And for what reason is this victim offered not in the temple, but outside the city and outside the walls? That that might be fulfilled which is written: 'For he was reckoned among the wicked' (Isa. 53:12). For what reason therefore is he immolated on the height of the cross, and not under the covering of a building? For this reason, namely: that he might cleanse the nature of the air, therefore not on an altar, nor upon a couch set above, but under the open sky. For the air was being purged, when the sheep was immolated on high: the earth also was being purged, because the blood of the Lord dripped upon it. Therefore not under a covering, nor in the temple of the Jews; that the Jews might not withdraw the saving sacrifice. Nor think that this victim is offered for that nation alone:
For this reason it was outside the city and outside the walls: that you might understand that the victim offered for the human race is a common one, and that therefore the purification is common, not partial, as it had been among the Jews. For God commanded the Jews to leave the whole land and to offer their sacrifices in one place and to pay their vows there, because at that time the whole earth was unclean with the smoke of the altars and the reek of the funeral pyres and the rest of those defilements which were brought upon it from the profane sacrileges of the Gentiles. But for us, since Christ at His coming has purified the whole earth, every place has become a house of prayer. And therefore blessed Paul exhorts and commands that we pray everywhere without ceasing, saying:
I desire that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands (1 Tim. 2:8). Do you see how the whole world has been cleansed? And therefore we can lift up holy hands everywhere, because the whole earth has been sanctified, so that it is holier than that Holy of Holies in the inner parts of the old temple. For there an irrational animal, a sheep, was offered; but here a spiritual offering has been made. And the greater the offering, the more eminent the sanctification: therefore the Cross of Christ is a festival of banqueting. 4. The Cross opened Paradise. Do you wish to learn yet another benefit of the Cross? Paradise, which was closed nearly five thousand years ago or more, He has this day opened to us.
For on this day and in this hour Christ, by bringing in the thief, wrought a twofold benefit: one indeed, that He opened Paradise, and the other, that He brought in the thief. This day He has restored to us our principal homeland; this day He has led us back into our fatherland's city, and has given back the eternal home to the common nature of men. Today, He says, you shall be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43). What do you say? You are crucified and fastened with nails, and yet You promise Paradise? Yes, He says; that even upon the very Cross you may acknowledge My power. Since this matter seemed to be one of sorrow, so that you should not fix your gaze upon the wood of the Cross, but should learn the power of Him who was crucified: upon the Cross He wrought this miracle.
Herein especially the Almighty declares His power: not by raising a dead man, not by commanding the sea and the winds, not by casting out demons, but as one crucified and spat upon in the face and fastened with nails; while He bore injuries and curses, mocked and despised, He prevailed to transform that malignant mind of the thief, hardened by long practice of crimes, so that from both you might behold His power. For at the very time of His Passion, being crucified, He troubled the whole creation and rent the rocks: yet He drew to Himself a soul harder than the stones, and at the same time honored it, saying: This day you shall be with Me in Paradise. And truly the cherubim guarded Paradise: but here the Lord is even over the cherubim. There the flaming sword turns:
but He Himself holds power over the flames, over hell, over life, and over death. 5. The thief's entrance into heaven greatly commends the Lord. Indeed no king ever suffered to take a thief, a man, or any other bondservant of the same nature, with himself and thus lead him into his city: but Christ did this, He who, as victor over death and the devil, entering into the most sacred homeland, brings the thief in with Him, not trampling upon Paradise by this act of piety, but honoring it; nor confounding it by the thief's entrance, but making it illustrious. For it is the honor of Paradise to have such a Lord, who can even make a thief worthy of the Paradise of delights.
