It is written in the head of the Book, that a man will come who will command celestial powers (Gen. XXVIII, 12). It was fulfilled, when the Lord Jesus came to earth, and angels ministered to him; as he himself deigned to say: From this you will see the heavens open, and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Son of Man (John I, 51).
It is written in the chapter of the Book: 'A lamb without blemish, perfect, mature, male, one year old, will be for you; and all the synagogue will kill him.' (Exodus 12:5). Who is this lamb, you heard him saying: 'Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.' (John 1:29). This is he who was killed by all the people of the Jews: whom they still persecute with hostile hatred. And indeed it was necessary for him to die for all; so that through his cross there might be forgiveness of sins, and his blood might wash away the defilements of the world: but woe to those who have denied the author of their own salvation! You have made a plan, he says, but not for me (Isaiah 30:1). How could he prove patricide, if he did not approve of the plan? And yet, what great piety! Indeed, he abhorred the plan; but if they were to turn around, he would not deny a remedy.
It is written also, not only in the head but in the whole constitution of the Law, that a man will come to preserve the human race, who would want everything that God would want. Hence you understand that it is of the same divinity, who is of the same will. Hence he also came willingly to the sacrifice of his passion, and rightly predicted: I will willingly offer sacrifice to you (Psalm 53:8).
But perhaps you will say: How then did He say in the Gospel: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will' (Matthew 26:39)? And indeed, it seems that there is a difference of wills. But we understand that one thing is expressed according to the unity of divinity, where He says: 'I and the Father are one' (John 10:30); and another thing is spoken according to the affection of the human, which implies that it should be handled with caution, and not presumed that it cannot be easily fulfilled; lest, while seeking a reward, one falls into sacrilege. Where he says: When they persecute you in this city, flee into another (Matthew X, 23). Therefore, rightly, even though he was about to undergo bodily suffering here, he began to be sad and mournful, and, having taken Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he said: My soul is sad (Matthew XXVI, 38), before he issued the command and afterwards added: Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (ibid., 41). You see him everywhere speaking as a man, praying as a man, being sad as a man, and saying as a man: My Father, if it is possible (Matthew X, 23). That which is certainly not impossible for God; but it is for man to doubt, for God to confirm. Therefore, He chose those who would be more ready, as if they were selected witnesses of His final judgment, who would acknowledge the mystery of His words. In the end, others were sleeping, while these alone kept watch with faithful minds. Hence, even through Jeremiah, before assuming a body, He Himself says: 'I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not know' (Jeremiah 11:19). What is there that Wisdom of God does not know, who is always in the secret of the Father? And therefore the Son of God explained everything, because the wisdom of God himself is the Son of God. How did he know that he was to be led like a lamb, and where he was to be led, he confesses that he did not know? Or how does he say in the earlier passage through the mouth of David: My God, my God, look upon me: why have you forsaken me? How is the Son forsaken by the Father, who says: And I am not alone; because the Father is with me? And elsewhere: I was handed over and did not come out? And elsewhere: I have risen up, and I am still with you (Psalm 138:8), unless you understand it in the sense that some people think they are abandoned by their Lord when they are in danger. Finally, listen to what follows: Far from my salvation, are the words of my sins (Psalm 22:2); that is, there are words of sins and there are the sacraments of eternal salvation. The words do not hinder the power: the divine substance is supported by its own strength. Man is seen, man is heard, God is recognized in his works. And yet about this man it is said: He is a man, and who will know him (Jerem. XVII, 9)? What is, who? Not that no one, but that rare one, that wise one; as that: Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? Who shall be wise and understand these things (Ose. XIV, 10)? Finally elsewhere: An silly man does not know these things, and a fool does not understand them (Psal. XCI, 7). And so when you read the Gospel, know as a wise man and not as a fool what you read: let the brightness of eternal Wisdom enlighten you. Indeed, they are words; but they cleanse, and they illuminate, and they strengthen, and they give life. Therefore Peter says: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we will not leave you. (John 6:69).
