30. The diligent farmer is accustomed to dig, plow, and work this vineyard: and having dug out the mounds of earth, used to expose them to the scorching sun and drench them with rain, accustomed to weed the field; lest the gem be harmed by thorns, lest the shadow of leaves cause it to grow too luxuriantly, and lest the boasting of unproductive words overshadow its virtues, hindering the maturity of its natural potential. But far be it from us to fear anything adverse to this vineyard, which the watchful guardian of the Lord of Salvation has fortified with the wall of eternal life against all the lures of worldly wickedness, and has extended its branches even to the sea (Psalm 79:12): for the earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24:1). Everywhere God the Father is worshipped, everywhere Christ the Lord is adored.
31. This is our harvest. Therefore, joyful and secure, let one part load their gentle bosom with the clusters of grapes, let others pour forth heavenly gifts with their mouth, and many, by the steps of good desires, extract the divine fruit of the gift, their barefoot steps having been stripped of sandals, let us dip them in the flowing must; for the place in which we stand is holy ground, and therefore our shoes must be loosed (Exod. III, 5), so that, ascending the spiritual path to the sacred tribunal, we may be freed from earthly attachments; for it is proper that here the harvest of the entire world should take place, since here is the vineyard of the entire world.
32. Behold the acceptable time, when the year is not frozen by the treacherous frost of winter, nor is the crust of blasphemy formed by the shapeless clouds of the sky, but, freed from the storms of sacrilege, the earth now brings forth new fruits. Truly it brings forth; for the storm of all dissensions has calmed, and all the heat of secular desire, and all the waves by which the people of Italy were formerly burned with the fires of Jewish and Arian cruelty, are now tempered by a calm breath. The storm has subsided, harmony navigates, faith breathes: eagerly the sailors seek those of faith whom the ports have left behind, and affix sweet kisses on their native shores, rejoicing in being freed from dangers, absolved from errors.
33. Hello, vineyard worthy of such a keeper: you were consecrated not by the blood of one Naboth but by the precious blood of the Lord, who also consecrated countless prophets. Although he, not frightened by royal threats, was pressed down by fear, and not enticed by abundant rewards, sold his religious affection; yet he resisted the desire of the king, so that in his vineyard no vegetable, cut vine, would be sowed, when he could not do anything else, he extinguished the prepared fires with his own blood; he defended the temporal vineyard; but you, in perpetuity, have been planted among us as the destruction of many martyrs: the cross, rival of the passion of the Apostles, has spread to the ends of the whole world.
(Vers. 24.)
(Verse 24) Whose image and inscription does it have?
In this place, the Lord teaches us that we should be careful in responding to heretics or Jews. He said elsewhere: 'Be as shrewd as snakes' (Matthew 10:16). Many understand this passage to mean that, just as the cross of Christ was proclaimed by a hanging serpent, in order to abolish the spiritual venom of evil, one should be shrewd like Christ and simple like the Spirit. Behold, here is the serpent who always guards his head, excluding the deadly wound. When asked by the Jews whether he received his authority from heaven, he replied: 'Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?' (Luke 20:4) In order to prevent them from denying that it was from heaven, which would prove their foolishness in denying its author to be from heaven. When asked for a denarius, he inquires about the image; for there is one image of God and another image of the world. (Matthew 22:20) Therefore, he also admonishes us: 'Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.' (1 Corinthians 15:49)
35. Christ does not have the image of Caesar, because he is the image of God. Peter does not have the image of Caesar, because he said: We have left everything and followed you (Matthew 19:27). The image of Caesar is not found in James or John, because they are sons of thunder (Mark 3:17): but it is found in the sea, where those dragons with crushed heads are over the water, and the great dragon himself with his head crushed is given as food to the people of Ethiopia (Psalm 74:14). Therefore, if he did not have the image of Caesar, why did he pay tribute? He did not pay from his own, but he paid the world what belonged to the world. And if you wish not to be subject to Caesar, do not possess the things of the world. But if you have wealth, you are subject to Caesar. If you wish to owe nothing to the earthly king, leave behind all your possessions and follow Christ.
36. (Verse 25.) And he rightly determines that what belongs to Caesar should be rendered to Caesar: for no one can be the Lord's unless he has renounced the world first. But we all renounce with words, but not all renounce with affection; for when we receive the sacraments, we renounce. How serious it is to promise God binding bonds and not to fulfill them! It is better, he says, not to vow than to vow and not to render (Ecclesiastes 5:4). The contract of faith is greater than that of money. Give the promise, while you are in this body, before the collector comes, and sends you to prison. Truly I say to you, you will not get out of there until you pay the last penny (Matthew 5:26).
(Vers. 28.)
(Verse 28) If someone's brother shall have died.
37. The Sadducees, that is, the more detestable portion of the Jews, in this place test the Lord: whose open stupidity is reproached, but their mystical meaning is twisted back; because they excluded from themselves the example of chastity, since a woman is compelled to marry according to the letter and unwillingly, in order to raise up offspring for the deceased brother (Deut. XXV, 5). Therefore, the letter kills as a pander of vices: but the spirit is the teacher of chastity (II Cor. III, 6).
Therefore, let us see if this woman is the Synagogue, who had seven husbands, as it is said of the Samaritan woman: For you have had five husbands (John 4:18); for the Samaritans only follow the five books of Moses. The Synagogue, however, primarily follows the seven, and because of its unbelief, it has not received the hereditary posterity of the seed. And for this reason, she will not be able to have a part with her husbands in the resurrection, because she turns the spiritual precept according to the sense of the flesh (Revelation 20:6). For no bodily brother has been called to raise the seed of the deceased brother; but rather, he who, after the death of the Jewish people, took upon himself the wisdom of divine worship and raised seed from it among the apostles. These, like the shapeless remains of the deceased Jews left behind in the womb of the Synagogue, deserved to be preserved according to the election of grace, through the admixture of the new seed.
