Homilies on Isaiah 1–2

Vision 1. “And it came to pass in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a high throne.” As long as King Uzziah lived, the prophet Isaiah could not see the vision. For Uzziah was a sinner, doing evil in the sight of the Lord and acting against the will of the divine Law. He entered the temple and the Holy of holies, and for this he was covered with leprosy on his forehead, so that, going outside the city, he was counted among the unclean. Such a ruler of the soul, then, must die, that we may be able to see the vision of God. For not in vain is it written: “And it came to pass in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.” In each of us an Uzziah, or a Pharaoh, lives, and we do not groan while we do the works of Egypt. But if he dies, then we groan, as it is written in Exodus. If Uzziah lives, we do not see the glory of God; but if he dies, then, as soon as Uzziah dies, we see the glory of God. Only let it be that the word of him who said, “But I have been set up as king by him,” reigns in us, and that wrath does not reign. There is indeed also a king of sin. The Apostle, knowing this, says: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.” Wretched is the man in whom sin reigns, who hands himself over to such a king, despising the kingdom of God and subjecting himself to pleasure. Therefore the lover of pleasure is not a lover of God. And according to the Apostle it is said of some: “lovers of pleasure rather than of God.” And indeed this very thing was said not of those who are altogether unbelievers but of those who dwell within, loving pleasure rather than God, “who have the form of godliness but deny its power.” This on account of the death of King Uzziah, after whose death the prophet says he saw the vision. And what is the vision? “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up,” and so on. Not everyone who sees God sees him sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. I know that another prophet saw the Lord, and saw him sitting upon a throne, but not high or lifted up. Daniel, setting forth the scripture, says: “Thrones were set,” and that throne was not high. And: “I will come and sit to judge the people in the valley of Jehoshaphat.” Here, then, he sat in a valley, and in a valley he will judge the one whom he is going to condemn. But it is another thing to see him sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. And in Micah God goes forth and comes down … To see Sodom he comes down. Coming down, he says, “I will see whether they have done altogether according to their cry which has come to me.” So God is seen sometimes above, sometimes below, according to the worth of the matters at hand. “I saw the Lord,” then, says Isaiah, “sitting upon a throne high and lifted up.” If I see God reigning over those who are here, I do not see him upon a throne high and lifted up. If I see him reigning over the heavenly powers, I see him sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. What does he mean by heavenly powers? Thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, powers are heavenly. And if I see him as he reigns over them in the Word, I have seen the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. “And the house was full of his glory.” His throne too is lifted up on high, and the house is full of his glory. I do not think that this house which is on earth is full of his glory. “The earth is the Lord's, and its fullness.” But you will not find the fullness of God's glory at present; but if anyone builds a temple for God, the glory of God will be seen; and if he keeps what has been said, the house will be seen full of the glory of God. But I do not know whether the house is filled with glory in this way. And in Leviticus, what pertains to the present matter will, God granting, be found in the assembly that follows: that the Lord commanded certain things to be done so that the glory of the Lord might be seen. And the glory of God will never appear if these things are not done. We shall learn them when they have been read. “And seraphim stood around him; six wings to the one, and six wings to the other.” I see two seraphim, each having six wings in itself. Then the arrangement of the wings: “And with two wings they covered the face,” not their own but God's; “with two wings they covered the feet,” not their own but God's; “and with two wings they flew.” According to what is written, it seems self-contradictory: if they stood, they could not fly. But it is written: “Two seraphim stood around him, six wings to the one and six wings to the other; and with two they covered the face, and with two they covered the feet, and with two they flew, and they cried one to the other.” But these seraphim who are around God, who by knowledge alone say, “Holy, holy, holy,” therefore keep the mystery of the Trinity, because they too are holy. For among all things that are, nothing is holier than they. And they do not say lightly one to the other, “Holy, holy, holy,” but proclaim with a cry a confession that saves all. Who are these two seraphim? My Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And do not think that the nature of the Trinity is divided if the functions of the names are kept. They covered the face of God, for God's beginning is unknown; and his feet too, for what is last in our God is not grasped. Only the middle things are seen. What was before these things I do not know; from the things that are, I understand