59. Moreover, wakefulness is most especially necessary for contemplation, because grace once offered is most swiftly withdrawn: whence Song of Songs five: "I opened the bolt to my beloved, but he had turned aside and passed on."
In this awakening, however, the divine majesty is seen in creatures, according to that passage of Wisdom thirteen: "From the greatness of the beauty and of the creature," etc.; whence Isaiah six: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a high throne, and full," etc.
The divine humility is seen in the Scriptures: on account of which he says: And two men, that is, the Law and the Prophets, concerning which vision, below in the last chapter: "He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures"; and again: "Beginning from Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all things," etc.
On account of these two modes of contemplating, a twofold book was made: of Scripture and of creation, which are signified in the ascent and descent by the ladder of Jacob, Genesis twenty-eight; by the going out and coming in through the door, John ten; by the eagle and its young: Job thirty-nine: "Shall the eagle be raised up at your command?" and after: "Its young ones lick up blood."
60. (Verse 33.). And it came to pass, as they were departing. After the beginning of contemplation, he adds the progress of contemplation: in which two things are most especially required, namely surpassing joy over the gift bestowed and surpassing desire for its continuation, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus twenty-four: "My spirit is sweeter than honey." "They who eat me shall yet hunger, and they who drink me shall yet thirst." For through these two things the soul is fixed in the act of contemplation, just as one eating is fixed upon food through delight and desire at once.
First therefore, as regards the joy over the gift bestowed, he says: And it came to pass, as they were departing from him, that is, as they wished to depart: Peter said to Jesus: Master, it is good for us to be here; in which Peter shows that the glory of contemplation was wondrously pleasing to him, as if he were saying that word of the Prophet in the Psalm: "But it is good for me to adhere to God"; because, as is said in Lamentations three, "The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him." And therefore Peter was saying: It is good for us to be here: because it is good to await Christ, according to that word of Lamentations three : "It is good to wait in silence for the salvation of God." A greater good is to taste Christ: First Peter two, "If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is sweet"; whence also Wisdom twelve: "O how good and how sweet is your Spirit, O Lord, in all things"! namely, to the upright of heart, according to that word of the Psalm: "How good is the God of Israel to those who are upright in heart"! Whence in the person of Christ and the contemplative soul, Elkanah says to Anna his wife, First Kings one: "Anna, why do you weep? And why is your heart afflicted? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" — But the greatest good is to rejoice with Christ, according to that word of Philippians one: "To be dissolved and to be with Christ is much better"; and Matthew twenty-five: "Well done, good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord." — The first therefore is good, because it is merit; the second is a greater good, because it is sustenance for the way; but the third is the greatest good, because it is the reward. In all these ways Peter wished to say, especially by reason of joy: It is good for us to be here.
61. Second, as regards the desire for continuing the gift, he adds: And let us make three tabernacles, to continue our joy, as the children of Israel did in figure, according to that word of Leviticus twenty-three: "Everyone who is of the race of Israel shall dwell in tabernacles, that your posterity may learn that I made the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles."
Because, however, he did not desire the company of those three in a uniform manner, therefore he does not wish a single tabernacle uniformly for all, but desires that a proper tabernacle be made for each one. Whence he adds: One for you, as the principal: and one for Moses, as the lawgiver: and one for Elijah, as the excellent preacher, so that thus according to the diversities of dignities the dwelling places of the mansions may be distinguished. For so it will be in the kingdom of heaven, according to that word of John fourteen: "In my Father's house there are many mansions."
Now Peter was saying this through an excessive desire, which is customary among those engaged in contemplation; and on account of this it is added: Not knowing what he was saying, namely on account of the excess of desire, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Because my heart was inflamed, and my reins were changed, and I was brought to nothing and I knew not"; and on account of the depth of the mystery, according to that passage of the Song of Songs, chapter six: "I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valleys and to inspect," etc.; and a little later: "I knew not; my soul troubled me because of the chariots of Aminadab." And from this twofold cause Peter did not know what he was saying; whence in the Gloss: "Even if Peter, out of his own weakness, does not know what he says, nevertheless he gives an indication of the ardor implanted in him, since those whom he delighted to see, he also seeks to detain by his service. He erred, because on earth and in this mortal flesh he desired that there be given to himself and his fellow apostles the kingdom which is promised in heaven and to those who have been stripped of mortal flesh."
62. Now it should be noted that Peter was deceived first because he wished to remain in a state from which one must pass on. For it is said in the last chapter of Hebrews: "We have not here a lasting city"; but Peter wished to remain here. In this also certain persons are blameworthy who, while they wish to ascend the heights of contemplation, wish to rest there and refuse to descend to the labor of action. And these are signified by the sons of Reuben, of whom it is said in Numbers, chapter thirty-two, that they wished to remain beyond the Jordan. "To whom Moses said: Shall your brothers go to battle, and you sit here?" — as if to say: no. Whence "Jacob saw a ladder in his sleep," Genesis, chapter twenty-eight, "and Angels," not resting, but "ascending and descending by it."
Second, he was deceived in this, that he believed the shadow to have been fulfilled in this; whereas the Apostle says in First Corinthians, chapter thirteen: "We see now through a mirror in an enigma"; and he believed the tabernacle of glory to be material, whereas it is spiritual, according to that passage of the Psalm: "I will enter into the place of the wonderful tabernacle"; this is "the tabernacle which the Lord has pitched, and not man," as is said in Hebrews, chapter eight. And this is especially to be guarded against by contemplatives, lest they be deceived by the figures shown to them.