For indeed, when He brought publicans and harlots into the kingdom of heaven, He did not confound but exalted the kingdom of heaven; nor did He cast down, but rather honored Paradise. For the honor of Paradise, as we have said, is to have such a Lord, who can make even a thief worthy of the delights and possession of Paradise. For such is the kingdom of heaven of such a Lord, that it renders even harlots and publicans so approved that they appear worthy of the grace and glory that is there. For just as we most admire a physician when we have seen him curing men's difficult ailments and overcoming the perils of death by the art of healing:
so also it is right to admire Christ, when He heals wounds incurable in bodies and minds, when He leads a publican and a harlot to such soundness of health that He even shows them worthy of heaven. 6. The thief's merit. The thief, a teacher. And what had the thief done, that after the cross which he had deserved, he was suddenly judged worthy of Paradise? Do you wish that I should tell you briefly the virtue of his faith? When Peter denied below, then this man confessed above. And I have not said this by way of accusing the most blessed Peter—far from it—but wishing to show the greatness of soul of the thief. For that disciple could not endure the threats of a lowly servant-girl:
but the thief, seeing the whole multitude of the people standing around and crying out, hurling mad blasphemies and reproaches and curses, gave no heed to them, did not consider the visible abasement of Him who was being crucified; but, running through all these things with the eyes of faith, and passing by and leaving behind as trivial and light the obstacles of the truth, he recognized the Lord of heaven, and said: Remember me, O Lord, in Your kingdom. Let us therefore not dismiss this thief with a brief mention, nor be ashamed to receive as our teacher one whom our Lord was not ashamed to bring first into Paradise; let us not, I say, blush to have as our master a man who, before the whole nature of the human race, deserved to be held worthy of the kingdom of heaven:
but let us examine each point more attentively, that we may recognize the power of the Cross. The Lord did not say to him, as He did to Peter, Come after Me, and I will make you a fisher of men (Matt. 4:19). Nor did He say to him, as He did to the twelve disciples, You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28); but He did not even deign to speak to him any word of that kind, showed no miracle, no raising of the dead, no casting out of a demon, no obedient sea, nor finally did He speak to him anything either of the kingdom of heaven, or threaten anything of hell: and yet the thief confessed Him first of all, and this while the other reproached Him. For that other thief was reviling Him. 7. The thief and the thief.
The thief's charity and preaching. You have seen a thief and a thief: both on the cross, both from the way of life of thieves, both coming from the same wickedness; but now no longer both established in the same minds and merits. For the one indeed obtained the kingdom, while the other was sent into hell. So too, the day before, there was a like division among the disciples. For Judas too was a disciple, and so were the eleven: but those indeed said to the Lord, Where do You wish that we prepare for You to eat the Passover? while this one prepared himself to betray the Lord, and said, What are you willing to give me, and I will hand Him over to you (Matt. 26:17, 15)? and those indeed prepared themselves for the divine ministry, while this one hastened to betray Him.
So too in this place there was a thief and a thief; but the one indeed reviled, the other adored; the one blasphemed, the other praised, and rebuked the one who blasphemed, saying, Do you not fear your Lord? You have seen the confidence of the thief, you have seen a free will upon the cross; you have seen philosophy amid tribulation, and reverence of divine fear amid punishment. For what was within himself—that, though fastened with nails, he had an understanding not wounded nor a sense transfixed—who would not marvel and be pricked to the heart? For not only did he leave behind what was within himself, but even the things that concerned his own self, and took care for another upon the cross, becoming a teacher, and rebuking, and saying: Do you not fear your Lord?
Do not, he says, give heed to this judgment which is below; there is another Judge who is invisible. Do not therefore consider that He has been condemned below by a mortal judge: for the judgments on high are not of such a kind. But here in earthly judgment even the just are condemned, and the unjust escape; the guilty are let go, and the innocent are punished: for those who judge, whether willing or unwilling, greatly err. For being ignorant of justice they are led astray: or else, knowing it, they are corrupted by avarice, so that they sell innocent blood. But on high there is nothing of this kind. For the Judge is just, and His judgment has gone forth like a light, having no darkness nor ignorance.
Therefore, lest the other should say that He had been condemned below on earth and adjudged to punishment, he led him to the judgment on high, calling to mind that dreadful tribunal, all but saying to him: Look, and you will not bear the sentence of eternal damnation, nor stand in the lot of corrupt judges, if you look to the salvation that is to come in the judgment on high. You have seen the philosophy of the thief, you have seen his understanding and doctrine; suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, he leaped from the cross into heaven: so that now, out of the abundance of the justice he had received, he reproved that one, once his neighbor or companion, saying to him: Do you not fear, seeing that we are in the very same judgment, that is, in the same condemnation? Are you not also, he says, on the very same cross?
