3. Third Sermon
THIRD SERMON
I saiah, Chapter LIII 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken of God, and afflicted. 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
*** When we contemplate the works of God throughout the whole world, we are told that he must be praised according to his loftiness and greatness; but when we come to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must learn to glorify God according to how he has abased himself. Behold, then, a twofold manner of praising God: the one, that because he shows us his goodness, justice, and infinite power in all he has created and made, and in how he orders and disposes all things, he must also be exalted by us — not
that we can give him any greatness, but Scripture speaks thus so that men may learn to lift their spirits on high, above the whole world, when they wish to glorify God according to his worth. The second manner is that, since our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, not only made himself small for our salvation but was willing to be utterly annihilated, and did not even refuse to suffer the anguish of death, as if entering into hell itself — in this God deserves to be glorified more than in that greatness which appears throughout the whole world. And this was already touched on yesterday; but since the Prophet continues his discourse, we must always keep this end in view: that whereas unbelievers, seeing that Jesus Christ was thus afflicted by the hand of God his Father, are astonished and take occasion for scandal to distance themselves from him, we ought all the more to be moved to seek him, and this ought to ravish us wholly into his love, since he did not spare himself, but was willing to bear all our burdens, that we might be relieved of them. When, then, we see that our
Lord Jesus Christ made such an exchange for us, and was willing to make a full payment of all our debts, so that we might be acquitted of them — that he was willing to be condemned in our name, and as it were in our person, so that we might be absolved — this ought to draw us to him, indeed to inflame us wholly, so that we may have our rest in him.
Now it is notably said that he was afflicted by the hand of God, but that this was for our iniquities. For if we have no regard to the judgment of God, the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ will be as it were useless, and we shall be able to receive no fruit from it. For the chief thing is that we be made right with our God, who is our enemy until our faults are buried, since he cannot love iniquity, he who is the fountain of righteousness. Thus he must be our judge as long as he imputes our sins to us, and looks at what
we are; but when Jesus Christ stands between, and presents himself there in our name, behold how we become agreeable to God, since the satisfaction for all our iniquities is accomplished. It is not fitting that the condemnation our Lord Jesus Christ suffered should be in vain. Now it is so that he had committed no fault, and was guilty of nothing. Thus, he was condemned for our absolution, and this is why he is called the Lamb without blemish. He is called Lamb because he was offered in sacrifice; he was without blemish, to show that he bore all our burdens. And this is also why it is said that his blood is our washing, for we are soiled and full of abomination until the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us. It is not, then, without cause that the Prophet brings us back to the judgment of God, saying that Jesus Christ was afflicted because it was necessary that he bear our condemnation. In short, whenever we think of how the death and passion of our Lord Jesus
Christ has profited us, let each of us summon himself before the judgmentseat of God: there we shall find that we are all criminals. Now what is the rigour of God's judgment? How terrible is his vengeance? It is to swallow us up and overwhelm us entirely. But since our Lord Jesus Christ was not spared, but God exercised the rigour of his judgment upon him, since he was there in our name as surety for us, we may be assured that God will no longer pursue us, and will not enter into account with us, and will not punish us according to our deserts and offences. And why? Because our
Lord Jesus has acquitted us of them. Now it is true that God never had any other affection toward his only Son than that which he pronounced:
"Behold my beloved Son, in whom I rest, and let him be heard." God, then, had already declared that Jesus Christ fully satisfied him, and that he took his good pleasure in him. And indeed (as St. Paul shows in the first chapter of Ephesians) we could not be agreeable to God in the name of his only
Son, unless in the first place and in sovereign degree he were the beloved one. Nevertheless, this did not prevent us from being acquitted, inasmuch as God displayed his rigour upon our Lord Jesus Christ — for he loved him, and yet was willing to afflict him for our faults. For he did not regard his righteousness, his integrity, and the perfection that was in him, but rather
Jesus Christ was taken as being there in the person of all sinners. Behold, then, Jesus Christ who was charged with all our faults and iniquities — not that he was guilty of them, but he was willing that the whole be imputed to him, and that he should render account of it and make the payment.
