Psalm 109 [MT 110]

Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. [Psalms 110:1] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

If reasoning does not move you, at least let the plain aspect of the judgment move you! Raise your eyes to the Judge, see who it is that is seated, with whom he is seated, and where. Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father. If you cannot perceive this with your eyes, hear the words of the prophet: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit on my right hand.' " The Son, therefore, sits at the right hand of the Father. Tell me now, you who hold that the things of God are to be judged as the things of this world are judged, whether you think that he who sits at the right hand is lower? Is it any dishonor to the Father that he sits at the Son's left hand? The Father honors the Son, and you make it to be an insult! The Father would have this invitation to be a sign of love and esteem, and you would make it an overlord's command! Christ has risen from the dead and sits at the right hand of God.

God, when "becoming a God and a defense" and saying, "I will be a God to them," does not then become God more than before, nor does he then begin to become God. Rather, what he had always been, that he then becomes to those who need him, when it pleases him. So Christ, also being by nature Lord and King everlasting, does not become Lord more than he was at the time he is sent forth, nor does he then begin to be Lord and King but what he has always been, that he then is made according to the flesh. Having redeemed all, he thereby becomes again Lord of the living and the dead. Thereafter everything serves him, and this is David's meaning in the psalm, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.' " For it was fitting that the redemption should take place through none other than him who is the Lord by nature, lest, though created by the Son, we should name another Lord, and fall into the Arian and Greek folly of serving the creature beyond the all-creating God.

If then they suppose that the Savior was not Lord and King, even before he became man and endured the cross, but then began to be Lord, let them know that they are openly reviving the statements of the Samosatene. But if, as we have quoted and declared above, he is the everlasting Lord and King, seeing that Abraham worships him as Lord and Moses says, "Then the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven"; and David in the Psalms, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit on my right hand' "; and "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom"; and "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom";18 it is plain that even before he became man, he was King and Lord everlasting, being Image and Word of the Father. And since the Word is everlasting Lord and King, it is very clear again that Peter did not say that the essence of the Son was made but spoke of his lordship over us, which "became" when he became man, and redeeming all by the cross, became Lord of all and King.

"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool" [Psalm 110:1]. We ought, therefore, thoroughly to consider this question proposed to the Jews by the Lord, in the very commencement of the Psalm. For if what the .Jews answered be asked of us, whether we confess or deny it; God forbid that we should deny it. If it be said to us, Is Christ the Son of David, or not? If we reply, No, we contradict the Gospel for the Gospel of St. Matthew thus begins, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David." [Matthew 1:1] The Evangelist declares, that he is writing the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David. The Jews, then, when questioned by Christ, whose Son they believed Christ to be, rightly answered, the Son of David. The Gospel agrees with their answer. Not only the suspicion of the Jews, but the faith of Christians, does declare this...."If then David in the spirit called Him Lord, how is He his son?" The Jews were silent at this question: they found no further reply: yet they did not seek Him as the Lord, for they did not acknowledge Him to be Himself that Son of David. But let us, brethren, both believe and declare: for, "with the heart we believe unto righteousness: but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation;" [Romans 10:10] let us believe, I say, and let us declare both the Son of David, and the Lord of David. Let us not be ashamed of the Son of David, lest we find the Lord of David angry with us.

When He asked how Christ could be both David's son and David's lord, He clearly identified Christ, and therefore Himself, with the 'my Lord' of Psalm 110—was in fact hinting at the mystery of the Incarnation by pointing out a difficulty which only it could solve.

In a certain sense Our Lord's interpretation of the Psalms was common ground between Himself and His opponents. The question we mentioned a moment ago, how David can call Christ 'my Lord' (Mark 12:35-37), would lose its point unless it were addressed to those who took it for granted that the 'my Lord' referred to in Psalm 110 was the Messiah, the regal and anointed deliverer who would subject the world to Israel. This method was accepted by all. The 'scriptures' all had a 'spiritual' or second sense. Even a gentile 'God-fearer' like the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:27-38) knew that the sacred books of Israel could not be understood without a guide, trained in the Judaic tradition, who could open the hidden meanings. Probably all instructed Jews in the first century saw references to the Messiah in most of those passages where Our Lord saw them; what was controversial was His identification of the Messianic King with another Old Testament figure and of both with Himself.

as the Lord himself testified when he addressed the Jews in these words: How then does David in the spirit call him Lord, saying: The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I put thy enemies underneath thy feet; if David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son? The expression, his Lord, clearly indicates that he was God, and that other, sit thou at my right hand, is clearly suited to his humanity. For, the word sit he said to him who was not sitting. But Deity is established in its own blessedness, and honour and glory, and is neither conceded by one who is greater to one who is less, nor is one who is less invited to assume it. But the humanity of Christ is, by the Deity which is inseparably united, invited in the words: Sit thou at my right hand, that is, in my dignity—for God being uncircumscribed has neither right hand nor left. But he says this to his humanity, sit in my dignity—that is, in my person, as the image of God, shown to all the world.

So let us not be ashamed of the cross of Christ, but even if someone else keeps it secret, you should openly sign it upon your forehead, so that evil spirits beholding the royal symbol may fly far from you, terrified. Make this sign as you eat and drink, when you sit down, when you go to bed, when you get up again, while you are talking, while you are walking, in brief, at your every undertaking. He who was crucified then is now in heaven above. For we would have cause to be ashamed if, after he had been crucified and buried, he had remained in the grave. But now, he who was crucified on this very Golgotha ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives there to the east. For from there he went down into hell and came again to us here. Again he went up from us into heaven, when the Father called him saying, "Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

Behold again: Jesus who was manifested, both by type and in the flesh, is not the Son of man, but the Son of God. Since, therefore, they were to say that Christ was the son of David, fearing and understanding the error of the wicked, he saith, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." And again, thus saith Isaiah, "The Lord said to Christ, my Lord, whose right hand I have holden, that the nations should yield obedience before Him; and I will break in pieces the strength of kings." Behold how David calleth Him Lord and the Son of God.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? [Psalms 110:1] Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

1. He who delivered from the lowest hell the man first made of earth, when lost and bound by the chains of death; He who came down from above, and exalted earth-born man on high; He who is become the preacher of the Gospel to the dead, the redeemer of souls, and the resurrection of the buried;-He became the helper of man in his defeat, and appeared in his likeness, the first-born Word, and took upon Himself the first Adam in the Virgin; and though spiritual Himself, He made acquaintance with the earthy in the womb; though Himself the ever-living One, He made acquaintance with the dead in transgressions; Himself the heavenly One, He bore the terrestrial on high; Himself of lofty extraction, He chose, by His own subjection, to set the slave free; and making man, who turns to dust, and forms food for the serpent, unconquerable as adamant, and that, too, when hung upon the tree, He declared him lord over his victor, and is thus Himself proved conqueror by the tree.

2. Those, indeed, who do not acknowledge the incarnate Son of God now, shall have to acknowledge Him as Judge, when He who is now despised in His inglorious body, comes in His glory.

