1. When John had heard in prison of the works of Christ,
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SERMON 3! SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
1. When John had heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples to him to say to him: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another? Matthew 11:2.
[Protheme] Who will be able to behold the thunder of his greatness? Job 26:14. These words of the second passage from the twenty-sixth chapter of Job concern the formidable sacrament of the Lord's incarnation. They demonstrate a threefold defect in humanity preceding the coming of Christ, that is, a weakness of strength in action; brevity of experience in comprehension; and an obscurity of understanding in thought. The defect of strength in action is mentioned with the premise: Who will be able; as if to say that there is no one because of weakness. As Isaiah 1:31 says: Your strength will be like ashes of flax. Surely the defect of experience in comprehension is mentioned in Job where it states: the thunder of his greatness; because of the thunder that was heard and greatness that was seen; this refers to the coming of Christ in the flesh to those living before the law. That is why one of them said with admiration in Habakkuk
3:2: Lord I heard your sound and I feared, I considered your works and was terrified; this person feared what was heard and was terrified by what was seen. The defect of understanding in thought is mentioned when behold is added. As Genesis 27:1 says: The eyes of Jacob were darkened; therefore, he was unable to see. On account of this,
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let us who bear a sweet yoke and light burden"? implore, before anything else, the clemency of divine piety, that it might fortify our strength in works, heighten our experience in comprehension and clarify our understanding in thought; so that rendered effective in action, capable in comprehension, and veracious in thought, we might then contribute at least some things that are to the praise and glory of his most blessed name and a consolation to our souls. Amen.
[Sermon] 2. When John had heard in prison of the works of Christ, etc. John spoke these words to his disciples for their sake. No one should believe that the precursor of Christ doubted the coming of Christ in the flesh, since he had known at the time of baptism through the Holy Spirit when the dove descended from heaven and rested upon him and he heard the voice of the Father saying: This is my beloved Son;* he even offered testimony to him proclaiming: Behold the Lamb of God." If he had ignored his coming why would he have pointed him out and offered a testimony to him? One should not retain that he questioned because he did not know, or that he sent the disciples because he doubted, especially if these Gospel words that bear out this explanation are diligently understood. Now in the proposed passage three ways are noted through which truth is able to be manifested in all things.
First, the various conditions of humanity are noted by the significance of John in chains; second, the question proposed by those doubting the coming of Christ; third, the clear response of Christ through his mystical works. First of all, the various conditions of humanity are signified
42 Cf. Matt 11:30: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
43 See Matt 3:17. There is no indication, however, that John heard the voice and that it was the Father's voice.
44 See John 1:29.
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through miracles for John in prison when it says: When John had heard in prison of the works of Christ; second, the question of the coming of Christ is proposed when it includes: he sent two of his disciples to him to say to him:
Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another? Third, the fitting response of the mystical works of Christ is added with: Responding, Jesus said to them 'Go and report what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the crippled walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, and the good news is preached to the poor."
3. It says, therefore, When John had heard in prison of the works of Christ, where it notes the varied conditions of humanity through John's chains. Just as Peter, the prince of the apostles, was placed in prison after his confirmation,' and thus represents the condition of sinful humanity, so John the Baptist placed in chains signifies souls existing in various states of misery and calamity.
Now, the first signifies the souls ensnared in the chains of original sin; the second, the souls bound by the penalty of sin; third, the souls constrained by the chains of bodily misery.
4. First, Luke 13:16 speaks about the chains of original sin: Should not this daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan, be absolved from the bond on the Sabbath?, as if to say: that woman bent over toward the ground, who was unable to look up, signifies the soul that, because of original sin, is bound to worldly concerns by a propensity toward evil, and unable to seek after heavenly concerns given the difficulty in attaining the good.** Satan
* See Matt 11:2-3.