This, then, is how we must take the Prophet's words, when he says that Jesus Christ was not only crucified by the hand of men, but that he then appeared before the judgment-seat of God, that there he answered in our name, that there he submitted to bear the burden we had deserved. And this is also why he notably adds that he bore our faults and transgressions — as St. Peter also speaks of it, using this word "cross" or "tree," to show that this kind of death the Son of God suffered was a visible and manifest testimony that our iniquities were laid upon him; for it was said in the Law,
"Cursed is he who hangs on a tree." Jesus Christ was hanged there so that we might know he was as it were accursed in our person, as St. Paul speaks of it to the Galatians. For he sets before us that we must consider here an admirable goodness of God and an infinite love of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he bore us, in that not only was he willing to die for us, but also suffered an accursed death, so that we might be blessed of God. And although our iniquities terrify us (as indeed it cannot be otherwise but that we should be terrified by the judgment of God when we hear the things contained here — namely, that we are abominable when we thus offend our
God, and that our conscience gnaws at us) — nevertheless let us not fail to
be assured that he will forgive us our sins and accept us as his beloved children, indeed as just and irreproachable, since our curse has been abolished on that tree on which our Lord Jesus Christ was hanged. This, then, is what the Prophet wished further to add for fuller expression.
Now he adds at the same time that he was afflicted, in that the correction, or chastisement, of our peace was upon him. He adds nothing new, but declares himself more intimately, to show how this must be understood — namely, that our Lord Jesus was beaten and struck by the hand of God, so that we might be discharged. He bore, then, the correction that was due to us — indeed a correction of peace. It is true that some understand that our
Lord Jesus had to be thus punished in our name because we were stunned, and that no one thought of humbling himself before God, and that we were blinded in our faults. But we see that the natural sense of the Prophet is that in order to have peace with God, we needed to be reconciled by another means. I have already declared that God, being the Judge of the world, rightly hates us and holds us all detestable — for (as will yet be declared) what do we bring from our mother's womb, and what treasure do we amass throughout our life? We never cease to provoke the wrath of God, as if we had conspired with Satan always to kindle the fire more and more. Behold, then, how we deserve to be hated and rejected by God. This is why he is armed in his wrath against us, for it is impossible that he not be contrary to us, since we war against him, and thus make war on all good and violate all justice. It is necessary (I say) that God for this reason rise up against us in judgment, for we know that it is his own proper office to maintain equity and righteousness. And since he sees us full of iniquity and corruption, and altogether rebellious, he must indeed display his arm, and show that since we are his enemies, he will render us the like. There is, then, no peace, and
our consciences will always accuse us; and although we try to lull ourselves with our flatteries, God will not fail to give us pricks and goads, so that we shall feel, in spite of our teeth, that there is nothing but malice and ingratitude in us.
Thus, it is impossible for God to be merciful to us, and for us to be assured of finding grace before him, until the correction is made. Not that God seeks vengeance in the manner and fashion of men — one who is moved to anger will want the fault repaired, and some amends and punishment made, so that he is thereby avenged; God has no passions of that kind. But whatever the case, so that we may have all the more horror of our sins, and learn to detest them, he wills that his justice be known to us, and the rigour of his judgment. If God forgave us without Jesus Christ having interceded for us, and having constituted himself surety in our name, we would take no account of it; each would wipe his mouth clean, and we would even take occasion from this to give ourselves all the more license.
But when we see that God did not spare his only Son, and treated him with such rigour, so extreme, that he suffered in his body all that it was possible to suffer of sorrows, and that in his very soul he was afflicted to the utmost, even to crying out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" — when we hear all these things, it is impossible (unless we are harder than stones) that we should not tremble and conceive such fear and astonishment in ourselves as to be utterly confounded, and that our offenses and iniquities should not become detestable to us, seeing that they thus provoke the wrath of God against us.
