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"Who is this King of glory?" What! Do you too, prince of the power of this air, [Ephesians 2:2] marvel and ask, "Who is this King of glory?" "The Lord of powers, He is the King of glory" [Psalm 24:10]. Yea, His Body now quickened, He who was tempted marches above you; He who was tempted by the angel, the deceiver, goes above all angels. Let none of you put himself before us and stop our way, that he may be worshipped as a god by us: neither principality, nor angel, nor power, separates us from the love of Christ. [Romans 8:39] It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in a prince; that he who glories, should glory in the Lord. [1 Corinthians 1:31] These indeed are powers in the administration of this world, but "the Lord of powers, He is the King of glory."

Now this is said twice in one and the same psalm … in a way that might be thought superfluous and unnecessary. But in the repetition of the same words pay attention to how they end, and notice why it is said twice. It is as if, you see, to the one who rises again once and ascends once, gates are opened twice, both those of hell and those of heaven. It is a new thing, after all, God present in hell; it is a new thing, a man taken up into heaven. At each moment, at each point, princes are terrified: “Who is this King of glory?” How can we tell this? Listen to the reply given to each. The first questioners are told, “The Lord, the valiant and mighty, the Lord mighty in war.” What sort of war? Undergoing death for mortals, suffering alone for all, the Almighty not resisting and yet conquering death in dying. Great indeed, then, is the King of glory, even in the netherworld. This is also repeated to the heavenly powers.… But because he lifts up a man also with him to heaven, it is as if he is not recognized there either, and they ask, “Who is this king of glory?” But there, because he is no longer a contender but the winner, because he is not fighting but celebrating his triumph, the reply here is not “The Lord mighty in war,” but “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.”

With the report of his resurrection, already accomplished, going ahead of him, the Lord of hosts and the King of glory himself at length appeared and made clear with what great might he had overcome the death he had temporarily tasted.

Gabriel, who is called the strength of God, is also sent to Mary. For he came to announce him who deigned to appear humble to conquer the powers of the air. Of whom it is said through the Psalmist: "Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." And again: "The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory." Therefore, he who was the Lord of hosts and mighty in battle, coming to wage war against the powers of the air, was to be announced through the strength of God.

Who is the King of glory? Christ, the Son of God, he is the King of glory, casting off the prince of shame. He lifts high the eternal gates of the holy universal church, having cast down the temple of idols just as the gates of their prince the devil. If you should ask, “Who is that King of glory?” the apostle will answer, “The King of all for their salvation, Christ, Son of God, who rules forever.”

He is the king of glory who makes glorious those who glorify him, as it is said by the Lord: “Those who glorify me, I will glorify.” He allots power and strength and other gifts to each one as he desires.

"Lift up." This is the third part of the Psalm: in which he foretells how it was to come about that God would be worshipped in the whole world, as the literal sense explains. God is said to dwell in man through faith: Eph. 3: "That Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts": and through charity: 1 Jn. 4: "He who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him." Likewise, he is said to enter who begins to be where he was not before. God therefore enters into us when we begin to have faith in him. Once the whole world did not have faith in God: and this happened because of a twofold impediment: namely, because of the decrees of rulers, and because of ancient custom. The first happened because individual cities proposed to themselves laws of idolatry, and established particular gods: and this worship was, as it were, deeply rooted; the demons also fostered this. Likewise the angels were worshipped, whom they called the host of heaven: and these impediments were the gates or doors that, being shut, prevent entry into the house. He does three things. First he foretells what is to come. Second, he poses a question. Third, he gives the answer. He says therefore: "You rulers," that is, O evil men, or O demons, "lift up your gates," that is, raise up the impediments which you place so that men may not approach God. Jerome has "raise up"; as if to say, remove them, etc. Ps. 9: "You exalt me from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion." "And you, eternal gates," that is, the eternal and ancient impediment: "be lifted up," that is, be removed: Ps. 75: "You shine wonderfully from the everlasting mountains"; as if to say: you ancient impediments, remove yourselves from the hearts of men: and then he who is the "king of glory shall enter" into the world through faith and charity and worship. Or it can be said that there are twofold gates: some that are evil, which close the way to life; others that are good, by which the way of life is opened. Ps. 117: "Open the ways of life," that is, of justice, etc. The evil gates are sins; the good ones are virtues. He says therefore: O rulers, lift up your gates, that is, open them, and remove sins: and acquire the "eternal" gates, that is, the eternal gifts from the eternal God: "be lifted up," in your hearts, and the king of glory shall enter. He speaks prophetically, because from the beginning not all believed at once, but they doubted; as if to say: whom do we want to believe, and whom do we want to obey? The God of the Jews? Ex. 5: "I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go." And therefore he shows this when he says, "Who is this king of glory?" And he answers: "The Lord, strong and mighty." A king appears glorious for three reasons. Because first he acquires great things by strength; hence he says "strong": Prov. 12: "The hand of the valiant shall rule": Job 9: "If strength is sought, he is most mighty." Second, because of his power; and he shows this when he says "the Lord, mighty," because he is most powerful to rule: Job 36: "God does not cast away the mighty": Dan. 7: "His power is an everlasting power," etc. Third, because he is a good warrior; hence he says "the Lord, mighty in battle," by which he conquered death and the Devil in all things: Rev. 5: "The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered." Or "strong" in his own nature, "mighty" in jurisdiction over his own, and "mighty" against adversaries. Now what he says a second time, "Lift up," etc., can be called a repetition: and this so that the hearers may not delay in learning who this mighty one is. Or the first is addressed to the rulers, that is, to the demons; but what he says here is addressed to the good angels, who also by their own dignity, though not by their own effort, were previously worshipped by men who venerated them: 2 Kgs. 17: "They worshipped all the host of heaven": as if to say, remove the impediments on account of which men worship you. And therefore here he says, "The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory." In the Gloss, however, there is another exposition. Christ descended to hell and ascended into heaven: and here he foretells both of these. And first he admonishes the infernal powers to open up; hence he says, "Lift up," etc. O infernal rulers, open your gates: "and be lifted up," etc. "And the king of glory shall enter." But when the demons asked, "Who is this king of glory?" he answers: he who was "strong and mighty in battle" against you. Second he admonishes the citizens above us to open the gates of Paradise. Hence Christ, responding as if with the voice of a herald and acting in that role, directing his voice toward heaven, says: O heavenly rulers, "lift up," that is, open, "your gates," etc. "And he shall enter," etc. And to those asking, he says, "The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory." Now it should be known, as Dionysius says, that this is not to be understood as though the angels were ignorant of the mystery of the incarnation; but in wonder they said, "Who is this king of glory?" because the glory of Christ surpasses all knowledge. For sometimes Christ himself teaches about himself through Scripture, as it says in Is. 63: "I who speak justice," etc. But here not he himself, but others concerning him, namely the angels, respond, "The Lord of hosts," etc.; because some angels receive illumination immediately from God, as it says in Is. 6: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and it was full," etc. Others receive it from those angels, such as the middle and lowest orders: and to these the answer is given here by other angels.