Isaiah 35

This, too, was fulfilled, was clearly fulfilled, by our Savior’s miraculous works after John’s preaching. Notice therefore how he bears good tidings to the desert, not generally or to any desert but to one particular desert by the bank of the Jordan. This was because John lived there and baptized there, as Scripture says, “John was in the desert baptizing.” … I think the desert here is a symbol of that which of old was void of all God’s good things, I mean the church of the Gentiles. And the river by the desert that cleanses all that are bathed therein is a figure of some cleansing spiritual power, of which the Scriptures speak, saying, “The movements of the river make glad the city of God.” And this means the ever-flowing stream of the Holy Spirit welling from above and watering the city of God, which is the name for life according to God. This river of God, then, has reached even to the desert, that is the Gentile church, and even now supplies it with the living water that it bears.

Proof of the Gospel 9:6

Here also the coming of God for salvation, bringing many blessings, is precisely foretold. The prophet says that there will be a cure for the deaf, sight for the blind, yes, even healing for the lame and tongue-tied, and this was fulfilled only at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, by whom the eyes of the blind were opened, and the deaf regained their hearing. Why need I say, how many palsied and deaf and lame also received physical cure by the hands of his disciples? And how many others, afflicted with various diseases and maladies, received of him healing and salvation, according to the inspired prediction of prophecy and according to the unimpeachable testimony of the holy Gospels? And the prophecy here disguises under the name of “desert” the church of the Gentiles, which for long years deserted of God is being evangelized by those of whom we are speaking, and it says that besides other blessings the glory of Lebanon will be given to the desert. Now it is customary to call Jerusalem Lebanon allegorically, as I will show, when I have time, by proofs from holy Scripture. This prophecy before us, therefore, teaches that by God’s presence with men the glory of Lebanon will be given to that which is called “desert,” that is to say, the church of the Gentiles.

Proof of the Gospel 6:21

Moreover, it is said in this prophecy that the glory of Lebanon and the honor of Carmel shall be given to this wilderness. What is the glory of Lebanon but the worship performed through the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, which God refused in the prophecy which says, “Why do you bring me Lebanon from Sheba? And of what service to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” He has transferred the glory of Jerusalem to the desert of Jordan, since, from the times of John, the ritual of holiness began to be performed not at Jerusalem but in the desert. In like manner, too, the honor of the law and of its more external ordinances was transferred to the wilderness of Jordan for the same reason, namely, that they who need the healing of their souls no longer hastened to Jerusalem but to that which was called the wilderness, because there the forgiveness of sins was preached.

Proof of the Gospel 9:6

And where shall we place that oracle of Isaiah, which cries to the wilderness, “Be glad, O thirsty wilderness. Let the desert rejoice and blossom as a lily, and the desolate places of Jordan shall blossom and shall rejoice”? For it is clear that it is not to places without soul or sense that he proclaims the good tidings of joy, but he speaks, by the figure of the desert, of the soul that is parched and unadorned.

On the Baptism of Christ

And “the excellence of Carmel” is given to the soul that bears the likeness to the desert, that is, the grace bestowed through the Spirit. For since Elijah dwelt in Carmel, and the mountain became famous and renowned by the virtue of him who dwelt there, and since moreover John the Baptist, illustrious in the spirit of Elijah, sanctified the Jordan, therefore the prophet foretold that “the excellence of Carmel” should be given to the river.

On the Baptism of Christ

And “the glory of Lebanon,” from the similitude of its lofty trees, he transfers to the river. For as great Lebanon presents a sufficient cause of wonder in the very trees that it brings forth and nourishes, so is the Jordan glorified by regenerating people and planting them in the paradise of God. And of them, as the words of the psalmist say, ever blooming and bearing the foliage of virtues, “the leaf shall not wither,” and God shall be glad, receiving their fruit in due season, rejoicing, like a good planter, in his own works.

