Lecture XIV
LECTURE XIV.
ON THE RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, AND EXALTATION
OF CHRIST.
1 Cor. xv. 1—4.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I | preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of ali that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
1. Br glad, O Jerusalem, and hold festival together, all ye v. rh 86, who love Jesus; for He is risen; rejoice all ye who before 'SP mourned, ners the reckless deeds and enormities of the Jews.
For He who was entreated of them with insult here, is risen again; and as the Lecture on the Cross was one of pain, so now let the good tidings of the Resurrection gladden all present.
Let mourning be turned into gladness, and lamentation into joy; and let our mouth be filled with joy and gladness, because of Him who after His resurrection
@ said, Rejoice.
For I know the sorrow of the lovers of Christ v. Mat. during the days past; since, our words having ended at His
* ®Death and Burial, and not having told the good tidings of the Resurrection, their mind was kept in suspense to hear what they longed for.
Now therefore the Dead is risen,—He who was free among the dead, and the deliverer of the dead.
He, Ps.88,6. whose head, by reason of His patience, was bound in scorn with the crown of thorns, has now, being risen, put on the diadem of His victory over death.
Prophecies of the Resurrection.
Lect.
92. As then we have set before you the witnesses of His ~ Cross, in like manner let us now ascertain the proofs of the § wages. Resurrection; since the Apostle in the text says, He was
1Corl5, buried, and rose the third day according to the Scriptures.
Since therefore an Apostle sends us to Scripture testimonies, it is proper for us to recognise there the hope of our salvation ; and to learn, first, whether the Divine Scriptures tell us the time of the Resurrection, whether it is in summer, or in autumn, or after winter;—and from what sort of place the Saviour arises;—and what the name of the place is called in the wondrous prophets;—and whether women, who had sought
Him and found Him not, afterwards found Him and rejoiced: that when the Gospels are read, the narratives of these holy works may not be thought fables or legends.
(2.) 3. Now that Christ was buried, ye have heard plainly in at! »2.the foregoing discourse; since Esaias says, His burial shall oY be tn peace: for in His burial He made peace in heaven and Is.57,1. earth, bringing sinners unto God.
And, the just is taken ae away from the face of unrighteousness, and, His burial shall
Sept. be tn peace, and, I will give the wicked for His burial. And es o, the prophecy of Jacob in the Scriptures, saying, He couched
* and lay down as a lion, and as a lion's whelp; who shall Numb. awaken Him? And in like manner in Numbers, He couched,
24,9.
He lay down as a lion, and as a great lion.
And ye have Ps. 22, heard ofttimes the Psalm which says, And Thou hast brought hi Me into the dust of death.
Also, we specified the spot, when Is.51,1. we quoted the words, Look unto the rock which ye have hewn.
Sept.
Now therefore let the texts for the Resurrection itself follow.
Ps.12,5.
4 He says therefore in the eleventh Psalm, For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I artse, saith the Lord.
But with some persons this passage is uncertain; for He often arises to wrath also, that He may take vengeance on His enemies.
Come then to the fifteenth Ps.16,1, Psalm, which says plainly, Preserve me, O God, for in Thee rook do I put my trust; and after this, Their drink offerings of (v.Sept.) blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips, since they have refused Me, and named Cesar as their king ;
Ib. v. 8. and afterwards, I have set the Lord always before Me; because Heis at My right hand, I shall not be moved ; and after a little,
Ib. v.7. My reins also instruct Me in the night-season; and after this
Of its time and place.
it says most plainly, For Thou wilt not leave My squl in hell, Ib.v.10. netther wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
He has not said, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see death, else He had not died; but corruption, says He,
I shall not see, and I shall not abide in death.
Thow wilt ibv.11. shew Me the path of life.
Behold, here is plainly preached life after death.
Turn next to the twenty-ninth Psalm, J will psso,1. extol Thee, O Lord. » for Thow hast lifted Me up, and hast not Sept. made My foes to rejoice over Me: what came to pass? wert
Thou rescued from Thine enemies, or wert Thou set free when about to be smitten?
He Himself says most plainly, Thou, tb. v.3.
Lord, hast brought My soul out of hell. In the former place LEt a
_ He says, Thou wilt not leave, speaking prophetically ; and Sept) here He speaks of what is to happen, as if it had already happened, Thou hast brought; Thou hast kept My life from iid. them that go down to the pit.
At what time shall this be?
(3.) Weeping shall endure for the evening ; but joy cometh tn ib. v. 5. the morning; for in the evening was the mourning of the 5? disciples, and in the worning, the gladness of the Resurrection.