Third, because he wished to divide things that were united, and what was one he wished to make threefold. For one is the tabernacle in the glory of the Saints, according to that passage of John, chapter seventeen: "I will, Father, that where I am, they also may be with me"; and Revelation, chapter twenty-one: "Behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them"; and John, chapter ten: "There shall be one fold and one shepherd." Now this deception was not through judgment and assent, but rather on account of the ecstasy of mind, concerning which Second Corinthians, chapter five: "Whether we be beside ourselves, it is for God," etc.; and the Psalm: "There is Benjamin, a youth, in ecstasy of mind."
63. (Vers. 34.). And as he was saying these things, etc. After the entrance and the progress, the Evangelist here determines the state or consummation of contemplation. Contemplation, however, is consummated in two things: of which the first is the manifestation of terrible majesty, and the second, the revelation of credible truth.
First, therefore, as regards the manifestation of terrible majesty, it is said: And as he was saying these things, a cloud came. This was indicative of the divine majesty; whence it appeared terrible to the children of Israel in the cloud; whence it is said at the end of Exodus: "After all things were completed, the cloud covered the tabernacle of testimony, and the glory of the Lord filled it; nor could Moses enter the tent of the covenant, the cloud covering all things and the majesty of the Lord shining forth." Similarly in 3 Kings 8 it is said: "It came to pass that when the priests had gone out, a mist filled the house of the Lord, and the priests could not minister because of the mist; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord." Whence the cloud was a sign of supernal glory and majesty. And therefore it is added: And it overshadowed them, and they were afraid. For they perceived the divine power in the cloud, concerning which above in chapter one: "The power of the Most High shall overshadow you"; and therefore they were afraid on account of the presence of the supreme power, as Job, who said in chapter 31: "I always feared the Lord as swelling waves over me"; and Jeremiah 10: "Who shall not fear you, O King of the nations," etc.
64. According to the mystical sense, however, by the cloud can be understood the flesh of Christ: first, because it tempers the light of the Divinity to our eyes, so that we may gaze upon it; Exodus 19: "Now I will come to you in the darkness of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to you."
Second, because it is the vehicle of divine light over the darkened earth, according to that passage of Isaiah 19: "The Lord shall ascend upon a light cloud and shall enter Egypt." Third, because it drew its origin from the bitterness and penal condition of human nature, through the mediation of the Virgin Mary; which was prefigured in 3 Kings 18: "Behold, a little cloud like the footprint of a man was ascending from the sea."
Fourth, because it pours forth the water of saving grace, which it drew in at its origin, when it is stirred by the wind of prayer; whence Ecclesiasticus 43: "The healing of all is in the swiftness of the cloud."
From this contemplatives are instructed not only to raise their eyes to the radiant light of the Divinity, but also to the overshadowing cloud of the humanity. Which was prefigured in John 1, where the Lord said to Nathanael: "You shall see Angels," that is, contemplatives, "ascending and descending upon the Son of Man," because in the humanity the divine majesty lies hidden.
65. (Vers. 35.). Second, as regards the revelation of credible truth, it is added: And as they entered into the cloud, namely, the cloud arousing them to reverence, according to what is said in Exodus 24: "Moses, entering into the midst of the cloud, ascended the mountain," where he heard the divine revelations.
Hence it is now added: A voice came from the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son: by way of distinction it points him out, to show that he alone is Son by nature: whence in the Psalm: "From the womb before the daystar I begot you." And distinctions are set forth there both in this, that it says this, and in this, that it says my, and in this, that it says beloved: in which it declares that the property of filiation in Christ is personal and connatural and coequal. It is shown to be personal through the pronoun, which points out a definite person; whence he himself said in John 8, for the demonstration of his person: "I am the beginning, who also speak to you." - It is shown to be connatural through this, that it says my, according to that word of the Psalm: "The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; because he has no other father except God, for whose distinction it is said in John 20: "I ascend to my Father and your Father."
It is also shown to be coequal in this, that it adds beloved, that is, preeminently and supremely: whence Song of Songs 5: "My beloved, chosen out of thousands"; and John 5: "The Father loves the Son and shows him all things."
66. And because this truth was so worthy of belief that it showed all the sayings of Christ to be things that must be believed, therefore he adds: Hear him, not with the ear of the body alone, but also of the heart, as the Prophet says in the Psalm: "I will hear what the Lord speaks in me." Hear him, I say, with all reverence, according to the counsel of Sirach 32: "Listen in silence, and for your reverence good grace will come to you." Hear him, with all obedience, according to that word of Sirach 24: "Those who hear me shall not be confounded, and those who work in me shall not sin."
Hear him, with all diligence: whence below in chapter 19: "All the people hung upon him, hearing him," etc.
Now this voice strengthened the hearts of the disciples, so that even their own teaching would thereby become authoritative, according to that word of 2 Peter 1: "For we did not follow unlearned fables when we made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were made beholders of his greatness. For receiving from God the Father," etc., up to that point: "When we were with him on the holy mountain."
67. (Verse 36). And as the voice came, etc. Here lastly, after the consummation of the contemplation, the Evangelist adds its withdrawal, concerning which the Evangelist introduces two things: the first is the return of the accustomed vision, the second is the concealment of the vision that was shown.