On the Baptism of Christ

1–2

(Chapter 35, verses 1, 2) The desolate and impassable will rejoice, and solitude will exult and flourish like a lily. It will sprout and blossom; with joy and praise it will exult. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God. LXX: Rejoice, O desert, thirsting, and let the solitude exult and flourish like a lily. The deserts of the Jordan will blossom and exult; the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people will see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. Since Jerusalem has been turned into pitch and its smoke rises forever, and it is inhabited by the pelican and the hedgehog, the ibis and the raven, the dragons and the ostriches, demons and half-man half-horse creatures, lamia and hairy beings: and the Lord's fulfilled sentence is upon it: 'Your house will be left to you desolate' (Luke 13:35): therefore, what was once deserted, of which it is said in the Psalm: 'The voice of the Lord shaking the wilderness', and the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord prepares the stags; and it reveals the thickets of the forests (Psalm 28:8,9), it will be transformed into the abundance of all things, and the beasts of the nations will be driven out from the fighting stags, from all the forests, which previously possessed them, so that what is said in the same Prophet may be fulfilled: Rejoice, O barren one, you who do not bear; burst forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who has a husband (Isaiah 54:1). This was previously thirsty, or impassable, not having life-giving waters, and the Lord did not walk (or enter) through it, which now will blossom into a lily, or as the Eagle expressed more significantly, an opening, which we can call a swelling rose with not yet expanded leaves. However, it will blossom, as the Apostle declares: We are the good odor of Christ in every place (II Cor. II, 15). And that from the Song of Songs: Flowers have been seen in the land; mandrakes have given forth their fragrance (Cant. VII, 12, 13). And what is placed in the LXX, 'and the deserts of the Jordan shall rejoice,' is not found in Hebrew, but we can say: in the Jordan river, the baptism of repentance was shown, which the Lord signed and confirmed with his washing. And because it is figuratively said about the wilderness, which refers to the nations, in which John was, it can be subsequently joined to the Jordan, so that through the desert of the nations we come to the baptism of the Savior. And what follows, the glory of Lebanon was given to him, and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon, according to the previous explanation we must understand, in which we said that Lebanon or the Temple of Jerusalem is meant, as Zachariah says: Open, Lebanon, your gates (Zach. XI, 1); and Ezekiel: A great eagle with great wings and full of feathers, which has a direction to enter Lebanon and Carmel (Ezek. XVII. 3): the former meaning the people, of whom it has been said above: And it will be a desert in Carmel, and Carmel will be counted as a wilderness (Isa. XXIII, 9); and Sharon has the same meaning, Scripture saying: Sharon has become like a desert. Therefore, all brightness, worship of God, and knowledge of circumcision, and the most fertile and open places, which are called Sharon, for which Symmachus interpreted as fields, will be given to the once deserted Church, and its inhabitants will see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty or greatness of our God.

Commentary on Isaiah

After John was killed, the Lord saw the time drawing near and withdrew to a deserted place called Bethsaida. This teaches mystically that a deserted Judah, which had beheaded its prophets by not believing them, would later become fruitful in the desert of a church that possessed no man of the Word. Hence, the beautiful Bethsaida means “house of fruitfulness.” For it was about it that Isaiah said, “The desert and the dry land will rejoice, and the wilderness will exult and bloom like the lily,” and again, “they will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God.”

On the Gospel of Luke 3:9.10

In this part, he sets out the effect of prosperity resulting for the Jews from the destruction of their enemies. And this is divided into two parts: in the first, a consoling promise is set out; in the second, a strengthening exhortation: strengthen the feeble hands (Isa 35:3).

Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he sets out the cheerfulness of the people, which he compares to a flowering meadow, which is also said to laugh, because it has beauty when it is in flower; hence he says: the land that was desolate, that is, the land of the Jews, which, before, having been laid waste by the Assyrians, was like this, metonymically, that is, the people themselves, like the lily, which is the most beautiful flower, and lasts a long time: send forth flowers, as the lily (Sir 39:19); it also has beauty in its bud; hence he says, it shall bud forth: the just shall spring up as a green leaf (Prov 11:28), for like the bud comes from the flower, so outward cheerfulness comes from the joy of the heart.

The saints are compared to lilies (see 35:1), because of the height of its stem, from which is shown constancy in troubles: as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters (Song 2:2); because of the sweetness of its scent, from which is shown good reputation: send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace (Sir 39:19); because of the verdure of its humor, from which is shown virtue of mind: as the lilies that are on the brink of the water (Sir 50:8); because of its connectedness, from which is shown the charity of the saints: your belly is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies (Song 7:2).

Christ clothes these lilies as to the gifts of the virtues: consider the lilies of the field (Matt 6:28); gathers them together to their eternal reward: my beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies (Song 6:1); rests in them, for he is pleased in them: I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feeds among the lilies (Song 6:2); and therefore he himself is a lily: I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys (Song 2:1).

Commentary on Isaiah

I believe the passage, “And my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of God,” refers to the presence of our Savior at the baptism, because it was there that the glory of the Savior was seen.

Proof of the Gospel 9:6

Observe how he names him Lord and calls him God, seeing that he speaks in the Spirit; note that he knew the Emmanuel would not be simply a man bearing God nor, of a truth, as one assumed as an agent. But he knew that he was truly God and incarnate.… For our Lord Jesus Christ showed himself to us having divine strength, and his arm with authority, that is, with power and dominion.