5. And wouldest thou know the place also?
He says again in the Canticles, J went down into the garden of nuts. Cant. 6, For though it be now adorned and that most excellently with |! ae royal gifts, yet it was before a garden, and the tokens and 8, sad traces thereof remain. A garden inclused was it; a fountain ae sealed by the Jews, who said, We remember that thatis. deceiver said while He was yet alive, after three days I will paras
~27, rise again ; command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure; and afterwards, They went and made the sepulchrev. 66. sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
To whon, referring, there is one who said well, And tn rest wilt Thou Jon 7, judge them.
But who is the fountain sealed, or who ee Be interpreted as the well of living waters?
It is the Saviour, j5, ~ ' concerning whom it is written, With Thee ts the fountain p, 56 9, of life.
6. But what saith Zephaniah to the disciples in the person of Christ? Prepare Thyself, rise up early, all thetr small
Zeph.3, clusters are destroyed ; that is, of the Jews, with whom there 7: Sept. are left no grapes of salvation, no not even a stray cluster ; for their vine is cut down.
See how he says to the disciples,
Of its time and place.
Lect. Prepare (hyself, rise up early; at early dawn expect the XIV: Resurrection.
And afterwards in the same connection, he Ib. v. 8.says, Therefore await Me, saith the Lord, on the day of My resurrection at the Testimony.
Seest thou that the Prophet foresaw even that the place of the Resurrection should be mages called, the Testimony?
For wherefore is this place of Goleu gotha and of the Resurrection not called like the other
Const. churches, a church, but a Testimony?
It was perhaps pees * because of the Prophet, who had said, On the day of my Resurrection, at the Testimony.
7. And who then is this, and what is the sign of Him who rises again? It is said plainly in what follows, in the same
Zep. 3, passage of the Prophet, For then I will turn to the people a Me language ; (since, after the Resurrection, the Holy Ghost being sent, the grace of tongues was given ;) (0 serve the Lord with one consent, And what other pledge is there in the same Prophet of their serving the Lord with one consent?
Ib.v.10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, they shall bring to Me sacrifices.
Thou knowest what is written in the Acts, that an Ethiopian Eunuch came from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. When therefore the Scriptures tell both the time and the peculiar character of the place, and also the signs following the Resurrection, be thou assured henceforth of theResurrection, and let no one shake thee from confessing that Christ is raised from the dead.
(4.) 8. Now receive yet another testimony in the eightyseventh Psalm, where Christ speaks by the Prophets ; (for He
Ps.88,1.who then spoke, afterwards came to us,) O Lord God of My salvation, I have cried day and night before Thee ; and after v. 4.5. a little, J am as a Man that hath no strength, free among the dead. He said not," 1am a man without strength," but " as a Man without strength," for He was crucified, not from want of strength, but willingly; and His death was not without power or will.
Iam counted with them that go down into the pit. v.8.
And what is the Sign? Thou hast put away Mine acquaintv.10. ance far from Me; (for the disciples fled ;) wilt Thou shew v.13, wonders to the dead?
Then after a little, But unto Thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent Thee.
Seest thou how they declare the very time both of the Passion and of the Resurrection ?
The Holy Sepulchre near the city wall.
9. And whence did the Saviour arise?
He says in the Song of Songs, Rise up, My love, and come away: and afterwards, in the cleft of the rock; for the cleft of the rock he
Cant. 2, i calls the cleft which was then at the door of the salutary sepulchre, and was hewn out of the rock itself, as it is customary here in the front of sepulchres.
For now it appears not, the outer cave having been hewn away for the sake of the present adornment; for before the sepulchre was decorated by royal zeal, there was a cave in the face of the rock.
But where is the rock which has in it this cleft? hes it in the midst of the city, or near the walls and the outskirts? and is it in the ancient walls, or in the outer walls which were built afterwards? He says then in the Canticles,
In the cleft of the rock, near to the outer wall'.
Cant. 2, 14. Sept.
® A writer of Se: name, in a review of Dr. Clarke's Travels, (who denied the accuracy of the tradition in the text concerning the site of the Sepulchre,) thus expresses himself.
'' Nor was it only its superior sanctity which would preserve its memory.
As the private propent of an opulent Christian family, it appear, we think, to Dr. C. himself; from a pestinen which will shortly be produced,' (the passage of St. Cyril in the text.] ' Itis certain that, whether probable or not, the ancient limits of the city did exclude the present sepulchre; and that this last, defaced and altered as it is, may be really ' the place where the Lord lay,' is likely from the following circumstances.
Forty yards, or thereabouts, from the upper end of the sepulchre, the natural rock is visible; and in the place which the priests call Calvary, it is at least as high as the top of the sepulchre itself The rock then may have extended as far as the present entrance, and though the entrance itself is hewn into form and cased with marble, the adytum Mi offers proof that it is not factitious.