3. And when the apostles came to the sepulchre on the third day, they did not find the body of Jesus; just as the children of Israel went up the mount to seek the tomb of Moses, and did not find it.

The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. A Psalm of David. It is David who speaks, a prophet, a holy man, a king. So what does the king say? What does the king and prophet say? The Lord said to my Lord. The Savior expounded this passage in the Gospel, saying: "If Christ is the son of David," he says, "how does David in the Spirit call him Lord?" You see, then, what he is saying. If he is David's son, how do you say it — how does David in the Spirit call him Lord? Someone may say: So then he is not the son of David? He was saying this about the Pharisees, who confessed Christ to be merely the son of David. To the Jew and to Photinus I say this very thing: If he is the son of David, how does David call his own son Lord? But the one who confesses him to be Lord and God, and the Son of God — for instance the Manichaean, who denies that he is the son of David — before that man I prove that he is the son of David. To us, then, the one who is the Son of God, he himself is also the son of David: not one son here and another son there; I do not make two persons out of God and man; but the very one who is the Son of God, he himself is also the son of David. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. In the Hebrew the first name of "Lord" is written with those letters with which it is written only of God. But the second name of "Lord" is written with those letters with which men are accustomed to call one "lord": just as one is called "lord" by a servant, and kings are called "lords." See, then, what he says. The Lord said to my Lord: to this Lord, who is commanded to sit. God does not sit; it is the assumption of a body that sits. To this one, then, it is commanded that he sit — the one who is man, who was assumed. This we say against the Arians, and against those who say: Greater is the Father, who bids him sit, than the one who is bidden. All the Gospels ring out concerning the person of the man, and now no proof is needed: because everything whatsoever that seems lowly is referred to the man, is referred to the flesh. Now let us speak about the psalm.

If, sirs, it were not said by the Scriptures which I have already quoted, that His form was inglorious, and His generation not declared, and that for His death the rich would suffer death, and with His stripes we should be healed, and that He would be led away like a sheep; and if I had not explained that there would be two advents of His,-one in which He was pierced by you; a second, when you shall know Him whom you have pierced, and your tribes shall mourn, each tribe by itself, the women apart, and the men apart,-then I must have been speaking dubious and obscure things. But now, by means of the contents of those Scriptures esteemed holy and prophetic amongst you, I attempt to prove all [that I have adduced], in the hope that some one of you may be found to be of that remnant which has been left by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth for the eternal salvation. In order, therefore, that the matter inquired into may be plainer to you, I will mention to you other words also spoken by the blessed David, from which you will perceive that the Lord is called the Christ by the Holy Spirit of prophecy; and that the Lord, the Father of all, has brought Him again from the earth, setting Him at His own right hand, until He makes His enemies His footstool; which indeed happens from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, after He rose again from the dead, the times now running on to their consummation; and he whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time, and times, and an half, is even already at the door, about to speak blasphemous and daring things against the Most High. But you, being ignorant of how long he will have dominion, hold another opinion.

And that God the Father of all would bring Christ to heaven after He had raised Him from the dead, and would keep Him there until He has subdued His enemies the devils, and until the number of those who are foreknown by Him as good and virtuous is complete, on whose account He has still delayed the consummation-hear what was said by the prophet David. These are his words: "The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send to Thee the rod of power out of Jerusalem; and rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. With Thee is the government in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of Thy saints: from the womb of morning have I begotten Thee." That which he says, "He shall send to Thee the rod of power out of Jerusalem," is predictive of the mighty, word, which His apostles, going forth from Jerusalem, preached everywhere; and though death is decreed against those who teach or at all confess the name of Christ, we everywhere both embrace and teach it. And if you also read these words in a hostile spirit, ye can do no more, as I said before, than kill us; which indeed does no harm to us, but to you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, brings eternal punishment by fire.

For your teachers have ventured to refer the passage, "The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool," to Hezekiah; as if he were requested to sit on the right side of the temple, when the king of Assyria sent to him and threatened him; and he was told by Isaiah not to be afraid. Now we know and admit that what Isaiah said took place; that the king of Assyria desisted from waging war against Jerusalem in Hezekiah's days, and the angel of the Lord slew about 185,000 of the host of the Assyrians. But it is manifest that the Psalm does not refer to him. For thus it is written, "The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. He shall send forth a rod of power over Jerusalem, and it shall rule in the midst of Thine enemies. In the splendour of the saints before the morning star have I begotten Thee. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Who does not admit, then, that Hezekiah is no priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek? And who does not know that he is not the redeemer of Jerusalem? And who does not know that he neither sent a rod of power into Jerusalem, nor ruled in the midst of his enemies; but that it was God who averted from him the enemies, after he mourned and was afflicted? But our Jesus, who has not yet come in glory, has sent into Jerusalem a rod of power, namely, the word of calling and repentance [meant] for all nations over which demons held sway, as David says, "The gods of the nations are demons." And His strong word has prevailed on many to forsake the demons whom they used to serve, and by means of it to believe in the Almighty God because the gods of the nations are demons. And we mentioned formerly that the statement, "In the splendour of the saints before the morning star have I begotten Thee from the womb," is made to Christ.

And that God the Father of all would bring Christ to heaven after He had raised Him from the dead, and would keep Him there until He has subdued His enemies the devils, and until the number of those who are foreknown by Him as good and virtuous is complete, on whose account He has still delayed the consummation-hear what was said by the prophet David. These are his words: "The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send to Thee the rod of power out of Jerusalem; and rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. With Thee is the government in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of Thy saints: from the womb of morning have I begotten Thee." That which he says, "He shall send to Thee the rod of power out of Jerusalem," is predictive of the mighty word, which His apostles, going forth from Jerusalem, preached everywhere; and though death is decreed against those who teach or at all confess the name of Christ, we everywhere both embrace and teach it. And if you also read these words in a hostile spirit, ye can do no more, as I said before, than kill us; which indeed does no harm to us, but to you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, brings eternal punishment by fire.

And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool. [Psalms 110:1] David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. [Psalms 110:1] David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? [Psalms 110:1] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

But Christ the Lord does all these things in us. Before he returned to heaven, he promised his disciples and said, "But when I ascend, I will ask my Father and he will send you another Paraclete, who will be with you forever, the Spirit of truth." Thus, we must believe that Christ went to the Father when we see that the Paraclete came down upon the apostles. We must believe, I say, (as David said about the Savior) that he sat down at the right hand of God, because we discern that the Holy Spirit moves freely among the disciples, just as the Lord promised. Therefore the prophetic psalm says, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand.' " In our custom a person is offered a seat when he has accomplished some task and comes as a victor and the favor of a seat of honor is offered to him. Thus, in the same way the man Jesus Christ also conquered the devil by his suffering, harrowed hell by his resurrection, came to heaven as a victor once his work was done, and heard from God the Father, "Sit at my right hand." Nor is it astonishing if the Father offers the Son the right to sit on one seat with him, since he is by nature of one substance with the Father. But someone may be prompted to ask why the Son is said to sit at his right hand. Although there is no degree of worthiness wherever there is a fullness of divinity, nonetheless, the Son sits at the right hand not so that he may be held higher than the Father, but so that he may not be believed to be inferior. And so the Son sits at the right hand because in the gospel the sheep are stationed at the right hand while the goats are on the left.

