Sermon 218 augm

Sermon 218, Augmented

Treatise of Saint Augustine on the Passion of the Lord

"To our Lord, an example of patience."

The Passion of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by whose blood our sins have been deleted, is read solemnly, celebrated solemnly, so that with annual devotion our memory may be renewed more joyfully and by the very frequenting of people, our faith may be more clearly proclaimed. Therefore, the solemnity itself demands of us that we return to you a discourse on the Lord's Passion as He Himself grants. And indeed, for our salvation and the utility of conducting this life, our Lord, in what He suffered from His enemies, deigned to provide us with an example of patience, so that for the sake of evangelical truth, if He Himself willed it, we would refuse to endure nothing such. Nevertheless, since He suffered nothing in that mortal flesh by necessity, but all by will, it is rightly believed that He also wished to signify something to us in each and every action that was carried out and recorded concerning His Passion.

What the events of the Passion signify.

And first, because he carried his own cross when he was handed over to be crucified, he gave a sign of self-restraint and demonstrated what one who wishes to follow him ought to do by leading the way. He also advised this with a word when he said: Whoever loves me, let him take up his cross and follow me. For in a certain way, he takes up his cross who controls his own mortality.

That he was crucified at the place of the skull signified in his passion the remission of all sins, about which it is said in the psalm: My iniquities have multiplied above the hairs of my head.

That two were crucified with him, one on each side, signifies that some will be to his right and others to his left, the right ones of whom it is said: Blessed are they who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, but the left ones of whom it is said: If I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

The title was placed over His cross, on which was written: King of the Jews, indicating that by killing, they could not achieve that they did not have Him as king, who would be rendered to them with most manifest and eminent power according to His works. Hence it is sung in the psalm: But I have been set as king by Him over Zion, His holy mountain.

The fact that the title was written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, indicated that he was destined to rule not only the Jews but also the Gentiles. Thus, in the same Psalm, after it was said: "I have been established by him as king on Zion his holy mountain," where naturally the Hebrew language ruled, immediately as if adding Greek and Latin: "The Lord," he says, "said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you, ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession." Not because Greek and Latin are the only languages of the nations, but because they excel the most: Greek due to the pursuit of literature, Latin due to the Roman Empire. Although through these three languages the universality of all nations to be subjected to Christ was demonstrated, it was not written there "King of the Gentiles," but only "of the Jews," to commend the origin of the seed in the ownership of the name. For the law went forth from Zion, as it is said, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. For who are they that say in the Psalm: "He subdued the peoples under us and the nations under our feet," if not those about whom the Apostle says: "For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted also to minister to them in material things?" Do we not see the nations subjected to the most excellent grace of the apostles or should we consider the broken branches that today are called Jews, or rather listen to that Israelite of the line of Abraham, who was Saul Paul and therefore from little became great, admonishing and saying of the grafted wild olive tree: "Understand !. You do not support the root, but the root supports you. Therefore, Christ is the King of the Jews, under whose light yoke even the Gentiles are sent to salvation. What was granted to them by greater mercy, the Apostle himself more clearly shows where he says: For I say that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. For it was not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs, unless the dogs, humbled to gather the crumbs which fall from their master's table, were exalted through that very humility and made into men, deserving to approach that very table.

What the leaders of the Jews suggested to Pilate, that he should not simply write that He is king of the Jews, but that He said He is king of the Jews, yet he replied: What I have written, I have written. Just as the leaders of the Jews broke those branches, so Pilate figured an olive tree grafted in, because he was a man from the Gentiles writing the confession of the Gentiles, convicting the denial of the Jews, to whom the Lord Himself rightfully said: The kingdom will be taken from you and given to a people producing the fruit of the kingdom. However, that does not mean He is not the King of the Jews. For the root supports the wild olive, not the wild olive the root. And although those branches were broken off through unbelief, that does not mean that God has rejected His people whom He foreknew. For even I, he says, am an Israelite. And although the sons who did not want the Son of God to reign over them go into the outer darkness, yet many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down not with Plato and Cicero, but with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. For Pilate indeed wrote "King of the Jews," not "King of the Greeks" or "Latin," although he would reign over the nations. And what he wrote, he wrote, nor did he change it at the suggestion of unbelievers, as was foretold long before in the Psalms: Do not destroy the inscription of the title. All nations believe in the King of the Jews, he reigns over all nations, but nonetheless, he is the King of the Jews. That root was so strong that the grafted wild olive could be changed by it, but the wild olive could not take away the name of the olive tree.

The soldiers divided his garments into four parts, they bore them away, signifying that his mysteries would travel through the four parts of the world.

Because they cast lots for a single seamless tunic that was woven from above rather than dividing it, it is clearly demonstrated that visible sacraments, although they themselves are the garments of Christ, can still be possessed by anyone, whether good or bad; but the most sincere faith, which works through love and maintains the integrity of unity—this love being poured into our hearts from above by the Holy Spirit who was given to us—does not pertain to just anyone, but is given by the hidden grace of God, as if by lot. Hence it was said by Peter to Simon, who had baptism but did not have this faith: “You have neither part nor lot in this faith.”

That he commended his known mother to his beloved disciple from the cross, he suitably then showed human affection when he was dying as a man. That hour had not yet come when, about to turn water into wine as God, he had said to the same mother: What is that to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come. For he had not taken from Mary what he had in divinity, just as he had taken from Mary what was hanging on the cross.

He said: "I thirst," seeking faith from his own people. But because he came unto his own and his own did not receive him, instead of the sweetness of faith, they gave him the vinegar of unbelief, and this on a sponge. Truly they are to be compared to sponges, not solid but swollen, not open with the straightforward path of confession, but hollow with the winding crannies of deceit. Surely that drink contained hyssop, an herb known for its lowliness, said to cling to the rock with its very firm root. Indeed, there were some in that people for whom this criminal act was reserved to humble their soul by repentance after casting it away. He himself knew them who received the hyssop with vinegar. For he prayed for them, as another evangelist testifies, when hanging on the cross, he said: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

That he said: It is finished, and bowing his head he gave up the spirit, showed not necessity but the power of his death, who, waiting until all things which were prophesied about him were fulfilled, because even this was written: And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, as if having the power to lay down his life, as he himself testified about himself, gave up the spirit through humility, that is, with his head bowed, to receive it again through resurrection, with his head raised high. This death and the bowing of the head were of great power, as Jacob the patriarch, foretelling in the blessing of Judah, said: You have gone up, lying down, you slept like a lion, signifying by the ascension the cross, by lying down the bowing of the head, by sleeping the death, by the lion the power.

But indeed, because the legs of those two were broken, and his were not, because he had already died, why this happened the gospel itself has explained. For it was necessary that this also as a sign be demonstrated in his forthcoming prophecy, that the Passover of the Jews was commended, where it is commanded that the bones of the lamb should not be broken.

The side pierced by the spear poured out blood and water onto the earth, without a doubt these are the sacraments by which the Church is formed, just as Eve was made from the side of the sleeping Adam, who was a figure of the future.

Joseph and Nicodemus bury him, as some have interpreted their names, Joseph is interpreted as "increased," Nicodemus, on the other hand, since it is a Greek name, is known by many to be composed of victory and people, because "nicos" is victory, "demos" is people. Who then is increased by dying, unless he who said: "Unless a grain of wheat dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it multiplies"? And who also by dying conquered the persecutors' people, unless he who will judge them by rising again?