In the midst of the debate, we have come to a deadlock, stuck in a whirlpool of truth. Let us then turn to Christ, let us ask Him, let Him answer. Let us consult the Scriptures. We find that the kingdom of the Lord is not of this world, for He Himself said, 'My kingdom is not of this world' (John 18:36). He who says that His kingdom is not of this world shows that it is above the world. Thus His kingdom both was and was not: it was not in this age, it was above the age. Therefore, there was another true kingdom of David, which only Christ received; and there was another seed of David, which abides forever, from which Christ alone was born, who alone is the true son of David, whose name alone he also received, as it is written: 'I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him.' (Psalm 88:21). Certainly, these things are said not about the prophet David, but about the Lord; for it is written: 'I have found help upon a mighty one, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.' (Ibid., 20). For only Christ is powerful, only Christ is chosen. For the seed of the saints is greater in faith than in generation. And therefore the Apostle says: For if those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7).
45. Moreover, we believe that it should not be overlooked that from the time of David until Jechoniah, that is, until the captivity, when there were seventeen kings of Judah, holy Matthew records fourteen generations; and again from Jechoniah until Joseph, when there are separately counted twelve generations, he mentions that fourteen generations have been described. For this is how it goes: All the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations (Matt. 1:17). And first it is necessary to know, as we have already said, that there can be multiple successions and fewer generations. For some can live longer and generate later, or certainly not exist at all for generations. Therefore, the times of generations are not the same as the times of kings. Hence, Matthew passed over those whom he did not consider to belong to the generation. For if it were his intention to describe successions, we could reasonably ask why, when it is consistent with the books of Kings and Chronicles, he states that after Joram, Ochozias reigned, and Jodam, and Amasias, but Amasias was succeeded by Ozias. Saint Matthew skipped over those three kings, Ochozias, Jodam, and Amasias, and added Josaphat after Joram. (2 Kings 8:22 and onwards; 2 Chronicles 22:1 and onwards). But, he did not subject him in the succession of kings, but in the generation. Finally, he mentioned that he was the recorder of the generations: it could have happened that Joram fathered children later, and Josaphat took the kingdom later; and thus Joram succeeded his father, whom he did not succeed in power, in the generation.
46. And indeed, if you carefully observe, the Evangelist seems to have counted twelve generations after Jechoniah, and here too you will be able to find a reason for fourteen generations. You will be able to find a reason for twelve generations. For twelve are counted up to Joseph, not up to Christ. The thirteenth is Christ. But it does not matter whether the lie is in two generations or in one. Yet, even here, you will not find any blind cliff or shipwreck of truth. The history indicates that there were two Joachims, that is, two Jehoiachins: one before the exile, and the other generated during the exile, that is, the father and the son. Therefore, the father is counted among the earlier generations, who succeeded Josiah; the son among the later generations, who succeeded his father, that is, the grandson of Josiah. The books of the Kings also indicate that there were two kingdoms. For it is written: 'And Pharaoh commanded over Israel, with Joachim the son of Josiah reigning in Judah in place of his father Josiah; and he changed the name Joachim when he began to reign, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem' (2 Kings 23:34-36). To whom Joachim subjected: And the rest of the words of Joachim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of words, and in the days of those who reigned in Judah? And Joachim slept with his fathers; and Joachim his son reigned in his stead . . . . Joachim was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Mesola . . . . . And all that he did was done before the Lord's eyes, and he did it: and in his days Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came up into Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:5 et seq.). Therefore, you see that there was another son of Josiah, another grandson: that son to whom Jeremiah gave the name, and this grandson who was called by his father's name. And the holy Matthew wanted to differ from the Prophets, so that he would not call him Joachim, but Jechoniah. At the same time, as we have said above, he showed a greater fruit of divine piety, if the Lord did not seek nobility of lineage in all: but he wanted to be born fittingly from captives and sinners, who came to preach forgiveness to captives. Therefore, one Gospel writer did not omit the other, but both were indicated; each of them being called Jechonias. Thus, by adding the younger Jechonias, fourteen generations are counted. Therefore, that is what Matthew said.
