John Chrysostom, On "I saw the Lord"

of archangels, where there are myriads of angels, where the royal throne is. Let no one profane, therefore, be present, nor accursed—for we are about to make bold with mystical narratives—let no one be unclean and unworthy of this hearing. Or rather, let every profane and accursed person be present, but having put away outside all uncleanness and wickedness, so let him enter. For indeed, the father of the bridegroom drove out that one with the filthy garments from the bride-chamber and the sacred bridal-bed for this reason, not because he had filthy garments, but because having them he entered so. For he did not say to him: 'Why do you not have a wedding garment?' but: 'Why, not having a wedding garment, did you enter so?' 'At the crossroads,' he says, 'you stood begging and I was not ashamed of your poverty, I did not abhor your filth, but having delivered you from all that abjectness, I brought you into the sacred bride-chamber and deemed you worthy of royal banquets and led to the highest honor one who was worthy of the worst punishment. But you did not become better even by these good deeds, but remained in your customary wickedness, insulting the wedding, and insulting the bride-chamber.' Go away, therefore, from now on and receive the punishment due for such insensibility. Let each of us, therefore, consider, lest he hear this voice and, having cast away every thought unworthy of spiritual teaching, so let him partake of the sacred table. "And it came to pass, it says, in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up." How he saw, I do not know. For that he saw, he said, but how, he was silent. I accept what has been said, I am not meddlesome about what has been kept silent. I understand what has been revealed, I am not curious about what has been concealed. For on this account it has been concealed. The narrative of the Scriptures is a golden robe, the warp is gold, the woof is gold. I do not weave into it the webs of spiders, the weakness of my own reasonings. "Remove not the landmarks, it says, which your fathers have set." It is not safe to move landmarks; and how shall we move those which God has set for us? Do you wish to learn how he saw God? Become a prophet yourself also. And how is this possible, he says, for one who has a wife and is concerned with raising children? It is possible, if you wish, beloved. For he himself also had a wife and was the father of two children, but none of these things hindered him. For marriage is not a hindrance to the journey to heaven; since if it were a hindrance and the wife were going to plot against us, God, making her from the beginning, would not have called her a helper. I wished, therefore, to say what it means for God to be seated. For God is certainly not seated; for this posture is of bodies. But the divine is incorporeal. 6.2 I wished, therefore, to say what the throne of God is. For God is certainly not contained in a throne; for the divine is uncircumscribed. but I fear lest by dwelling on the teaching concerning these things, I should delay what is due. For I see everyone gaping towards the Seraphim, not only today, but also from the first day; therefore, the discourse, like a multitude of men, cutting through with great force the multitude of thoughts it encounters, hastens to that explanation. "And the Seraphim stood round about him," it says. Behold the Seraphim, which you all have long desired to see. Behold, therefore, and fulfill your desire, but not with clamor, nor with a hurried mind, as happens at royal processions and entrances. For there, this very thing happens for a good reason. For the guards do not wait for the gaze of the spectators, but before everything can be seen well, they compel them to run past. But here it is not so; but the discourse holds the vision for you, until you go over all, as much as it is possible to go over. "And the Seraphim stood round about him." Before the dignity of their nature, he taught us the dignity from their nearness of place. For he did not say first what [were] the Seraphim, but he said where