Itis a trapezium of seven feet by six, neither at right angles to its own entrance, nor to the aisle of the d be secured from pollution or injury ; and the tomb itself was no' hereabouts,' which tradition was to settle, but an object too visible and too definite either to be overlooked or mistaken.
While a single Christian survived in the town, it could never cease to be known and venerated .... But as Dr. Clarke has shewn that the present appearance of the sepulchre is at variance with the account in the Gospel, and the general character of Jewish tombs; it ree mains for us to examine whether the alterations of time, together with those ascribed to the bad taste and unfortunate zeal of Helena, can have been sufficient to produce thie difference.
His reasons for incredulity are as follows :—the tomb Church which conducts to it, and in no respect conformable to the external plan of the tomb.
This last is arranged in a workmanlike manner, with its frontal immediately opposite the principal nave. and in the same style with the rest o' the Church.
It is shaped meine like a horse shoe, and its walls, measu from this outer horse pay to en er trapezium, vary from five to eight feet in hisiaeae! a sufficient space to admit of Christ was in a garden without the walls of Jerusalem ; the structure which at present bears its name, is in the heart of, at least, the modem city, and Dr.
C.is onwilling to believe thattbe ancient limits can have been so much circumscribed to the north as to exclude its site. Further, theoriginal sepulchre was undoubtedly a cave: the present offers no such appearance, being an insulated pile, constructed or cased with distinct slabs of marble.
That both these arguments, however, are inconclusive will of no inconsiderabie density of rock, between the outer and inner coating of marble.
This, however, does not apply to the ante-chamber, of which the frontal at least is probably fictitious: and where that indenture in the marble is found
170 The Resurrection at the same season as the Creation.
10. At what season does the Saviour arise?
Is it the season of summer, or some other?
In that same Song, before (5.) the above-mentioned place, he says straightway, The winter
Cant. 3) 5 past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the naps earth, and the time of pruning is come.
Is not the earth red now full of flowers, and are they not pruning the vines?
Lect. xIV.
Sept.
'Thou seest how he says also, that the winter is now past.
For in this month Xanthicus, it is now spring; and this season, which is the first month among the Hebrews, is that in which is the feast of the Passover; of the figurative Passover erewhile, but now of the true. This is the season of the creation of the world': for then God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after hie kind.
And now, as thou seest, every herb is producing seed.
And as at that time, God having made the sun and moon, gave them courses of equal length, so also but a few days ago it was the season of Soe the Equinox.
At that time, God said, Let Us make man tn infra Our own tmage, after Our likeness: and the tmage he rexvii. 19. ceived; but the likeness, by his transgression, he defaced
¢; at that very season then in which he lost this, did his restoration also come to pass.
At the same season in which created man was cast out of paradise for his disobedience, was believing man brought into it again by obeying.
Salva- ¢ tion therefore was at the very season when the fall was; when the flowers appeared, and the time of pruning was come.
11. The place of His burial was a garden; and that which y, Jobo was planted therein was a Vine; for He has said, 4nd I am
'" the Vine.
It was planted then in the earth, that the curse which was on it for Adam's sake might be rooted out. The which indaced Dr. C. to believe that the it pleased the taste of thei lo ied Ent Caron thea eal wan cama ponsAla far, of their employer, farnished at the same time materials for ofthe same costly substance. Now these her intended Cathedral."
Quarterly Review, March, 1813. circumstances afford, we apprehend, no inconsiderable grounds for supposing, with Pococke, that it is indeed a grotto above ground: the irregularity of the shape, the difference between the external and internal plan, the thickness of the walls, so needless, if they are throughout of masonry, all favour this > This belief is expressed also by Ambros. Hexam. i. 4. n. 13.
Cosm.
Sa V. p192. &e.
¢ This distinction is also made by Ireneus, (Her. v. 6. and 16.) Ambrosiast. SP cond. hum. 2 an 3.) Philastrius (Her. 98.) &c.
They eeem to consider '' image" to have reference to our nature, and '' likeness to our Aolsness. vid. also Bp. Bull's dissertation on the Paradisiacal state of man. inion; nor is the task ascribed to elena's workmen of insula' this rock, from that which is still preserved
@ few yards distant, at all incredible, when we consider that the labour, while
Prophecy of our Lord's appearances.
7) earth was doomed to thorns and thistles; the true Vine sprang out of the earth, that the saying might be fulfilled,
Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall Fe, 85, look down from heaven.
And what will He say who is — buried in the garden? I have gathered My myrrh with My vane spice ; and again, Myrrh and aloes with all the chief spices. Cant. 4,
But these are the marks of His burial; and in the Gospels it < is said, The women came to the sepulchre, bringing the spices Luke24, which they had prepared.
