Sermon 293

SERMO 293

On the Birthday of John the Baptist

Comparison of John and Christ in their birth.

Saint John, whose nativity we marveled at while the Gospel was being read, we celebrate his feast today. How great is the glory of the judge, if the herald's is so great? What will the coming way be like, if such is the one who prepares the way? The Church observes the nativity of John in a certain sanctified way: no father is found, the nativity of whom we solemnly celebrate: we celebrate John's, we also celebrate Christ's: this cannot be for naught, and if by chance it is not fully explained by us due to the dignity of such a great event, it is, nonetheless, more fruitfully and deeply considered. John is born of an old barren woman, Christ is born of a young virgin. Sterility gives birth to John, integrity to Christ. At the birth of John, the age of his parents was not suitable, at the birth of Christ marital union did not exist. One is announced by an angel's proclamation, the other is conceived by an angel's announcement. John's birth is not believed, and his father becomes mute: Christ is believed in and conceived by faith. The coming of faith first occurs in the heart of the virgin, and fruitfulness follows in the womb of the mother. And yet nearly the same words are spoken by Zechariah when the angel announced John: "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years," and by the holy Mary when the angel announced her future birth, "How shall this be, since I do not know a man?" Nearly the same words. To the former it is said: "Behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." To the latter: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore the Holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God." He is reproved, she is instructed. To him it is said, "Because you did not believe;" to her it is said, "Receive what you asked." The words are almost the same: "How shall I know this?" and "How shall this be?" But He who heard the words and saw the heart was not deceived. In the words of both, the thought lay hidden; but it was hidden from men, not from the angel: indeed, not from Him who spoke through the angel. Finally, John is born when the light begins to decrease and the night begins to grow: Christ is born when the night begins to diminish and the day increases. And as if looking at this sign of the nativity of both, John himself says: "He must increase, but I must decrease." We have set forth what is to be inquired and discussed: but I have spoken this beforehand, and if we are not sufficient to search through all the depths of such a mystery, either through ability or time, He who speaks in you, even when we are absent, will better teach you, whom you piously think upon, whom you have received in your heart, of whom you have been made temples.

John is a certain boundary of the Old and New Testament. Therefore, he is born of old people, and he exults in the womb. The mouth of Zechariah is first closed, and afterward opened.

Therefore, it seems that John is a certain intermediate boundary between the two Testaments, the old and the new. For, as I said, the Lord Himself bears witness that he is in some way a boundary, saying: The Law and the Prophets were until John the Baptist. Hence, he holds the persona of antiquity and the herald of newness. Because of the persona of antiquity, he is born of old parents; because of the persona of newness, he is declared a prophet in the womb of his mother. For even before birth, he leaped in his mother’s womb at the arrival of holy Mary. He was already designated there, designated before he was born: shown to be the forerunner of Him whom he would precede, before he was seen by Him. These are divine matters and exceed the measure of human frailty. Finally, he is born, receives a name, and his father’s tongue is loosed. Relate what happened to the significant image of things: only that what happened may not be regarded as not having happened, because you might wonder what it signified. What happened, refer it to the significance of things, and see the great mystery. Zacharias is silent, and loses his voice, until John, the forerunner of the Lord, is born, and he opens his voice. What is Zacharias' silence, if not prophecy hidden, and before the preaching of Christ in some way concealed and closed? It is opened by His advent, made clear by His coming, who was prophesied. This is the opening of Zacharias' voice at John's birth, just as it is the tearing of the veil at Christ's crucifixion. If John were announcing himself, Zacharias’ mouth would not open. The tongue is loosed because the voice is born: for it was said to John already announcing the Lord: Who are you? And he answered: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

The voice John, the Word Christ. The voice thought to be the Word.

