In Librum Primum Regum Variarum Expositionum Libri Sex

Hence the Lord also commands insistence in seeking, saying: Seek and you will find, ask and you will receive, knock and it will be opened to you (Matt. 7:7). Therefore the prophet, seeking and persisting in seeking after so many have already been rejected, what does he suggest to us, except that by no dispensation should the unworthy be permitted to come to the summit of religion? For while in very many affairs of the holy Church dispensation is salutary, it is assuredly lethal and deadly where either the blind through ignorance, or the irreligious who are wise, or those cast forth into secular affairs are permitted to come to the primacy over others. For these, by not knowing, and those, by knowing and not doing, destroy the souls of their subjects; those likewise by neglecting spiritual things and pursuing carnal and earthly things. The former indeed labor with all their strength so that what they say may be praised; the latter do not know what they should say; the former strive with all their intent for this, that they may be more abundantly honored among the highest of the world: and these are assuredly worse than the former, inasmuch as the former wish to appear lofty in spiritual things, the latter in carnal and secular things. The end of these is desire: to be propped up by riches, exalted by honors, raised high by the familiarities of the powerful of this world. From all these affections of a reprobate mind there can arise negligence of the souls of subjects, contempt of Christ, and the squandering of the Church's resources. Therefore let the teacher seek, so that by no dispensation he may set the unworthy before others, because what is lethal must never be permitted.

Hence it is also added: And Samuel said to Jesse: Are all your sons complete?

What is it that he seeks another, except that the seeker ought not to rest before he merits to find? And because often things cast aside without and vile are within exalted, it follows: (Verse 11.) He answered: There remains yet one, and he pastures the sheep.

What is "remains" but "cast aside"? Cast aside, I say, by himself, not by God: for by pride one is cast aside by God; he is cast aside by himself who is reckoned vile and lowly. Or he is called "remaining" who in the reckoning of others does not seem to be anything. The cast-aside one, then, is called humble, because he sees himself despised and endures it, and does not at all care to be shown forth, but pastures the sheep, because he nourishes simple thoughts in the contemplation of the eternal inheritance. Concerning these pastures of the elect, certainly, it is said by the Lord: They shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture (John 10:9). For within they have the pastures of contemplation, without the pastures of good work. Within they fatten the mind with devotions, without they satisfy themselves with pious works. Rightly is this little one said to pasture the sheep, because each one of the elect is humble and is not barren, who daily does great things but does not think great things of himself. Rightly, therefore, is he declared not only a little one but a shepherd: because those who are truly humble cast themselves down without, but through inward fellowship they abide in the highest and eternal pastures. For it is written: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5).

But what is this grace? Unless that they may see and know the highest things, know and love them, and run to the very things they love as if fat and strong. Here, therefore, because he is greatly unfit, he is ordered to be presented without delay. For it follows: And Samuel said to Jesse: Send, and bring him. For we shall not sit down until he comes.

16. But what is this, We shall not sit down until he comes? Whom does he seek, except that in the observance of fasting the sacraments of anointing are to be celebrated? But for us not only the sacraments themselves, but the power of the sacraments must be attended to. For there are certain foods which, if they are not guarded against, by no means allow kings to be anointed well. Indeed, the external affairs of the Church are certain foods of the soul, which are devoutly administered by the elect. But if the soul is satiated by a multitude of affairs, it is not perfectly permitted to enter into receiving spiritual things. When, therefore, spiritual things press, external things should be deferred: because they are to be arranged with great quiet of mind. It follows: Therefore he sent, and brought him.

The future king is brought forward when the humble are led out from the hiding places of their concealment. They lie hidden, indeed, but in pastures, because even if they cover themselves among men within the vices and weaknesses of the flesh, great is the breadth of heavenly contemplation in which they dwell. But let us see what sort of man he now appears as, set before us. For it follows, and it says: (Verse 12) Now he was ruddy, and beautiful to look upon, and comely of face.

What is it that such great beauty of the king is declared to be, except that the person of the teacher ought to be adorned with the great splendors of virtues? For it was said of the Redeemer: His Spirit adorned the heavens (Job 26:13). For the heavens are the sublime preachers. And they have truly been adorned as heavens by the Spirit, because the virtues by which they shine forth they receive from the Holy Spirit. What then is it that he is declared to be ruddy, except that the fervor of charity is often designated in red matter? Hence also in the garment of the high priest the scarlet is placed twice dyed, so that he may be clothed with a twofold charity. He is called ruddy, therefore, through the ardor of charity, because while he displays the burning precepts of charity, he is as it were red through heat. What again is it that he is beautiful to look upon, except conspicuous in inner contemplation? For he has, as it were, a beautiful appearance who radiates with the beauty of vision in inner contemplation. What then does the face designate, except the outward glory of honesty? For since each one is known by his face, the comeliness of the face is the excellent honesty of his manner of life.