And there came also Nicodemus, Jobn19 and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, And afterwards39.
' it is written, I have eaten My bread with My honey; the Cant.5, bitter, before His Passion, and the sweet after His Resurrecwee tion.
Then, being risen, He entered through the closed John0, doors ; but they believed not in Him, for they thought they Taken, saw a spirit; but He says, Handle Me and see; thrust your 36. &c. fingers into the prints of the nails, as Thomas required. And 'when they yet dishelieved for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat? and they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. Thou seest how was fulfilled that Scripture, J have eaten my bread with my honey.
12. But before He entered in through the closed doors, the (6.) Bridegroom and the Physician of Souls was sought by those most noble and courageous women.
Those blessed women came to the sepulchre, and sought Him who was risen, and the tears still flowed from their eyes; though it was time rather to be glad, and to dance for Him who was risen.
Mary according to the Gospel came seeking Him, and found Him not; and after this, she heard from the Angels, and at last saw Christ.
Are these things also written? Yes; he says in the Song of Songs, On my bed I sought Him whom Cant.s, my soul loveth ; at what time? By night on my bed I sought i Him whom my soul loveth; (Mary, it is said, came while it Jobn20, was yet dark;) On my bed I sought Him by night ; T sought '
Hin, but I found Him not.
And in the Gospel Mary says, They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they John20, have laid Him.
But the Angels who were there present !* relieve her ignorance, saying, Why seek ye the Living among the dead?
He is not only risen, but is risen and the dead with Him.
But she knew not this, and in her person
Conduct of the women.
Lact. the Song of Songs said to the Angels, Saw ye Him whom GAT; my soul loveth? Itwus but a little that I passed from them, 8. 4, lus (that is, the two Angels,) when I found Him whom my
5, Sept. soul loveth, I held Him, and would not let Him go.
18. For after the vision of the Angels, Jesus came as His Mat.98, own Herald; and the Gospel says, And Jesus met them, saying,
All: hail! and they came and held Him by the feet. They held Him, that it might be fulfilled, J wtll hold Him, and will not let Him go.
The woman was weak indeed in body, Cant. 8, but in spirit was manful.
Many waters cannot quench love, E neither can the floods drown tt; He was dead whom they sought, yet was not the hope of the Resurrection quenched.
And the Angel says to them again, Fear not; I say not to the soldiers, fear not, but to you; as for them, let them be afraid, that having learned by trial, they may bear witness and say, Truly this was the Son of God; but you ought not Noes: to be afraid, for perfect love casteth sah (aac go, tell His is disciples that He ts risen; and the rest.
And they depart, fearful, yet with joy; is this also written? yes, the second Ps.2,11. Psalm, which relates the Passion of Christ, says, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling ;—rejoice, because of the risen Lord; but with trembling, because of the earthquake, and the Angel who appeared as lightning.
(7.) 14. Though, therefore, Chief Priests and Pharisees through Pilate's means sealed the tomb; yet the women beheld Him who was risen.
And Esaias knowing the feebleness of the Is.27, Chief Priests, and the women's strength of faith, says, Ye
Sept, tomen, who are come from beholding, come hither; for the people hath no understanding ;—the Chief Priests want understanding, while women are eye-witnesses.
And when the soldiers came into the city to them, and told them all that Mat-38, had come to pass, they said to them, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept.
Well therefore has Esaias afore-time said this also, as in their Is. 30, persons, Bul tell us, and relate to us another deceit.
He who rose again is up, and by bribes they persuade' the soldiers; but they persuade not the kings of our time.
The soldiers then surrendered the truth for silver; but the kings of this day have, in their piety, built this holy Church of the Resurrection of God our Saviour, inlaid with silver and —_
Parallel of Christ with Elijah and Elisha.
embossed with gold, in which we are assembled; and have embellished it with rarities of silver and gold and precious
Stones.
And tf thts come to the yovernor's ears, they say, we will persuade him.
Yea, though ye persuade the soldiers, yet ye will not persuade the world; for why, as Peters guards wrog't were condemned when he escaped out of ward, were not they also who watched Jesus Christ condemned?
It was because the former, on whom sentence was pronounced by Herod, were ignorant and had nothing to say for themselves; while the latter, who had seen the truth, and concealed it for money, were protected by the Chief Priests.
Nevertheless, though but a few of the Jews were persuaded at the time, the world became obedient.
They who hid the truth, have been themselves hidden; but they who received it were made manifest by the power of the Saviour, who not only rose from the dead, but also raised the dead with Himself.
And in the person of these the Prophet Osee says plainly, 4/ter two Hos6,2. days will He revive us, and the third day will He ratse us up, and we shall live in His sight.
