and lived in those parts; he is not mentioned in the Gospels as alive during the time of the wonders and the precious passion of the Lord. Indeed, to Jesus himself it was once said: *Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee* (Matt. 12. 47), which implies that they were alive, as I said. Wherefore, standing by the cross, the Virgin is commended to John by the Lord. Thus she, as was said, was called the Mary of James, the Theotokos, and not the wife of Joseph. The third Mary, the mother of James the Less and of Joses, whom Mark mentions, is a different person. I believe that she is the one who is written in Luke as the Mary of James, not the Theotokos, for the reason I stated above. For the evangelist Mark, when having mentioned her above and having said, *Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses and Salome* (Mark 15. 40), refers to her further down again by these words: *And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices that coming they might anoint Jesus* (Mark 16. 1). And although there might be another mother, and neither of James the Less, nor of him who was called the brother of the Lord, it is manifest that she is another than the three mentioned—the one whom John the Theologian mentions A when he deals with the crucified Jesus (John 19. 25). There is also another Mary, the sister of Martha and of Lazarus. Knowing these things, therefore, beloved, and holding them diligently, do not give room to those who wish to slander the divine Scripture. For all sincerity and truth is in it, as having been dictated by the Holy Spirit. But the weakness of human minds, which men do not wish to confess out of vainglory, has called the property and incomprehensibility of the Scriptures a discrepancy. But you, as the venerable and holy flock of Christ, recognize that the pastures of our souls, namely the divine Scripture, are true and beyond reproach. For truth nourishes you, because truth, the resurrection, and the life is Christ our God. And if we do not grasp anything in it as is fitting, let us have patience until the future age, when we shall be deemed worthy to see God face to face, and shall be illuminated by the knowledge of all things; when we shall know God, not in part, but even as we are known by Him (1 Cor. 13. 12); which is the ultimate beatitude of every rational creature, which is governed by charity and abides always in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and empire with the Father, who is without beginning, and the life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
MONITUM
To this homily or oration must be prefixed the new one of Savile, which is found with other notes at the end of the eighth volume, p. 747. The oration, he says, is miserably corrupted, in which many places are clearly beyond hope; let it suffice for the reader if we only point these out, and leave them to those who can do more, either by talent or by Codices. Certainly this homily teems with errors in the edition of Savile, so that in many places it cannot be understood by any art. Furthermore, towards the end in particular, many places are mutilated and lacerated. We have removed these flaws with the help of the Royal Manuscript.ON THE GOSPEL PASSAGE WHERE THE JEWS SAID CONCERNING THE SAVIOR: HOW DOES HE KNOW LETTERS, HAVING NOT LEARNED? (John 7. 15), AND ON THAT SAYING OF THE SAVIOR: NO ONE KNOWS THAT DAY (Matt. 24. 36)
Come, let us draw together from the clear and pure channel, obeying the prophet who says: *Draw waters with joy out of the fountains of the Savior* (Isa. 12. 3). There are many fountains, but one source of salvation: he who is the fountain of all goods is our Lord Jesus Christ, who pours forth all knowledge, all wisdom. I am certainly astonished that the Jews were amazed that he should know letters, having not learned them; for that was just read to us; namely, when the Savior was setting forth divine doctrine, the Jews were amazed. How does this man, they say, know letters, having not learned? They seek letters from the fountain of the Word, nay, they seek letters from God the Word, from Christ, from whom the law flowed, who brought forth prophecy; from whom arises all knowledge, word, law, will, consideration. *For all wisdom is from the Lord* (Ecclus. 1. 1). They seek letters from the Word, from whom all the prophets have drawn, and all theologians have received doctrine in the vessels of their souls. Moses received this word; from this fountain the prophets have drawn; from this fountain all the apostles have taken. John testifies to this, saying: *Of his fulness we all have received* (John 1. 16). Do you seek letters from God, as if letters made the word, and as if the word or reason discovered the art of letters? Did letters make the word? The Word or Reason discovered the nature of letters. And just as the arts did not beget the material, but the material gave occasion to the arts: so too, letters did not make the word, but the word or reason discovered the knowledge of letters. Letters are not prior, and the word posterior; but the word is prior, and from it letters. Everything that has been made by God precedes, and those things which are prepared by knowledge followed after. The eye did not make the things that are seen, but the eye judged the nature of visible things; hands did not give the arts, but the hands gave the arts; running did not make the feet, but the feet taught the nature of running. Thus letters did not teach the word, but the word discovered the knowledge of letters. Why then do you seek the second from the fountain of the first? He knows letters, having not learned. Do you not marvel that he raises the dead, and do you stare in amazement that he knows letters, having not learned them—a thing which can happen by nature? For those who first invented letters, did they not learn from others? And the inventors of letters were men; but raising the dead, that certainly surpasses the nature of men. Do you neglect great things and inquire curiously into the smallest? Therefore, the fountain of all science and knowledge is Christ; nothing is hidden from him. For he is the inventor of all things; I say inventor, not that another made them and he devised them; but because he is both the author of wisdom and the inventor of those things which we behold in wisdom. Nothing of the past, present, or future escapes him: for he is the fountain of all.