For he is seen, as it were, by the beauty of his countenance, who is found splendid in every gesture of the body. He is therefore ruddy in love, beautiful in appearance because of knowledge, comely in countenance, splendid in honor. And because the fervor of charity is shown through holy works, the very labor of the work can be designated by the redness. For he who labors exceedingly presents the redness of the face, because while he grows hot within, he draws redness outwardly on his countenance. For such is every spiritual labor. For inasmuch as each one strives more greatly to labor for eternal life, so much the more fervently is he kindled to labor by the ardor of the Holy Spirit, as though stirring up strength in the boiling, which he bears outwardly. The teacher is therefore ruddy in the labor of pious work, beautiful in appearance in the splendor of contemplation. But the comeliness of the face is that very beauty of charity. For through the other virtues we receive the form of holiness; through charity itself we clothe that very form, as it were, with wondrous beauty. Those other virtues are the body of righteousness, but charity is rightly understood as the face of this body. For by the face, not by the body, each one is recognized. For if you see the body and do not see the face, you do not recognize him whose body alone you behold. But what else is that which is answered to the foolish virgins by the bridegroom: I know you not? Behold, virginity is preserved through great labors, and that very virginity is recognized as a great and incomparable virtue.

What is it, then, that the foolish virgins are not known by the bridegroom, except that they have a body by which they subsist, but do not have the beauty of countenance that the bridegroom may recognize? They have indeed labor in preserving the body, but they do not have the beauty of face in perfect charity. For these three things, in the order in which they are set down, advance in the conduct of the elect. For he cannot prevail to have the beautiful sights of contemplation unless he first vigorously exercises himself in the labor of pious work. Indeed, the joys of eternal light, the immensity of that highest light, that eternal vigor of ineffable splendor, the more laboriously it is sought, the more generously it opens itself to those who seek it. Therefore he who is already such is seen indeed as fit for teaching; but unless he shines with a comely face, unless he bears a mind illumined by the rays of perfect charity, he is not approved as worthy of such great loftiness. Let the shepherd therefore be ruddy, and let him not be remiss in work; let him be beautiful in appearance, that is, sublime in contemplation; let him be comely of face, so that the whole strength of his work and the height of his contemplation, known to the eyes of supernal majesty, may be through the ineffable beauty of charity. For these three marks of immense comeliness, because the teacher of holy Church ought to have them, Peter is taken up on behalf of all, and is asked a third time whether he loves the Redeemer. For first it is said to him: Peter, do you love me?

so that through love he strives to do brave deeds; secondly, that in contemplation he may know lofty things; thirdly, that with the affection of perfect charity he may both burn with zeal toward his neighbor and glow more ardently toward the beauty of his Creator. Let us therefore hear by what testimony such a great and such a beautiful, such a comely boy is brought forward. For it follows: (Verse 12.) Arise, and anoint him, for he is the one.

What is it, "Arise, and anoint him"? Was he such a little child that he could not be anointed while sitting? For by sitting we cannot reach lofty things. Great, then, is the virtue, great the loftiness of the humble, if even prophets do not attain to their heights. The prophet therefore arises when the high priest raises himself to wondrous veneration of the chosen preacher. For outwardly he sees him as it were humble by looking; but inwardly, unless he raises himself in inner contemplation, he does not recognize his merit. The teacher, then, is bidden to arise, because he who wishes to bestow such great sacraments upon him ought first to recognize the sublimity of his merits. What is it, then, that is said, "Arise, and anoint him, for he is the one," except that you should sublimely bestow sublime sacraments upon a sublime man? For often indiscreet pastors know the negligent and reprobate life of those who approach, and yet do not fear to promote them. These indeed anoint, but do not arise, because those to whom they grant the sacraments of anointing they do not discern to be set in a high place of merits.