15. But since the disobedient Jews will not be persuaded (8.) by the Divine Scriptures, but forgetting all that is written gainsay the Resurrection of Jesus, it were good to meet them thus:
On what ground, while you say that Eliseus and Elias raised the dead, do you gainsay the Resurrection of ovr Saviour?
Is it that we have no living witnesses now out of that generation to what we say? Well, do you also bring forward witness of those other deeds? But that is written ;—so is this also written: why then do ye receive the one, and reject the other?
They were Hebrews who wrote those things; so were all the Apostles Hebrews: why then do ye disbelieve the Jews?
Matthew who wrote the Gospel wrote it in the Hebrew tongue'; and Paul the preacher was an Hebrew of the Hebrews; and the twelve Apostles were all of Hebrew race: then fifteen
Bishops of Jerusalem', were appointed in succession from among the Hebrews.
What then is your reason for allowing your own accounts, and rejecting ours? since these also are written by Hebrews from among yourselves. d So say Papias, (apud Euseb. Hist.
51. 5.) dis ili, 39.) Ogee, Ghat a 25.) Jerom, i.e. till the destruction of Jeru- (preef,in Evang.)and Epiphanics.(Her. salem by Hadrian A.D. 184.
Parallel of Christ with Jonah.
Lect.
16. But it is impossible, some one will say, that the dead XIVshould arise ; and yet Eliseus twice raised the dead,—when he was alive, and also when dead.
Now, we believe, that when Eliseus was dead, a dead man who was cast upon him and touched him, arose; is then Christ not risen?
But in that case, the dead man who touched Eliseus, arose, yet he who raised him continued nevertheless dead: now the Dead of whom we speak both arose Himself, and many dead were
Mat.27, raised without having even touched Him.
For many bodies a of the Saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His Resurrection, and went into the Holy City,
(evidently this, in which we now are,) and appeared unto many.
Eliseus then raised indeed a dead man, but he conquered not the world; Elias raised a dead man, but devils are not driven away in the name of Elias.
We are not speaking against the Prophets, but we are making much of their Master; for we do not exalt our own by disparaging theirs; for theirs are ours; but by what happened among them, we recommend our own.
(9.) 17. But they say again, " A corpse lately dead was raised by the living; but shew us how one three days dead can possibly arise, how a man should be buried, and rise after three days." If we seek for Scripture testimony in proof, the Lord
Mat-13, Jesus Christ Himself supplies it in the Gospels, saying, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly ; 80 shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
And on examining the story of Jonas, great is the force of the resemblance.
Jesus was sent to preach repentance; so also was Jonas; though the one fled, not knowing what should come to pass; but the other came willingly, to give repentance unto salvation.
Jonas isyx*. slumbered in the ship, and was fast asleep amidst the stormy ser' «Jsea; and while Jesus slept, according to God's providence, sora the sea began to rise, to shew in the sequel the might of Him
6. Sept. Who slept.
To the one they said, Why art thou so fast in Bryxus. sleep 2 Arise, call upon thy God, that God may save us; but watt ht in the other case they say unto the Master, Lord, save us.—
' Then they said, Call upon thy God; here they say, Do Thou aches 1,save. But the one says, Take me, and cast me forth into the "sea; 80 shall the sea be calm unto you; the other, Himself
Christ brought the old Fathers from Hades to Heaven. 175 rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
The one was cast into a whale's belly: but the other descended of His own accord thither, where is the invisible veneé. whale of death.
And He descended of His own accord, that death might cast forth those whom he had devoured, according to that which is written, J will ransom them from the Hos.13, power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.
IS.
18. And here let us consider whether it be harder for a man after having been buried to rise again, or for a man in the belly of a whale, and in so great heat of a living creature, to escape corruption.
For who among men knows not, that the heat of the belly is so great, that even bones which have been swallowed moulder away? How then did Jonas, who _ was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, escape corruption?
And, seeing that the nature of all men is such that we cannot live without breathing, as we do, the air, how did he live without it for three days? But the Jews make this answer, The power of God, they say, descended with Jonas when he was tossed about in hell.
Then, does the Lord grant life to His own servant, by sending with him His power, and can He not grant it to Himself as well? - If that is credible, this is credible also ; if this is incredible, that also is incredible.
For to me both are alike worthy of credence.
I believe that Jonas was preserved, for ali things are possible with God; I believe that Christ also was raised from the dead; for I have many testimonies of this, both from the Divine Scriptures, and from the operative power even at this day of Him who arose,—who descended into hell alone, but who ascended thence with a great company; for He went down to death, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose through Him.
