firstfruits; we are the inheritance of Christ to the ends of the earth,14 for whose
SERMON 202 93 the Magi about where the Christ would be bom, and yet did not go with them to worship him themselves? Don't we see the same thing even now, when by the very rites and sacraments13 to which they are subjected for their hardness of heart, nothing else is indicated but the very Christ in whom they refuse to believe? Even when they kill the sheep and eat the passover, aren't they dem¬ onstrating to the Gentiles the very Christ whom they themselves don't worship along with them?
And isn't it the same sort of thing, when people have their doubts about the prophetic testimonies in which Christ was foretold, and wonder if they haven't perhaps been compiled by Christians after the event, not before; and we appeal to the codices in the possession of the Jews, to set the minds of doubters at rest? Don't the Jews on such occasions too show the Gentiles the Christ whom they decline to worship with the Gentiles?
Spread the good news about Christ by pursuing a new way, not returning by the way we came
4. So, dearly beloved, we are the Gentiles of whom those Magi were the firstfruits; we are the inheritance of Christ to the ends of the earth,14 for whose sake blindness in part happened in Israel, that the fullness of the nations might come in.15 Having come to know, then, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who for our consolation was laid in a cramped and crowded lodging house, and now for our exaltation is seated in heaven; let us proclaim him in this land, in this region of our flesh, by not going back the way we came, nor seeking to follow in the footsteps of our former manner of life. That, after all, is the meaning of those Magi not going back the way they came.16 Change of way means change of life.
To us too the heavens have declared the glory of God (Ps 19:1); we too have been led to worship Christ by the truth blazing from the gospel, as by a star from the sky. We too have received with ears of faith a prophecy that was famous in the Jewish nation, like a standing indictment of the Jews for not accompanying us. We too, by acknowledging and praising Christ, as both king and priest and the one who died for us, have as it were honored him with gold and frankincense and myrrh. It only remains for us to spread the good news about him, by pursuing a new way, not returning by the way we came.
NOTES
1. I find no reason to dispute this date, proposed by Kunzelmann and Fischer, except that my inclination would be to date it before Sermon 201. Perhaps I should revise my estimated date of that sermon.
2. See Mt 2:1-12. 3. See Eph 2:20.