Sermon 270

SERMO 270

ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST

It must be spoken about the Holy Spirit.

Since we celebrate the holy solemnity of such a holy day, on which the Holy Spirit himself has come, this festal and joyful solemnity reminds us to speak about the very gift of God, the grace of God, and the abundance of His mercy upon us, that is, about the Holy Spirit himself. We speak with fellow disciples in the school of the Lord. For we have one teacher, in whom we are all one: who warned us not to dare to be proud of being masters, saying: Do not be called Rabbi by men; for one is your teacher, Christ. Therefore, under this teacher, whose seat is in heaven, because we are to be educated by His teachings, heed the few things I say, with Him giving what I am commanded to say. You who know, recollect; you who did not know, receive. It often moves a piously curious mind, if human fragility and infirmity are allowed to examine such things. Indeed, it is allowed. For what is hidden in the Holy Scriptures is not closed to be denied, but rather to be opened to one who knocks, with the Lord himself saying: Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. It often, therefore, moves the scholarly mind to inquire why the promised Holy Spirit was sent on the fiftieth day after the Lord's passion and resurrection.

Why the Holy Spirit could not come unless Christ departed.

Wherefore, I first warn your Charity, that it may not be burdensome to you to consider a little why it was said by the Lord Himself: "He cannot come unless I go away." As if the Lord Christ were keeping something in the heavens, and descending from there, He had entrusted what He kept to the Holy Spirit, and therefore He could not come to us unless He who received the entrusted one had returned; or as if we could not bear both, nor endure the presence of both. As if one were truly separated from the other; or when they come to us, they would suffer distress themselves, and not rather we be expanded. What then does He mean: "He cannot come unless I go away"? "For it is expedient for you," He says, "that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you." Therefore, what this means, as much as we can understand, or estimate, or perceive by His own gift, or speak what we believe, may your Charity briefly receive. It seems to me, that the disciples were occupied with the human form of the Lord Christ, and as men, they were held by affection for a human man. However, He wanted them to have rather a divine affection, and thus transform them from carnal to spiritual: which a man does not become except by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, He said: "I send you the gift by which you may be made spiritual; namely the gift of the Holy Spirit." But you will not be able to become spiritual unless you cease to be carnal. You will cease to be carnal if the form of flesh is taken away from your eyes, so that the form of God may be impressed upon your hearts. For from this human form, the Lord, that is, the form of a servant: "He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant": from this form of a servant, Peter's affection was also held, when he feared for the death of the one he greatly loved. For he loved the Lord Jesus Christ, as a human man; as a carnal man acquainted with another carnal man, not as a spiritual man the majesty. How do we prove this? Because when the Lord Himself asked His disciples, who did men say He was, and having recounted the opinions of others, that some said He was John, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets; He said to them: "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter, one for all, one for all: said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." This answer was excellent and very true: He deservedly received such a response: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." And I say to you because you have said unto me; you have spoken, hear; you have given the confession, receive the blessing: therefore: "And I say to you, You are Peter: because I am the rock, you are Peter; for it is not from Peter the rock, but from the rock Peter, because it is not from the Christian Christ, but from Christ Christian." And upon this rock, I will build my Church: not upon Peter which you are, but upon the rock which you have confessed. I will build my Church: I will build you, who in this answer bear the figure of the Church. This and other things, because Peter had said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God": and had heard what you remember: "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, that is, human mind, human weakness, human ignorance, but my Father who is in heaven." Then the Lord Jesus began to predict His passion and to show how much He should suffer from the wicked. Here Peter was alarmed and feared lest Christ, the Son of the living God, should perish by death. Indeed, Christ, the Son of the living God, good from good, God from God, living from the living, the fountain of life and true life, had come to destroy death, not to perish by death. Yet as man, Peter was terrified, whose affection toward the flesh of Christ was human, as I said: "Be it far from you, Lord; this shall not happen." And the Lord confutes such words worthy and with a fitting response. As He gave worthy praise to that confession, so also to this timidity worthy correction: "Get behind me, Satan." Where is that: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona?" Distinguish the words of the one praising and the one chastising: distinguish the causes of the confession and the timidity. The cause of the confession: "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." The cause of the timidity: "For you do not mind the things of God, but the things of men." Therefore, we would not want to hear such as: "It is expedient for you that I go away? Unless I go away, the Paraclete will not come to you." Unless the human form is withdrawn from your carnal sights, you will by no means be able to perceive, feel, think, or meditate on something divine. This may suffice. Hence it was necessary that after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, His promise of the Holy Spirit should be fulfilled. For thus also John the Evangelist from his own persona had said when Jesus, signifying the same Holy Spirit, had cried out, saying: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and drink; and rivers of living water will flow from his belly." For the Evangelist followed saying: "But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified." Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ was glorified by resurrection and ascension, and He sent the Holy Spirit.