This, then, is why it was required that the whole correction of our peace be upon Jesus Christ, which was to make us find grace before God his
Father — that is, to make us find reconciliation before him, in such a way
that today we have boldness and liberty to invoke God as our Father, although he might rightfully be our enemy and hold us in detestation according to our nature. We now see, then, what is the Prophet's intent when he says that our Lord Jesus Christ was afflicted by the hand of God, that he was disfigured, that everyone turned away from him, that no one deigned to look at him because he was so deformed. He adds: Yes, but this is because God is inflamed in his wrath against us, and is armed to confound and overwhelm us, until the reconciliation is made. And what is the means of it? God is willing to forgive us our faults out of his free goodness, but the price of our redemption was in the person of his only Son.
Now here we must note that, since our Lord Jesus suffered condemnation, we are delivered and absolved, and our faults are buried so as not to come into account before God. When we speak of the remission of sins, it is not that God quits us as if he were paid and satisfied by us — rather he uses his pure liberality. And although we are guilty before him, he forgets all that, and receives us in mercy, in that he casts our sins as into the depths of the sea, as the Prophet says. Yet we must also note that this remission was not free as far as concerns the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it cost him very dearly. If we consider that it came from that death so hard, so cruel, and so ignominious that he suffered, and then from so many anguishes he endured in his soul, when he was called before the judgment-seat of God his Father to bear our condemnation — if we think well on all this, we shall find that our Lord Jesus Christ made an admirable payment to acquit us of our faults.
And behold how today we are delivered from them. And this is a thing we must note well, for the devil has always striven to obscure this doctrine, since it is the chief article of our salvation. God, from the beginning of the
world, willed that sacrifices be offered to him in asking pardon for sins.
And why so? It is to declare that men could not hope for it from him except by means of sacrifice and the shedding of blood. All, then, protested in their sacrifices that they could not approach God except insofar as they were redeemed, and that the purging of their faults and iniquities was made, or was to be made, by our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet meanwhile both Jews and pagans have not failed always to trust in their own merits, and to imagine they could satisfy before God. Behold how the devil from that time has turned poor sinners away from our Lord Jesus Christ, and from the payment he made in his death and passion. And even now, behold where the Papists stand: for they will confess that we have full remission of our sins by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ — yes, but this is before baptism only, according to their opinion. Little children (they say) have received this grace of God, that original sin is forgiven them in baptism, by virtue of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; but when we are baptized, they say that if we sin thereafter, Jesus Christ alone is not sufficient to make us agreeable to God, and to have the memory of our sins effaced — but that we must also bring our own recompenses. And this is why they have imagined their works of supererogation, such as going on pilgrimage, having many masses sung, and other such devilries. And if one asks the Papists why they go trotting off to see the countenance of some little idol, why they fast on such a day, why they build a temple, why they have a mass sung — it is to redeem ourselves before God, they will say. And we must indeed, having recognised our sins, strive to make satisfaction for them, so as to be acquitted and absolved before God. Behold, then, how the power of the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is abolished. And thus, the Papists cannot take a single step in their devotions without blaspheming
against God, openly renouncing the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and hurling themselves into the pit of hell. Behold where their devilish devotions (which they call good) lead them. Thus, we must note well these words of the Prophet, when he says that the correction of our peace was upon our Lord Jesus Christ — that is, that by his means God is reconciled and appeased, for he bore upon himself all the vices and all the iniquities of the world. And thus, let us note that when we consider what we are, we must always be in dread, since God is our adverse party and our
Judge. And then in the second place we must conclude that there is no means either in heaven or on earth to reconcile us with God, except by this price which our Lord Jesus paid, and by which he made satisfaction — namely, by his death and passion.
