In psalmum 96

On the verse "The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice," and on the verse "When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father," and on the mystery of baptism. Again the spiritual cithara of the blessed David, struck by the Holy Spirit, has rendered for you the heavenly notes, not delighting the ears but instructing souls. For the work of this holy cithara is to sanctify souls. And psalmody is throughout both a festival for the cheerful and a consolation for the despondent, and it is a kind of holy incantation, not uttered by myths; but like a charm against evil beasts, it lulls desires, banishes licentiousness, extinguishes injustice, kindles righteousness, overturns blasphemous suspicions, destroys shameful thoughts, dictates divine law, proclaims God, interprets faith, silences heretics, and builds up the Church. Many and varied, then, are the themes hymned through this holy cithara; but today the blessed David proclaims the kingdom of God, saying: "The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad." For this the first psalmody indicated to us through the preceding teaching. For the divine readings must be considered teaching; but what comes from us is not teaching but an interpretation of teaching. And that psalmody is indeed teaching, hear the prophet himself saying: "I will teach the lawless your ways, and the impious will turn to you." First he is taught, then he teaches. For just as a reservoir of waters, if it does not receive a rich stream, cannot send down the waters to a garden plot and a garden—

Thus also the prophet and the apostle, unless they borrow the divine streams from heavenly grace, can neither possess them themselves nor impart them to others. That the prophet is taught, hear him assuming the role of a disciple, through what he says: "Show me your ways, Lord, and teach me your paths. Blessed are you, Lord; teach me your ordinances." Do you see how he is taught and teaches? For every God-loving soul, unless it has God, cannot be entrusted with teaching. For nothing born from human reasoning is secure; everything proclaimed by divine Scripture is secure and true. Reasoning can both construct and dismantle; every human reasoning has both assent and dissent; but the divine voice has a more manifest vision of every matter. For this reason, God speaks, and things concur, and the word of God is a heavenly command. And it is no wonder if God commands and certain things come into being among existing things, when indeed he speaks and non-existent things are established among existent things. Today, therefore, the blessed David teaches and proclaims the kingdom of God, saying: "The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice." But it is necessary to examine this very phrase. What does "The Lord has reigned" mean? Is it not spoken concerning one who has recently assumed the kingdom? For no one would say of a king who has reigned for a long time, "The king has reigned"; for what he has possessed from ancient times, we cannot proclaim as a recent acquisition. What then does David mean by saying, "The Lord has reigned"?

For if he is always king, the phrase "He reigned" is superfluous; if he wished to hymn his kingship, he would have rightly said, "The Lord reigned," as though the kingship had a beginning. Then when does the kingship of God have a beginning? Is it recent? Was there ever a time when God was not king? And how so? Nothing concerning God is recent. He does not acquire authority, he does not put on kingship, but he is king from eternity, master from eternity, creator from eternity, as the blessed Moses says: "The Lord reigning for eternity, and for eternity, and beyond." If, then, the blessed Moses, who lived many generations before David, proclaimed the kingship of God, what did the blessed David intend by proclaiming the ancient kingship as recent, saying, "The Lord reigned"? It is clear that he is interpreting the economy of the Savior. For the Savior's kingship is twofold: one is pre-eternal and has no beginning, and the other is after the ages, taking its beginning from the economy. And although he is always king, he also becomes king in the flesh, possessing one by nature and receiving the other according to human formation. Our Savior, then, reigned. He does not say "The Lord reigned" idly; but because before the reign of Christ other powers were reigning in the world, and there was a kind of tyranny within as a reign, not prevailing by nature but a forced lawlessness that came upon creation; and the demons reigned over the world, not having a reign but having transformed tyranny into a reign. Therefore, indicating the overthrow of the tyranny of the demons and the economy shining through the presence of the Savior, he says, "The Lord reigned.