Finally, as we have mentioned, speaking in human terms, a little later he said: Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man will be handed over into the hands of sinners (Matth. XXVI, 45). And to Judas, who was kissing him, he said: Judas, with a kiss you betray the Son of Man; that is, you infuse poison with a kiss, by which the grace of charity is poured out: a kiss that is a sign of sacred peace: a kiss by which faithful friendship is confirmed: a kiss by which holy faith is marked. Therefore, do you hand over with danger this kiss, which because of the exchange of kisses you should venerate? And do you hand over the son of man, a man who descended from heaven for the salvation of mankind? For it is written: The Son of Man who is in heaven, he is the one who descended from heaven (John 3:13). You hand over the Son of Man, who made you, a sinner, an apostle. You hand over the Son of Man, who came to cleanse all sins with his blood. I do not deny the kiss: you yourself seem to be the one who violated the sanctity of the kiss. Have you not read that the wounds of a friend are more useful than the voluntary kisses of an enemy (Prov. 27:6)? And it is not without reason that Judas was struck by a weapon of such great dignity, as if he had been struck by lightning. In the end, he could not bear the patience of the Lord, who had betrayed his majesty, so much so that he himself could not wash away the guilt of such a great crime. Therefore, he left and returned the money; that is, he condemned his own greed, the author of such impiety, and repaid the price of treachery to the synagogue. The traitor is not excused, who could not find a place for repentance; but the sacrilege of the Jews is piled up, who are also accused by the words of the traitor. He acknowledged his crime, saying that he delivered innocent blood: they received the price of wickedness and pursued the prince of justice with more bitter zeal. Therefore the thief crucified is absolved to the eternal condemnation of all these; because he acknowledged Christ in his sufferings, whom these did not acknowledge in their benefits; and he confessed his sin to Christ, who knew how to forgive; because on his cross he mentally beheld the kingdom of the Lord, which Judas could not see at the supper of Christ. Therefore, the voice of the thief followed this heavenly saying: Amen, amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). You rejoiced, O dragon, because you had stolen the apostle from Christ: you have lost more than you have taken away, for you see the thief being translated into paradise. There is no one who can be excluded, when the thief, your servant, was received; he has arrived at the place from which you yourself were cast down.
We have explained these things because of that verse, where he said, 'To do your will, O my God, I desired; that is, there is one will of divinity in me and you, Father.' And because there is one will, there is one substance; as well as inseparable majesty and power of the Trinity. But the voice of the flesh is different, yet she herself consented to the will of God, saying, 'Not what I will, but what you will.' (Mark 14:37). And elsewhere, 'If this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.' (Matthew 26:42). The common feeling is to fear death, which Christ undertook; so that he may crucify, as he was crucified, both sin and flesh; for he struggled for me, to conquer for me. Although the flesh of Christ is strong and not subject to sin; nevertheless, he assumed sins: he assumed weaknesses, although he had nothing to grieve about. Finally, listen to him saying, that he grieves for us (Isaiah 53:4) . . . until he brings forth justice in truth (Isaiah 42:4) . For he did not assume a different flesh, but this one; as the Apostle teaches, saying: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53) . Although He was born of a Virgin and the Holy Spirit, He is nevertheless the Son of man, because the Virgin is a human. And therefore what is born of flesh is flesh: and He who is born of a human is called a human, the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Therefore, He took on this incorruptible flesh so that He could make it incorruptible, and immortal so that He could make it immortal. So if anyone follows Him, they will clothe themselves with immortality. If anyone does His will, they will not die forever; but Christ says to them: 'Today you will be with Me in paradise' (Luke 23:43). What does 'today' mean? It means that you have passed from night to light, you will be with Me in the eternal light. Do not fear the darkness, for you have been embraced by everlasting light. He also beautifully added: 'You will be with me in paradise' (Ibid.); that is, do not doubt the flesh, and you saw me in the flesh: do not be afraid, lest you also fall from paradise, as Adam fell; but hear this: as long as you are with me, you cannot fall. Flesh fell in paradise before it was taken up by Christ. You will be received where he also was received; for he did not lie when he said: 'I want them to be with me where I am' (John 17:24). The shepherd will not depart from his flocks, even though you can no longer fear the wolf in paradise, to whom it was said: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18). Therefore, before the consummation, the adversary is cast down into fire and bound with eternal chains, so that you may no longer fear any ambushes.
