HOMILY 26

HOMILIA XXVI.

Concerning why the rock swords were buried, and concerning the altar that the two and a half tribes that are across the Jordan erected.¹

De eo, quod sepultae sunt ‘petrinae machaerae,’ et de ‘ara,’ quam ‘exstruxerunt’ duae semis tribus, quae sunt trans Iordanen.

It WAS SAID ABOVE that the sons of Israel gave a lot to Jesus on Mount Ephraim and that, when he had accepted the lot, “Jesus built a city there and dwelt in it.”² But now Scripture repeats the same things again so that it may add this, that “in that city that he had built and in which he dwelt, Jesus concealed the rock swords,” that is, the knives made from stone, “with which he circumcised the sons of Israel in the wilderness.”³ Whence we also must repeat the exposition and explain what was added so that, God granting, the entire meaning of the Scripture may be completed.

1. In superioribus quidem dictum est quia ‘filii Istrahel dederunt sortem Iesu in monte Effrem’ et quia accepta sorte ‘Iesus aedificaverit ibi civitatem et inhabitaverit in ea’. Nunc autem eadem denuo repetit Scriptura, ut addat hoc, quod ‘machaeras petrinas,’ id est cultros e saxo, ‘quibus circumcidit Iesus filios Istrahel in eremo, recondiderit in ea civitate, quam aedificaverat et in qua habitabat’. Unde et nobis repetenda expositio est et hoc, quod adiectum est, explanandum, ut Deo donante sensus Scripturae integer expleatur.

And indeed we said above that even our Lord Jesus Christ asks us for a place he may build and in which he may live, and that we ought to become so clean of heart, and so sincere of mind, so holy in body and spirit, that he may both deign to accept this place in our soul and to build it and dwell in it.⁴ And who do you think among all the people are so acceptable to God that they are worthy to be chosen for this? Or perhaps no individuals can be capable of this, but can the whole people and all the Church together barely be capable of receiving the Lord Jesus in themselves so that he may dwell in them?

Diximus etenim in superioribus quia et Dominus noster Iesus Christus petat a nobis locum, quem aedificet et in quo habitet, et quia debemus tales effici, tam ‘mundi corde,’ tam ‘simplices mente,’ tam ‘sancti corpore et spiritu,’ ut et in anima nostra locum dignetur accipere et aedificare eum et habitare in eo. Et qui, putas, sunt in omni populo ita acceptabiles Deo, qui ad hoc eligi digni sunt? Aut forte nec singuli ad hoc capaces esse possunt, sed universus populus et cuncta simul ecclesia vix capax esse potest, ut recipiat in se Dominum Iesum et habitet in ea?

Let us see, therefore, what is this place in which Jesus is bound to dwell. “In Mount Ephraim,” it says, that is, in the fruit bearing mountain.⁵ Who do you think among us are fruit bearing mountains, in whom Jesus may dwell? Surely those in whom exist “the fruit of the spirit: joy, peace, patience, love,”⁶ and the rest. Those, therefore, are the fruit bearing mountains who produce the fruit of the spirit and who are always lofty in mind and expectation. And although few are able to be like this, nevertheless, even if they are few, the Lord Jesus, who is the “true light”⁷ dwelling in them, will send forth the beams of his light also upon all the rest, those whom he has not yet, in this first round, judged worthy of his habitation.

Videamus ergo, quis est iste locus, in quo habitare debet Iesus. In monte inquit Effrem, hoc est in monte fructifero. Qui putas sunt in nobis montes fructiferi, in quibus habitet Iesus? Illi profecto, in quibus sunt ‘fructus spiritus, gaudium, pax, patientia, caritas,’ et cetera. Isti sunt ergo montes fructiferi, qui ‘fructum spiritus’ afferunt et mente ac spe semper excelsi sunt. Et licet pauci esse possint tales, tamen, si vel pauci fuerint, in ipsis habitans Dominus Iesus, qui est ‘lux vera,’ emittet radios lucis suae etiam super reliquos omnes, quos nondum dignos suo habitaculo principaliter iudicarit.