Wherefore, in the very matter in which you rebuke your fellow in punishment, you set up yourself in his stead as guilty? For just as one who is in sins, if he dare to accuse others, accuses himself before them: so too one who is set in affliction, if forgetting his own state he reproaches others with it, speaks a reproach against himself before them: Since, he says, we are in the very same judgment. 8. The thief's confession and its fruit. What are you doing, O thief? Beginning to make satisfaction, have you made the Lord your fellow? No, he says: I amend this opinion about myself in what follows. For lest you should suppose that, because of the fellowship in condemnation, he had made the Lord a partner also in the crime, he added a correction, saying: And we indeed justly; for we suffer things worthy of what we have committed.
You have seen a perfect confession; you have seen how upon the cross he stripped himself of his sins. Declare, He says, your iniquities first, that you may be justified. No one compelled him, no one used force: but he himself made himself known, he himself condemned himself, saying, And we indeed justly; for we receive what is worthy of our deeds: but this man has done nothing evil. Remember me, O Lord, in Your kingdom (Luke 23:40, 41, 42). He did not dare to say first, Remember me, O God, until through the confession of his past iniquity he had laid down the burden of his sins. You see how great a thing confession is. He confessed, and Paradise was opened; he confessed, and received the strength of so great confidence that from robbery he demanded a kingdom, considering of how many good things the Cross is the cause for us. 9.
The Cross, the ensign of the kingdom. Hence Christ bore it into heaven. Tell me, thief, you ask for a kingdom; what do you see of that kind in Him from whom you ask it? Tell me; for what is in plain view, you behold nails and a cross. But this cross, he says, is itself the ensign of the kingdom: and therefore I call Jesus a king, because I see Him crucified. For it is the work of a king to lay down his own life for those over whom he reigns; whence He also says that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11, 27-29): therefore also a good king lays down his life for those whose ruler he is. Since therefore He laid down His life, for that reason I recognize Him as king, and call Him Lord. Remember me, He says, O Lord, in Your kingdom. You have considered how the Cross is also the ensign of the kingdom.
But if you wish to learn this same thing from another source, He did not leave it upon the earth, but drew it up into heaven. Whence can you know this very thing? Because it will come together with Him in His second and glorious coming; that you may learn how wonderful and magnificent the Cross is. Whence He also called it glorious, when the Apostle gloried in it. 10. He will bring it back at the second coming. The second coming of Christ will not be hidden, and why. By the splendor of the Cross the sun, moon, and stars will be darkened. The angels will tremble at the last judgment, and why. But let us see how He will come with the Cross: for it is necessary to show this very thing also.
If they say, He says, Behold, Christ is in the storerooms, behold, He is in the wilderness, do not believe (Matt. 24:26), speaking of the second presence of His glory, on account of the false christs, and on account of the false prophets, and on account of Antichrist; lest anyone, forestalled by error, should fall into the false christs. Since Antichrist will forestall the coming of Christ the Savior, therefore we must carefully take heed, lest anyone seeking a shepherd should find a wolf: for this reason I foretell to you whereby you may discern the coming of the true Shepherd. For since His first coming was made secretly, do not suppose that His second coming will be of such a kind; He gave this sign. For this was His will, that the first coming should be made secretly, and that He should seek what had perished:
but the second coming will not be so; rather, As lightning, He says, going forth from the east appears in the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be (Matt. 24:27). Suddenly He will appear to all, nor will anyone need to ask whether Christ is here or there. For just as, when lightning has flashed, we have no need to inquire whether the flash has occurred: so, when the revelation of His presence has blazed forth, we shall have no need to ask whether Christ has come. But what is asked, whether He will come with the Cross, let us inquire; for I have not forgotten the exposition I promised. Hear therefore what follows: Then, He says, when He is about to come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.
For so great will be the eminence of splendor in Christ, that even the brightest luminaries of heaven will be hidden before the brilliance of the divine light. Then the stars shall fall, when the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven (Matt. 24:30). You have considered how great is the power of the sign, that is, of the Cross: The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; but the Cross shall shine forth, and when the luminaries of heaven are darkened and the stars have fallen, it alone shall radiate: that you may learn that the Cross shall be brighter than the moon and more splendid than the sun, whose splendor, being illumined by the brilliance of the divine light, it shall surpass.
