The. iii. chapyter
IN the seconde lefe these are his wordes,
I am the brede of lyfe, and who so come to me that is to saye, who so is gryffed and ioyned to me by fayth, shall neuer honger, that is who so byleue in me is satissyed. It is fayth therfore that stanncheth this honger and thyrste of the soule. Fayth it is therfore in Cryst that fylleth our hungry hartes, so that we can desyre no nother yf we ones thus eate and drynk hym by fayth / that is to say yf we byleue his fleshe and body to haue ben broken, and hys bloude shedde for out synnes, for thā are our sowles satysfyed and we be iustyfyed.
The worde of Chryst good reader with which he begynneth, is well and fully fulfylled, yf it be vnderstā den as I haue before declared, that is to wytte, that who so come onys by well workynge fayth, and perseueraunce therin, vnto the meate that is Chryste, and attayne the possessy ō and fruicion of hym in blysse, he shall neuer hunger nor thyrste after.
And bysydes this, dyuers good holy doctours expoune these wordes of yt eatynge of our sauyour in the blessed sacrament also.
But surely I byleue that it wyll be very harde for mayster Masker to veryfye the wordes of his holy ex posycyon / ye scant of some such piece therof as semeth at the fyrste syghte well layed as where he sayth yt fayth so fylleth our hungry hartes, and so stauncheth the hunger and thurst of our soule, that we be satysfyed.
For I suppose that men are not sa tisfied here, neyther with faith alone, nor with fayth and hope and cheryte to / but yet they hunger and thurste1 styll. For as oure sauyour sayth, He that drynketh me shall yet thyrst styll, & lōge sore as he drynketh hym in grace, so to drynke hym in glory.
But than tēpereth mayster Mas ker hys wordes of neuer thurstyng, with that that he sayth, that yf we eat and drynke god by fayth, we shall ne uer hunger nor thyrste / but we be satisfyed / for the fayth so fylleth oure hungry hartys, that we can desyre none other thynge, yf we ones thus eate him & drynke hym by fayth. And than what it is to eate hym & drynke hym by fayth, he forthwith declareth as for the whole somme and ex posycyon of fayth and sayth.
That is to say yf we byleue his fleshe and hys body to haue ben broken, and hys bloude shedde for our synnes, for than are our sowles satysfyed and we be iustyfyed.
Lo here youse good readers that he sayth that who so byleueth thys, here is all that nedeth. For he that thus byleueth is iustyfied, and eateth and drynketh Cryst, and so his soule satysfyed / bycause he that so eateth hym ones, can neuer after hūger nor thyrst. And why? For he can desyre none other thynge
Fyrste I wene that all menne are not agreed, that he yt longeth for none other thing, is not a thurst / if he long styll for more of the same. For if a man drynke apynt of ale / though he foūde hym selfe so well contēt therwith, that he do not desyre neyther bere, wyne nor water / yet if his appe tyte be not so fully satisfied, but that he wold fayne of the same ale, drynk a quarte more, some man wolde saye he were a drye soule & were a thyrste agayne.
But now yf this man ment any good in this mater, and wolde saye yt who so so eateth god as he hath hym well incorporated in hym, shall so haue his hunger and his thurste slaked, that he shall not hunger and thurste after the pleasure of hys body, nor after the goodes & ryches; nor after the pompe and pryde of this wreched worlde: I wolde haue suffred hym go forth with his exposicyō, and not haue interrupted it. And yet it coulde not (ye wote well) haue well & fully serued for the texte, syth the texte is, he shall neuer hunger nor thurste, which signyfyeth a takynge awaye of desyre and longynge. And by this exposicyon though there be taken a waye the desyre & longyng for other thinges / yet remaineth there a desyre and longynge for more and more of the same.
But yet I wolde as I say haue lette it passe by and wynke therat, yf he ment none harme therin. But now comech he after and declareth by ensample, what he meneth by this his sayenge, that he that eateth and drynketh god by byleuynge that he dyed for our synnes, shall thurst and hunger for none other. For he sayth, He shall desyre none other, he shal not seke by nyght to lone another byfore whome he wolde laye hys gryefe, he shall not runne wanderyng here and there to seke dede stockes and stones.