When, therefore, a lofty teacher is shown forth, his ordainer is admonished to rise up, because through his ministry the sacraments of anointing are then worthily bestowed when the one to be anointed is seen to be in the high sublimity of virtue. Concerning him, indeed, it is said, "Because he is the one": If therefore he is the one, there is no other; because unless he shines with these virtues, he must needs not attain to an order of such great height. Him, therefore, whom the Lord promised he would show forth, he shows as ruddy and beautiful in appearance and comely of face, saying: "For he is the one." Because no one ought to undertake the summit of governance who does not have the strength of a great work—namely, the knowledge of contemplation and the fervor of charity. Well, therefore, is it added: (Verse 13.) Therefore Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

The horn of oil is taken up, so that the whole life of the high priest may be taught to be spiritual. The horn of oil is taken up, so that in the excellent liquid the teacher of the Church may strive to be a man of great mercy. The head of the king is anointed with oil, because he ought to shine upon the lampstand through the flame of the word. The horn receives oil, so that by rebuking he may purge, and by showing mercy he may draw by gentle persuasion. The horn also receives in the sublimity of order, oil for the nourishment of virtue. But he is anointed with a full horn, so that the virtue of the high priest may be taught to be full. For he has a full horn in his anointing if he is perfect both in the virtue of mercy and in that of charity and of the word.

He is known also to have a full horn in his anointing, whose whole power is dispensed through mercy. For the authority of the holy Church itself, when it is without mercy, is nothing; because the rigor of discipline is then spiritual when it is not devoid of the ointment of mercy. Therefore the horn and the oil are shown together, so that discipline may always be held together with mercy. For the horn is said to be full of oil, so that wherever the horn shows its point, it may show the anointing of grace poured out. But when the anointing is led forth to anoint the king, the horn is seen outwardly, while the fullness of the oil is hidden within. Let the prophet therefore carry the horn outwardly and fill it with oil within; outwardly let him suggest the letter, inwardly let him declare the sacraments. Let the prophet therefore know what he bestows; let the anointed king know what he is to do in receiving what is presented. What is it, then, that the horn is outside and the oil within, except that frequently the hardness of subjects deserves to feel the rebuke of the pastor, but does not attend to anything of his mercy? The ruler therefore shows the horn, in which the oil lies hidden; because when someone is sharply corrected out of charity, the punishment is felt, but the charity is not seen. For a harsh ruler is looked upon as one who rebukes as though he did not love; as one who vehemently hates, so he scolds. What then is seen by those pricked, except the point of the horn, by which they are struck more sharply? But because the pastor first loves greatly within the one whom he strikes outwardly by reproving, what else does he show by rebuking than the horn, and what does he conceal by loving than the oil?

He is therefore declared to have a full horn in the anointing of the king, so that both things may be shown to be perfect in the chosen preacher. For he ought to be sharp for reproving, gentle for showing mercy. He should strike perfectly, so as to pierce through completely all the force of the disease; he should anoint perfectly through mercy, so as to bring back to health the wounds he has inflicted. For if he strikes with less force than he ought, he does not cast out what lies hidden. And if he strikes with force and does not anoint abundantly, he kills the one he has struck through severity and does not restore him to health. Let the horn therefore be whole, the fullness of the oil whole, so that through the horn wounds may be struck severely and through the oil they may be soothed.

But what is it that he is anointed in the midst of his brothers, except that he is commanded to scatter examples of virtue all around? He is anointed in the midst of his brothers, so that all may be able to become partakers of so great an anointing. For he who is placed in the middle is seen from every side. He is anointed with oil in the midst of others, because he who has been placed as an example for others ought to have no part of himself obscure, so that all may look upon him and take from him an example of light. Hence also the holy animals are described as having eyes all around (Ezekiel 1): because the chosen teacher, when he receives from the gift of the Holy Spirit the ardor of charity, the virtue of mercy, the zeal of righteousness, is, as it were, made a sphere of shining light, which renders him radiant from every side to those standing around. Or he is anointed in the midst of his brothers so that he may always consider himself both anointed and in the middle.