"He ascended into heaven," from where he had descended. "No man has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven." "He sits at the right hand of the Father," according to what was said to David, typifying God the Father speaking to his Son: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool." "Thence he shall come to judge both the living and the dead." Believe that Christ himself, our God, will come with the angels and powers of heaven to judge both the living and the dead, to give to each according to his works, that is, to award eternal life to the just and to subject the wicked to eternal punishment.

He [Christ] foretells that he would rise again from the dead: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse and one who shall rise to rule the Gentiles: in me shall the Gentiles hope, and his resting place shall be worthy of honor." The time of his resurrection is indicated: "We shall find him ready, as it were, at daybreak." He shall sit at the right hand of the Father: "The Lord says to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool,' " and he is represented as the possessor of all things: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession." Finally, he is shown to be the Judge of all: "O God, give the King your judgment, and your justice to the king's son." I shall not pursue the matter further at this point; for the things proclaimed about Christ are known to all heretics and are more than familiar to those who hold the truth.

Now this very thing which he says in the Psalm: "the Lord said to my lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet", someone will indeed expound more fittingly when he has set himself to expound that Psalm itself. Yet for now let us lightly taste its sense. Do not depict for yourself perceptible seatings and two thrones, and the Father and the Son sitting upon them in human fashion; but understand that these things are said morally of the kingdom of God and of the kingdom of the Son, which has been established by the Father and is always at the Father's right hand. But if anyone does not wish these things to be understood morally, let him explain how this too is true which says the Lord said to my lord: sit at my right hand and that which he says elsewhere: "but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father". He therefore who does not wish to understand these things worthily, according to the greatness of the mind of Christ, must be compelled to say that at one time indeed he sits at the Father's right hand, but at another time (relinquishing a dignity of this kind, of sitting at the Father's right hand) he sits privately with those for whom the Father has prepared that they should sit at his right hand or at his left. Likewise he must still further be compelled to say that, while sitting at the Father's right hand, he still has enemies; for he sits beside him just so long, until they are placed by the Father as the footstool of the feet of Christ. But when he shall have ceased to sit at the Father's right hand, then he will no longer have enemies, when those who previously had been his own footstool of the feet shall have begun to sit at his right hand or at his left according to the Father's ordinance. And so it comes about that some of those who sit, sit in the Father's former place. But what can be more ridiculous than these things? Then, wishing to understand the seating bodily, you will find in the same Psalm that both the Son sits at the Father's right hand, according to what it says: "the Lord said to my lord: sit at my right hand", and the Father sits at the Son's right hand, according to what is declared in what follows, saying: "the Lord at your right hand has shattered kings in the day of his wrath". But we say: it is not necessary to introduce bodily consideration into these things which are to be understood spiritually; for morally both the Son is at the Father's right hand, and the Father is always at the Son's right hand.

In what way the Savior's enemies also are set by the Father as a footstool for his feet, it is fitting to see worthily, according to the kindness of the God who sets his enemies as a footstool for his feet. For it must not be supposed that God sets the enemies of Christ as a footstool for his feet in the same way as the enemies of earthly kings, who exterminate their own enemies, are set under their feet. Do not such kings trample down their own adversaries without mercy? But God does not set the enemies of Christ as a footstool for his feet unto their destruction, but unto their salvation, as we shall bring forward examples of the holy Scriptures signifying this very thing. For it is written in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in the second Aleph: "How has the Lord darkened the daughter of Zion in his anger, cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, and was not mindful of the footstool of his feet?" And see that, inasmuch as Israel was the footstool of God's feet, it was glorious in heaven; but after it was cast down, so as not to be the footstool of his feet, it also ceased to be in heaven. For attend diligently to what he says: "He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, and was not mindful of the footstool of his feet". Likewise also that saying: "Heaven is my seat, but the earth is the footstool of my feet" signifies not the dishonor but the glory of the earth, which understands concerning God some small and last part, which is morally called his feet. So also the Church upon earth, in the beginnings indeed of the worship of God and the knowledge of Christ, is the footstool of his feet; just as that "sinful woman" doing penance was at the feet of Jesus in the beginnings of her penance, for she was not yet able to pour out the ointment of the fragrance of her good deeds upon the head of Christ. For it was desirable for her even to stand beside the Lord's feet and anoint them. And each one of us, understanding himself to be what the Apostle says, "we too were once without understanding, unbelieving, wandering, and serving diverse desires and pleasures", will see how, inasmuch as he was such before he was washed from those things, he had been an enemy of Christ, an enemy of righteousness, of truth, of wisdom, of peace; "but after the kindness of our God the Savior appeared", he first became a footstool for the feet of Christ. And I, being confident that this is the meaning of the Scripture, do not hesitate to affirm that the Father thus says to the Son: Sit at my right hand, until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet. And the Apostle in the first Epistle to the Corinthians introduces such a meaning of the Scripture, that we should understand it of the subjection of those who were once enemies, that they become a footstool for the feet of Christ, speaking in this manner: "But now Christ is risen from the dead, he has become the firstfruits of them that sleep. For since by man came death, by man also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: in the beginning Christ, then those who are Christ's, who believed at his coming; then the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have made void all rule and power and might. For he must reign, until he sets all his enemies under his feet. But the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed. For he has subjected all things under his feet. But when he says that all things are subjected to him, manifestly it is except him who subjected all things to him. But when all things shall have been subjected to him, then the Son himself also shall be subjected to him who subjected all things to himself, that God may be all in all". Of all these things indeed we have made a full explanation in its proper place. See, however, how in all these passages the word of subjection is set down unto the salvation of those subjected.

To those to whom it is possible to search out all things by the Spirit, "even the depths of God," they will understand both what is written: "you who sit upon the cherubim, appear" and: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up" and: "the Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet" and other things of the like. These things that are said of God sitting are likewise also said of Christ. But it seems to me that the sitting of the Son of Man signifies a certain foundation and royal steadfastness. According to the Power, therefore — he who alone is the Power and is properly so named — he is also established at the right hand, he who has received all power from the Father, as "in heaven and on earth"; and this foundation even the adversaries will one day see, after the blessed have with joy seen him.

Or thus: see whether you can measure the hour and the day not according to the brevity of hours and days that is among men, but according to the length that is with the eternal Lord, to whom from the foundation of the world until its consummation there is one day — which is demonstrated by the parable, where he speaks of those hired into the vineyard in the morning and at the third hour and the sixth and up to the eleventh. It is therefore no wonder that here the Savior says that from now on until then there is a very short span, in which span he was saying: you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power to those who were then hearing him — perhaps then when "the Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet", among whom were also those to whom he was saying from now on you shall see; for Caiaphas too was an enemy, who was plotting against Christ.

