The Walls of the Church
The shadowy image of the calf, the new covenant being confirmed by the blood, as Paul says to those believing in the old covenant: 'If the blood of bulls and goats and the sprinkling of the sin offering sanctifies those who are communing toward the purity of the flesh, how much more does the blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God' (Hebrews 9:14).
What and what kind of security will there be for the prisoners sent out from the pit lacking water, as the Word declares, saying: 'They shall sit in strongholds' (Isaiah 33:16), clearly meaning the praiseworthy 'prisoners of the synagogue' of the glorious Church, no longer having 'a hole or a wrinkle.' But the fortresses are salvations; there the prisoners of the synagogue sit resting, having been carried out from the waterless pit.
Previously the Word revealed certain strongholds which Tyre and Nineveh built; let us see what are the ones now mentioned as praiseworthy, in which the prisoners of the divine synagogue are guarded with rest.
In the divine writing of Proverbs, reverence is called a stronghold for those establishing holiness and righteousness, thus: 'A stronghold is the fear of the Lord' (Proverbs 14:26). He, having been covered by the fear of God, surpassing this covering, wishing to be guarded by God Himself, says to Him through prayer: 'Become for me a protector, a strong place to save me' (Psalm 31:1); and again in Psalm 31: 'You are my refuge from the distress that surrounds me, my joy, deliver me from those pursuing me' (Psalm 30:1-2). Equally in Psalm 30, entreating to find an unassailable guard: 'Become for me a protector, he said, a place of refuge to save me' (Psalm 31:1).
But also he who, having competed in the good contest and finished the good race, having kept the faith, is himself kept by it; which he also shows as being securely walled and existing unassailably, joyfully crying out with those nearby: 'Behold, a strong city and our salvation; it shall set a wall and a circumvallation' (Zechariah 9:12). For how is the city not unassailable, having a wall and a circumvallation, which...
What is the Church? It has an inner wall consisting of the spiritual law and the elevated contemplation, and an outer wall, outside the secure wall, which is the explicit and historical writing.
And still, by another metaphor, there is a wall of the well-fortified city: the faith concerning the Trinity and the Only-begotten Son of God, who is the Word of God, truth and the Wisdom of God, which is appropriately surrounded by this understanding of the Word's incarnation and the birth from the unwedded Virgin Mary.
It can be said that the pious thoughts of the Church according to the doctrines of truth serve as a wall guarding it, while the moral teachings and the keeping of the commandments serve as an outer wall.
It could also be said otherwise: that the strong city is previously walled by the scientific contemplation of the intelligible and incorporeal things, having as an outer wall the knowledge of the sensible things of the visible world and its parts and the divine providence governing them.
He who sits in this city and in its praiseworthy fortifications, being a bondservant of Christ, lives fearlessly, expecting to receive double in return for what he has been afflicted with: consolation and comfort; for it has been promised to the benefited multitude: 'Instead of one day of your sojourning, I will repay you double' (Isa 61:7), the comfort being doubled for those who have undergone affliction.
Take the sensible image of contemplation from the most manly Job. For just as the things previously taken from him were doubled upon him, so those who have trained themselves perfectly toward piety 'have a promise of life, both of the present and of the coming' (cf. 1 Tim 4:8), not of the life that is near, which only pities those who hope in it alone, but of the life which is able to exist now for those believing, according to what was said by the Savior: 'He who believes in me has eternal life' (John 6:47), and again: 'And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the true God, and Him whom you sent, Jesus Christ' (John 17:3).
He who possesses this life directed toward him will enjoy it being multiplied when the perfection comes and truth is seen face to face.
And more introductory, this too could be said: that death comes to all men...
