Such things they did imagine, and were deceived: for their own wickedness hath blinded them.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 2:21 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 2
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Because Jesus was crucified and not freed, they believed he was not the Son of God. Thus, insulting him as he hung on the cross, they shook their heads, saying, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. He saved others, but he cannot save himself." With these words, as one reads in the book of Wisdom, "they thought thus but were mistaken. Their wickedness blinded them." What would have been so amazing about coming down from the cross, for one who rose from the grave without difficulty? But why did he want to be patient to death? To flee from the presence of Saul into the cave. "Cave," here, can be understood as a lower part of the earth. It was attested, in fact, and known to all, that Jesus" body was placed in a grave that had been hewn out of rock. This grave, then, was the cave, and Christ took refuge there from Saul. The Jews, in fact, persecuted him until he was placed in the cave. How can we show that they persecuted him until he had been put in the cave? They wounded him with a lance, when he was already dead on the cross. But when, after the funeral practices, the corpse was wrapped in linen and placed in the cave, by then they had nothing to do with his flesh. It was then that the Lord arose, unharmed and incorrupt, from the cave where he had taken refuge to flee the presence of Saul. He hid himself from the godless, whom Saul prefigured, and showed himself to his members. Once risen, his bodily members were touched by his members, the apostles. They touched the risen one and believed. Thus, Saul"s persecution came to nothing.