Let him therefore recognize his own dignity, and exercise the power of that dignity, because he has been anointed. Let him see himself as one who is in the midst, and as a man of common condition, so that he may recognize those over whom he presides to be equal to himself. He is anointed, therefore, in the midst of his brothers, so that he may be both humble and exalted: exalted in rank, humble in self-estimation. He is anointed in the midst for this reason also, that he may not love himself with a private love, but from all that in which he excels may seek the gain of others. Whence also Saul is reported to have been anointed alone in the farthest part of the city (1 Kings 9). For what is it that he is anointed alone by one alone, except that he was bound to swell up from the power of the height through private love? For in that he wished to love himself singularly on account of the dignity he had received, he bore, as it were, the fuel of light alone. Whence also the boy who accompanied him is sent ahead: because none of the elect follows the examples of him who is reprobated by divine authority. David, therefore, is anointed in the midst of his brothers: because the chosen teacher does not glory in any singular love from the fact that he is raised up by singular sublimity. And because through the ministry of men spiritual gifts are heaped up in the chosen rulers, it is added: (Verse 13.) And the Spirit of the Lord was directed upon David from that day and thereafter.

For after the anointing, the Spirit of the Lord is directed: because outwardly we receive the sacraments, so that inwardly we may be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. For outwardly man, inwardly God works, and not man. For outwardly man rises up, inwardly the spirit directs itself: because man offers the order of religion to man, but into him to whom the order is given the spirit is directed, so that outwardly he may receive the sublimity of the order, and inwardly the strength of the Holy Spirit. Outwardly the order is entrusted, so that he may do the things that are of God; inwardly the spirit is directed, so that he may powerfully do what is enjoined. For great is the burden of the order, great is the frailty of the flesh. Therefore, because so great a burden is entrusted to one who is weak, the spirit is directed: so that the weak one may be strengthened, and may bear so great a burden with gratitude in proportion as the almighty Spirit more strongly helps him to bear it. But the spirit is said to be directed, so that it may be perceived as turned away from a proud king. The spirit therefore directs itself into another, when the grace of that same spirit flees the proud and the hypocritical. Whence also it is written: The Spirit of the Lord of discipline will flee from the deceitful (Wis. 1:7). Hence also through himself in the Gospel he says: The Spirit breathes where it wills, and you hear its voice, and you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes (John 3:8). The Spirit indeed comes and goes, because it forsakes the reprobate and takes up the elect. And because the judgment of almighty God is unsearchable, man does not know whence it comes and whither it goes: because it cannot be known whether someone ought to persevere forever in the grace that he has received.

From him, therefore, who has failed, the spirit is said to come, to go to him who is to persevere: because some it deserts in time, others it takes up, and yet it does not desert them. Hence also in the type of the elect it is said concerning David: The spirit of the Lord was directed in David from that day and for the remainder. On the day of anointing indeed it is directed, when we so receive outwardly the sacraments of Christ that inwardly we may be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. And for the remainder the spirit is directed, which never withdraws from the grace it has received. This grace of the directed spirit we so ascribe to preachers as to assign it to all the orders of holy Church. For whoever receives the faith of our Redeemer is reborn through the baptism of our redemption, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit is redeemed from every sin. Hence also the apostle Paul, intimating the gift of the same Holy Spirit to his redeemed elect, says: In whom you are sealed on the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). If therefore we consider the people once proud in circumcision to have lost the Holy Spirit, we see equally the direction of the same spirit in those baptized. In this we indeed are directed, because through pride they lost the grace of the Holy Spirit. What is it therefore that is said, From that day and for the remainder, except that the grace of the Holy Spirit is so received that the elect are taught to persevere in it even to the end? Many indeed after the remission of sins commit sins unto death, in whom surely the spirit does not seem to be directed for the remainder.

The spirit, therefore, is directed in the elect only on that day and thereafter, because in the case of the reprobate, sins are forgiven at the dawn of God through the Holy Spirit, but afterward they lose the grace of the Holy Spirit through iniquity. For it is directed "thereafter," but "in David," because his name is interpreted as "strong in hand." Strong in hand indeed is he who prevails over the devil and holds fast the good he has received through perseverance even to the end. Concerning such the Lord certainly says: "He who perseveres to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22). But if the state of the universal Church is considered, we see the spirit of the Lord directed "in David thereafter," because from the very beginnings of the holy Church the grace of the Holy Spirit began to fill the elect of that same Church, and does not cease to guard them even to the end of the world.

Now indeed, according to our purpose, the book ought to be closed at its end; but it returns to memory that we referred the beginnings of the volume to the conversation of the Redeemer. And because through John the same our Redeemer is declared to be both the beginning and the end, the book is closed with the best ending if it is consummated in the narrative of our Redeemer (Revelation 1:8). David, therefore, "strong in hand," signifies the Redeemer of the human race himself, who prevailed over the ancient enemy and took the elect from his power. He is called the Bethlehemite, the son of Jesse, because he wished to be known by that people whom he, as it were, satisfied with bread from the knowledge of the holy Scriptures.