that is, having driven out the reign of demons, he introduced his own incarnate and divine economy. But it is necessary to show from the scriptures themselves what reigned before Christ. Listen to Paul saying: Death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned. Behold, the reign of death reigned. And at another time sin, as the same author says: And let not sin reign in your mortal body. For just as sin reigned through the one, so also grace reigns through the one. So he showed that before Christ both sin reigned and death reigned; and they were successors to one another, like bitter kings and tyrants. And sin reigned in the world; then, after man completed his own course of life, he was handed over to the reign of death, and man was passed from the reign of death to the reign of sin; from tyranny to tyranny, from enemies to enemies the race of men was driven. Sin reigned, death after sin succeeded and reigned (for sin, he says, is the sting of death), and the race of men was tyrannized. So the blessed David announces to the tyrannized the coming of the king. For just as for those held by a tyrant, the announcement of a king's arrival dissolves the gloom, dissolves the grief, sows good hopes; so also David announces to the sorrowful land, the trampled land, the tyrannized land, the land held by demons, saying: The Lord has reigned, let the earth rejoice. And when did he reign?

When did his reign begin? He began his human reign according to the flesh, which was given to him; but the pre-eternal reign had no beginning and will have no end. Hence we have already discussed this matter previously; but it is necessary to come to remembrance again. For one must not consider that the speaker used the expression only once, but if it is necessary, when it is repeatedly introduced, to heal the wound of sin, then speak again. Since, therefore, the children of heretics argue that even the reign which the Savior holds he received from the Father, and that he has nothing from nature but from grace, it is necessary to show what is the economy given by grace through the flesh, and what is the one that coexisted with him from nature because of his pre-eternal dignity. The Savior was appointed king by him, not of heaven and earth; for he did not receive that reign by appointment; but he was appointed king according to the incarnate economy by the people. For I, he says, was appointed king by him upon Mount Zion, his holy mountain. When he set foot in Judea, when he received the incarnate economy, when, being the eternal God, he appeared on earth and associated with men, he received a new reign, that from the succession of David; for he acquired no other reign through himself, but the one which the house of David lost. Therefore the angel Gabriel says to the virgin Mary: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus; for he will save his people. Pay close attention.

He had not yet preached, he had not yet taught, and he says, "His people," so that you may learn that the people are not the people after the Passion; so that you may learn that he did not inherit a people after the Passion, but he had the people, as master of the people, even before the Passion, and he acquired the universal Church through the Passion. For he will save his people from their sins. And the Lord will give. To whom? To the one born of you in the incarnate economy. And the Lord God will give him the throne. Which? That of David his father. For he does not receive the heavenly kingdom, which he already had, but he recovers this kingdom, which was seized by demons from the house of David. And the Lord will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom. If it is an eternal kingdom and has no end, what place is there for the misinterpretation, "When he hands over the kingdom to God the Father"? But as I said earlier, Scripture often calls "kingdom" not only the office of those who reign, but also the nations themselves that are ruled. For how could there be a king if there were no subjects? Therefore, it calls the nation, the people, the inhabited world under the king "kingdom." Just as one might say, the kingdom of the Persians, that is, the region of the Persians, the kingdom of the Romans; so too there it calls the subjects, the ruled race of men, "kingdom." And that this is true, listen to how Scripture calls the ruled nation "kingdom." When the blessed prophet Elijah was sought by King Ahab, his steward says:

The Lord lives; there is no place, no nation, where my Lord the King did not send, seeking you; and he nearly burned his kingdom, and did not find you—that is, he burned all those ruled by him, when he did not find you. Do you see that 'kingdom' refers not only to the office, but also to the nations that are ruled? Therefore the Savior hands over the kingdom, that is, the humanity once ruled by sin, once ruled by death, so that, having rescued it from captivity, he might reclaim it and present it to God the Father. That he was established as king over Zion, that God gave him the throne of David his father, that he reigns also over the new kingdom over the house of Jacob forever, has been shown irrefutably from the divine Scriptures. But that he was king even before the incarnation, and before the Passion, and before receiving the throne of David his father according to the flesh, he has the pre-eternal throne—Isaiah will testify, saying: 'And I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the house was full of his glory.' And after this, continuing, he says: 'Woe is me, wretched that I am, because, being a man and having unclean lips, dwelling among a people with unclean lips, I saw the King Lord Sabaoth with my own eyes.' Pay close attention to the testimony. When Isaiah saw God as a king sitting on a throne, he says: 'And I saw the King Lord Sabaoth with my own eyes.' Whom did he see? About whom did he speak? Ask John the Evangelist, so that nothing may be forced, but all may be witnessed to the truth.

