Bede

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. We must understand that the heaven which will pass away is not the ethereal or sidereal, but the airy heaven, from which both the birds of heaven and the clouds of heaven are named. This is attested by Peter, who states that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth formed out of water and through water by the word of God, by means of which the world then existed perished. But the heavens that now exist and the earth are stored up by the same word for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men (2 Peter 3). He clearly teaches that not another heaven will perish by fire than the one destroyed by water, that is, these empty and cloudy spaces of the windy air. For the water of the flood, which surpassed the mountain peaks by only fifteen cubits, is not to be believed to have reached beyond the boundaries of air and ether. But wherever it could reach, evidently, according to the aforementioned statement of the blessed Peter, the fire of judgment will also reach. If, however, heaven and earth will pass away, it can be questioned how Ecclesiastes says: A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever (Eccles. 1). But by clear reason, heaven and earth pass away through the image they now have; nevertheless, they subsist without end through their essence. For the form of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7). And to John, the angel says: There will be (he says) a new heaven and a new earth (Apoc. 21). These indeed are not other things to be created, but these same are renewed. Therefore, heaven and earth will both pass away and will be, because they are purged by fire from the form they now have, and yet they will always be preserved in their own nature. Hence it is said by the Psalmist: You will change them, and they will be changed (Psalm 102). Indeed, their ultimate transformation is now announced to us by the very vicissitudes we observe, by which they incessantly alternate for our uses. For the earth fails from its species, in winter dryness, and greens in vernal moisture. The heaven is shrouded daily by the darkness of night, and is renewed by the brightness of day. Hence, therefore, hence let every faithful person deduce both that these things perish and yet are renewed through innovation, which now evidently are continually repaired as if from defect.

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. O foolish presumption of the human heart, which foresees the lamentable end of greed, drunkenness, and carousing, not even with the judge himself testifying, but, like the edict of the eternal King, after having learned it, despises it like a wicked servant. And certainly, if any skilled and wise doctor were to instruct us: Take heed, saying to you, lest one (for example) too eagerly takes of the juice of this or that herb; for if he does this, sudden destruction will come upon him, how diligently would every man keep the commands of the forewarning doctor, so that by refraining from the forbidden, he might not perish? But now the Saviour and Lord of both souls and bodies commands the herb of drunkenness and carousing to be avoided, as well as the cares of the world, as if they were deadly juices, yet how many of us fear not only to be wounded by these but also to be consumed? I believe there is no other cause, but that they despise to give the same credence to the words of the Lord as they do to those of a doctor. For if they had believed, surely by believing they would fear, and by fearing they would beware of impending danger. But they, on the contrary, by remaining sluggish, prove how justly it is said: When the Son of Man comes, do you think he will find faith on earth (Luke XVIII)?

But he was teaching in the temple by day, and by night going out he stayed on the mount called Olivet. And all the people would come early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him. What the Lord commands in words, he confirms by his deeds. For he who exhorts us to watch and pray, neglecting the pleasures and concerns of this life before the sudden advent of universal judgment, before the uncertain end of each of us, himself, at the time of his impending passion, perseveres in the vigils of his teaching and in prayers, equally indicating by example that it is worthy of God to be vigilant, to show the way of truth to others by word or deed, and either by word calling to faith those for whom he was to suffer, or by prayer commending them to the Father. And we also, when we conduct ourselves soberly, justly, and piously in prosperity, and in adversity do not despair from the height of divine mercy, indeed teach in the temple all days, because we provide a model of good work to the faithful. By night, however, we remain on the Mount of Olives, for in the darkness of distress we breathe through the consolation of spiritual joy. According to him who said: "But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God; I have trusted in the mercy of my God" (Psalm LI). That is, just as the one who bestowed the fruit of mercy on those whom he could, I do not doubt that I am to be shown mercy by the Lord. And to hear us, all the people flock together, when, either having cast off the works of darkness or conquered them by the grace of God, walking honestly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, they imitate us as children of light (Rom. XIII).

Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. The Passover, which in Hebrew is called phase, is named not from suffering, as many suppose, but from the transition, because the destroyer, seeing the blood on the doors of the Israelites, passed over and did not strike them, or the Lord Himself, providing help to His people, walked above. The evangelist John, examining the mystery of this word more sublimely, says: "Knowing that Jesus' hour had come that He should pass out of this world to the Father" (John XIII). Here he clearly declares that by the law the day of this festival is mystically called transition because the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, would either himself be passing from this world on that day or would lead us in a healthful transition as if out of Egyptian bondage. Certainly, according to the letter of the Old Testament, there is this distinction between the Passover and the unleavened bread: the Passover is called the day alone on which the lamb was slain in the evening, that is, the fourteenth moon of the first month. On the fifteenth moon, when they went out of Egypt, the feast of unleavened bread followed. Its feast is established for seven days, that is, until the twenty-first day of the same month, in the evening. Indeed, the Scripture of the Gospel often uses the day of unleavened bread for the Passover and the days of unleavened bread in place of the Passover. For Luke says: "The feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover." Again John, when the matter occurred on the first day of unleavened bread, that is the fifteenth moon, says: "And they did not enter into the judgment hall, so that they would not be defiled but might eat the Passover" (John XVIII). Because indeed the day of Passover is commanded to be celebrated with unleavened bread, and we, as if making a perpetual Passover, are always commanded to pass from this world. For having slain the lamb in the evening on one particular day, seven consecutive days of unleavened bread follow. Because Christ Jesus, having once suffered in the flesh for us in the fullness of times, orders us to live through all the time of this age, which is done in seven days, in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth: always fleeing with earnest effort the desires of the world, as if the snares of Egypt, and admonishing us to undertake a hidden solitude of virtues as if from worldly conversation.

Now the Passover, which is called in Hebrew "Phase," is not so named from the Passion, but from the passing over, because the destroying angel, seeing the blood on the doors of the Israelites, passed over them, and touched not their first-born. Or the Lord Himself, giving assistance to His people, walked over them. But herein is the difference between the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, that by the Passover is meant that day alone on which the lamb was slain towards the evening, that is, on the fourteenth day of the first month, but on the fifteenth, when the Israelites went out of Egypt, followed the feast of unleavened bread for seven days, up to the twenty-first of the same month. Hence the writers of the Gospel substitute one indifferently for the other. As here it is said, The day of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover. But it is signified by a mystery, that Christ having suffered once for us, has commanded us through the whole time of this world which is passed in seven days, to live in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Not indeed that they apprehended sedition, but were afraid lest by the interference of the people He should be taken out of their hands. And these things Matthew reports to have taken place two days before the Passover, when they were assembled in the judgment hall of Caiaphas.

And they agreed to give him money. And he promised. And he sought an opportunity to betray him without a crowd. Many today shudder at the crime of Judas, who sold his Lord, Master, and God for money, as something monstrous and nefarious, yet they do not beware. For when they speak false testimony against anyone for bribes, surely because they deny the truth for money, they sell the Lord for money. For he said: I am the truth (John 14). When they stain the fellowship of brotherhood with any plague of discord, they betray the Lord, because God is love. Even if no one gives money, they sell the Lord for silver, because they take the image of the prince of the world, that is, the examples of the ancient enemy, ignoring the creator's image to which they were created. For just as John the Baptist, who did not die for the confession of Christ, but for the defense of the truth, yet, therefore, died for Christ because he accepted martyrdom for the truth, so on the contrary, he who scorns the laws of charity and truth indeed betrays Christ, who is truth and love. Especially when he does not sin through weakness or creeping ignorance, but in the likeness of Judas seeks an opportunity to change truth into a lie, virtue into crime, with witnesses absent.

By the day of unleavened bread of the Passover, He means the fourteenth day of the first month, the day on which, having put away the leaven, they were accustomed to hold the Passover, that is, the lamb, towards evening.

As if to say, We have no abode, we have no place of shelter. Let those hear this, who busy themselves in building houses. Let them know that Christ, the Lord of all places, had not where to lay His head.

To explain this Passover, the Apostle says, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. (1 Cor. 5:7.) Which Passover in truth must needs have been slain there, as it was so ordained by the Father's counsel and determination. And thus although on the next day, that is, the fifteenth, He was crucified, yet, on this night on which the lamb was slain by the Jews, being seized and bound, He consecrated the beginning of His sacrifice, that is, of His Passion.

They prepare the Passover in that house, whither the pitcher of water is carried, for the time is at hand in which to the keepers of the true Passover, the typical blood is taken away from the lintel, and the baptism of the lifegiving fountain is consecrated to take away sin.