For the house of bread was Judea, which had the solid food of the Scriptures, as it were from bread, in the spiritual understanding. But what does Samuel signify, unless, as we have often said, the order of new preachers? And what does David suggest, unless the Redeemer? To anoint him, therefore, Samuel is sent. For to anoint him is to proclaim his incomparable sanctification to those who do not know it. For he is, as it were, anointed when the odor of his reputation is opened to those who do not know him. For he was anointing him who said: Because in him all the fullness of divinity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). But why do we receive only the new preachers for his anointing, when we see that the old ones also anointed him so venerably? For what smells better and sweeter than that which the prophet Isaiah poured out upon him, saying: The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him (Isa. 11:2)? Hence again, he who is held in his hands, David, speaking to him, says: You are beautiful in form above the sons of men, grace is poured out on your lips (Ps. 44:3). And after a few things: God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. But Daniel anointed him, and provided the sacrament of all anointing to the Jews, saying: When the Holy of Holies has come, your anointing shall cease (Dan. 9).

The prophet is therefore sent to anoint, because its fragrance is never grasped by the little ones unless it is laid open through the mouths of preachers. Hence also those three women prepare spices and anoint the Redeemer in the tomb (Mark 16). In the tomb of Jesus he is indeed anointed, when the glory of his resurrection is preached. Hence also when they come, Jesus is not found, because when they discuss the Lord's death well, they show the dead man now rising again, and as it were by coming they do not find him; because where they rightly recognize the cause of death, they find that life has been restored through that death.

But what is it that he is commanded to fill the horn with oil? For what was the harshness of the law but the sharpness of a horn? For as it were with a horn he struck, when he did not pardon sins through mercy, but avenged them by inflicting punishment. The horn is therefore filled with oil, because such a King is anointed who forgives the sins of men mercifully, not one who punishes through the harshness of the law. For they were putting forward the horn of Moses, who said to the Lord concerning the woman who had been caught in adultery: Moses commands such a one to be stoned; what do you say about her (John 8:15)? But he who had been anointed with a full horn says: Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her. He had taken up, as it were, the horn for striking, who said: If this man were a prophet, he would know what and what sort this woman is who touches him, because she is a sinner (Luke 7:39).

But he who had been anointed Jesus from the fullness of the horn remitted all, saying: Many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much. Hence to those murmuring about the assumption of sinners he says: I came not to call the just, but sinners (Matt. 9:13). Therefore David the prophet is sent to anoint with a full horn, because they now preach him who dissolved the hardness of the law, and restored all that it held out as rigid through the soothing remedies of his grace. Was he not anointing him, who was sent to anoint him, of whom it is said: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John: this man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light (John 1:6)? But we have heard how he had been sent; let us hear how he anoints: Behold, he says, the Lamb of God, behold who takes away the sins of the world (Ibid., 29).

By the horn, that is, of his kingdom, the sublimity of the holy Church can be designated, which is great, but is not harsh and proud. Concerning this horn, indeed, it is said earlier through Anna, the mother of Samuel: He shall exalt the horn of his Christ (1 Kings 2:10). Hence indeed it is said through Zechariah: He has raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the house of David his servant (Luke 1:69). What is the horn of salvation, then, but the sublimity of ecclesiastical power? For what is nowhere said to the ancients is now said to the universal Church: Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven (Matt. 16:19).

That horn is indeed said to be lifted up and full of oil, because the holy Church, with the loftiness of power, extends the inward parts of compassion. And because through the vice of condemned humanity we can more easily be raised up into the authority of power than bent down to the softness of piety, he is rightly commanded not to prepare a horn, but oil. For he who says, Fill your horn with oil, has indicated that the horn is without oil. What is this, except that we can be angry and rebuke even without reflection, but cannot be bent to mercy except by great meditation? As if he were saying: Fill with oil the zeal that you have by nature; if you do not have it from yourself, you can have it from virtue. This is certainly also said to him who is sent to anoint the Redeemer, so that he who is placed in the office of preaching should always strive to be rich in mercy.

By this horn the affections of the mind can be shown. That horn is certainly commanded to be filled, because the anointing of our Redeemer, that is, his sanctification, ought to be known perfectly before it can be preached sufficiently. The horn, therefore, is filled when the holiness of the Redeemer is well recognized. And with a full horn he is anointed when it is preached excellently. For John, because he had come to anoint by preaching, as it were filled the horn by knowing, so that he might be able to anoint him by speaking well. But if we wish to understand the filling well, let us hear what is said in the Gospel: The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness (Luke 3:2).

