Aaroti's rod si a /ids /or Christy the rest for mankind, 1(53 v^'orld. Lo, we, through the death of the flesh, remain in the Book dust until the end of the world, but He on the third day '- budded into life from the dryness of death, that by the very renewal of His flesh by itself He might shew the power of His Divine Nature. Which is well shewn in Moses by the twelve rods placed in the Tabernacle: for when the priest- hood of Aaron, who was of the tribe of Levi, was despised, and the tribe was not accounted worthy to offer up burnt-offer- ings, twelve rods according to the twelve tribes were ordered to be put in the Tabernacle, and, lo, the rod of Levi budded, Num.17, and shewed what efficacy Aaron had in the oflSce. By^' which same sign what is conveyed, but that all we who lie in the arms of death until the very end of the world, remain like the rest of the rods in a state of barrenness? But when all the rods remained in a state of dryness, the rod of Levi returned to flowering, in that the body of our Lord, i. e. our true Priest, being set in the dryness of death, burst into the flower of the Resurrection. By which same flowering Aaron is rightly known to be the Priest, in that by this glory of the Resurrection our Redeemer, Who sprung from the tribe of Judah and Levi\ is shewn to be an Intercessor in our behalf. ^Lukei; And so, lo! the rod of Aaron buds now after dryness, but * the rods of the twelve tribes remain in a dry state, in that already indeed the body of the Lord lives after death, but our bodies are kept back from the glory of the resurrection until the end of the world. Whence he carefully introduced this same delay, by saying, And that I shall rise at the last^ day from the earth.
69. Therefore we have a hope of our own resurrection, by considering the glory of our Head. But lest any one say perhaps merely in the secret thought of his heart, that it was in this way that He rose again from the dead, viz. that bein^ God and Man in one and the same Person, the death, which He underwent in His Human Nature, He overcame by His Divine Nature, while we, who are mere men, are not able to rise from the curse of death; it happened rightly that, in the season of His resm'rection, the bodies of many of the Saints arose at the same time, that both in Himself He might shew us an example, and by the resurrection of others who were like to ourselves in respect of a mere human nature. He might sitno.
164 TJie course of nature shadoics out the llesurrecliori.
Job 19, give US a sure confirmation, that wher(3as man despaired of ^ his obtainini^ what lie that was God and Man had exhibited in His own Person, he might presume that that was capable of being brought to pass in his own case, which he knew to have been brought about in the case of those very persons, who he doubted not were but simple human beings.
70. But there are some who, observing that the spirit is parted from the flesh, that the flesh is turned into corruption, that its corruption is reduced to dust, that this dust is so dissolved into elementary parts that it is incapable of being seen by the eyes of man, despair of the possibility of the resurrection being brougljt to pass, and whilst they gaze on the dry bones, they distrust its being possible for these to be clothed with flesh, and again flushing into life; which per- sons, if they do not hold the resurrection of the body on the principle of obedience, ought certainly to hold it on the principle of reason. For what does the universe every day, but imitate in its elements our resurrection? Thus by the lapse of the minutes of the day the temporal light itself as it were dies, when, the shade of night coming on, that light which was beheld is withdrawn from sight, and it daily rises again as it were, when the light that was withdrawn from our eyes, upon the night being suppressed is renewed afresh. For the progress of the seasons too, we see the shrubs lose the greenness of their foliage, and cease from putting forth fruit; and on a sudden as if from dried up wood, by a kind of resurrection coming we see the leaves burst forth, the fruit grow big, and the whole tree clothed with renewed beauty; we unceasingly behold the small seeds of trees com- mitted to the moistness of the ground, wherefrom not long- afterwards we behold large trees arise, and bring forth Comp. leaves and fruit. Let us then consider the little seed of any tree on I ^'^' ^vhatever, which is thrown into the ground, for a tree to be Thess. produced therefrom, and let us take in, if we are capable of ' * it, where in that exceeding littleness of the seed that most enormous tree was buried, which proceeded from it? where was the wood? where the bark? where the verdure of the foliage? where the abundance of the fruit? Was there any thing of the kind perceived in the seed, when it was thrown inio the ground? And yet by the secret Artificer of all' Job's faith shames doubt after our Lord's Rising. 165 lliiims orderiiie; all in a wonderful manner, both in the soft- Book ness of the seed there lay buried the roughness of the bark, - and in its tenderness there was hidden the strength of its timber, and in its dryness fertility of productiveness. What wonder, then, if that finest dust, which to our eyes is resolved into the elements, He, when He is minded, fashioneth again into the human being. Who from the finest seeds resuscitates the largest trees? And so, seeing that we have been created reasoning beings, we ought to collect the hope of our own resurrection from the mere aspect and contemplation of the objects of nature. But forasmuch as the faculty of reason was deadened in us, the grace of the Redeemer came in for an example. For our Creator came. He took death upon Him. He exhibited the Resurrection, in order that we, who would not hold the hope of the Resurrection by reason, might hold it by His succour and example; and so let blessed Job say; / know that my Redeemer liveth, and that £ shall rise at the last day from the earth. And let any one that despairs of the possibility that the power of the Resurrection should be brought to pass in himself, blush at the words of a believing person set in the midst of the Gentile world, and let him reflect with what a weight of punishment he deserves to be stricken, if he still does not believe his own resurrection, who now knows the resurrection of the Lord which has taken place, if even he believed his own, who as yet expected the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to be brought to pass.
