31. Christ Is aDew for Cooling; Rain for Making Fruitful; aSeed for Bringing Forth the Fruit of Justice.
31. Christ is a dew for cooling; rain for making fruitful; a seed for bringing forth the fruit of justice.31
Who is Christ for Thomas Aquinas? I don’t know about you, reader, but I get tired hearing one title for Jesus repeated over and over, such as “Jesus is my Lord and Savior.” How many other titles or images of Jesus might be out there?
Aquinas offers an amazing array of titles for Jesus, all of which are fruitful and interesting. Our intelligence can be easily insulted by watering down his presence and teachings to just a few names. The conduits to mystery and wisdom that Jesus unleashed are multiple, rich and varied. Let us consider some names Aquinas presents for our meditation and imitation.
Aquinas sees Christ as the Word who is “the beauty conceived in the heart of the Father.” Christ harbors a “fourfold beauty” that includes the divine beauty or form of God, “the beauty of justice and truth,” and the beauty of honest conversation.
Aquinas speaks of the wetness of Christ when he says “Christ is a dew for cooling; rain for making fruitful; a seed for bringing forth fruit.” And “the fruit spoken of is justice,” which derives from Christ in three ways: “by his labor, by his speaking and teaching, and as a gift he has given out.”
The fruit Jesus teaches is justice for “he has fulfilled justice by his labor, as in Matthew 3: ‘Thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all justice.’ He has taught justice in his speaking, as in Isaiah 63: ‘I who announce justice, and am a defender with power to save.’ And he gave justice as a gift, as in 1 Corinthians 1: “He has been made wisdom and holiness and justice for us.’”
By his resurrection, Christ “raised us up first as a victor in order to free his captive. Second, like a doctor to heal the sick. Third, like a lawyer to acquit a defendant. Fourth, like a brave person who defends the weak. Fifth, as a husband who takes pleasure with his spouse as it says in Hosea 2: ‘I will wed myself to you in justice and in faith.’”
Furthermore, Christ is a teacher—indeed “Christ alone is the master teaching within each of us.” We are told that “he teaches the dignity of human nature … and the full participation in Divinity, which is truly humanity’s happiness and the goal of human life” (162).
He is a “teacher of wisdom.” In addition, he is “wisdom personified of whom it is written, ‘I, wisdom, have poured forth rivers. …’ But now, ‘the depths of the rivers he has searched, and the hidden things he has brought to light’ (Job 28:11).” Christ is a teacher because he is wisdom incarnate. “Insofar as he is the wisdom of God, he teaches all people, and therefore his disciples called him ‘Lord,’ as in John 6:69, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’ and also teacher, as in John 4:51. Rightly so, for he is the one Lord creating and re-creating.”
What does it mean to call Christ “Wisdom”? “This is what the highest wisdom does: it manifests the hidden truth of Divinity; it produces the works of creation, and furthermore restores them at need; it brings them to the completion of achieving their own proper and perfect purpose.” Notice that “restoration,” or what some call “redemption,” is only one of three works of Wisdom, including revealing divine mysteries and creating and bringing things to their full purpose. Aquinas also combines “creating” and “restoring”—he does not allow “redemption” to stand alone or to be isolated and cut off from the work of creation. How paltry it is of some versions of Christianity to reduce the entire message to only one-fourth of the work of wisdom!
Aquinas also speaks of the Cosmic Christ. “God knows and makes creatures. Thus the Word is expressive of God the Creator; yet it is both expressive and creative of the universe.” Indeed, “The formation of everything is attributed to the Word; thus the psalmist says: ‘The skies have been formed by the word of the Lord’ (Ps 33).” Wisdom is cosmic, and the Cosmic Christ is cosmic wisdom. “One of divine wisdom’s functions is to create. … It is Wisdom in person who speaks: ‘I was with him forming all things’ (Prov 8:30). So we think of the Son when calling the image of God invisible and the pattern to which all things are made. ‘The first-born of every creature, for in him were all things created in heaven and on earth’ (Col 1:15-16). Since all things were made through him’ (John 1:3) rightly do we think of the Son when it is written, ‘I am like a stream flowing from the waters of a great river.’” It is striking how in this one paragraph Aquinas gathers so many biblical references to the Cosmic Christ taken from John’s gospel, Colossians, and wisdom literature such as the books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Wisdom.