God. What will be after these things, according to what they will be, I do not know. “Who has declared it to him?” said Ecclesiastes. “Declare to me the former things and the last things that will be, and I will say that you are gods.” Hence Isaiah too says: “Declare to us the former things, and we will set our heart and know; and show us the last of the things to come. Declare the things to come hereafter, and we will say that you are gods.” From this, if anyone can tell the past and can tell the last things, he is God. Who, then, can say it except the seraphim: “Holy, holy, holy”? But the seraphim have uncovered a certain part of God, so to speak, his middle part, and they cried one to the other, standing by God and saying: “Holy, holy, holy.” So they stand and are moved: they stand with God, they are moved as they reveal God. Understand that they cover the face, they cover the feet; what is covered is not moved, what flies is not covered; and they say: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The coming of my Lord Jesus Christ is proclaimed; so now the whole earth is full of his glory. Or perhaps it is not yet full, but it will be filled when the prayer is fulfilled which the Lord himself commanded us to pray to the Father: “When you pray,” he says, “say: Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” As yet the Father's will is in heaven; on earth his will is not yet fulfilled, as Jesus himself, according to the economy of the flesh which he had put on, says: “He has given me all authority, as in heaven, so on earth.” Did he who had authority in heaven not have authority on earth? And would he receive something from the world who had come to his own? But in order that God might be believed on earth as he was believed in heaven, the man Christ received an authority which he did not have before; and up to the present he does not yet have authority over all on earth. For in those who sin he does not yet reign; but when authority over them too is given him, when all things are subjected to him, then his authority will be complete, and he will go about subjecting all things to himself. Some do not yet wish to be subject to him, but are still subject to his enemies. But let us say: “Shall not my soul be subject to God? For from God is my salvation.” “And with two they flew, and one said to the other: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. And the lintel was lifted up at the voice with which they cried,” the voice of Jesus Christ and the voice of the Holy Spirit. If any of us hears the voice of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit crying, the lintel is lifted up and becomes higher than at the time when it was lifted up and when it was said: “Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in.” “And the house was filled with smoke.” From the sending forth of fire the whole house was filled. Smoke is the vapor of fire. “And I said: O wretched me, for I am pierced, since I am a man and have unclean lips!” I cannot perceive why Isaiah humbled himself. But he speaks the truth; for Scripture bears witness that his lips are cleansed by one of the seraphim who was sent to take away his sins. One of the seraphim is my Lord Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father to take away our sins, and says: “Behold, I have taken away your iniquities, and purged your sins all around.” And do not think it an insult to his nature if the Son is sent by the Father. Indeed, so that you may recognize the unity of the Godhead in the Trinity, in the present reading Christ alone now forgives sins, and yet it is certain that sins are forgiven by the Trinity. For whoever believes in one believes in all. Let tongs, then, be brought to me from the heavenly altar, to touch my lips. If the Lord's tongs have touched my lips, they cleanse them. And if they have cleansed them and circumcised them from vices, as we said just now, I will open my mouth to the word of God, and no unclean word will come out of my mouth any more; for “being a man and having unclean lips, I dwell also in the midst of a people having unclean lips.” The seraph who was sent cleansed the lips of the prophet, but did not cleanse the lips of the people. For he himself confessed that he had unclean lips and dwelt in the midst of a people having unclean lips. But the seraph who was sent did not judge those of the people worthy to have their lips cleansed too; and therefore they still act impiously, therefore they still fight against my Lord Jesus Christ, still curse him with unclean lips. But I pray that the seraph may come and cleanse my lips. “And I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, with my eyes.” Let us not pass over at present a certain tradition of the Jews, plausible indeed though not true, and see whether we cannot find its solution. They say that Isaiah was sawn asunder by the people as one who transgressed the Law and proclaimed things beyond the Scriptures. For Scripture says: “No one shall see my face and live.” But this man says: “I saw the Lord of hosts.” “Moses,” they say, “did not see, and you have seen?” And for this they cut him in two and condemned him as impious. For they did not know that the seraphim covered God's face with two wings. “I saw the Lord,” but Isaiah did not see his face, nor did Moses see it. Moses saw his back parts, as it is written. Yet he saw the Lord, though he did not see his face. And so here too he saw, though he did not see the face. Wrongly, then, they