7L But see, I hear of the resurrection, but it is the effect of the resurrection that 1 am searching out. For I believe that I shall rise again, but I wish that I might hear what kind of person; since it is a thing I ought to know, whether I shall rise again perhaps in some other subtle or ethereal body, or in that body wherein I shall die. But if I shall rise again in an ethereal body, it will no longer be myself, who rise again. For how can that be a true resurrection, if there may not be true flesh? so that plain reason suggests, that if it shall not be true flesh, assuredly it will not be a true resurrection; for neither can it be rightly termed a resurrection, when it is not what fell that rises again. But in this too for us, O blessed Job, do thou remove these 106 77/6* body shall truly rise. Error qf Eutychius. Job 19, clouds of luisgiving, and whereas through the grace of the ^ ' Holy Spirit vouchsafed thee thou hast begun to speak to us of the hope of our resurrection, shew in plain words if our flesh shall really rise again. It follows, Ver. 26*. And I shall he again encompassed with my skin. Ivi. 72. Whereas the ' skin' is expressly named, all doubt of a true resurrection is removed; in that our body will not, as Eutychius the Bishop of Constantinople wrote, in that glori- ousness of the resurrection be impalpable, and more subtle than the wind and air: for in that gloriousness of the resur- rection our body will be subtle indeed by the efficacy of a spiritual power, but palpable by the reality of its nature; whence also our Redeemer, when the disciples doubted of His resurrection, shewed them His hands and feet, and offered Luke His bones and flesh to be touched, sayino- Handle Me and ' see; for a spirit hath not jlesh and hones as ye see Me have. And when, being placed in the city of Constantinople, I brought before Eutychius this testimony of truth from the Gospel, he said, ' For this reason the Lord did this, that He roight take away all doubt of the resurrection from the hearts of the disciples.' To whom T said; ' This is a very extra- ordinary thing that you assert, that doubting should arise to ourselves from the same quarter, whence the hearts of the disciples were cured of doubting.' For what can be said worse than that that is made doubtful to us relating to His true flesh, whereby His disciples were restored anew to faith from all doubting? For if He is declared not to have had that, which He manifested; from the same source, from whence the faith of His disciples is confirmed, ours is destroyed. And he further added, saying, * He had that body which He shewed a palpable body; but after the hearts of those that handled it were confirmed, all that in the Lord which was capable of being handled, was reduced into a certain subtle quality.' To which same I answered, saying; Bora. 6, < It is written, Knowing that Christ heing raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him. If then there was aught in the Body which was capable of being altered after His resurrection, contrary to the truly spoken declaration of Paul, the Lord after His resurrection returned into death; and what fool even would The Flesh will be the same in substance, fwt in passions. 167 venture to say this, save he that denies the true resurrection Book of His flesh?' Then he objected to me, saying, ' Whereas it is *- written; Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, i Cor. by what means is it to be supposed that the flesh truly rises ' again?' To whom I say; * In Holy Writ flesh is named in one way according to nature, and in another way according to sin or corruption.' For there is flesh according to nature, as where it is written, This is 7iow bone of my bones, and ^^"^'^t flesh of my flesh. And, The Word was made flesh, and John i, dwelt among us. But there is flesh according to sin, as ^'** where it is written, 3fg Spirit shall not always abide in those Gen. 6, men, for that they are flesh. And as the Psalmist saith; For He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that Vs. 78, passefh away, and cometh not again. Whence too Paul said to the disciples; But ye are not in the flesh, but in the B.om. 8, spirit. For it was not that these persons were not in the^* flesh, to whom he was sending letters, but for that they had subdued the motions of carnal passions, henceforth, free through the eflicacy of the Spirit, they ' were not in the flesh.' Therefore in respect to what Paul says, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, he would have flesh to be understood as applied to sin, not flesh as applied to nature. Hence directly afterwards that he was speaking of flesh after sin he makes plain, by adding; Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Therefore in that glory of the heavenly kingdom there will be flesh according to nature, but not flesh according to the desire of the passions; in that the sting of death being overcome, it will reign in eternal incorruptibility.'