The voice of John, however, the Lord was the Word in the beginning. John is a voice for a time, Christ is the eternal Word in the beginning. Take away the word, what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, the sound is empty. The voice without the word strikes the ear, but does not build up the heart. Nevertheless, in building up within our own heart, let us observe the order of things. If I think about what I am going to say, already the word is in my heart: but wishing to speak to you, I seek how it may also be in your heart, what is already in mine. Seeking how it may reach you, and reside in your heart the word that is already in my heart, I take up the voice, and with the assumed voice I speak to you: the sound of the voice leads to you the understanding of the word: and when the sound of the voice has led to you the understanding of the word, indeed the sound itself passes away; but the word which the sound has brought to you remains now in your heart, nor has it departed from mine. Therefore, the sound, after transferring the word to you, does it not seem to say itself: He must increase, but I must decrease? The sound of the voice has served its purpose, and has passed away, as if it were saying: This joy of mine is fulfilled. Let us hold on to the word, let us not lose the word deeply conceived. Do you wish to see the voice passing by, and the divinity of the Word remaining? Where now is the baptism of John? It served its purpose, and has passed away. The baptism of Christ is now frequently administered. We all believe in Christ, we hope for salvation in Christ: the voice has resounded this. For since it is difficult to distinguish the word from the voice, John himself was thought to be Christ. The voice was thought to be the word: but the voice recognized itself, lest it offend the word. I am not, he said: the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. He was asked: Who then are you? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, the voice breaking silence. Prepare the way of the Lord, as if he were saying, I sound for this reason, that I may bring him into the heart: but into what he deigns not to come, unless you prepare the way for him. What is it to prepare the way; if not, to pray fittingly? What is it to prepare the way; if not, to think humbly? Take from him the example of humility. He is thought to be Christ, he says he is not what he is thought to be, nor does he arrogantly take up the mistake for his own glory. If he had said: I am the Christ; how easily he would have been believed, who was already believed before he said it? He did not say it: he recognized himself, distinguished himself, humbled himself. He saw where he had salvation: he understood himself to be the lamp, and feared to be extinguished by the wind of pride.

Why was a man sent to bear witness to Christ of such great grace?

For this disposition pleased God, that a man of such great grace should bear witness to Christ, who could be thought to be Christ. Indeed, among those born of women, as Christ himself said, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. If no man was greater than this man, he who is greater than him is more than a man. Great is the testimony of Christ about himself, but to inflamed and weak eyes, the day bears little witness of itself. Weak eyes shun the day, they bear a lamp. Therefore, the coming day preceded the lamp. But in the hearts of the faithful, a lamp was sent beforehand, to confound the hearts of the unfaithful. "I have prepared," he says, "a lamp for my Christ": God the Father speaking in prophecy: "I have prepared a lamp for my Christ": John, the herald for the Savior, the forerunner for the coming judge, the future friend of the bridegroom. "I have prepared," he says, "a lamp for my Christ." Why did you prepare it? "I will clothe his enemies with shame: but upon him, my sanctification shall blossom." How were his enemies clothed with shame through this lamp? Let us scrutinize the Gospel. The Jews, accusing the Lord, said: "By what power do you do these things? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." They sought a cause, not faith; whence they might lay traps, not whence they might be freed. Indeed, he who saw their hearts, observe what he answered to confound them through the lamp. "I also will ask you one question," he says: "Tell me, the baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men?" They were immediately struck, and though the day shone faintly, they were compelled to grope, as they could not look upon that brightness, they fled to the darkness of their own hearts, and there began to be troubled among themselves, stumbling and falling. "If we say," they thought among themselves, "where they reasoned, but which he saw: "If we say, from heaven, he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' For he had borne testimony to Christ the Lord. But if we say, from men, the people will stone us, for John was held as a great prophet." And they said, "We do not know." You do not know; you are in darkness, you lose the light. For how much better if perhaps there is darkness in the human heart, to admit the light, not to lose it. When they said, "We do not know," the Lord said, "Neither do I tell you by what power I do these things. For I know with what heart you said, 'We do not know,' not wanting to be taught, but fearing to confess."

Christ, God hidden in flesh.