ἀρχαγγέλων, ἔνθα μυριάδες ἀγγέλων, ἔνθα ὁ θρόνος ὁ βασιλικός. Μηδεὶς οὖν παρέστω βέβηλος, μηδὲ ἐναγήςμυστικῶν γὰρ μέλλομεν κατατολμᾷν διηγημάτων, μηδεὶς ἀκάθαρτος καὶ τῆς ἀκροάσεως ταύτης ἀνάξιος· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ βέβηλος καὶ ἐναγὴς παρέστω πᾶς, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν καὶ τὴν πονηρίαν ἀποθέμενος ἔξω πᾶσαν, οὕτως εἰσίτω. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον τὸν τὰ ῥυπαρὰ ἱμάτια ἔχοντα διὰ τοῦτο ἐξήλασε τοῦ νυμφῶνος καὶ τῆς ἱερᾶς παστάδος ὁ τοῦ νυμφίου πατήρ, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ εἶχεν ἱμάτια ῥυπαρά, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἔχων αὐτὰ οὕτως εἰσῄει. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· ∆ιὰ τί οὐκ ἔχεις ἔνδυμα γάμου; ἀλλά· ∆ιὰ τί οὐκ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου οὕτως εἰσῆλθες; Ἐπὶ τῶν τριόδων, φησίν, εἱστήκεις ἐπαιτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνθην σου τὴν πενίαν, οὐκ ἐβδελυξάμην σου τὴν ῥυπαρίαν, ἀλλὰ πάσης ἐκείνης ἀπαλλάξας σε τῆς εὐτελείας, εἰσήγαγον εἰς τὸν νυμφῶνα τὸν ἱερὸν καὶ δείπνων ἠξίωσα βασιλικῶν καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀνωτάτω τιμὴν ἤγαγον τὸν ἐσχάτης ὄντα κολάσεως ἄξιον· σὺ δὲ οὐδὲ ταῖς εὐεργεσίαις ἐγένου βελτίων, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς συνήθους ἔμεινας κακίας, ὑβρίσας μὲν εἰς τοὺς γάμους, ὑβρίσας δὲ εἰς τὸν νυμφῶνα. Ἄπιθι τοίνυν λοιπὸν καὶ δίδου τὴν ὀφειλομένην τῆς τοιαύτης ἀναισθησίας τιμωρίαν. Σκοπείτω τοίνυν καὶ ἡμῶν ἕκαστος, μή πως ταύτην ἀκούσῃ τὴν φωνὴν καί, πάντα λογισμὸν ἀποβαλὼν τῆς πνευματικῆς διδασκαλίας ἀνάξιον, οὕτω τῆς ἱερᾶς μετασχέτω τραπέζης. "Καὶ ἐγένετο, φησί, τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεύς, εἶδον τὸν Κύριον καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπῃρμένου." Πῶς εἶδεν, οὐκ οἶδα· ὅτι μὲν γὰρ εἶδεν, εἶπεν, τὸ δὲ πῶς ἐσιώπησεν· δέχομαι τὰ εἰρημένα, οὐ πολυπραγμονῶ τὰ σεσιγημένα· κατανοῶ τὰ ἀποκαλυφθέντα, οὐ περιεργάζομαι τὰ συγκεκαλυμμένα· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ συγκεκάλυπται. Πέπλος χρυσοῦς ἐστι τῶν Γραφῶν ἡ διήγησις, ὁ στήμων χρυσός, ἡ κρόκη χρυσός. Οὐ παρυφαίνω τῶν ἀραχνῶν τὰ ὑφάσματα, τῶν ἐμῶν λογισμῶν τὴν ἀσθένειαν. "Μὴ μέταιρε ὅρια, φησίν, ἃ ἔθεντο οἱ πατέρες σου." Ὅρια κινεῖν οὐκ ἀσφαλές· καὶ πῶς, ἅπερ ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς ἔθηκεν, μεταθήσομεν; Βούλει μαθεῖν πῶς εἶδε τὸν Θεόν; Γενοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς προφήτης. Καὶ πῶς δυνατὸν τοῦτο, φησίν, γυναῖκα ἔχοντα καὶ παιδοτροφίας ἐπιμελούμενον; ∆υνατὸν μέν, ἐὰν ἐθέλῃς, ἀγαπητέ. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς γυναῖκα εἶχεν καὶ παίδων δύο πατὴρ ἦν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων ἐκώλυσεν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι κώλυμα τῆς πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀποδημίας ὁ γάμος· ἐπεὶ εἰ κώλυμα ἦν καὶ ἐπιβουλεύειν ἡμῖν ἔμελλεν ἡ γυνή, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιῶν ὁ Θεὸς ἐκάλεσε βοηθόν. Ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὖν εἰπεῖν τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ καθῆσθαι τὸν Θεόν· οὐ γὰρ δὴ κάθηται ὁ Θεός· σωμάτων γὰρ ὁ σχηματισμός· τὸ δὲ θεῖον ἀσώματον. 6.2 Ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὖν εἰπεῖν τί ποτέ ἐστι θρόνος Θεοῦ· οὐ γὰρ δὴ θρόνῳ ὁ Θεὸς ἐμπεριείληπται· ἀπερίγραπτον γὰρ τὸ θεῖον· ἀλλὰ δέδοικα μὴ τῇ περὶ τούτων ἐνδιατρίβων διδασκαλίᾳ, παρελκύσω τὸ ὄφλημα. Καὶ γὰρ πάντας ὁρῶ πρὸς τὰ Σεραφὶμ κεχηνότας, οὐχὶ τήμερον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ πρώτης ἡμέρας· διόπερ, καθάπερ πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων, πολλῇ τῇ ῥύμῃ διακόπτων ὁ λόγος τῶν ἁπαντώντων νοημάτων τὸ πλῆθος, πρὸς ἐκείνην ἐπείγεται τὴν ἐξήγησιν. "Καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ εἱστήκεισαν κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ", φησίν. Ἰδοὺ τὰ Σεραφίμ, ἃ πάλαι ἐπεθυμεῖτε πάντες ἰδεῖν. Θεάσασθε τοίνυν καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐμπλήσατε, ἀλλὰ μὴ μετὰ θορύβου, μηδὲ σπεύδοντι λογισμῷ, ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλικῶν ἐξόδων καὶ εἰσόδων γίνεται· ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ εἰκότως τοῦτο αὐτὸ συμβαίνει. Οὐ γὰρ ἀναμένουσιν οἱ δορυφόροι τῶν ὁρώντων τὰς ὄψεις, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἢ πάντα ὀφθῆναι καλῶς, ἀναγκάζουσι παρατρέχειν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐχ οὕτως· ἀλλ' ἵστησιν ὑμῖν ὁ λόγος τὴν θεωρίαν, ἕως οὗ πάντα ἐπέλθητε, ὅσα δυνατὸν ἐπελθεῖν. "Καὶ τὰ Σεραφὶμ εἱστήκεισαν κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ." Πρὸ τοῦ τῆς φύσεως ἀξιώματος ἐδίδαξεν ἡμᾶς τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐγγύτητος τῆς κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἀξίωμα. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπε πρῶτον τίνα [ἦν] τὰ Σεραφίμ, ἀλλ' εἶπεν ἔνθα