The Sword of Rock is the Word of God that Circumcises

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 Just.Martyr .Dial.Trypho

2. NOW  let us therefore see what are the rock swords by which Jesus circumcises the sons of Israel. If you pray for us that our “word may be living and effective and sharper than every sword,”⁸ our Lord Jesus will also bring it to pass for us that the word of God that we speak to you may circumcise every uncleanness, cut back impurities, separate vices from those who hear, and remove each thing by which the strength of the mind and natural efficiency is covered over. And thus, through the word of God, which here is called a rock sword, you too will be circumcised by Jesus and you will hear, “Today I have taken away from you the reproach of Egypt.”⁹

2. Nunc ergo videamus, quae sunt ‘machaerae petrinae, quibus circumcidit Iesus filios Istrahel’. Si oretis pro nobis, ut ‘sermo noster vivens sit et efficax et acutior super omnem machaeram,’ praestabit et nobis Dominus Iesus, ut verbum Dei, quod loquimur ad vos, circumcidat omnem immunditiam, resecet impuritates, abscindat vitia de auditoribus et amputet omne, quo vis mentis et efficacia naturalis obtegitur; et sic per verbum Dei, quod nunc ‘machaera petrina’ dicitur, circumcidemini et vos ab Iesu et audietis quia: abstuli opprobrium Aegypti hodie a vobis.

For what good is it for us to have gone forth from Egypt and yet carry around with us the reproaches of Egypt? What good is it to travel through the wilderness, that is, what does it help us to have renounced this age in baptism but to retain the former filth of our behavior and the impurities of our carnal vices? Thus it is fitting, after the parting of the Red Sea, that is, after the grace of baptism, for the carnal vices of our old habits to be removed from us by means of our Lord Jesus, so that we can be free from the Egyptian reproaches.

Quid enim nobis prodest exisse de Aegypto et nobis cum ‘opprobria Aegypti’ circumferre? Quid prodest ambulare per eremum, hoc est quid nos iuvat in baptismo saeculo renuntiasse et morum nostrorum pristinas sordes ac vitiorum carnalium immunditias retinere? Oportet ergo post digressionem rubri maris, id est post gratiam baptismi, auferri a nobis etiam carnalia veteris consuetudinis vitia per Iesum Dominum nostrum, ut ita demum ‘Aegyptiacis’ carere possimus ‘opprobriis’.

The Second Circumcision

Therefore, those rock swords and knives of stone, by which we are circumcised by Jesus a second time, are put in that place that Jesus requests and receives. In that place that he possesses in the soul of the righteous, he also conceals the swords. Often we display a sword called the Word of God, by which word sins are separated and purged from the souls of the hearers.¹⁰ Therefore, this power of the divine word is concealed in that place, to whom a discourse of knowledge and a discourse of wisdom is granted, so that at the opportune time that soul, which was filled up with the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge through the gift of the Spirit, may produce those swords in the Church and circumcise a second time those who need a second circumcision.

Ponuntur ergo illae ipsae ‘machaerae petrinae’ et cultri lapidei, quibus secundo circumcisi sumus ab Iesu, in eo loco, quem petit Iesus et accepit; in loco, quem possidet in anima iusti, in ipso recondit et ‘machaeras’. Saepe ostendimus ‘machaeram’ verbum Dei dictum, quo verbo absciduntur et purgantur peccata de animis audientium. Haec ergo virtus verbi divini reconditur in eo loco, cui datur sermo scientiae et sermo sapientiae, ut opportuno tempore anima illa, quae per donum spiritus repleta est verbo sapientiae et verbo scientiae, proferat istas ‘machaeras’ in ecclesia et circumcidat secundo eos, qui ‘secunda’ indigent ‘circumcisione’.

But because it says “rock swords,” that is, knives made from stone and not fashioned out of iron by the craft of an artisan, it indicates that this discourse of God that is able to cast away impurities from the hearts of the hearers does not come from grammatical or rhetorical art. It is neither beaten by the hammers of teachers nor polished by whetstones of studies, but it descends from that “rock that was cut without hands from the mountain and filled the earth”¹¹ and distributed spiritual gifts to believers.

Quod autem dicit ‘petrinas machaeras,’ hoc est e saxo cultros et non e ferro artificis opere fabricatos, illud ostendit quod sermo hic Dei, qui circumcidere de auditorum cordibus immunditias potest, non est ex arte grammatica vel rhetorica veniens neque doctorum malleis edomitus aut studiorum cotibus elimatus, sed ex illa ‘petra’ descendens, quae ‘de monte sine manibus abscisa est et orbem terrae complevit’ ac dona spiritalia credentibus tribuit.