19. Death was struck with dismay on bebolding a new (10.) visitant descending into Hades, not bound by the chains of that place. Wherefore, O ye porters of Hades, when ye saw
Him, were ye scared? What unwonted fear seized you?
Death fled, and his flight betrayed his cowardice.
The holy prophets ran unto Him, and Moses the Lawgiver, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; David also, and Samuel, and Esaias, and John the Baptist, who bore witness when he asked,
Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another ? ah
Jonah's prayer fulfilled in Christ only.
Lecr. All the Just were ransomed, whom death had devoured ; for ~ it behoved the King who had been heralded, to become the redeemer of His noble heralds.
Then each of the Just said, 1 Cor. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where ts thy victory?
16, 99. For the Conqueror hath redeemed us.
20. Of this our Saviour, the Prophet Jonas wrought out a oan figure, from the belly of the whale praying and saying, J cried a by reason of my affliction, and so on; out of the belly of hell, and yet he was in the whale; yet though in the whale, he says that he is in hell; for he was a figure of Christ, who should descend into Hades. And after alittle, he says, in the Jonah2, person of Christ, prophesying most clearly, J went down to the Sept. "hasms of the mountains; and yet he was in the belly of the whale.
What mountains then encompass thee?
I know, he says, that I bear the figure of Him, who is to be laid in the Sepulchre hewn out of the rock.
And being in the sea, Jonah2, Jonas says, J went down to the earth, since he bore the figure
' of Christ, who descended to the heart of the earth.
And foreseeing that the Jews would persuade the soldiers to lie, and would tell them, Say that they stole Him away, he says, cee They that observe lying vantties forsake their otwon mercy.
For He who pitied them came, and was crucified, and rose again, giving His own precious blood both for the Jews and the Gentiles; yet they say, Say that they stole Him away, observing lying vanities.
But concerning His resurrection, ae 63, Esaias also says, He who brought from the earth the great
BS 1s, Shepherd of the sheep; he hath added the word, great, lest 20.
He should be thought on a level with the shepherds who had ar gone before Him.
"di 21. Since then we have the prophecies, let faith abide with us.
Let them fall who fall through unbelief, since they so will; but thou hast taken thy stand on the rock of faith in the Resurrection.
Let no heretic ever persuade thee to speak evil of the Resurrection.
For to this day do the Manichees say, that the resurrection of the Saviour was phantom-wise, and Rom. 1,not real, slighting Paul who says, Who was made of the 3-5. seed of David according to the flesh; and again, By the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead.
And Rom. again he aims at them, and speaks thus, Say not in thine "heart, who shall ascend into heaven; or, who shall descend
Witnesses to our Lord's Resurrection.
tnto the deep? that ts, to bring up Christ again from the dead; and in like manner warning as he has elsewhere written again, Remember that Christ Jesus was raised from 2Tim.2, the deud ; and again, And if Christ be not risen, then is our® preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
Yea, and we 16, 14. are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified ae
Of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up.
But in what follows he says, But now is Christ risen from ver. 20. the dead, the first Srutts of them that slept ;—And He was ver. 5. seen of Cephas, then of the twelve ; (for if thou believe not one witness, thou hast twelve witnesses ;) chen He was seen of above ver. 6. five hundred brethren at once ; (if they disbelieve the twelve, let them admit the five hundred ;) éhen He was seen of James,
' His own brother, and first Bishop of this diocese.
Seeing wagusta then that such a Bishop originally saw Christ Jesus when risen, nets do not thou, his disciple, disbelieve him.
But thou sayest that"
His brother James was a partial witness; Zhen He was seen™ 8also of me Paul, His foe; but what testimony is doubted, when an enemy proclaims it? "I, once the persecutor, now preach the glad tidings of the Resurrection."
22. Many are the witnesses of the Saviour's resurrection.— The night, and the light of the full moon, (for that night was the sixteenth';) and the rock of the sepulchre which received
Him.
The stone also shall rise up against the face of the Jews, for it saw the Lord; even the stone which was then vid. =: rolled away, itself testifies of the Resurrection, lying there ideas. this day. The Angels of God who were present testified of the Resurrection of the Only-begotten.
Peter and John, and Thomas, and the rest of the Apostles; some of whom ran to the sepulchre, and saw the burial-clothes, in which He was wrapped before, lying there after the Resurrection; and others handled His hands and His feet, and beheld the prints of the nails; and all together enjoyed that salutary Breath, John90, and were counted worthy to forgive sins in the power of the za.
Holy Ghost. Women too were witnesses, those who held His feet, and who beheld the mighty earthquake, and the radiance of the Angel who stood by. And the linen clothes which £ On the question of the days of the well's Dissertations, vol. iii. Diss. 4. month Nisan on which the Crucifixion where passages from the Fathers on the and Resurrection took place, vid. Gressubject are ght together.