A 2. If, therefore, the heretic says (for tares sprout up among the wheat), if he is the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, how is it that concerning that day, that is, the consummation in which there is the resurrection of the dead and the coming of the Savior, he says: No one knows, neither the angels, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matt. 24:36)? How then is he the fountain of wisdom, if he is ignorant of the future? But I would have wished that you did not craftily pervert the word, nor revolve it in circumlocutions of speech, but rather that you held to the straightforwardness of the dogmas. Why do you say: If he is the fountain of wisdom and the treasury, how is he ignorant? I know that the saying is deep; nevertheless, we shall come to the prompt solution. For one must judge not of the power of the word, but of the capacity of the hearers. For the Apostle says regarding Christ: We are led into the knowledge of the mysteries of God the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:2, 3). If all things are in him, nothing escapes him. What then, he says, regarding the pronouncement of the Savior, that no one knows, neither the Son, but only the Father? Let the heretic be questioned. Which is greater, the day, or the Father? He who knows the Father, does he not know the day? No one knows the Father, except the Son (Matt. 11:27). He has found the Father; he knows the fountain of knowledge, and does he not know the day? But it is possible, he says, to know the Father, and yet be ignorant of what is in the Father. If there is something in the Father unknown to the Son, there is something in the Son unknown to the Father. Whence this? The Lord of all himself has fixed the limit: As the Father knows me, I also know the Father (John 10:15). But when he speaks of men, he says: I know my own, and am known by mine (John 10:14). For inequality of knowledge is not present here. Wherever there is an unequal nature, there is also unequal knowledge. A man is able to know God, but not the things that are in God; we all know the Father, but not as the Son does. That they may know you the only true God (John 17:3). We all know, but not as he does. For the fruit understands the root in one way, the root interprets the fruit in another, and those who gather the fruit partake of the knowledge in yet another. But here he has given a bright and unconfused equality of knowledge: As the Father knows me, I know the Father. If there is something in the Son unknown to the Father, there is something in the Father unknown to the Son. Are you not then ashamed of that argument of yours, O heretic, through which you deprive the Son of knowledge? By another word, you are making the Holy Spirit, whom you deny, greater than the Son according to your knowledge. For Paul says regarding the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit examines all things, even the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10). The Holy Spirit knows the depths, yet the Son is ignorant of the day? If, then, he says, he knows, why did he say, I do not know? From the logic of the reasoning and the testimony of the Scriptures, it has been demonstrated that he is the fountain of knowledge and wisdom. Why, then, does he deny what he possesses, and say that he does not have that knowledge, which he himself causes to spring forth? For he said that no one knows the day. It is necessary, brothers, to search the aim of the Savior, and to ask what he says, and regarding what, and to whom, and when. For one ought not simply torture words and examine small expressions, but to judge according to the capacity of the sense. For not everything that the Savior speaks, he speaks according to his own dignity, but according to things appropriate to our weakness. He speaks in one way to the faithful, in another to the unfaithful. I know that I have stated this understanding previously among you, but nothing prevents me from proceeding through the same thought, and showing the demonstration of the facts to be true. The discourse was toward the Jews, the Jews who were as far removed from the height of the divinity as the earth is removed from heaven, as God said: As the heaven is far from the earth, so are my ways far from your ways, and my thoughts from your thoughts (Isa. 55:9). He was discoursing, therefore, to the unfaithful; and because they thought him B some sort of adversary of God, working against the divine knowledge, and opposite to the law of Moses, he everywhere hides his own dignity and refers everything to the dignity of