[4049] Isa. ii. 2-4.
[4050] "Misericordiam."
[4051] Ps. xxiv. 3-6.
19. That Christ is the Bridegroom, having the Church as His bride, from which spiritual children were to be born.
In Joel: "Blow with the trumpet in Sion; sanctify a fast, and call a healing; assemble the people, sanctify the Church, gather the elders, collect the little ones that suck the breast; let the Bridegroom go forth of His chamber, and the bride out of her closet." [4052] Also in Jeremiah: "And I will take away from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of the joyous, and the voice of the glad; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride." [4053] Also in the eighteenth Psalm: "And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he exulted as a giant to run his course. From the height of heaven is his going forth, and his circuit even to the end of it; and there is nothing which is hid from his heat." [4054] Also in the Apocalypse: "Come, I will show thee the new bride, the Lamb's wife. And he took me in the Spirit to a great mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." [4055] Also in the Gospel according to John: "Ye are my witnesses, that I said to them who were sent from Jerusalem to me, that I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. For he who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom is he who standeth and heareth him with joy, and rejoiceth because of the voice of the bridegroom." [4056] The mystery of this matter was shown in Jesus the son of Nave, when he was bidden to put his shoes from off him, doubtless because he himself was not the bridegroom. For it was in the law, that whoever should refuse marriage should put off his shoe, but that he should be shod who was to be the bridegroom: "And it happened, when Jesus was in Jericho, he looked around with his eyes, and saw a man standing before his face, and holding a javelin [4057] in his hand, and said, Art thou for us or for our enemies? And he said, I am the leader of the host of the Lord; now draw near. And Jesus fell on his face to the earth, and said to him, Lord, what dost Thou command unto Thy servant. And the leader of the Lord's host said, Loose thy shoe from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." [4058] Also, in Exodus, Moses is bidden to put off his shoe, because he, too, was not the bridegroom: "And there appeared unto him the angel of the Lord in a flame of fire out of a bush; and he saw that the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will pass over and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed. But when He saw that he drew near to see, the Lord God called him from the bush, saying, Moses, Moses. And he said, What is it? And He said, Draw not nigh hither, unless thou hast loosed thy shoe from off thy feet; for the place on which thou standest is holy ground. And He said unto him, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." [4059] This was also made plain in the Gospel according to John: "And John answered them, I indeed baptize with water, but there standeth One in the midst of you whom ye know not: He it is of whom I said, The man that cometh after me is made before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose." [4060] Also according to Luke: "Let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning, and ye like to men that wait for their master when he shall come from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him. Blessed are those servants whom their Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching." [4061] Also in the Apocalypse: "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth: let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give to Him the honour of glory; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." [4062]
[4052] Joel ii. 15, 16.
[4053] Jer. xvi. 9.
[4054] Ps. xix. 5, 6.
[4055] Rev. xxi. 9-11.
[4056] John iii. 28, 29.
[4057] Frameam.
[4058] Josh. v. 13-15.
[4059] Ex. iii. 2-6.
[4060] John i. 26, 27.
[4061] Luke xii. 35-37.
[4062] Rev. xix. 6, 7.
20. That the Jews would fasten Christ to the cross.
In Isaiah: "I have spread out my hands all day to a people disobedient and contradicting me, who walk in ways that are not good, but after their own sins." [4063] Also in Jeremiah: "Come, let us cast the tree into His bread, and let us blot out His life from the earth." [4064] Also in Deuteronomy: "And Thy life shall be hanging (in doubt) before Thine eyes; and Thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not trust to Thy life." [4065] Also in the twenty-first Psalm: "They tore my hands and my feet; [4066] they numbered all my bones. And they gazed upon me, and saw me, and divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast a lot. But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help far from me; attend unto my help. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the paw [4067] of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare Thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise Thee." [4068] Also in the cxviiith Psalm: "Pierce my flesh with nails through fear of Thee." [4069] Also in the cxlth Psalm: "The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice." [4070] Of which sacrifice Sophonias said: "Fear from the presence of the Lord God, since His day is near, because the Lord hath prepared His sacrifice, He hath sanctified His elect." [4071] Also in Zechariah: "And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced." [4072] Also in the eighty-seventh Psalm: "I have called unto Thee, O Lord, the whole day; I have stretched out my hands unto Thee." [4073] Also in Numbers: "Not as a man is God suspended, nor as the son of man does He suffer threats." [4074] Whence in the Gospel the Lord says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in the Son may have life eternal." [4075]
[4063] Isa. lxv. 2. [So Justin, vol. i. pp. 179 and 206. But compare Isa. xxv. 11, a remarkable simile.]
[4064] Jer. xi. 19.