Greek
τὴν σκιώδη ····················μοσχαρίου, τῆς καινῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ ·······················αι βεβαιοῦσθαι, ὡς τὸν Παῦλον ···················· τοῖς τῇ παλαιᾷ διαθήκῃ πεποιθόσιν· «Εἰ τὸ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων καὶ σποδὸς δαμάλεως ῥαντίζουσα τοὺς κεκοινωμένους ἁγιάζει πρὸς τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς καθαρότητα, π̣όσῳ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καθαριεῖ τὴν συνείδησιν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν Θεῷ ζῶντι» καὶ ἀληθινῷ. 3.173 Τί δ' ὑπάρξεται καὶ ποία ἀσφάλεια ἔσται τοῖς ἐξαποσταλεῖσιν δεσμίοις τοῦ οὐκ ἔχοντος ὕδωρ λάκκου ἑξῆς δηλοῦται, φάσκοντος τοῦ λόγου· «Καθήσονται ἐν ὀχυρώμασιν», ἐπαινετοῖς δηλονότι, «οἱ δέσμιοι τῆς συναγωγῆς» τῆς ἐνδόξου Ἐκκλησίας, οὐδαμῶς ἔτι «σπίλον ἢ ῥυτίδα» ἐχούσης. Σωτήρια δὲ τὰ φρούρια· ἔνθα καθεδοῦνται διαναπαυόμενοι οἱ δέσμιοι τῆς συναγωγῆς, μετενεχθέντες ἐκ τοῦ ἀνύδρου λάκκου. 3.174 Ἐν τοῖς πρότερον ὁ λόγος ἐφανέρωσεν τίνα τὰ ψεκτὰ ὀχυρώματα ἃ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἡ Τύρος καὶ ἡ Νινευή· τίνα δ' ἐστὶ τὰ νῦν μνημονευόμενα ἐπαινετά, ἐν οἷς φυλάσσονται οἱ μετ' ἀναπαύσεως οἱ δέσμιοι τῆς θείας συναγωγῆς, ἴδωμεν. 3.175 Ἐν τῇ θείᾳ τῶν Παροιμιῶν γραφῇ ἡ εὐλάβεια ὀχύρωμα εἴρηται τῶν ὁσιότητα καὶ δικαιοσύνην κατορθούντων οὕτως· «Ὀχύρωμα ὁσίου φόβος Κυρίου.» Ὁ τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ σκεπασθείς, ὑπεραναβὰς ταύτην τὴν σκέπην, ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ φυλαχθῆναι εὐχόμενος, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν δι' εὐχῆς· «Γενοῦ μοι εἰς Θεὸν ὑπερασπιστήν, εἰς τόπον ὀχυρὸν τοῦ σῶσαί με»· καὶ ἔτι ἐν τριακοστῷ καὶ πρώτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «Σύ μου εἶ καταφυγὴ ἀπὸ θλίψεως τῆς περιεχούσης με, τὸ ἀγαλλίαμά μου, λύτρωσαί με ἀπὸ τῶν καταδιωκόντων με.» Ἰσοδυναμούντως καὶ ἐν τριακοστῷ Ψαλμῷ ὁ τυχεῖν φρουρᾶς ἀκαταμαχήτου παρακαλῶν· «Γενοῦ μοι εἰς Θεὸν ὑπερασπιστήν, εἶπεν, εἰς τόπον καταφυγῆς τοῦ σῶσαί με.» 3.176 Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἀγωνισάμενος τελέσας τε τὸν ἀγαθὸν δρόμον, τηρήσας τε τὴν πίστιν τηρεῖται καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπ' αὐτῆς· 97 ἣν καὶ δεικνὺς ὡς ἔστιν ἀσφαλῶς τετειχισμένη καὶ οὖσαν ἀκαταμάχητον, μετὰ τῶν παραπλησίων χαριστηρίως βοᾷ· «Ἰδοὺ πόλις ὀχυρὰ καὶ σωτήριον ἡμῶν· θήσει τεῖχος καὶ περίτειχος.» Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἀκαταμάχητος ἡ τεῖχος καὶ περίτειχον ἔχουσα πόλις, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ Ἐκκλησία, ἔχουσα μὲν τεῖχος συνιστάμενον ἐκ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου καὶ τῆς ἀνηγμένης θεωρίας, περίτειχος δέ, ἔξω τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς τείχου̣ς, τὴν κατὰ ῥητὸν καὶ ἱστορίαν γραφήν. 