The words of the Prophet which, by the Lord's bounty, are today to be spoken to your charity, need reading more than exposition. For there are repeated in the three inner gates the things which have already been said, for a second or a third time, concerning the outer ones. But few things are altered in their description. Hence it is necessary for us to run through by reading the things that have already been said, that we may be able more freely to unfold those that have not yet been said. And so it is now said: Verses 27-30. — And the gate of the inner court was toward the Southern way, and he measured from gate to gate in the Southern way a hundred cubits.
And he brought me into the inner court to the Southern gate, and he measured the gate according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule with the same measures, and its windows, and its vestibule round about, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth, and its vestibule round about. All these things you remember to have been said and expounded above (especially in the preceding homily). But it has not yet been said what is subjoined concerning the same vestibule: Verse 31. — Of the length of twenty-five cubits, and of the breadth of five cubits; and its vestibule toward the outer court. And again that which had already been said above is repeated, when it is said:
And its palm trees upon the front (ibid.). And at once there is subjoined what had not yet been said: And there were eight steps by which one ascended to it (ibid.). This also, which is written concerning the Southern gate, is narrated concerning the Eastern gate in the same order. For immediately it is added: Verses 32-34. — And he brought me into the inner court by the Eastern gate, and he measured the gate according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule as above, and its windows, and its vestibules round about, in length fifty cubits, and in breadth twenty-five cubits. And its vestibule, that is, toward the inner court,
and carved palm trees upon its front on this side and on that, and its ascent was of eight steps. The things also which have been said concerning the Southern and the Eastern gate are repeated in the same words also concerning the gate which looks toward the North. For it is subjoined: Verses 35-37. — And he brought me to the gate which looked toward the North, and he measured it according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule, and its windows round about, in length fifty cubits, and in breadth twenty-five cubits. And its vestibule looked toward the outer court, and the carving of palm trees was upon its front on this side and on that, and its ascent was of eight steps.
What, then, is signified by the inner court, what by the chamber, what by the fronts, what by the vestibule, what by the windows, what by the length and breadth, what by the carving of palms, we have already amply said above (Homilies 6 and 7), nor is it fitting that we occupy ourselves again with the same things, but only with those that have not yet been said. Now, therefore, it must be asked by us what these three inner gates are, or what it means that the vestibules of these same gates are measured at twenty-five cubits in length and five cubits in breadth; or why one ascends to them not by seven steps, as had been said of the outer gates, but by eight.
For the gate of the inner court which was mentioned above is not one of these three inner gates, because that one is said to look over against the gate of the East and of the North, whereas these are recorded to be set severally inward toward the South, or the East, and the North. Whence rightly by that one the inner entrance is signified, because, as was already said in the preceding discourse, it lies open either to the Jews and the Gentiles, or to those beginning and persevering in good, or to those falling from good but rising after their faults through penance.
Now, however, after the gates severally in the East and the North and the South have been described, why are the gates of the inner court again described severally in the South and the East and the North? By the Lord's inspiration, there is need of great intention to search out the bosom of so great a depth. For if by the name of gates we take holy preachers, it must be known to us that the Church is one in the preachers of the Old Testament and the New. But the gates have seven or eight steps, because they harmoniously preach the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, and by the eighth step they announce the reward of eternal recompense. Whence it is written: Give a portion to seven, and also to eight (Eccles. 11:2).
What, then, can we say the outer gates are, but the ancient fathers, who through the precepts of the law knew how to guard the works of the people rather than the heart? — so that by the inner gates we ought to understand the preachers of holy Church, who by spiritual admonitions guard the hearts of their disciples, lest they take delight even in thoughts in the evils which they do not commit. For by those one is said to ascend by seven steps, but of these the ascent is declared to be of eight steps, because both in the veneration of the law there was the seventh day, and in the New Testament the eighth day is in the sacrament — that is, the one which is called the Lord's Day, which is the third from the Passion, but the eighth from the creation, because it also follows the seventh.