However, Luke, because he could not comprehend all the sons of Jacob, so as not to appear to stray beyond the generations with an unnecessary series; although he deemed that the names of the patriarchs should not be passed over in other cases, that is, the far posterior ones, but should be chosen above the rest, Joseph, Judah, Simeon, and Levi (Luke 3:30). For we know that there were four generations of virtues in those of whom these men are descendants. In Judah, that is, in the upper one, it was prophesied through the figure of Judah that the mystery of the passion would take place on the Lord's Day (Gen. XLIX, 11): in Joseph, the example of chastity preceding (Gen. XXXIX, 7): in Simeon, the avenging of an affronted honor (Gen. XXXIV, 25): in Levi, the office of the priest (Num. III, 6). We also see the dignity of prophecy expressed through Nathan (II Sam. XII, 1), so that because Christ Jesus is one who encompasses everything, he would precede in each of the greater ranks of virtues with various differences.
48. The commemoration of Noah, a righteous man, should also not be omitted among the generations of the Lord's Day; so that since he was born as the builder of the Church, he may seem to have preceded the author of his own generation, who had established it beforehand in a type (Gen. VI, 14). For what shall I say about Methuselah, whose years are counted beyond the flood (Gen. V, 27); so that since Christ alone is he, whose life did not experience any age, he would also seem not to have experienced the floods in his forebears. But is not Enoch a clear indication of the Lord's mercy and divinity; for he did not experience death, and he returned to heaven, of which kind the author was taken up to heaven? Therefore it is evident that Christ could have chosen not to die, but He did not want to, so that His death would benefit us. And indeed, Enoch was taken up so that wickedness would not change his heart; but the Lord, whom the wickedness of the world could not change, returned to the majesty of His own nature from where He had come. Indeed, the murderer of his brother is silent; for it was not reasonable that he who had killed his brother should be counted among the authors of the Lord, since this one had saved slaves in order to honor them with the name of brother: he did not save them, nor did he spare his brother. But neither is it without purpose that Seth was not passed over, whom Adam conceived in the later generation; so that when there are two generations of people, the Lord Jesus Christ might be marked as being counted in the later generation rather than the earlier one.
49. Now since Adam himself, according to the Apostle's teaching (Rom. V. 14), received a foreshadowing of Christ, what could be more fitting than that the most holy generation should begin with the Son of God and proceed to the Son of God: the created preceding in figure, so that the begotten might follow in truth: made in the image going before, for whom the image of God would descend? And if we examine the mystery of the first error, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, with the devil deceiving and Eve persuading, he tasted it; so that he, before knowing evil, might choose good, and, following the advice of the Church, might reject the treachery of the serpent, according to what is written: "For before the child knows how to choose the good or the evil, he will not believe in evil in order to choose what is good. And, before he knows how to call his father or mother, he will receive the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria (Isaiah 8:4). For this is the child whose cradle the Magi brought back with eastern spoils (Matthew 2:11); because the unbelieving nation, before Christ, offered triumphal gifts to the Lord, already having changed their faith from the idols' spoils.
50. Brother, I thought I should explain these things to you more extensively about the birth of Christ, so that no one, reading the Gospel with less attentive mind, would be in any way confused. The holy evangelists, in their haste to move on to greater miracles and more divine deeds of the Lord, thought it necessary to touch on these things briefly rather than expanding on them extensively. Following their example of those who think it sufficient to point out certain familiar routes and paths to those who are unaware, by gathering the paths of the spiritual journey, I will see whether we strive towards the secrets of the mysteries with a second outcome of truth and certainly a religious guidance of faith: fearing that, when someone reads these things, they would handle things that are difficult for a child, as the saying goes, not knowing how to wield strong weapons in their infancy, and that they would feel more injury from ignorance than salvation from reading. For their weapons harm the weak, and one who does not know how to wield them cannot use them well. And therefore, a perfect man is required for faith, in whom infancy does not crawl on the ground of knowledge, nor does a certain weakness stumble in the age lacking senses of mystical understanding, which, having lost the strength of youth, does not seek the crown of glorious struggle, and like an aging eagle, which had been accustomed to snatch rabbits or geese with its feet, now seeks the featherless offspring of smaller birds, who are unable to provide a more substantial food.
