Moralia in Job 1460

Delivered to the people in the basilica of Saint John the Baptist, on the Saturday of the Ember days before the Nativity of Christ. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Ituraea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came upon John the son of Zachary in the wilderness. And he came into all the region of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. He said therefore to the multitudes that went out to be baptized by him: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance; and begin not to say: We have Abraham for our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. And the multitudes asked him, saying: What then shall we do? And he answering said to them:

He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner. 1. The forerunner of our Redeemer, at what time he received the word of preaching, is designated by mention of the prince of the Roman commonwealth and the kings of Judaea, when it is said: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Ituraea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came upon John the son of Zachary in the wilderness.

For because he was coming to preach him who was to redeem certain ones from Judaea and many from the Gentiles, the times of his preaching are designated by a king of the Gentiles and by the princes of the Jews. And because the Gentile world was to be gathered in, and Judaea to be scattered for the guilt of its unbelief, the very description of the earthly sovereignty shows this too: that in the Roman commonwealth one man is described as being in command, while in the kingdom of Judaea very many held rule over a fourth part each. For by the voice of our Redeemer it is said: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation (Luke 11:17). It is clear therefore that Judaea had come to the end of its kingdom, which lay subject, divided among so many kings.

Fittingly too it is shown not only under which kings, but also under which priests it took place; because, since John the Baptist was to preach him who existed at once as king and priest, Luke the evangelist designated the times of his preaching by both the kingship and the priesthood. 2. And he came into all the region of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins. It is clear to all who read that John not only preached the baptism of penance, but even gave it to certain ones; yet he could not give his baptism for the remission of sins. For the remission of sins is granted to us only in the baptism of Christ. It is therefore to be noted what is said:

Preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, since he preached a baptism that would loose sins, though he could not give it: so that, just as the incarnate Word of the Father he preceded by the word of preaching, so too the baptism of penance, by which sins are loosed, he might precede by his own baptism, by which sins cannot be loosed; that, because his discourse preceded the presence of the Redeemer, his baptism also, by preceding, might become a shadow of the truth. There follows: 3. As it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths (Isa. 40:3). And this same John the Baptist, being asked who he was, answered, saying: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness (John

1:23). He who, as was said before by us, was for this reason called a voice by the prophet, because he went before the Word. And what he cried is disclosed when it is added: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Everyone who preaches right faith and good works, what else does he but prepare a way for the coming Lord to the hearts of his hearers, that this force of grace may penetrate, that the light of truth may illumine, that it may make straight paths for God, while by the word of good preaching he forms clean thoughts in the soul? Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. What in this place is designated by the name of valleys but the humble, and by that of mountains and hills but proud men?

In the coming of the Redeemer, therefore, the valleys were filled, but the mountains and hills were brought low, because according to his voice: Everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and everyone that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 14:11; 18:14). For the filled valley grows, but the humbled mountain and hill diminish, since indeed in the faith of the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, both the Gentile world received the fullness of grace, and Judaea, through the error of unbelief, lost that whereby it was swollen. For every valley shall be filled, because the hearts of the humble shall be replenished with the grace of virtues by the utterance of sacred doctrine, according to that which is written: Who sendeth forth springs in the valleys (Ps. 103:10). And whence again it is said:

And the valleys shall abound with corn (Ps. 64:14). For from the mountains water slips away, because the doctrine of truth deserts proud minds. But springs rise in the valleys, because the minds of the humble receive the word of preaching. Already we see, already we behold the valleys abounding with corn, because the mouths of those have been filled with the food of truth who, being meek and simple, seemed contemptible to this world. 4. John the Baptist himself too, because the people had seen him endowed with wondrous holiness, they believed him to be singularly that lofty and solid mountain of which it is written: In the last of days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains (Mic. 4:1).

For they thought him to be the Christ, as it is said in the Gospel: And as the people were surmising, and all reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he himself were the Christ, whom they even questioned, saying: Art thou the Christ? (Luke 3:15). But unless this same John had within himself been a valley, he would not have been filled with the spirit of grace. And to show what he was, he said: There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose (Mark 1:7). And again he says: He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:29, 30).