Letter 1:31

Because a multitude of Gentiles followed it after Judah came to faith in the Lord’s incarnation and an astonished partaker of the same grace hastened its own unexpected conversion, Judah exclaimed in surprise, “Who is this that ascends from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon my beloved?” The church of the Gentiles ascends from the desert because the one who was deserted by its Creator for a very long time now arrives at his grace by the incremental steps of faith and good works, thus fulfilling what the prophet Isaiah said: “The desert and the dry land will rejoice, and the wilderness will exult and bloom like the lily.” Indeed, she is truly flowing with those delights about which the spouse spoke above: “How beautiful you are, and how lovely, my dear, with delights,” that is, with the delights of heavenly life. “Leaning upon my beloved” means leaning upon him without whose assistance she would be able neither to ascend above nor to rise again, for we are unable to possess either advancement in the virtues or the beginning of faith itself unless the Lord bestows them upon us.Therefore, Judah was even more awestruck by this grace of the Gentiles’ new conversion, a grace that it believed pertained only to itself and to those who were received in its rite through the mystery of circumcision, as the Acts of the Apostles made abundantly clear.

Commentary on the Song of Songs 5:8.4-5

Second, he promises the fertility of the land: the glory of Libanus, that is, the fertility of various things, which is the glory of these places, will be found in the promised land: his glory shall be as the olive tree: and his smell as that of Libanus (Hos 14:7).

Third, the nearness of both of these: they themselves shall see, that is, it shall not be postponed to the time of their children, above: his eyes shall see the king in his beauty (Isa 33:17).

Commentary on Isaiah

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; [Isaiah 35:3] And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

The sick of the palsy is healed, and that in public, in the sight of the people. For, says Isaiah, “they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellence of our God.” What glory, and what excellence? “Be strong, you weak hands and feeble knees” refers to the palsy. “Be strong; fear not.” “Be strong” is not vainly repeated, nor is “fear not” vainly added; because with the renewal of the limbs there was to be, according to the promise, a restoration also of bodily energies: “Arise, and take up your couch”; and likewise moral courage not to be afraid of those who should say, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

Against Marcion 4.10.1

Now we have this prophecy fulfilled in the Gospels, partly, when they brought to our Lord and Savior a paralytic lying on a bed, who he made whole with a word; and partly, when many that were blind and possessed with demons, yes, laboring under various diseases and weaknesses, were released from their sufferings by his saving power. Nor should we forget how even now throughout the whole world multitudes bound by all forms of evil, full of ignorance of Almighty God in their souls, are healed and cured miraculously and beyond all argument by the medicine of his teaching. Except that now we call him God as we should, as one who can work thus, as I have already shown in the evidence of his divinity. Yes, surely it is right now to acknowledge him to be God, since he has given proof of power divine and truly inspired.For it was specifically God’s work to give strength to the paralyzed, to give life to the dead, to supply health to the sick, to open the eyes of the blind, to restore the lame and to make the tongue-tied speak plainly, all of which things were done by our Savior Jesus Christ, because he was God. And they have been witnessed to by many throughout all the world that preach him—whose evidence unvarnished and truthful is confirmed by trial of torture, and by persistence even to death, which they have shown forth before kings and rulers and all nations, witnessing to the truth of what they preach.

Proof of the Gospel 9:13

Therefore the traders came from Gilead, that is, from their possessions of or dwelling in the law, and brought their wares to the church, so that that balm might heal the sins of the nations. Of them it is said, “Be strong, you hands that are feeble and you knees that are without strength.” The balm is unspoiled faith. Such a faith Peter exhibited when he said to the lame man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk.” And he arose and walked, as was right. Such a faith Peter had when he said to the paralytic, “Aeneas, the Lord Jesus heals you; get up and make your bed.” And he got up and made his bed. Such a faith he had when he said to the dead woman, “Arise in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And the departed woman arose. With the mortar made from this cement those stones are fastened together from which God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

On Joseph the Patriarch 3.17

Then let us flee the wickedness of this world, in which “the very days are evil,” and flee it relentlessly. On that account Isaiah cries out, “Be strong, you hands which are feeble and you knees which are without strength.” This means: Be strong, you knees, not of the body but of the soul, so that the footstep of the spirit can rise up straightway to the heights of heaven. Thus conduct will be more stable, life more mature, grace more abundant and discretion more guarded.

Flight from the World 7.37

The grace of this time in which John was exhorting sinners to repentance and baptizing those who confessed their sins in the desert, Isaiah previously witnessed when he said, “The desert will rejoice and blossom like the lily. The desert of the Jordan will bloom and exult. Strengthen the hands of the abandoned and bolster their weak knees. You who are lowly of soul, be encouraged and do not fear.”

