time, when, after the fullness of the nations, Israel is to be saved and return to the Lord. Others think it is to be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven, when there will be true gladness, and each will receive according to his merit, and they will by no means see the Lord in humility, but will perceive him in the guise of a judge, when he comes upon the clouds with a multitude of angels to render to each according to his work. But we, following the explanation we have begun, can understand these things of the first coming as well, so as to say that the Apostles and apostolic men are commanded to go in and pass through the gates against which hell does not prevail, and to remove every hindrance from the way, so that the people may enter the Church of the Savior without any stumbling block. Hence John too cried in the wilderness: I am the voice of one crying in the desert, as Isaiah said: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight; every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low (John 1:23; cf. Isa 40:3, 4). And the same sense is now expressed in other words. The churchman chooses the stones, who softens all hardness from the heart of believers; of whom the same Baptist said: God is able from these stones to raise up sons to Abraham (Matt 3:9). Or, according to the Seventy, he throws the stones off the way who separates the unbelieving from the believers.

And lest the Jews should think this was said of themselves, there is joined to it: Lift up a signal to the nations, and to the peoples of the Gentiles, so that it is not the narrow confines of the one land of Judea that are called to salvation, but the message is made heard at the ends of the earth, so that the whole world may hear of the passion of the Creator of all.

Second, as to the liberation of captives, as to the preparation of the way: go through, you messengers of Cyrus and Darius; pick out the stones, impediments: take the stones out of the way (Jer 50:26); or you, watchmen of the walls: preachers. As to the granting of joy: lift up the sign, the decree of Cyrus that all the captives could return, or the sign, of the cross, above: he shall set up a sign unto the nations (Isa 11:12).

This forecasts the coming of the Savior and our redemption by his coming. It also foretells the granting of riches to those who believe in him.… Concerning that which is new, that is, the church, it may be fittingly said that it is the daughter of Zion.… For whom does he order to proclaim good news to Zion? Those holy spiritual guides, of course, who took on the leadership role in the church and whose job it was to open the gates and to remove the stones from their midst. And what were they to announce? "That the Savior has come bringing his own reward and his work before his face." Two points are made, that which relates to his godhead and that which is a reward for us. Through both the Savior's glory becomes apparent.

Say, he says, to the daughter of Zion. She is called the daughter of Zion either because she first arose from the Jews, she of whom it says in the Song of Songs, The sons of my mother have fought against me (Song 1:5); or certainly she is called daughter because she received from God the name of adoption. For as many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God (John 1). And what is it that the masters and teachers are bidden to announce to the daughter of Zion? Behold, your Savior comes, who in the Hebrew is called Jesus. Hence Gabriel too, to Joseph: And you will call, he says, his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matt 1:21). This Savior is the judge of all believers, to render to each according to his works: to the righteous rewards, to sinners everlasting punishments (Matt 16).

Thus, what God has indicated to the ends of the earth is not the reconstruction of Jerusalem but the cross, the passion, the resurrection, the ascension of the Master to the heavens, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the hope of future benefits. He commands the heralds to prepare the road and to make it level … by removing difficulties. For he calls obstacles "stones." … Then, once the route has been arranged, he ordains the heralds to say to the daughter of Zion, that is, to the church extended throughout the world, "Behold, your Savior has come to you, having his reward and his work before his face."

And as to the retribution of justice: tell the daughter of Zion, the people of the Jews, behold your Savior, God, or Cyrus; behold his reward is with him, that he might repay good things to you and evil things to your enemies. Mystically, this refers to the coming of Christ to judge, above (Isa 40:9–10) has the same thing.

Our adversaries argue against us who defend the purity of the church that it will have mixed within it at the same time good and bad up to the end of the age. For this reason we demonstrate that the church of the Lord is called nearly everywhere in the divine Scriptures "holy" and "without spot." In Isaiah, "say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your Savior comes bringing his reward and work with him, and he will call that people holy and redeemed by the Lord; and you will be called a desired city and not an abandoned one." … For Paul clearly shows this: "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it that he might sanctify it, washing it in the water of the word and joining it to himself, not having a spot or stain or anything like that, but holy and spotless."

And he will call, he says, them, the Lord and Savior himself. Or, according to the Hebrew, they will call them, the Apostles and apostolic men, a holy people, and redeemed by the Lord, who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. The city itself too will by no means be called forsaken, as she had been called before, whether among the Jews because of their trafficking, or among the nations because of their idolatry, but sought after, as it is said in Hebrew DRUSA (דרושת); so that, according to the growth and variety of their virtues, they may always receive new names.

He rewarded the confession of the thief on the cross when he said, "Today you will be with me in paradise." "He comes" to those who believed "and will call a people who have been ransomed by the Lord." For it was not an elder or an angel but the Lord himself who has saved us. He says "the city shall be called 'sought out,' that is, worthy of memory. For it was formerly abandoned. So Jeremiah says, "I have abandoned my house and lost my inheritance." And the Savior says, "Behold, your house will be left deserted."

Third, where it says, and they shall call them, he sets out the honor of the liberated people, who had a great reputation of holiness, because of the benefits given to them, above: after this you shall be called the city of the just, a faithful city (Isa 1:26). Mystically, this refers to the Church and the Christian people.