Third, with respect to sweetness: 1 John 2: "The world passes away and its concupiscence"; Proverbs 5: "The lips of a harlot are a dripping honeycomb."
Therefore whoever clings to these transitory things makes a threefold passage. The first is from fault to fault: Wisdom 2: "Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither; let there be no meadow that our luxury does not pass through" etc. The second is from fault to punishment: Wisdom 2: "Our time is the passing of a shadow"; and Job 7: "My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver." The third is from punishment to punishment: Job 24: "They shall pass from the waters of snow to excessive heat."
But whoever passes from transitory things makes a threefold passage. The first is from fault to repentance; and concerning this, Acts 12: "Passing through the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate"; and this was prefigured in the crossing of the Red Sea, Exodus 14. The second is from repentance to wisdom: Ecclesiasticus 24: "Come over to me, all you who desire me, and be filled from my generations"; and this is prefigured in the passage through the desert, in which the children of Israel tasted manna, Exodus 16. The third is from wisdom to eternal life: Psalm: "We have passed through fire and water" etc.; and John 13: "Knowing that his hour had come" etc.; and this is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan, by which they entered the promised land: Joshua 4: "The people made haste to cross; and when all had crossed, the ark of God also crossed." — Whoever makes this threefold passage, he alone is a Hebrew and celebrates the true Passover; because Passover is nothing other than a passing over.
55. (Verse 34). But take heed to yourselves etc. After he instructed the disciples toward foresight and raised them to confidence, here thirdly he arouses them to vigilance: which indeed he does in four ways, namely by dissuading from the contrary, by intimating the danger, by persuading toward the purpose, and by introducing an example.
First therefore, as regards the dissuasion from the opposite of vigilance, he says: But take heed to yourselves, through vigilance, lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down, through drowsiness: Wisdom nine: "The body that is corrupted weighs down the soul": in surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, through excess in gluttony; Sirach thirty-seven: "Because of surfeiting many have perished, but he who is abstinent shall prolong life." Moreover, this kind of excess renders us unfit for keeping watch concerning the study of truth: Proverbs twenty: "Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness is tumultuous. Whoever delights in these will not be wise"; and therefore Ecclesiastes two: "I thought to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might transfer my soul," etc. Likewise, concerning the exercise of virtue: Romans thirteen: "Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in revelries and drunkenness," etc.; and Philippians three: "Many walk, of whom I have often told you: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame"; and Romans sixteen: "Such men do not serve Christ, but their own belly." Likewise, concerning the height of contemplation: Ephesians five: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves," etc.; Hebrews thirteen: "It is best to establish the heart with grace, not with foods"; because, Romans fourteen, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace," etc.
56. Second, as regards the intimation of danger, he adds: And that day come upon you suddenly, on account of an unforeseen occurrence. For that which is not foreseen happens suddenly; Isaiah thirty: "Suddenly, when it is not expected, its destruction shall come." For that day of judgment comes suddenly upon those who have not prepared themselves against it: above, chapter twelve: "If that servant shall say: My lord delays his coming, and shall begin to eat and drink and be drunk: the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know: and shall cut him asunder and shall appoint his portion with the unfaithful."
57. (Vers. 35.). And with regard to such people he adds: For as a snare it will come upon all who sit upon the face of the whole earth, that is, upon all who are devoted to earthly things. Whence Jeremiah forty-eight: "Fear and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab," by whom indeed the carnal are understood, who sit upon the earth, concerning whom in the Psalm: "For our soul has been humbled in the dust, our belly has been glued to the earth"; Ezekiel twenty-six: "They will sit upon the ground, and, astonished at your sudden fall, they will marvel." Concerning this, moreover, the Lord set forth above in the seventeenth chapter a twofold example, namely concerning the days of Noah and the days of Lot: because the first perished by flood, the second by fire. And concerning such people, Job twenty-one: "Their houses are secure and peaceful." "They take up the timbrel and the harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ; they spend their days in good things, and in a moment they descend to hell."
58. (Vers. 36.). Third, with regard to the persuasion of the resolution, he subjoins: Watch therefore, praying at all times. It should be noted, moreover, that he joins together watchfulness and prayer. For one must watch against the external enemy, namely the devil; First Peter, the last chapter: "Be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil," etc.; and against the domestic enemy, namely the flesh: and therefore Sirach thirty-one: "The vigil of honesty will waste away the flesh." One must watch for the progress of virtue; Second Corinthians six: "In all things let us exhibit ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, in many vigils," etc.
One must watch through the desire of contemplation: Song of Songs five: "I sleep, and my heart watches"; and Isaiah twenty-six: "My soul has desired you in the night," etc. And since we can neither overcome enemies nor advance in good nor possess heavenly consolations except through the gift of divine grace, therefore one must pray: and for this reason Matthew twenty-six: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation"; and Sirach thirty-nine: "The just man will give his heart to watching at daybreak," etc.
Because therefore it is necessary to watch on account of the avoidance of evil, he therefore adds: That you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-four: "But pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath." And the Prophet prayed for this in the Psalm: "Lord, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplication," etc. — It is necessary to watch also on account of the attainment of good, and therefore he adds: And to stand before the Son of Man: the Gloss says: "This is the summit of blessedness, to stand secure in the presence of the Judge"; Job twenty-three: "Who will grant me that I might know and find him and come even to his throne"? And therefore Revelation seven: "These are they who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple." And for this one must always pray; whence in the Psalm: "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain: when shall I come and appear before the face of God"!
59. (Verse 37.). Fourth, as regards the introduction of example, there is subjoined: And during the days he was teaching in the temple, as one watching with regard to the exercise of the active life, so that he might give an example for the exercise of perfect action, according to that passage of Second Timothy four: "Preach the word, be urgent in season, out of season," etc.; and again in the same place: "But you, be watchful, labor in all things," etc.
But going out at night, he stayed on the mount that is called Olivet, as one watching with regard to the repose of the contemplative life, according to that passage of Lamentations two: "Arise in the night, at the beginning of the watches, pour out your heart like water." And from these two he gave an example of perfect watchfulness in the active and contemplative life to all prelates, according to that passage of Song of Songs three: "Behold, sixty valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel surround the bed of Solomon, all holding swords and most skilled in war"; and Isaiah twenty-one: "Upon the watchtower of the Lord I stand, standing continually by day, and at my post I stand throughout all the nights."
60. (Verse 38.). And because such a prelate and teacher is gladly heard, he therefore adds: And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him, as one watching unto learning, according to that passage of Proverbs eight: "They who watch for me early in the morning shall find me." Now maniare is the same as to hasten in the morning, because one must rise early for the study of wisdom: Isaiah fifty: "He wakens my ear in the morning, that I may hear him as a master"; and Proverbs eight: "Blessed is the man who hears me and who watches daily at my gates and waits at the posts of my doors. He who finds me shall find life and shall draw forth salvation from the Lord."