Tractate on Matthew 10:1

3–4

(Verse 3, 4.) Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will bring vengeance and retribution. God Himself will come and save you (or as the Septuagint translates, us). Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing, for water will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, and the dry ground will become a pool (or marsh), and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where the dragons once lived, green rushes and reeds shall grow (in the version of the Seventy: There will be the joy of birds and the folds of flocks). And there shall be a path and a road (or a clean road) and it shall be called the holy road, no unclean person shall pass through it. And this shall be for us a direct road, so that fools shall not go astray (or as the Seventy translated, There will be no unclean road there, those who are scattered shall pass through it and shall not wander. There will be, it says, no lion there, and no wicked beast shall ascend it, nor shall it be found there; but they who are set free shall walk on it. And those who are redeemed by the Lord shall return and come to Zion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. We have mixed together both editions, so that the size of the books may not be stretched in presenting each one, which has already exceeded the limit of brevity.) To the apostles, about whom it was said above: They themselves will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God, it is commanded that they strengthen the hands that are weak among the nations, and make firm the feeble knees, so that those who were unable to do the work of God with weak hands and had a dry right hand, may extend it to good works. And those who once stumbled among idols in various errors, may walk firmly on the path of truth, and may the faith of the Lord strengthen the weak and fearful, so that they may not be afraid, and may the fear of the one God drive away all fears of error. The reason, however, is security and constancy, because Christ is coming, to whom the Father has given all judgment: and he will render to each one according to their works (John 5). He himself will come and save you, to whom it is said, do not be afraid: whether us, as the Apostles say that salvation is common with those who believe. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will be opened. Although this was fulfilled by the magnitude of the signs, when the Lord spoke to the disciples of John, who were sent to him: Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the good news preached to them (Luke 7:22); yet it is fulfilled daily among the Gentiles, when those who were previously blind and used to stumble into wood and stones, now see the light of truth. And those who could not hear the words of the Scriptures with deaf ears, now rejoice in the precepts of God; for those who were previously closed off and did not follow the right path, leap like deer, imitating their teachers, and the tongue of the mute will be opened, whom Satan had closed off in order that they could not confess the Lord. Therefore, the eyes will be opened, the ears will hear, the lame will leap, and the tongue of the mute will be opened, for they have been torn apart, or have burst forth, in the desert of the Church of baptismal waters, and there are streams and rivers in the wilderness, namely different spiritual graces; and what was dry has been turned into marshes and a pond, so that it not only lacks the heat of thirst but also becomes navigable and irrigated, and has many springs that the deer desires, and those who drink from them can bless the Lord, according to what is written: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27). In the prisons of the souls of the Gentiles, in which dragons dwelled before, there will be reed and rush, on which the faith of the Lord will be written, and on which the weary limbs will rest; whether it will be the joy of birds, and the cages of flocks: so that the doves may take wings, and leaving behind the lowly, may hasten to the heights, and be able to say with the Psalmist, The Lord feeds me, and I shall not want: He has placed me in a place of pasture: He has nourished me by refreshing waters. There will be a path, and a very clean road, which will be called holy, and which says of itself: I am the way (John 14:6), through which someone who is defiled cannot pass. Hence it is also said in the psalm, Blessed are the undefiled in the way (Psalm 119:1). And this way will be for us, that is, our God, so straight and level and plain, that it has no error: and the foolish and senseless may perish trying to enter, to whom Wisdom speaks in Proverbs: If anyone is little, let him come to me. And she has spoken to the foolish, come and eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you. Leave behind foolishness, and live, and walk in the ways of prudence (Prov. 5:4-6). For God has chosen the foolish things of the world (1 Cor. 1): of which the prince of fools speaks in the psalm, God, you know my foolishness. And the foolishness of God is wiser than men (Ps. 68:6). Therefore the Septuagint translated: And those who were scattered (1 Cor. 2), and separated from the fellowship of the Lord, will by no means wander. It follows, There will not be a lion there: our adversary the devil, who prowls around roaring, how could he enter the sheepfold of the Lord (I Peter V). And the evil beasts, his satellites, will not climb through it. For the track of a snake cannot be found on a rock. But those who have been freed from the chains of sin, redeemed by the blood of the Savior, and have repented; and have come to Zion, of which we have often said: You have come to Mount Zion, and to the heavenly city of the living God Jerusalem (Hebrews XII, 22); let us not seek a golden Zion in the manner of the Jews, and a gemmed Jerusalem, which, according to the prophecy of Daniel, has been dissolved into eternal ashes (Daniel IX). And there will be everlasting joy for those praising the Lord over their heads, so that after they have conquered the world, they may say with the Apostle and Prophet: I have completed the race, I have kept the faith, the crown of righteousness has been reserved for me (2 Timothy 4:7-8); and, Lord, as with the shield of your good will, you have crowned us (Psalm 5:12). Then, with joy and gladness succeeding, sorrow and groaning will flee when He comes from Zion to deliver. All these things we interpret, according to the Apostle Paul, as referring to the first coming of the Savior: but the Jews and our Judaizers refer them to the second, on account of a single verse, 'They shall be converted, and shall come to Zion with praise; desiring the blood of sacrifices, the bondage of all nations, and the beauty of wives.'