And when Adam fell, he was deceived by the serpent, and he was estranged from his wife. Therefore, there will no longer be marriages in paradise, but all will be without the celebration of weddings, like angels in heaven. Adam did not say to himself: You will be with me, because he knew that he would fall in order to be redeemed by Christ. Blessed is the fall that is repaired for the better. Therefore, the righteous shepherd, the good merchant, did not abandon his flock and his own merchandise. Indeed, there will still be a battle with the serpent in paradise with the angels until it is cast down, but whoever is with Christ will not be afraid. Adam was not with Christ, when he was deceived. For if he had been with Christ and had remained in his precept, he certainly could not have perished. He did not remain in Christ, because he did not remain in his word. Finally, hear, who remains in Christ. If you remain, he says, in me and my words remain in you; whatever you desire, you shall ask for, and it shall be done for you (John 15:7). And further: If you keep my commandments, you shall remain in my love (Ibid., 10). You want to know why Adam was not with Christ? The Lord said to him: Adam, where are you (Gen. III, 9)? Surely he wouldn't have said 'where are you' if he knew that Adam remained in himself. But let us hear who made him absent. They hid themselves, he says, both from the face of the Lord (Ibid., 8). Christ sees all, but whoever hides himself, is hidden; because he who is ignorant, is ignored. For the Lord knows those who are his own. He wants all those whom He has founded and created to be His own. I hope, O man, that you do not flee and do not hide yourself from Christ! He even seeks those who flee and does not want those who are hidden to perish, but he cries out saying: Adam, where are you? That is, O man, where are you? I placed you in the light, you sought darkness.
Finally, in paradise, where the day was always morning, it became evening; for all sins are dark. Therefore, you have (Ibid., 8), because they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the evening in paradise. At the same time, understand the mystery. You have erred in the morning; you will be set free in the evening. How can there be evening where Christ is? For although His throne is above the heaven of heavens, yet Christ is in His saints. So how can there be evening where God is, when God is light? Finally, while Saul was on his journey, a light shone forth when Christ appeared to him. Therefore, even though the light of God was shining, the persecutor was blinded. Why then was he blinded, if not because he did not recognize Christ? For if he had recognized the arbiter of light, he would not have lost the light of his eyes. Finally, when he recognized, he received. It is evident that he did not recognize Christ, who, upon hearing the voice saying, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' (Acts 9:4), responded, 'Who are you, Lord?' (Ibid., 5). He would not have asked who it was, if he had known. And so the Lord, as if he did not know, says: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goad. And he said: Lord, what should I do? See the consistency of the teachings on both sides. The doctor threatens in order to correct; he frightens in order to heal: the patient first seeks the person of the doctor, if he may presume that the doctor is capable of healing him; when he has heard the author of the medicine, he asks for the remedy, and finds salvation. Finally, as he approached, he not only expelled his blindness, but also received the light that he had not had, in order to see Christ, whom he had not seen before.
