5. Hear one seeing, who once was blind. Behold, against what a cross they have miserably stumbled, who would not confess their blindness to the Physician! The Law had continued with them. What serveth the Law without grace? Unhappy men, what can the Law do without grace? What doeth the earth without the spittle of Christ? What doeth the Law without grace, but make them more guilty? Why? Because hearers of the Law and not doers, and hereby sinners, transgressors. The son of the hostess of the man of God was dead, and his staff was sent by his servant, and laid upon his face, [4065] but he did not revive. What doeth the Law without grace? What saith the Apostle, now seeing, now of blind, enlightened? "For if there had been a Law given which could give life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law." [4066] Take heed; let us answer and say; what is this that he hath said? "If there had been a Law given which could give life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law." If it could not give life, why was it given? He went on and added, "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." [4067] That the promise of illumination, the promise of love by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe, that Scripture, that is the Law, hath concluded all under sin. What is, "hath concluded all under sin"? "I had not known concupiscence, except the Law had said, Thou shalt not lust." [4068] What is, "hath concluded all under sin"? Hath made the sinner a transgressor also. For it could not heal the sinner. "It hath concluded all under sin;" but with what hope? The hope of grace, the hope of mercy. Thou hast received the Law: thou didst wish to keep it, thou wast not able; thou hast fallen from pride, hast seen thy weakness. Run to the Physician, wash the face. Long for Christ, confess Christ, believe on Christ; the Spirit is added to the letter, and thou wilt be saved. For if thou take away the Spirit from the letter, "the letter killeth;" if it kill, where is hope? "But the Spirit giveth life." [4069]
6. Let then Gehazi, Elisha's servant, receive the staff, as Moses the servant of God received the Law. Let him receive the staff, receive it, run, go before, anticipate him, lay the staff upon the face of the dead child. And so it was; he did receive it, he ran, he laid the staff upon the face of the dead child. But to what purpose? what serveth the staff? "If there had been a Law given which could give life," the boy might have been raised to life by the staff; but seeing that "the Scripture hath concluded all under sin," he still lies dead. But why hath it concluded all under sin? "That the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Let then Elisha come, who sent the staff by the servant to prove that he was dead; let him come himself, come in his own person, himself enter into the woman's house, go up to the child, find him dead, conform himself to the members of the dead child, himself not dead, but living. For this he did; he laid his face upon his face, his eyes upon his eyes, his hands upon his hands, his feet upon his feet, he straitened, he contracted himself, being great, he made himself little. He contracted himself; so to say, he lessened himself. "For being in the Form of God, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant." [4070] What is He conformed Himself, alive to the dead? Do ye ask, what this is? Hear the Apostle; "God sent His Son." [4071] What is, he conformed himself to the dead? Let him tell this, let him go on and declare it again; "In the likeness of flesh of sin." This is to conform Himself Alive to the dead; to come to us in the likeness of flesh of sin, not in the flesh of sin. Man lay dead in a flesh of sin, the likeness of flesh of sin conformed Himself to him. For He died who had not wherefore to die. He died, Alone "Free among the dead;" forasmuch as the whole flesh of men was indeed a flesh of sin. And how should it rise again, had not He who had no sin, conforming Himself to the dead, come in the likeness of flesh of sin? O Lord Jesus, who hast suffered for us, not for Thyself, who hadst no guilt, and didst endure its punishment, that thou mightest dissolve at once the guilt and punishment.
[4047] John ix. 2.
[4048] John ix. 3.
[4049] John ix. 31.
[4050] Luke xviii. 10.
[4051] Ventilante.
[4052] John ix. 35, 36.
[4053] John ix. 37.
[4054] John ix. 7.
[4055] John iv. 34, v. 30, vi. 38.
[4056] Matt. xii. 13.
[4057] Col. ii. 16, 17.
[4058] John ix. 24.
[4059] John ix. 16.
[4060] Prædicavit.
[4061] John ix. 39.
[4062] Num. xv. 36.
[4063] Tractatores.
[4064] Rom. xi. 25.
[4065] 2 Kings iv. 29.
[4066] Gal. iii. 21.
[4067] Gal. iii. 22.
[4068] Rom. vii. 7.
[4069] 2 Cor. iii. 6.
[4070] Phil. ii. 6.
[4071] Rom. viii. 3.
Sermon LXXXVII.
[CXXXVII. Ben.]
The tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Of the shepherd, and the hireling, and the thief.
1. Your faith, dearly beloved, is not ignorant, and I know that ye have so learnt by the teaching of that Master from heaven, in whom ye have placed your hope, that our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath now suffered for us and risen again, is the Head of the Church, and the Church is His Body, and that in His Body the unity of the members and the bond of charity is, as it were, its sound health. But whosoever groweth cold in charity, is become enfeebled in the Body of Christ. But He who hath already exalted our Head, is able also to make even the feeble members whole; provided, that is, that they be not cut off by excessive impiety, but adhere to the Body until they be made whole. For whatsoever yet adhereth to the body, is not beyond hope of healing; whereas that which hath been cut off, can neither be in process of curing, nor be healed. Since then He is the Head of the Church, and the Church is His Body, Whole Christ is both the Head and the Body. He hath already risen again. We have therefore the Head in heaven. Our Head intercedeth for us. Our Head without sin and without death, now propitiateth God for our sins; that we too at the end rising again, and changed into heavenly glory, may follow our Head. For where the Head is, there are the rest of the members also. But whilst we are here, we are members; let us not despair, for we shall follow our Head.