the Father, in order to show that the Jews were not arguing against him, but were fighting against the Father. But toward the Jews, he often applies words adapting to their own wills; not that the divine word changes itself according to our habits, but because, as a physician applies remedies appropriate to wounds, he was being examined among the Jews who had denied him not only his divinity, but also his humanity. For understand how far they were from imagining him to be the Son of God, such that they did not even suppose the Lord to be a man established as he was. For they said: He has a demon, and they supposed the Son of God to be possessed. Because, therefore, he saw the Jews arguing, and his own disciples curiously inquiring about the future—for it is always dear to men to press forward to what is to come and to foreknow the future; for indeed, in common daily life, if someone learns before a single day what all are going to learn after one day, he rejoices as if having discovered something great, and as if having stolen the knowledge of all. It is dear, therefore, to men to investigate the future. The Savior, therefore, saw this desire flourishing in the apostles, and the ardor for the knowledge of the future boiling, and he denies what he has, so that he might punish the untimely desire. When: Dost thou restore the kingdom of Israel? (Acts 1:6). Then, checking the human boldness that wishes to press into the future and to pry into the things of God, he says: It is not for you to know times or seasons; the measure of knowledge transcends human nature. Do not be curious about the future before the events, but only wait, and believe; prepare yourself for the presence of the coming Judge. Consider, not so that you may learn when the day is, but so that you may learn what kind of day will meet you. For this reason, the prophet, blaming and checking those who were curious about this day and saying: When does the judgment come, when is the resurrection? said: Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! To what end is this day of the Lord for you? (Amos 5:18). Instead of: Why do you hasten to see the day of the Lord? The day of the Lord is set as bitter and hard, the powerful day of wrath, that day of tribulation and necessity (Zeph. 1:14, 15). He brought fear to bear, so that he might punish the boldness. Since, therefore, they longed to know the future, which transcends human order, the Savior said: It is not for you to know times or seasons. But so that he might not be thought to withhold knowledge out of envy, he includes himself among those who do not know, so that he might console the ignorance of men. You do not know, he says, neither the angels. Why do you imagine things above the angels? Even the Son does not know. Why do you imagine things above me? But when you hear "Son," divide the matter in your mind; for "Son" is spoken in common, implying both the divinity and the humanity. And so that you may know that Scripture calls even the flesh of the Savior "Son," and the dispensation, he says elsewhere: And the blood of Jesus his Son will purify us from all sin (1 John 1:7). The blood is not divinity, but humanity; so also he names the humanity "Son." And when we say, The Son of God has suffered, we confess what is passible, what is impassible. When we say that the only-begotten Son of God was crucified, we divide the impassible and separate the passible. For even among us men, there are words that are found applied to the whole human substance, but are divided by the intuition of the intellect. If we say that such-and-such a person has died, we understand what is the dead body, and what is the immortal, the soul; and it is not, because the appellation of death is carried over to the whole name, that we say the whole man has perished; for there is no absolute necessity to say, "The body of such-and-such has died." And the name receives the common appellation of death, but the intellect divides the appellation: what has died, and what has not died. Since, therefore, the Savior also pronounces a common word of death against the saints, saying: They will deliver C you into councils, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake, and