The mystery of the numbers forty and fifty.

As we have learned from the holy Books, He completed forty days with His disciples after the resurrection, showing them the truth of the resurrected body, so they would not think anything was fabricated, entering and leaving with them, eating and drinking. On the fortieth day, which we celebrated ten days ago, He ascended into heaven before their eyes, promised as He went, so He will come; that is in the human form in which He was judged, in the same form He will judge. He wanted to send the Holy Spirit on a different day than He ascended; not immediately after two days or three days, but after ten days. This question compelled us to search and inquire into some hidden meanings of numbers. Forty days have ten four times. This number, as it seems to me, commends the mystery. For we speak to humans as humans; and we are rightly called expounders of the Scriptures, not affirmers of our own opinions. Therefore, this number forty, having ten four times, signifies, in my opinion, this age which we now live and pass through; we are led and pass through the course of times, the instability of things, the passing away and succession, the fleeting haste, and a certain river of inconsistent things. Therefore, this age is signified by this number because of the fourfold times of the world, which fill the year; also the fourfold cardinal points of the world itself, known to all, and often mentioned by the holy Scripture: From the East and West, from the North and South. Thus, through these fourfold times, and through the fourfold world, the law of God is preached, as if by the number ten. Wherefore also the Decalogue is commended first. For in the ten commandments the law is established: because it seems in this number ten there is a certain perfection. Up to that number the progress of the enumeration proceeds, and from then it returns from one to ten, again to one. Thus hundreds, thus thousands; thus above, by certain multiples of ten, the forest of numbers grows infinitely. Therefore, the perfect law is in ten, and the law preached through the fourfold world, ten times four makes forty. However, we are taught, in this conversation of this age while we are here, to abstain from worldly desires: which signifies the fasting of forty days known to all by the name of Lent. This is commanded to you by the Law, this by Prophecy, this by the Gospel. Therefore, because of this the Law, Moses fasted for forty days: because of this the Prophecy, Elijah fasted for forty days: because of this the Gospel, the Lord Christ fasted for forty days. Therefore, after adding ten more days to forty, simply one set of ten, not fourfold, the Holy Spirit came, so that the law might be perfected by grace. For the law without grace is the letter that kills. For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise might be given by faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe. Therefore: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Not so that you fulfill something else than what is commanded to you by the letter: but the letter alone makes guilty, grace liberates from sin, and allows the letter to be fulfilled. Hence, by grace comes the remission of all sins, and faith works through love. Do not think, therefore, that the letter is condemned because it is said: The letter kills. For this means that the letter makes guilty. A command is given, you are not aided by grace: immediately you find yourself not only not a doer of the law, but also guilty of transgression. For where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore, the law is not blamed when it is said: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life, as if it condemned that and praised this: but the letter kills, the letter alone without grace. Take an example from this phrase: Knowledge puffs up. What does it mean: Knowledge puffs up? Is knowledge condemned? If it puffs up, it would be better if we remain ignorant. But because it is added: Love builds up; just as when it is added: The Spirit gives life, it is understood that the letter kills without the Spirit, with the Spirit it gives life and makes the letter fulfillable; so knowledge without love puffs up, with love it builds up. Therefore, the Holy Spirit was sent, so that the law might be fulfilled, and what the Lord Himself said might be done: I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. This is granted to believers, this is granted to the faithful, this is granted to those to whom the Holy Spirit is given. The more anyone becomes capable with this, the easier it becomes to work the law.