2. For consider, Brethren, the love of this our Head. He is now in heaven, yet doth He suffer here, as long as His Church suffereth here. Here Christ is hungered, here He is athirst, is naked, is a stranger, is sick, is in prison. For whatsoever His Body suffereth here, He hath said that Himself suffereth; and at the end, severing off this His Body to the right hand, and severing the rest by whom He is now trodden under foot to the left, He will say to those on the right hand, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which hath been prepared for you from the beginning of the world." For what deservings? "For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat;" and so He goes over the rest, as if He had Himself received; to such a degree that they, not understanding it, make answer and say, "Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, a stranger, and in prison?" And He saith to them, "Forasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of Mine, ye have done it unto Me." [4072] So also in our own body, the head is above, the feet are on the earth; yet in any crowding and throng of men, when any one treads on your foot, does not the head say, "You are treading upon me?" No one has trodden on your head, or on your tongue; it is above, in safety, no harm has happened unto it; and yet because by the bond of charity there is unity from the head even to the feet, the tongue does not separate itself therefrom, but says, "You are treading upon me;" when no one has touched it. As then the tongue, which no one has touched, says, "You are treading upon me;" so Christ, the Head, which no one treadeth on, said, "I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat." And to them who did not so, He said, "I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat." And how did He finish? Thus; "These shall go into everlasting burning, but the righteous into life eternal."
3. When our Lord then was speaking on this occasion, He said, that He is "the Shepherd," He said also that He is "the Door." You find them both in that place, both "I am the Door" and "I am the Shepherd." [4073] In the Head He is the Door, the Shepherd in the Body. For He saith to Peter, in whom singly He formeth the Church; "Peter, lovest thou Me?" He answered, "Lord, I do love Thee." "Feed My sheep." And a third time, "Peter, lovest thou Me?" [4074] "Peter was grieved because He asked him the third time;" as though He who saw the conscience of the denier, saw not the confessor's faith. He had known him always, had known him even when Peter had not known himself. For he did not know himself at that time when he said, "I will be with Thee even unto death;" [4075] and how infirm he was he knew not. Just as it constantly happens in fact to invalids, that the sick man knows not what is going on within him, but the physician knows; when yet the former is suffering from the very sickness, and the physician is not. The physician can better tell what is going on in another, than he who is sick what is going on in himself. Peter then was at that time the invalid, and the Lord the Physician. The former declared that he had strength, when he had not; but the Lord touching the pulse of his heart, declared that he should deny Him thrice. And so it came to pass, as the Physician foretold, not as the sick presumed. Therefore, after His resurrection the Lord questioned him, not as being ignorant with what a heart he would confess the love of Christ, but that he might by a threefold confession of love, efface the threefold denial of fear.
4. Therefore doth the Lord require this of Peter, "Peter, lovest thou Me?" As though, "What wilt thou give Me, what wilt thou do for Me, seeing that thou lovest Me?" What was Peter to do for his Lord risen again, and going into heaven, and sitting on the right hand of the Father? As if He had said, "This shalt thou give Me, this shalt thou do for Me, if thou lovest Me, feed My sheep; enter in by the Door, not go up by another way." Ye heard when the Gospel was being read, "He that entereth in by Door, is the shepherd; but he that goeth up another way, is a thief and a robber; and he seeketh to disperse, and to scatter, and to spoil." [4076] Who is he that entereth in by the Door? He that entereth in by Christ. Who is he? He who imitateth the Passion of Christ, who acknowledgeth the Humility of Christ; that whereas God was made Man for us, man may acknowledge himself to be, not God, but man. For whoso wisheth to appear God, when he is man, doth not imitate Him, who, being God, was made Man. But to thee it is not said, Be anything less than thou art; but acknowledge what thou art. Acknowledge thyself feeble, acknowledge thyself man, acknowledge thyself a sinner; acknowledge that it is He That justifieth, acknowledge that thou art full of stains. Let the stain of thine heart appear in thy confession, and thou shalt belong to Christ's flock. For the confession of sins invites the physician's healing; as in sickness, he that says, "I am well," seeketh not the physician. Did not the Pharisee and the Publican go up to the temple? [4077] The one boasted of his sound estate, the other showed his wounds to the Physician. For the Pharisee said, "I thank Thee, O God, that I am not as this publican." [4078] He gloried over the other. So then if that publican had been whole, the Pharisee would have grudged it him; for that he would not have had any one over whom to extol himself. In what state then had he come, who had this envious spirit? Surely he was not whole; and whereas he called himself whole, he went not down cured. But the other casting his eyes down to the ground, and not daring to lift them up unto heaven, smote his breast, saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner." [4079] And what saith the Lord? "Verily I say unto you, that the publican went down from the temple justified rather than the Pharisee. For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." [4080] They then who exalt themselves, would go up into the sheepfold by another way; but they who humble themselves, enter in by the Door into the sheepfold. Therefore said He of the one, "he entereth in;" of the other, "he goeth up." He that goeth up, you see, who seeks exaltation, does not enter in, but falls. Whereas he that abases himself, that he may enter in by the Door, falls not, but is the shepherd.