Book Four
Certainly, I think that we have not made an absurd work concerning the generation of the Lord: certainly, it was not fruitless to dwell on the ancestors of the Lord for a longer time. For if those who prepare to cross the great sea by coastal navigation, seeking a shorter path, frequently visit the fields and cities located on the shore, avoiding the weakness of trust, how much more ought we, in such a deep longing for not the elements, but the celestial events, to choose the closer harbors and to frequently love excursions! No one, tired of long navigation, can endure the vomit of disgust. Certainly if anyone has seen the dangers of a treacherous boat, like a frequent port of books, it is allowed to take off the sails of the ears and set the anchor of reading. It does not seem to have abandoned the ship, but to have completed the journey, which descends into the port.
And in many places, the very beauty of the location may invite passers-by. For if that Ulysses, as the stories go (although the Prophet also said, 'The daughters of the Sirens shall dwell there' - Isaiah 13:21 - even if the prophet had not said it, no one would rightly criticize; since both the giants and the valley of the Titans are mentioned in Scripture), if therefore they were able to hold back Ulysses himself, after ten years of exile and ten years of wandering, hastening to his homeland, with the sweetness of the lotus fruit; if the gardens of Alcinous delayed him; if finally the Sirens, with the allure of their singing voice, had almost led him to that famous shipwreck of pleasure, were it not for the wax inserted to close the ears of his companions against the alluring sound of their song, how much more will religious men be delighted by the admiration of celestial works! And here, now, not the sweetness of berries is to be tasted, but that bread which descended from heaven: not the gardens of Alcinous are to be observed, but the sacraments of Christ. For he who is weak, let him eat vegetables (Rom. XIV, 2). Therefore, the ears are not to be closed, but to be opened: so that the voice of Christ can be heard, which whoever receives, will not fear shipwreck. Not to be bound, like Ulysses, with physical chains to a tree, but the soul must be bound to the wood of the cross with spiritual bonds; lest it be moved by the allurements of excess and turn the course of nature into the danger of pleasure.
For in poetic fictions a story is colored; for example, some girls are said to have lived on a rocky shore of the sea: if they had diverted any ships due to the sweetness of their voices, they would have been led into hidden shallows and deceived by an untrustworthy landing, and would have met a miserable fate of shipwreck. This composition is painted with a certain appearance and an ambitious comparison; so that the sea, the voice, the women, and the shallow shores are imagined. But why is the sea more treacherous than the age, so untrustworthy, so changeable, so deep, so tempestuous with the blasts of unclean spirits? What does the figure of girls mean, if not the allure of emasculated pleasure, which weakens the steadfastness of a captivated mind? And what are those reefs, if not the cliffs of our salvation? For nothing is as blind as the danger of worldly sweetness: while it soothes the soul, it overwhelms life and strikes the sense of the mind against certain bodily reefs.
4. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ, by His fasting and solitude in the face of the allurements of pleasure, and by allowing Himself to be tempted by the devil, truly teaches us all to overcome. Let us therefore take note that the Evangelist, guided by the Lord, has described three things that are not without purpose. These three things are of great benefit to human salvation: sacrament, solitude, and fasting. For no one is crowned unless they have fought lawfully (2 Timothy 2:5), and no one is admitted to the contest of virtue unless they have first been cleansed of all the stains of sins and consecrated by the gift of heavenly grace.