Chaste fear and servile fear.

For I say to your Love, something you can also consider and easily see: charity fulfills the law. The fear of punishment makes a person act, but still in a servile manner. For if you do good because you fear suffering evil, or you do not do evil because you fear suffering evil; if someone promised you impunity, you would immediately commit iniquity. You would be told, "Be secure, you will suffer nothing bad, do it"; you would do it. For you were restrained by the fear of punishment, not by the love of righteousness. Love had not yet worked in you. See, therefore, how love works. Let us love whom we fear in such a way that we fear him with chaste love. A chaste wife also fears her husband. But distinguish these fears. A chaste wife fears lest she be deserted by her absent husband; an adulterous wife fears lest she be caught by her returning husband. Therefore, love fulfills the law, for perfect love casts out fear; namely, servile fear that comes from sin. For the fear of the Lord is chaste, enduring forever. If, therefore, love fulfills the law, where does this love come from? Recall, consider, and see that charity is the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Rightly so, after ten days, the number which also commends the perfection of the law, the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit: because grace gives us to fulfill the law, which He did not come to dissolve, but to fulfill.

Rest on the seventh day.

The Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures is usually commended by the number seven, not ten: the law by ten, the Holy Spirit by seven. It is known that the law is by ten: we recall that the Holy Spirit is by seven. First, in the very book, in the beginning of the book called Genesis, the works of God are enumerated. Light is made, the sky is made, which is called the firmament between water and water; the dry land is exposed, the sea is separated from the land, the fertile conception of all kinds is given to the land; the greater and the lesser luminaries are made, the sun and the moon, and the other stars; the waters bring forth their offspring, the land brings forth its own; man is made in the image of God: God completes all His works on the sixth day; in none of the many works of God thus enumerated and completed is sanctification mentioned. God said: Let there be light; and there was light: and God saw the light that it was good: but He did not say, God sanctified the light: Let there be a firmament, and it was made; God saw that it was good: nor was it said that the firmament was sanctified. So also with the others, not to dwell on the most evident things, up to those made on the sixth day, with man created in the image of God, all are enumerated, nothing is said to be sanctified. It comes to the seventh day, where no work is made, but the rest of God is intimated, and God sanctified the seventh day. In the number of seven days, for the first time the sanctification is sounded, sought in all places of the Scriptures and first found here. Where God's rest is commemorated, our rest is also intimated. For God did not labor that He would need rest; and as if He would rejoice after labor in the holiday, He sanctified that day on which it was permitted to rest. This is a carnal thought, intimating to us rest after all our good works, as God's rest was intimated after all His good works. For God made all things, and behold all were very good. And God rested on the seventh day from all His works which He did. Do you also wish to rest? First, do very good works. Thus the observation of the Sabbath was given to the Jews in a carnal manner, like the other significant sacraments. A certain rest was commanded: do what that rest signifies. For the spiritual rest is the tranquility of the heart: the tranquility of the heart comes from the serenity of a good conscience. Therefore, he truly observes the Sabbath who does not sin. For thus it is commanded to those to whom it is commanded to observe the Sabbath: You shall do no servile work. Whoever commits sin is a servant of sin. Therefore, the number seven is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, just as ten is to the law. This is also intimated by the prophet Isaiah in the place where he says: He will fill him with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding (count), of counsel and might, of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of God. As the spiritual grace descends to us, it begins with wisdom and ends with fear. But we, ascending, tending from the lowest to the highest, must begin with fear and end with wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is long, and it exceeds our strength, though not your eagerness, to recall all the testimonies of the number seven related to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, let these suffice.

The Holy Spirit commended through the number seven.