Witnesses to our Lord's Resurrection.
Lecr. were rolled about Him, and which He left when He rose ;— XIV: the soldiers, and the money given to them ;—the spot itself also, yet to be seen ;—and the house of this holy Church, which out of his loving affection to Christ, was by the Emperor
Constantine of blessed memory, both built, and beautified as thou seest, 23. A witness of the resurrection of Jesus is Tabitha also, who was in His name raised from the dead ; for how shall we disbelieve that Christ is risen, when even His Name has vid. sup.Taised the dead?
The sea also bears witness to the resur17—20. rection of Jesus, as thou hast heard before.
The draught of fishes also testifies, and the fire of coals and the fish laid thereon.
Peter also bears witness, who had erst denied Him thrice, and who then thrice confessed Him; and was comwaré. tnanded to feed His spiritual sheep.
To this day stands Mount Olivet, still to the eyes of the faithful all but displaying Him mounting on a cloud, and the heavenly gate of His ascension.
For He descended from heaven to Bethlehem, but to heaven He ascended from the Mount of Olives ; at the former place beginning His conflicts for men, but in the latter, crowned after them.
Thou hast therefore many witnesses; thou hast this very place of the Resurrection; thou hast also the place of the Ascension towards the east ; thou hast also for witnesses, the Angels which then bore witness; and the cloud on which He went up, and the disciples who came down from that place.
(18.) 24. It follows in course, in teaching the Faith, to speak of ¢xesthe Ascension; but the grace of God has so ordered it, that eae thou heard most fully concerning it, as far as our weakness sas' eiallowed, yesterday, on the Lord's day; since, by the prosmmiar vi dence of divine grace, the course of the Lessons in Church, included the account of our Saviour's going up into the heavens; and though what was then said was spoken for the sake of all, and for the united body of the faithful, yet was it especially for thy sake.
Now I ask, didst thou attend to what was said? Thou knowest that the words which come next in the Creed teach thee to believe in Him " who rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father."
Now I suppose that thou certainly rememberest the exposition ; yet I will nowalso cursorily
Prophecies of our Lord's Ascension.
put thee in mind of what was then said.
Remember what is distinctly written in the Psalms, God ts gone up with a shout ; Ps.47,5. remember that the divine Powers also said to one another,
Lift up your gates, ye Princes, and the rest ; remember also Pe.24,7. the Psalm which says, Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast aden led captivity captive ; remember the Prophet who says, Who 18S0as buildeth His ascension unto heaven ; and the other particulars neg mentioned yesterday with a view to the gainsaying of the (™#"8-)
Jews.
25. For when they gainsay the ascension of the Saviour, as being impossible, remember the account of the carrying away of Habakkuk: for if Habakkuk was transported by the Bel and _ Angel, being carried by the hair of his head, much rather 33n0 was the Lord of both Prophets and Angels, powerful with His ° Dan. own strength to mount on a cloud from the Mount of Olives sept. _ into the Heavens.
It is well to bear in mind wonders like to this, but reserve thou the preeminence for the Lord, the Worker of wonders; for the others were borne up, but He bears up all things.
Remember that Enoch was translated; but Jesus ascended: remember what was said yesterday concerning Elias, that Elias was taken up in a chariot of vid.2 fire ; but that the chariots of Christ are twenty thousand, Kin8** even thousands of Angels: and that Elias was taken up, Pe. 68, towards the east of Jordan; but that Christ ascended at}? the east of the brook Cedron: and that Elias went as into2 Kings heaven; but Jesus, into heaven: and that Elias said that 34. a double portion in the Holy Spirit should be given to his disciple ; but that Christ granted to His own disciples so great enjoyment of the grace of the Holy Ghost, as not only to have it in themselves, but also, by the laying on of their hands, to impart the fellowship of it to them who believed.
26. And when thou art thus wrestling against the Jews, (14.) after thou hast worsted them by parallel instances, then come further to the preeminence of the Saviour's glory.
For they were servants, but He the Son of God.
And this will remind thee of His preeminence, that the servant of Christ was caught up to the third heaven.
For if Elias attained as far as the first heaven, but Paul as far as the third, the latter has doubtless obtained a more honourable dignity.
Be not ashamed of thine Apostles; they are not inferior to
180 The Apostles more highly favoured than the Prophets.
Moses, or behind the Prophets ; but they are noble with the '-noble, yea, than the noble yet more noble.
For Elias truly was taken up into heaven; but Peter has the keys of the Lect.
» kingdom of heaven, having received the words, Whatsoever Mat.16
9. thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.
