December 7, 2025 – Second Sunday of Advent

Christ would rise from Mary as a flower rises from a stem ( Jerome). By the fruit of the root he will graft us onto his tree (Ephrem). The call of the Gentiles came at the predicted birth of Christ (Eusebius). Christians should not concern themselves with crowns of flowers, because theirs is the Flower of Jesse Tertullian). Christ derives his human existence from Jesse and David through Mary the virgin (Tertullian, Novatian, Aphrahat, Gregory of Elvira, Ephrem, Ambrose, Chromatius, Bede). At his second coming Christ will possesses one staff from the Gentiles and another staff from the descendants of Jesse (Aphrahat). Jesus’ only human lineage was from David, the son of Jesse, through the Virgin (Ephrem). Christ had to be born in Nazareth because he was the son of a branch, or scepter (Ephrem, Bede). Christ is the flower who pours out a fragrance in the world (Ambrose). From the root of Jesse has come pardon to the captives ( Jerome). The gospel found in the New Testament was hidden in the root of the Old Testament (Augustine). Christ’s birth was without the involvement of any seed (Quodvultdeus). Prophetic predictions were no longer needed after Christ because the gifts of the Spirit came to fruition in him ( Justin Martyr). After the resurrection, the Spirit was continually with the Lord’s followers (Novatian). The spirit of fear leads to the spirit of wisdom (Ambrose, Augustine). The Holy Spirit is the river that waters the lands (Ambrose). The number seven denotes the sevenfold work of the one Spirit of God (Augustine, Cassiodorus, Orosius). The seven lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed to believers (Gregory the Great, Bede). The Holy Spirit filled Jesus (Faustus of Riez). As Christ is the angel of great counsel, so too is the Holy Spirit the spirit of counsel (Ambrose). The sevenfold operation of the Holy Spirit is similar to Jesus’ beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Faith comes from mercy, not by merit (Augustine). The fullness of the spirit, not known even by the saints (Bede), permanently possesses the soul whom it has seized ( John Cassian). The Spirit is one, but his activities or “spirits” (Gregory of Nazianzus) are diverse (Cyril of Jerusalem). Christ is the fountainhead of the Spirit (Novatian). Christ judges the rich and poor equally (Cyril of Jerusalem, Bede). The Spirit and the two-edged sword proceed from Christ’s mouth (Fulgentius, Victorinus). Christians are called to gird up their minds (Athanasius). The belt is spiritual, not physical (Chrysostom). Indeed, it represents the word of God (Eusebius). Different types of people become one in the church ( Jerome). The wolf and the lamb represent present history and the future after the resurrection (Irenaeus). The gospel transforms even savage people into gentle followers of Christ (Eusebius). The lion learns to be docile from the ox and lamb ( Jerome, Chrysostom). Jews and Gentiles were joined together by Christ in one covenant ( Jerome). The church will be diverse, comprising the barbarian and the learned (Chrysostom, Gregory the Great). Kings, peasants and the poor all gather around the one table of Christ (Quodvultdeus). God will recreate the world in the innocent condition it was in before the Fall (Gregory of Elvira). In the church, those who have had their sins cleansed are compared with the innocent (Ambrose). The enemy of the Christian is a carnal life represented by straw (Gregory the Great). Even little children can overcome the enemy by the power of God (Gregory the Great, Tertullian). The incarnation was Christ putting his hand into the snake’s den (Ambrose). The gospel has spread throughout the whole world (Athanasius, Chrysostom). Scripture is the sea carrying believers to their eternal homeland (Gregory the Great).