But if by the name of gates we understand designated only the holy apostles, who indeed are the first preachers of holy Church to us, and taught us to hold faith, hope, and charity in the highest degree, then they themselves are to us gates in these virtues, who lead us through these same virtues to the inner understanding of eternal wisdom. But if they themselves are the outer gates, whom do we take for the inner ones? But if they themselves are the inner ones, whom do we understand to be the outer ones? In which matter it can be usefully understood that they themselves are to us at once outer and inner gates. For when they preach to those still beginning not lofty and mystical things, but certain things which they are able to grasp, they are outer gates;
but when they speak deep and mystical things to the perfect, they are inner gates. Let us see how the outer gate lies open: I could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal; as to little ones in Christ I gave you milk to drink, not meat (1 Cor. 3:1). Let us see how the inner gate lies open: We speak wisdom among the perfect (ibid. 2:6). Let us see whether the very same is inner and outer gate: To the wise and the unwise I am a debtor (Rom. 1:14). Who again says: Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for you (2 Cor. 5:13). For in this, that by contemplating and speaking he is beside himself to the wise, he is an inner gate;
but in this, that toward the little ones he tempers himself soberly in preaching, and shows not with how great an inebriation of the spirit he is infused in mind when he preaches, he manifests himself to be an outer gate. They themselves, therefore, are to us both outer gates and inner, who both instruct us in the first entrance of faith, hope, and charity, and, when they now preach the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom to those making progress, lead us by a subtler sense to the inner things. Whence also the ascent of them is described first by seven steps, and afterward by eight.
For by the eighth step are signified the mysteries of that life, which the perfect understand in their secret places — those who have already learned to transcend all temporal things in mind, who fully despise the present life which is unrolled in the course of seven days, who are fed by inmost contemplation. The gates of the spiritual edifice, therefore, have seven steps, because they preach to their hearers the fear of the Lord, piety and knowledge, fortitude and counsel, understanding and wisdom. But when they now enjoin that all things be relinquished, when they admonish that nothing in this world be loved, or held by affection, when they urge that one attend to the contemplation of the heavenly fatherland, and delight in its mysteries, they add a step, and pass over to the inner things.
This step, the Truth teaching, was shown to a certain man, who, when the precepts of the law were spoken to him, answered: All these have I kept from my youth (Matt. 19:20). For it was as if he already stood on seven steps, when he said that from his youth he had kept all things. But at once it is said to him: Yet one thing is lacking to thee: If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me (ibid. 21). In which words he saw indeed the eighth step, but was unwilling to ascend, because he went away sorrowful.
Whoever, therefore, having despised temporal things, is fed by the contemplation of eternity, and searches out the joys of the heavenly kingdom, after the seven steps which he held by fearing and by hoping and by growing up into the understanding of wisdom, has entered by the eighth step the entrance of the inner gate. By the number eight, too, both the day of the eternal judgment and the resurrection of the flesh are signified. Whence also the Psalm which is written for the octave is begun from the dread of judgment, when it is said: O Lord, rebuke me not in thy anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath (Ps. 6:2). For now is the time of mercy; but in that judgment is the day of wrath. On which day, namely, all this time is ended which is unrolled in seven days.
But because it follows after seven days, it is rightly called the eighth. On this day also our flesh shall rise again from the dust, that it may receive from the Truth according to the good or the evil it has done. Hence too, by the Law, circumcision is commanded to be performed on the eighth day. For through the member which is circumcised mortal propagation is generated, and the number both of those who pass away and of those who succeed is increased. But because in the resurrection of the dead the propagation of the flesh is no longer carried on, and there will be no passing away and succeeding, since, as it is written: 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be as the angels in heaven' (Matt. XXII, 30), it is prescribed that the foreskin be cut on the eighth day. For there the propagation of the flesh no longer has a place, where the risen flesh possesses the permanence of eternity.
Through this member the Virgin Mother descended, who conceived God in her womb without the intercourse of man—He who first showed to us the glory of the eternal fatherland in His own resurrection. Who, rising from the dead, dies no more, and death shall no longer have dominion over Him (Rom. VI, 9). And He gave us a pattern, that we should believe those things will be done to our flesh on the last day which we have recognized to have been done to His flesh on the day of resurrection. But since the discourse has led us to the resurrection of the flesh, it is exceedingly sad and most grievous that we know some who stand within the Church and yet doubt concerning the resurrection of the flesh.
