Sermon 44
SERMO 44
OF WHAT IS WRITTEN IN ISAIAH:
"He shall grow up like a tender plant" etc.
From this root is the beauty of the Church.
Of our Lord and Savior, most beloved brothers, it was prophesied long ago: He shall grow up like a shoot, and like a root in dry ground. Why like a root? Therefore: He has no form or majesty. He suffered, he was humbled, he was spat upon: he had no beauty; he appeared as a man, though he was God. But just as a root is not beautiful, yet inwardly possesses the power of its beauty. Pay attention, my brothers, behold the mercy of God. You look at a beautiful, pleasing tree, green with leaves, abundant with fruits, and you praise it. You delight to pluck something of the fruit, to sit under its shade and rest from the heat: you praise all that beauty. If the root is shown to you, there is no beauty in it. Do not despise what is lowly: from it has come what you wonder at. Like a root in dry ground. Pay attention now to the brightness of the tree.
From this root comes the beauty of the Church.
The Church has grown, the nations have believed, the princes of the earth have been conquered under the name of Christ, so that they could be victors in the world. Their necks have been placed under the yoke of Christ. They used to persecute Christians because of idols, now they persecute idols because of Christ. Everyone flees to the help of the Church, in every distress, in every tribulation of theirs. That mustard seed has grown, it has become greater than all the vegetables; the birds of the air come, the proud of the world, and rest under its branches. Whence comes this great beauty? It has risen from some unknown root: and this beauty is in great glory. Let us seek the root. He was spat upon, he was humiliated, he was scourged, he was crucified, he was wounded, he was despised. Behold, here there is no appearance: but in the Church, the glory of the root prevails. Therefore it describes the bridegroom himself, that despised, dishonored, rejected one. But now you must see the tree, which has risen from this root, and filled the world. The root is in the thirsty land.
What is the nature within of the Savior?
There is no appearance to him, nor honor: and we saw him, and he had no appearance nor beauty. Is this not the carpenter's son? He did not have beauty, so that it was said, Are we not right in saying that you have a demon? In his name demons were fleeing; and it is alleged against him, that he had a demon. But why this? We saw him, and he had no appearance nor beauty. What is his appearance within, where it was not visible? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. What is his appearance? Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.
The bridegroom is dearer to the bride the more deformed he is on her account.
And where he was seen as having neither form nor beauty? And he had no form: but his face was despised, and his appearance was deformed by all men. A man in a plague. In the plague a man, before the plague God, after the plague a man God. A man in a plague, and he who knows how to bear infirmities. Infirmities of whom? Those by whom he was suffering. The physician bore the infirmities of the mad; and when he himself was being crucified, he prayed and said: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Pay attention: let us love the bridegroom. The more he is commended to us as deformed, the dearer he is made to the bride, the sweeter he is to her. Therefore he also turned away. He turned away so that those who were crucifying him would not understand him. His face was injured, nor was he highly esteemed.
The blindness of the Jews concerning Christ is astonishing.
He carries our infirmities, and is burdened with our sorrows: and we have thought of him as being in pain, and afflicted, and punished. But he was wounded for our sins, and weakened for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Is this Gospel, or prophecy? What do the Jews say against this? Is it not amazing to hear them, to see them have these words, to read them, and not find out to whom they could pertain, except to that one who is proclaimed in the Gospel throughout the world, and yet they are not Christians, but are so blind against the most clear words of the Prophets? Do not be amazed at the blindness of the Jews concerning Christ. Behold, what is said about the bridegroom passes, and it begins to be said also about the bride; and just as you were amazed at the blindness of the Jews regarding the bridegroom, so you will be amazed at the blindness of heretics regarding the bride.
In Christ, both natures are wondrous.