This divine dispensation; as much as a man can investigate, better the better, inferior the inferior; this divine dispensation intimates to us a great sacrament. For Christ was about to come in the flesh, not just anyone, not an angel, not a messenger; but He Himself coming will save them. It was not just anyone who was to come: and yet how was He about to come? To be born in mortal flesh, to become a small infant, to be placed in a manger, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, to be nourished with milk, to grow through ages, and finally even to be killed by death. These, therefore, are all signs of humility and the form of great humility. Whose humility is this? That of the Exalted One. How exalted? Do not seek on the earth, transcend even the stars. When you come to the celestial armies of the Angels, you will hear from them, "Pass even beyond us." When you come to Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, you will hear, "Pass even beyond us"; and we have been created: All things were made through Him. Transcend the entire creation; whatever is created, whatever is instituted, whatever is mutable, whether corporeal or incorporeal, transcend all. Seeing you cannot yet achieve, transcend by believing: reach the Creator through faith, which precedes you, leading you, reach the Creator. There see: In the beginning was the Word. For it was not made at any time: but in the beginning it was. Not like a creature, of which it is said: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. What was in the beginning, there was never a time when it was not. Therefore, what was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: and all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made: and in Him was life, which was made, it came to us. To whom? To the worthy? By no means: but to the unworthy. For Christ died for the ungodly, and the undeserving, but worthy. For we are undeserving of His mercy; but He is worthy who would have mercy, to whom it would be said: For your mercy’s sake, Lord, deliver us. Not because of our preceding merits, but for your mercy’s sake, Lord, deliver us; and be merciful to our sins for your name’s sake, not for our merit. For not because of the merit of sins, but for your name’s sake. For the merit of sins, assuredly not a reward, but a punishment. Therefore, for your name’s sake. Behold to whom He came, behold how great He came. How did He come to us? Truly, the Word became flesh, and dwelled among us. For if He had come in His divinity alone, who could bear Him? who could receive Him? who could accept Him? But He took what we were, that we might not remain what we were: but what we were by nature, not by guilt. For indeed, to men, He became man, but not to sinners, a sinner. Of these two, human nature and human guilt, He accepted one, He healed the other. For if He had taken our iniquity, He too would have sought a savior. Yet He took to bear and heal it, not to have it: and He appeared as a man among men, God hidden.

It was necessary for God hidden in the flesh to have the testimony of a man, than whom there was no greater. John, having disciples just like Christ, becomes a more credible witness of Christ.

Who, then, shall bear witness to this day hidden in a certain cloud of flesh? Give a lamp, let it bear witness to the day: but increase this lamp, so that whoever is greater than it may be the day. Among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist. O ineffable dispensation! Brothers, when I think on these things, I am greatly amazed at what John says about Christ, bearing witness in the gospel: I am not worthy, he says, to loosen the strap of His sandal. What can be said more humble? What more exalted than Christ? What more lowly than one crucified? He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears him, and rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice, not because of his own. We, he says, have all received from His fullness. How great things he speaks about Christ, how sublime! How exalted! How worthy! If, however, anything worthy can be said about Him by anyone. And yet he does not walk among the disciples of the Lord, he did not follow Him like Peter, like Andrew, like John, like the others. But he also gathered disciples to himself, and while the Lord was present with His disciples, John also had his own disciples. They were called the disciples of John. It was said to the Lord Himself: Why do the disciples of John fast, but your disciples do not fast? This was undoubtedly necessary for a faithful forerunner, that Christ should be proclaimed by him who might be thought his rival. John had disciples, Christ had disciples: he taught as if from outside, but adhered as a witness. Therefore, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. There were prophets, they had disciples, but not in the presence of Christ. There were great apostles afterward, but because they were disciples of Christ, not because they could have disciples with Christ. He has disciples, he gathers them, he baptizes: what do we think? Outside, or inside? Rather, in reality inside, so that he might be liberated by God as a man; seemingly outside, so that he might be believed as a witness. Attend to this very point: Peter, Andrew, John, and others bore witness to the Lord, for instance, when it was said to them, You praise whom you follow, you proclaim whom you cling to. Let the lamp come to confound the enemies, gather the disciples. Christ has disciples, John has disciples. Christ baptizes, John baptizes; and they come to John and say to him: He to whom you bore witness, behold, He baptizes, and all are going to Him, so that possibly, out of envy, he might say something bad about Christ. But there the lamp burns more safely, there it shines more brightly, there it is invigorated, the more distinctly, the more securely. Now, he says, I told you, that I am not the Christ. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; He who comes from heaven is above all. Then, those believing Christ marveled, but the enemies were confounded, when in a certain way he who could be thought to envy was compelled to preach. For the servant is compelled to acknowledge the Lord, the creature is compelled to bear witness to the Creator: not compelled, but does it willingly. For he is a friend, not an envious rival: not jealous for himself, but for the bridegroom.