After these things Jesus assembles the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, who had served as soldiers with him to overcome the foes of the Israelites, and he dismisses them to go to their inheritance with certain gifts given to them, as it is written.¹² Whereby this seems to indicate the mystery that “when the fullness of the nations will come in,”¹³ they receive from the Lord Jesus what was promised to them, those who had been taught and instructed by Moses and who by prayers and entreaties brought aid to us who are placed in the contest. They have not yet “attained the promises,”¹⁴ waiting so that our calling might also be fulfilled, as the Apostle says.¹⁵ But now at last with the gifts they receive from Jesus they may attain the perfection that had been deferred for them so that each one may dwell in peace with every war and every battle ceasing.¹⁶

Post haec ‘Iesus convocat filios Ruben et filios Gad et dimidiam tribum Manasse,’ qui se cum militaverant ad hostes Istraheliticos superandos, et dimittit eos ire ad hereditatem suam datis iis etiam muneribus quibusdam, sicut scriptum est. In quo videtur illud indicare mysterium, quod, ‘cum plenitudo gentium introierit,’ et quae repromissa sunt iis a Domino Iesu perceperint, illi, qui per Moysen eruditi et instructi fuerant et qui nobis in certamine positis auxilia orationibus et precibus detulerunt, quia nondum repromissiones consecuti sunt, exspectantes, ‘ut etiam nostra vocatio compleretur,’ sicut dicit Apostolus, nunc demum perfectionem, quae ab iis dilata fuerat, consequantur cum muneribus, quae accipiunt ab Iesu, ut unusquisque habitet in pace, omni bello atque omni impugnatione cessante.

3. After this it was read to us that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh who were across Jordan had built “an immense altar.”¹⁷ But the other sons of Israel, not knowing why this altar had been erected, send Phine-has the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, with ten men selected from each tribe. Therefore, if by chance they had made this as though departing from God, as if they had become apostates acting against the commandment of God, they would be assaulted by the other sons of Israel; but if not, the other sons might still learn the cause. But they give satisfaction about the altar and say, “We know that the true altar is among you where Jesus dwells. But we made this altar as an imitation of that altar that was erected among you, so that a type and image of the true altar may also be held among us, lest by chance tomorrow,” it says, “it may please you to say that the Jordan is the boundary between us and you and it itself determines this, and therefore you have no share in our altar.”¹⁸ These are the replies they sent.

3. Post haec lectum est nobis quia ‘filii Ruben et filii Gad et dimidia tribus Manasse qui erant trans Iordanen, aedificassent aram ingentem; filii vero Istrahel’ reliqui ignorantes, quare haec ara fuisset exstructa, ‘mittunt Fineen filium Eleazar, filii Aaron, cum decem viris de singulis tribubus electis,’ ut, si forte tamquam ‘discedentes a Deo’ hoc fecissent, velut ‘apostatae’ effecti et contra mandatum Dei gerentes expugnarentur a reliquis filiis Istrahel; sin aliter, ut noscerent causam. Illi vero satisfaciunt de ara et dicunt: scimus quia altare verum est apud vos, ubi Iesus habitat, nos autem fecimus hoc altare ad similitudinem illius altaris, quod apud vos exstructum est, ut et apud nos figura et imago veri altaris habeatur; ‘ne forte crastino,’ inquit, placeat vobis ‘dicere quia Iordanis finitimus est inter nos et vos’ et ipse determinat, et ideo ‘non habetis portionem’ in altari nostro. Haec illi responsa miserunt.

But let us see what sacrament lies within this deed. The former people of the circumcision are represented in Reuben,¹⁹ who was the firstborn; but also in Gad, who also is the firstborn out of Zelpha;²⁰ and Manasseh, no less a firstborn.²¹ But insofar as I say “firstborn,” I speak chronologically. Therefore, these things are said, not that it might be evident some division and separation is between us and those who were righteous before the coming of Christ, but that they might reveal themselves to still be our brothers even if they existed before the coming of Christ. For although they possessed an altar then before the coming of the Savior, nevertheless, they knew and perceived that it was not that true altar, but that it was a form and figure of what would be the true altar.²² Those persons knew this because the true victims and those who were able to take away sins were not offered on that altar that the firstborn people possessed, but on this one where Jesus was. Here the heavenly victims, here the true sacrifices are consumed. Therefore, they are made “one flock and one shepherd,”²³ those former righteous ones and those who are now Christians.

