Chapter XII.

He confirms what has been already said, by the parable of the rich man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom; and shows that when the Son delivers up the kingdom to the Father, we must not regard the fact that the Father is said to put all things in subjection under Him, in a disparaging way. Here we are the kingdom of Christ, and in Christ’s kingdom. Hereafter we shall be in the kingdom of God, where the Trinity will reign together.

145. In divine fashion has He represented that parable of the rich man, who went to a far-off country to receive a kingdom, and to return,1048    S. Luke xix. 12. thus describing Himself in the substance of the Godhead, and of His Manhood. For He being rich in the fulness of His Godhead, Who was made poor for us though He was rich and an eternal King, and the Son of an eternal King; He, I say, went to a foreign country in taking on Him a body, for He entered upon the ways of men as though upon a strange journey, and came into this world to prepare for Himself a kingdom from amongst us.

146. Jesus therefore came to this earth to receive for Himself a kingdom from us, to whom He says: “The kingdom of God is within you.”1049    S. John xvii. 21. This is the kingdom which Christ has received, this the kingdom which He has delivered to the Father. For how did He receive for Himself a kingdom, Who was a King eternal? “The Son of Man therefore came to receive a kingdom and to return.” The Jews were unwilling to acknowledge Him, of whom He says: “They which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them.”1050    S. Luke xix. 27.

147. Let us follow the course of the Scriptures. He Who came will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father; and when He has delivered up the kingdom, then also shall He be subject to Him, Who has put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all.1051    1 Cor. xv. 24–28. If the Son of God has received the kingdom as Son of Man, surely as Son of Man also He will deliver up what He has received. If He delivers it up as Son of Man, as Son of Man He confesses His subjection indeed under the conditions of the flesh, and not in the majesty of His Godhead.

148. And dost thou make objections and contemn Him, because God has put all things in subjection under Him, when thou hearest that the Son of Man delivers up the kingdom to God, and hast read, as we said in our earlier books: “No man can come to Me, except the Father draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day”?1052    S. John vi. 44. If we follow it literally, see rather and notice the unity of honour each gives to other: The Father has put all things in subjection under the Son, and the Son delivers the kingdom to the Father. Say now which is the greater, to deliver up, or to raise up to life? Do we not after human fashion speak of the service of delivering up, and the power of raising to life? But both the Son delivers up to the Father, and also the Father to the Son. The Son raises to life, and the Father also raises to life. Let them create the fiction of a blasphemous division where there is a unity of power.

149. Let the Son then deliver up His kingdom to the Father. The kingdom which He delivers up is not lost to Christ, but grows. We are the kingdom, for it was said to us: “The kingdom of God is within you.”1053    S. Luke xvii. 21. And we are the kingdom, first of Christ, then of the Father; as it is written: “No man cometh to the Father, but by Me.”1054    S. John xiv. 6. When I am on the way, I am Christ’s; when I have passed through, I am the Father’s; but everywhere through Christ, and everywhere under Him.

150. It is a good thing to be in the kingdom of Christ, so that Christ may be with us; as He Himself says: “Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”1055    S. Matt. xxviii. 20. But it is better to be with Christ: “For to depart and be with Christ is far better.”1056    Phil. i. 23. Though we are under sin in this world, Christ is with us, that “by the obedience of one man many may be made just.”1057    Rom. v. 19. And if I escape the sin of this world, I shall begin to be with Christ. And so He says: “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself;”1058    S. John xiv. 3. and further on: “I will that where I am, there ye may be also with Me.”1059    S. John xiv. 3.

151. Therefore we are now under Christ’s rule, whilst we are in the body, and are not yet stripped of the form of a servant, which He put upon Him, when He “emptied Himself.” But when we shall see His glory, which He had before the world was, we shall be in the kingdom of God, in which are the patriarchs and prophets, of whom it is written: “When ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God;”1060    S. Luke xiii. 28. and shall thus acquire a deeper knowledge of God.

152. But in the kingdom of the Son the Father also reigns; and in the kingdom of the Father the Son also reigns: for the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; and in whomsoever the Son dwells, in him also the Father dwells; and in whomsoever the Father dwells, in him also the Son dwells, as it is written: “Both I and My Father will come to Him, and make Our abode with Him.”1061    S. John xiv. 23. Thus as there is one dwelling, so also there is one kingdom. Yea, and so far is the kingdom of the Father and of the Son but one, that the Father receives what the Son delivers, and the Son does not lose what the Father receives. Thus in the one kingdom there is a unity of power. Let no one therefore sever the Godhead between the Father and the Son.

CAPUT XII.

Superiora confirmat ex parabola divitis ad quaerendum sibi regnum proficiscentis; ostenditque cum regnum tradat Patri Filius, ad contumeliam non accipiendum, si omnia huic subjicere Pater dicatur. Nos hic esse Christi regnum, et in Christi regno; futuros aliquando in regno Dei, ubi regnat ex aequo tota Trinitas.