Mary Is from the Root of Jesse. Jerome: Until the beginning of the vision, or the burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw, his entire prophecy was about Christ, a prophecy that we want to explain piecemeal lest the ideas and discussions thereof together confuse the reader’s memory. The Jews interpreted the branch and the flower from the root of Jesse to be the Lord himself because the power of his governance is demonstrated in the branch and his beauty in the flower. But we understand the branch from the root of Jesse to be the holy Virgin Mary, who had no shoot connatural to herself. About her we read above: “Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son.” And the flower is the Lord our Savior, who said in the Song of Songs, “I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys.” In place of “root,” which only the Septuagint translated, the Hebrew text has geza, which Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotus interpret as kormon, that is, “stem.” And they translated “flower,” which the Hebrew text calls neser, as “bud” to show that after a long time in Babylonian captivity, no longer possessing any glory from the sprout of the old kingdom of David, Christ would rise from Mary as though from her stem. The educated of the Hebrews believe that what all the ecclesiastics sought in the Gospel of Matthew but could not find, where it was written “Because he will be called a Nazarene,” was taken from this place. But it should be noted that ne4s9er was written here with the [Hebrew] letter s9ade [c], the peculiar sound of which— somewhere between z and s—the Latin language does not express. _{Commentary on Isaiah 4.11.1-3} Grafting onto His Tree. Ephrem the Syrian: By the fruit of the root he will graft us onto his tree. _{Hymns on the Nativity 3.17} The Call of the Gentiles. Eusebius of Caesarea: This shows in an obvious way that the birth of Christ would be from the root of Jesse, who was the father of David. This points toward the birth which the Gentiles would follow, having been prophetically announced by way of signs. _{Proof of the Gospel 2.3} Seed of Jesse. Eusebius of Caesarea: It is prophesied that one will come forth of the seed of Jesse, that is to say, of David, many years after the death of both David and Solomon. _{Proof of the Gospel 7.3} A Flower for the Spirit’s Grace. Tertullian: In him dwelt the fullness of the Spirit; therefore I acknowledge him to be “the rod of the stem of Jesse.” His blooming flower shall be my Christ, upon whom has rested, according to Isaiah, “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of the Lord.” Now to no man, except Christ, would this diversity of spiritual proofs suitably apply. He is indeed like a flower for the Spirit’s grace, reckoned indeed of the stem of Jesse but thence to derive his descent through Mary. _{Against Marcion 3.17} A Virgin Shall Conceive. Novatian: The same rule of truth teaches us to believe, after the Father, also on the Son of God, Christ Jesus, the Lord our God, but the Son of God—of that God who is both one and alone, namely, the Founder of all things, as already has been expressed above. For this Jesus Christ, I will once more say, the Son of this God, we read of as having been promised in the Old Testament and we observe to be manifested in the New, fulfilling the shadows and figures of the Old Testament types, being the embodiment of truth. For as well the ancient prophecies as the Gospels testify him to be the son of Abraham and the son of David. Genesis itself anticipates him when it says, “ To you will I give it, and to your seed.” He is spoken of when Scripture shows how a man wrestled with Jacob; he too, when it says, “ There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a leader from between his thighs, until he shall come to whom it has been promised; and he shall be the expectation of the nations.” He is spoken of by Moses when he says, “Provide another whom you may send.” He is again spoken of by the same, when he [Moses] testifies, saying, “A prophet will God raise up to you from your brothers; listen to him as if to me.” [Moses] bears witness of him, finally, when he says, “You shall see your life hanging in doubt night and day, and you shall not believe him.” Isaiah also refers to him: “ There shall go forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up from his root.” The same also when he says, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” _{On the Trinity 9} Two Camps. Aphrahat: Jacob also prayed when he returned back from Laban, and he was rescued from the hands of his brother, Esau. He prayed as follows, confessing and saying, “With my staff have I crossed this river Jordan, and now I have become two camps.” Wondrous symbol of our Savior! When our Lord first came, the staff left the stem of Jesse, just like Jacob’s staff; and when he returns from his Father’s house at his second coming, he goes back to him with two camps, one from the people [Israel], the other from the peoples [nations]—just like Jacob who returned to his father Isaac with two camps. _{Demonstration 4.6} From His Roots. Gregory of Elvira: Just as when a lion is born from a lion, the nature is not changed but is shown to have a common source, so also one who is born from God cannot be anything other than God. But he calls him a lion’s cub for the purpose of signifying the Son. Indeed, he adds “from a sprout, my son, you have gone up,” because he wants to show us that Christ came from the sprout of Judah, as it was also said through the prophet Isaiah: “there will come forth a rod [virga] out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will go up from his root.” This Jesse was the father of David, from whose root, that is, source, the Virgin Mary [maria virgo] was born. That Isaiah refers to a “rod” [virga] and to a “flower” from the rod suggests that the flower which is Christ would be born from a virgin [virgine]. _{Origen’s Tractate on the Books of Holy Scripture 6.35-36} Not from Joseph. Ephrem the Syrian: He is the son of Mary, however, and not the son of Joseph. He did not appear in the body from any other lineage, except from David. _{Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 26} Lily of the Valley. Ambrose: The root of Jesse the patriarch is the family of the Jews, Mary is the rod, Christ the flower of Mary, who, about to spread the good odor of faith throughout the whole world, budded forth from a virgin womb, as he himself said: “I am the flower of the plain, a lily of the valley.” _{On the Holy Spirit 2.5} A Flower Will Arise. Ambrose: Scripture also expresses the Son’s incarnation beautifully: “from a bud you have gone up,” for like a plant of the earth he was to be conceived in the womb of a virgin. And like a fragrant flower sent forth from the maternal bosom in the splendor of the dawn, he was to go up for the redemption of the whole world, as Isaiah says: “ There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will blossom from his root.” The root is the family of the Jews, the rod is Mary, and the flower is her Christ. It is right, therefore, that the rod which is of royal lineage from the house of David, whose flower is Christ, who vanquished the foul odor of worldly filth, poured forth the fragrance of eternal life. _{On the Patriarchs 4.19-20} The Flower of Mary. Ambrose: Also in Isaiah is it written: “There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will go up from his root.” The root is the family of the Jews, the rod is Mary, and the flower is her Christ. When he blossoms in our land, makes fragrant the field of the soul, and flourishes in his church, we can no longer fear the cold or rain, but only anticipate the day of judgment. _{Apology on David 8.43} A Virgin Branch. Chromatius of Aquileia: Elsewhere, the Holy Spirit also speaks of the Virgin about to give birth when he says, “ There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will arise from his root.” The rod from the root of Jesse signifies the Virgin Mary, who found her origins in the stem of Jesse through David. For, as the Evangelist or apostle reveals, out of the tribe of David came the Virgin Mary, from whom the flower of human flesh arose in Christ This is the rod which, having been placed in the ark of testimony to be a sign for everlasting memory, has now by a new and wonderful mystery, without moisture from the earth, brought forth the fruit of the almond. It is by this miracle that Aaron’s priesthood was confirmed. _{Tractate on Matthew 2.5} Pardon for the Captives. Jerome: The land that before brought forth thorns, hears in Isaiah the blessing: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” “You have turned away the captivity of Jacob.” The Lord has come, therefore, to proclaim pardon to captives. There is a parallel to this in another passage of Scripture: “He led captivity captive,” that is, we, who in former times had been captured by the devil to perdition, now are led away by the Savior to salvation. _{Homilies on the Psalms, Alternate Series, Psalm 84} Christ Hidden in the Root. Augustine: David was the king of Israel and the son of Jesse at a certain time in the Old Testament, when the New Testament was still hidden there in the Old, like a fruit in its root. For if you seek the fruit in its root, you will not find it. But neither would you find the fruit in the branch, unless it had first come from the root. At that time, then, the first people had come from the seed of Abraham carnally. The second people, those who belong to the New Testament, also belong to the seed of Abraham, but spiritually. Those first people who were still carnal, therefore, among whom very few prophets understood both what was to be desired from God and when to announce it publicly, foretold this future time and the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Insofar as Christ himself was born according to the flesh, he was hidden in the root, in the seed of the patriarchs, and was to be revealed at a certain time, like fruit appearing on the branch, as it is written: “A rod will bloom from the root of Jesse.” The same is true of the New Testament, which was hidden in Christ throughout those earlier times and was known only to the prophets and to a very small group of godly persons, not as the manifestation of present realities but as a revelation of future events. For what does it mean, brothers, if I can remind you of one specific event, that Abraham, sending his faithful servant to betroth a wife to his only son, makes him swear to him and in the oath says to him, “Put your hand under my thigh and swear”? What was in the thigh of Abraham upon which the man put his hand and swore? What was there, except what was then promised to him: “in your seed, all the peoples will be blessed”? The thigh signifies the flesh. From the flesh of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob and, without naming everyone, through Mary, came our Lord Jesus Christ. _{Explanations of the Psalms 72.1} A Branch Will Bear Fruit. Quodvultdeus: We believe, therefore, in the immortal and invisible God, not in him whom the infidels have fashioned to be God, who is both an adulterer and a thunderer, but in the true God, Creator and Ruler of all the world. We also hold to Jesus Christ his Son, formerly promised through the prophets, and we know that the promise as been fulfilled. Yet, because we were not present when it was fulfilled, we are also commanded to believe it. The Jews were present then, however, from whose race the Savior himself chose apostles through whom the faith has reached us. As a member of the very race in which and from which he deigned to be born, the prophet Isaiah predicted a long time ago: “Behold, a virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ ”; And elsewhere [we read]: “There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will go up from his root.” The branch signifies the Virgin Mary, and the flower of the rod represents the Son of the Virgin, the Lord Jesus Christ. Before these things took place, the Jews read about it and did not understand. . . . Christ was born from a virgin like a flower from a branch, without the involvement of any seed. He was born a small infant and a great king. _{On the Creed 2.3.14-2.4.6} Conception in Nazareth. Bede: The prophet Isaiah bears witness that our Redeemer had to be conceived in Nazareth when he says, “A nazareus will ascend from his root.” The term nazareus has the meaning of “flower” or “clean.” The Son of God made incarnate for us can properly be named by this term, both because he adopted the nature of a human being clean from all vices and because in him the font and origin of spiritual fruits came forth for all believers, since to them he both pointed out examples and granted the fruits of living properly and blessedly. _{Homilies on the Gospels 1.6} From the Stock of Jesse. Bede: Now [Mary] saw that she herself, who had arisen from the stock of Jesse, had conceived God’s Son of the Holy Spirit. _{Homilies on the Gospels 1.7} History and Allegory. Bede: For it is history when something is reported as having been done or said in plain discourse according to the letter; for example, the people of Israel, after they had been delivered from Egypt, are said to have made a tabernacle for the Lord in the wilderness. It is allegory when the presence of Christ and the sacraments of the church are designated by mystical words or things; by words, certainly, as when Isaiah says, “A shoot [virga] shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root,” which is to say openly, “The Virgin Mary will be born from the stock of David, and Christ will proceed from his lineage”; and by things, as when the people delivered from Egyptian slavery through the blood of the lamb signifies the church freed from the devil’s domination by the passion of Christ. _{On the Tabernacle 1.6} The Root and the Spirit. Bede: The seven lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which remain in our Lord and Redeemer forever and are distributed in his members (that is, in all the elect) according to his will. Therefore the seven lamps are set upon the lampstand because upon our Redeemer, the firstborn “from the root of Jesse,” rested “the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and of godliness,” and he was filled “with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.” As he himself also says through the same prophet, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me.” _{On the Tabernacle 1.9} The Source of All Blessing. Bede: The prophet Isaiah testified that it was necessary that our Redeemer be conceived in Nazareth when he said, “There will come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a nazareus will go up from his root.” Nazareus can be translated either as “flower” or as “pure.” The Son of God who was made flesh for us can rightly be called by these names because he assumed a human nature which was pure of every vice and because he is the font and source of spiritual fruit for all who believe in him, to whom he also both showed an example and granted the gift of righteous and blessed living. _{Homilies on the Gospels 1.6}