And what followeth? "The Lord shall send the rod of Thy power out of Sion." It appeareth, brethren, it most clearly appeareth, that the Prophet is not speaking of that kingdom of Christ, in which He reigneth for ever with His Father, Ruler of the things which are made through Him: for when doth not God the Word reign, who is in the beginning with God? For it is said, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever." To what eternal King? To one invisible, incorruptible. For in this, that Christ is with the Father, invisible and incorruptible, because He is His Word, and His Power, and His Wisdom, and God with God, through whom all things were made; He is "King eternal;" but, nevertheless, that reign of temporal government, by which, through the mediation of His flesh, He called us into eternity, beginneth with Christians; but of His reign there shall be no end. His enemies therefore are made His footstool, while He is sitting on the right hand of His Father, as it is written; this is now going on, this will go on unto the end. ...

Under the Law in the mystery of the giving of the Law, Christ is symbolized by Moses' staff with which he chastised the Egyptians and dried up the sea, and which is the scepter of power which the Lord stretched forth from Sion.

The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power out of Sion. "The rod." In the Hebrew it has not so much "rod" as "scepter," that is, the emblem of royal power. The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power out of Sion. "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." Rule in the midst of your enemies. He did not say, Kill your enemies. But what? Rule in the midst of your enemies. Make your enemies, who had been strangers, begin to be yours. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your enemies, of whom it is written in the sixty-seventh psalm: "The tongue of your dogs from the enemies, from him." These are the enemies, who were in another's power. Now, then, the psalmist prays for this: rule over your enemies, deign to be the Lord of your enemies.

Now they went about in the public place: with boldness they attacked even the market, and in the midst of enemies they prevailed, and that saying was fulfilled, "Be Thou Ruler in the midst among Thine enemies." This was a greater miracle, that they, arrested, cast into prison, should do such acts as these!

Just as, therefore, from the side of Adam Eve was created, so also from the side of Christ was created the church, which has no spot or blemish. In him, therefore, God has opened an entrance to all the sons of Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob, in order that they may profess their faith in him and have life and salvation in his name. Turn, therefore, and enter into the joy of your father Abraham, because God has fulfilled what he promised to him. Whence also the prophet says, The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." Christ became a priest on the cross, when he offered the whole burnt offering of his own body and blood as a sacrifice for all the world.

And His proper and peculiar, natural and excellent Sonship, St. Paul has declared, who thus speaks of God: "Who spared not His own Son, but for us," who were not His natural sons, "delivered Him up." For to distinguish Him from those who are not properly sons, He said that He was His own Son. And in the Gospel we read: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Moreover, in the Psalms the Saviour says: "The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art my Son." Where, showing that He is the true and genuine Son, He signifies that there are no other genuine sons besides Himself. And what, too, is the meaning of this: "From the womb before the morning I begat thee"? Does He not plainly indicate the natural sonship of paternal bringing forth, which he obtained not by the careful framing of His manners, not by the exercise of and increase in virtue, but by property of nature? Wherefore, the only-begotten Son of the Father, indeed, possesses an indefectible Sonship; but the adoption of rational sons belongs not to them by nature, but is prepared for them by the probity of their life, and by the free gift of God. And it is mutable as the Scripture recognises: "For when the sons of God saw the daughters of men, they took them wives," etc. And in another place: "I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against Me," as we find God speaking by the prophet Isaiah.

We read that the Son is begotten, inasmuch as the Father says, "I brought you forth from the womb before the morning star." We read of the "firstborn" Son, of the "only-begotten"54—firstborn, because there is none before him; only-begotten, because there is none after him. Again, we read, "Who shall declare his generation?" "Generation," mark you, not "creation." What argument can be brought to meet testimonies so great and mighty as these?

Again, immediately before the declaration "the Lord created me," he says, "I will tell of the things that are from eternity," and before saying, "he begat," he said, "In the beginning, before he made the earth, before all hills." In its extent, the preposition "before" reaches back into the past without end or limit, and so "Before Abraham was, I am," clearly need not mean "after Adam," just as "before the morning star" need not mean "after the angels." But when he said "before," he intended not that he was included in anyone's existence but that all things are included in his, for thus it is the custom of holy Scripture to show the eternity of God. Finally, in another passage you may read, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, you are from everlasting to everlasting."58Before all created things, then, the Son is begotten; within all and for the good of all is he made; begotten of the Father, above the law, brought forth of Mary, under the law.

But since there are poorly instructed people who, while resisting the doctrine of a Son, think little of the words "from the womb before the morning star I begat you," as if this referred to his relation to Mary, alleging that he was born of Mary "before the morning star." Since to say that "womb" could not refer to his relation toward God, we must address the issue briefly here. If then, because the "womb" is human, therefore it is foreign to God; "heart" too clearly has a human meaning, for that which has heart has womb also. Since then both are human, we must deny both or seek to explain both. Now as a word is from the heart, so is an offspring from the womb; and as when the heart of God is spoken of, we do not conceive of it as human, so if Scripture says "from the womb," we must not understand it in a corporeal sense. For it is usual with divine Scripture to speak and signify in the way of humankind what is above humankind. Thus speaking of the creation it says, "your hands made me and fashioned me," and, "your hand made all these things," and, "he commanded, and they were created." Scripture's language is suitable then about everything; attributing to the Son "propriety" and "genuineness" and to the creation "the beginning of being." For the one God makes and creates, but him [the Son] he begets from himself, Word or Wisdom. Now "womb" and "heart" plainly declare what is proper and the genuine, for we too have this from the womb, but our works we made by our hands.

Plainly, divine Scripture, which knows better than any the nature of everything, says through Moses, of the creatures, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; but of the Son it introduces not another but the Father himself saying, "I have begotten you from the womb before the morning star"; and again, "You are my Son, this day have I begotten you." And the Lord says of himself in Proverbs, "Before all the hills he begets me"; and concerning things originated and created John says, "All things were made by him";50 but speaking of the Lord, he says, "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he declared him." If then he is a son, therefore he is not a creature; if a creature, his is not a son; for the difference between them is great, and son and creature cannot be the same, unless his essence is considered to be at once from God and external to God.