0677C 146. Divine itaque illam parabolam induxit divitis, qui in regionem longinquam profectus est accipere regnum et reverti (Luc. XIX, 12), se ipsum secundum substantiam divinitatis incorporationisque describens. Ipse enim dives secundum plenitudinem divinitatis, qui pro nobis pauper factus est, cum dives esset et rex aeternus, et aeterno rege progenitus: peregre profectus secundum corporis susceptionem; quia vias hominis tamquam iter ingressus alienum, venit in hunc mundum, ut regnum sibi pararet ex nobis.

147. Venit ergo Jesus in hanc terram regnum accipere de nobis, quibus ait: Regnum Dei intra vos est (Luc. XVII, 21). Hoc est regnum quod Christus accepit, hoc est, quod Patri tradidit. Nam quomodo regnum accepit, qui erat rex sempiternus? Venit ergo 0677D Filius hominis accipere regnum, et reverti. Noluerunt eum suscipere Judaei, de quibus ait: Illi qui noluerunt me regnare super se, adducite et interficite eos (Luc. XIX, 27).

0678A 148. Sequamur Scripturarum ordinem. Ille qui venit, regnum Deo Patri tradet: et cum tradiderit regnum, tunc et ipse subjectus erit ei, qui sibi subjecit omnia; ut sit Deus omnia et in omnibus (I Cor. XV, 24, 28). Si ut Filius hominis regnum accepit Dei Filius; ut Filius utique hominis etiam 577 traditurus est, quod accepit: si ut Filius hominis tradit, ergo et ut Filius hominis subjectionem, utique per conditionem carnis, non per majestatem divinitatis, agnoscit.

149. Et tu ad contumeliam objicis, quod ei subjecerit omnia Deus; cum audias quod regnum Filius hominis Deo tradat, et ut in superioribus diximus libris, legeris: Nemo venit ad me, nisi Pater attraxerit eum, et ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo die (lib. II, 0678B cap. 4)? Si litteram sequamur, vide magis atque adverte unitatem honorificentiae: et Pater subjecit Filio, et Filius Patri tradit. Dic quid sit amplius trahere, an resuscitare? Nonne secundum morem hominum ministerium trahentis, potestas est suscitantis? Sed et Filius ad Patrem trahit, et Pater ad Filium trahit: et Filius suscitat, et Pater suscitat. Facessant sacrilegae commenta discretionis, ubi unitas potestatis est.

150. Tradat igitur Patri regnum suum Filius? Non deperit Christo regnum quod tradit, sed proficit. Nos sumus regnum, quia nobis dictum est: Regnum Dei intra vos est (Luc. XVII, 21). Et sumus regnum Christi ante, postea Patris; quia scriptum est: Nemo venit ad Patrem, nisi per me (Joan. XIV, 6). 0678C Cum in via sum, Christi sum; cum pervenero, Patris sum: sed ubique per Christum, et ubique sub Christo.

151. Bonum est in regno Christi esse, ut Christus nobiscum sit, sicut ipse ait: Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem mundi (Matth. XXVIII, 20). Sed melius est esse cum Christo: Dissolri enim et cum Christo esse multo melius (Phil. I, 23). Cum in hoc mundo sub peccato sumus, Christus nobiscum est; ut per unius obedientiam justi constituantur multi (Rom. V, 19). Et si peccatum hujus mundi evasero, incipiam esse cum Christo. Denique ait: Veniam iterum, et assumam vos ad me (Joan. XIV, 3); et infra: Volo ut ubi ego sum, et isti sint mecum (Joan. XVII, 24).

152. Ergo nunc sub regno Christi sumus, dum 0678D in corpore versamur, et nondum forma exuimur servi, quam ille cum se exinanivisset, accepit: cum vero gloriam ejus viderimus, quam habuit priusquam mundus esset, erimus in regno Dei, in quo patriarchae 0679A sunt et prophetae, de quibus scriptum est: Cum videritis Abraham, Isaac et Jacob, et omnes prophetas in regno Dei (Luc. XIII, 28); ut jam pleniore Dei cognitione potiamur.

153. Sed in Filii regno et Pater regnat, et in regno Patris Filius regnat, quia Pater in Filio, et in Patre Filius: et in quo habitat Filius, habitat et Pater; et in quo habitat Pater, habitat et Filius, sicut ipse ait: Ego et Pater ad eum veniemus, et apud eum mansionem faciemus (Joan. XIV, 23). Ergo sicut una domus, ita et unum regnum. Eousque autem unum Patris et Filii regnum est, ut quod Filius tradit, Pater accipit, et quod Pater accipiat, Filius non amittat. Ergo in uno regno unitas potestatis est. Nemo igitur 578 divinitatem inter Patrem Filiumque secernat.