Sed videamus nos, quid facti huius continet sacramentum. Prior populus circumcisionis in Ruben, qui fuerat primogenitus, designatur; sed et in Gad, qui et ipse primogenitus est ex Zelpha, et Manasse nihilominus ‘primogenitus’. Quod autem dico primogenitus, secundum tempus loquor. Haec ergo dicuntur, ne inter nos et illos, qui ante adventum Christi fuerunt iusti, divisio aliqua ac separatio videretur, sed ut ostenderent se, etiamsi ante adventum Christi fuerant, fratres tamen nostros esse. Licet enim habuerint altare tunc ante adventum Salvatoris, sciebant tamen et sentiebant quia non esset illud altare verum, sed quia forma et figura erat futuri veri huius altaris. Noverant haec illi quia verae hostiae et quae possent auferre peccata non in illo altari offerebantur, quod habebat primogenitus populus, sed in isto, ubi Iesus erat, hic coelestes hostiae, hic vera sacrificia consummantur. Fit ergo ‘unus grex et unus pastor,’ illi priores iusti et qui nunc sunt Christiani.

But to prove these things I wish to make mention also of a certain story, so that, if only the Lord deigns to grant, we may be able to discover the spiritual explanation of it. Once the people fell down in the desert and died. Aaron the chief priest came and “stood in the midst of those who died and of those who lived,” so that the devastation of death might not advance even further among the rest.²⁴ And then came the true high priest, my Lord, and he came into the midst between those dying and the living. That is, he came between those Jews who accepted his presence and those who not only did not accept but killed themselves more completely than him, saying, “The blood of that one be upon us and upon our sons!”²⁵ Whence also “all the righteous blood that has been poured forth upon the earth from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah whom they killed between the sanctuary and the altar will be required from that generation”²⁶ that said, “His blood be upon us and upon our sons.”

Volo autem ad horum probationem memoriam facere etiam historiae cuiusdam, si tamen Dominus donare dignetur, ut explanationem ipsius spiritalem invenire possimus. ‘Cadebat’ aliquando populus ‘in deserto’ et moriebatur. Venit Aaron pontifex et ‘stetit in medio eorum, qui moriebantur, et eorum, qui vivebant,’ ne ultra vastatio mortis proficeret etiam in ceteros. Venit et nunc verus pontifex meus Dominus et intercessit medius inter morientes et vivos, id est inter eos, qui ex Iudaeis suam praesentiam susceperunt, et inter eos, qui non solum non susceperunt, sed semet ipsos magis quam illum occiderunt dicentes: sanguis illius super nos et super filios nostros! Unde et omnis sanguis iustus, qui effusus est super terram a sanguine Abel iusti usque ad sanguinem Zachariae quem interfecerunt inter aedem et altare, requiretur a generatione illa, quae dixit: sanguis eius super nos et super filios nostros.

Therefore, these are a part of the dead people because they do not properly perform either the feast of unleavened bread or the feast days. But “their feast days have been turned into sorrow and their songs into lamentations,”²⁷ they who, even if they wished, could not celebrate the feast days in that place that the Lord God chose. And indeed we ourselves did not say to them, “You will have no part in this altar or in the inheritance of the Lord,” but they themselves of their own accord refute the true altar and the heavenly high priest and have been brought to such a point of unhappiness that they both lost the image and did not accept the truth. Therefore it is said to them, “Behold your house is left to you deserted.”²⁸

Sunt ergo isti pars populi mortui, quia neque azyma neque dies festos competenter agunt, sed ‘conversi sunt dies festi eorum in luctum et cantica eorum in lamentationem;’ qui etiamsi vellent, non poterant diem festum celebrare in ‘eo loco, quem elegit Dominus Deus’. Et nos quidem non diximus ad illos quia ‘non erit vobis pars’ in hoc altari vel in hereditate Domini, sed ipsi sponte sua altare verum et coelestem pontificem refutarunt et eo usque infelicitatis adducti sunt, ut et imaginem perderent et non susciperent veritatem, et ideo dicitur ad eos: ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.

For the grace of the Holy Spirit has been transferred to the nations; the celebrations have been transferred to us because the high priest has passed over to us, not the imagined, but the true high priest, chosen “according to the order of Melchise-dek.”²⁹ It is necessary that he offer for us true sacrifices, that is, spiritual, where “the temple of God is built from living stones,”³⁰ which is “the Church of the living God,”³¹ and where true Israel exists, in Christ Jesus our Lord, “to whom is the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen!”³²

Translata est enim ad gentes gratia Spiritus sancti, translatae sunt sollemnitates ad nos, quia transiit ad nos et pontifex non imaginarius, sed verus, ‘secundum ordinem Melchisedec electus;’ et necesse est eum veras hostias, id est spiritales, offerre apud nos, ubi aedificatur templum Dei ex ‘lapidibus vivis,’ ‘quae est ecclesia Dei viventis,’ et ubi est verus Istrahel, in Christo Iesu Domino nostro, ‘cui est gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum Amen!’.