46 See Matt 11:4-5.
47 See Acts 12:1-10.
*° On the image of one bent over because of sin, see Itin, c. Leaatt (V, 297b-298a), Comm Le, c. 18, n. 24 (VII, 342b), and Sermo 2 eile
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bound her with these chains of original sin, that is, with the propensity toward evil and the difficulty of attaining the good. She can be freed from these chains completely only on the Sabbath of those who rest in eternity because although concupiscence regarding the penalty of sin disappears in baptism, it still remains, nevertheless, in culpable actions as our experience surely teaches.
5. Second, Jeremiah 52:11 is able to explain why the penalty of sin is equated with chains: And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with fetters, so he might be led into Babylon. Zedekiah placed in fetters by the king of Babylon, who is interpreted as the justice of God,*" signifies the souls whom, due to the severity of divine justice vis-a-vis the first sin, the Devil placed in the fetters of punishment, that is, the absence of the divine vision.
Whence, it says that his eyes were put out because he was excluded from the vision of true light. He is then led into Babylon, that is, into limbo. Babylon is interpreted to mean confusion™ and signifies the obscured vision that the holy fathers had in that place.
6. Third, the Prayer of Manasseh is able to speak of the chains of bodily misery that are the lot of humanity:
I am bent over by many iron chains and I am without relief.°1 Certainly humanity, in this present condition, is bent over by many iron chains: there are chains of hunger, then chains of thirst, occasionally chains of nakedness, and at times chains of sickness; there is no relief for anyone because summer strikes with extreme heat,
Sermo 7, n. 12, Sermo 38, n. 9 and Sermon 45, n. 1 in the Sunday Sermons. For English translations of the Itin. and Commentary on Luke see WSB II, 51 and VIII, 1255.
49 See CCSL lxxii, 113: "Zedekiah is interpreted as just lord."
50 See CCSL lxxii, 119: "Babylon is interpreted as confusion."
51 See Prayer of Manasseh 11 in Vulgate, 1909.
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winter with extreme cold, autumn with extreme dryness, and spring with excessive precipitation. Time is the principle of corruption; sensuality certainly battles against reason, and the will itself moves in contrary and diverse directions. Consequently there is no relief from any side for the miserable person.
7. After designating the multiple signification of humanity's condition which is represented by the chains of John, the question concerning those doubting the coming of Christ remains to be seen, which is noted when it adds: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another? In the question which they pose they show their doubt. Yet in the expectation which they presume, they show their desire. In fact we seek what we doubt and desire what we rightly expect. They propose the question because they doubted that Christ has come. They presume the expectation because they desire that Christ come.
First they ask: Are you the one who is to come into the world to loosen the chains of original sin? Second, they ask: Are you the one who is to come into limbo" to dissolve the chains of sins' punishment? Third, they ask: Are you the one who is to come on judgment day to eliminate the chains of bodily misery?
8. First, they ask: Are you the one who is to come into the world to loosen the chains of original sin. John did not ask this question for himself but for the sake of his disciples who did not believe in Christ, as John 3:26 reveals when, moved by jealousy because Christ was preferable to their master, they said: Behold he baptizes and 52 On Christ's descent into the underworld in Bonaventure's theology, see Luigi Giacometti, "E disceso agli inferi" Saggio tematico sulla soteriologia bonaventuriana (Santa Maria degli Angeli: Edizioni
Porziuncula, 1990).
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all are coming to him. In order to strengthen them the same John said: Did I not say to you that I am not the Christ but, rather, I was sent before him?*', as if he wanted to say to them: this is the way it is. Similarly in Matthew 9:14, as if they preferred themselves to the disciples of Christ, they said to Jesus: Why do we and the Pharisees often fast, whereas your disciples do not fast? Held in prison, Blessed John wanted to look after them and provide for their well-being since he knew he would soon leave them because of his approaching martyrdom. He did not want to leave them in error and so he sent his disciples to Christ so that, hearing his words and seeing his works, those who previously did not want to believe his testimony would believe. So that the response of Christ would satisfy those who doubted, he formed the question according to their doubts, saying: Are you the one who is to come, etc.