Elias was taken up only to heaven; but Paul both into heaven, "and into paradise ; (for it behoved the disciples of Jesus to " oF receive more manifold grace ;) and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
But Paul descended again from above, not because he was unworthy to abide in the third heaven, but in order that after having enjoyed things above man's reach, and descended in honour, and having preached Christ, and died for His sake, he might in addition receive the crown of martyrdom. I pass over the rest of this argument, as I went through it yesterday in the Lord's day service; for with understanding hearers, a recapitulation is sufficient for instruction. bn) vie / i og.
(15.) 27. And remember also what I have often said concerning the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father; because that comes next in the Creed, thus, ' And who is ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father.'
Let us not curiously pry into what is properly meant by the throne ; for it is incomprehensible: nor endure those who falsely say, that it was after His Cross and Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, that the Son began to sit on the right hand of the Father*.
For the Son gained not His throne by advancement; but from the time that He is, (and He is ever begotten,) He also sitteth together with the Father.
And this throne the Prophet Esaias having beheld before the incarnate coming of the Saviour, says, J saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the rest.
For the Father no 'man hath seen at any time, and He who then appeared to Ps.93,2. the Prophet was the Son. And the Psalmist says, Thy throne in wee: news.
~~ eng isodguev absles.
Iz. 6, 1 ts established of old; Thou art from everlasting.
But though many are the testimonies on this point, yet because of the lateness of the time, we will content ourselves only with these.
28. Our present business is to remind you of a few out of much which I said concerning the Son's sitting at the right
& The Paulianiste.
Prophecies concerning our Lord's sitting at God's right hand. 181 hand of the Father.
For the hundred and ninth Psalm says plainly, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right Ps. 110, hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.
And the Saviour, confirming in the Gospel what is here said, says that David spake not these things of himself, but by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, saying, How then doth David in ther a spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord,*
Sit Thou on My right hand, and the rest.
And in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter on the day of Pentecost standing with the Eleven, and discoursing to the Israelites, has in very words Acts 2, cited this testimony from the hundred and ninth Psalm.
% 29. A few other testimonies must also be suggested concerning the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father.
In the Gospel according to Matthew it is written, NevertheMat.6, less, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man er sitting on the right hand of power, and the rest.
And following this the Apostle Peter also says, By the Resurrection of] 1 Fac, Jesus Christ, who is gone into heaven, and is on the right™ hand of God.
And the Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, says, It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Rom. 8, who is even at the right hand of God.
And charging the * Ephesians, he thus speaks, According to the working of His Eph. 1, mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised '*- *° Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand; and the rest.
And he thus taught the Colossians, If ye then be Col. 8,° risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
° Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
And in the Epistle to the Hebrews he says, When He had purged our sins, He Heb.1, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
And* again, But unto which of the Angels said He at any time, ver. 13.
Sit thou at My right hand, until I make thine enemtes thy Jootstool? And again, But this Man, after He had offered Heb.10, one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down on the right hand of ~ God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made
His footstool. And again, Looking unio Jesus, the Author Heb. 12, and Finisher of our faith ; who for the joy that was set before™
Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set dawn on the right hand of the throne of God.
$0. And though there are many other texts concerning the session of the Only-begotten on the right hand of God, yet
Exhortation and Blessing.
Lect. let these suffice us at present; with a repetition of my _X1V. remark, that it was not after His coming in the flesh that He obtained the dignity of this seat; no, for even before all ages, the Only-begotten Son of God, who is our Lord Jesus, ever has the throne on the right hand of the Father.
Now may He Himself, the God of all, who is Father of Christ, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down, and ascended, and sitteth together with the Father, watch over your souls; keep unshaken and unchanged your hope in Him who rose again; raise you together with Him from your dead sins, to His
1 Thess. heavenly gift; count you worthy to be caught up in the pf clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, in His fitting time; and, until that time arrive of His glorious second advent, write all your names in the Book of the living, and having written them, never blot them out.
(For many, those who fall away, have their names blotted out.) And may He grant to all of you to believe on Him who rose again, and to look for Him who is gone up, and is to come again, (to come, but not from the earth; for be on your guard, O man, because of the deceivers who are to come ;) who sitteth on high, and is here present
Col. 2, together with us, beholding the order of each, and the stede fasiness of his faith.
For think not that because He is absent in the flesh, He is therefore absent also in the Spirit.
He is here present in the midst of us, listening to what Ps.7,9.18 said of Him, and beholding what is in thy mind, and Rev. 2, 'rying the reins and the hearts ;—who also is now ready to 33. present those who are coming to Baptism, and all of you, in 1s.8,18. the Holy Ghost to the Father, and to say, Behold, I and the Heb. 2, Children whom God hath given Me :—To whom be glory for 13. ever.
Amen.