We now marvel at the blindness of the Jews. The Lord was delivered up for our sins; and he, because he was badly treated, did not open his mouth. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And do not scorn, who will declare his generation? Which generation? I have begotten you before the morning star. Behold, one generation: Before the morning star, before all that was made, before all the angels, before all creation. Why? Because all things were made through him. But perhaps his second generation is narrated. Who will narrate it? It is conceived by faith, no man approaches, the womb of the Virgin swells: he emerges like a bridegroom from his chamber. This generation is miraculous. The human is miraculous, because it is without a father: that one is miraculous, because it is without a mother. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, as a lamb before its shearer, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare his generation? Because his life will be taken up from the earth. He announces his resurrection. You see truly that the Lord (as if the Truth could say anything but truly) was saying this: What was written in the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning me? Because it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise again, you heard. And rise again, you heard now: Because his life will be taken up from the earth. And it will be preached in his name repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem: you will hear it also from this Prophet; not because we ought to put the Prophet before the Lord. The herald preceded, the judge followed. The herald spoke not his own words, but the words of the judge, and the judge following affirmed his own words in the herald. Because his life will be taken up from the earth. From the iniquities of my people, he was led to death. You were just hearing him say to them, What did I do to you? If you found sin in me, accuse me. And they, Crucify, crucify: thinking him a man, yet innocent. Therefore: From the iniquities of my people, he was led to death.
The rich and evil in the death and burial of Christ.
I will therefore give the wicked for his burial. What does this mean: I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death? The wicked for burial, the rich for death. That rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, when the Lord was hanging on the cross, went to Pilate and asked for his body: he allowed him to take it for burial. The rich were given for his death: he buried the poor, in whom he sought riches. Therefore, the rich for his death. What was said later happened first: what was said first happened later. The wicked for his burial. How do we show this? The Jews went to Pilate and said to him: Lord, we have heard that that deceiver (ὁ πλάνος, that is, that impostor) told his disciples that he would rise after being killed: order that the tomb be guarded, lest his disciples come by night, take him away, and the deception be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, You have soldiers, go, guard it as you wish. They took soldiers and placed them there. These are the wicked: they were given for his burial to guard it. But how do we prove they are wicked? The soldiers were innocently sent: the judge commanded them; they came to the tomb, they guarded it. Hear why they are wicked: read the Gospel. After the Lord resurrected, and they saw the angel, they were terrified and dismayed. While it was said to others, Do not be afraid, these were struck with fear, because they were not lifted by faith. And yet knowing these things, they went to the Jews, told them all these things. The Jews said: We give you money. Thus they were wicked: they hid the truth, sold the lie. And how did they sell the lie? No wonder, they sold the lie, the lie to the blind for the blind. Say (they were told) that while we were sleeping, his disciples came and took him away. O vanity selling vanity to vanity! The vain will hear and believe. Even today this is among the Jews, so the fame goes, so vain, so false, so empty. They do not want to hear the testimony of the martyrs, to live; and they hear the testimony of the sleepers, to perish. If the guards were sleeping, how could they have known who took him from the tomb? Or why were you watching, wicked one? O wicked one, concerning whom the Prophet said not without reason, I will give the wicked for his burial. O wicked ones, O most wicked: either you were watching and should have guarded, or you were sleeping and do not know what happened. It is indeed fulfilled what the Holy Spirit had predicted long before through the Psalmist: They devised a plan which they could not establish.
He will judge you with justice, who redeemed you with mercy.
Therefore, most beloved brothers, for whose salvation all these things have both been foretold and fulfilled, let us give thanks to divine mercy, and as much as we can, let us labor with all our strength so that the blessings of God may not bring us judgment, but improvement: so that when the dreadful day of judgment and the time for rendering account comes, whatever our Lord and Savior has entrusted to us in judgment, He may find intact when He judges. And indeed, when He comes, He will render what He promised, but He will also require what He redeemed: and what He bestowed at His first coming, He will demand at His second. Although we must highly presume upon God's mercy, we must not negligently fear His justice. For He will judge you with justice, who redeemed you with mercy. For the reason that He spares us as we sin for such a long time is not negligence, but patience. He has not lost His power, but has reserved us for repentance. Let us therefore fear the justice whose mercy we desire. For He spares now, but is not silent: and if He is silent, He will not always be silent. Let us then heed Him while He speaks in command, if we wish Him to spare us when He is not silent in judgment. For now mercy is extended to us, then justice will be required from us, and He will render to each one according to his works; and what the Apostle said will be fulfilled: Judgment without mercy to him who has not shown mercy.