condemned the prophet. “And I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, with my eyes; and one of the seraphim was sent to me.” The coming of my Lord Jesus Christ is not only the one in which he came down to earth: he came to Isaiah, he came to Moses, he came to the people, he came to each of the prophets; and do not fear: even though he has now been received into heaven, he will come again. And that he came to human beings even before his bodily presence, take him himself as witness, declaring and saying: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often I wished to gather your children.” “How often I wished.” He does not say, “I have not seen you except in this coming,” but he says, “How often I wished.” And turning through each of the prophets, he says, “I was the Christ who spoke through the prophets.” I have said it, and do not fear: even now Jesus Christ is sent. He does not lie: “I am with you,” says the Lord, “all days until the consummation of the age.” He does not lie: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” Since, then, Jesus Christ is at hand and stands by us, and the high priest is ready and girded to offer our petitions to the Father, let us rise and through him offer sacrifices to the Father. For he is the propitiation for our sins; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

On the text, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb,” etc. (Isa 7). 1. As far as the words are concerned, Ahaz acted modestly when he was commanded to ask for a sign in the depth or in the height, and he gave a reason why he would not ask. For he says: “I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.” Yet he is blamed for this word, and it is said to him: “Hear now, house of David: Is it a small thing for you to put up a contest with men, and how do you put up a contest with the Lord?” Then this promise is spoken: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall receive in the womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.” Let these things be expounded, and we shall see about the rest, needing the grace of God in them too, that they may be made clear. He is commanded to ask for a sign, not simply, but for himself. For the word says: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height.” The sign set forth is my Lord Jesus Christ. For this is the sign which he is commanded to ask for himself in the depth or in the height: in the depth, because it is he who descended; in the height, because it is he who ascended above all the heavens. But this sign set forth to me, my Lord Jesus Christ, in the depth and in the height, profits me nothing unless the mystery of his depth and height comes about for me. For when I receive the mystery of Christ Jesus, of the depth and the height, then I shall receive the sign according to the Lord's command, and it will be said to me as one having in himself the depth and the height: “Do not say in your heart: Who has ascended into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or, Who has descended into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. The word is near, very near, in your mouth and in your heart.” It is commanded, then, to all of us to ask this sign for ourselves, so that the sign which the Lord God gives in the depth and in the height may become useful to us. And if there is anyone who knows and recognizes by reasoned contemplation that the words “in the depth and in the height” were not said disjunctively, for it means that it can be both: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord, in the depth and in the height.” And in a promise the Apostle said: “that we may know what is the depth and the height and the length and the breadth.” “And Ahaz said: I will not ask.” He was unbelieving; for he said: Ask for yourself. But the people to this day does not ask for the sign; therefore it does not have it, and the people which does not receive my Lord Jesus Christ puts up a contest with the Lord. Then another question follows. For when he says, “I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord,” and thinks it a temptation to ask for a sign, it is said: “Hear now, house of David: Is it a small thing for you to put up a contest with men, and how do you put up a contest with the Lord?” But I do not think that one who asks for a sign in the depth or in the height puts up a contest with the Lord, or with men. For God's contest is how to save man. He who flees for refuge to salvation does not put up a contest with the Lord. But he who, while the Lord contends to save man, flees from salvation and withdraws far from the Lord, puts up a contest with the Lord. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall receive in the womb and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” The true reading of the copies of this prophet says “you shall call.” In Matthew we know it is read: “And his name shall be called Emmanuel.” We cannot say that anything of the prophecy should be made less. How, then, does the Gospel have this reading? Whether by someone who did not understand and ran to what was easier, as has happened in many other places too; or whether it was so from the beginning, so that someone might perhaps say that the Gospel was issued so: let whoever wishes deliberate. The prophet certainly has plainly, “and you shall call his name Emmanuel.” I know of someone who, reading in the copy of the Gospel writings, “and you shall call his name Emmanuel,” said within