Homily II.
Matt. I. 1.
“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the
Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
ye indeed remember the
charge, which we lately made you, entreating you to hearken unto all
the things that are said with all silence, and mystical quietness? Forwe are to-day to set foot within the holy vestibule, wherefore I have also put you in mind of the charge.
Since, if the Jews, when they were to approach “a
mountain that burned, and fire, and blackness, and darkness, and
tempest;”—or rather when they were not so much as to approach, but both to
see and to hear these things from afar;—were commanded for three
days before to abstain from their wives, and to wash their garments, and were in trembling and fear, both themselves and Moses with them; much more we, when we are to hearken to such words, and are not to stand far from a smoking mountain, but to enter into Heaven itself, ought to show forth a greater self-denial;not washing our garments, but wiping clean the robe of our soul, and ridding ourselves of all mixture with worldly things. For it is not blackness that ye shall see, nor smoke, nor tempest, but the King Himself sitting on the throne of that unspeakable glory, and angels, and archangels standing by Him, and the tribes of the saints, with those interminable myriads.
For such is the city of God, having “the Church of
the first-born, the spirits of the just, the general assembly of the
angels, the
blood of
sprinkling,”whereby all are knit into one, and Heaven hath received the things of earth, and earth the things of Heaven, and that peace hath come which was of old longed for both by angels and by saints.
Herein standeth the trophy of the cross, glorious, and
conspicuous, the spoils won by Christ, the first-fruitsof our nature, the booty of our King; all these, I say, we shall out of the Gospels know perfectly. If thou follow in becoming quietness, we shall be able to lead thee about everywhere, and to show where death is set forth crucified, and where sin is hanged up, and where are the many and wondrous offerings from this war, from this battle.
Thou shalt see likewise the tyrant here bound, and the
multitude of the captives following, and the citadel from which that
unholy demon overran all things in time past. Thou wilt see the hiding
places, and the dens of the robber, broken up now, and laid open, for
even there also was our King present.
But be not thou weary, beloved, for if any one were
describing a visible war, and trophies, and victories, wouldest thou
feel no satiety at all; nay, thou wouldest not prefer either drink or
meat to this history. But if that kind of narrative be welcome, much
more this. For consider what a thing it is to hear, how on the one side
God from Heaven, arising “out of the royal thrones, leaped
down” unto the earth, and even unto hell itself, and stood in the
battle array; and how the devil on the other hand set himself in array
against Him; or rather not against God unveiled, but God hidden in
man’s nature.
And what is marvellous, thou wilt see death destroyed by
death, and curse extinguished by curse, and the dominion of the devil
put down by those very things whereby he did prevail. Let us therefore
rouse ourselves thoroughly, and let us not sleep, for lo, I see the
gates opening to us; but let us enter in with all seemly order, and
with trembling, setting foot straightway within the vestibule
itself.
2. But what is this vestibule? “The book of the
generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham.”
“What sayest thou? Didst thou not promise to
discourse of the Only-begotten Son of God, and dost thou make mention
of David, a man born after a thousand generations, and say that he is
both father and ancestor?” Stay, seek not to learn all at once, but gently and by little and little. Why, it is in the vestibule that thou art standing, by the very porch; why then dost thou hasten towards the inner shrine? As yet thou hast not well marked all without. For neither for a while do I declare unto thee that other generation: or rather not even this which cometh after, for it is unutterable, and unspeakable. And before me the Prophet Esaias hath told thee this; wherewhen proclaiming His passion, and His great care for the world, and admiring who He was, and what He became, and whither He descended, he cried out loud and clear, saying thus, “Who shall declare His generation?”