Behold, when for the wondrous working of miracles he was such that he was believed to be the Christ, he not only answered that he was not the Christ, but even declared himself not worthy to loose the latchet of his shoe, that is, to search out the mystery of his incarnation. They believed the Church to be his bride, who supposed him to be the Christ. But he says: He that hath the bride is the bridegroom (ibid.). As if he said: I am not the bridegroom, but I am the friend of the bridegroom. And he declared that he rejoiced not because of his own voice, but in the voice of the bridegroom, because he was not glad in heart on this account, that he was humbly heard by the peoples as he spoke, but because he himself heard within the voice of truth so that he might speak without.

He rightly says that his joy is fulfilled, because whoever rejoices in his own voice has not full joy. From which it is also added: He must increase, but I must decrease (ibid.). 5. In which matter it must be asked wherein Christ increased and wherein John was diminished, save that the people of John, seeing his abstinence, beholding him remote from men, thought him to be the Christ; but seeing Christ eating with publicans, walking among sinners, believed him to be not the Christ, but a prophet.

But when, through the advance of time, both Christ who was thought to be a prophet was recognized as the Christ, and John who was believed to be the Christ was made known to be a prophet, that was fulfilled which his forerunner had foretold concerning Christ: He must increase, but I must decrease (ibid.). For in the people's estimation both Christ increased, because he was recognized to be what he was; and John decreased, because he ceased to be called what he was not. Therefore, since this same John persisted in holiness because he endured in humility of heart, and many fell for this reason, that they swelled with proud thought within themselves, let it rightly be said:

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, because the humble receive the gift which the hearts of the proud repel from themselves. 6. There follows: And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. Crooked things are made straight when the hearts of the wicked, twisted by injustice, are directed to the rule of justice (Isa. 2, 4). And rough ways are changed into plain when unmerciful and wrathful minds return, through the infusion of supernal grace, to the gentleness of meekness. For when the word of truth is not received by a wrathful mind, it is as though the roughness of the road repels the step of one going forward.

But when a wrathful mind, through the received grace of meekness, receives the word of correction or exhortation, there the preacher finds a plain way where before, by reason of the roughness of the road, he was not able to advance, that is, to set the step of preaching. 7. There follows: And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Because by all flesh is understood every man, no man in this life was able to see the salvation of God, namely Christ. Where then in this sentence does the prophet direct the eye of prophecy but to the day of the last judgment?

Where, when with the heavens opened, the angels ministering, the apostles sitting with him, Christ shall appear on the throne of his majesty, all, both the elect and the reprobate, shall alike behold him; that the just may rejoice without end at the gift of retribution, and the unjust may groan forever in the vengeance of punishment. For because this sentence intends this, that in the last examination he shall be seen by all flesh, it is rightly subjoined: And he said to the multitudes that went out to be baptized by him: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? For the wrath to come is the reckoning of the final vengeance, which the sinner is then unable to flee, who now does not have recourse to the laments of penance.

And it is to be noted that evil offspring, imitating the actions of their evil parents, are called a brood of vipers, because by this that they envy the good and persecute them, that they repay evil to some, that they seek out injuries for their neighbours, since in all these things they follow the ways of their former carnal forebears, they are as it were venomous sons born of venomous parents. 8. But because we have already sinned, because we are entangled in the practice of an evil habit, let him say what must be done by us, that we may be able to flee from the wrath to come. There follows: Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance. In which words it is to be noted that the friend of the bridegroom admonishes not only fruits of penance but fruits worthy of penance to be brought forth.

For it is one thing to bring forth the fruit of penance, another to bring forth fruit worthy of penance. That we may speak according to the fruits worthy of penance, it must be known that whoever has committed no unlawful things, to him it is by right conceded that he use lawful things; and so let him do works of piety, yet in such a way that, if he will not, he does not relinquish the things that are of the world. But if anyone has fallen into the fault of fornication, or perhaps, what is graver, into adultery, he ought so much to cut off from himself lawful things as he remembers himself to have perpetrated unlawful ones. For the fruit of good work ought not to be equal for him who has offended less and for him who more, or for him who has fallen in no crimes and for him who has fallen in some, and for him who has fallen in many.

By this, therefore, that it is said: Bring forth fruits worthy of penance, each one's conscience is addressed, that he seek by penance the greater gains of good works the graver the losses he has brought upon himself by fault. 9. But the Jews, glorying in the nobility of their race, refused to acknowledge themselves sinners for this reason, that they had descended from the stock of Abraham. To whom it is rightly said: And begin not to say, We have Abraham for our father; for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. For what were the stones but those Gentiles, insensible to the understanding of almighty God? as it is also said to certain of the Jews: I will take away the stony heart from your flesh (Ezek. 11:19).

