Sermon 218

SERMO 218

On the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday.

In each and every act of His passion, Christ wished to signify something.

By whose blood our sins have been blotted out, his passion is solemnly read, it is solemnly celebrated; so that by annual devotion our memory is more joyously renewed, and by the very gathering of the people our faith is more clearly illustrated. The solemnity therefore requires of us that we deliver to you a discourse on the Lord’s Passion, as He Himself grants. Indeed, for our salvation and for the usefulness of conducting this life, in the things our Lord suffered from His enemies, He deigned to present us with an example of patience; so that for the sake of evangelical dignity, we might not refuse to endure anything similar if He so wills. Nevertheless, because in His very mortal flesh He suffered nothing out of necessity, but all out of will; it is rightly believed that in each of the actions, which happened and were recorded concerning His passion, He also wished to signify something.

Christ carries his cross.

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

Place of the skull.

That in the place of Calvary He was crucified; it signified in His passion the forgiveness of all sins, concerning which it is said in the Psalm: My iniquities have multiplied over the hairs of my head.

Two thieves

That two were crucified with him, one on each side, shows that some will suffer on his right and others on his left: on the right, of whom it is said: Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice; on the left, however, of whom it is said: And if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not charity, it profits me nothing.

Titulus.

The title was placed over his cross, in which it was written: King of the Jews, it shows that they could not achieve by killing him, that they would not have him as king, who manifestly according to his works will render with the highest power. Thus, in the Psalm it is sung: But I have been appointed king by him upon Zion, his holy mountain.

Written in three languages.

The title was written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; it was declared not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles that He would reign. Therefore, in the same psalm, when He had said: "But I have been established as king on Zion, His holy mountain," where indeed He reigned in the Hebrew language; 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 Gentiles as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession." Not because Greek and Latin are the only languages of the Gentiles: but because they especially excel, Greek, on account of the pursuit of letters; Latin, on account of the expertise of the Romans. Although the entirety of the Gentiles was to be subjected to Christ in those three languages, it is not written there, "King of the Gentiles," but only "of the Jews"; so that the origin of the seed would be commended, in the propriety of the name. For it has been said, "The law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." For who are those who say in the Psalm, "He has subjected peoples to us, and Gentiles under our feet"; unless it is of whom the Apostle says: "For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things?"

King of the Jews, although also of the Gentiles.

The Jewish leaders suggested to Pilate that he should not write absolutely that he is the King of the Jews, but that he himself said he is the King of the Jews; thus those branches being broken off, Pilate symbolized the grafting of the wild olive: because he was a man from the Gentiles, writing the confession of the Gentiles, of whom the Lord rightly said: The kingdom will be taken away from you, and given to a nation producing its fruits. Nevertheless, He is not therefore 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, God has not therefore rejected His people, whom He foreknew. And Paul says: I am also an Israelite. And although the sons of the kingdom, who did not want the Son of God to reign over them, go into outer darkness; nonetheless, many will come from the East and West, and will recline, not with Plato and Cicero, but with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Pilate indeed wrote King of the Jews, not King of the Greeks or Latins; though he would reign over the Gentiles. And what he wrote, he wrote, nor did he change it at the suggestion of the unbelievers: for so long ago it was foretold in the Psalms: Do not destroy the title's inscription. All nations believe in the King of the Jews: he reigns over all nations, but nevertheless King of the Jews. That root was so powerful that it could transform the grafted wild olive into itself, yet the wild olive cannot take away the name of the olive.

The garments divided.

The soldiers took away his garments divided into four parts; they signified the mysteries that would travel through the four parts of the world.

Seamless tunic.

That they cast lots for one seamless tunic woven from the top, rather than dividing it; it has been sufficiently demonstrated that visible sacraments, although they are also the garments of Christ, can be possessed by anyone, whether good or bad; but the most sincere faith, which works through love, the integrity of unity (because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us), does not pertain to just anyone, but is given as if by lot through the hidden grace of God. Therefore, to Simon who had Baptism but did not have this, Peter said: You have neither part nor lot in this faith.

The mother entrusted to John.

When on the cross He commended His known mother to the beloved disciple; suitably then He showed human affection, when He was dying as a man. That hour had not yet come when, about to turn water into wine, 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 hung on the cross.

Vinegar given on a sponge.

What He said: I thirst; He was seeking faith from His own: but because He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him; instead of the sweetness of faith, they gave the sourness of unbelief, and this on a sponge. Truly, those worthy of comparison to a sponge, not solid, but swollen; not open with the straightforward path of confession, but cavernous with the tortuous windings of treachery. Certainly, that drink also contained hyssop, which is a humble herb said to cling to the rock with the strongest root. Indeed, in that people were those for whom this act for humbling by repentance was kept, then to be cast away. He knew them Himself, who accepted the hyssop with the vinegar. For He also prayed for them, as another evangelist testifies, when hanging on the cross He said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Death, with head bowed.

What he said: It is finished, and he gave up the Spirit; he showed not necessity but the power of his death, waiting until all that was prophesied concerning him was fulfilled: for it was also written: And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink: as one having the power to lay down his life, as he himself bore witness. And he gave up the Spirit in humility, that is, with his head bowed; to receive it again in resurrection, with his head lifted up. That this death and the bowing of the head were of great power, the patriarch Jacob foretold in the blessing of Judah: You have gone up, he said, lying down, you slept like a lion: signifying by the ascent his death, by the lion his power.

The legs of the thieves were broken, but not of Christ.

But indeed, because the legs of those two were broken, but his were not, because he had died; why this happened, the Gospel itself revealed. For it was necessary that by this sign also it should be shown that in his announced prophecy the Passover of the Jews was commended, where it was commanded that the bones of the lamb should not be broken.

Blood and water from the side of Christ.

The side that was pierced by the spear poured out blood and water upon 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 the figure of the future.

Joseph and Nicodemus burying.

Joseph and Nicodemus bury him; as some have interpreted the names, Joseph is interpreted as "Increased"; Nicodemus, since it is a Greek name, is more widely known to be composed of victory and people, because %niðkoû% is victory, %dhðmoû% 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 is multiplied? And who also by dying conquered the persecuting people, unless he who will judge them by rising again?