Commentary on Isaiah

Here a strengthening exhortation is set out, and concerning this, he does three things. First, he sets out the enjoining of the office of exhortation: strengthen the hands, which are weak for working, and confirm the trembling knees, which are weak for supporting: lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees (Heb 12:12).

Commentary on Isaiah

The actions of Christ must be seen alongside the rule of the Scriptures. Unless I am mistaken, we see that Christ’s work consisted of two actions: preaching and power. Let us look at each of these in the order we have just listed them. First, Christ was announced as a preacher. Isaiah said, “Cry out loud, and do not hold back. Lift up your voice as a trumpet, and declare to my people their crimes and to the house of Jacob their sins. Then seek me day by day and desire to learn my ways, as a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the judgment of God,” and so forth. Second, it was announced that Christ would do acts of power from the Father. Isaiah said, “Behold, our God will come with judgment; he will come and save us. Then the sick will be healed, the eyes of the blind will see, the ears of the deaf will hear, the mute will speak, and the lame will leap as a deer.”

An Answer to the Jews 9

This is the divine arrangement, as far as any human being can investigate it, better minds in a better way, lesser minds less effectively; this divine arrangement is giving us hints of a great and significant mystery. Christ, you see, was going to come in the flesh, not anyone at all, not an angel, not an ambassador; but “he himself will come and save you.” It wasn’t anyone who was going to come; and yet how was he going to come? He was going to be born in mortal flesh, to be a tiny infant, to be laid in a manger, wrapped in cradle clothes, nourished on milk; going to grow up, and finally even to be done to death. So in all these indications of humility there is indeed a pattern of an extreme humility.

Sermon 293:8

“This is the will of my Father,” he said, “that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life.” But notice that he who was sent also came by his own will, as the prophet Isaiah said: “Be encouraged, you who are lowly of soul, and do not fear. Behold, our God will bring judgment. God himself will come and save us.”

On the Approach to Grace 1:14.12-1:15.1

Christ said, “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me,” and “Whoever sees me, sees the Father.” The inclusion of just one syllable, “and,” distinguishes the Father from the Son. It also demonstrates that you possess neither the Father nor the Son. Tell me, Arian, do you refer to the Father as God? And how! But what about the Son? Him too I profess to be God. You will do well to acknowledge this also, for when his coming in the flesh was announced beforehand, the prophet said about him, “Be encouraged, you who are lowly of soul, and do not fear. Behold, your God will bring the vengeance of retribution. God himself will come and save us.”

Against Five Heresies 6:38-39

Second, the strengthening itself is set out: say to the fainthearted: fear not, little flock (Luke 12:32).

Third, the reason for the strengthening is assigned, and first, as to the removal of evils, in liberating them from their enemies: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: he will revenge the blood of his servants (Deut 32:43).

Commentary on Isaiah

Isaiah also alludes 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.” He refers to him when he enumerates the healings that were to proceed from him, saying, “Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall be eloquent.” Him also, when he sets forth the virtue of patience, saying, “His voice shall not be heard in the streets; a bruised reed shall he not destroy, and the smoking flax shall he not quench.”

On the Trinity 9:6

Although these blind men had no bodily eyes, they had the vision of faith and heart with which they were able to see the true and eternal Light, the Son of God, about whom it is written: “He was the true light which illumines everyone, coming into the world.” It was he who had predicted through the prophet Isaiah that he would come to give sight to the blind: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. He has sent me to evangelize the poor and to restore sight to the blind.” Again Isaiah testified about the same one elsewhere: “Behold, our God will restore justice; he will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will hear.” David also bore witness to him, saying through the Holy Spirit: “The Lord raises up the downcast, the Lord frees the imprisoned, the Lord gives sight to the blind.”

Tractate on Matthew 48:1

And Isaiah went on to tell of other marvels and showed how Christ cured the lame, how he made the blind to see, and the mute to speak: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, then will the ears of the deaf hear.” And thereafter he spoke of the other marvels: “Then will the lame man leap like a stag, and the tongue of those with impediments of speech will be clear and distinct.” And this did not happen until his coming.

Demonstration Against the Pagans 3:9

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,” and the Creator himself was wearing the creature which was to be restored to the image of its Creator. And after the divinely miraculous works had been performed, the performance of which the spirit of prophecy had once predicted, “then shall the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall speak plainly.”

Sermon 54:4

And in healing their infirmities, then shall the eyes of the blind be opened. And these are metaphorical expressions, if they are referred to the time after the destruction of the Assyrians, so that they are understood as spiritual ills, as above; or they can be understood literally, if they are referred to the coming of Christ, as it says in Matthew 11:5: the blind see, the lame walk.