Do we have this? Then let us boldly come with head raised before God — not that we ought not always to humble ourselves, and be ashamed of our poverty — but this will not prevent us from freely invoking God as our
Father, and being able to glory that we shall be counted righteous by him, and that payment has been made of all our debts, since we are absolved by virtue of the condemnation that Jesus Christ suffered.
Behold, then, how we must practice this passage. And this is also why he adds that by his stripes we are healed. It is true that we do not perceive our vices with our own eyes, because hypocrisy blinds them, and there is always also pride which dominates. Men, then, deceive themselves and make themselves believe that God is still in their debt; or else they are so stunned that they think they will never come to account. Yet it is so that the Prophet shows that without the wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is in us nothing but death, and that we must indeed seek our healing in him.
When, then, we wish truly to feel the fruit that the death and passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ brings us, let us note that as many vices as are rooted in our nature, so many are wounds and mortal diseases, even though they do not appear. I ask you, when there is an abscess inside a man's body, near the stomach, or within the bowels, is it not far worse than if it were seen and one could apply the lancet to it? If a man imagines himself healthy because he does not see his illness, he must be out of his senses and reason. Our diseases must be all the more mortal when they are hidden. And besides the vices we carry (whose roots are hidden in us), there are the faults we commit each day, which show well enough that our nature is perverse and accursed, and that we are all corrupted. Since this is so, that there is in us nothing but total infection and spiritual leprosy, and that we are rotten in our iniquities — what shall we do here? What remedy? Shall we go seek the Angels of Paradise? Alas, they can do nothing for us. But we must come to our Lord Jesus Christ, since he was willing to be disfigured from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, to be covered all over with wounds, to be scourged blow upon blow, to have the crown of thorns, to be nailed and fastened to the cross, to have his side pierced. Behold how we are made whole, behold what our true medicine is, with which we must be content, and to which also we must apply all our affection, knowing that otherwise we can never have rest in ourselves, but must be tormented and tortured to the end, unless Jesus Christ console us and appease the wrath of God toward us. When we are assured of this, then he gives us occasion to sing his praise — whereas before we could do nothing but groan and be utterly confounded. Behold in sum what we must retain of the Prophet's words.
Now St. Matthew, in the eighth chapter, alleges this passage when he recounts that our Lord Jesus healed every disease, as he gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, restored hearing to the deaf, raised up those who
were half-dead and paralysed, and cast devils out of bodies. This (he says) shows that the Prophet Isaiah not without cause says that he bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows. It is certain that the Prophet does not speak here of the diseases of the body. It might seem, then, that the Evangelist has misapplied this testimony. But it is that he declares that our
Lord Jesus, in healing visible diseases, wished to lead us higher, in that he wished us to contemplate there, as in a figure, why he had come into the world. When, then, we hear that our Lord Jesus Christ gave strength to the paralyzed, that he even raised the dead, that he also gave healing to every disease, let us know that visibly, according to our dullness and infirmity, he has declared to us that he is our spiritual Physician; and let us learn (as I have already said) that all the vices to which we are inclined are so many corruptions in our souls. And just as in the body there are bad humours and other such things, there are diseases that are hidden — so likewise with our souls; and since they are full of vices before God, they too have need of a physician. And who shall he be? We shall find him neither in heaven nor on earth, save him who has been given us by the heavenly Father — namely, our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, if we do not know how our Lord Jesus has brought us healing as to our souls, let us come to this figure that is shown us, when he gave light to the blind, for it is certain that in our souls there is nothing but blindness and stupidity. Then, Jesus Christ made the mute speak. Now to what do we apply our tongue, if not to evil, until Jesus Christ has restored to it its true use? We are more than deaf, since the word of God has no entry in us; our hearing, then, must also be restored to us by our
Lord Jesus Christ. In short, when we join what is set forth in St. Matthew with what the Prophet Isaiah wished to declare — namely, that on our part we are full of corruption, of vileness, and that there is not one drop of health
in us, that our souls are utterly full of mortal vices; but that our Lord Jesus has delivered us wholly from them, and that when we come to him we shall find healing — when, I say, we join the one thing to the other, then we shall know that unless we have our refuge in this Redeemer, we must always grow in our vices and miseries, and rot entirely in them.