9. Second, they ask: Are you the one who is to come into limbo to dissolve the chains of sin's punishment.
John was not certain about this coming so, unlike the first time, he asked about this for himself. Whence Gregory says about this: "John did not doubt he was the Son of God; however, here he was asking about the one, whose coming he already proclaimed in his preaching. He wanted to know if he should go before him and announce the same Savior to the underworld. It is as if he was saying: Just as you willed to be born for all, show me whether you will to die for all, because then I would become the precursor of both your birth and death."
53 John 3:28.
; 54 Bonaventure adapts Homily 6 n. 1 of GGHG. See CCSL cxli, 39.
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10. Third, they ask: Are you the one who is to come on judgment day to eliminate the chains of bodily misery, this is as if to say: the law and the prophets taught us that there would be a resurrection in which every miserable defect would be removed from the bodies of the blessed. If you are the one who is to come on judgment day to remove the bodily defects, strengthen those of us who are doubters.
11. Now that we have examined how John's chains signify various human conditions and the questions of those who doubted the coming of Christ, the third matter that remains to look at is the clear response of Christ evident in his mystical works, where it adds: Responding,
Jesus said to them 'Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the crippled walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, and the good news is preached to the poor. This response does not appear to respond to the question, but certainly if we diligently ponder what it represents since whatever Christ does is for our instruction," we will see this response really satisfies the question in every way. The Lord in fact, who saw their hearts, satisfied the intention of those asking the question more interiorly than exteriorly. To those doubting whether he was the Christ, he accomplished works that no one other than the Christ could have done, and thus removing ambiguity since it is easier to believe in facts than in words. By means then of mystical deeds he responded to John's concern for the souls living with the various chains of calamity and misery saying, first of all:
Go and report to John the coming of the mediator, that is, to the souls constrained by the chains of original sin, for I am the one who came into the world to dissolve those chains by taking human flesh. A sign of this is that lep- °° See the critical edition, 100-01 for the origin of this statement.
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ers are cleansed, the deaf hear. Second, report to John the coming of the Savior, that is, to the souls bound by the chains of sin's punishment for I am the one who is about to come into limbo to cut those chains by the voluntary acceptance of death. And this will be the sign to you: the blind see, the crippled walk. Third, Go and report to John the coming of the Savior, that is, to the souls constrained by the chains of bodily misery for I am the one coming on judgment day to eliminate those chains by the glorification of one or the other person. The sign of this however is: the dead rise, and the good news is preached to the poor.
12. First, report to John the coming of the Mediator, that is, to the souls living in original sin for I am the one who comes into the world to dissolve the chains of original sin by taking on flesh. The sign of this is: lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear. The disease of leprosy signifies the first sin of humanity well, because just as the disease of leprosy entails separation from the community, the infection of the entire person, and is characterized by transmission from one to another, so also, the first parents were thrown out of paradise because of their first transgression, corrupted in body and soul, and gave birth to children infected by original sin. This sin is comparable to deafness because it is like the deaf asp that closes her ears, lest she hear the skillful, chanting voice of the sorcerer."® According to Isidore: "She placed one ear to the ground and stopped up the other with the tail."*"' Adam
56 Bonaventure adapts Ps 57:5-6.
57 See Book XII, c. 4 n. 12 of Isidori Hispalensis episcopi Etymologiarum sive originum Libri XX. Book II, edited by W. M. Lindsay
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911), "When she doesn't want to come out of her cave, she presses one ear to the ground and stops and covers the other with her tail and thus she does not hear those magical sounds and abandon her cave for the charmers."