Instead of “redemption,” Aquinas uses the term restoration and repairing when he declares: “The one who makes a thing is the one who can repair it, and so the restoration of creation is the third function of wisdom: ‘by wisdom were they healed’ (Wis 9:19). This especially was the work of the Son, who was made human in order to change the very state of our nature and restore everything human: ‘Through him reconciling all things unto himself, both what is on earth and what is in heaven’ (Col 1:20).” To speak of “restore everything human” is a powerful statement about returning to our deepest humility.
In calling Christ the “splendor of God’s glory,” Aquinas again names the Cosmic Christ. He tells us that Christ assumed at the transfiguration event “the clarity of glory as to its essence.” He was transfigured “in order to show human beings his glory and to rouse them to a desire for it themselves.”
Christ’s “teachings are water,” Aquinas says, because they are abundant; they make things cool, ‘cold water for the thirsty soul’ (Prov 25); they make fruitful; they move quickly and “because it shapes itself for individuals, as Proverbs puts it (5): ‘Divide your waters into channels’ (Prov 5).”
For Aquinas “Christ is a book. A book is an instrument in which there are conceptions of the heart—but in Christ there are conceptions of the divine intellect. Colossians says: ‘In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God’ (Col 2). The heading of the book is God the Creator” (371–72).
Christ rouses us to action and is our life. “Some call that by which they are roused to activity their ‘life.’ Hunters, for example, call hunting their life, and friends their friend. So, Christ is our life, because the whole principle of our life and activity is Christ.”
Christ is God-with-us. “Isaiah says (7:2) that ‘his name will be called Emmanuel,’ that is, God-with-us, because Christ is with us in many ways” including, as a brother; as “a husband through the bonds of love”; as a shepherd, “through the solace of a maternal comfort”; as a savior, “through the help of protection. Jeremiah (30) says: ‘So do not fear.’ And like a leader.” Notice again that the term “savior” is only one among several titles here and is defined here as protection.
The fourth function of divine wisdom is “the fostering of things to the fulfillment of their purpose. Otherwise, what is left but vanity …? Wisdom ‘reaches from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly’ (Wis 8:1)” (376).
Christ is a warrior anointed with “an oil of boundless courage, like a fighter for the purpose of fighting. 2 Kings 1 says: ‘How has the shield of the brave been cast down, the shield of Saul and Jonathan, as if it had not been anointed with oil?’” The warrior and prophet are similar archetypes, and Aquinas sees Jesus as a prophet when he says “Christ was a prophet—and the greatest of the prophets.” This is clear from “‘The Lord your God will raise up a prophet among you, from your nation and your brothers; he will be like me. You will listen to him’ (Deut 18:15). This text is referred to Christ. The greatest of the prophets is none other than Christ” (446–47).
What are some implications of recognizing Christ as prophet? “It is characteristic of prophets to reveal what is not present but hidden.”
Because Christ is also Wisdom incarnate, he is more than a prophet: “Although Christ was a prophet, he was more than a prophet because he produces prophets: ‘Wisdom produces friends of God and prophets’ (Wis 7:27).” To Aquinas Christ has broken down barriers between peoples, including Jews and Gentiles, and Aquinas foresees a vision of harmony and peace among all people, a new humanity. “Christ’s coming has broken down the old barrier of damnation. The entire human race is now more open to receive grace than before. … Now the Gospel has been preached and all is set for every imperfection of our humanity to be cleared away” (443). He imagines a very rich future for the human race.
Christ is also “compassion” (see chapter 21). And Christ is Light (141).
In addition, Christ is a doctor. “Christ was given to us in the role of a doctor.” And “as a watchman.” And “as a defender.” As a shepherd, “as in Ezekiel 34: ‘And I will raise up for them a shepherd, to feed them.’” He is also called a “gardener.” In addition, he gives us an “example of his labor,” which we find in “the food of travelers; the price of redemption; the reward of recompense” (381).
And “Christ is like a mother” (382). It is “Christ who brings us to glory, Christ who brings to birth the church’s faithful: ‘Shall not I that make others to bring forth children myself bring forth, says the Lord; shall I, that give birth to others be barren, says the Lord your God?’ (Isa 66:9)” (382).
I count in this chapter thirty-four names that Thomas Aquinas has offered for Christ. Aren’t those names much more interesting and varied, rich and enticing, than just “lord and savior”? Don’t these arouse (Aquinas’s word) the imagination, mind, and heart to do good things in imitation of him and in his name? Don’t they awaken us to develop our own names for Jesus and his work, to let our minds wander and create and co-create?
It is impossible
that anyone
hide the words of God,
when their heart
is inflamed by love.