For things constructed from human reasonings are overturned by other reasonings; but things proclaimed by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of prophets and apostles have no one to contradict them, and even if they have those who contradict, they show their victory by experience. What then did Isaiah see? "And I saw the Lord King Sabaoth," he says, "with my own eyes." How did he see? "Seated on a high and lofty throne." And what did he discuss with him? "And the Lord said to me: 'Go, tell this people: You will hear with your ears, but you will not understand, and you will look with your eyes, but you will not see. For the heart of this people has grown thick, and they have heard heavily with their ears,'" and so forth. What then does John the Evangelist say, the great wing of theology, the true son of thunder, who flashed in the economy and thundered in theology? He speaks about the Savior. Remember the word, so that the multitude of words may not simply lead you astray, or rather, so that the multitude of expressions may not deceive your mind. "I saw the Lord King," says Isaiah, "with my own eyes, and he said to me: 'Go, tell this people: You hear with your ears, but you will not understand.'" John then says: "Although Jesus performed so many signs, the Jews did not believe in him, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 'Go, tell this people: You will hear with your ears, but you will not understand,'" and so forth. And so that no one might think that the words were taken as fitting, and that the word fits, but the one he saw seated on the throne was not the Son, the Evangelist adds:

These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory, and he spoke concerning him. What glory? “I saw the Lord sitting upon a high throne, and the house was full of his glory.” Whom did he see? “And I saw the Lord, the king Sabaoth, with my own eyes.” What king? The one whom Nathanael cried out, saying, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” For this is the remarkable thing, that the voice of Nathanael, as those who listen diligently and studiously remember, we have shown to be in harmony with the prophecy of Isaiah which says, “Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel.” And the same prophet says again elsewhere, “Thus says the Lord God, the king of Israel, who redeemed him, the eternal God.” And he also remembers who the redeemer is, and what the ransom is, and how it was given; and that the ransom is the body, and that the ransom is the blood. “Who redeemed him.” Since he seemed to appear recently because of the economy, so that men, looking at the flesh, might not be ignorant of the dignity of the divinity, he says, “Who redeemed him, the eternal God.” Therefore the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal. Can the heretic again say three eternals? “Eternal,” he said, “is the Father, eternal is the Son, eternal is the Spirit,” not three eternal natures, but one eternal nature, manifested in one Trinity. Listen to what the blessed Isaiah says: “The great God, the eternal one, who constructed the ends of the earth.” Who constructed? If the heretic wishes to escape the theology of the Son, he says, “It is spoken concerning the Father,” and he forgets his own words.

For he says, "The Father made only the Son, but the Son made all other things." If the Son is the maker of all things, he also made the ends of the earth; for the one who constructed the ends of the earth is the great God, the eternal one. But in order that the argument may expose their ignorance more clearly, I will bring forward the blessed Paul as a witness, that he calls the Son a great god; a great god, because he is the son of a great father. For as the begetter is, so also is the begotten. If the begetter is small, the fruit of the root is also small; but if the father is great, the son is also great. For a great father does not have a small son. The eternal God, who constructed the ends of the earth. Listen to Paul saying: "The saving grace of God appeared to all men, teaching us, so that, renouncing impiety and worldly desires, we may live temperately, justly, and piously in the present age, awaiting the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." For the saving grace appeared, teaching us (these things in the ), so that, renouncing impiety and worldly desires, we may live temperately, justly, and piously in the present age, awaiting the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Behold, the great eternal God, who constructed the ends of the earth, and the great eternal God, who came into the world. For this reason David also says: "Great is our Lord, and great is his strength," because Christ is the power of God, and among the Hebrews "strength" and "power" are the same.