5. Therefore the Lord came to the bath, so that by the grace of the mystery he might be proven to us both by sight and by feeling. And since the Law is proclaimed by witnesses in heaven and on earth, so that you might believe that the hidden mystery of divinity is more to be believed in God than the Law: now heaven is not called as a witness, but it serves as a witness when the voice of God is carried from heaven. At the same time, lest you stumble upon the mystery of faith with a doubtful mind, the invisible things are visibly shown to you working.
6. The Lord came to the bath; for everything has been done for you. To those who were under the Law, he seemed as if subject to the Law, though he himself was not under the Law, he was circumcised; so that he might profit those who were under the Law: he associated with those who were without the Law in common fellowship; so that he might gain those who were living without the Law. He became weak for the weak through the suffering of his body; so that he might profit the weak. In the end, he became all things to all people, poor to the poor, rich to the rich, weeping to those who weep, hungry to those who hunger, thirsty to those who thirst, overflowing to those who abound. He is in prison with the poor, he weeps with Mary, he feasts with the apostles, he thirsts with the Samaritan woman: he is hungry in the desert; so that the food of the first man, which he tasted by his transgression, might be satisfied by the fasting of the Lord. Adam, in our danger, broke the hunger for the knowledge of good and evil; this one took on hunger for our benefit.
(Chap. IV. — Vers. 1.)
(Chapter 4, Verse 1) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
7. It is fitting to recall how Adam, the first man, was expelled from paradise into the desert (Gen. III, 24), in order to observe how the second Adam returned from the desert to paradise. For you should see how through his knots the prejudices are dissolved, and through his divine benefits they are reformed. From the virgin earth Adam (Gen. II, 7), Christ from the virgin: the former made in the image of God (Gen. I, 27), the latter the image of God: the former placed above all irrational animals (Ibid., 28), the latter preceded by all living creatures. Through a woman came folly, through a virgin came wisdom. Death came through a tree, life through a cross. He who was naked of spiritual things covered himself with the leaves of trees; he who was naked of worldly things did not desire the clothing of the body. Adam was in the desert, Christ was in the desert; for he knew where he could find the condemned one, whom he would recall from error to paradise. But since he, clothed in worldly garments, could not return, neither can he be an inhabitant of paradise unless he is naked of guilt; he put off the old man, he put on the new; so that, since divine decrees cannot be revoked, the person rather than the sentence might be changed.
But he who lost his way in Paradise without a guide, just as he could repeat a lost journey from the desert without a guide, where there are many temptations, difficult effort towards virtue, and easy fall into error: since the nature of virtue is the same as that of the woods; just as if they still rise up from earthly things to heavenly things, while their tender age grows with leaves, they can easily be cut down or burned by a cruel venomous creature; but if they have deeply rooted themselves and have been lifted up by the height of their branches, a strong tree is in vain tried by the bites of wild beasts, or by the arms of peasants, or by the blasts of different winds.
9. Therefore, who would oppose the leader against so many allurements of the world, against so many cunning devices of the devil; when he knew that for us there is first a struggle against flesh and blood, then against powers, against rulers of this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in high places? Would he oppose an angel? But even he fell, and legions of angels could scarcely help each individual. Would he direct a seraph? But even he descended to the earth in the midst of a people with impure lips, and with only one prophet's lips, touched with a coal, he was cleansed (Isaiah 6:6-7). Another leader had to be sought, whom we would all follow. Who could be such a leader, who would benefit everyone, except the one who is above all? Who would establish me above the world, except the one who is greater than the world? Who could be such a leader, who could rule male and female, Jew and Greek, Barbarian and Scythian, slave and free with one command; except the one who is everything and in all things, Christ alone?