The Spirit Rested. Justin Martyr: The Scriptures state that these gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon him, not as though he were in need of them but as though they were about to rest upon him, that is, to come to an end with him, so that there would be no more prophets among [his] people as of old. _{Dialogue with Trypho 87} The Spirit of the Lord. Novatian: Moreover, the apostle Paul says, “Having the same Spirit; as it is written, ‘I believed, and therefore have I spoken’; we also believe, and therefore speak.” He is therefore one and the same Spirit who was in the prophets and apostles, except that in the former he was occasional, in the latter always. But in the former not as being always in them, in the latter as abiding always in them; and in the former distributed with reserve, in the latter entirely poured out; in the former given sparingly, in the latter liberally bestowed; not yet manifested before the Lord’s resurrection, but conferred after the resurrection. For, he said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.” And, “When he, the Advocate, shall come, whom I shall send to you from my Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from my Father.” And, “If I do not go away, that Advocate shall not come to you; but if I go away, I will send him to you.” And, “When the Spirit of truth shall come, he will direct you into all the truth.” And because the Lord was about to depart to the heavens, he gave the Paraclete out of necessity to the disciples; so as not to leave them in any degree orphans, which was hardly desirable, and forsake them without an advocate and some kind of protector.
For this is he who strengthened their hearts and minds, who marked out the Gospel sacraments, who was in them the enlightener of divine things; and they being strengthened, feared, for the sake of the Lord’s name, neither dungeons nor chains, nay, even trod under foot the very powers of the world and its tortures. For they were henceforth armed and strengthened by the same Spirit, having in themselves the gifts which this same Spirit distributes and appropriates to the church, the spouse of Christ, as her ornaments. This is he who places prophets in the church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works, often discrimination of spirits, affords powers of government, suggests counsels and orders and arranges whatever other gifts there are of charismata. . . . This is he who, after the manner of a dove, when our Lord was baptized, came and abode upon him, dwelling in Christ full and entire, and not maimed in any measure or portion; but with his whole overflow copiously distributed and sent forth, so that from him others might receive some enjoyment of his graces: the source of the wholeness of the Holy Spirit remaining in Christ, so that from him might be drawn streams of gifts and works, while the Holy Spirit dwelt richly in Christ. For truly Isaiah, prophesying this, said, “And the Spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and piety; and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him.” This selfsame thing also he said in the person of the Lord himself, in another place. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because he has anointed me, he has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor.” _{On the Trinity 29} The Fear of the Lord. Ambrose: The fear of the righteous, therefore, is the complete, golden foundation of prudence. It is also a tribunal for the teaching of Christ and for the apostolic word. The word of the saints is a good likeness of the same: an image of truth, as it were. See how the fear of the saints is made to be their golden foundation. Read Isaiah and see how he elevates fear to make it blameless and good: “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of holy fear.” He elevates fear that he might possess what can follow from it, for holy fear is shaped by wisdom, instructed by understanding, directed by counsel, empowered by strength, ruled by knowledge and adorned with piety. Take up the fear of the Lord. Irrational and foolish fear belongs to the “fighting without and fear within” which would have afflicted Paul, had he not taken the Lord for his consolation. _{Exposition of Psalm 118 5.39} The Seven Gifts of the Spirit. Ambrose: So, then, the Holy Spirit is the river, and the abundant river, which according to the Hebrews flowed from Jesus in the lands, as we have received it prophesied by the mouth of Isaiah. This is the great river that flows always and never fails. And not only a river, but also one of copious stream and overflowing greatness, as also David said: “The stream of the river makes glad the city of God.” For neither is that city, the heavenly Jerusalem, watered by the channel of any earthly river, but that Holy Spirit, proceeding from the fount of life, by a short draught of whom we are satiated, seems to flow more abundantly among those celestial thrones, dominions and powers, angels and archangels, rushing in the full course of the seven virtues of the Spirit. For if a river rising above its banks overflows, how much more does the Spirit, rising above every creature, when he touches the low-lying fields of our minds, as it were, make glad that heavenly nature of the creatures with the larger fertility of his sanctification. And let it not trouble you that either here it is said “rivers” or elsewhere “seven Spirits,” for by the sanctification of these seven gifts of the Spirit, as Isaiah said, is signified the fullness of all virtue; the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of God. One, then is the river, but many the channels of the gifts of the Spirit. This river, then, goes forth from the fount of life. _{On the Holy Spirit 1.16} Faith and Mercy. Augustine: A person would not have wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God unless, according to the prophet’s words, he had received “the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, of counsel and of fortitude, of knowledge and of godliness, and of fear of God.” . . . And a person would not have power and love and sobriety, except by receiving the Spirit of whom the apostle speaks: “We have not received the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sobriety.” So also one would not have faith unless he received the spirit of faith of which the same apostle says: “But having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, ‘I believed, therefore I have spoken,’ we also believe therefore we speak also.” Thus he shows very plainly that faith is not received because of merit but by the mercy of him who has mercy on whom he will, when he says of himself: “I have obtained mercy to be faithful.” _{Letter 194} The Ladder of Ascent and Descent. Augustine: For if Paul had said only “Jesus Christ,” he would have included Jesus Christ according to his divinity, according to his being the Word who was with God, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Yet children cannot receive what is said in this manner. How, therefore, do they who are fed milk receive it? “Jesus Christ,” he said, “and him crucified.” Feed upon what he did for you, and you will grow to know him as he is. Some ascend the ladder, therefore, and some descend on it. Who are those that ascend? They who make progress toward the knowledge of spiritual realities. Who are those that descend? They who, although enjoying as great a knowledge of spiritual realities as is possible for humans, nevertheless descend to the level of children to speak of such things that children can understand, so that those who had been nourished with milk might be made fit and strong enough to receive spiritual food. Isaiah, brothers, was himself among those who descended to us, for the steps upon which he descended are obvious. In reference to the Holy Spirit, he said “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and fortitude, of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God rested upon him,” he began from wisdom and descended toward fear. See how the teacher descended from wisdom toward fear; you who learn, if you are to make progress, must ascend from fear to wisdom. For it is written, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Listen, therefore, to the psalms. _{Explanations of the Psalms 119.2} Seven and the Spirit. Augustine: The Holy Spirit is denoted in Scripture principally by the number seven, whether in Isaiah or in the Apocalypse, where the seven spirits of God are referenced most clearly under the sevenfold operation of one and the same Spirit. The Spirit’s sevenfold operation is also indicated through the prophet Isaiah: “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and fortitude, of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God rested upon him.” This fear of the Lord should be understood as pure, enduring forever. _{Explanations of the Psalms 150.1} Add Seven to Ten. Augustine: “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” That the Holy Spirit is suggested by the number seven anybody knows who can read. But listen anyway, those of you who read carelessly, or perhaps cannot read. This is how God presents the Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit,” he says, “of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and fortitude, of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God.” This is the sevenfold Spirit who is also called down upon the newly baptized. The law is the Decalogue; the Ten Commandments, you see, were written on tablets, but stone ones still, because of the stubborn hardness of the Jews. After the Spirit came, what does the apostle say? “You yourselves are our letter, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart.” Take away the Spirit, the letter kills, because it finds the sinner guilty, doesn’t set him free. That’s why the apostle says, “For we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as coming from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of the new covenant, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit brings to life.” So add seven to ten, if you wish to fulfill all justice. When you are commanded by the law to do something, ask the Spirit to help you. _{Sermon 229m.2} Distinguish Between Your Fears. Augustine: Now in respect of this passage of the apostle, we must be on our guard against supposing that we have not received the spirit of the fear of God, which is undoubtedly a great gift of God, and concerning which the prophet Isaiah says, “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon you, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of the Lord.” It is not the fear with which Peter denied Christ that we have received the spirit of, but that fear concerning which Christ himself says, “Fear him who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell; yes, I say to you, ‘Fear him.’ ” This, indeed, he said, lest we should deny him from the same fear which shook Peter; for such cowardice he plainly wished to be removed from us when he, in the preceding passage, said, “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” It is not of this fear that we have received the spirit, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. _{On Grace and Free Will 39} Seven Lamps, Seven Gifts. Bede: The seven lamps are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which remain in our Lord and Redeemer forever and are distributed in his members (that is, in all the elect) according to his will. _{On the Tabernacle 1.9} Recognize the Spirit’s Activities. Cassiodorus: As we said earlier, the seven-formed Spirit has been denoted here, as you easily infer by calculation and recognize by his activity. But we must regard this Holy Spirit as one and the same as him whose virtues are known by Isaiah’s witness to be the same seven which we have mentioned: the Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of courage, of knowledge, of piety, of fear of the Lord; and he distributes these to each as he wills. It should not trouble you that everywhere Isaiah ascribes the words to the voice of the Holy Spirit, for clearly “voice” is associated with the whole Trinity. We read of the Father’s voice when he says, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” and again of the Son’s voice in the words “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles we read of the Holy Spirit: “Separate for me Paul and Barnabas, for the work to which I have called them.” _{Exposition of the Psalms 28.9} Apocalyptic Connections. Paulus Orosius: Scripture testifies that “a great and strong angel exclaimed in heaven: Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seal? No one was able to open the book or to look at it, neither in heaven nor on earth nor under the earth.” John wept and lamented that none of all the rational creatures in the universe was found worthy to open the book to look at it. One of the elders consoled John as he wept and said, “Do not cry, John. Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, was victorious in opening the book and breaking its seal.” What, I ask, is this book which no one was ever able to receive from the hand of the living, except “he who walks without sin and does justice”? It is not enough that he walk without sin or that he be a lamb, but he must be a slain lamb who crowned purity with the witness of the passion of life, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God. These undoubtedly are “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.” What, therefore, is this book? It is the book of judgment, I believe. For “the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.” _{Defense Against the Pelagians 15.5-10} Seven Children. Gregory the Great: Indeed, seven children are born to us when, through the conception of a good thought, seven virtues of the Holy Spirit arise within us. The prophet enumerates these interior offspring of the Spirit’s impregnation of the mind when he says, “the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him.” _{Morals on the Book of Job 1.1.27} Seven Steps. Gregory the Great: There are seven steps to the gate because the way to heavenly life is opened to us through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah locates this sevenfold grace in our Head himself, or in his body which we are: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him.” He is speaking here from the perspective of heaven, clearly numbering the steps in descending rather than ascending order: wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, piety and fear. Because it is written, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” the way consists beyond doubt in ascending from fear to wisdom, not in regressing from wisdom to fear, for wisdom surely has perfect charity. It is also written: “Perfect charity casts out fear.” The prophet, therefore, because he reasoned from heavenly realities to the lower things, began with wisdom and descended toward fear. We, however, who strive from the earthly toward the heavenly, enumerate the same steps in the ascending order to enable us to make progress from fear to wisdom. In our minds, then, the first step on the way to heaven is the fear of the Lord, the second godliness, the third knowledge, the fourth strength, the fifth counsel, the sixth understanding, and the seventh wisdom. For the fear of the Lord is in the mind. But what kind of fear is it if it is not accompanied by godliness? _{Homilies on Ezekiel 2.7.7} Ten and Seven. Gregory the Great: You know that in the Old Testament every work is prescribed by the Ten Commandments, but in the New Testament the power of the same work is given to the increased number of faithful through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. The prophet foretells this when he speaks of “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and devotion, and he will fill him with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.” A person acquires the ability to work in this Spirit who acknowledges faith in the Trinity, believing that Father and Son and the same Holy Spirit are one power and confessing that they are of one substance. Because there are seven commandments, given, as I have said, more widely by the New Testament, and ten given by the Old Testament, all of our power and work can be fully comprised by ten and seven. _{Forty Gospel Homilies 24} The Spirit of the Lord. Bede: Only of the mediator between God and humanity, the man Jesus Christ, can it be said truthfully, “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him.” Each of the saints, on the other hand, receives not the fullness of his Spirit but receives from his fullness only as the Spirit grants it, for “to one is given through the Spirit a word of wisdom, and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healing in the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, to another the interpretation of words. One and the same Spirit operates all of these gifts, dividing to each person as he wills.” _{Homilies on the Gospels 1.2} Upon the Lord Jesus. Faustus of Riez: We read in Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord descended upon the Lord Jesus, “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety.” It is in reference to this same Spirit of the Lord who descended upon the Savior in a holy outpouring that the Son said through Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” and that Matthew the Evangelist said, “Behold, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending upon him like a dove.” Luke the Evangelist, moreover, clearly teaches that the Spirit of God whom the Savior received in baptism is the Holy Spirit: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan.” _{Two Books on the Holy Spirit 1.7} One in Counsel. Ambrose: As the Son is the Angel of great counsel, so, too, is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Counsel, that you may know that the Counsel of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is one. Counsel, not concerning any doubtful matters, but concerning those foreknown and determined. _{Letter 50} The Sermon on the Mount and Isaiah. Augustine: It seems to me, therefore, that the sevenfold operation of the Holy Spirit, of which Isaiah speaks, coincides with these stages and maxims. However, the order is different. In Isaiah, the enumeration begins from the higher, while here it begins from the lower; in the former, it starts from wisdom and ends at the fear of God. But “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Therefore, if we ascend step by step, as it were, while we enumerate, the first grade is the love of God; the second is piety; the third is knowledge; the fourth is fortitude; the fifth is counsel; the sixth is understanding; the seventh is wisdom. The fear of God coincides with the humble, of whom it is here said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” _{Sermon on the Mount 1.11} Faith Comes from Mercy. Augustine: If we say that faith goes before and that the merit of grace is in it, what merit does a man have before faith so as to receive faith? For, what has he that he has not received? And if he has received it, why does he glory as if he had not received it? Just as a man would not have wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God unless, according to the prophet’s words, he had received “the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, of counsel and of power, of knowledge and of godliness, and of fear of God.” In the same way, he would not have power and love and sobriety, except by receiving the Spirit of whom the apostle speaks: “We have not received the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sobriety.” So also he would not have faith unless he received the spirit of faith of which the same apostle says, “But having the same spirit of faith, as it is written: ‘I believed for which cause I have spoken,’ we also believe for which cause we also speak.” Thus he shows very plainly that faith is not received because of merit but by the mercy of him who has mercy on whom he will, when he says of himself: “I have obtained mercy to be faithful.” _{Letter 194} The Fullness of His Spirit. Bede: In truth, not all the saints receive the fullness of his Spirit, but they receive from his fullness, insofar as he grants it. _{Homilies on the Gospels 1.2} The Spirit Shall Fill Him. John Cassian: About this text you should first take care to observe that Isaiah does not say that “the spirit of fear shall rest upon him” but “shall fill him.” The power of it is so abundant that if once it possesses a person in its strength, it possesses his mind to the exclusion of all else. Linked with the charity that never fails, it fills and permanently possesses the soul whom it has seized, and it cannot be lessened by the temptations of any this-worldly happiness. _{Conference 11.13} One and Indivisible. Cyril of Jerusalem: Isaiah signifies that the Spirit was indeed one and indivisible, but his operations diverse. _{Catechetical Lectures 16.30} Activities of the Spirit. Gregory of Nazianzus: I think Isaiah loves to call the activities of the Spirit “spirits.” _{On Pentecost, Oration 41.3} The Fountainhead of the Spirit. Novatian: In Christ alone he dwells fully and entirely, not lacking in any measure or part; but in all his overflowing abundance dispensed and sent forth, so that other men might receive from Christ a first outpouring, as it were, of his graces. For the fountainhead of the entire Holy Spirit abides in Christ, that from him might be drawn streams of grace and wondrous deeds because the Holy Spirit dwells richly in Christ. _{On the Trinity 29.11}