Since God is great, and Christ is great, according to the phrase, "The great God, the eternal," and, "Of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," thus he sings to him in another word: "Great is our Lord, and great is his power. Great is our Lord." For is our Lord one thing, and his power another? No; but since power was the might, and Christ is the power of God, great is our Lord, and great is Christ. Behold, then, you have a great eternal God, a son of a great eternal God. And this great and eternal God, appearing to men, takes up flesh constructed from the Holy Spirit. For what was born in her is from the Holy Spirit. How then, with the Spirit having created? For the Holy Spirit fashioned the temple of the Word of God in that holy and great virgin, and he came forth having a body constructed from the virgin by the Holy Spirit with divine power invisibly and ineffably. Where then is it shown that the Spirit is eternal? Listen to the blessed Paul saying: "For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ash of a heifer sprinkling, sanctifies those who are defiled for the purity of the flesh"—that is, the sacrifices offered through Moses, since that blood was once sprinkled, and there was some initiation, appearing one way but understood mystically another, wishing to set the intelligible alongside the sensible, and with the true prayer, he says: "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ash of a heifer sprinkling sanctifies those who are defiled for the purity of the flesh.

How much more so the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself to God. What is "through the eternal Spirit"? The flesh of the Savior has the Holy Spirit as its teacher, not because the Word of God is incapable of guiding the flesh, but because whatever the Word of God would do was ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Who drives out demons? Is it not the Word of God? Yet the Word of God says, "If I drive out demons in the Spirit of God." He attributes his own works to the Spirit, since there is one nature and the activity is undivided. That that holy body was led and guided by the activity of the Holy Spirit, Scripture bears witness, saying, "And it happened that when Jesus came up from the water of the Jordan, he was led by the Spirit." What is "he was led"? That is, the flesh was guided; it was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. For this reason, in imitation of the Savior, we too are led. For Paul says, "If you are led by the Spirit of God, you are not under the law." For this reason the Savior shows himself as a source of life, and the Holy Spirit as living water. Do you see how he indicates the indivisibility of the essence? The Savior says, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." He who believes in me, as Scripture said, "Rivers will flow from his belly of leaping water into eternal life." And immediately John the Evangelist adds, saying what the living water is: "This he said about the Spirit, which those who believe were about to receive.

Pay close attention. If, then, the Holy Spirit is living water, and believers receive it, why did you say, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me," and not say, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to the Holy Spirit"? But even if I said "to me," I spoke the truth. For there is one source of both: "For from you is a spring of life; in your light we will see light." But since the Savior called the Holy Spirit living water, why does he say "living water"? So that you may learn that it is from the spring of God. The Spirit is living water; God is the spring of living water, so that when you learn the spring, you may understand whence the living water comes. "Rivers of living water will flow from his belly." This he said about the water, that is, about the Spirit, which believers were about to receive. If the Spirit is living water, let us seek its spring. What is the spring? Let Jeremiah say: "Thus says the Lord: The heaven was astonished at this, and the earth shuddered, because my people did two evil things: they abandoned me, a spring of living water." Do you see God as a spring of water, and the Holy Spirit as living water? The Father is a spring of living water; the Son is a river coming forth from the earth; the Holy Spirit is the water of the river. "They abandoned me, a spring of living water." Let the prophet Isaiah also say the same about the Son: "And the Lord will come as a glorious river in a thirsty land." Do you see a spring, a river, living water? And just as you cannot call the spring a river, as long as you see the root, nor again can you call the river that has flowed out a spring, nor do you call the water that is channeled from the river and irrigates the land a river, but irrigation water.