But the ancient fathers most certainly believed that this would come, even when they as yet held no example of that resurrection. With what condemnation, then, are they worthy who have already received the example of the Lord's resurrection, and yet still distrust concerning their own resurrection? They hold the pledge, and have not faith. They fill the Church, but because they doubt concerning their own resurrection, they stand with empty minds. Of this resurrection it is said through blessed Job: 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth, and I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another' (Job XIX, 25, and following). Hence also it is said through the Psalmist:
'In His sight fall down all they that go down into the earth' (Ps. XXI, 29). For into the earth the dead go down not in spirit but in body. Therefore in the sight of the Lord the sons who go down into the earth fall down, because those who now rot in the dust come, by rising again, to judgment. Hence again he says: 'My soul hath thirsted for Thee, how much more my flesh' (Ps. LXII, 2). The soul thirsts that it may see God; what does the flesh thirst for, save that it may rise again? Hence again he says: 'Thou shalt take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and shall return into their dust' (Ps. CIII, 29). And of the resurrection of the flesh he adds: 'Thou shalt send forth Thy spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth' (Ibid., 30). Hence again he says:
'Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting place, Thou and the ark which Thou hast sanctified' (Ps. CXXXI, 8). For the Lord arose into His resting place when He raised His flesh from the sepulchre. After Him the ark too arises, because the Church rises again. Hence it is written through the same prophet of whom we speak: 'Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow up over you, and will spread skin over you, and will give you spirit, and ye shall live' (Ezek. XXXVII, 4, and following). Hence it is that another prophet saw the human race raised up at the end through the resurrection of the Lord, and said:
'He will revive us after two days, on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight' (Hosea VI, 3). Hence it is that when the Lord was speaking of Himself, He added: 'Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh in which all that are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment' (John V, 28, 29). Hence Paul says: 'Whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will reform the body of our lowliness, made conformable to the body of His glory' (Phil. III, 20, 21). Hence again he says: 'For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also will God bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus' (1 Thess.
IV, 14). Who again says: 'Christ is the firstfruits of them that sleep' (1 Cor. XV, 20). For if we do not rise from the sleep of death, how do we have the Lord's resurrection as firstfruits? Behold, the fathers old and new agree with one and the same spirit concerning the resurrection of the flesh. Behold, the Truth first taught by His voice concerning the resurrection of the flesh, and afterward demonstrated it by the work of His own flesh; and yet still the weakness of certain ones has not faith, standing within the house of faith. But they are wont to marvel how the flesh can come to life again out of the dust. Let them marvel, therefore, at the height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the depths of the waters, all things that are in the world, the very angels themselves created out of nothing. It is far less a thing to make something out of something than to have made all things out of nothing.
The very elements themselves, the very forms of things, proclaim to us an image of the resurrection. For the sun daily dies before our eyes, and daily rises again. The stars set in the morning hours, and rise again at evening. In the summer seasons we see the shrubs full of leaves, flowers, and fruits, which in the winter time remain bare of leaves, flowers, and fruits, and as though withered; but when the spring sun returns, and moisture has risen up from the root, they are again clothed with their own adornment. Why then is it doubted concerning men, which is seen to be done in the trees? But often they behold the dust of the rotting flesh and say: 'Whence can bones and marrow, whence flesh or hair, be restored in the resurrection?'
Let those, therefore, who ask these things look at the small seeds of huge trees, and, if they can, let them say: Where in them lies hidden so great a mass of hard wood, so great a diversity of branches, so great a multitude and greenness of leaves, so great a beauty of blossoms, so great an abundance, taste, and odor of fruits? Do the seeds of trees have the odor or taste which the trees afterward bring forth in their fruits? If, then, from the seed of a tree, which cannot be seen, that which is produced can be produced, why is it doubted concerning the dust of human flesh that from it the form which is not seen can be restored? But often they are wont to raise an empty little question, saying:
'A wolf ate the flesh of a man, a lion devoured the wolf, the lion dying returned to dust; when that dust is raised up, how is the flesh of the man separated from the flesh of the wolf and the lion?' To these people what else ought we to answer, save that they should first consider how they came into this world, and then they will discover how they rise again? Surely thou, O man, who speakest this, wast once in thy mother's womb a foam of blood; there indeed, from thy father's seed and thy mother's blood, thou wast a small and fluid globule.
