The Fathers Address The Messiah

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has shone upon you" (Isaiah 60:1): This is what was said through the Holy Spirit by David, king of Israel, "For with You is the source of life; in Your light we see light" (Psalms 36:10). Against whom did David speak this verse? He spoke it only with regard to the Assembly of Israel. They said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, on account of the Torah that You gave me, which is called the source of life, I am destined to delight in Your light in the time to come. Which light is it that the Assembly of Israel awaits? This is the light of the Messiah, as it is said, "And God saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1:4). This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, gazed upon the Messiah and his deeds before the world was created, and stored him away for His Messiah for his generation beneath His Throne of Glory. The Holy One, blessed be He, began to stipulate conditions with him and said: Those who are stored away with you, their sins are destined to bring you under a yoke of iron and make you like this calf whose eyes are dimmed, and they will choke your spirit with the yoke, and on account of the sins of these your tongue is destined to cleave to your palate. Is this your will? The Messiah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Perhaps that affliction will last many years? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life and the life of My head, it is one week that I have decreed upon you; if your soul is grieved, I will drive them out from now. He said before Him: Master of the worlds, with the joy of my soul and the gladness of my heart I take it upon myself, on condition that not one of Israel shall perish. In the week when the son of David comes, they bring beams of iron and place them upon his neck until his stature is bent, and he cries out and weeps, and his voice rises on high. He said before Him: Master of the universe, how much will my strength be, and how much will my spirit be, and how much will my soul be, and how much will my limbs be? Am I not flesh and blood? At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Ephraim, My righteous Messiah, you already took this upon yourself from the six days of Creation. Now let your affliction be like My affliction, for from the day that the wicked Nebuchadnezzar went up and destroyed My House and burned My Temple and exiled My children among the nations of the world, by your life and the life of My head, I have not entered My throne.