A in the same way he hides his own dignity, and brings forward the authority of the Father, showing that he who fights against Christ, fights against God. But do you think the matter is irony and a flourish of words, and not a demonstration? You shall be refuted by the things themselves. By the things which you say, O Jew, you who despise Christ and treat with contempt those things which pertain to the Savior,—[you say] that he neither walks according to God, nor follows the law, but, as the impious say, fights against piety; while you, for your part, both fight for the law, and defend the divine word, and vindicate God according to your own scope, and think you act piously while you oppose the glory of Christ and guard the kingdom of the law. Let us, therefore, from the things themselves take account of how God adjudges the matter between your opinion and ours. You say that you defend God, and oppose a certain adversary of God who does not walk according to the law, but dissolves the dogmas of God. Let us see how God looks upon those who defend the law, and those who follow the transgressor of the law. I institute a discourse from common things. If any city receives a tyrant, it is in danger, even if it does not agree with him; but because it received him, it is caught in dangers. But if any city closes its gates to a tyrant, it is praised, and receives a reward from the king, because in a dangerous time it erected trophies, having a firm decision: it did not adhere to the tyrant, but to the king. You did this, O Jew, as you say: when the tyrant was coming, as you impiously boast—the one who was opposing the law of Moses—you did not receive him; but you repelled him, and reserved the kingdom entire for God: the Church of the Savior opened its gates to him who, as you say, was a tyrant, but, as she confesses, is the King of Glory. Let us see what the True One decided B regarding those who did not receive the king. One city did not receive him, and it was leveled to the ground, namely Jerusalem; this one city closed its gates to the King of Glory, and [though] it did not receive the tyrant, it was leveled to the ground: the Churches of God throughout the world, which received the Savior, flourish, and are adorned with honors more than human. Look at the matter again from the opposite side: as long as a tyrant is alive, his friends flourish, those who were faithful to him at that time, while his enemies are in danger; but when the tyrant is dead, his friends are in dangers, and his enemies live in freedom. Let us see, therefore, what happened after the death of the Savior, after his ascent from this world to the Father, after that which you think was death, and I believe was resurrection. If the enemies of the king flourish more than the adversaries of this tyrant, truly he was a tyrant: but if his enemies are in infamy and in exile, while his friends are in freedom and in glory; if you do not have faith in words, reverence the things themselves: how, namely, God exalted the kingdom of Christ, and struck down those who repudiated it. God could have destroyed those who denied the Son; he could have killed the enemies of the king, who thought the King of Glory was a tyrant: but he did not kill them, but scattered them. If he had killed them, they might have cleared themselves: if he had allowed us to remain on earth, we would have been shamed by the things themselves: if we had seen the world believing, we would have been converted with the whole world. The enemies could have said: We saw him with those twelve, and we despised him as vile; if we had seen him worshipped by kings, without doubt we would have submitted ourselves under the yoke of piety. Why, occupying the time, did you take away repentance from us? Why did you anticipate amendment with punishment? For this reason, lest anyone should say, "We knew the Crucified, we did not see him worshipped"; he does not kill, but scatters them. For this, David, their prophet, was long ago urging God, saying: *Slay them not, lest at any time they forget thy law: scatter them in thy power* (Ps. 58. 12). See them before the gates of Christ, selling sudaria and semicinctia. He stationed them at the gates, that they might become witnesses of those who worship. See them standing at the doors of the church, like the brothers of Joseph. Reflect that, just as the brothers of Joseph, seeing the dignity of their brother, did not dare to approach as to a brother, but feared the dignity: so now see them trembling at the dignity of the Church, which she received from God, from the Lord and Savior of all: see them vile and dejected, seeing the Crucified in glory. C Think of the passion, think of the glory. The hours of the cross are three, from the sixth to the ninth; the time of the glory is ages of ages, and they are not consumed. See how the contumely passed away like a shadow; see how the truth of the glory shines: from the sixth to the ninth D the contumely...