Therefore he anointed him with a full horn, who was first perfectly taught by the Word before he could speak of the divinity of the Word and the nature of man assumed. But when he came, he had a calf in his hand; because, in order to become worthy of the Redeemer's herald, he sacrificed his flesh to God through abstinence. Moreover, the Lord himself can be designated by the name of the calf. What then is it that the prophet carried a calf in his hand, except that he who wishes to show Jesus by preaching ought, through the mortification of the flesh, to imitate the passions of him whom he preaches? To hold a calf in the hand is, indeed, to show the likeness of Christ's passion in the power of action. For otherwise, he who comes to anoint the king is killed; because, to be sure, the preacher of truth is brought into danger of his own salvation, who tramples underfoot by wicked action the word that he preaches with his mouth. And so Samuel, coming to anoint the king, carried a calf in his hand; because the forerunner of the Lord first showed himself admirable through the splendor of a heavenly way of life, and so made known the good of such great grace to those who did not know it. 26. But what is it that he is commanded to be sought among the sons of Jesse, except that he was to be born also of the old people, and was to have no one equal to him? He is therefore commanded to be sought, so that we may believe in him reasonably. And because he says through himself: No one comes to me, unless the Father who sent me has drawn him (John 6:44), it is well said to Samuel by the father: You shall anoint the one whom I shall show you.

For he had anointed him as one already shown beforehand, since he heard from the one he had anointed: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven (Matt. 16:17). Therefore he is sent to Bethlehem, because when Christ is sought according to the flesh, he is found born from the people of the Jews. He also comes to Bethlehem, because the order of preachers first strove to convert Judea, and afterward preached the faith of the Redeemer to the Gentiles. But what is it that the elders of the city marvel at, except that those who had reached the understanding of maturity were astonished at the preaching of such great newness? But they run to meet him in admiration, because they gladly hear the preaching of the truth. To run to meet the preachers is indeed to hear with desire the word of faith that they preach. Why do they ask about his peaceful entrance? What is a peaceful entrance, except when the presence of peace has come? He also shows this peace, who says: He himself is our peace, who has made both one (Eph. 2:14). What is it, then, that they ask about his peaceful entrance, except that the hearts of the elect Jews were eagerly awaiting the promise of the fathers? As if those who were waiting, wavering, were saying: Has the peace come, which foretold that it would come, with so great a span of time running before? And because the new teachers report that what the ancient fathers promised has been brought forth, they say: A peaceful one.

As if he were saying: We do not promise future things, but we show the present gifts of peace. In our entrance he is present; in our word he is not future. Already righteous Simeon saw him, already held him and adored him, saying: Now you dismiss your servant, Lord, according to your word in peace (Luke 2:29). Already he appeared to the shepherds; already, the long-awaited peace having been sent from heaven, the multitude of angels sang: Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke 2:14). And because he had come not only to preach peace but also to persuade, he adds, saying: I have come to sacrifice.

What is it for a priest to sacrifice, except to join the hearts of the elect to our Redeemer through love? As if he were saying: You wish to know when he will come, but it does not profit to know unless it profits to love. Therefore I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Hence it is that Paul expels those among whom he could not sacrifice, saying: If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema (1 Cor. 16:22). But to those invited, it is said of this victim: Sanctify yourselves, and come. The Jews therefore cannot come with us to the sacrifice of faith, because they are unwilling to judge the Lord Jesus from the Scriptures, but flee from hearing his preaching out of mere hatred. Whence the Lord complains through himself, saying: If I had not done works among them which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse, because they have seen and hated both me and my Father (John 15:24). What is it, then, that is said: Sanctify yourselves, and come?

But the holy things of Isaiah must be heard by the hearers, that they prepare a pure secret. For to be sanctified is for them to cast hatred out of the heart, and to prepare the purity of intention for hearing the word of preaching. Therefore it is commanded that they come when sanctified, because it profits nothing to come if one does not have a pure intention in hearing. And because the Holy Spirit speaks through holy teachers, he says: Come with me: as if he were saying: Attend to the one speaking in such a way that you believe with yourselves the one hearing, because I speak in such a way that I hear, since I am the one who speaks and administers the speech. And because at the beginning of the nascent Church many of the Jews both devoutly heard and faithfully believed, it is well said that Isaiah and his sons were sanctified by Samuel and invited to the sacrifice.

