Gregory the Dialogist

The terror of the strict inquest, which Zephaniah calls “the trumpet,” blessed Job designates “thundering.” Joel, also viewing it, says, “Let all the inhabitants of the land be troubled, for the Day of the Lord comes; for it is nigh at hand, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of cloud and whirlwind.” For the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who shall sustain it? But how incomprehensible and unimaginable that greatness with which he shall come in his second coming! In some degree we estimate correctly if we consider with heedful reflection the momentous circumstances of his first advent. Surely the Lord came to die, and the impoverishment and punishments of our flesh he underwent in his own body that he might redeem us from death. Before he came to the stock of the cross he suffered to be bound, to be spit on, to be mocked and to be beaten with blows on his cheek. Observe to what disgraceful treatment he consented to come for our sakes, and yet, before he permitted himself to be laid hold of, he questioned his persecutors, saying, “Whom do you seek?” To that they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And when he said to them directly, “I am he,” he only uttered a voice of the mildest answer, and at once prostrated his armed persecutors to the earth. What then shall he do when he comes to judge the world, if by one utterance of his voice he struck down his enemies even when he came to be judged? What is that judgment which he exercises as immortal, that a single utterance of it could not be endured when he was about to die? Who may sustain his wrath when his very mildness even could not be sustained? So then, let the holy man consider it and say, “And while we scarcely hear a little drop of his words, who shall be able to look on the thundering of his majesty?”

(xviii. Moral. c. 54. [88] rec. 28) It is plainly given us to understand here, that while we are in this mortal state, we can see God only through the medium of certain images, not in the reality of His own nature. A soul influenced by the grace of the Spirit may see God through certain figures, but cannot penetrate into his absolute essence. And hence it is that Jacob, who testifies that he saw God, saw nothing but an Angel: and that Moses, who talked with God face to face, says, show me Thy way, that I may know Thee: (Exod. 33:13) meaning that he ardently desired to see in the brightness of His own infinite Nature, Him Whom he had only as yet seen reflected in images.

(xviii. Moral.) If however any, while inhabiting this corruptible flesh, can advance to such an immeasurable height of virtue, as to be able to discern by the contemplative vision, the eternal brightness of God, their case affects not what we say. For whoever seeth wisdom, that is, God, is dead wholly to this life, being no longer occupied by the love of it.

(xviii. Moral. c. 54. 90. vet. xxxviii.) Some hold that in the place of bliss, God is visible in His brightness, but not in His nature. This is to indulge in over much subtlety. For in that simple and unchangeable essence, no division can be made between the nature and the brightness.

(xviii. Moral. c. 54. [91] vet. xxxviii.) Some however there are who conceive that not even the Angels see God.

But when the statement of our Redeemer from another reading is brought to mind, a very complex question arises for us from the words of this reading. For in another place, when asked by his disciples about the coming of Elijah, the Lord replied: "Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. And if you wish to know, John himself is Elijah." But when John was asked, he says: "I am not Elijah." What is this, dearest brothers, that what Truth affirms, the prophet of Truth denies? For "He is" and "I am not" are very different from each other. How then is he a prophet of Truth if he does not agree with the words of that same Truth? But if the truth itself is carefully examined, what sounded contradictory between them is found not to be contradictory. For the angel says to Zechariah concerning John: "He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah." He is said to be coming in the spirit and power of Elijah because just as Elijah will precede the second coming of the Lord, so John preceded the first. Just as the former will be the precursor of the Judge, so the latter was made the precursor of the Redeemer. John therefore was Elijah in spirit; he was not Elijah in person. What the Lord therefore declares concerning the spirit, John denies concerning the person, since it was also fitting that the Lord should speak to his disciples a spiritual statement about John, and that John should answer the carnal crowds not about his spirit but about his body. Therefore what John said seems to be contrary to truth, yet he did not depart from the path of truth.

When in another place his disciples asked our Lord about the coming of Elijah, he answered, "Elijah has already come, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they please; and if you want to know, John is Elijah." John, when he was asked, said, "I am not." …If we carefully examine truth himself, what sounded contradictory is found to be not contradictory. The angel said to Zechariah, of the promised birth of John, that "he will come in the spirit and power of Elijah." This is said because just as Elijah is the forerunner of the Lord's second coming, so was John the forerunner of his first; as Elijah will come as the forerunner of the Judge, so was John the forerunner of the Redeemer. John, then, was Elijah in spirit; he was not Elijah in person. What the Lord spoke of the spirit, John denied of the person. It was right that the Lord should make a spiritual assertion about John to his disciples and that John should answer the same question to the materialistic crowds not about his spirit but about his body. What John said appears to contradict truth, yet he did not depart from the path of truth. FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 4.
For it has been established that those who sent knew that John had been born of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and even more so that those who were sent, since they belonged to the priestly house and would not be unaware of the incredible good offspring of so renowned a fellow kinsman as Zechariah, also knew. What did they have in mind then when they asked, "Are you Elijah?" since they were men who had read that he was taken up as though into heaven and they were waiting for his coming? Perhaps, then, since they expect Elijah before Christ at the consummation, and Christ after him, they seem to ask figuratively, as it were, "Are you the one who announces in advance the word that will precede Christ at the consummation?" He wisely responds to this, "I am not." …
It is not strange, therefore, that, just as in the case of the Savior—although many knew of his birth from Mary, others were deceived—so also in the case of John, some were aware of his birth from Zechariah, but others were in doubt whether the awaited Elijah had appeared in the person of John.

When he also denies that he is a prophet, because evidently he was able not only to preach the Redeemer but also to demonstrate him, he immediately expresses who he is when he adds: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." You know, dearest brothers, that the only-begotten Son is called the Word of the Father, as John testifies when he says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And from your own manner of speaking you recognize that the voice sounds first, so that the word may afterward be heard. Therefore John asserts that he is the voice, because he precedes the Word. And so, going before the coming of the Lord, he is called a voice, because through his ministry the Word of the Father is heard by men. He also cries out in the wilderness, because he announces the comfort of the Redeemer to abandoned and forsaken Judea. But what he cries out he indicates when he adds: "Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said." The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when the word of truth is humbly heard. The way of the Lord is made straight to the heart when one's life is prepared according to his commandment. Hence it is written: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." Therefore whoever raises his mind in pride, whoever pants with the fevers of avarice, whoever defiles himself with the pollutions of lust, closes the door of his heart against the truth; and lest the Lord come to him, he condemns the gates of his soul with the bars of vices.