The Impartial Judge. Cyril of Jerusalem: He [Christ] does not esteem the learned above the simple, nor the rich above the poor. _{Catechetical Lectures 15.23} Justice for the Poor. Bede: Hence, when Isaiah said “he will judge the poor with justice,” he was without doubt speaking of those very persons to whom it was said, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” _{Four Books on 1 Samuel 1.7.6} The Breath of His Mouth. Fulgentius of Ruspe: That the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son, the prophetic and apostolic teaching shows us. So Isaiah says concerning the Son, “He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” Concerning him the apostle also says, “Whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth.” The one Son of God himself, showing who the Spirit of his mouth is, after his resurrection, breathing on his disciples, says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” “From the mouth,” indeed, of the Lord Jesus himself, says John in the Apocalypse, “a sharp, two-edged word came forth.” The very Spirit of his mouth is the sword itself that comes forth from his mouth. _{To Peter on the Faith 54} The Two-Edged Sword. Victorinus of Petovium: And Paul, speaking of Antichrist to the Thessalonians, says, “Whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of his mouth.” And Isaiah says, “By the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.” This, therefore, is the two-edged sword issuing out of his mouth. _{Commentary on the Apocalypse 1.14}

The Belt About His Loins. Athanasius: At all times let us stand firm, but especially now, although many afflictions overtake us and many heretics are furious against us. Let us then, my beloved brothers, celebrate with thanksgiving the holy feast that now draws near to us, “girding up the loins of our minds,” like our Savior Jesus Christ, of whom it is written, “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” _{Festal Letter 3} Spirit Language. Chrysostom: He is not speaking of a literal, physical belt, for all the language in this passage he employs in a spiritual sense. _{Homilies on Ephesians 23} Truth and Righteousness. Eusebius of Caesarea: “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and truth the girdle of his loins.” As a king has a belt made of gold and precious stones, so in a prophetic manner, he speaks about the belt made of righteousness and truth. By the belt we may also understand the divinity of the Word, because he is righteousness, according to the apostle: “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” He is also the truth, according to Evangelist: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” The Word being the righteousness and the truth that comes from the root of Jesse, his waist [belt] points out to his attribute as king and warrior as the Word who conquers the invisible powers and hosts. _{Commentary on Isaiah 11.7}