In the wedding of Christ, John is the groomsman. Christ is the mediator insofar as He is human.

The friends of the bridegroom do this; and there is a certain solemnity in human weddings, that besides other friends, an inner friend, the paranymph, is summoned, aware of the secret of the chamber. But here it matters, and indeed it matters a lot. In human weddings, a man is the paranymph for a man; this is what John is to Christ, and the same God Christ is the bridegroom, the mediator of God and men; but in so far as He is a man. For in so far as He is God, He is not a mediator, but equal to the Father, the same as the Father, one God with the Father. When would this sublime mediation exist, from which we were lying far apart? That He might be a mediator, He assumed something that He was not: but that we might reach, He remained what He was. Behold, God above us, behold, we below Him, and many spaces lie between, especially the gap of sin which separates and casts us far away. In such a great distance, when we had to come to God, by what means would we come? God Himself remains God; man approaches God, and they become one person, so that it is not a semi-god, God in part, and man in part; but wholly God and wholly man: God the liberator, man the mediator; so that through Him to Him, not through another, nor not to Him; but through what we are in Him, to Him through whom we were made. Therefore the Apostle, although he knew Christ as God: for he himself said of Him, when speaking of the preceding merits of the Jews: whose are the fathers, and from whom Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever: when therefore he knew Him as God, and God over all; and thus certainly over all, because all things were made through Him; it comes about that he would commend the mediator, and did not say God; for He is not a mediator in that He is God; but a mediator because He became man. This is our liberation. For there is one God. For when you hear, O Catholics, you hear instructed, you hear vigilantly: one God: is it only the Father? Is it only the Son? Is it only the Holy Spirit? But certainly the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God. Therefore: one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus. If he had said, one God, and one mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ; He would be understood as a lesser God. For indeed He would be separated from that deity of the Trinity, if one God, one and mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, would be said, as if not He who is called one God. But because in the unity of God, there are the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: divinity holds the unity, humanity assumes the mediation.

The grace of the mediator is necessary for all, so that they may be reconciled to God.

By this mediation, the whole mass of humanity, which was alienated from God through Adam, is reconciled to God. For through Adam, sin entered the world, and through sin, death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all sinned. Who would be rescued from this? Who would be distinguished from this mass of wrath to mercy? For who distinguishes you? What do you have that you did not receive? Hence, our merits do not distinguish us, but grace does. For if it were by merits, it would be a debt: if it were a debt, it would not be free: if it were not free, it would not be grace. This the Apostle himself said: But if it is by grace, it is no longer by works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. Through one we are saved, the great and the small, the old and the young, the little ones and the infants; through one we are saved. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Through one man came death, and through one came the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

All in Adam and all in Christ.

Here someone comes up and says to me: How all? Those who are to be sent into Gehenna, who will be condemned with the devil, who will be tormented with eternal fires? How all and all? Because no one comes to death except through Adam, no one comes to life except through Christ. If there were another through whom we come to death, not all would die in Adam. If there were another through whom we come to life, not all would be made alive in Christ.

Even infants themselves need a liberator.

What then, someone says, does an infant also need a savior? Clearly he does: the proof is the mother faithfully running with the little one to be baptized in the church. The proof is the Church itself receiving the infant to be washed, and either to be released already liberated or to be nurtured with piety. Who would dare to speak a testimony against such a great mother? Finally, even in the infant itself, the testimony of its misery is its crying. As much as it can, the weak nature testifies, understanding little; it does not begin with laughter, it begins with weeping. Recognize the miserable one, extend help. Let all be clothed in the bowels of mercy. The less they can do for themselves, the more mercifully let us speak for the little ones. The Church is accustomed to provide help to orphans for the protection of their affairs: let us all speak for the little ones, let help be provided to them by everyone, lest they lose the heavenly inheritance. And for their sake, the Lord himself became a little one. How did those who first deserved to be killed for him not pertain to his liberation?