Furthermore, he adds also that we have all gone astray, and that each has strayed in his own way. Here the Prophet has wished to touch us more closely and more to the quick (as was treated yesterday), for we cannot truly feel the necessity we have of being healed by our Lord Jesus Christ, until each has well examined his own state and known what he is in himself. What is the cause, then, that we are so cold and so lax when we are told to come to our Lord Jesus Christ? Because we have no apprehension of it, but are as it were stupid. We shall see drunkards, so steeped in their intemperance, who make no end of it until they gnash their teeth and can bear no more. If one speaks to them of physicians, there will be nothing but mockery; they will shake their heads, and even scorn all remedies. Now there is no drunkenness worse than this stupidity in which all poor sinners are, until they have felt what it is to have God against them. Thus, each gives himself entire license to evil, and meanwhile the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is held in contempt, and no account is taken of it.
Thus, not without cause, the Prophet, to awaken us and to make the good brought to us by Jesus Christ more desirable, shows that we have all gone astray. Now besides what I have said, that profane men despise the judgment of God, there are also those who are puffed up with a foolish presumption. There are, then, two kinds of people who cannot make their profit of this infinite grace acquired for us by the Son of God: for some think themselves righteous, and to have works and merits with which to
answer before God. As we see even in the Papacy, these hypocrites not only think they acquit themselves well before God, but also sell a portion of their merits, as if they had a surplus of them; and one is thought fortunate to share in their perfection and holiness, because they are, so to speak, in an Angelic state.
Now these take no thought of needing the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; they will confess it half-heartedly, as if to say, "Yes, but..." — yet one sees quite the opposite, for they hold a fair and market of their merits, and have some to sell, so that others may find themselves and place their trust in this profanation. Then, as many bigots and devout hypocrites as there are in the Papacy, so many are horns raised up against God, for they are always puffed up with this pride, saying: What? If I did not merit anything, of what use would it be to me to have had so many good devotions, to have had so many masses sung, to have mumbled so much, to have run from altar to altar, to have had my devotion to such a Saint, to have kept such a feast? In short, they always have this accursed and infernal opinion of wishing to put God in their debt. Behold how Satan deceives them by such illusions, so that they cannot taste of what use to them is the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Others do not trust in their merits — like drunkards, debauchees, and dissolute people — they will not say, "We are like little Angels, we have lived well, we have been fervent in our devotions"; but they mock at it (as I have already said) and think they can escape the hand of God by their scorn and mockeries.
For this cause the Prophet calls us all here, and says: Look, poor people, at what you are, until God has declared to you his pity in our Lord Jesus
Christ his Son; for we have all gone astray, you are all lost beasts. Behold his intent; and he says "we all," because he includes himself in the number.
Indeed, for we have already seen that the Jews had to be enclosed in this general condemnation of men, because it seemed to them they ought to be exempted from it. For they always had this foolish presumption, that since
God had adopted and chosen them, they thought themselves worth more than the rest. Now the Prophet encloses them here in eternal death, until they have sought the remedy of their deliverance in Jesus Christ. We are, then, all enclosed in this condemnation; and he also uses this word "all" to exclude every exception — as if he said: Let no one boast, not even to the least degree, of being righteous before God, so as to be able to do without the remedy I have now declared. For the most perfect, and he who has the most holiness in the opinion of men, will be found guilty before God.
