21. THAT THE VESSELS OF THE LORD WERE MADE IN: The Jordan Region
BOOK TWO
He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.43 For where right as well as left hand are taken in the positive sense, they indicate either
Judaea and the gentiles, as we have said above in the explanation of the bases, or the present and future life of the Church, or the happy and sad things of the world, or something of the sort, but where the right hand by itself is used in the positive sense, it more frequently stands for eternal joys. But the fact that he made the Sea face eastwards has virtually the same significance, namely, that the splendour of internal glory is revealed to us through the bath of the holy font; the fact that it was at the south side of the court signifies that the faithful are wont to be kindled into a blazing fire of genuine love through the reception of the Holy Spirit; for in the scriptures the heat of the noonday sun customarily meant the ardour of love and the light of the Holy Spirit, through whom this love is poured forth44 in the hearts of the elect.
21. THAT THE VESSELS OF THE LORD WERE MADE IN
THE JORDAN REGION
21.1
(7:4546) All the vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord were of fine bronze. In the plains of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground. It is appropriate that the vessels of the Lord's house were cast in the region of the Jordan, namely, in the river in which our Lord deigned to be baptized' and by his immersion in the waves of its waters changed the element for us into a bath for sins, because every baptism of the faithful in which they are consecrated to the Lord is celebrated on the model of his baptism whereby he himself sanctified the waters. It is proper that the vessels of the Lord's house should have been made in the country of the Jordan, for there is no other way for us to become vessels of election and mercy than by looking to his baptism which he underwent in that river and making sure that we too are washed in that life-giving river. However, it must be noted that he says these vessels were made not only in the country around the Jordan but also in its plains to signify the multiplication of the faithful which was to take place not only in Judaea but also in the wide world of 43 Mk 16:16
44 cf. R m 5 5 ' cf. Mk 1:9
BEDE: ON THE TEMPLE
all the nations in fulfilment of the prophecy which says, The plains and everything in them will rejoice.2 A similar idea is expressed by the same psalmist regarding the mysteries of the Lord's incarnation, when, speaking in the person of those who came to the faith after the mysteries of this incarnation had been fulfilled, he says, Behold we have heard of it in Ephrata; we have found it in the fields of the wood.
For we have heard in Ephrata, i.e. in Bethlehem, the mysteries of the Lord inasmuch as we have read the promise of the patriarch David,4 who was from the same city, that Christ would come in the flesh from the fruit of its womb; we have found it in the fields of the wood inasmuch as we ourselves have come to know, we ourselves have seen, we ourselves have been made partakers in what was revealed throughout the universe in the wide world of the gentiles. Therefore, the king cast the vessels of the Lord's house in the plains of the Jordan, inasmuch as the Lord filled it with the baptism of salvation that he might make from it vessels of mercy throughout the whole wide world.
21.2
As for the clay ground of which the moulds for casting the vessels of the Lord's house were made, how better can we understand it than as the sacred scripture from which we receive the norm of good living'? For, as it were, the clay hardened in the fire shows what shape, sizc and kind the vessels of the Lord ought to be when scripture shows us the norm of righteousness which we are to follow, and sets before us for our imitation in all things the examples of the saints who persevered unflinchingly in the fire of tribulation. If we desire to be chosen and precious vessels in the Lord's house (let us remember that) bronze too when melted by fire goes into moulds of clay so that the vessel may be made suitable for the heavenly services, when, after being humbled for our good and softened by the flame, whether of divine love or of human adversity as well, we ourselves enter on the path of our predecessors by performing good works that we may attain our predecessors' rewards by running well. For it is not always necessary for us to be issued with rules of good behaviour, but when our work has been performed, the goodly palm of a blessed reward is to be hoped for, because, for that matter, vessels were not always
Ps95:12
Ps 131:6 cf. Ps 131:ll