Chap. XX.—Of the Departure of Jesus into Galilee After His Resurrection; And of the Two Testaments, the Old and the New.

Therefore He went into Galilee, for He was unwilling to show Himself to the Jews, lest He should lead them to repentance, and restore them from their impiety to a sound mind.766    [A very feeble exposition of Luke xix. 42, 44.]   And there He opened to His disciples again assembled the writings of Holy Scripture, that is, the secrets of the prophets; which before His suffering could by no means be understood, for they told of Him and of His passion. Therefore Moses, and the prophets also themselves, call the law which was given to the Jews a testament: for unless the testator shall have died, a testament cannot be confirmed; nor can that which is written in it be known, because it is closed and sealed. And thus, unless Christ had undergone death, the testament could not have been opened; that is, the mystery of God could not have been unveiled767    Revelari, to be laid bare, uncovered, brought to light.   and understood.  

But all Scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of the New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us, made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived and disinherited.768    Abdicato et exhæredato. The two expressions are joined together, to give strength. “Abdicati” were sons deprived of a share in their father’s possessions during his life; “exhæredati,” disinherited, those who have forfeited the right of succession after their father’s death.   As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things:769    Jer. xxxi. 31, 32.   “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new testament770    Or rather “covenant,” διαθήκη, for this signification is much more in accordance with the general meaning of the passage.   to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I disregarded771    Neglexi; Gr. ἡμέλησα.   them, saith the Lord.” Also in another place he says in like manner:772    Jer. xii. 7, 8.   “I have forsaken my house, I have given up mine heritage into the hand of its enemies. Mine heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest; it hath cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.” Since the inheritance is His heavenly kingdom, it is evident that He does not say that He hates the inheritance itself, but the heirs, who have been ungrateful towards Him, and impious. Mine heritage, he says, is become unto me as a lion; that is, I am become a prey and a devouring to my heirs, who have slain me as the flock. It hath cried out against me; that is, they have pronounced against me the sentence of death and the cross. For that which He said above, that He would make773    Consummaturum, “would complete,” “make perfect,” as in the next clause.   a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses was not perfect;774    See Heb. viii. 13, “In that He saith, a new covenant, He hath made the first old.”   but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. But it is plain that the house of Judah does not signify the Jews, whom He casts off, but us, who have been called by Him out of the Gentiles, and have by adoption succeeded to their place, and are called sons775    St. John’s testimony is more distinct, i. 12: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”   of the Jews, which the Sibyl declares when she says:—  

But what that race was about to be, Isaiah teaches, in whose book the Most High Father addresses His Son:776    Isa. xlii. 6, 7.   “I the Lord God have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee:777    Confirmabo te, “will strengthen Thee.”   and I have given Thee for a covenant of my race,778    In testamentum generis mei. The word here rendered “covenant” is the same (testamentum) as that translated in other places “testament,” which does not supply the sense here required. The attempt to give the meaning “testament” in all places causes much confusion, as in this passage.   for a light of the Gentiles; to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.” When, therefore, we who were in time past as it were blind, and as it were shut up in the prison of folly, were sitting in darkness, ignorant of God and of the truth, we have been enlightened by Him, who adopted us by His testament; and having freed us from cruel chains, and brought us out to the light of wisdom, He admitted us to the inheritance of His heavenly kingdom.  

0514A CAPUT XX. De Jesu in Galilaeam post resurrectionem profectione; atque de utroque Testamento, Vetere et Novo.

Profectus ergo in Galilaeam (noluit enim se Judaeis ostendere, ne adduceret eos in poenitentiam, atque impios resanaret), discipulis iterum congregatis Scripturae sanctae litteras, id est prophetarum arcana, patefecit; quae antequam pateretur, perspici nullo modo poterant, quia ipsum passionemque ejus annuntiabant. Idcirco Moses, et iidem ipsi prophetae legem, quae Judaeis data erat, Testamentum vocant; quia nisi testator mortuus fuerit, nec confirmari testamentum potest, nec sciri quid in eo scriptum sit, quia clausum et obsignatum est. Itaque nisi Christus mortem suscepisset, aperiri testamentum, id est, revelari 0514B et intelligi mysterium Dei non potuisset.

Verum Scriptura omnis in duo Testamenta divisa est. Illud quod adventum passionemque Christi antecessit, id est lex et prophetae, Vetus dicitur; ea vero quae post resurrectionem ejus scripta sunt, Novum Testamentum nominantur. Judaei Veteri utuntur, nos 0515A novo: sed tamen diversa non sunt, 0515A quia Novum Veteris adimpletio est, et in utroque idem testator est Christus, qui pro nobis morte suscepta nos haeredes regni aeterni fecit, abdicato et exhaeredato populo Judaeorum; sicut Hieremias propheta testatur (cap. XXXI), cum loquitur talia: Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus; et consummabo domui Israel et domui Juda testamentum novum, non secundum testamentum, quod disposui patribus eorum in die qua apprehendi manum eorum, ut educerem illos de terra Aegypti; quia ipsi non perseveraverunt in testamento meo et ego neglexi eos, dicit Dominus. Item alio loco (cap. VI) similiter ait: Dereliqui domum meam; dimisi haereditatem meam in manus inimicorum ejus. Facta est haeriditas mea mihi, sicut leo in silva: dedit ipsa super 0515B me vocem suam; ideo odi eam. Cum sit haereditas ejus, coeleste regnum, non utique ipsam haereditatem se dicit odisse, sed haeredes, qui adversus eum ingrati et impii extiterunt. Facta est, inquit, mihi haereditas mea, sicut leo: id est, praeda et devoratio factus sum haeredibus meis, qui me immolaverunt sicut pecus. Dedit super me vocem suam; id est, sententiam adversus me mortis crucisque dixerunt. Nam quod superius ait consummaturum se domui Juda testamentum novum, ostendit, vetus illud testamentum, quod per Mosem est datum, non fuisse perfectum; id autem, quod per Christum dari haberet, consummatum fore. Domus autem Juda et Israel non utique Judaeos significat, quos abdicavit, sed nos, qui ab eo convocati ex Gentibus, in illorum locum 0515C adoptionemque successimus, et appellamur 0516A filii Judaeorum; quod declarat Sibylla, cum dicit: Ἱουδαίων μακάρων θεἶον γένος οὐρανιώνων.Quos autem futurum esset id genus, Esaias docet (cap. XLII), apud quem Pater summus ad Filium loquitur, dicens: Ego Dominus Deus, vocavi te ad justitiam, et tenebo manum tuam, et confirmabo te, et dedi te in testamentum generis mei, in lucem gentium, aperire oculos caecorum, producere ex vinculis alligatos, et de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris. Cum igitur nos antea tamquam caeci, et tamquam carcere stultitiae inclusi, sederemus in tenebris, ignorantes Deum et veritatem, illuminati ab eo sumus, qui nos testamento suo adoptavit, et liberatos malis vinculis, atque in lucem sapientiae productos, in haereditatem regni coelestis adscivit.