"With Thee the beginning on the day of Thy power." What is this day of His power, when is there beginning with Him, or what beginning, or in what sense is there beginning with Him, since He is the Beginning? ...What meaneth, "With Thee is the beginning"? Suppose anything you please as the beginning. Of Christ Himself, it would rather have been said, Thou art the Beginning, than, With Thee is the beginning. For He answered to those who asked Him, "Who art Thou?" and said, "Even the same that I said unto you, the Beginning;" since His Father also is the Beginning, of whom is the only-begotten Son, in which Beginning was the Word, for the Word was with God. What then, if both the Father and the Son are the beginning, are there two beginnings? God forbid! For as the Father is God, and the Son is God, but the Father and the Son are not two Gods, but one God: so is the Father Beginning and the Son Beginning, but the Father and the Son are not two, but one Beginning. "With Thee is the beginning." Then it shall appear in what sense the beginning is with Thee. Not that the beginning is not with Thee here also. For hast Thou not also said, "Behold, ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave Me alone; but I am not alone, because the Father is with Me"? Here therefore also, the beginning is with Thee. For Thou hast said elsewhere also, "But the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth His works." "With Thee is the beginning:" nor was the Father ever separated from Thee. But when the Beginning shall appear to be with Thee, then shall it be manifest unto all who are made like Thee; since they shall see Thee as Thou art; for Philip saw Thee here, and sought the Father. Then therefore shall be seen what now is believed: then shall "the beginning be with Thee" in the sight of the righteous, in the sight of saints; the ungodly being removed, that they may not see the brightness of the Lord. ...

The third mode of generation is by means of propagation, and this in a fourfold way: as of a growth coming from a seed, a tree from a root, a conceived offspring from the belly or womb of the mother, or children from a begetting father. In the first mode of generation, formal beauty is lacking, for in the seed the form is vague and hidden. It is not so in the case of the Son. In the second, conformity is lacking, for although there is a single root, it is different in shape from the branches even though they produce a single tree. In the third, actuality is lacking, for although the mother is in a certain sense the active principle of the offspring, yet she is much more of a passive principle. In the fourth, eternal coexistence is lacking.

Now, take away these defects and suppose first formal beauty. In this sense, there is Isaiah: "The branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor." Second, suppose conformity: The Son conforms to the Father to the point that He is "the tree of life... in the midst of the garden." Hence, in Proverbs: "She is a tree of life to those who grasp her." Third, suppose actuality: in this sense, you have the Psalm: "With Thee is the principality in the day of Thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot Thee. From the womb," says the Psalmist, which is in relation to the warmth of the Father's bosom, from which He does not withdraw. Fourth, suppose eternal coexistence. In this sense, there is the Psalm: "This day I have begotten You," that is in eternity, or in My eternal today.

Concerning this hierarch, then, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the whole of sacred Scripture exists, through which we are taught to be purged, illumined, and perfected, and this according to the threefold law handed down in it, namely of nature, of Scripture, and of grace; or rather according to its threefold principal part, namely the Mosaic law which purges, the prophetic revelation which illumines, and the evangelical teaching which perfects; or most especially according to its threefold spiritual understanding: the tropological, which purges unto uprightness of life; the allegorical, which illumines unto clarity of understanding; the anagogical, which perfects through mental ecstasies and the sweetest perceptions of wisdom, according to the three aforesaid theological virtues and the reformed spiritual senses and the three above-mentioned ecstasies and the hierarchical acts of the mind, by which our mind returns to its interior, so that there it may contemplate God in the splendors of the Saints and in them as in resting-places may sleep in peace and rest, the Bridegroom adjuring that it not be awakened until it proceed of His will.

Farther down again in the same psalm he saith with reference to his deity: Out of the womb before morning have I begotten thee, as if the Father were saying to the Son, with reference to his deity, Thee before all creation have I brought forth from the womb (thus showing him to be consubstantial) and not afterwards, but having thee in myself without beginning and without limit, as if from the womb, from my own substance have I begotten thee, being with me and co-existing with me.

And what follows in the psalm would agree with him alone, where it says, "The Lord said to me, You are my Son. Today have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for your possession." For surely only in him has this part of the prophecy received an indubitable fulfillment, since the voice of his disciples has gone forth into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. And the passage distinctly names Christ, saying as in his own person, that he is the Son of God, when it says, "The Lord said to me, You are my Son. Today I have begotten you." With which you may compare the words in the Proverbs, also spoken in his own person: "Before the mountains were established, before all the hills he brings me forth." And also the address by the Father to him in Psalm 109 [LXX]: "I begat you from my womb before the morning star." Understand then how the holy Scriptures prophesy that one and the same being, Christ by name, who is also Son of God, is to be plotted against by people, to receive the nations for his inheritance and to rule over the ends of the earth, showing his dispensation among people by two proofs: the one being the attacks on him and the other the subjection of the nations to him.

For the present I will only put this question to the intelligence of every reader: When we see From Himself, are we to take it as equivalent to "From some one else," or to "From nothing," or are we to accept it as the truth? It is not "From some one else," for it is From Himself; that is, His Godhead has no other source than God. It is not "From nothing," for it is From Himself; a declaration of the nature from which His birth is. It is not "Himself," but From Himself; a statement that They are related as Father and Son. And next, when the revelation From the womb is made, I ask whether we can possibly believe that He is born from nothing, when the truth of His birth is clearly indicated in terms borrowed from bodily functions. It is not because He has bodily members, that God records the generation of the Son in the words, I bore Thee from the womb before the morning star. He uses language which assists our understanding to assure us that His Only-begotten Son was ineffably born of His own true Godhead. His purpose is to educate the faculties of men up to the knowledge of the faith, by clothing Divine verities in words descriptive of human circumstances. Thus, when He says, From the womb, He is teaching us that His Only-begotten was, in the Divine sense, born, and did not come into existence by means of creation out of nothing. And lastly, when the Son said, I went forth from the Father and am come, did He leave it doubtful whether His Divinity were, or were not, derived from the Father? He went out from the Father; that is, He had a birth, and the Father, and no other, gave Him that birth. He bears witness that He, from Whom He declares that He came forth, is the Author of His being.