The Peace of the People of God. Jerome: The others are easy to understand according to the vivifying spirit. For Paul the wolf, who first persecuted and lacerated the church, about whom it was said, “Benjamin is a rapacious wolf,” lived with a lamb—that is, either with Ananias, by whom he was baptized, or with the apostle Peter, to whom it was said, “Feed my lambs.” And the leopard, which first did not change its spots, once it was washed in the fountain of the Lord lay down with the kid—not the goat on the left but the one that is sacrificed at the pasch of the Lord. It is also to be noted that the lamb and the kid will not dwell and recline with the wolf and the leopard, but the wolf and the leopard will imitate the innocence of the lamb and the kid. The lion, previously most ferocious, and the sheep and the calf lingered together. We also see in the church today that the rich and the poor, the powerful and the humble, kings and peasants, remain together and are ruled in the church by small children, whom we understand to be the apostles and apostolic men, men who are unskilled in rhetoric but not in knowledge. When they are federated among themselves by the discipline of the Lord, such that their families also are united, then the saying will be implemented: “Their young will lie down together.” The lion, moreover, will not eat meat but hay, because it feeds on simple food. Observe also that the cow will not eat meat, but the lion will eat hay. I believe that “hay” in sacred Scripture is understood to be simple words, as is “wheat,” the inner marrow, the meaning which is found in the letter. And it frequently happens that secular men unacquainted with the mysteries are fed by a simple reading of the Scriptures. The infant also, who is a child with respect to evil, places his hand in the hole of the asp and demons flee from the besieged bodies of men. One who is weaned no longer takes nourishment from the milk of infants but now feeds on solid food. He puts his hand in the den of the serpent, that is, the habitation of Satan himself, and extracts him from it. Hence the apostles were given power to tread on serpents and scorpions and every strength of the enemy. And venomous beasts were previously unable to harm or to kill those who will have lived on God’s holy mountain, which means the church, about which it is said in the Gospel, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” _{Commentary on Isaiah 4.11.6-9} The Wolf and the Lamb. Chrysostom: The prophet also foretold the kinds of people from whom the church would be established. Not only the meek and the mild and the good would form the church. The wild, the inhuman and men whose ways were like those of wolves and lions and bulls would flock together with them and form one church. Hear how the prophet foretold the diversity of this flock when he said, “Then a wolf shall feed with a lamb.” And by this he showed the simplicity of the way of life the church ’s rulers would live. _{Demonstration Against the Pagans 6.8} Wild Beasts. Eusebius of Caesarea: [Isaiah] continues prophetically to show the transformation of all different races of humanity, barbarian and Greek . . . through the teaching of Christ. . . . The irrational animals and wild beasts in the passage represent the Gentiles, who are naturally like animals. One who comes from the seed of Jesse will rule over the Gentiles. This is the genealogy of our Savior and Lord, in whom the Gentiles now believe and hope. _{Proof of the Gospel 3.2} Feeding Together. Chrysostom: When he says, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the rough ways shall be made smooth,” he is signifying the exaltation of the lowly, the humiliation of the self-willed, the hardness of the law changed into easiness of faith. For it is no longer toils and labors, says he, but grace and forgiveness of sins, affording great facility of salvation. Next he states the cause of these things, saying, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God,” no longer Jews and proselytes only, but also all earth and sea and the entire human race. Because by “the crooked things” he signified our whole corrupt life, publicans, harlots, robbers, magicians, as many as having been perverted before afterwards walked in the right way: much as he himself likewise said, “Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you,” because they believed. And in other words also again the prophet declared the selfsame thing, thus saying, “Then wolves and lambs shall feed together.” For similarly here by the hills and valleys, he meant that incongruities of character are blended into one and the same evenness of self-restraint, so also there, by the characters of the brute animals indicating the different human dispositions, he again spoke of their being linked in one and the same harmony of godliness. _{Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 10.3} Wolves and Sheep. Irenaeus: I am aware that some try to refer these [prophecies] to fierce people of diverse nations and of different kinds of behavior, who have believed, and when they have believed have come to agree with the righteous. But although this is now true of various kinds of people who have come from different nations to the one conviction of the faith, nevertheless [it will also be true] in the resurrection of the just with reference to these animals. _{Against Heresies 5} The Ox and the Lion. Jerome: Not of course that the ox may learn ferocity from the lion but that the lion may learn docility from the ox. _{Letter 130.8} The Lion and the Lamb. Chrysostom: I have heard many saying, “The threats of a king are like the wrath of a lion”; being full of dejection and lamentation. What then should we say to such? That he who said, “The wolves and the lambs shall feed together; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,” will be able to convert the lion into a mild lamb. _{Homilies Concerning the Statues 3.5} A Covenant Will Be Struck. Jerome: “And I will strike for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and with what crawls on the ground; and I will destroy the bow, the sword and war from the earth; and I will make them sleep in safety.” According to the Septuagint, “And I will arrange for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and with what crawls on the ground; and I will destroy war from the earth; and I will make them live in hope.” When all talk of false religion is removed from the people who confess the Lord and, he said, when they call me “my husband,” no longer daring to cry to “Baal” (which means “my idol”), then I will strike for them a covenant and an agreement with the beasts of the field and with the birds of the sky and with what crawls on the ground. Of this moment Isaiah also speaks: “ The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf, the lion and the lamb will remain together, and a small child will lead them.” The cow and the bear will feed together and relax with their young; and the lion will eat hay like the ox, no longer desiring to eat flesh and blood at all, but enjoying its food with the pure and simple. To enable him to receive Cornelius from the Gentiles, it was revealed and commanded to Peter that he could eat any animal and that he should consider nothing to be unclean when, after being seized with thanksgiving, he later heard: “What God has purified, you must not call common.” At the coming of the Lord our Savior, therefore, after the triumph of his resurrection and ascension to the Father, two walls will be joined at the cornerstone by him who “made both one.” He called her “pitied” who was once called “not pitied,” and he called them his people who was once called “not my people.” And the bow, the sword and war will be destroyed, granting peace to all. For instruments of war are unnecessary when there is no one to wage war. Israel will be joined to the Gentiles, and what was said in Deuteronomy will be fulfilled: “Rejoice, Gentiles, with his people.” For “God is known in Judah, his name is great in Israel.” _{Commentary on Hosea 1.2.18} A Love That Reforms. Gregory the Great: For behold, we who appear clothed in a religious habit have come together from various states of life in the world for the sake of faith in the omnipotent Lord and for hearing his word. We were gathered from many kinds of iniquity into the concord of holy church to make it seen clearly that what was said through the prophet Isaiah about the promise of the church has been accomplished: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid.” For it is through the organs of holy charity that the wolf will dwell with the lamb, since those who were plunderers in the world now rest in peace with the meek and the tame. And the leopard will lie down with the kid because the person who was stained with the multitude of his sins now agrees to be humbled with the person who despises himself and confesses himself to be a sinner. Isaiah also adds, “and the calf and the lion and the sheep will remain together.” One who prepares himself as a daily sacrifice to God through a contrite heart, and another who once raged with cruelty like a lion, and yet another who remains in the simplicity of his innocence like a lamb have all come together in the folds of holy church. Behold the kind of charity that enkindles, consumes, melds and reforms such a diversity of minds as though into one species of gold. Homilies on _{Ezekiel 2.4.3} Shall Feed. Quodvultdeus: The promise will be fulfilled when kings, peasants and the poor all gather equally around the one table of Christ (believed and seen by us); according to the prophet Isaiah: “Then the wolf will dine with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the cow, the lion and the lamb will eat straw together, and a small child will feed them.” _{The Book of Promises and Predictions of God 3.39.46}

The Cow and the Lion. Gregory of Elvira: Where and when, therefore, will this blessing be accomplished except in the kingdom of God, where grain, wine and oil are in abundance? The earth will yield its fruit generously and every evil will be destroyed, as Isaiah said: “In those days, the lion will eat straw with the ox, the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and a small child will put his hand in the den of an asp without being harmed.” In his kingdom, God will recreate the world as wonderfully as it was made at the beginning, before the first man sinned. For after he violated the word of God, all things were corrupted, profaned and cursed when God said, “Cursed is the ground because of your works.” The passing form of this world, therefore, will become the kingdom of the saints and the liberation of creation. _{Origen’s Tractate on the Books of Holy Scripture 5.36-37} The Gift of Water. Ambrose: The gift of water is so great that it causes both oxen and lions to feed, in correspondence with that prophetic saying about the holiness of the church: “Then the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw with the ox.” Nor is it any marvel that water operates the same way in the church, such that thieves whose sins were washed away may be compared with the innocent. _{Six Days of Creation 5.2.6} The Lion Shall Eat Straw. Gregory the Great: For when Isaiah observed the life of sinners devoured by the ancient and insatiable enemy, he said, “The lion shall eat straw like the ox.” But what is signified by the words hay and straw except the life of the carnal? Of which it is said by the prophet, “All flesh is hay.” He then who here is “Behemoth,” is there a “lion”; they who are here called “hay,” are there called “straw.” But the mind strives to enquire why this lion in Isaiah, or Behemoth as he is called by the voice of the Lord, is in both passages compared not with a horse but an ox. But we ascertain this the sooner, if we consider what is the difference of foods in the two animals. For horses eat hay, however dirty, but drink clean water only. But oxen drink water, however filthy, but feed only on clean hay. What then is it, for which this Behemoth is compared with an ox, which feeds on clean food, except that which is said of this ancient enemy by another prophet; “His food is choice.” _{Morals on the Book of Job 6.32.18} A Small Child. Gregory the Great: It is also added here: “and a small child will lead them.” Who is this small child, if not the one about whom it was written: “A child is born to us, a son is given to us”? _{Homilies on Ezekiel 2.4.3}

