Psalms 110 · The Lantern

The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. [Psalms 110:1] David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.

He [Christ] foretells that he would rise again from the dead: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse and one who shall rise to rule the Gentiles: in me shall the Gentiles hope, and his resting place shall be worthy of honor." The time of his resurrection is indicated: "We shall find him ready, as it were, at daybreak." He shall sit at the right hand of the Father: "The…

as the Lord himself testified when he addressed the Jews in these words: How then does David in the spirit call him Lord, saying: The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I put thy enemies underneath thy feet; if David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son?

The Lord shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion: be thou ruler, even in the midst among thine enemies.

Now they went about in the public place: with boldness they attacked even the market, and in the midst of enemies they prevailed, and that saying was fulfilled, "Be Thou Ruler in the midst among Thine enemies." This was a greater miracle, that they, arrested, cast into prison, should do such acts as these!

And what followeth? "The Lord shall send the rod of Thy power out of Sion." It appeareth, brethren, it most clearly appeareth, that the Prophet is not speaking of that kingdom of Christ, in which He reigneth for ever with His Father, Ruler of the things which are made through Him: for when doth not God the Word reign, who is in the beginning with God?

Under the Law in the mystery of the giving of the Law, Christ is symbolized by Moses' staff with which he chastised the Egyptians and dried up the sea, and which is the scepter of power which the Lord stretched forth from Sion.

In the day of thy power shall thy people offer thee free-will offerings with an holy worship: the dew of thy birth is of the womb of the morning.

And His proper and peculiar, natural and excellent Sonship, St. Paul has declared, who thus speaks of God: "Who spared not His own Son, but for us," who were not His natural sons, "delivered Him up." For to distinguish Him from those who are not properly sons, He said that He was His own Son.

With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of the saints. The little verse is obscure. Let us see the day of the Lord's power, so that when we have known the day, then we may know what the "beginning" is, and how this beginning is with him and has been with him; how this very beginning is in the day of his power, in the splendors of the saints.

Concerning this hierarch, then, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the whole of sacred Scripture exists, through which we are taught to be purged, illumined, and perfected, and this according to the threefold law handed down in it, namely of nature, of Scripture, and of grace; or rather according to its threefold principal part, namely the Mosaic law which purges, the prophetic…

The Lord sware, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech.

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

And unto what are You born? "The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec" [Psalm 110:4]. For unto this were You born from the womb before the morning star, that You might be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec.

Then immediately again with reference to his humanity he says: The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; for deity does not exercise the priestly office or render worship, but is rather itself worshipped and the recipient of sacred services.

The Lord upon thy right hand: shall wound even kings in the day of his wrath.

He shall judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with the dead bodies: and smite in sunder the heads over divers countries.

He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up his head.

He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Who shall drink from the torrent in the way? This one, to whom it was said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand: this one who heard, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech: this one who shattered kings in the day of his wrath, who judges the nations, shall fill up the ruins, shall crush the heads in…

Therefore, beloved, He rejoiced as a giant to run His course. What course, if not the mortal path which He deemed worthy to share with us? That is the path through which humankind passes. For they pass through it by being born and by dying. And this river of the human race flows perpetually from the hidden veins of nature from the beginning to the end.

Hence it is also well said through the Psalmist: "He shall drink of the torrent in the way, therefore shall He lift up His head." For indeed from the very beginning of the world a torrent of death had flowed forth in the human race: but the Lord drank of this torrent in the way, because He tasted death in passing.

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