But among the seven sons of Isaiah the king is not found. For what are the seven sons of Isaiah but all the perfect ones of the Synagogue? What is it that they come to the prophet, but none of them is chosen: because the chosen preacher both looks upon the perfect sons of the Synagogue and believes that none of them is the Redeemer of the human race. He therefore brings all the first sons, so that when we look upon all the perfect, we may consider the excellence of the Redeemer. In these, indeed, unless the little one is brought, the king is not shown by the Lord: because certainly when we compare great men to our Redeemer, how great his dignity is, is seen. He is therefore not found in the others, because they are mere men.

The boy who feeds the sheep is therefore sought in the pastures, because he subjected himself in obedience to the Father even to death: yet who shall declare his generation? He is called a little child, because the grace of his humility is commended. He is called a little child, then, who is said by the Psalmist to have been made a little lower than the angels. But the little child feeds the sheep, because through humility he is lowly, and through majesty he is sublime. Here he labors and hungers, but there he feeds the angels from the glory of his majesty. For while all receive from the fullness of his glory, they are, as it were, filled at those most blessed pastures through the boy. He is also declared a little child as a shepherd, because from the assumption of his flesh the citizens on high rejoice ineffably. For that ineffable joy of the blessed citizens is, as it were, the food of the sheep. Here, then, he is commanded to be brought with urgency; here, until he comes, the reclining at table must necessarily be deferred. For the people would have reclined before he came, if they had believed in another. He therefore had to be awaited, who was the singular and only food of blessed souls. Whence he also says through himself: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. But because the one who ascended is the same who descended, he is sent there so that he may be brought. For to send to the pastures is to extend the mind above the angels all the way to equality with the eternal Father. And to find him is to believe him to be in all things equal to the most high Father.

He brings forward the one who, he already asserts, also came to the Redemption of the human race through assumed humanity. For he had sent him, and he had brought him forward here, to whom one is sent in his type, when he said: He who comes from heaven is above all (John 3:31). Isaiah was bringing forward the little one feeding the sheep, when he said: A little child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, God, mighty, father of the world to come, prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6). But because the faith of the teacher profits only for himself unto salvation, and not also for his hearers, he is commanded to be sent and brought forward, so that each one may have faith in him, through which he may deserve to be saved. For individuals ought to go and bring him forward, because they ought firmly to believe him equal to the eternal Father through divinity, and a partaker of our nature through humanity.

Concerning his description also it is said: Who was ruddy, and beautiful in appearance, and comely of face. Ruddy indeed, because wounded by the lance; ruddy, because reddened by his passion. Whence also it is said to him through the prophet: Why is your clothing red (Isaiah 63:2)? For he was ruddy, whose whiteness of such great innocence he colored with the redness of precious blood. He was also beautiful in appearance, because both by rising again he put on the beauty of immortality, and in great charity he looked upon us mortals. For as if promising to his disciples the beauty of his appearance, he said: I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice (John 16:22).

Hence again, promising, he says: I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come and take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be. What is the beauty of his face, if not the glory of his majesty? For his face is the perfect knowledge of him. Paul also, recalling this, says: We see now through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know, even as I am known (1 Cor. 13:12). What, then, is the beauty of the face, if not the splendor of the eternal Godhead? This beauty is indeed now believed, not seen; then it will not be believed, but seen, because the apostle says: When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). Whence also to Moses, asking for the same beauty of the face, he answered: You shall see my back (Exod. 33:23). Whatever we can now contemplate concerning his divinity is not that beauty itself, but a veil of the beauty. We behold his back, so to speak, that we may follow; but when by following we have come to him, we behold his front, that is, the beauty of his face. He was therefore ruddy in this world, beautiful in paradise, comely of face and everlasting in heaven. All this threefold beauty can also be recognized in the conduct of his present life. He was indeed ruddy, because he ardently loved those for whom he laid down his soul. He was beautiful to look upon, because he knew all things. Comely of face, because he made all things good. But what is that beauty of appearance? No one knows the Father except the Son (Matt. 11:27).