10. For in every direction we are ensnared. There are snares in the body, snares in the Law, snares in the wings of the temples, snares in the corners of the walls stretched out by the devil. There are snares in the philosophers, snares in desires; for the eye of a harlot is a snare for the sinner: there are snares in money, snares in religion, snares in the pursuit of chastity. For in brief moments the human mind is inclined, and it is frequently impelled here and there by the cunning persuader. The devil sees a religious man, venerating God respectfully, and valuing what is sacred, incapable of any injury. In religion itself, he undermines him, making him not believe that the Son of God truly took on our flesh, this body of ours, this fragility of our members; even though there was certainly passion of the body, his divinity remained immune to injury. Thus, fault is made concerning religion; indeed, anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not of God (2 John 7). He sees a man of intact and untarnished chastity, and urges that he condemns marriage; so that he may be expelled from the Church, and separated from the chaste body by the pursuit of chastity. Another hears that there is One God . . . . . from whom are all things, whom he adores and venerates (1 Cor. 8:6). The devil plots against him, closing his ears so that he may not hear that there is One God through whom are all things (ibid.): thus, excessive piety compels him to be impious; while he separates the Father from the Son, he confuses the Father and the Son, and thinks that one person is, not authority. Therefore, while he does not know the measure of faith, he incurs the torment of infidelity.
11. How then will we avoid these snares, so that we can say: 'Our soul was like a bird delivered from the snare of the hunters: the snare has been broken, and we have been set free' (Psalm 123:7)? David does not say: 'I broke the snare'; David did not dare to say this, but rather: 'Our help is in the name of the Lord' (ibid., 8), to show from where the snare would be broken, to prophesy that the one who would come into this life would break the snare prepared by the devil in deceit.
12. But the noose could not have been better used, unless it had shown some prey to the devil; so that while he hastens to the prey, he himself would be caught in his own snares, and I could say: They prepared snares for my feet, and they themselves fell into them (Psalm 56:7). What could the prey be, if not the body? Therefore, it was necessary for this deceit to be done by the devil, so that the Lord Jesus would take on a body, and this corruptible body, a weak body; so that He would be crucified out of weakness. For if it were a spiritual body, He would not have said: 'The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak' (Matthew 26:41). Therefore, hear both voices: the willing spirit and the weak flesh. 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me' (Ibid., 39): this is the voice of the flesh. But not what I want, but what you want: you have the devotion of the spirit and the strength. Why do you reject the grace of the Lord? It is by His grace that He has taken on my body, it is by His grace that He has endured my injuries and weaknesses, which the nature of God certainly could not feel, since even the nature of man has learned to despise or endure them. And therefore let us follow Christ, as it is written: After the Lord your God shall you walk, and to Him alone shall you cleave (Deut. X, 20, and XIII, 4). Whom shall I cleave to, if not to Christ, as Paul said: He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit (I Cor. VI, 17)? Therefore, let us follow His footsteps, so that we may return from the desert to paradise.
13. And see by which routes we shall be brought back. Now in the desert Christ is, he acts as a man, he instructs, informs, exercises, anoints with spiritual oil: where he sees one more robust, he leads through cultivated and fruitful fields, when the Jews complained (Matthew XII, 2) that his disciples plucked ears of corn on the Sabbath day (for he had already placed his apostles in a cultivated and fruitful field); afterwards he established them in paradise at the time of his passion; for you have it this way: When Jesus had spoken these things, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into which he entered, he and his disciples (John XVIII, 1). For the fertile field teaches that a garden is better, as the Prophet says in the Song of Songs: My sister, my bride, is a enclosed garden, a enclosed garden, a sealed fountain, your shoots are a paradise (Song of Songs 4:12-13). For it is the pure and immaculate virginity of the soul, which is not led astray by any terror of punishment, nor by any siren calls of worldly pleasure, nor by any love of life. Finally, the Evangelist testifies that man is called back by the power of the Lord, above all others, who alone quotes the Lord saying to the thief: Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43).
14. Therefore, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led into the desert: by plan, in order to provoke the devil; for unless he had fought, that one would not have conquered me: by mystery, in order to free Adam from exile; by example, in order to show us that the devil envies those who strive for better things; and then it is all the more necessary to be cautious, lest the weakness of the mind forsake the grace of the mystery.
(Vers. 2.)