(Vers. 10, 11.) But let us examine the following verses; repeating the same verse, from which the treatise seems to be: Behold, I come to do your will: O God, I desired, and your law is in the midst of my heart. I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly: behold, I will not restrain my lips, Lord, you know. I have not hidden your righteousness in my heart. Therefore, from the previous verse we understand: Behold, I come not only to do your will, but also your law is in the midst of my heart. Others have: In the midst of my belly. For the belly is both physical and mental, which conceives the seeds of sensations; about which Isaiah said: In the womb we receive, and bring forth the spirit of salvation (Isaiah 26:18). This womb also gave birth to Paul, who said: My little children, whom I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you (Galatians 4:19). Therefore, Christ is not formed in a physical womb, but in the womb of the soul. This womb the Apostle begot; as it is written: I have begotten you through the Gospel (1 Corinthians 4:15). Therefore, some people are well off: In the middle of the heart; others: In the middle of the belly; so that you may understand the interior of man's belly, which is considered to be in the middle of the heart: in which we observe the prescriptions of natural law; which is not only kept, but also made in our hearts. Hence it is written, for not only the hearers of the law are righteous in the sight of God; but also the doers of the law shall be justified (Rom. II, 13). There are indeed those who naturally do the things that are of the law; just as the nations that do not hear the law and the law is to themselves, who preserve the known precepts of the law. Therefore, just as Christ has taken on our human nature in this place, He has made Himself the representative of the gathered people, in order to say that He fulfills the law in the midst of His heart. Indeed, He has fulfilled the law of the nations which the people did not hear, so that they may recognize Christ, whom the people of the Jews, who received the law, did not receive and did not consider worthwhile to know. For it is written: 'The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know me.' (Isaiah 1:3). Therefore, the belly of the believers is where the Holy Spirit has worked and is accustomed to filling with spiritual seed; as the Lord Jesus testifies in the Gospel, saying: 'Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water' (John 7:38). These rivers are those rivers of which we read: 'The streams of the river make glad the city of God' (Psalm 46:4). Therefore, it is well said of those from whom these spiritual rivers flow: 'The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice' (Psalm 93:4). The rivers will raise their waves from the voice of the spiritual waters, which praise God above the heavens.
Whoever lifts up his voice, he can say: I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great Church. Why did he add great, except because it was not great before? What is great, except gathered from the parts of the whole world; when from the east and west, north and south, peoples of the nations are called? However, elsewhere we read of the great Church: I will confess to you, O Lord, in the great Church: I will praise you among the heavy people (Psalm 34:18). There, therefore, is a great Church, where the people are serious; that is, not restless and mobile, who sat down to eat and drink, and rose to play. The serious people are those who keep faith with their God and who are not changed by any levity: neither do they waver and fluctuate, but are grounded in charity in Christ; so that they can say: For I am confident that neither death, nor sword, nor tribulation can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. VIII, 35 et seq.).
But whoever proclaims in the Church with great power does not hide the justice of God in his heart; but he exalts his voice, announcing Christ. His heart does not fear preaching him before the people, nor is he ashamed of his cross; but he boasts in the passion of the Lord. He does not follow the letter of the Law, but he reveals the deep mysteries by which he reveals the glory of the Lord Jesus: whom the Law signified was to come to the Church, which is to be gathered. Therefore, faith is justice. Finally, Abraham believed in God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, you have known (Gen. XV, 6). Likewise elsewhere: You have perceived my sitting down and my rising up (Psalm CXXXVIII, 2).
To the Father he says: I have not hidden my justice in my heart; I have spoken your truth and your salvation. This entire psalm is spoken from the perspective of Christ; therefore he says my justice, although no one can arrogantly speak of their own justice, he who believes in God confesses that his faith is considered justice for himself. He loves truth and mercy, he who proclaims true faith and forgives sins. Therefore Christ came, in order to establish faith and grant forgiveness of sins.
(Verse 15.) And because we have said that this whole psalm is from the perspective of the Savior; lest the Apollinarians say: 'Behold, you have prepared a body for me' (Psalm verse 7), but not also a soul; let them hear in the later verses of this psalm, saying: 'Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek after my soul, to destroy it.'