Tell me, I pray, if thou knowest, how that moisture of the seed hardened into bones, how it remained fluid in the marrow, how it was made solid in the sinews, how it grew in the flesh, how it was stretched out in the skin, how it was distinguished into hair and nails, so that the hair should be softer than the flesh, and the nails more tender than the bones yet harder than the flesh? If, then, so many and so great things were made distinct into their kinds out of one seed, and yet remain joined together in one form, what wonder is it if Almighty God can, in that resurrection of the dead, distinguish the flesh of the man from the flesh of the beasts, so that one and the same dust both does not rise insofar as it is the dust of the wolf and the lion, and yet rises insofar as it is the dust of the man?
See therefore, O man, in what manner thou camest to life, and by no means doubt in what manner thou shalt return to life. But why dost thou wish to comprehend by reason how thou shalt return, thou who art ignorant how thou camest? Give to the power of thy Creator that which thou art not able to comprehend concerning thyself. For surely, since thou wast made out of the earth, but the earth out of nothing, thou too wast created out of nothing. Do not therefore despair concerning the resurrection of thy flesh; weigh prudently that it is less for God to restore what was than to have made what was not. But if thou canst not comprehend by reason the accomplishment of the resurrection, weigh how many things there are which thou dost not understand how they are, and yet dost not doubt that they are.
Tell me, I pray, if thou knowest, the circles of heaven, the hinges of the earth, the depths of the waters—where they are ended, whereon they are suspended? But we know that what was made out of nothing hangs upon nothing. Yet if there is something which is called nothing, then it is no longer nothing. But if nothing is truly nothing, then nowhere does the mass of the world hang, nor is there any place wherein may be that which was created that it might be. How then is that nowhere which we know to be? But perhaps these things are too much for thee; return, O man, to thyself. Surely thou art created out of spirit and clay—the one invisible, the other visible; the one sentient, and the other insentient.
How, then, could spirit and clay be mingled together in thee, and from diverse things a thing not diverse be made, so that in so great a harmony spirit and clay were mingled, that when the flesh is worn away the spirit droops, and when the spirit is afflicted the flesh wastes away? But perhaps thou art not yet strong enough to examine thyself. Weigh, I pray, if thou art able, how the Red Sea was divided by a rod (Exod. XIV, 21), how from the hardness of the rock at the striking of the rod waves flowed forth (Num. XX, 11), how the dry rod of Aaron blossomed (Ibid., XVII, 8), how the Virgin coming from his stock conceived, how in giving birth she remained a virgin (Luke I, 27, and following; III, 23, and following);
how one dead four days, at a command being raised up, came forth from the sepulchre with hands and feet bound, whom the Lord afterward commanded to be loosed by the disciples (John XI, 44, and following); how our same Redeemer, rising in true flesh and bones, entered to the disciples through closed doors (John XX, 26). Behold, these things thou art not able to investigate, and yet thou believest. Why, then, dost thou doubt by disputing and examining concerning the glory of the resurrection, thou who hast believed such lofty mysteries without examination? Yet if thou believest not the resurrection of the flesh, thou hast believed all things without cause, because in this spectacle of the angels thou art seen indeed to run swiftly, but after thou hast completed the course, thou turnest away lest thou receive the prize.
Hence it is said through Paul: 'So run that ye may obtain' (1 Cor. IX, 24). Who again says: 'If in this life only we are hoping in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable' (1 Cor. XV, 19). But the mysteries of the divine power, which cannot be comprehended, are not to be examined by the understanding, but to be venerated by faith. It must therefore be known by us that whatever can be comprehended by human reason can no longer be a wonder, but in miracles the sole ground of reason is the power of Him who works them. Behold, while we speak of the resurrection of the flesh, we have digressed a little from the order of our exposition. Let us therefore return to those things which we had begun. But the inner gates have porches, which measure twenty-five cubits in length.