from eternity to eternity the glory, and Christ’s praise is not consumed, His doxology is not exhausted. All pour out their voices, prophets and evangelists and shepherds, bishops and teachers, and they are not consumed by the ocean of the Godhead; and just as the sea receiving rivers is not covered by the rivers, but covers the streams, so all who speak of the glory of Christ are covered by the glory, and they do not cover the glory. B Fearful is the audacity of the God-fighters, but glorious is the honor of Him who was insulted indeed for the sake of the dispensation, but is glorified because of His divine dignity. Consider that just as three hours were of contumely, ages of ages do not fill the glory of God. Consider also the place of the cross. Did the place of the wood have a circumference of one span? The planting of the cross had a measure measured by the foot. Consider the measure of the contumely, and consider the climates of the under-heaven, that the whole world was filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as much water covers the sea. The Jews stood around the cross mocking the passion, or rather, mocked by the passion; they saw the crucified, and were ignorant of the glorified. For this reason the prophet Zechariah said: *Then the Lord God will come, and there will be a great wailing in Jerusalem.* (Zach. 12:11, 12). *They shall look on him whom they pierced (John 19:37)*, that is, with what nails they fastened him. And he did not say, "They shall look on whom they pierced," but, "On him whom they pierced." What is "On him"? The cross was that on which they pierced Him. Before the coming of the Savior, just as a royal standard, what is called a "signum" according to common custom, runs before the coming of Christ, being glorified by the angels. The cross will appear on the earth, covering the sun, dimming the moon, as the Savior said: *Then shall appear the sign of the Son of God in heaven* (Matt. 24:30). And that the word of Zechariah might be fulfilled, the Savior taking that very saying, brought it to truth; and then they shall look on Him whom they pierced. And the sign of the Son of God will be seen in heaven, and the tribes shall wail: *The tribe of the house of David by itself, and their women by themselves; the tribe of the house of Nathan by itself, and their women by themselves* (Zach. 12:12, 13). Why then did He not bring forth the name of the tribe, but the name of the kingdom? Why does the tribe of David mourn? For the tribe of David was not called so, but the tribe of Judah. Because those who were close in flesh to Him who was from David according to the flesh, were ignorant of the dignity of His Godhead; therefore the calamity touches first those who were close in kinship and separated in life. *The tribe of the house of Nathan.* Who is Nathan? There was a prophet, there was also a son of David. For one is Nathan the prophet, who rebuked him concerning sin, and another is Nathan from him. Read the histories of the children of David, and you will find one of his children named Nathan. And Luke the evangelist, handing down the succession to Mary, also traces Joseph through Nathan. See how deep the word is, and needing an examined mind. Read the Gospels; as the Savior said, *Search the Scriptures* (John 5:39). He did not say, "Read," but, "Search"; for bare reading does not present the knowledge, but accurate understanding presents the sought-after thing.
5. The sign of the Son of God will therefore be seen in heaven. It will be seen bearing the image of the wood, but flashing forth a ray of light. When the cross is raised, the sun will be covered, not disappearing, but being concealed by the surpassing greatness of the glory; the moon will also be covered, and the stars will be hidden, or rather they will fall, as it is written: *The sun, he says, shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven* (Matt. 24:29); and then that fearful and glorious sign will be shown; with the Jews seeing, the blasphemers, surrounded by those being glorified. D Then each of the righteous will answer the unrighteous; then Isaiah will say to us: *Behold our God, in whom we hoped, we have rejoiced* (Is. 25:9); then the cross appearing will rebuke the audacity, and will confirm the Church; then the contradictors will answer, and those who obeyed will be glorified; then all creation will worship the Son of God, both the order of those who disbelieved, and the order of those who believed; but the one with boldness, the other with shame. For just as in imperial images the glory of those-who-guard-the-king is depicted, and the tribes of the barbarians who are subject to the king, and the barbarian falls down from below, and the fellow-tribesman falls down too; but nevertheless he stands with boldness, glorifying his own king; but the one fettered by necessities is under the feet, worshipping the king, but having no reward for the worship; for not choice led him, but necessity fettered him; and there is the upper order of those worshipping, and the lower order of those falling; for it is one thing to worship, and another to fall; so at the coming of the great king, in the image of glory the order of those who believe will appear, in boldness with the angelic order singing and glorifying; and the order of those who disbelieved will appear spread under the feet of the great king; and the ones will be loosed in boldness, the others fettered by necessity. Because the faithful were already fettered by longing, there is no need of chains; for longing is a chain to them; but whom longing did not bind, necessity often binds; and the faithful are led with boldness to the King of glory, the faithful with boldness, but the inglorious and those who contradict the word of truth will approach bound with iron manacles; and the ones will be in the order of those who worship on high, the others in the order of those who fall in the depths. For just as in the images the upper zone is the one holding those who worship, and the lower is the one carrying the barbarians; so also in the kingdom of Christ, the order of those who believe must appear higher, and that of those who fall down, earth-bound and lowly. For this reason the Psalm, separating those who worship from those who fall down, says: *All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him, for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the master of the nations* (Ps. 21:28, 29); when He showed the order of those who worship, when He brought upon those who fall down: *Before him shall fall all who go down to the earth* (Ibid. v. 30). And how is the order of the faithful higher? Because the faithful will not stand on the earth, but in the air as fellow-assessors and fellow-guards of the greatest tribunal. For the throne of God is not fixed on the earth, but the earth is the footstool of His feet, so that all who are being judged are below, and above is the judge, and the friends with the judge. Therefore the Apostle, wishing to show that the faithful will not stand on the earth, but will be caught up in the air, says: *We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord* (1 Thess. 4:16).