These are the things which we have considered more difficult in this psalm: the rest is straightforward and easy, and we do not think it requires interpretation; when they occur in the Treatise, we will address them more accurately in another psalm in which they seem to be repeated, with the favor of our Lord Jesus: to whom be praise, honor, glory, perpetuity from age to age, now and always, and for all ages of ages. Amen.
On Psalm 41, Commentary
(Verse 1) In a good order, he who said in the previous psalm: Behold, I come (Psalm 39:9); in this, he has already come and suffered. And for this reason, the fortieth psalm is inscribed, because the Lord Jesus fasted for forty days, to complete the number of man who had perished, to perfection. For just as through the desire for forbidden fruit he had lost grace, so through fasting his virtue had to be restored; that he who had perished in Adam might be restored in Christ. Therefore, in conclusion, because He is the end of our hope, we direct our efforts towards Him, we offer our prayers to Him, because He is the fullness, He is the completion of all things, He is the sum of all virtues. Therefore, to Him David; as if to Him alone, who in His flesh alone took upon Himself our sins, who alone, as the Lamb of God, took away the sin of the whole world, who alone abolished the handwriting of the decree through the shedding of His blood, and took it away from our midst, and nailed it to the cross: as if a wise man knowing how to solve the ancient sin of the world: as if redemption, how to renew man from his guilt: as if sanctification, how to sanctify him to grace. Here, therefore, is the title, this is the beginning.
(Verse 2.) Blessed is he who understands the poor and needy. Open your ears, you who begin to understand the mysteries of the Lord's passion. Therefore it is said to you: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:8). Therefore, the Lord touched the ears and lips of the deaf and mute in the Gospel (Mark 7:16), so that he might know what he should hear in mystery, what he should also speak, and when he should speak. For it is not written in vain: The Lord has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary (Isaiah 50:4). Therefore, you should know what you hear, know what you should speak, know also when you should speak.
Listen then to the one saying: Blessed is he who understands the needy and the poor. Truly blessed is he who has compassion on the poor, who supplies their needs, who knows what evils poverty brings to the needy: but what does this introduction signify in the Passion of the Lord? It is indeed true that He suffered for the poor; but nevertheless He Himself rebuked Judas for saying about that ointment which Mary had poured on the feet of Christ: This could have been sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor (Mark 14:5). The other apostles also had the same opinion, but with a different motive: he did it out of greed, they did it out of mercy; for Judas looked out for theft, while the disciples took care of the nourishment of the poor. To all of them he replied: Let her alone, that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you have always with you, but me you do not always have (John 12:7-8).
Therefore, another blessed person must be understood here, who understands the poor. He speaks about faith here, and elsewhere about mercy. Therefore, faith comes first, mercy second. With faith, precious mercy; without faith, naked; without faith, unstable. For faith is the stable foundation of all virtues. Therefore, blessed is the one who understands the poverty and destitution of Christ, who became poor for our sake, even though he was rich: rich in the kingdom, poor in flesh; because he took on this flesh of the poor. For we have become exceedingly poor, having lost the precious garments of virtue through the deceit of the serpent, excluded from paradise, expelled from our homeland, exiled into exile, and even stripped of the covering of the body itself, which previously protected the boundaries of virtues, afterwards revealing our sins. Therefore, if he was needy and poor in flesh, surely he was also needy and poor in the suffering of this flesh. So, he did not suffer in his wealth, but in our poverty. And so, not the fullness of divinity, which dwells bodily in him, as Scripture testifies (Colossians 2:9), but the flesh suffered. Understand this, pursue this, hold onto this, lest it be said to you: He did not want to understand about the beggar and the poor man. For if you doubt here, you certainly cannot doubt in that psalm, which is spoken against the betrayal of Judah in the person of the Savior, in which he says: And he pursued the poor and needy man (Psalm 109:16). Therefore, understand the poverty of Christ, so that you may become rich; understand his weakness, so that you may receive strength; understand his cross, so that you may not be ashamed; understand his wounds, so that you may heal your own wounds; understand his death, so that you may obtain eternal life; understand his burial, so that you may find resurrection.