For just as, when a king enters a city, the army goes before him, bearing on their shoulders the royal standards and banners, and by the pomp of the clashing array of arms announces the king's entry: so, when the Lord descends from heaven, an army of Angels will go before Him, who, bearing on their exalted shoulders that sign, that is, the triumphal banner, will announce the divine entry of the heavenly King to the trembling earth. Then, He says, the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29): He speaks of the Angels; for trembling will seize them, and a great fear. For what cause, tell me? Because then that judgment will be so terrible that it will be feared even by the Angels.
For the whole nature of the human race will begin to be judged, and to stand before the terrible Judge. Why then will the Angels tremble at that time, and whence will trembling seize them? For they are not to be judged. But just as, when the prince sits in judgment, not only the accused but even the officers who are conscious of no wrong are seized with fear and trembling because of the terror of the judge: so also then, when the human race is judged, even the heavenly ministers will be afraid, and beholding the terrible array of the Judge, will tremble with dreadful awe. 11. Why the Cross will appear at the judgment. But why will the Cross appear then, and for what cause will the Lord come with it borne before Him? The reason is clear:
that those who crucified the Lord of majesty might recognize the counsel of their iniquity; for through this sign the shameless impiety of the Jews is refuted. And how it is on account of this very thing that He will come bearing the Cross, hear Him Himself declaring in the Gospel, that then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, seeing their accuser, that is, the Cross itself; and as it convicts them, they shall recognize their sin too late, and shall confess their impious blindness in vain. But why do you marvel, if He will come bearing the Cross, when He will also show the very wounds? Then they shall look, He says, on Him whom they pierced (John 19:37).
For just as He did in the case of Thomas, wishing to correct the unbelief and error of the disciple for the faith of many, He both presented and showed him the marks of the nails and the very wounds from the nails, and said, Put in your hand, and see; for a spirit has not bones and flesh, as you see Me to have (John 20:27; Luke 24:39): so then He will show His wounds and make manifest the Cross, that He may show that it is He who was crucified. 12. Christ's prayer on the Cross for His enemies. The effect of that prayer. But not only from the Cross, but from the very words which He had upon the Cross, we can consider His immense mercy. For while He was still fastened upon the Cross, He said: Father, forgive them their sin;
for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). And being crucified, He prayed for those who had crucified Him; and indeed they on the contrary were saying, If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross. But for this reason He did not come down from the cross, because He is the Son of God. For He came for this very purpose, that He might be crucified for us. Come down, they say, from the cross, and we will believe You (Matt. 27:40, 42). These words are occasions of unbelief. For He did more than if He had come down from the cross. For it was much greater to rise again when the stone had been placed at the tomb, than to come down from the cross. To have raised up from the grave Lazarus, already four days dead and stinking in the tomb, was greater than to come down from the cross.
And they indeed were saying, If You are the Son of God, save Yourself (Mark 15:30): but He endured all things that He might set free those who had crucified Him. Forgive them, He says, their sin. Assuredly He forgave, if they were willing to repent. For if He had not forgiven them their sin, neither would Paul, after his persecution of the Church, have arisen an apostle; if He had not forgiven them their sin, surely not immediately after His assumption would three thousand and five thousand and many thousands have believed. For, it says, many thousands of the Jews believed (Acts 2:41, and 4:4). Hear what they say to Paul the apostle. You see, they say, brother, how many thousands there are of the Jews who have believed (Acts 21:20)? 13. The imitation of Christ. It is not impossible.
Stephen, an apostle. We ought therefore to be imitators of the Lord, and to pray for our enemies after His example, who, when He was crucified, besought the Father for those who crucified Him, that He would forgive them their sin. And how, you say, can I imitate the Lord? If you are willing, you will be able. For if it were impossible to imitate Him, how did He say, Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29)? For if it were impossible to imitate Him, Paul would never have said, Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). But if you are not willing to imitate the Lord, imitate His servant Stephen, whom I also call an apostle; for he too imitated the Lord.