[…] good readers here is thende of all thys holy mannys purpose / for which he draweth ye worde of Cryst from the very thyng that Cryst prin cypally spake of, vnto another spyry tuall vnderstandynge, in turnyng the meate that Cryst spake of, that is to wytte the meate of his owne blessed person, his godhed, and his manhed bothe, in to the meate of fayth, to the entēt that vnder the pretexte of praysyng ye trew fayth, he myght bryng in slily his very false wreched heresies, by whiche he wolde haue no prayour made vnto sayntes, nor theyr pilgry mages sought, nor honour done them at theyr images.
It is euident and playne that our sauyour ment in this place to speke vnto the Jewes, neyther agaynste images nor sayntes / but rather agaynste the sensuall appetyte yt they had to the fillynge of theyr belyes with bodily meate / the inordinate desyre wherof made them the lesse apte and mete for spiritual fode. And ther […] he bode them that they sholde lesse care for that peryshable meate, and labour and wurk to wynne faith by prayour, and by faith to come to hym. And bycause they so myche hated and fered hunger and thurste, he wolde geue them hym selfe for theyr meate his very fleshe and bloude, ve cily here to eate, not deade but quicke with soule and godhed therwith in this worlde / whiche yf they wolde well eate here, with a well wurkyng faith, he wolde geue them the same, so in another worlde, that than shold they neuer haue thurste nor hunger after.
And he ment not that they sholde neuer whan they had ones receyued hym, thurste nor hunger after in this present worlde / in whiche byside that they must bothe hunger and thurste, or elles be euer eatyng and drynking to preuent theyr hunger and thurste, bysyde this I saye they shall hunger and thurste styll after god, yf they be good.
Now yf men wyll saye that the payne of that hunger and thurste is takē away with hope, which greatly gladeth the harte: surely they that neyther hunger nor thurst for heuyn, nor care how longe they be thense so that they maye make mery here the whyle, and yet haue an hope that they shal haue heuē to whā they go hens, they fele in theyr faynt hope neyther great pleasure nor payn. But he that hopeth well of heuen, and not onely hopeth after it, but also […] thyrsteth for it, as dyd saynt Poule whan he2 sayd I longe to be dyssolued, that is to haue my soule losed and departed fro my body and to be wyth Cryste / such a man so, as he findeth pleasure in his hope, so fyndeth he payne in the delaye of his hope. For as Salamon3 sayth. The hope that is dyffered and delayed, payneth and afflycteth the soule. But whan men shall with […] eatynge of thys meate of Chrystes blessed person, make thē mete to eate it, and shall eate it by very fruicyon in heuyn / than all though they shall neuer be fastidyouse or wery therof, but as they shall euer haue it, so shall euer desyre it(so that of yt state maye be sayd also, he that drynketh me shal yet thyrste) yet bycause they shall not onely alwaye desyre it, but also alwaye haue it, and so by the contynuall euerlastynge hauynge therof theyr euerlastyng desyre euerlastingly fulfylled, theyr desyre shall euer be wythout any gryefe and payne, & euer full of euerlastynge pleasure / so that of yt state onely the prophete Dauyd sayth: I shalbe saciate or satysfied,4 whan thy glory shall appere.
And this ment here our sauioure Chryste / and not that a man shall by his fayth be fully satysfyed in this wreched worlde, and neuer hunger nor thyrste after here, as mayster Masker maketh here by his exposycyon, in turnyng ye saturyte of heuyn into a saturyte in this lyfe / and turnynge the very meate of Chrystes blessed person, into the onely bylyefe of Chrystes bytter passyon / & than bryngeth all in conclusyon to thauansynge of his heresye agaynst the blessed sayntes / as though Chryste in those wordes hadde ment to speke agaynst the honourynge of his sayntꝭ, wherwith he was so well content, yt 5 he promysed saynt Mary Mawdeleyn a perpetuall honour in erth, for her deuocyon towarde hym in bestowynge her costely glasse of oyntement vppon hym / and promysed his6 twelue apostles the honour of.xii. seates, to sytte with hym in iudgemēt vppon the worlde, for the dyshonour and penury that they sholde sustayne for hym before in the worlde.
Footnotes
Chapter 30 of 70