Commentary on Isaiah

And that it was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases and raise the dead, hear what was said. There are these words: "At His coming the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be clear speaking: the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise, and walk about." And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.

The First Apology, Chapter XLVIII

Let me dispel at once the … assertion that the prophets make all their announcements in figures of speech. Now, if this were the case, the figures themselves could not possibly have been distinguished, inasmuch as the verities would not have been declared, out of which the figurative language is stretched. And, indeed, if all are figures, where will be that of which they are the figures? How can you hold up a mirror for your face, if the face nowhere exists? But, in truth, all are not figures, but there are also literal statements; nor are all shadows, but there are bodies too. We have prophecies about the Lord himself even, which are clearer than the day. For it was not figuratively that the Virgin conceived in her womb.… Not even of his mighty works have [the prophets] used parabolic language. Or else, were not the eyes of the blind opened? Did not the tongue of the mute recover speech? Did not the relaxed hands and palsied knees become strong, and the lame leap like a deer? No doubt we are accustomed also to give a spiritual significance to these statements of prophecy, according to the analogy of the physical diseases that were healed by the Lord. But still they were all fulfilled literally, thus showing that the prophets foretold both senses, except that very many of their words can be taken only in a pure and simple signification and free from all allegorical obscurity.

On the Resurrection of the Flesh 20

That [Jesus] healed the lame and the blind, and that therefore we hold him to be the Christ and the Son of God, is manifest to us from what is contained in the prophecies: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened.”

Against Celsus 2:48

Isaiah bears witness to him when he sets before us the works of healing that were to be done by him.

On the Trinity 9:6

Now what can they [i.e., those who deny the incarnation] say to this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy not only indicated that God is to sojourn here but also announces the signs and the time of his coming. For they connect the blind recovering their sight, and the lame walking, and the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the one who stammers being made plain, with the divine coming which is to take place. Let them say, then, when such signs have come to pass in Israel, or where in Judah anything of the sort has occurred. Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard nor lame walked. Elijah raised a dead man; so did Elisha;64 but none blind from birth regained his sight. For in good truth, to raise a dead man is a great thing, but it is not like the wonder wrought by the Savior. Only, if Scripture has not passed over the case of the leper and of the dead son of the widow, certainly had it come to pass that a lame man also had walked and a blind man recovered his sight, the narrative would not have omitted to mention this also. Since, then, nothing is said in the [Old Testament] Scriptures, it is evident that these things had never taken place before. When, then, have they taken place, save when the Word of God himself came in the body? Or when did he come, if not when lame men walked, and those who stammer were made to speak plainly, and deaf men heard, and men blind from birth regained their sight?

On the Incarnation of the Word 38

But that these five thousand men are signs of divine power, the Lord himself predicted through the prophet, saying, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me will be signs in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts on Mount Zion.” The same prophet later revealed the nature of these future signs when he said, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear, and the lame will leap like deer.” We can recognize the fulfillment of this prophecy in the lame man who had been unable to walk since birth.If we look closely, we can also recognize the sacraments prefigured mystically in him, for the lame man received healing while looking toward Peter and John when he was at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. We too were lame prior to coming to the knowledge of Christ, in the sense that we were limping along the way of righteousness. Our halting strides were not those of the body, however, but those of the interior life. Whoever has gone astray from the way of righteousness or from the way of truth is altogether lame, even if his feet and legs are healthy, since he limps with his mind and soul. For the journey of faith and truth is traveled not with bodily steps but with strides of the interior life.

Sermon 1:3-4

Second, as to the gathering of goods, four things. First, as to the abundance of the waters: for waters are broken out, metaphorically, in the desert, for consolations; or because it will rain much, so that there will be great fertility: he has turned a wilderness into pools of waters (Ps 106:34[107:35]).

Commentary on Isaiah

But since I have not quoted to you such Scripture as tells that Christ will do these things, I must necessarily remind you of one such: from which you can understand, how that to those destitute of a knowledge of God, I mean the Gentiles, who, 'having eyes, saw not, and having a heart, understood not,' worshipping the images of wood, [how even to them] Scripture prophesied that they would renounce these [vanities], and hope in this Christ. It is thus written: 'Rejoice, thirsty wilderness: let the wilderness be glad, and blossom as the lily: the deserts of the Jordan shall both blossom and be glad: and the glory of Lebanon was given to it, and the honour of Carmel. And my people shall see the exaltation of the Lord, and the glory of God. Be strong, ye careless hands and enfeebled knees. Be comforted, ye faint in soul: be strong, fear not. Behold, our God gives, and will give, retributive judgment. He shall come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be distinct: for water has broken forth in the wilderness, and a valley in the thirsty land; and the parched ground shall become pools, and a spring of water shall [rise up] in the thirsty land.' The spring of living water which gushed forth from God in the land destitute of the knowledge of God, namely the land of the Gentiles, was this Christ, who also appeared in your nation, and healed those who were maimed, and deaf, and lame in body from their birth, causing them to leap, to hear, and to see, by His word. And having raised the dead, and causing them to live, by His deeds He compelled the men who lived at that time to recognise Him.

Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter LXIX

The Lord promises concerning holy Church through another prophet, saying: "There shall spring up in her the greenness of the reed and the rush." I remember having explained this in another place, that by the reed we should understand writers, and by the rush, hearers. But since both rush and reed are accustomed to grow near the moisture of water, and both spring forth from one and the same water, and the reed indeed is taken up for writing, while with the rush one cannot write, what should we understand by the rush and the reed, except that there is one doctrine of truth which irrigates many hearers? But some who are irrigated advance in the word of God even to the point that they also become writers, that is, like reeds; but others hear the word of life, maintain the greenness of good hope and right works, yet cannot advance to writing at all. What are these in the water of God except certain rushes, so to speak? They indeed advance by growing green, but they cannot express letters at all.

Homilies on Ezekiel 2.1

Second, as to the beauty of the fields: in the dens where dragons dwelt before, that is, the land, which formerly was desert, so that these animals lived in it, will be cultivated; the verdure of the reed and the bulrush, which spring up verdant places: he sleeps under the shadow, in the covert of the reed (Job 40:16).

Commentary on Isaiah

Third, as to the restoration of the ways, he sets out the holiness of the way: and a path, leading to the temple, shall be there, in the land of Judah; the unclean, the gentile, as before, or mystically, concerning the Church militant or triumphant: there shall not enter into it any thing defiled (Rev 21:27). He also sets out straightness of the way: and this shall be unto you a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein, that is, however simple they may be, they will not err, because of the multitude of those traveling by it: I will bring them from the north country (Jer 31:8).

Commentary on Isaiah

He also sets out the security of the way: no lion shall be there, above: they shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain (Isa 11:9).

Commentary on Isaiah

“Everlasting joy,” says Isaiah, “shall be upon their heads.” Well, there is nothing eternal until after the resurrection. “And sorrow and sighing,” he continues, “shall flee away.” The angel echoes the same to John: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,” from the same eyes indeed which had formerly wept and which might weep again if the loving kindness of God did not dry up every fountain of tears. And again: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,” and therefore no more corruption, it being chased away by incorruption, even as death is by immortality.

On the Resurrection of the Flesh 58

[God] is the same one who said to Jeremiah, “Behold, I place my words in your mouth as a fire.” David, therefore, also received this tongue of fire, so that he could speak of divine knowledge while enkindled with zeal: “Make known to me my end, O Lord.” He was not here asking about his own death or about the final resurrection. He was inquiring into that end of which the apostle spoke: “For the end will come when the Lord Jesus hands over the kingdom to God the Father and when he destroys every principality and power and when death is the last of all things to be destroyed,” such that evil is defeated and eternal goodness is ignited. Therefore it was said, “Pain and wailing will flee.”

Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms 38.16

I ask you to consider the condition of the other life, so far as it is possible to consider it; for no words will suffice for an adequate description. But from the things which are told us, as if by means of certain riddles, let us try and get some indistinct vision of it. “Pain and sorrow and sighing,” we read, “have fled away.” What then could be more blessed than this life? It is not possible there to fear poverty and disease. It is not possible to see any one injuring or being injured, provoking or being provoked, or angry, or envious, or burning with any outrageous lust, or anxious concerning the supply of the necessities of life, or bemoaning himself over the loss of some dignity and power. For all the tempest of passion in us is quelled and brought to nothing, and all will be in a condition of peace and gladness and joy, all things serene and tranquil, all will be daylight and brightness, and light, not this present light but one excelling this in splendor as much as daylight is brighter than a lamp. For things are not concealed in that world by night or by a gathering of clouds. Bodies there are not set on fire and burned. For there is neither night nor evening there, nor cold nor heat, nor any other variation of seasons. But the condition is of a different kind, such as only they will know who have been deemed worthy of it. There is no old age there, nor any of the evils of old age, but all things relating to decay are utterly removed, and incorruptible glory reigns in every part. But greater than all these things is the perpetual enjoyment of relationship with Christ in the company of angels and archangels and the higher powers.