Now understand this: how, because the law is fulfilled by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the number ten needed to be mentioned and commended, as we have already shown, and the number seven because of the grace of the Holy Spirit itself. Christ commended the number ten by sending the Holy Spirit after ten days, the very law which He ordered to be fulfilled. So where then do we find here the commendation of the number seven especially because of the Holy Spirit itself? You have in the book of Tobit the very feast, that is Pentecost, consisting of weeks. How so? Multiply seven by itself, that is seven by seven, which is learned in schools: seven times seven makes forty-nine. According to this form of the seven, on account of seven by seven: (because the Holy Spirit gathers us and brings us together: hence, the first sign given of His coming was that those who received Him, even though separated, spoke in all languages. For the unity of the body of Christ is gathered from all languages, namely from all nations spread throughout the entire world. And that one spoke then in all languages, testified to the very unity that would be in all languages. The Apostle says: Bearing with one another in love, which is charity: making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. So because the Holy Spirit gathers us from many into one: He is retained by humility, expelled by pride. For humility of heart is like a concave place seeking where it may rest: but when driven away by the swelling of pride, it slips away like water: hence it is said: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. What does it mean, gives grace? He gives the Holy Spirit. He fills the humble because He finds them capable). Therefore, because these things are so, to forty-nine, which is made from seven by seven, one is added, and the unity is commended.

Of the fish, one hundred fifty-three.

Because your charity aids our infirmity before the Lord our God, accept something, as it seems to me, that will be all the sweeter when explained, and more obscure if not explained. Before the resurrection, the Lord commanded his disciples to cast their nets into the sea when He chose them. They cast, and caught an innumerable multitude of fish, such that the nets were breaking, and the loaded boats were sinking. However, he did not command in which direction to cast the nets, but simply said: Cast the nets. For if he had commanded that they be cast to the right side, he would signify that only the good would be caught; if to the left, only the bad. But because they were cast everywhere, neither to the right nor to the left; both good and bad. This is the meaning of the Church's present time, in this world. For the servants sent to those invited went out; and whoever they found, both good and bad, they brought in, and the wedding feasts were filled with those reclining. Therefore, both good and bad are now gathered. Why then are there schisms, if the nets do not break? Why is the Church often burdened by the scandals of badly behaving crowds if the boats are not pressed? This, therefore, the Lord did before the resurrection. After the resurrection, however, he found his disciples fishing in the same way: he commanded the nets to be cast, not just anywhere, because now it was after the resurrection. For after the resurrection, his body, which is the Church, will have no evil ones. He said, Cast the nets on the right side. The nets were cast, by his command, on the right side, and a certain number of fish were caught. For those without number, those signifying the Church which is now, as from that capture: I have announced and spoken, they have been multiplied beyond number. Therefore, some are understood to be beyond number, in a certain way superfluous: yet they are gathered. But there, on the right side, the fish are caught, numbered, and large. For, he who does and teaches shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, one hundred and fifty-three large fish were caught. Who does not move, it is not in vain that this number is mentioned? For it is not really without significance that the Lord would say: Cast the nets; nor that it concerns Him that they be cast on the right side. This number of one hundred and fifty-three signifies and it was pertinent for the Evangelist to say, almost referring to that first catch, where the breaking of the nets signified schisms; because in the Church of eternal life there will be no schisms, no dissensions; all are great because full of charity: as if therefore it referred to the first event signifying schisms, it was also pertinent to him to say in this second catch: And though they were so large, the nets were not broken. What then the right-hand side signified has been said, that they are all good. What the large size signified has been said, that he who does and teaches shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Also, what it signified that the nets were not broken has been said, that then there will be no schisms. What, therefore, is signified by the number one hundred and fifty-three? This number is certainly not the number of the saints themselves. For there will not be only one hundred and fifty-three saints; since only those who have not defiled themselves with women are mentioned as twelve times twelve thousand. But this number seems to grow, as from a certain seed, like a tree. The seed of this large number is a certain smaller number, which is seventeen. Ten and seven make one hundred and fifty-three. If then you count from one to seventeen, and add all the numbers: for if you do not add the numbers from one to seventeen, which you recount, there will only be seventeen: but if you count thus: one, two, three; as one and two and three make six, six and four and five make fifteen; thus you come to seventeen, holding on your fingers one hundred and fifty-three. Therefore, recall that I mentioned and commended it a little earlier, and see what ten and seven signify. Ten, the law; seven, the Holy Spirit. Whence what do we understand, except that those will be in the Church of the eternal resurrection, where there will be no schisms, where death will not be feared, since it will be after the resurrection; therefore those will be there, living with the Lord forever, who have fulfilled the law by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the gift of God, whose feast we celebrate?