But perhaps you will say: How can Christ be rich in poverty? Although my intelligence may fail me, divine assistance does not fail in the reading of the Scriptures, for the Apostle says: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that being rich he became poor for your sakes; that through his poverty you might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). So what is this poverty that makes us rich? Let us consider it, let us focus on the sacred Sacrament itself. What can be purer and simpler than that? No one is drenched with the blood of bulls, as the sacrifices of the Gentiles are said to be; no sinner is washed with the blood of goats and rams (for no one is purified in this way; flesh is washed, not guilt diluted), but with water, as Isaiah says (Isaiah 12:3), with joy from the springs of the Savior; and a heavenly table is prepared before you, and what a splendid intoxicating cup it is (Psalm 22:5)! These are the riches of simplicity, in which is the precious poverty of Christ. Poverty is good in character; hence the Lord said: Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3). And in the Psalms we find that the Lord will save the humble in spirit (Psalm 33:19). There is also abundant poverty in humble fellowship, if faith abounds. Hence the Apostle says: And their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their simplicity (2 Cor. 8:2).
But so that we may understand it also from other words of his, because he himself said that he was poor, we have it written elsewhere: I am poor and sorrowful (Ps. LXVIII, 30); that is, because he sorrows for us, as we read (Isaiah LIII, 4), for he had nothing in himself for which to sorrow. Therefore, just as he sorrows for us, as Isaiah interpreted, who saw him in the spirit: he was certainly sorrowful for us; according to which he called his soul sorrowful even unto death, yet not because of death; and he called his flesh weak, which was subject to the weakness of death; so that he might break the sting of death, by which he would free us on the day of judgment, which he rightly called evil, not superficially.
Verse 2: For thus he weaves it: In the day of evil the Lord will deliver him; for what seems bitter, tends to assign punishment to many. For the way of virtue is narrow, the path of sin is wide; therefore fewer walk in virtue, more are involved in wickedness. Hence it happens that the number of those who will receive the rewards of recompense is inferior to those who will endure the heavy burden of punishment for their serious sins. As if grieving, therefore, he spoke of the evil day of judgment. For if angels rejoice at the forgiveness of one sinner, how much more will men be tormented at the condemnation of such great men! And he grieves well for that lost sheep, which he himself carried on his shoulders and brought back to his fold. The Son of God speaks with our affection; for to us the day of judgment is bitter, which we fear. To everyone it appears evil, because it is full of terror: in which God judges not only the outward actions of man, but also the hidden thoughts: in which each person is forced to reveal what he has done, or what he has felt. Therefore, many are condemned, few are crowned. But even those who are crowned will mourn, for the righteous will be crowned: the righteous, however, regards the suffering of their brother as their own. And who am I to judge those by whom a man will be admitted to the councils of angels? Let us listen to the Lord's sentence: He says, 'The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of Man; and those who have done good, will come forth unto the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation' (John 5:28-29). Therefore, those who have done evil will be judged. And for this reason, a day of evil and adversity is called by the judge himself, so that you may know that he himself shows compassion for us in the Gospel, as he has shown compassion for the prophets.
But we can also understand it like this: In a bad day, that is, in an evil time; for the world is situated in evil. And therefore the days of this world are evil, and its malice abounds. It is no small thing to be freed from the snares of the sinner. Whoever is freed from sin here will be freed from punishment there, and will not be able to undergo the severity of judgment.
(Verse 3) And therefore, daily vows and prayers are necessary, as well as the intercession of the high priest, of whom John the Evangelist says: We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2). So our advocate, and the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, prays for those who understand and believe in Christ, saying: May the Lord protect him, and keep him alive, and make him blessed. May He preserve from danger, revive as if placed in the darkness of death, and deign to make blessed by the addition of good works.