himself: “What is ‘you shall call’? Who shall call? Ahaz? And how could Ahaz hear about the Savior, who came many generations later, ‘He shall call his name Emmanuel’?” And so, instead of “you shall call,” he wrote “shall be called.” But see that it is not said to Ahaz, “And you shall call his name Emmanuel,” but see that it is plainly said to the house of David: “Hear now, house of David: Is it a small thing for you to put up a contest with men, and how do you put up a contest with the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.” But when we do not understand what has been said, let us not make anything of it less, nor run to what is easier, but let us wait until the grace of God gives us the explanation of the question through the enlightenment of knowledge; or else the grace of God may enlighten us through whom it wills, so that we no longer seek, but our question is solved. But if we rashly break out into things not understood, we shall have ourselves to blame. What, then, is the house of David? If David is Christ, as I have often proved, we, the church of God, are the house of David; and it is said to us who are the church that we should not put up a contest with God, as said above, but receive the sign when the Lord gives it. These things are said to us, not to the house of David. And it is prophesied that, if anyone is the house of David, he shall call his name Emmanuel. For at the coming of Christ our church alone says of Christ: God with us. These things having been explained as the grace of God has granted, let us now seek other riddles. “Butter and honey he shall eat.” How is Christ prophesied as going to eat butter and honey? If this is explained, the Lord granting, the things that follow will again bring us another question. Would that we all did what is written: “Search the Scriptures.” Many things are named in the Scriptures from bodily foods in place of spiritual foods. “As newborn babes, long for the rational milk without guile.” So there is without doubt a rational milk, and we must seek milk of this kind. Again, in Proverbs it is written of honey: “Finding honey, eat what is enough, lest perhaps, being full, you vomit.” Did the Holy Spirit care about this honey which is known, lest perhaps we eat too much? But surely the Holy Spirit, meaning spiritual honey, says: “Finding honey, eat what is enough.” And what does the Holy Spirit mean in commanding us that, if we find honey (it can be found, if indeed it is honey), we should eat what is enough? “Go,” he says, “to the bee, and learn how she is a worker.” And the prophets are found to be bees. For they shape wax and make honey; and, if I may say so, the scriptures they have left are their honeycombs. And willingly I came to the Scriptures and found honey. But eat the honey. And again in Proverbs it is said: “For the honeycomb is good, that your throat may be sweetened.” Do you think the Holy Spirit says this, “Eat the honey that is in use, for it is good”? I do not dare to say that the Holy Spirit commands me concerning bodily honey, “Eat honey.” See, I do not have it, or perhaps I am of such a constitution that I cannot eat honey: on what ground does he say to me, “Eat honey,” and not “Do not eat meat,” but “Eat honey, my son, for it is good”? If you see the prophets as bees and their work as honey or honeycombs, then you will see how you may understand, according to the dignity of the Holy Spirit, “Eat honey, my son, for it is good.” If anyone meditates on the divine oracles and is nourished by the words of the Scriptures, he fulfills the divine command which says, “Eat honey, my son”; and doing what is commanded, he gains the word that follows, “for it is good,” because this honey which is found in the Scriptures is good. And the saying, “Go to the bee,” is of this kind: there is, so to speak, a bee above the bees; and as among bees there is a certain king who is called king, so the prince of bees is the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Holy Spirit sends me to eat honey, for it is good, and his honeycomb, that my throat may be sweetened. And perhaps the subtler letters will be the honeycomb, while the honey is the meaning that is in them. Now this Emmanuel, who was born of the virgin, eats butter and honey, and he asks each of us for butter to eat. How he asks butter and honey of each of us, the word will teach. Our sweet works, our most pleasant and useful words, are the honey which Emmanuel eats, which he who was born of the virgin eats. But if our words are full of bitterness, anger, animosity, vexation, foul talk, vices, contention, “he gave gall into my mouth,” and the Savior does not eat of these words. But the Savior will eat of the words that are among men, if their words are honey. Let us prove this from the Scriptures: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door to me, I will come in to him, and I will dine with him and he with me.” So he himself promises that he will dine with us from what is ours. And it is certain that we too dine with him, if we dine on him. For, eating of our good words, works, and understanding, he feeds us in return with his spiritual, divine, and better foods. Therefore, because it is blessed to receive the Savior, having opened the doors of the ruling part of our heart, let us prepare for him honey and his whole supper, that he may lead us to the great supper of the Father in the kingdom of heaven, which is in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.