However, the synagogue often receives a stole, which is a symbol of marriage, as if it were the authority of believers: but it is often rejected, because it is the mother of faithless people: to whom the Law kills physically so that they may spiritually rise. Therefore, the holy people of God, if they have loved the five books of the Law with a certain love of marriage and have obeyed its marital commands, will have heavenly communion in the resurrection, not confused by the shame of bodily impurities, but enriched by the gifts of divine grace.
Book Ten
(Verse 42) The Lord said to my Lord.
The Lord, about to fulfill his precepts, also concludes faith and mercy, which prepare the way for his passion, at the end of his Testament: faith, in that we believe in Christ as our Lord and God, and that he sits at the right hand of God, not that he physically sits, but because he is everywhere. Finally, he is in the Father; because he is in the substance of God, one power, one majesty. He himself, therefore, is in the Father, and the Father is in him; because the Word is in God, and God is in the Word: he himself is in the Father, because he is the Word; he himself is at the right hand of the Father, because he is a partner to the Father, second to none: he himself is sent by the Father, because he descends from heaven to fulfill the Father's will. Take away from here the questions of treachery, and fullness is found in religion. It is not preferred, because it sits at the right hand: nor does it suffer injury, because it is sent. The degree of dignity is not sought, where there is fullness of divinity.
2. (Verse 44.) It is also worth considering that he reproaches those who say that Christ is the son of David. And how did that blind man, by confessing David's son, deserve healing? (Luke 18:43) How did the children, saying 'Hosanna to the son of David' (Matthew 21:9), give glory of sublime preaching to God? But they are not reproached in this place because they confess David's son, but because they do not believe in the Son of God. For it is not one thing, but the other that is true in the true faith: for although at first we judged that we knew nothing but Christ Jesus, and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2): now, however, as if by the judgment of our neighbor, we no longer know Christ who is crucified, but we are covered by him who is coming in the clouds. Incredulus vulnera -citit asp fidelis obviam Christo in aera raptus occurrit.
Therefore, let us believe that Christ is both God and man: not one or the other, but both. The enemies are subjected to Him by the Father, not by the weakness of His power, but by the unity of His nature; for in one He works, and in the other, the other works. For the Son also subjects the enemies to the Father, who glorifies the Father above the earth (John 17:4). And the Father gave the Son a Name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9-10). But the Son also says to the Father: I have manifested Your Name to men, which You gave Me (John 17:6). But giving the name that is above every name, he did not give more than he had; but he gave all that he had. And he gave this name, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philip. II, 11).
Therefore, consider each thing separately. The Father submits to the Son, the Son submits to the Father. The Father raises the Son, and the Son raises himself. Hence he says: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' (John 2:19). And the Father is Lord, and the Son is Lord. The Lord said to my Lord. And not two Lords, but one Lord; because both the Father is God, and the Son is God: but one God; because the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. One God, because one divinity: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God, your God, has anointed you (Psalm 45:7-8). But there is only one God, in whom the teaching of both the Old and New Testaments agrees. For it is also written in the Old Testament: You shall love the Lord your God, and you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone (Deuteronomy 6:5, 13). In the New Testament: There is one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:6). Thus, both the Father is Lord and the Son is Lord, but there is only one Lord. Finally it is written: 'You should not serve two masters' (Matt. VI, 24); this is in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it is written: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one' (Deut. VI, 4). Therefore, the Apostle admirably, so as not to speak of two Gods or name two Lords or derogate from the Son or the Father, says: 'There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus, through whom are all things' (I Cor. VIII, 6). For he who is God is also Lord, and he who is Lord is God. Finally it is written: Know that the Lord himself is our God (Psalm 99:3).
5. Therefore, all that the Father has, the Son also has. God the Father according to the nature of generation: God the Son according to the unity of image. The Son is Lord, because He could subject all things to Himself by power; the Father is Lord, because He is the root of the Son. Thus, the Father is distinguished from us in the definition of persons in the Son, and is connected by the unity of power. Therefore, each is in the other, and one in the other. For the glory of the Father is in the Son, if it has not degenerated; and the grace of the Son, if the Father is seen in the Son. Therefore, he is not degenerate, in whom the highest majesty of unity is; not alien, in whom the property of generation is, the expression of truth.
(Chap. XXI. Vers. 6.)
Not one stone will be left upon another that will not be thrown down.
6. The place of the widows follows (Verse 1 and following), which since we have already preached about in the book we wrote about widows (Book of Widows), we now separate. But it is true according to what was said about the temple that Solomon built, and it should be destroyed at the time of judgment, for there is nothing made by work and hand that old age does not wear out, force does not overthrow, or fire does not burn. However, there is another temple built of beautiful stones, and adorned with gifts, which the Lord seems to indicate the destruction of. The synagogue, namely of the Jews, whose structure is old, dissolves with the rising Church. There is also a temple in each person, which crumbles with the failing faith; especially if someone falsely claims the name of Christ, in order to attack the inner disposition.
7. There can also be an interpretation that benefits me more. For what benefit is it to me to know the day of judgment? What benefit is it to me to be aware of such great sins, if the Lord comes, unless he comes into my soul, returns to my mind, unless Christ lives in me, unless Christ speaks within me? Therefore, Christ must come to me, his coming must happen for me. And the Lord's second coming takes place in the defection of the world, when we can say: But as for me, the world is crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).