The names are divided, but the nature is indivisible. Just as, then (for I will take up the same points again and explain them), you do not call the spring a river while you see its source, nor, when the spring has advanced into a river, do you call it a spring, but an outflow from that spring; again, when the water of the river proceeds for irrigation, it is not called a river, but irrigating water; the names are divided, but the nature is not divided. Thus it is not possible to call the Father Son, nor the Son Father, lest we fall into the opinion of Sabellius. Yet the difference of the names does not divide the nature. For the heretics wish, from the difference of the names, to construct a difference of nature. But when you see these images compared, do not be wholly enslaved to the image. For none of the visible things clearly represents the invisible. But they avoid the absurd and take the glorious. For it is not because a river proceeds as an outflow that the Father begot by flux. And I have said these things following Scripture. For no faithful person dares to speak from himself. If I had not heard the Father saying, "They have abandoned me, a spring of living water"; if I had not heard the Lord saying, "Rivers will flow from his belly of living water"—and this he said about the Spirit, which believers were about to receive—I would not have innovated these things by human and mortal thought against the immortal. But let us come to a clearer demonstration. And let no one think this teaching is superfluous.

Especially when grace is approaching, and since the living water is about to display its own activity, it placed intelligible water in the waters. For it must be spoken of in this way, both for those who approach to learn what gift they are approaching, and for those already deemed worthy of the gift, and for those who have not yet received it to come to desire this gift. Necessarily, the holy and living water comes forth, proclaimed by word, but venerated by faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls the Holy Spirit living water, as he says to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, 'Give me to drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." Concerning this water, the prophets Zechariah and Ezekiel also speak. Pay close attention. The Savior says to Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven." That man, having grown old in Jewish ignorance and being unable to imagine anything beyond bodily things, says to the Savior, having heard about rebirth: "How can these things happen? Can an old man enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?" Hearing spiritual things, he took them in a bodily sense. The Savior says to him: "Everything born of the flesh is flesh. I am not speaking about flesh or fleshly rebirth; but what is born of the spirit is spirit." Then he rebukes him: "You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know these things?

You see how great the offense is: one who holds the rank of teacher, not applying himself and examining the Scriptures. "You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know these things?" And if he was a teacher of Israel, how did he know that you were proclaiming a strange mystery and a heavenly gift? For no one until now has proclaimed such a baptism of immortality. "Yes," he says, "but the prophets indicated it. Have you not read the prophets? Are you not a priest? Are you not a teacher? Did you not hear about water and spirit in the prophet? What strange thing did I say beyond the prophets: 'Unless someone is born of water and spirit'?" These things Ezekiel also spoke: "And it shall be in the last days," says Adonai the Lord, "and I will take you and sprinkle upon you pure water, and I will give my spirit into you." Water and spirit. "Unless someone is born of water and spirit." "I will sprinkle upon you pure water, and I will give you a new spirit." Water and spirit. Again, the blessed Ezekiel, clearly describing the coming regeneration, says: "And the hand of the Lord was upon me. And the Lord brought me out to the vestibule of the gate that looks toward the east. And behold, water was coming out from the open space toward the east." Everywhere the phrase "toward the east," because from there comes the source of salvation. For just as his glory came from there along the road toward the east, so also the water came from there. "And behold," he says, "water was coming out from the open space at the gate of the road that looks toward the east. And water came out, and behold, a vision of a man. And he had a measure in his hand, and behold, like the exit of a man.

And he saw water, and he also saw a man. And the Lord led me to the gate that looks toward the east, and behold, water was issuing from beneath the court. Nor is this idle, the phrase "from beneath the court." Nothing is concealed, everything is bare, pure, transparent, filled with light. From beneath the court, from the right side toward the east; and behold, like the exit of a man. It could not be otherwise than "like the exit of a man." A man was coming together with the water, and it was a mystery. For the one interpreted the economy of the Savior, the other the energy of the Spirit. Water and a man: the incarnate economy and the energy of the Spirit. And a measure in his hand. What measure? Of gift. To each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And a measure in his hand. Pay close attention, I beg you, so that you may know the hope of immortality proclaimed from above beforehand. Behold, water was issuing forth, and like the exit of a man before it, and there was a measure in his hand. What is the measure? Grace, and the measure of gift. And he measured out a thousand in the water. What is "a thousand"? He did not say cubits, reeds, but "a thousand." He says some things, but conceals others. And he measured out a thousand. And water of remission passed through the water. And he measured with the measure with which he measured a thousand. And water of remission passed through the water. What water of remission passed through the water? Since there is both sensible water in baptism and intelligible water, the water of remission passed through the sensible water; that is, the spirit that has remission of sins, did it pass through the water?

