Seeking Christ at the Tomb

…of good things, and does not show the very image of the realities (Hebrews 10:1). Behind it the truth took its stand (Song of Songs 2:9), close by the place, and afterwards it shines out. Or else he spoke of the cutting (Song of Songs 2:12) as the cutting of the spiritual harvest, of which the Savior says, 'The harvest is plentiful' (Matthew 9:37).

'In the shelter of the rock, close by the outer wall' (Song of Songs 2:14). The outer wall shows safety: once you are there, he says, you will find help of every kind. 'Turn' (Song of Songs 2:17). She asks the bridegroom to leave the fruitless Synagogue and to come to those who have risen to heavenly height from a soul that was once sunken, brought low and given to idols.

'On my bed by night I sought' (Song of Songs 3:1). He means the women who came to the tomb of Jesus at early dawn on the first day of the week and did not find Him (Luke 24:1–3). So by 'on my bed' she means either 'from bed', or she calls the Lord's tomb her own bed, since in it we are buried with Him (Romans 6:4). But she did not find Him, for she heard, 'He is not here; for He has risen' (Matthew 28:6). And the angels who keep watch found her (Song of Songs 3:3), and she asks them too, 'Where have you laid the Lord?' (John 20:13). But when she had passed those she questioned, He met her, saying, 'Rejoice' (Matthew 28:9). That is why she says, 'Scarcely had I passed from them when I found Him, and I will not let Him go' (Song of Songs 3:4). For she took hold of His feet (Matthew 28:9) and heard, 'Do not touch Me' (John 20:17). By her mother's house he means the gathering of the apostles, to which she went and announced the good news of Christ's resurrection (John 20:18).

'Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense' (Song of Songs 3:6). Myrrh, when she has been buried with Him; frankincense, when she has risen with Him and come to share in His divinity. And the soul of the Church is perfumed not only with these, but also with the varied insights of knowledge. For one who divides things with the utmost precision and examines them finely down to the least detail could be called a kind of perfumer, grinding fine and reducing to powder all the fragrant sayings with which the bride is now said to be perfumed.

Perhaps, too, one who lives not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4), whose heart has in no way grown dull (Matthew 13:15), keeps the fragrance varied and of every kind, and makes a fragrance from all the things now called 'the powders of the perfumer' (Song of Songs 3:6).