[4065] Deut. xxviii. 66.
[4066] [This is one of the passages corrupted by the Jews since the crucifixion. See Pearson, On the Creed, p. 534. All his notes on "crucified" are most precious.]
[4067] "Manu."
[4068] Ps. xxii. 16-22.
[4069] Ps. cxix. 120.
[4070] Ps. cxli. 2.
[4071] Zeph. i. 7.
[4072] Zech. xii. 10.
[4073] Ps. lxxxviii. 9.
[4074] Num. xxiii. 19.
[4075] John iii. 14, 15.
21. That in the passion and the sign of the cross is all virtue and power.
In Habakkuk: "His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise, and His splendour shall be as the light; there shall be horns in His hands. And there the virtue of His glory was established, and He founded His strong love. Before His face shall go the Word, and shall go forth unto the plains according to His steps." [4076] In Isaiah also: "Behold, unto us a child is born, and to us a Son is given, upon whose shoulders shall be government; and His name shall be called the Messenger of a mighty thought." [4077] By this sign of the cross also Amalek was conquered by Jesus through Moses. In Exodus Moses said to Jesus: "Choose thee out men, and go forth, and order yourselves with Amalek until the morrow. Behold, I will stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God in mine hand. And it came to pass, when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when Moses had let down his hands, Amalek waxed strong. But the hands of Moses were heavy; and they took a stone, and placed it under him, and he sat upon it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, on the one side and on the other side; and the hands of Moses were made steady even to the setting of the sun. And Jesus routed Amalek and all his people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this, that it may be a memorial in a book, and tell it unto the ears of Jesus, that I may utterly destroy the memory of Amalek from under heaven." [4078]
[4076] Hab. iii. 3-5.
[4077] Isa. ix. 6.
[4078] Ex. xvii. 9-14.
22. That in this sign of the Cross is salvation for all people who are marked on their foreheads. [4079]
In Ezekiel the Lord says: "Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and thou shalt mark the sign upon the men's foreheads, who groan and grieve for the iniquities which are done in the midst of them." [4080] Also in the same place: "Go and smite, and do not spare your eyes. Have no pity on the old man, and the youth, and the virgin, and slay little children and women, that they may be utterly destroyed. But ye shall not touch any one upon whom the sign is written, and begin with my holy places themselves." [4081] Also in Exodus God says to Moses: "And there shall be blood for a sign to you upon the houses wherein ye shall be; and I will look on the blood, and will protect you. And there shall not be in you the plague of wasting when I shall smite the land of Egypt." [4082] Also in the Apocalypse: "And I saw [4083] a Lamb standing on Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand; and they had His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads." [4084] Also in the same place: "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have power over the tree of life."
[4079] [i.e., baptized; but probably after immersion this symbolic ceremony was already in use.]
[4080] Ezek. ix. 4.
[4081] Ezek. ix. 4-6.
[4082] Ex. xii. 13.
[4083] "And behold," Oxford text.
[4084] Rev. xiv. 1.
[4085] Rev. xxii. 13, 14.
23. That at mid-day in His passion there should be darkness.
In Amos: "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, the sun shall set at noonday, and the day of light shall be darkened; and I will turn your feast-days into grief, and all your songs into lamentation." [4086] Also in Jeremiah: "She is frightened that hath borne children, and her soul hath grown weary. Her sun hath gone down while as yet it was mid-day; she hath been confounded and accursed: I will give the rest of them to the sword in the sight of their enemies." [4087] Also in the Gospel: "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth even to the ninth hour." [4088]
[4086] Amos viii. 9, 10. [Lardner, Credib., vol. vii. pp. 107-124.]
[4087] Jer. xv. 9. [I admire Lardner's caution: possibly he carries it too far.]
[4088] Matt. xxvii. 45. [See vol. iii. p. 58.]
24. That He was not to be overcome of death, nor should remain in Hades.
In the twenty-ninth Psalm: "O Lord, Thou hast brought back my soul from hell." [4089] Also in the fifteenth Psalm: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." [4090] Also in the third Psalm: "I laid me down and slept, and rose up again, because the Lord helped me." [4091] Also according to John: "No man taketh away my life from me; but I lay it down of myself. I have the power of laying it down, and I have the power of taking it again. For this commandment I have received from my Father." [4092]
[4089] Ps. xxx. 3.
[4090] Ps. xvi. 10.
[4091] Ps. iii. 5.
[4092] John x. 18.
25. That He should rise again from the dead on the third day.
In Hosea: "After two days He will revive us; we shall rise again on the third day." [4093] Also in Exodus: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down and testify to the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow; and let them wash their garments, and let them be prepared against the day after to-morrow. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai." [4094] Also in the Gospel: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." [4095]