5. This occasion of the boldness of the God-fighters, who dared to say, *He has a demon* (John 10:20), has brought to my memory. Let us say with David: *How great is the multitude of thy goodness, O Lord!* (Ps. 30:20). What language do you endure from the servant, what words do you bear from the earth, how do you not punish those who dared to act against you, the God-fighters? Do you not consume them by the stroke of your nod, do you not consume them by a command, could you not threaten? Was not the prophet’s word about Him, *Who threatens the sea, and dries it up* (Nahum 1:4)? So much do they fight against God, so much do they blaspheme. But the Savior answers: *I came not to judge the world, but that I might save the world* (John 12:47). Therefore David also calling Him, not to judge at the second coming, but to save, said: *Thou that sittest upon the cherubim, appear. Awaken thy power, and come to save us*, not to judge (Ps. 79:2, 5); not to judge. The first coming is of salvation, the second of judgment. If you wish, you knew Him as Savior; if you are disobedient, you knew Him as judge. Preparing beforehand, make yourself a friend of the king. From common affairs...
one often learns: sometimes dignities inflate a man, change his spirit, and alienate his affection; he seems to be one person instead of another. For God says concerning Saul, seeing him changed by his dignity: "I have anointed you king, and they will seek [you], and they will give you the principality, and you will receive from them; and when these signs come upon you, you will be changed into another man" (cf. 1 Reg. 10. 1, 7). For power and dignity will change you—not that they change everyone; they do not change the faithful man, but they overcome and render manifest the wicked one. Therefore, He says to the faithful: "If you are constituted a prince, be as one of the subjects." B Thus, if amity often fails, it also often remains true; but Christ’s amity cannot fail. When you see Him in glory, He does not deny you who worship Him on earth; but just as if He had accepted you into friendship today, He invites you and shows you friendship: "Come, you blessed of my Father" (Matt. 25. 34). Here, if you often show favor to someone, having attained dignity he does not acknowledge it; but even if he returns the favor, he hides the first benefit—for he does not want to appear inferior to his benefactor; he returns the favor of your friendship, but hides the benefit. The Savior, however, confesses the friendship and does not hide the benefit: "For I was hungry and you gave me to eat" (Ibid. v. 35), etc. Therefore, the Savior shines in friendship; He shines also in benefit. He does not deny the former friendship; He confesses your affection, He proclaims your love, He crowns your purpose. Therefore, let us have Him as benefactor, not as judge. He is indeed a judge, and a judge of truth; but do you anticipate Him and make Him a friend, not a judge; appease Him. Do you not see how worldly princes go about, and how they address their acquaintances? But here one concerns oneself with methods, there with intercession. First, address the martyrs; say to the apostles: "I beseech you, prepare the Judge for me: may He be propitious to me at the time of judgment, when my works are examined. C Persuade Him: you are able to appease Him." I know that He is exorable to you; I do not have the confidence, you address the King. But the apostles and martyrs will answer you: "Do you not know our God, who bestows mercy freely, but wishes to receive it from us? Give to the poor, and He will confess the favor to you on their behalf; bestow it into the hands of the poor, and as though depositing it into the hands of the faithful, you will receive retribution: give to Christ, who does not receive out of a greed for possessing, but out of humanity distributes to the poor." Then God receives money, not unto Himself, but through the poor unto Himself—not selling justice, but amending our failings through repentance. He does not take money so that He may sell you justice and unjustly condemn another; but that He may free you, who are liable to condemnation, through a gift, as Daniel said: "Redeem your sins with alms, and your iniquities with mercies to the poor" (Dan. 4. 24). Offer money for your soul; for the wealth of a man is properly his redemption. I say these things for the dignity of the great Judge and Lord, whom the whole world receives, Whom now the Church is deemed worthy of, [but] of Whom the synagogue alone is deprived; for it has been dissipated. Its name is empty; for it is another "concision"—for it is cut off on account of disbelief. Paul calls the synagogue "concision," saying: "Look to the concision" (Phil. 3. 