of the sensible. And he passed through the water, water of remission. For where the Spirit is, there also is remission of sins, as the Saviour says when he breathed: "Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive the sins of some, they are forgiven them." Then, wishing to show the prophet—or rather, God showing the prophet—how the mystery of baptism begins from a few, but was to multiply and cover the world, he begins first from Palestine through the twelve apostles; then he filled Palestine, he filled Syria, he went out also to the east, he overtook also the western regions, he penetrated the west. Wishing to show this very thing, how the knowledge of the mystery was to advance gradually, God says through the prophet: "He had a measure in his hand, and he measured a thousand; and he passed through the water, water of remission; and he measured another thousand, and the water rose up to the waist." It advanced little by little. First water; then deep water rising up to the waist. And he measured another thousand; and he could no longer pass through, because the water had increased. And the water issued forth, and a great river. First water; then up to the waist; then a river. And he measured a third time, a thousand, a thousand, a thousand. Up to a thousand is the number. For the appellation of the Father is perfect, and the appellation of the Son is perfect, and the appellation of the Holy Spirit is perfect. And he measured a thousand; and he passed through the water, water of remission. And he measured another thousand, and the water rose up to the waist, and he measured a third thousand. When the fullness of knowledge came, then the third was added.

And the measure is one, but it is applied three times, that is, of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: one divinity, one power, one authority, proclaimed in three names. And it was, he says, the water overflowing, like a torrent flooding. What is "like a torrent"? The activity of the Holy Spirit. He calls the succession of gifts a torrent. For a river, flowing continuously, bears a gentle current; but a torrent, swelling suddenly, brings successive waves and sweeps everything away. Therefore, wishing to show the gift of grace, the benevolent God—that it is water of remission for believers, but water that floods for unbelievers, and sweeps away the deception of demons, the tyranny of demons, the evil of the devil—says: "It came forth like a torrent flooding." Who is the torrent? Listen to God speaking through Isaiah: "Behold, I turn upon them like a river, and like a torrent flooding." A river for the faithful; a torrent for those who oppose. And it passed through like a torrent for those who oppose, and like a torrent flooding those waters became. See how he interprets the gift. What activity does that water have? As the prophet says: "And waters came forth, and there became on this side of the river and on that side of the river very large plants, and the waters healing." What is "and the waters healing"? Because it brings health. See, you have become healthy; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you. And behold, trees on this side of the river and on that side of the river. And every soul upon which the waters come, it will heal. And there was much fish in the river. What fish? The multitude of people.

Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And behold, there is much fish in the river, like the fish of the sea; that is, the presence of Christ gathers as many as the inhabited world holds, like the fish in the great sea. Those whom the world had, the church received. And every tree (I take up the word again) on this side of the river and on that side of the river will rise up and give life to the waters, and will heal; and the fruit of the plants will never fail. When Christ is proclaimed, a lamp is introduced. For prophecies are accustomed to light a lamp for Christ, as David says: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. A torch has overtaken the sensible. Understand the torch, but the matter at hand: And there were many trees on the river, and the fruit of those trees will never fail from their newness. For it was not of old plants, but of new ones. He speaks of new plants, new fruits. Put off the old man, and put on the new man who is renewed.