For if we multiply eight by three, we arrive at twenty-four. To which one is added, that we may hold twenty-five. For good hearers, who are as it were certain porches of the gates, hold the long-suffering of eternal hope, and await the eighth day in the faith of the Trinity. Which Trinity, because it is one God, they indeed multiply eight by three, but they are made firm in the confession of one God. The porches are level, because the hearts of good hearers are humble. They have length, because they persevere in the long-suffering of hope. Their length is measured by twenty-five cubits, because they believe the resurrection of the flesh on the eighth day through the Trinity, and confess that same holy Trinity to be one God.
They also have five cubits in breadth, because through a simple life which is led by the five senses they are enlarged toward the love of their neighbor. And it is to be noted that, whereas the porches of the gates were spoken of above as being other, afterward the porch which has five cubits in breadth is said to look outward, because assuredly there are other hearers who penetrate more deeply, by advancing in virtues, into the understanding of the interior life, and there are certain simple ones who live well indeed, but according to the bodily senses. Wherefore they are also said to look outward. For they look, as it were, outside, because they live according to the bodily senses.
But nevertheless, even while looking outward, they are within, because although they know not how to transcend the bodily senses by understanding, they yet humbly hold faith and charity. And so they are within, in the spiritual edifice, through love, and they look outward, as it were, through simplicity. Through the porch which looks outward can be designated the faith of those who are beginning, and through the porch which is interior the faith of the perfect, who already shine through it in signs and virtues. There can also be figured through the interior porch the higher precepts, and through the porch which looks outward the still lesser precepts.
For through the porch one goes to the steps and to the gate, because through the precepts of preaching one attains to the virtues and to the entrance of heavenly grace. But when it is commanded to some that they meditate in their thought upon things eternal, that they savor heavenly things, and it is said to them that they live in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles (Col. III, 16), the interior porch is, as it were, shown, which is measured by fifty cubits in length and twenty-five in breadth. Of which numbers we now keep silent, because concerning these we have already said much above. But when it is prescribed to others, 'Let the husband render to the wife her due, and likewise also the wife to the husband' (1 Cor. VII, 3), the porch which looks outward is, as it were, designated.
Which, although it looks outward, is nevertheless within, because the untrained hearer still does what pertains to the flesh, and yet is not alien from the number of the good. But the Lord can be designated through the East gate, and Judaea through the South gate, and the converted Gentile world through the North gate. [But we call the Lord a gate, because through Him we enter unto Him. And we not unfittingly name Judaea and the Gentile world the gates, because we have recognized the entrance of the heavenly edifice first for the Hebrews, and afterward for the fathers coming from among the Gentiles.] But in this matter a question strikes the mind: why in the prophet's earlier narration was first the Eastern gate, afterward the North, and then the South gate described?
And when he narrated the same gates in the inner court, he described first the South gate, then the East, and in the third place the North. But why did he not keep the same order which he had begun, but changed it in the description of the gates, so that he first spoke of the East gate, the North, and the South, and afterward the South, the East, and the North? But if by the name of the North the Gentile world is designated, it is clear to all who read attentively that before the Synagogue was the Gentile world. For Heber himself, from whom the Hebrews were named, was chosen out of the nations (Gen. X, 21). Let the Eastern gate, then, be named before the North and South gate, because in His divinity the Lord was born before the Gentile world and Judaea, He who is also before all ages.
But let the South, East, and North gate be named in the following narration, because our Redeemer in His human nature deigned to be born between Judaea and the Gentile world, because He came both at the end of the Synagogue, and before the beginning of the Church, which He gathered from the nations. In the first description, therefore, let the Eastern gate be before the North and South gate; but in the second, let the East gate be named between the South and North gate, because He both, out of His divinity, went before all things, and, out of His humanity, came among all things—He who was both made the end of departing Judaea, and the beginning of the following Gentile world.
Therefore, since we have searched out those things which had not yet been spoken, insofar as we could, the Lord bestowing it, and have passed over quickly those things which have more often been repeated, let us now come to those things which are now said in such order that in them scarcely anything of what has been said is repeated: VERSE 58.—'And through each of the treasure-chambers a door in the fronts of the gates.' The treasure-chambers we said above (Hom. 6) are the hearts of teachers, which preserve the riches of knowledge. But the fronts of the gates are the words and works of preachers, in which we recognize what kind of men they inwardly are within themselves.