With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of the saints. The little verse is obscure. Let us see the day of the Lord's power, so that when we have known the day, then we may know what the "beginning" is, and how this beginning is with him and has been with him; how this very beginning is in the day of his power, in the splendors of the saints. This beginning, then, which is with the Lord in the day of his power, is with the Lord for this reason: that the saints may shine. With you is the beginning in the day of your power. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God." The Father is a beginning, but the Son too is a beginning. For a beginning does not have a beginning: for if it should have another beginning, then it itself ceases to be a beginning. Whatever, therefore, we grant to the Father, this we grant also to the Son. For if the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and all things of the Father are the Son's, and all things of the Son are the Father's, then the beginning of the Father is the beginning of the Son. Therefore what he says is this: At that time when you were suffering and were saying "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit," and you were speaking as it were out of the affection of a man, you were not making request as though weak. For with you was the beginning, with you was the divinity: but you besought help for this reason, that having received help you might give it to your saints, and they might shine. As for this that is said, "having received you might give" — let it be a stumbling-block to no one: he speaks according to the man. For if he assumed the body of a man, it is necessary that he also take on the words of a man. Christ is man, and truly man: we say this according to the assumption of flesh. If, then, he is man according to the body, you see the body, and you are not scandalized: and do you marvel if he speaks with the words of a man? But if the lowliness of the body scandalizes you, and the cross, and the injuries, and the blows, and the scourges, and every outrage of the cross — if this scandalizes you, return to the beginning, and you are not scandalized. For the Father says to the Son: From the womb before the morning star I begot you. Do you marvel if our Lord and Savior, who truly assumed a man, speaks according to the man, when God the Father himself, who did not assume a man, speaks as it were as a man, "From the womb before the morning star I begot you"? I have no womb: but I cannot otherwise show myself to be a Father, unless I have spoken with the words of a man. From the womb before the morning star I begot you. "From the womb," from my substance. "From the womb." Hear, Eunomius, hear, Arius: if the Lord is a creature, if he is a thing made, does a craftsman ever beget his work? does a craftsman ever call his work a son? A carpenter-craftsman made a bench: did he beget it from his womb? does he say to it, "From my womb I begot you, O bench"? By no means does he say this. But what does he say? "I made you with my hand." But when a "womb" is spoken of, a son is signified, and a son not adopted. For adopted ones too are called sons. "For as many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God." There he gave power: but here he begot from the womb, from his own nature, from his own inward parts, from his own substance. "From the womb," that is, from the marrow of his divinity. The whole of whatever the Father is in divinity, he gave to the Son whom he begot. From the womb before the morning star I begot you. "Before the morning star." This figure is called in Greek synecdoche (συνεκδοχή), which the grammarians call "the whole from a part" (ἀπὸ μέρους τὸ πᾶν). So when it says "before the morning star," it names one creature, and it indicates all creatures. When it says "before the morning star," let us understand it thus, as though it had said, before the moon, before the sun, before every creature. From the womb before the morning star I begot you. "Before the morning star." Before that morning star which is seen in the world, the true light was begotten. Hence he says in another passage of the psalm: "In your light we shall see light." The speech is to the Father: O Father, in the light of the Son we shall see the light, the Holy Spirit. From the womb before the morning star I begot you.

He is named Christ from being as man anointed with the Holy Spirit, and called our high priest, apostle, prophet and king. Long ago the divine Moses exclaimed, "The Lord your God will raise up to you a prophet, from the midst of you, of your brethren, like to me." And the divine David cries, "The Lord has sworn and will not repent, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." This prophecy is confirmed by the divine apostle. And again "seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess."

And unto what are You born? "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec" [Psalm 110:4]. For unto this were You born from the womb before the morning star, that You might be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec. For in that character in which He was born of the Father, God with God, coeternal with Him who begot Him, He is not a Priest; but He is a Priest on account of the flesh which He assumed, on account of the victim which He was to offer for us received from us. "The Lord," then, "has sworn." What then means, the Lord has sworn? Does the Lord, who forbids men to swear, [Matthew 5:34] Himself swear? Or does He possibly forbid man to swear chiefly on this account, that he may not fall into perjury, and for this reason the Lord may swear, since He cannot be forsworn. For man, who, through a habit of swearing, may slip into perjury, is rightly forbidden to swear: for he will be farther from perjury in proportion as he is far from swearing. For the man who swears, may swear truly or falsely: but he who swears not, cannot swear falsely; for he swears not at all. Why then should not the Lord swear, since the Lord's oath is the seal of the promise? Let Him swear by all means. What then do you, when you swear? You call God to witness: this is to swear, to call God to witness; and for this reason there must be anxiety, that you may not call God to witness anything false. If therefore thou by an oath dost call God to witness, why then should not God also call Himself to witness with an oath? "I live, says the Lord," this is the Lord's oath...."The Lord swore," then, that is, confirmed: "He will not repent," He will not change. What? You are a Priest for ever. "For ever," for He will not repent. But Priest, in what sense? Will there be those victims, victims offered by the Patriarchs, altars of blood, and tabernacle, and those sacred emblems of the Old Covenant? God forbid! These things are already abolished; the temple being destroyed, that priesthood taken away, their victim and their sacrifice having alike disappeared, not even the Jews have these things. They see that the priesthood after the order of Aaron has already perished, and they do not recognise the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedec. I speak unto believers. If catechumens understand not something, let them lay aside sloth, and hasten unto knowledge. It is not therefore needful for me to disclose mysteries here: let the Scriptures intimate to you what is the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedec.

The reference to Melchizedek (110:4)—the identification of this very mysterious person as a symbol or prophecy of Christ—is made in Hebrews 7. The exact form of the comment there made on Genesis 14 is of course alien to our minds, but I think the essentials can all be retained in our own idiom. We should certainly not argue from the failure of Genesis to give Melchizedek any genealogy or even parents that he has neither beginning nor end (if it comes to that, Job has no genealogy either); but we should be vividly aware that his unrelated, unaccounted for, appearance sets him strangely apart from the texture of the surrounding narrative. He comes from nowhere, blesses in the name of the 'most high God, possessor of heaven and earth', and utterly disappears. This gives him the effect of belonging, if not to the Other World, at any rate to another world; other than the story of Abraham in general. He assumes without question, as the writer of Hebrews saw, a superiority over Abraham which Abraham accepts. He is an august, a 'numinous' figure. One effect which the episode of Melchizedek was to have is quite clear. It puts in, with unforgettable impressiveness, the idea of a priesthood, not Pagan but a priesthood to the one God, far earlier than the Jewish priesthood which descends from Aaron, independent of the call to Abraham, somehow superior to Abraham's vocation. And this older, pre-Judaic, priesthood is united with royalty; Melchizedek is a priest-king. In some communities priest-kings were normal, but not in Israel. It is thus simply a fact that Melchizedek resembles (in his peculiar way he is the only Old Testament character who resembles) Christ Himself. For He, like Melchizedek claims to be Priest, though not of the priestly tribe, and also King. Melchizedek really does point to Him; and so of course does the hero of Psalm 110 who is a king but also has the same sort of priesthood.

For a Jewish convert to Christianity this was extremely important and removed a difficulty. He might be brought to see how Christ was the successor of David; it would be impossible to say that He was, in a similar sense, the successor of Aaron. The idea of His priesthood therefore involved the recognition of a priesthood independent of and superior to Aaron's. Melchizedek was there to give this conception the sanction of the Scriptures.

Then immediately again with reference to his humanity he says: The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; for deity does not exercise the priestly office or render worship, but is rather itself worshipped and the recipient of sacred services.