2). We, indeed, are the circumcision. Therefore, those who called the Savior a demoniac are cut off from glory; those who confessed Him King are filled with glory. D Bringing forward one remaining spectacle from the history of the Old Testament, I will make an end of speaking. Gedeon, a man once just, celebrated by the testimony of the Scriptures, whom Paul (Hebr. 11. 32) listed in the order of the just—speaking of Gedeon, Samson, and Jephthe—was here conspicuous in every justice, he who adorned his life with virtues. At a time of war and distress, taking spikes from somewhere [else], he threshed them in a winepress, that he might prepare for himself some solace in the necessity of food. The angel, however, standing by, said: "Be strengthened and be robust; the Lord is with you" (Jud. 6. 11, 12). For famine does not blunt justice; rather, it renders exercised virtue more splendid. "The Lord is with you; peace be to you." Gedeon replies: "If the Lord is in us, whence have these evils invaded us?" (Jud. 6. 13). Not contradicting God, but deeming himself unworthy of God, he speaks thus. "If," he says, "we were worthy of God, these things would not have invaded us." Often the incredulous, who profess that they believe but resist in their spirit, say: "Where is the God of the Christians? Why does He not hear the monks? Whence the wars? Whence the perturbations?" He did not speak in such a way; but: "If the Lord were in us, whence have these evils invaded us? Therefore He is not in us; for we are not worthy of Him." The angel replies: "The Lord is with you; God has deposited the victory in your hand; go out to war." Gedeon replies: "By this I shall know that the Lord is with me, if He gives me a true sign. Lo," he says, "I place a fleece of wool; and if God rains upon this fleece, and upon all the earth it does not rain, I know that God is with me." See the sign, and the petition of the unheard-of gift: he placed the fleece. God, by night, by divine command and a reason that cannot be comprehended, sends down dew upon the fleece alone, and the whole earth was dry. "And Gedeon," he says, "rising early in the morning, wrung the fleece, and found an earthen bowl full of water." Again, Gedeon: "By this I will know that the Lord is with me, if He does the sign that I wish. I place this fleece: and if rain comes upon the whole earth, and in this fleece it does not come, then I will know that the Lord is with me." Is the first sign not enough for you, but you seek a second? Did you not read: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God" (Deut. 6. 16)? Those two things are one sign. Therefore he said: "If the Lord will give me a true sign," for the testing of the future truth. Then he placed the fleece a second time: and the rain fell upon the whole earth, and the fleece remained dry. After this experiment, he boldly attacks the war and conquers the enemies. The enigma of the rain is to be explained in a few words. This fleece signifies the first and second advent of the Lord; for the first comprised Jerusalem alone, but the whole earth did not receive Him. For just as the fleece compared to the whole earth was nothing, so Jerusalem was nothing compared with all nations, and a miserable thing. Therefore He was saying: "I have not come except to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15. 24), to one nation alone. But when afterwards the grace of the Lord progressed, when the synagogue and that people were about to deny, and the whole earth was about to receive [Him], the figure in the second [sign] went before: for as when the fleece alone was imbued with rain, the earth was dry, and then when this was irrigated, the earth was dry, the fleece remained dry; so that former people was once irrigated [with grace], but it did not pour pious religion into all the nations; when, however, all the nations received the benefit, Israel remained dry. But lest this speculation seem to proceed by human reasonings and complicated cogitations, it would be worth the effort to add a prophetic testimony to this speculation. Concerning the Savior, David says prophetically: "O God, give your judgment to the king, and your justice to the son of the king; he will judge your people in justice, and your poor in judgment" (Ps. 71. 2); and having progressed a little, he says: "He shall remain before the sun, before the moon throughout generation to generation" (Ibid. v. 5). Then, signifying His advent, he says: "He shall descend as rain upon the fleece, and as a drop dropping upon the earth" (Ibid. v. 6); and immediately: "And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the world" (Ibid. v. 8). Would that we, therefore, irrigated with the whole earth, might bring forth fruit, through the prayers and intercession of our father and doctor, who can seal both our sermon and your desire in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and empire, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.