73. To which words the same Eutychius directly answered that he assented, yet still he denied that the body could rise again a palpable body. Who in the treatise too which he had written concerning the resurrection, had put in the testimony of the Apostle Paul, when he says; That which \Cor. thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which ^^' ^^' thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. Being eager to shew this, that the flesh will either be impalpable ", or will not be itself identically, seeing * Nearly all MSS. read, ' palpabilis,' which, if right, must come under ihn following negative.
168 Euhjcliiua convificed through Job's words.
.joBi9, ibat the lioly Apostle, when treating of the glory of the ^^- resurrection, says that * it was not sown the body that it shall ''^' be.' lint the answer to this is soon made. For the Apostle Paul, when he says, Thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, is telling us of what we see; viz. that the grain, which is sown without a stalk or leaves, springs up with a stalk and leaves; so that he, in heightening the glory of the resurrection, did not say that what it was is wanting to it, but that what it w^as not is present: but this man, whereas he denies the real body to rise again, does not say that what was wanting is there, but that what it was is wanting.
74. Upon this, then, we being led on in long disputing on this point, we began to recoil from one another with the greatest animosity, when the Emperor Tiberius Constantine, of religious memory, bringing myself and him to a private audience, learnt what dispute was being carried on between us, and weighing the statement of both sides, and by his own allegations as well disproving that same book which he had written concerning the resurrection, determined that it ought to be consumed in the flames. Upon our leaving whom, I was seized with a grievous sickness, while to that same Eutychius sickness and death shortly followed. And when he was dead, because there was well nigh no one who followed his statements, I held back from prosecuting what I had commenced, lest I should seem to be darting words at his I ashes, but while he was still alive, and I sick of violent fever, j if any of my acquaintance went to him for the sake of greet- ing him, as I learnt from their relation, he used to take hold I on the skin of his hand before their eyes, saying, * I confess that we shall all rise again in this flesh;' which as they them- selves avowed he was before wont altogether to deny.
75. But let us, laying aside these considerations, minutely search out in the words of blessed Job, if there will be a true resurrection, and the true body in that resurrection; for, lo, we arc no longer able to doubt of the hope of the resur- rection, in that he says. And that I shall rise at the last day from the earth. Moreover he has removed all doubting of the true renewal of the body, in that he says. And I shall hi' again encompassed uiih my skin. And he still further Sure fait] I in Chrisfs rising implies our oivn. 169 adds, with the view of removing the misgivings of onr Book thouglit; Attd in mil flesh shall I see God. 76. Mark, he owns the resm-rection, ^ the skin,' Hhe flesh,' Ivii. in expHcit words. What is there left then, by which our mind should have occasion to doubt? If this holy man then before the fact of the Lord's resurrection, believed in the flesh being destined to be brought back to its entire state, what will be the guilt of our doubting, if the true resurrection of the flesh not even after the proof of our Redeemer obtains credit? For if after the resurrection there will not be a palpable body, surely another person rises again than dies: which is profane to say; viz. to believe that it is I who die, and another that doth rise again'. Wherefore I entreat thee, blessed Job, 'ABCD, add how thou art minded, and remove from us all ground of ^^^^^ ^^^ scruple on this point. It follows; rise.'
Ver. 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.
11. For if, as certain votaries of false opinions believe, after the resurrection there shall be no palpable body, but the subtle quality of an invisible body shall be called the flesh, though there be no substance of flesh, then surely he that dies is one person, and he that rises again is another. But blessed Job destroys this assertion for them by a truth- telling voice, in that he says, Whom 1 shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. But we, fol- lowing the faith that blessed Job held, and truly believing the palpable Body of our Redeemer after His resurrection, confess that our flesh after the resurrection will be at once both the same and different, the same in respect of nature, different in respect of glory, the same in its reality, different in its power. Thus it will be subtle, in that it will be incor- ruptible; it will be palpable, in that it will not lose the essence of its very and true nature. But that same assurance of the resurrection the holy man subjoins with what sure hope he holds it, with what certainty he awaits it. It goes on; Tliis my hope is laid up in my bosom.
7 8. We suppose that we hold nothing more surely than Iviii. what we have in our bosom; and so he kept ' hope laid up in his bosom,' in that he laid hold beforehand on true cer- 170 Fear of Judgment should check rash censures.