We see, then, now the Prophet's intent; but even so he is not content with this — he says, "each has strayed in his own way." And why does he repeat the statement, moving from "all" to "each"? Because when we are condemned in general, we are still not so moved, nor with such liveliness as would be required. It is true that one must submit to condemnation when it is said that among men there is not a single righteous one — as in another passage of the Psalm it is said that God has looked, and has not found a single man who was not rotten in his vices. There it is spoken as much of the virtuous, and of those who have had great and singular reputation, as of the most debauched. It is said that they have all gone astray, and that even to the last one, there is not one who was not entirely corrupted before God; and holy Scripture is full of this doctrine, and St. Paul shows it well enough in the third chapter of Romans, when he brings together all the passages, both from the Psalms and from the Prophets, where it is said that men are depraved, and that there is in them nothing but malice and treachery, that they are full of cruelty, that there is nothing but venom and every violence,
that fraud and rapine are theirs, and that their throat is an open grave. When, then, all these things are said, St. Paul adds that all men are comprehended in this without any exception, until God has changed and renewed them by his Holy Spirit.
Now when this doctrine is preached, we must all bow our heads, for we shall have shame and horror to reply against God. And indeed, what shall we gain in all our disputes? For we must, in spite of our teeth, feel that it is not in vain that we are condemned, since God is our judge. Yet meanwhile each will return home unmoved by it, and what has been said will scarcely touch us; we will say readily enough that we are all sinners, and that there is none who is not guilty before God — but do we truly feel our vices so as to be displeased with ourselves, and then be moved to seek the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, renouncing ourselves? No indeed — it is enough for us to have said, as a matter of form, that we are all sinners. What is worse, we shall often see that men take cover and boldness when they are accused of their faults, and are found convicted: Oh, it is true, they will say, all are sinners. A wicked man who has blasphemed the name of God, or committed some execrable and enormous act, if he is admonished, will deny it at first; but he will not enter into confession except under compulsion. And well, does he see himself convicted? And it is true, he will say, that we are all sinners: which is to say, that you are a wicked hypocrite, mocking God.
Thus, we see that under this generality there are many who will seek some excuse, so that their turpitude may not be known as it should be. For this cause, the Prophet, after having said "All have gone astray," adds "each, each" — as if he said: Do not look in general at what the human race is, but let each withdraw apart to himself, and there think and search out well what you are. For it is then that we are touched by the judgment of God, and are
led to true humility, when we feel our own evil so as to be brought to repentance — when each has thus spoken to himself as in secret. We see, then, now the Prophet's intent.
Furthermore, in saying that each has gone astray in his own way, he shows firstly what it is of men when they govern themselves by their own appetite, and according to their own reason and prudence. And this is another article we must note well, in that we shall see some so foolish that one will never persuade them they are casting themselves into perdition, when they do as they please; others are so brutalised in their desires that they do not recognise that they knowingly plunge themselves into the depths of hell, unless God draws them out of it. We see today the Papists, when they are refuted by the word of God and see themselves convicted:
Well, they say, let me be, I will always go my own way, whatever happens.
And so you go to the devil, for that is where your course will take you. Oh yes, but my devotion is such — and since it is good, is it possible God would reject it? Yes indeed, but the Prophet Isaiah speaks here as much of the devotion each takes up; and the Holy Spirit who spoke through his mouth at that time — did he not well know that you would be a bigot, or a devout hypocrite, full of pride and venom, that you would wish to govern yourself by your own fancy, that you would wish to forge for yourself a service of God to your own liking, that you would worship idols and think you were doing well, that you would have your devotion there? Did the Holy Spirit not know all these vilenesses well? Look at what he pronounces of it: "Each has walked in his own way" — that is, each has gone off to hell, each has thrown himself into perdition when he followed his own course.
Behold, then, what are the ways of men. And thus, we are taught by this passage to strip ourselves of all foolish arrogance, and to recognise that in doing all that seems good to us, and what we judge to be quite reasonable, it is as if we had conspired with Satan to throw ourselves into his snares. This doctrine, then, ought to correct all presumption in us, so that we suffer ourselves to be governed only by the Spirit of God and by his Word; and likewise let us note that by these words the Prophet Isaiah has declared that even though we know the good, we shall not fail to be given over to evil.