The Cave of an Asp. Tertullian: Happily the Creator has promised by Isaiah to give this power even to little children, of putting their hand in the cockatrice den and on the hole of the young asps without at all receiving hurt. And, indeed, we are aware . . . that under the figure of scorpions and serpents are portended evil spirits, whose very prince is described by the name of serpent, dragon and every other most conspicuous beast in the power of the Creator. This power the Creator conferred first of all upon his Christ, even as the ninetieth psalm says to him: “Upon the asp and the basilisk shall you tread; the lion and the dragon shall you trample under foot.” So also Isaiah: “In that day the Lord God shall draw his sacred, great and strong sword” (even his Christ) “against that dragon, that great and tortuous serpent; and he shall slay him in that day.” _{Against Marcion 4.24} His Hand. Ambrose: Hear how the antidote was administered to the flesh: the Word of God became flesh, put his hand into the serpent’s den, removed the venom and took away sin. In other words, “from sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” _{Explanation of the Twelve Psalms 37.4}

The Earth Is Full. Athanasius: But now, to all the earth has gone forth their voice, and all the earth has been filled with the knowledge of God, and the disciples have made disciples of all the nations, and now is fulfilled what is written: “They shall be all taught of God.” And then what was revealed was but a type; but now the truth has been manifested. _{Four Discourses Against the Arians 1.13.8} The Spread of the Gospel. Chrysostom: The successful spread of the gospel message all over the world was also predicted. _{Demonstration Against the Pagans 6.4} Scripture and the Sea. Gregory the Great: Paul testifies to our Redeemer when he says, “He was made a curse for us.” The wood of the cross is also announced through the prophet, who said, “The Lord reigned from a tree,” and again, “Let us put wood in his bread.” But the wood of the cross is explicitly revealed through the gospel, where the prophesied passion of the Lord is described. This very same cross is also maintained in words and works through the apostles, as when Paul writes, “The world is crucified to me and I to the world,” and again, “May I glory in nothing except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” For us who strive to reach the eternal homeland, therefore, sacred Scripture is the sea in its four aspects. It announces the cross because it bears us on a tree to the land of the living. Had the prophet not found a likeness between sacred Scripture and the sea, he never would have said, “The earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, like the waters covering the sea.” It follows, then: “The four had one likeness and their appearance and work was like a wheel within a wheel.” The four had one likeness because what the law proclaimed, so also did the prophets; and what the prophets announced, the gospel set forth; and what the gospel set forth, the apostles proclaimed throughout the world. The likeness of the four is one, therefore, because even though the divine words are distinct with regard to time, they are nevertheless unified to those who hear them. “And their appearance and work was like a wheel within a wheel.” The wheel within a wheel is the New Testament within the Old, as we have already said, for what the Old Testament signifies, this the New Testament displays. Let me speak succinctly of complex matters. What does it mean that Eve is produced from a sleeping Adam if not that the church is formed from the dying Christ? What does it mean that Isaac bore wood as he was led to be sacrificed and that he continued to live after he had been laid on the altar, if not that our Redeemer himself bore the wood of the cross as he was led along and that he died in sacrifice for us according to his humanity but nevertheless remained immortal in his divinity? _{Homilies on Ezekiel 1.6.13-15}

The Rod of Jesse. Theodoret of Cyr: Now Jesse was the father of David, and the promise with an oath was made to David. The prophet would not have spoken of the Lord Christ as a rod growing out of Jesse if he had only known him as God. _{Dialogue 1} His Sepulcher Shall Be Glorious. Jerome: Here is the meaning: his death will be glorious so that what the Savior prayed in the Gospel might be fulfilled: “Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world came to be.” This was said about his nativity and about other sacraments in the public view. He came to death who was not accustomed to bearing the name of the dead but because perpetual life was in Christ, it was called “rest.” But we, in order to make the meaning clear to the reader, replaced “rest” and “dormancy” with another word of the same meaning: “sepulcher.” At that time therefore, when the gospel of Christ shines in all the world and the earth is filled with the knowledge of God, like waters of the sea covering the land, the root of Jesse and he who arises from his stem will be a sign to all the people, that they might see the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. He will have a horn in his hands, in which are hidden his strength, that when he is exalted he might draw all things to himself. _{Commentary on Isaiah 4.11.10} His Resting Place. Jerome: Long before this tomb [of Christ] was hewn out by Joseph, its glory was foretold in Isaiah’s prediction, “his rest shall be glorious,” meaning that the place of the Lord’s burial should be held in universal honor. _{Letter 46.5} A Remnant of Israel. Jerome: In that day, that is, at the time of which it was also spoken above, when the root of Jesse will arise as a sign for the peoples, or to rule the nations, the Lord will send forth his hand a second time that all of Israel may be saved at the end of the world when the fullness of the Gentiles will enter, by no means according to our Judaizers. But we should understand all these things as pertaining to the first advent. For since only one day is indicated both here and above, we are unable to refer the former to the first advent and the latter to the second, such that the events that follow and those that preceded would not be referred to Christ, whom the Jews contended had not yet come, but would still come in the future. After the calling of the Gentiles, therefore, who were formerly thought to be the tail, Israel will be known as the tail, that the Lord may put forth his hand a second time and take possession of the remnant of his people, about whom we also read above: not all of Israel but that portion of Israel to be saved, which will remain from Assyria and Egypt and diverse parts of the world. For first the twelve apostles and the seventy and the one hundred twenty souls and the five hundred to whom the Lord appeared at once, then the three thousand and the five thousand are Jews who will have believed in the Lord. _{Commentary on Isaiah 4.11.11-14}

This psalm applies to Christ, who alone rules eternally, exists from eternity and whose justice endures until the end of the world (JUSTIN, ORIGEN, EUSEBIUS). Sometimes the Scriptures use hyperbole to make a point, such as the prophecy of the extent of Solomon’s kingdom (THEODORE). Prophecy is compared with the refreshing benefits of rain, the absence of which results in unbelief. Christ ended the drought when he came and gave the world the Holy Spirit (AMBROSE). Christ is prophesied as the Prince of Peace who will shepherd his flock after his birth at Bethlehem (EUSEBIUS). The unusual and quiet nature of Christ’s conception and birth were prophesied by David (MAXIMUS). All Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, declares that the true church will be spread throughout the world. Prophecies of universal rule can apply only to Christ, whose dominion began at the time of his baptism in the Jordan River. The recognition of Christ and the beginning of his reign occur at the time of John the Baptist’s declaration of his identity and baptism of him. The spreading of the Christian church is evidence that Christ has subdued all the kings of the earth and brought them into happy submission. While it may be more honorable to rely on legitimate governments than on heretics, ultimately one’s reliance and hope must be in God (AUGUSTINE). Since Christ, like the Father, is God, he should be worshiped throughout the world (FULGENTIUS). Believers who are afflicted in this world can be cheerful because God has conquered their enemies, delivered them from their oppressors and made their former enemies subject to him (ORIGEN). The magi’s gift of gold symbolizes the submission of the Eastern kingdoms to the King of kings (TERTULLIAN). Christ is God to whom all created things have become subject (JUSTIN). David attests to Christ’s eternal existence and therefore to his deity, a fact incomprehensible to the human mind but proclaimed by prophecy (HILARY). Since Christ existed from eternity, it is his human nature that is exalted, not his deity (ATHANASIUS). It is by the power of God that we are transformed spiritually from captives to free persons, from sinful to just and holy, from being disinherited to heirs of God (CHRYSOSTOM). God performs miracles under his own power; when people perform miracles they need God’s help in doing so (AUGUSTINE). Some godly people have been so blessed in doing wonderful God-pleasing deeds that they defy human eloquence to describe them (BRAULIO).