Do you see the grace foretold? Do you see how fittingly the Lord rebukes Nicodemus: "You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know these things?" But Zechariah bears witness to these things—not the father of John, but of John who then dwelt in the desert, who adorned Palestine, and who crowned our city. It is fitting for John even after death to cry out and from the tomb to sing. For if, leaping from the womb, he proclaimed the Master, from the tomb he will leap with his holy bones and say: "All my bones"—they will say, "Who is like you, O Lord?" So the blessed Zechariah says: "And it will be at the end of the days that every place will be opened to the house of David." He calls the house of David the lineage of David, since Joseph, the betrothed of Mary, was from the house of David. She was betrothed to a man named Joseph, from the house and family of David. At the appearance of the Savior, every place was opened—east, west, south, north. "And it will be in the last days that every place will be opened to the house of David, and living water will come forth from Jerusalem." What living water? Rivers of living water will flow from his belly. "And living water will come forth from Jerusalem." From where does it come forth? A word will come forth from Jerusalem, whence Christ, from Zion. The living water from Jerusalem. But why from Jerusalem? Because there the manifestation of the Spirit began; for the apostles received the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, and from there it went forth through the apostles to the ends of the earth. So living water will come forth from Jerusalem.

Half of it into the first sea, and half of it into the last sea. What was this: "Into the first sea" and "Into the last sea"? Does Scripture narrate little myths? It proclaims truth, interprets a mystery, reveals powers. Living water will come forth. See the marvel. It does not say "river," but first "water." For grace always, beginning from small things, increases to great ones. Living water will come forth from Jerusalem. Half of it into the first sea, and half of it into the last sea. It calls "first sea" the first inhabited parts of the world from the east. For there Adam's race first flourished; then after this it went out to the west and filled the world. So it calls "first sea" the first inhabited regions of the earth; "last sea," the last regions of the west—filling the east and honoring the west. Consider then the mystery, at which the children of heretics laugh, insulting the Holy Spirit and introducing a servile order into the Lordly power. Let us flee wickedness, let us flee heretical blasphemy, let us flee the company of base deeds. Evidence of faith is good works, evidence of faith is love for humanity. Have mercy on the poor. Do good and receive; for you cannot reap what you do not sow. How do you say to God, "Forgive me"? What you do not give, how do you ask? What you do not do, how do you receive? Remember then your words in poverty. When you were poor, being asked by the poor you said, "I would like to have and to share; I would like to give; God knows my intention.

God often exercises such a mind, and through the very facts themselves refutes it, and leads him to wealth, and he no longer judges himself, but forgets his first words. For each person is truly judged by what he says. As long as we are not judges, we say: If I were a judge, I would do this; if I were a judge, I would manage things thus; if I were a judge, I would decree this and that. You have come to the court; show the promise. When you were poor, you promised almsgiving, you promised just judgment. Now show the works as well. But men in lowliness resemble locusts. For the locust in wintertime stands on a fence, unable even to taste; for it is bound by the frost, and it is lowly, and easily handled and easily caught; but when it is a little warmed by the sun, it flies up, it that previously could not rise on the spot flies into the air. So also man, lowly in afflictions, is reverent, gentle, showing kindness. Splendor has arisen, the mind has been laid bare. For this reason Scripture says to the Jews, who are reverent in misfortunes but irreverent in good fortune: A locust has sprung forth, like a grasshopper; your mixed multitude, like a locust. The sun rose, and it spread out and forgot its place. It speaks of the mixed people. It sprang forth like a locust, and like a grasshopper standing on a fence on a day of frost. The sun rose, and it spread out, and it did not recognize its place; that is, it forgot its lowliness. So also we are lowly in poverty; we have become rich, we have forgotten.

In death we philosophize, and when a corpse is brought out, each one philosophizes about human affairs, saying: "Everything passes away, we are nothing." As long as he sees the sight, he philosophizes; the terrifying vision departs, and immediately he forgets his resolution. For this reason Scripture says: "In all your words, remember your end, and you will not sin for eternity." In all things, remember your end, and you will keep your resolve unshaken. May we, brothers, remain faithful to God in all things, to whom is due all glory, honor, and power, unto the ages of ages. Amen.