And not without cause were the Gentiles signified by the name of stones, because they worshipped stones. Whence it is written: Let them that make them become like unto them, and all that trust in them (Ps. 113:8). Of which stones indeed children of Abraham were raised up, because when the hearts of the Gentiles believed in the seed of Abraham, that is, in Christ, they were made his sons whose seed they were united unto. Whence also to these same Gentiles it is said by the excellent preacher: But if you be Christ's, then are you the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). If therefore we, through faith in Christ, are already the seed of Abraham, the Jews, on account of their unbelief, have ceased to be sons of Abraham. But because on that dreadful day of examination good parents cannot

profit their evil sons, the prophet who says so testifies: Noe, Daniel and Job, if they shall be in the midst of them, as I live, saith the Lord, they shall not deliver son nor daughter, but they themselves by their justice shall deliver their own souls (Ezek. 14:14). And again, that good sons profit their evil parents nothing, but rather the goodness of the sons avails toward the greater condemnation of the evil parents, Truth itself says to the unbelieving Jews: If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges (Luke 11:19). 10. There follows: For now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire.

The tree of this world is the whole human race. But the axe is our Redeemer, who as it were by handle and iron is held by his humanity, but cuts by his divinity. Which axe is already laid to the root of the tree, because although through patience he waits, yet it is seen what he is about to do. For every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire, because every perverse man who here disdains to bring forth the fruit of good work finds the more quickly the burning of Gehenna prepared. And it is to be noted that he says the axe is laid not beside the branches, but to the root. For when the sons of the wicked are taken away, what else are cut off but the branches of an unfruitful tree?

But when the whole progeny together with the parent is taken away, the unfruitful tree is cut off from the root, so that there may not now remain whence a wicked offshoot may again spring up. In which words of John the Baptist it is evident that the hearts of the hearers were troubled, when it is at once subjoined: And the multitudes asked him, saying: What then shall we do? For those who sought counsel had been struck with terror. There follows: And he answering said to them: He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.

By this, that a coat is more necessary to our use than a cloak, it pertains to the fruit worthy of penance that we ought to share with our neighbours not only whatever is external and less necessary, but even those things very necessary to us, namely either the food by which we live carnally, or the coat by which we are clothed. For because it is written in the law: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Matt. 22:39, from Lev. 19:18), he is convicted of loving his neighbour less who does not share with him, in his neighbour's need, even those things which are necessary to himself. Therefore the precept is given concerning sharing two coats with one's neighbour, because this could not be said of one, since if one be divided, no one is clothed.

For in half a coat both he who receives remains naked, and he who gave. But among these things it must be known how greatly works of mercy avail, since they above all others are enjoined for fruits worthy of penance. Hence too Truth says by itself: Give alms, and behold all things are clean unto you (Luke 11:41). Hence again it says: Give, and it shall be given unto you (ibid. 6:38). Hence it is written: Water quencheth a burning fire, and alms resisteth sins (Sir. 3:33). Hence again it is said: Shut up alms in the bosom of the poor, and it shall pray for thee (ibid. 29:15). Hence a good father admonishes his innocent son, saying:

If thou have much, give abundantly; if thou have little, take care even from that little willingly to impart (Tob. 4:9). 12. But that our Redeemer might show how great is the virtue in continence and in the reception of the needy, he says: He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive the reward of a prophet; and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man shall receive the reward of a just man (Matt. 10:41). In which words it is to be noted that he does not say: the reward from a prophet, or the reward from a just man; but: he shall receive the reward of a prophet, and the reward of a just man. For the reward from a prophet is one thing, the reward of a prophet another, and the reward from a just man one thing, the reward of a just man another.

For what is it to say, He shall receive the reward of a prophet, but that he who sustains a prophet by his own bounty, although he himself have not prophecy, yet before the almighty Lord shall have the rewards of prophecy? For this man perhaps is just, and the more he possesses nothing in this world, the greater confidence he has to speak on behalf of justice. When he who possesses something in this world, and perhaps does not yet presume to speak freely for justice, sustains this man, he makes the liberty of that man's justice a partaker of his own, so that he may receive the rewards of justice equally with him whom he aided by sustaining him, that he might have been able freely to speak that same justice. That man is full of the spirit of prophecy, yet needs bodily nourishment.