CHRIST IS KING. JUSTIN MARTYR: As a further proof of your ignorance of the Scripture, I am going to quote another psalm, dedicated to David by the Holy Spirit, which you erroneously think refers to your king Solomon but which in reality refers to Christ. One cause of your error is that you are misled by the false interpretation of equivocal terms. For when the law of God is called a “blameless law,” you do not understand it as applying to the law that was to come after Moses but to the Mosaic law itself, even though God had promised to establish a new law and a new covenant. And when the psalm says, “Give to the king your judgment, O God,” you claim that the words were spoken of Solomon because he was a king, whereas the words clearly proclaim that they were spoken of the eternal King, that is, Christ. I prove from all the Scriptures that Christ is spoken of as a king, and a priest, and God, and Lord, and an angel, and a man, and a leader, and a stone, and a begotten son and as one who at first endured suffering, then ascended into heaven, and as returning to earth with glory and having the eternal kingdom. _{DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 34} A PROPHECY OF CHRIST. ORIGEN: And I support this from Psalm 71 [LXX], which says, “Give to the king your judgment, O God; and your justice to the king’s son, to judge your people with justice, and your poor with judgment.” For clearly the psalm, which has been ascribed to Solomon, prophesies of Christ. _{COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.193} CHRIST, THE SEED OF DAVID, SHALL REIGN FOREVER. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: As this psalm is addressed to Solomon, the first verse of the psalm must be referred to him, and all the rest to the son of Solomon, not Rehoboam, who was king of Israel after him, but him that was of his seed according to the flesh, the Christ of God; for all who are acquainted with the holy Scriptures will agree that it is impossible to connect what is said in this psalm with Solomon or his successors, because of what they reveal about Christ. No, how is it possible to apply to Solomon, or his son Rehoboam, the burden of the whole psalm?—for instance, “He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” And “He shall remain as long as the sun, and before the moon for ever,” and other similar statements. Yet the words at the beginning of the psalm are at once seen to apply to Solomon, which say, “O God, you will give judgment to the king,” And the addition, “And your justice to the king’s son,” to the Son of Solomon, not his firstborn who succeeded him in the kingdom (for he only ruled the Jewish nation seventeen years, being a wicked king), nor any of the successors of Rehoboam, but only to one of the seed of David, who could thus be called the son both of David and Solomon. And this is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For his kingdom and its throne will stand as long as the sun. And he alone of people, as the Word of God, existed before the moon and the creation of the world, and he alone came down like dew from heaven on all the earth; and it was said in our quotation a little above, that he had risen on all people and that his justice would remain even until the consummation of life, which is called the removal of the moon. And our Savior’s power is supreme from the eastern sea to the west, beginning its activity at the river, which is either the sacrament of baptism, or from Jordan, where he first appeared to benefit humankind. From that time his kingdom has spread and extended through the whole world. _{PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 7.3}

SPEAKING HYPERBOLICALLY. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: So that now, concerning the things to be promised to the people through the kingdom of Zerubbabel, who was assigned for this through the divine judgment, it was not at all inappropriate for the prophet, speaking, to say, “he comes righteous and saving,” so that he might show that he is present with them and that he has been chosen by God for the kingship in order to do these things. It says that those very things, therefore, have successively happened concerning the people through him. But let these things suffice for the most accurate teaching. The prophet is speaking concerning Zerubbabel and prophesying present things concerning him, if also as a prophet himself he had a certain vision concerning things to come, he adds: He shall govern the waters from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zech 9:10) This also has apparently been said hyperbolically, that he will prevail over many enemies and that he will occupy much territory, having given it for habitation to the Jews. The seventy-first [seventy-second] psalm by the blessed David is similar; in the form of a prayer it has a figure of the prosperity of Solomon, where it says, “May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon throughout all generations! May he have dominion from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Is it not obvious that these things are said hyperbolically? _{COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH 9.10-12} THE HOLY SPIRIT IS LIKE HEAVENLY DEW. AMBROSE: Nor is it strange that they should suffer the drought of unbelief, whom the Lord deprived of the fertilizing shower of prophecy, saying, “I will command my clouds that they rain not on that vineyard.” For there is a health-giving shower of salutary grace, as David also said: “He came down like rain on a fleece and like drops that fall on the earth.” The divine Scriptures promised us this rain on the whole earth, to water the world with the dew of the divine Spirit at the coming of the Savior. The Lord, then, has now come, and the rain has come; the Lord has come bringing the heavenly drops with him, and so now we drink, who before were thirsty, and with an interior draft drink in that divine Spirit. _{ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 1.8} A PROPHECY OF THE PRINCE OF PEACE. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: And the oracle in the Psalms, which says about Christ, “There shall rise in his days justice and peace,” is in agreement with this. And I think that is why he is called “Prince of Peace” in the prophecy that I quoted before this. And I would ask you to notice that the prophet we are considering says at the outset that the Lord will come from heaven and that the subject of the prophecy will only pasture his flock after his birth at Bethlehem. And the Evangelist, whose words I have cited, furnishes the evidence that this was the case with regard to our Lord and Savior. _{PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 7.2} CHRIST BECAME INCARNATE QUIETLY. MAXIMUS OF TURIN: Therefore, today the Lord was born according to the flesh in such secret silence that his generation was thoroughly ignorant of his birth. For the world did not know that he was born outside the knowledge of his father and that he was conceived outside the order of nature. For Joseph took as his son him whom he did not beget, and Mary gave birth to him whom she did not create in the ordinary manner of sexual intercourse. Thus the Lord was born in such a way that nobody would suspect or believe or perceive what his origin would be. How would they believe that this would happen when they scarcely believe what happened afterwards? As to the fact that the Savior would descend hiddenly and secretly into the virgin, the prophet David had already previously attested to that when he said, “He came down like rain on the fleece.” For what takes place so silently, without a sound, as when rain is poured onto a fleece of wool? It doesn’t strike anybody’s ears with its sound; it doesn’t splash anyone’s body with the wetness of the dew bouncing off the flece, but without disturbing anyone, the fleece draws into itself in its entire body all the rain being poured through its many parts because it does not know any division into one channel, but rather offers many channels owing to its dense softness. It seems to be closed owing to its density, but is in truth absorbent owing to its fineness. _{SERMON 97.3}