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closed the affective ear when he satisfied the earthly and animal affections of his wife so as not to disappoint her desires. He closed the intellectual ear with the tail from obtaining forgiveness of sin, lest he might hear the voice of God commanding: whenever you shall eat, etc.*°
Whence Augustine says about this text: "Adam believed he was able to do both, so he complied with his wife and later sought forgiveness by doing penance."** Psalm
79:2 describes the coming considered here: You, who are seated upon the Cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasees. Stir up your power and come to save us. Change us, God, show us your face, and we will be saved. You who are seated upon the Cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasees, which is almost like saying: you who reign over all celestial spirits through the eminence of your great magnificence, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasees, that is, give evidence to the entire human race through the humanity you assumed. Stir up your power, that is, you, who brought forth from your infinite power all things according to nature from useless nothingness, stir up the same power to perfect all things according to grace. And come; join the first, divinity, with the last, humanity, in the unity of one person in order to save us from the chains of original sin. Lord God of power, change us back to pristine innocence by making the impious, pious for such power and strength is greater than that which created heaven and earth. Show us your face, the humanity you have assumed, and we will be saved from the transgression of the first parents. This is what Ephesians 2:14-17 says:
58 See Gen 2:17.
*° This quotation does not seem to be from Augustine, but from Book I, Pars VII, c. 11 of Hugh of St. Victor, De sacramentis. See PL
176:291A: "Especially because he (Adam) thought that he should comply with the wishes of his wife and that afterwards through repentance and a petition for forgiveness he could please his Creator."
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He himself is our peace, he who has made both one. Coming he preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near. Christ, who reconciles us to God, made both, that is from divinity and humanity, one person. Coming, as the true mediator who brings harmony to the extremes, he preached peace that was brought about by his coming, to those who were near, that is, to the Jews by virtue of the law and the promises made, and to you who were far away, that is, to the Gentiles who neither possessed the law nor knew God.
13. Second, report to the souls bound by the chains of sin's punishment the coming of the Savior, because
I am coming to limbo to cut those chains by assuming the bitterness of death. This is the sign: the blind see, the crippled walk. The holy fathers, who lived in limbo, were considered blind because they lacked the vision of divine light; but crippled because on the one hand they did not suffer in the senses, but on the other hand they received the punishment of the damned, that is, the absence of the divine vision. The coming of Christ into limbo affectionately healed their foot, when they clearly saw the divine light. Baruch 4:22 figuratively speaks of this coming: Joy came to me from the holy one because of the mercy which will come to you from our everlasting savior. I have sent you forth with mourning and weeping, but the Lord will bring you back to me with joy and gladness. Even though the prophet speaks these words in the person of Jerusalem who rejoices over the liberation of Israel's children, held captive in Babylon under the power of the enemy, nevertheless, since all these things have a figurative dimension to them, these words may be considered to be those of mother Church rejoicing over the liberation of 60 See 1 Cor 10:11: "Now all these things happened to them as a type."
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her children from limbo, where they were held captive in another way by the power of the enemy. Mother Church sent forth her children with mourning and weeping into Babylon, that is, into the limbo of obscurity from Adam to the death of Christ. But when the Lord, returned with them, descending into limbo, and with joy and gladness, granted them perpetual glory; then joy came to them, from the holy of holies, Christ, because of the mercy, since they were freed by the effusion of the very blood of Christ.
14. Third, report to John, that is, to the souls constrained by the chains of bodily misery, the coming of the Savior, for I am the one coming on judgment day to eliminate those chains by the glorification of one or the other person. This will be your sign: the dead rise, and the good news is preached to the poor. In poverty and death the twofold misery that oppresses the human race up to the time of the general resurrection is noted, and all other painful misery can be traced back to them. For poverty is understood as the lack of the necessary, but death as the endurance of affliction and pain. Haggai 2:7-8 speaks of this advent: Yet for a little while, and I will move heaven and earth, the sea and dry land. I will move all the nations. And the one desired by all the nations will come and I will fill this house with glory. This will happen when our humble body,* which is the house of the God, will be freed from all misery through conformity to the bright, glorious body of Christ. That God might deign to grant that to us, etc.
®t See Phil 3:21: "who will refashion the body of our lowliness, conforming it to the body of his glory by exerting the power by which he is also able to subject all things to himself."