Daniel told a story of another hermit who used to live in the lower parts of Egypt, and who said in his simplicity that Melchizedek was the Son of God. Now when the blessed man Theophilus, the archbishop of Alexandria, heard of it, he sent a message asking the monks to bring the hermit to him. When he saw him, he realized that he was a man of vision and that every thing that he had asked for God had given him, and that he had only said this out of simplicity. The archbishop dealt with him wisely in the following manner, saying, 'Abba, pray to God for me, because I have begun to think that Melchizedek was the Son of God,' and he added, 'It cannot be true, for the high priest of God was a man. But because I had doubts in my mind about this, I sent for you to pray to God for me that He may reveal the truth of the matter to you.' Then, because the hermit had confidence in the power of prayer, he said to him firmly, 'Wait three days, and I will ask God about this and then I shall be able to tell you who Melchizedek was.' So the hermit went away, and returned after three days, and said to the blessed Archbishop Theophilus, 'Melchizedek was a man.' The Archbishop said unto him, 'How do you know that, abba?' The hermit said, 'God showed me all the Patriarchs, one by one, and they passed before me one after the other, from Adam to Melchizedek, and an angel said to me, "This is Melchizedek." That is indeed how the truth of this matter appeared tome.' The hermit went away, and he himself proclaimed that Melchizedek was a man, and the blessed Theophilus rejoiced greatly.

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec) [Psalms 110:4] By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent. "The Lord has sworn." In what he says, "he has sworn," it is not to the one who was begotten before the morning star, but he swore to the one who after the morning star was born of the Virgin. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech. It is superfluous for us to wish to interpret this little verse, since the holy Apostle argued about it most fully to the Hebrews. For this Melchizedech himself is without father, without mother, without lineage. And there he interprets most diligently why "without father, without mother, without lineage"; and it has been said by all churchmen that he is called "without father" according to the flesh, and "without mother" according to God. Let us therefore interpret only this: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech. Let us say only this, why he said "according to the order." "According to the order": by no means will you be a priest according to the Jewish victims, but you will be a priest according to the order of Melchizedech. For just as Melchizedech, king of Salem, offered bread and wine, so you too will offer your body and blood, the true bread and the true wine. This Melchizedech gave to us these mysteries which we have. He it is who said, "Whoever shall eat my flesh and drink my blood": according to the order of Melchizedech he handed down to us his sacrament.

"The Lord on Thy right hand." The Lord had said, "Sit Thou on My right hand;" now the Lord is on His right hand, as if they changed seats. ...That very Christ, the "Lord on Thy right hand," unto whom Thou hast sworn, and it will not repent Thee: what doth He, Priest for evermore? What doth He, who is at the right hand of God, and intercedeth for us, like a priest entering into the inner places, and into the holy of holies, into the mysteries of heaven, He alone being without sin, and therefore easily purifying from sins. He therefore "on Thy right hand shall wound even kings in the day of His wrath." What kings, dost thou ask? Hast thou forgotten? "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers took counsel together against the Lord, and against His Anointed." These kings He wounded by His glory, and by the weight of His Name made kings weak, so that they had not power to effect what they wished. For they strove amain to blot out the Christian name from the earth, and could not; for "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken." Kings therefore fall on this "stone of offence," and are therefore wounded, when they say, Who is Christ? I know not what Jew or what Galilean He may have been, who died, who was slain in such a manner! The stone is before thy feet, lying, so to speak, mean and humble: therefore by scorning thou dost stumble, by stumbling thou fallest, by falling thou art wounded. ..."But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." When therefore any one falleth upon it, it lieth as it were low; it then woundeth: but when it shall grind him to powder, then it will come from above. See how in these two words, it shall wound him and grind him to powder: he striketh upon it, and it shall come down upon him: are distinguished the two seasons, of the humiliation and the majesty of Christ, of hidden punishment and future judgment. He will not crush, when He cometh, that man whom He doth not wound when He lieth in a contemptible appearance. ...

The Lord at your right hand. I see a new thing. It is said at the beginning: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand; and now it is said to him: The Lord at your right hand. If he himself sits at the right hand of the Father, how in turn does the Father sit at the right hand of the Son? For when it is said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, it is said most plainly that the Son sits at the right hand of the Father. But when it is said, The Lord at your right hand, this is said, that the Father sits at the right hand of the Son. All this is said for this reason, that the Son may be equal to the Father. There are many things that might be said. But to sinners the devil stands at the right hand. Yet that discussion is another matter. Whoever is a sinner, the devil stands at his right hand. But someone says: How is it that in Zechariah it is said to stand also to Jesus the son of Josedech? "And the devil was standing at his right hand." How is it written in Zechariah that the devil stands at the right hand of the Savior? You see that there is a question here. But at that time when the devil was standing at the right hand of the Savior, "Jesus," it says, "had filthy garments." He was bearing our sins, he was wrapped in our vices: therefore the devil was standing at his right hand. He shall shatter kings in the day of his wrath. "All these things have been handed over to me." "In a moment of time," it says, "he showed him all the kingdoms of the earth." The devil shows the kingdoms of the world. And what does he say? "All these things have been handed over to me: if, falling down, you will adore before me, all will be yours." In the day, then, of war, in the day of contest, he shall shatter kings. "Of his wrath."

"He shall judge among the heathen: He shall fill up what has fallen" [Psalm 110:6]. Whoever you are who art obstinate against Christ, you have raised on high a tower that must fall. It is good that you should cast yourself down, become humble, throw yourself at the feet of Him who sits on the right hand of the Father, that in you a ruin may be made to be built up. For if you abide in your evil height, you shall be cast down when you can not be built up. For of such the Scripture says in another passage: "Therefore shall He break down, and not build them up." Beyond doubt he would not say this of some, unless there were some whom He broke down so as to build them up again. And this is going on at this time, while Christ is judging among the heathen in such a manner as to fill up what has fallen. "He shall smite many heads over the earth." Here upon the earth in this life He shall smite many heads. He makes them humble instead of proud; and I dare to say, my brethren, that it is more profitable to walk here humbly with the head wounded, than with the head erect to fall into the judgment of eternal death. He will smite many heads when he causes them to fall, but He will fill them up and build them up again.

He shall judge among the nations. See the differences: kings are shattered, nations are judged. He shall fill up the ruins. Our Lord ascended upon the cross, and many ruins came about. "This one is set for the ruin and resurrection of many, and for a sign that shall be contradicted." He shall fill up the ruins: of those who do not believe, who did not believe the scouts, the apostles. For Moses too sent scouts into the world; and because the people did not believe the scouts, therefore they fell in the desert. Even to this day the bodies of those who do not believe fall in the desert of this world. He shall crush the heads in the land of many. He shall fill up the ruins of those who do not believe; he shall crush the heads of those who are doubtful, of those who do not have perfect faith. He shall crush the heads in the land of many, not of all: for if he had said "of all," none of us would have hope. "Of many" is said, so that others may be left.