GOD RULES THE EARTH. AUGUSTINE: But the testimonies of the entire Scripture proclaim with one voice that the church, with which the sect of Donatus is not in communion, is indeed spread throughout the entire world. “In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,” the law of God said. “From the rising of the sun even to the going down, there is offered to my name a clean offering, for my name is great among the Gentiles,” said God through the prophet. “He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth,” God said in the psalm. “Bringing forth fruit and growing in the whole world,” God said through the apostle. _{LETTER 185.5} SOLOMON WAS A FAINT FORESHADOW OF CHRIST. AUGUSTINE: Indeed, even in Solomon there appeared some image of the future event, in that he built the temple, and had peace according to his name (for Solomon means “pacific”), and in the beginning of his reign was wonderfully praiseworthy; but while, as a shadow of him that should come, he foreshowed Christ our Lord, he did not also in his own person resemble him. Whence some things concerning him are so written as if they were prophesied of himself, while the Holy Scripture, prophesying even by events, somehow delineates in him the figure of things to come. For, besides the books of divine history, in which his reign is narrated, the 72nd Psalm (LXX) also is inscribed in the title with his name, in which so many things are said which cannot at all apply to him, but which apply to the Lord Christ with such evident fitness as makes it quite apparent that in the one the figure is in some way shadowed forth, but in the other the truth itself is presented. For it is known within what bounds the kingdom of Solomon was enclosed; and yet in that psalm, not to speak of other things, we read, “He shall have dominion from sea even to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth,” which we see fulfilled in Christ. Truly he took the beginning of his reigning from the river where John baptized; for, when pointed out by him, he began to be acknowledged by the disciples, who called him not only Master, but also Lord. _{CITY OF GOD 17.8} CHRIST’S DOMINION BEGAN AT HIS BAPTISM. AUGUSTINE: Where? At the river Jordan. That, you see, is where Christ’s work of teaching began. It was there that the baptism of Christ that was to come was commended to us, because the previous kind of baptism was received there, and the one preparing the way, and saying, “Prepare a way for the Lord, make straight his paths.” The Lord, you see, wished to be baptized by the servant, so that those who are baptized by the Lord might appreciate what it is they receive. So he began from the very place where prophecy had very properly preceded him: “He will have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the limits of the whole wide world.” At the very river where Christ began to have dominion, John saw Christ, recognized him, bore witness to him. _{SERMON 288.2} ALL NATIONS WILL SERVE CHRIST. AUGUSTINE: I hear that you often repeat and call attention to the passage in the Gospel where it is written that the seventy disciples went back from the Lord and were left to their own choice in their evil and impious separation; and to the twelve who stayed with him he said, “Will you go away also?” You fail to notice that the church then was just beginning to put forth young shoots and that as yet there was no fulfillment of that prophecy: “And all the kings of the earth shall adore him; all nations shall serve him.” Surely, the more complete the fulfillment, the greater the authority exercised by the church, not only to invite but to compel people to goodness. This is what the Lord wished to convey by that incident, for, in spite of possessing full power, he chose, instead, to commend humility. He showed this quite clearly in the parable of the wedding feast, in which, after the invited guests had been notified and had refused to come, the servant was told, “Go out into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the feeble and the blind and the lame. And the servant said to his lord, It is done as you have commanded and yet there is room. And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled.” _{LETTER 173} CHRIST IS THE TRUE PRINCE OF PEACE. AUGUSTINE: This and many similar prophecies, which it would take too long to quote, would surely impress the mind of the inquirer. He would see these very kings of the earth now happily subdued by Christ, and all nations serving him. He would also hear the words of the psalm in which this was predicted very long ago: “All the kings of the earth shall bow down to him; all nations shall serve him.” And if he were to read the whole of that psalm, which is figuratively applied to Solomon, he would find that Christ is the true King of peace, for Solomon means peaceful; and he would find many things in the psalm applicable to Christ, which have no reference at all to the literal King Solomon. _{AGAINST FAUSTUS, AMANICHEAN 13.7} RELY ON GOD. AUGUSTINE: But we on our side do not rely on any human power, although, no doubt, it would be much more honorable to rely on the emperors than to rely on Circumcellions and to rely on laws than to rely on rioting, but we recall what is written: “Cursed be everyone who puts his hope in man.” So, then, if you want to know on whom we rely, think of him whom the prophet foretold, saying, “All the kings of the earth shall adore him; all nations shall serve him.” That is why we make use of this power of the church that the Lord both promised and gave to it. _LETTER THE FATHER AND CHRIST ARE ONE GOD. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: Therefore, let them [Arians] say that the Father and the Son are not two lord gods but their one Lord God, if they wish to hold to the truth of the faith and are unwilling to be found in rebellion against the commandments of the law and the gospel. For thus they will be able to preserve equally the understanding and the obligatory force of that text where it is said, “The Lord your God you shall adore, and him alone shall you serve.” Nor is it right for anyone to adore the Father as God in such a way that he does not adore the Son as God, for indeed it has been written about the Son in Deuteronomy: “Praise, O heavens, his people; worship him, all you gods.” Concerning him as well, the blessed David says in the psalms, “May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service.” _{LETTER 8.3.8} GOD HELPS THE POOR AND NEEDY. ORIGEN: We are taught, therefore, to be of good cheer when we are afflicted in the world. We learn that the reason for being of good cheer is this: the world has been conquered and, of course, subjected to him who conquered it. For this reason, all the nations, set free from those who formerly controlled them, serve him, because “he delivered the poor from the mighty” through his own passion, “and the needy who had no helper.” _{COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.286}

BLESSED THROUGH CHRIST. JUSTIN MARTYR: While they remained silent, I continued, “My friends, when Scripture through David speaks of Christ, it does not say ‘in his seed’ shall the Gentiles be blessed, but ‘in him.’ Here are the words: ‘His name shall endure forever; it shall rise above the sun; and all nations shall be blessed in him.’ But if all nations are blessed in Christ, and we who are from all nations believe in him, then he is the Christ, and we are they who are blessed through him. It is written that God once allowed the sun to be worshiped, and yet you cannot discover anyone who ever suffered death because of his faith in the sun. But you can find people of every nationality who for the name of Jesus have suffered, and still suffer, all kinds of torments rather than deny their faith in him. For his word of truth and wisdom is more blazing and bright than the might of the sun, and it penetrates the very depths of the heart and mind. Thus Scripture says, ‘His name shall arise above the sun.’ And Zachariah affirms, ‘The East is his name.’ And again, ‘They shall mourn tribe by tribe.’” _{DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 121} CHRIST EXISTS FROM ALL ETERNITY. HILARY OF POITIERS: But he who is before the heavens, which, according to you, are also before time, is at the same time before the ages. He is not only before the ages but before all generations that have ever existed. Why do you limit divine and infinite things by those that are perishable, earthly and narrow? Paul knows nothing in Christ except the eternity of the ages. Wisdom states that It is not after something but before all things. In your opinion, the periods of time have been determined from the sun and the moon. But David points out that Christ remains before the sun when he says, “Before the sun [is] his name.” And in order that you may not conclude that the things of God had their beginning with the origin of the world, the same one said, “And before the moon [are] the generations of generations.” Periods of time are here regarded as of no importance by such outstanding men who were worthy of the Spirit of prophecy, and the human mind has not been afforded any opportunity for reaching into the ages before the birth that transcends the eternal years. Let the faith remain within the limits of the God-fearing teaching, so that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only-begotten God and that he has been born in order that we may confess the perfect birth, and let it not forget that he is eternal when venerating his divinity. _{ON THE TRINITY 12.34} THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST’S HUMAN NATURE. ATHANASIUS: And if, as David says in the seventy-first [LXX] psalm, “His name remains before the sun and before the moon, from one generation to another,” how did he receive what he always had, even before he now received it? Or how is he exalted, being before his exaltation the Most High? Or how did he receive the right of being worshiped, who before he now received it, was always worshiped? It is not an obscure saying but a divine mystery. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; but for our sakes afterwards the “Word was made flesh.” And the term in question, “highly exalted,” does not signify that the essence of the Word was exalted, for he always existed and is “equal to God,” but the exaltation is of the human nature. _{DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 1.11.41} SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION. CHRYSOSTOM: Let us say again: “Blessed be God, who alone does wonderful things,” who does all things and transforms them. Before yesterday you were captives, but now you are free and citizens of the church; lately you lived in the shame of your sins, but now you live in freedom and justice. You are not only free, but also holy; not only holy, but also just; not only just, but also children; not only children, but also heirs; not only heirs, but also brothers of Christ; not only brothers of Christ, but also joint heirs; not only joint heirs, but also members; not only members, but also the temple; not only the temple, but also instruments of the Spirit. _{BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 3.5} GOD ALONE PERFORMS MIRACLES. AUGUSTINE: So let the blind run to Christ and by receiving their sight be enlightened. Christ, after all, is light in the world, even among the worst of people. Divine miracles were performed, but no one has performed miracles from the beginning of the human race, except the one to whom Scripture says, “Who alone performs marvels.” Why does it say “who alone performs marvels”? Surely, because when he wishes to perform them, he has no need of any human beings. But when a human being performs them, he does need God. He, Christ, performed miracles alone. Why? Because the Son is God in the Trinity, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God of course, “who alone performs marvels.” _{SERMON 136B.3} BY THE POWER OF CHRIST IN US. AUGUSTINE: But whoever listens with deeper attention to Christ saying, “if I had not done in them the works that no other man has done” (but even if the Father and the Holy Spirit have done these, no other one has done [them] because there is one substance of the whole Trinity), he will find that he himself did [them] if ever any man of God did any such thing. For indeed, he can in himself do all things by himself; but no one can do anything without him. For Christ together with the Father and the Holy Spirit are not three gods but the one God about whom it has been written, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wonderful things.” Therefore, no other individual has done whatever works he has done in them, because whatever another person has done, any one of them has done it by his doing. But he did these things himself, not by their doing. _{TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 91.4.2} THE INADEQUACY OF HUMAN SPEECH. BRAULIO OF SARAGOSSA: The marvelous deeds and miracles performed almost in our own day by the apostolic and most upright man, Emilian the priest, are so new that they urge us to relate them; yet, at the same time, so vast in scope that to recount them is frightening. How can the pen of a man who is bound to earthly things worthily reproduce the acts of a heavenly man, who, when compared with past ages, shines like the brightest star; who, when compared with the present, stands above all in his inimitable virtue? In my opinion, not even if the Tullian springs should flow and come bounding forth in copious veins of eloquence, and multiplicity of thoughts should furnish an abundant supply of words, could all those works of grace be revealed that Christ, “who alone does wondrous deeds,” has performed and still is performing through him, from the time he began to despise the world until he departed from his body and from the world. _{LIFE OF ST. EMILIAN 4}

Christ suffered reproach and did not seek his own advantage. This is the pattern of the Christian life: pleasing God first and others accordingly, not fearing to be weak to win the weak. The Scriptures were written to be understood and followed, and so to give us hope and patience. Christians are called to live in harmony, which is achieved by mutual self-sacrifice in imitation of Christ. When Gentiles see the unity of the church, they will be persuaded of the truth of the gospel and believe. Christians look to the future in hope and confidence.