Job 19, tainty concernintr the hope of the resurrection. But whereas -he made known that the day of the resuiTection would come, Lit.
he now, whether in his own voice, or in a figure of the holy and universal Church, reproves the deeds of the wicked, and foretells the Judgment which ensues on the day of the resurrection. For he straightway adds; Ver. 28. 29. Wherefore then do ye now say. Let us per- secute him, and find out the root of the word against him? Fly therefore from the face of the sword, for the sword is an avenger of wickedness; and know that there is a judgment, lix. 79. For in the first sentence he reproved the deeds of the wicked, while in the following he made known the punish- ments proceeding from the Divine judgment. Thus he saith. Wherefore then do ye now say; Let us persecute him and find out the root of the word against him? Wicked per- sons, because they hear with wrong earnestness things well put forth, and seek to find in the tongue of the righteous an inlet for accusation, what else do they but ' seek the root of the word against him,* from which same they may take the com- mencement of speaking, and in the accusing of him expand the branches of evil talkativeness? But when the holy man meets with such things at the hands of wicked men, it is not against them but rather for them that he feels sorrow, and reproves the things wickedly harboured in the heart, and shews them evil for them to escape, saying, Fly therefore from the face of the sword; for the sword is the avenger of wickedness; and know that there is a judgment. Every one that does wicked things, even herein, that he is too indifferent to fear this, does not know of there being a judgment of God. For if he did know that this was a thing to be feared, he would never do things that are destined to be punished in it. For there are very many who know that there is a final Judgment as far as the words go, but by acting wickedly they bear witness that they do not know it. Since whereas he does not dread this as he ought, he does not yet know with * al.* he what a tempest of terror it will come. For if he had^ been ^ taught to estimate the weight of the dreadful scrutiny, surely in fearing he would guard against the day of wrath. More- over, * to fly from the face of the sword,' is to propitiate the sentence of the strict visitation before it appears. For the Judgment can only be escaped beforehand. 171 terribleness of the Judge caunot be avoided savinar before the Book • • • XIV Judgment. Now He is not discerned, but is appeased by - prayers. But when He shall sit on that dreadful inquest, He is both able to be seen and not able any longer to be propitiated; in that the doings of the wicked which He bore long while in silence. He shall pay back all of them together in wrath. Whence it is necessary to fear the Judge now, while He does not yet execute judgment, while He bears ])atiently for long, while He still tolerates the wicked- ness that He sees, lest when He has once plucked out His hand in the awarding of vengeance, He strike the more severely in judgment, in proportion as He waited longer before judgment.
BOOK XV.
In which there is a brief explanation given of the twentieth and twenty- first chapter of the Book of Job.
That the friends of blessed Job could never have been bad men, the words of Zophar the Naamathite bear witness, who on hearing from his lips the terribleness of the Judg- ment to come, adds directly; Ver. 1. Therefore do my thoughts changefully succeed one another J and my mind is transported diverse ways. i. 1. As though he said in plain words; ' Because I see the ^^'^' terribleness of the last Judgment, therefore I am confounded in a state of consternation by the tumults of my thoughts.' For the mind spreads itself wider in its range of thought, the more it considers how dreadful that is which threatens it. And * the mind is transported diverse ways,' w^hen with anxious alarm she weighs and considers, one while the evil she has done, at another time the good she has left undone, now all the blameable practices that she remains in, and now the right habits that she sees to be lacking to her. But though the friends of blessed Job, instructed by habituation to his life, knew how to live well, yet, being uninstructed to form an exact estimate of God's judgments, that any one of the righteous can be susceptible of ills here below, they did not believe possible. And hence they imagined that holy man to be wicked, whom they saw scourged, and, in consequence of tliis suspicion, it came to pass that they slipt aside into the upbraiding of him as well, whereunto nevertheless they do not descend, save under the guise of a kind of respect. Hence Zophar adds in these words; Ver. 3, The lesson whereby thou dost reproach me I will hear; and the spirit of my understanding uitt anstcer me. ^^- 2. As though he said in plain words; ' Thy words indeed 1 hoar, but wliethcr they were delivered ariglit, I discern by ZopJuir truly calls the triumph of the wicked short. 173 tlie spirit of my uiulerstan fling.' For they that disregard the Book words of the teacher, employ his teaching not for an assist '— ance but for an occasion of contention, rather that they may criticise the things heard than to follow them. This then being premised with a sort of restraint, he now springs out into the open reviling of the blessed man, when he adds; Ver. 4, 5. I know this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite hut for a moment.
3. Now it is clear to be seen that being puffed up with iii- the spirit of his understanding, he warps the sentences, which he pronounces against the ungodly, to the reproving of blessed Job. For in him whom he first saw following- right ways, and afterwards undergoing punishment, he reckons all that he saw to have been but hypocrisy, in that he did not believe it possible for a just servant to be put to distress by a just God. But those same sentences, which, being right, he did not pronounce in a right way, let us go through, weighing them with earnest intentness of mind; and setting at nought what he says untrue against blessed Job, let us consider how true are the things he speaks, if he were speaking them against the ungodly. / know this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short. Going to tell the shortness of the present life, he carried back the eye of the interior to the outset of the commencement, in order to collect from the past how nothing all things are, that while they continue to be, seem to be something. For if we carry the eyes of our imagina- tion from the very commencement of the human race up to the present time in which we now are, we see how short all