"He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up his head" [Psalm 110:7]. Let us consider Him drinking of the brook in the way: first of all, what is the brook? the onward flow of human mortality: for as a brook is gathered together by the rain, overflows, roars, runs, and by running runs down, that is, finishes its course; so is all this course of mortality. Men are born, they live, they die, and when some die others are born, and when they die others are born, they succeed, they flock together, they depart and will not remain. What is held fast here? what doth not run? what is not on its way to the abyss as if it was gathered together from rain? For as a river suddenly drawn together from rain from the drops of showers runneth into the sea, and is seen no more, nor was it seen before it was collected from the rain; so this hidden rain is collected together from hidden sources, and floweth on; at death again it travelleth where it is hidden: this intermediate state soundeth and passeth away. Of this brook He drinketh, He hath not disdained to drink of this brook; for to drink of this brook was to Him to be born and to die. What this brook hath, is birth and death; Christ assumed this, He was born, He died. "Therefore hath He lifted up His head;" that is, because He was humble, and "became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross: therefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name; that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ the Lord is in the glory of God the Father." [Philippians 2:8-11]

Therefore, beloved, He rejoiced as a giant to run His course. What course, if not the mortal path which He deemed worthy to share with us? That is the path through which humankind passes. For they pass through it by being born and by dying. And this river of the human race flows perpetually from the hidden veins of nature from the beginning to the end. From this rapid and turbulent river Christ deigned to drink. You have just heard in the psalm: "He drinks from the torrent in the way." This torrent led us to birth, and led us to death. As from a hidden spring, Christ received the abyss of the sea. For us, He was both born and died. And because men, positioned in the middle of this river, often delight in the flatteries and allurements of the world, which are involved in the silt of this torrent, and they are submerged into the depths of hell, who, eagerly drinking the passing waves, are thus killed by trying to stand in the precipitous torrent and seeking firm steps in its republic: thus the Lord drank from the torrent in the way. What does it mean, "He drank in the way"? He drank while passing through. For He drank and passed through, He did not remain: nor did He stand in the way of sinners. Again, men fear death; because it is necessary for all to be hurled by the force of this torrent: but Christ could not fear the death He voluntarily accepted; thus it is said: "And He rejoiced as a giant to run His course." For He descended and ran: ascended and sat. ...If we ask why all these things were done, dearest ones, we will find they were done for us. For He descended, so that we might ascend; died, so that we might live; rose again, so that we might rise again; ascended into heaven, so that we might learn to despise worldly things and to lift our hearts upward. Finally, to raise our hope after Him, He first raised His flesh: and so that we might hope this would follow in us, what He received from us preceded in Him.

Hence it is also well said through the Psalmist: "He shall drink of the torrent in the way, therefore shall He lift up His head." For indeed from the very beginning of the world a torrent of death had flowed forth in the human race: but the Lord drank of this torrent in the way, because He tasted death in passing. And therefore He lifted up His head, because what He laid in the tomb by dying, He raised above the angels by rising again; and from that point He struck down the ancient enemy forever, from the very place where He temporarily permitted the hands of persecutors to rage against Him.

He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Who shall drink from the torrent in the way? This one, to whom it was said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand: this one who heard, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech: this one who shattered kings in the day of his wrath, who judges the nations, shall fill up the ruins, shall crush the heads in the land of many: what else will this one do? He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Let us first look at the way, so that afterward we may look at the torrent in the way. The way of this world is meant, through which he walked. Indeed it is written in the Gospel: "Be agreeing with your adversary, while you are in the way" — that is, while you walk in this world, and you go along the way to him who is the true Way. Hence it is said also in the one hundred and eighteenth psalm: "Blessed are the unspotted in the way." Blessed are those who in the way of this world are unspotted, and in this world. Therefore the priest according to the order of Melchizedech, since he came into the way of the world, and walked in our way, he too drank from the torrent that was in the world. A torrent does not have natural waters, it does not have waters that always flow: but it has waters from storms, from rains, from whirlwinds, from tempests. A torrent is never in the mountains, but always in the valleys, in steep places. It takes in foreign waters, and gives birth to them, and swelling it rushes on. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. A torrent never has clean water, but always turbid water. This is said because the waters of this world are always turbid, always full of storm. Do you wish to know how he drank from the turbid torrent? He himself said: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." And the Gospel says: "And he began," it says, "to be sorrowful and troubled." Our Lord too, then, drank from the torrent of this world the turbid waters, the sorrowful waters, the waters that have no gladness. He took the cup, and filled it from the torrent of the world; and because the waters were turbid, he says: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." He drank, then, from the torrent of this world: but he did not drink as though in his own home, but in the way, hastening to go elsewhere. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. For this reason he drank from the torrent, because he was in the way. He shall drink from the torrent. If the Lord drank from the torrent of this world, how much more the saints? Do you wish to know that the saints always drink from the torrent? He says also in another place: "Our soul has passed through the torrent." He shall drink from the torrent in the way. We have spoken about the torrent; let us speak also about the testimony, "Our soul has passed through the torrent." Do you wish to know of yet another torrent? Elijah the holy prophet, when Jezebel was persecuting him, when he received food, and passing on for forty days went into the wilderness: "He was," it says, "in the desert, and drank from the torrent of Chobar." But hearing of the torrent of this world, do not despair: frequently this torrent fails. It seems indeed to be swelling, it seems to have many waters: but it quickly fails, if you endure. As for Elijah, he did indeed drink water in the desert, at that time when he was in sorrow, when he was in distress... He had left Judea: see how great his fear had been: he had left Judea, and had gone on to Mount Sinai. For Jezebel was persecuting him, and therefore he had drunk from the torrent of Chobar. But because he persevered to the end, therefore the water of the torrent failed. And it was said to him by the Lord, when the water of the torrent had failed: "Go," it says, "to the widow in Sarepta of the Sidonians," and the rest. Behold, Elijah too drank from the torrent. But the Lord and Savior himself also drank the cup from the torrent of Cedron. For thus the Scripture reports, when they came and seized him. "They came," it says, "and seized him at the torrent," and the rest. You see how lowly is the place of the torrent, how rugged. "Cedron" in the Hebrew tongue is interpreted "darkness." You see, then, that the torrents of this world are in darkness. The Lord, therefore, is handed over: he is not handed over up above on the Mount of Olives, he is not handed over in the temple: but he is handed over at the torrent, and the torrent of darkness, that is, Cedron. For all who hate the light love the darkness. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Because, therefore, the Lord drank from the torrent and tasted death, therefore the Father exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name. Next it is now said, He shall drink from the torrent in the way; and because he drank from the torrent in the way, therefore he lifted up his head. And what does he say? "When I have been lifted up, I will draw all things to myself." He is lifted up, and he lifted us up. His head has been exalted: as for the rest, the heads of the dragon have been crushed, and shattered in the sea. Therefore he lifted up his head. He did not say, "Therefore his head has been exalted," that is, exalted by another: but the one who had humbled himself, he himself exalted. For he himself says in the Gospel: "I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again." Therefore he lifted up his head. He exalted himself, who is the head of all. Or else, when it says "he lifted up his head," he did not exalt himself. Therefore he lifted up his head: for he was always on high. But when it says "he lifted up his head," he exalted our head, we who were lying down below on the earth; he exalted our head, we who, bent over, could not look up to heaven, but to the earth. Do you wish to know that he himself lifted up the head? That woman too, whom the devil had bound, he himself set free, and lifted up her head, she who was always bent over: and she adored him. To whom is glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.