Letter to the Fallen Theodore 1:11

What about hope? Will that be there [i.e., in heaven]? Hope will not continue when the thing hoped for is there. Certainly hope is very necessary for us in our exile. It is what consoles us on the journey. When the traveler, after all, finds it wearisome walking along, he puts up with the fatigue precisely because he hopes to arrive. Rob him of any hope of arriving, and immediately his strength for walking is broken. So the hope also which we have here is part and parcel of the justice of our exile and our journey. Listen to the apostle himself. “Awaiting the adoption,” he says, “we cannot yet say there is the bliss of which Scripture says, ‘Toil and groaning have passed away.’ ”

Sermon 158:8.8

And in fact, if we look with the elevated gaze of our mind at the condition wherein the heavenly and supernal virtues that are truly in the kingdom of God make their home, what else should it be thought to be than perpetual and continual joy? For what belongs so much to true blessedness and so befits it as continual tranquility and everlasting joy?… “They shall receive joy and gladness; sorrow and groaning shall flee away.”

Conference 1:13.3-4

For by these tokens the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil are distinguished: and in truth if lifting up our mental gaze on high we would consider that state in which the heavenly powers live on high, who are truly in the kingdom of God, what should we imagine it to be except perpetual and lasting joy? For what is so specially peculiar and appropriate to true blessedness as constant calm and eternal joy? And that you may be quite sure that this, which we say, is really so, not on my own authority but on that of the Lord, hear how very clearly he describes the character and condition of that world. “Behold,” he says, “I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But you shall be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.” And again “joy and gladness shall be found therein: thanksgiving and the voice of praise, and there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath.” And again: “They shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” And if you want to know more definitely about that life and the city of the saints, hear what the voice of the Lord proclaims to the heavenly Jerusalem: “I will make,” he says, “your officers peace and your overseers righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation nor destruction within your borders. And salvation shall take possession of your walls, and praise of your gates.”

Conference 1:13

When death is swallowed up in victory, therefore, there will be no corruption of body or soul, for when all iniquity has been removed from us, no infirmity will remain. Indeed, it is about such matters that Isaiah said, “They will obtain joy and gladness; and pain and moaning will flee from them.”

Three Books to Trasamundus 3:19.3

The world is indeed harassed by the evil lives and statements of many people. This attack upon the good and the bad is just like when mud and an ointment are blown on the same wind; the one exhales a foul odor, while the other has a sweet fragrance. In order that everyone may understand this, I will reveal it more explicitly to you, my friend. Good and bad people are two urns, one of which contains rottenness, the other precious spices. When they are blown by the same fan, the urn that has spices gives forth a desirable fragrance, while the one that is a sewer returns an unbearable stench. Similarly, both good and bad people are troubled but are distinguished by the penetrating judgment of God. Whenever tribulation comes to the world, the good like a holy vessel thank God who has deigned to chastise them; those who are proud, dissolute or avaricious on the contrary blaspheme and murmur against God, saying, O God, what great evil have we done that we should suffer such calamities? Therefore, even if the good die in the midst of adversities, they will end a life full of labors and miseries but will receive eternal life from which “sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Unfaithful souls refuse to believe this, and while fettered with love for this life, they cannot keep it but lose it by their infidelity.

Sermon 70:1

“The one who endures to the end will be saved.” By still referring to this the text goes on reading: “On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there anymore.” In the twelve months he suggests the idea of all times and designates eternity. Therefore where there is eternal greenness, no aridity will ever be allowed to exist. Where there is perfect and sound health, no infirmity is ever admitted, and also the prophet promises this by saying, “They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” “The tree” is the one that we read to be “planted by streams of water,” about which also Jeremiah says “that it sends out its roots by the stream,” that is, places its hope and confidence in the Lord. In another sense the river of the water of life is recognized to signify rightly the fountain itself of life, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, about whom we read, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

Commentary on the Apocalypse 5:22

You are about to journey a long road, and you need many supplies. You shall arrive at the place eternal that has two regions, wherein are many mansions; one of which places God has prepared for them that love him and keep his commandments, full of all manner of good things. And they that attain to it shall live for ever in incorruption, enjoying immortality without death, where pain and sorrow and sighing are fled away. But the other place is full of darkness and tribulation and pain, prepared for the devil and his angels. In it also they shall be cast who by evil deeds have deserved it, who have bartered the incorruptible and eternal for the present world and have made themselves fuel for eternal fire.

Barlaam and Joseph 14:124

And he sets out the frequentation of the ways: and the redeemed, those redeemed from the preceding dangers: for behold your children come, whom you sent away scattered (Bar 4:37).

Fourth, he promises them joy of heart: everlasting joy, above: he shall wipe away tears from every face (Isa 25:8); the condition of the joy of the saints in heaven is also shown, that it is everlasting; that it is full: they shall obtain, that it is pure: sorrow and mourning shall flee away: and God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints: and neither mourning, nor crying, nor any sorrow shall be any more (Rev 21:4).

Commentary on Isaiah