And why? Because all our affections are rebellious against God; even though we see that the evil must be removed, we shall not fail to be carried away to it — not by force, but by a wilful malice that is so hidden in us that the fruits must show what the root is. Thus, let us recognise, firstly, that there is no understanding in us to walk aright, but that there is only one way that God approves, and which will lead us to salvation — namely, when our
Lord Jesus Christ takes us into his charge, and we become sheep of his flock, and follow him as our shepherd. Let us also further recognise that all our affections are corrupted, and that we shall seek evil instead of good, until our Lord Jesus Christ has corrected and reformed us, and has put in us a right disposition to obey him. This, then, is what the Prophet wished to declare.
Now we must conclude that all those who wander here and there turn themselves away from our Lord Jesus Christ; for the Prophet declares that there is not one Patriarch, not one Prophet, not one of all the holy Fathers and Martyrs who did not need to be reconciled to God by the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. If Abraham, father of the faithful, if David, mirror of all righteousness, if others like them — such as Job and Daniel, who are named as mirrors of all holiness and perfection — if these,
I say, were poor stray and lost sheep until gathered by our Lord Jesus Christ, alas, what shall become of us? Thus, when we go to seek them out as our mediators, and imagine we can escape by their means the perdition in which we are, do we not show that we are far too ungrateful to our Lord
Jesus Christ? And that meanwhile we are far too devoid of sense, in going to beg from those who themselves have need to have recourse to the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ? For if necessity constrains us to seek a remedy, we must go to him to whom the faithful of every age have had their refuge; for there is neither St. Peter, nor St. Paul, nor the Virgin Mary, nor anything whatsoever, that is exempt from this. Let us learn, then, to come to the source and the fountain, and to draw there what we lack. For our Lord Jesus has enough to satisfy us all, and we need never fear that the fullness of grace he has in himself will run dry; he will give to each his share and portion when one comes to seek it there.
Let us, then, come boldly to our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will suffice for all; but whoever wanders here and there elsewhere cannot avail himself of the remedy God offers him, but rejects it as far as it depends on him; his ingratitude hinders him from enjoying the grace offered him. And we shall be all the more inexcusable, since this is preached to us daily. For God has not been content to have sent his Son once, and to have exposed him to death, to have struck him in his wrath — although he loved him as his only
Son (for although he wished to overwhelm him in appearance, and used all rigour against him, nevertheless he was always the beloved Son, as we have said; but all this was so that we might be absolved) — he has not, I say, been content with this, but daily sets this treasure before us, that we might enjoy it. He declares to us that Jesus Christ, whose side was pierced, has today his heart as it were opened, so that we may have certainty of the love
he bears us; and that as he had his arms fastened on the cross, now he has them stretched out to draw us to himself; and that he wills that all these things should profit us — that as he shed his blood, he wills that today we be plunged into it. When, then, God invites us so sweetly, and Jesus Christ also sets before us the fruit of his death and passion, showing us that his blood is always fresh (as the Apostle speaks of it in the Epistle to the Hebrews) — that it is not a blood that dries up or fails, but that, having been sanctified by his heavenly power, it always remains fresh (as the Apostle also used this word) — let us know that his power is not diminished, and that it has always its full and entire efficacy, such as it had from the beginning, so that we may all come to range ourselves with our Lord Jesus
Christ. And after having confessed our poverty and been confounded by it, let us not doubt that he is sufficient to give such a remedy that we may conclude we are received and acknowledged by God as his own children, and that he holds us as righteous and perfect, whereas we were abominable before him. This is what we must retain from this doctrine. Today, seeing that some mock and jeer, others rise up in pride and presumption and think to satisfy God by their own righteousness, let us renounce such blasphemies, and in true faith and repentance let us seek our Lord Jesus
Christ, and let all our affection be to come and range ourselves with him, when we feel ourselves thus laden with this unbearable burden.
Now let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of our good God, in acknowledgment of our faults, praying to him, etc.