Christ is also for little children Jesus, that is, Savior.

Finally, regarding the Lord Savior Himself, when His birth was near to being foretold, it was said: "They will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." We hold onto Jesus, we have the interpretation of this name. Why Jesus, which in Latin is called "Savior," why Jesus? For He will save His people. But Moses saved his people with a mighty hand and with the assistance of the Most High from the persecution and domination of the Egyptians; Joshua, the son of Nun, saved his people from persecutors' wars with the nations; the judges saved the people, delivering them from the Philistines; and the kings saved them from the rule of surrounding nations that barked against them. Jesus does not save in this manner, but from their sins. They will call His name Jesus. Why? For He will save His people. From what? From their sins. Now I inquire of the little one, brought to the church to become a Christian, to be baptized, I think it is so that he might be in the people of Jesus. Which Jesus? Who saves His people from their sins. If he has nothing in him to be saved, he should be removed from here. Why do we not say to the mothers, Remove these little ones from here? For Jesus is indeed a savior: if these have nothing in them to be saved, remove them from here. The physician is not needed for the healthy, but for those who are sick. Would anyone dare to say to me in this little one's peril, To me is Jesus, to this one is not Jesus? Therefore, is there Jesus for you, and is there no Jesus for this one? Has he not come to Jesus? Is he not answered for so that he may believe in Jesus? Are we instituting another baptism for little ones, in which there is no remission of sins? Certainly, if this little one could speak for himself, he would refute the voice of the objector and cry out: Give me the life of Christ; in Adam, I died; give me the life of Christ, in whose sight there is no world, nor is the life of one day on the earth present. Grace would not be denied to these, nor would the giver of his own. Let mercy be extended to the wretched. Why is their innocence excessively praised? Let him find the Savior before they even feel the flatterer. Clearly, in such great danger to the infants, we must not even dispute, lest we seem to delay their salvation by disputing. Let him be brought, washed, freed, enlivened. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. He did not find a way to come into the life of this age except through Adam; he will not find a way to escape the punishment of the future age except through Christ. Why do you close the only door? For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Hear, He cries out to you: The physician is not needed for the healthy, but for those who are sick. Why do you call this one healthy unless you are contradicting the physician?

John, born with sin, needed a savior.

"So, he said, did John, about whom you spoke, be born with sin? Clearly, you found one born without sin, whom you find born without Adam. You cannot tear this understanding from the hands of the faithful: 'Through one man came death, and through one comes the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so it passed to all men. If these were my words, could this understanding be said more expressively by me? Could it be more evidently? Could it be more fully? Thus it passed to all men, in whom all have sinned. Now you exclude John: if you separate him from men, if you separate him from that path of human propagation, if you separate him from the union of male and female, you will also separate him from this understanding. For he who wished to be separated from it, chose to come through a virgin. Why do you compel me to dispute John’s merits? He saluted the Lord in the womb: but I suppose that he saluted Him from whom he sought salvation. He does not seek your most pernicious defense. When the Lord came to his baptism, conscious of common frailty he said: 'I ought to be baptized by you.' For the Lord came indeed to commend humility even in baptism, to consecrate the sacrament itself. For he took baptism as a young man, just as he took circumcision as an infant. He took the remedies to be commended, not the wounds. But why would he say: 'I ought to be baptized by you,' utterly free from all guilt, if there were not in him what needed to be healed, if there were not in him what needed to be purified? He calls himself a debtor, and you absolve him, lest his debts be forgiven. 'I ought,' he says, 'to be baptized by you: I need it, it is necessary for me.' And this was granted to him there. For when the Lord was in the water, he was not exempt from the water. What more can be said? Let the contrary disputant cease henceforth, if it be possible, for the Savior himself liberated even his own herald."