3.177 Καὶ ἔτι κατὰ διάνοιαν ἄλλην τεῖχος τῆς καλλιπόλεώς ἐστιν ἡ περὶ τῆς Τριάδος πίστις καὶ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὄντος Θεοῦ Λόγου, ἀληθείας τε καὶ Θεοῦ σοφίας, ὄντος περιτείχου καταλλήλως ταύτῃ τῇ νοήσει τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως καὶ τοκετοῦ τοῦ ἐκ τῆς ἀπειρογάμου παρθένου Μαρίας. 3.178 ∆υνατὸν εἰπεῖν ὡς τεῖχος μὲν φρουροῦν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐστὶν τὰ εὐσεβῆ αὐτῆς φρονήματα κατὰ τὰ δόγματα τῆς ἀληθείας, περίτειχον δὲ τὰ ἠθικὰ παιδεύματα καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐντολῶν τήρησις. 3.179 Ῥηθείη καὶ ἑτέρως ὡς τειχίζεται μὲν προηγουμένως ἡ ἐχυρὰ πόλις ἐκ τῆς ἐπιστημονικῆς τῶν νοητῶν καὶ ἀσωμάτων θεωρίας, περίτειχος ἔχουσα τὴν περὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν γνῶσιν τοῦ φαινομένου κόσμου καὶ τῶν μερῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς διοικούσης αὐτὰ θείας προνοίας. 3.180 Ὁ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει καὶ τοῖς συγγένεσιν αὐτῇ ἐπαινετοῖς ὀχυρώμασιν καθήμενος, Χριστοῦ δέσμιος ὤν, ἀφόβως διάγει προσδοκῶν διπλασιάζεσθαι ἀνθ' ὧν ἐθλίβη παράκλησιν καὶ παραμυθίαν· ἐπενήνεκται γὰρ πρὸς τὴν εὐεργετηθεῖσαν πληθύν· «Ἀντὶ μιᾶς ἡμέρας παροικεσίας σου, διπλᾶ ἀνταποδώσω σοι», διπλασιαζομένης τῆς παραμυθίας τῆς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑπάρξασι θλιβηροῖς. 3.181 Αἰσθητὴν εἰκόνα τῆς θεωρίας τὰ κατὰ τὸν ἀνδρειώτατον Ἰὼβ λαβέ. Ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον ἐπ' αὐτοῦ ἐδιπλασιάσθη τὰ ἀφαιρεθέντα αὐτοῦ πάντα πρότερον, οὕτως οἱ γυμνασάμενοι τελείως πρὸς εὐσέβειαν «ἐπαγγελίαν ἔχουσιν ζωῆς τῆς νῦν καὶ τῆς μελλούσης», οὐ τῆς ἐπικήρου ζωῆς, τῆς ἐλεεινοὺς ποιούσης τοὺς ἐπὶ μόνην αὐτὴν ἠλπικότας, ἀλλὰ τῆς νῦν ὑπαρχθῆναι δυναμένης τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος· «Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον», καὶ πάλιν· «Αὕτη δ' ἐστὶν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, ἵνα γινώσκουσίν σε τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεόν, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.» 3.182 Ὁ ταύτην τὴν ζωὴν ἀπεντεῦθεν ἔχων πολυπλασιαζομένην αὐτὴν σχοίη ὅταν τὸ τέλειον ἔλθῃ καὶ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον ὀφθῇ ἡ ἀλήθεια. 3.183 Εἰσαγωγικώτερον δὲ καὶ τόδε ῥηθείη· τοῦ θανάτου εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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