Peter likewise, marveling at him, says: Now we know that you know all things, and have no need that anyone should question you (John 16:30). The beauty of his face is proclaimed by the crowds of onlookers, who say: He has done all things well; he makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak (Mark 7:37). Hence again others, marveling, say: What sort of man is this, that the winds and the sea obey him (Matthew 8:27)? What, then, is the beauty of his face, if not the beauty of holiness? What again is the beauty of his face, if not the splendor of his incomparable manner of life? For in everything that he did, he shone with the incomparable light of grace. For the Psalmist, marveling at this beauty of his face, says: You are beautiful in form above the sons of men, grace is poured out on your lips (Psalm 44:3). Paul, proclaiming this, says: Who being the splendor of his glory and the figure of his substance, and bearing all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sits at the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say: You are my Son, today I have begotten you (Hebrews 1:3)? Concerning him, therefore, the command is rightly given to the prophet: Arise, and anoint him, for he is the one.

Peter also, the apostle—not only a prophet, but the highest patriarch—saw the ineffable light poured out from above, the cloud overshadowing, the Father crying out: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; 2 Pet. 1:17). There it is said: For it is he. Here it is said: This is my beloved Son. There, because he was shown in figures, he is beheld as though more absent, when it is said: It is he. Here, however, because his glory was now revealed, he is beheld as more present, because he says: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. He, therefore, is to be anointed, he is to be praised, and he is to be soothed with perpetual favors. But who could worthily suffice to praise him, when he does not suffice to see the glory that he praises? What is it that Peter falls down when he hears the resounding voice of the words of such a proclamation? But he was a little one; he was still seeing what he was not sufficient to see. He was seeing, and because by seeing he was falling, it signifies that he could not attain to that which they merited to see. No one can say, Lord Jesus, except in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Because, therefore, Peter had not yet received that fullness of the Spirit, he was not able, as a little one, to preach Jesus; therefore he is first commanded to rise and to tell the vision to no one until he had risen from the dead. After the resurrection, surely, he was to receive the Holy Spirit. Hence it is written: The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:39).

Peter, therefore, ought not yet before the resurrection to speak of the vision, since indeed he saw well, but before he had the Spirit, he did not understand.

31. What is it, then, that the Lord says to Samuel: Rise, and anoint him? What is it that he is commanded to rise so that he may anoint, except that it is greatly necessary for him to be raised up to heavenly things, who desires to proclaim the sublimity of the Lord? But how greatly raised up was Peter, who was lifted up to see such great things? But if he still awaits a higher state of perfection, who does not fear to undertake the office of such great preaching? If the Lord admonishes the prophet to rise, does he dare to preach the Lord, who lies low through the fall of wickedness? Hence it is indeed that to each preacher it is commanded through Isaiah: Ascend upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion (Isa. 40:9). The high mountain is the perfection of teaching and of work. Let him rise, therefore, who is commanded to anoint the king; let him extend himself to sublime things. Let him rise in lofty work, let him rise in lofty contemplation, let him rise in the wisdom of speech, let him rise in the virtue of charity. Indeed, he who is anointed by preaching is so great that he is scarcely reached by those who are sublime. And perhaps Paul was able to anoint him for this reason, because he says: Our conversation is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). He was able to anoint him for this reason, because he had raised himself to the secrets of the third heaven, and in paradise was hearing secret words.

Therefore, because the Lord must be proclaimed on high by those on high, the prophet is commanded to rise, because he is ordered to anoint the one by whom he himself is signified. This virtue of perfect conduct is indeed a high thing—nay, the highest—but it is brought to perfection by many who are perfect. Great indeed is this sublimity, but holy Church has many sublime ones. For from the time she rejected the Synagogue, she raised holy Church to an innumerable height of virtue. Well, then, is it said: And the Spirit of the Lord was directed upon David from that day and thereafter. The day is faith in the Redeemer, in which, to be sure, both holy Church is enlightened and the rejected Synagogue is brought down into wondrous blindness. On that day, therefore, the Holy Spirit is directed upon David, because His grace is taken away from the Synagogue and given to the elect of holy Church. For He is directed, because He forsakes those and takes up these. But He is directed on the day, because one who has not been enlightened in faith in the Redeemer cannot have the directing Spirit within himself. The Spirit, then, is directed on the day, because He is given to those who have the light of faith. But He is directed upon David, because holy Church alone receives Him, she who is the body of the Redeemer. But since, with God as author, we have completed what we proposed to treat from the book of Kings, the supreme and almighty Spirit must be entreated, that He who brought forth words through whom He willed may grant the affection of strength both to the writer and to the reader. Amen.