And just as Christ, amid those crucifying Him, leaving aside the cross, leaving aside His own persecution, prayed to the Father for those who were crucifying Him: so too His servant, amid those stoning him, receiving the missiles of the stones and the pains that came from them, said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. You have heard how the servant spoke after the manner of the Lord. He said, Father, forgive them their sin; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). But this one says, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And that you may learn that he prayed with all earnestness, Kneeling down, it says, he prayed, saying, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge (Acts 7:60)—You who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
SERMON 156. On the Passion of the Lord, 7. 1. The benefit of our redemption. What God requires in return for it. Most beloved brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ has bestowed salvation upon us; yet He diminished nothing of the divine nature. Let us therefore give thanks to His mercy, who compounded from His own manhood a life-giving medicine for our infirmity. Let us magnify Him, because in coming to our aid He suffered no loss of the divine power. Truly loving, truly the Savior, who so loved His own work, who so esteemed His own servant—that is, the whole human race—that He expiated its guilt by His own stripes and healed its wounds by His own bruising. In short, the one sins, the other is scourged; the one transgresses, the other is crucified.
Who would suppose this, and who would conceive it? Who could recompense a Lord who deigned to die for His servants? And this for whom? For the wicked, for the impious. What shall Your own good work, made by You, perverted by its own will but restored by Your compassion, render back to You, O Lord? What do You demand from it in return for such great benefits? Do You perhaps stand in need of anything of its own, or do You seek from it what You did not give it? Or rather—yes, this is what You seek—that You may make fit the one on whom You have mercy, that You may establish as worthy the one whom You make a partaker of Your immortality, that You may make good the one whom You crown for eternity. 2. God's altar, that He might succor the earth and satisfy justice. But what have You received from us, that You should render this in return? Nothing surely, or something?
May the Lord be gracious to the wretched earth, if dust and ashes should presume to say anything. Let Him not reject the foolish one, but look upon the one who confesses. Let the earth say to its Lord, let man say to his Maker: Surely You received something from me, which You did not have in Yourself. For willing to succor the earth, yet unwilling to exceed the measure of justice, You purposed to redeem the mortal by Your death: but of Yourself You had nonetheless nothing whereby You could die. You are almighty, I am needy; You are immortal, I am mortal: You received from me the neediness of dust, You took from me the death of the flesh; You poured out for me the price of redemption. O precious price of the lost! Let those now say who have been redeemed by the Lord, whom He set free from the hand of the enemy:
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures for ever (Ps. 106:1). Let the redeemed earth say to Him, the earth that has been watered—redeemed by blood, watered by baptism: My iniquity is great, but Your redemption is greater. Let the adversary of the human race hear the voice of my Lord, and let him now, elated, applaud himself in nothing: for our Lord Jesus Christ hung upon the cross for the crime of the whole world. Now, He says, is the judgment of the world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, when I have been lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself (John 12:31, 32). O how well you have struck yourself by your own onset, O devil! Your credulity brought destruction to yourself, but advantage to us:
while you spare no one, you at length destroy yourself. Through the offense of one you took all captive; through the justice of one you nonetheless lost them all. If you invaded the one who had consented to you, why did you undeservedly slay this one in whom you had found nothing? You poured out innocent blood; give back the condemned offspring. You are surely that one who, elated, arrogated to yourself the likeness of divinity: now, overcome, you are laid low by a divine man. And what wonder if the divine power had made you, seeing you are His creature? But this is a great and marvelous thing, that from dust He should take that whereby He might lay low and crush your wickedness: that you who, in your pride, were raised above the stars, should now be overcome by flesh.
Therefore the blood which you poured out has conquered you, and redeemed me. In short, I drink it; and, being saved, I no longer fear the ruin of your poison. You prevailed in Paradise; but you were conquered on the gibbet. Why do you set against me the fiery sword cast about Paradise? Behold, the flowing stream from the exalted Crucified has quenched the turning flame. Now, even now, Paradise lies open to the human race, into which the Lord Jesus Christ has brought back the confessing thief. 4. Hence Paradise was unlocked. Conversion is never too late. The thief's faith. Whence and why this change. O how great a mystery! Paradise, which had been closed to the transgressor, is now unlocked to the thief.
Or perhaps in this thief it is fitting to discern the whole man, or even that first parent of the human race? For if he who had brought death upon others by slaying them received the name of thief: how much more does he who, by sinning, discovered that very death which did not exist, not undeservedly incur the charge of a thief? But Christ said to the thief: Today, He says, you shall be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43). To whom, dearly beloved, should conversion ever seem too late, when the confession of the thief, already hanging, already dying, was not rejected? O the ample mercy of the Lord, who forgets the crime of the unjust, who receives the faith of the penitent; who makes the one condemned for wickedness His elect, who renders the debtor of death a partaker of the life of eternity!