And if the body is not refreshed, it is certain that the voice itself is withdrawn. He therefore who gives nourishment to a prophet on this account that he is a prophet, has given strength to that prophecy for speaking. With the prophet therefore he shall receive the reward of a prophet, because although he was not full of the spirit of prophecy, yet he displayed this before the eyes of God, that he gave aid. Hence it is that concerning certain travelling brethren it is said by John to Gaius: For for the name of Christ they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow-workers of the truth (3 John 7, 8). For he who bestows temporal supports on those having spiritual gifts becomes a fellow-worker in those very spiritual gifts.

For since few are they who receive spiritual gifts, and many are they who abound in temporal things, by this the rich insert themselves into the virtues of the poor, in that they comfort those same holy poor out of their own riches. Whence, when by the voice of Isaiah the Lord promised to the forsaken Gentile world, that is, to the holy Church, the merits of spiritual virtues, as it were shrubs to a wilderness, he promised the elm too likewise, saying: I will make the desert into pools of waters, and the pathless land into rivers of waters; I will set in the wilderness the cedar and the thorn, the myrtle and the olive tree; I will put in the desert the fir tree, the elm and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together (Isa. 41:18, 19). 13.

The Lord indeed made the desert into pools of waters, and the pathless land into rivers of waters, because to the Gentile world, which formerly by the aridity of its mind bore no fruits of good works, he gave the streams of holy preaching; and it, to which formerly, by reason of the roughness of its dryness, the way lay not open to preachers, afterward poured forth rivers of doctrines. To which still, out of great bounty, it is promised: I will set in the wilderness the cedar and the thorn (ibid. 19). The cedar, because it is of great fragrance and of imputrescible nature, we rightly take in the promise. But concerning the thorn, when it was said to sinning man: Thy earth shall bring forth thorns and thistles to thee (Gen.

3:18), what wonder if there is promised to holy Church that which to sinning man is multiplied as a punishment? But by the name of cedars are signified those who exhibit virtues and signs in their working, who are able to say with Paul: We are the good odour of Christ unto God (2 Cor. 2:15). Whose hearts are so solidified in eternal love that no rottenness of earthly love now corrupts them. But by the thorn are signified the men of spiritual doctrine, who, while they discourse of sins and virtues, and now threaten eternal punishments, now promise the joys of the heavenly kingdom, prick the hearts of their hearers. And so they pierce the mind with the pain of compunction, so that from their eyes, as it were a certain blood of the soul, tears run down.

But the myrtle is of a tempering virtue, so that by tempering it constricts loosened limbs. What therefore is signified by the myrtle but those who know how to have compassion on the afflictions of their neighbours, and by compassion temper their tribulation? according to that which is written: But thanks be to God, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we also may be able to comfort them who are in all distress (2 Cor. 1:4). Who, while they bring the word or aid of consolation to afflicted neighbours, without doubt constrict them to the state of uprightness, lest by immoderate tribulation they be dissolved into despair. But whom do we understand by the olive but the merciful?

because in Greek it is called mercy, and like the liquor of the olive, the fruit of mercy shines before the eyes of almighty God. To which still in the promise is subjoined: I will put in the desert the fir tree, the elm and the box tree together (Isa. 41:19). By the fir tree, which greatly grows and is raised up to the heights of the air, who are designated but those who, within holy Church, though still set in earthly bodies, already contemplate heavenly things? And although by being born they came forth from the earth, yet by contemplating they already raise the summit of the mind up near the heavens. And what are expressed by the elm but the minds of the worldly? Which, while they still serve earthly cares, bring forth no fruit of spiritual virtues.

But although the elm has no fruit of its own, it is nevertheless accustomed to bear the vine with its fruit; for secular men within the holy Church, though they do not possess the gifts of the spiritual virtues, yet, while by their own bounty they sustain holy men filled with spiritual gifts, what else do they do but carry the vine with its clusters? And whom else do the box-trees signify — which do not grow to any height and, though they bear no fruit, yet have greenness — but those who within the holy Church are not yet able, by reason of the weakness of their age, to bring forth good works, yet, following the belief of their faithful parents, hold the faith of perpetual verdure? After all these things it is fitly added: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together.

For to this end is the cedar set in the Church, that whoever draws from his neighbour the fragrance of the spiritual virtues may himself also not grow sluggish in the love of eternal life, but may burn with desire for the heavenly goods. To this end is the thorn set, that he who has been pricked by the word of its preaching may himself likewise learn by that example to prick the hearts of his hearers with the words of preaching. To this end is the myrtle set, that he who, in the heat of tribulation, has received from the mouth or work of a compassionate neighbour the tempering of consolation, may himself also learn how to offer the tempering of his own consolation to afflicted neighbours.

To this end is the olive set, that he who comes to know the works of another's mercy may learn how he too ought to have pity on a needy neighbour. To this end is the fir set, that whoever has recognized the power of its contemplation may himself also be kindled to contemplate the eternal rewards. To this end is the elm set, that whoever has beheld one who is unable to have the fruit of the spiritual virtues, yet sustains those who are full of spiritual gifts, may himself also serve the life of the saints with all the bounty he can, and by sustaining may bear the clusters of heavenly goods which by begetting he cannot. To this end is the box-tree set, that he who considers that there are still many, placed in weakness, who have the verdure of true faith, may himself blush to be unbelieving.

Well then, after the trees have first been described, it is said: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand. And here 'together' is fitly added, because since within the holy Church there are diverse manners and diverse ranks of men, it is necessary that all learn at once, while in her spiritual men of diverse quality, age, and rank are set forth at the same time for imitation. But behold, while we seek to point out the elm, we have wandered far afield through many shrubs. Let us therefore return to that on account of which we brought forward the prophet's testimony. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; for although the elm has no fruit, yet bearing the vine with its fruits, it makes its own the very things that it well sustains as another's.

But since John urges us to great works, saying: Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance (Matt. 3:8; Luke 3:8), and again: He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner (Luke 3:11); it is now plainly given us to understand what it is that the Truth says: From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away (Matt. 11:12). These latter words of the sentence must be searched out by us with great care. For it must be asked how the kingdom of heaven can suffer violence. For who inflicts violence upon heaven? And again it must be asked, if the kingdom of heaven can suffer violence, why has it endured that same violence from the days of John the Baptist, and not also before?

But since the Law says: If anyone shall have done this or that, let him die the death, it is clear to all who read that it struck each sinner with the penalty of its severity, but did not lead him back to life through penance. But when John the Baptist, going before the grace of the Redeemer, preaches penance, that the sinner who is dead through fault may live through conversion, assuredly from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. And what is the kingdom of heaven but the abode of the just? For the rewards of the heavenly homeland are owed to the just alone, that the humble, the chaste, the meek, and the merciful may come to the joys on high.

But when someone, whether swollen with pride, or defiled by the crime of the flesh, or inflamed with anger, or made impious by cruelty, after his faults returns to penance and receives eternal life, he enters as it were into a place belonging to another, being a sinner. Therefore from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away; for he who enjoined penance upon sinners — what else did he teach but that violence should be done to the kingdom of heaven? Let us then reflect, dearest brethren, on the evils we have committed, and let us wear ourselves down with ceaseless lamentations. Let us seize by penance the inheritance of the just which we have not held through our life. Almighty God wills to suffer such violence from us.

For he wills the kingdom of heaven to be seized by our weeping, which is not owed to our merits. Therefore let no quality of our evils, no magnitude of them, break us away from the certainty of hope. That venerable thief affords a great confidence of pardon — who was venerable not from that whence he was a thief; for he was a thief by cruelty, venerable by confession. Consider therefore, consider how incomprehensible are the bowels of mercy in almighty God. That thief, dragged with bloodstained hands from the jaws of the highway, was hung upon the gibbet of the cross; there he confessed, there he was healed, there he was found worthy to hear: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). What is this? Who can suffice to declare, who to estimate, so great a goodness of God?

From the very punishment of his crime he came to the rewards of virtue. For this reason indeed almighty God permitted his elect to fall in certain lapses, that to others lying in fault, if they rise up to him with their whole heart, he might restore the hope of pardon, and open to them through the lamentations of penance a way of loving-kindness. Let us therefore exercise ourselves in lamentations; let us extinguish with tears and with worthy fruits of penance the faults we have committed. Let not the seasons granted us for pardon perish; for we who now behold many already healed of their iniquities — what else do we hold but a pledge of the mercy on high?