Sermon IX. On the Circumcision of the Lord, Opening

SERMON IX.

ON THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE LORD.

His name was called Jesus, which was called by the Angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke II, 21.

III ¹.

That the Angel Gabriel, sent to Mary, after the greeting had been set forth, namely, Hail, full of grace, etc., said to her: Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, etc. It is also read in Matthew I, 20 and 21, that the Angel appearing to Joseph said: Joseph, son of David, do not fear to receive Mary your wife; for that which has been born in her is from the Holy Spirit. But she will bear a Son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he himself will save his people from their sins. Behold, twice it was foretold that the son of Mary ought to be called Jesus. Therefore today he was called Jesus by his parents. But of how great dignity this name is the Apostle declares to the Philippians II, 9 and 10, saying thus: The Father gave him a name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Therefore note that this word JHESUS is of six letters; if six words are placed for them, we shall see of how great power this name is. Therefore let us place: 1. for I, Most Just. 2. for H, Most Honorable. 3. for E, Most Elegant. 4. for S, Most Wise. 5. for V, Most Truthful. 6. for S, Most Sweet. And we can gather how great an efficacy lies hidden in this name JHESUS.

I. First Jesus is called Most Just. For it was necessary for us that he should recall us unjust ones to the way of justice, and by his justice, dying on the cross, reconcile us to God the Father. Hence I Peter III, 18 says: Once for our sins he died, the just for the unjust, so that he might offer us to God. But that he was just the Centurion himself testified when he saw him breathe out. For Luke XXIII, 47 says: The Centurion, seeing what had been done, glorified God, saying: Truly this man was just.

The justice of just Jesus can be considered in three things. 1. For he himself gave just commandments. 2. He himself will make just judgments. 3. And he himself will give just rewards.

1. Concerning the first, namely that he gave just commandments, the Apostle says in Romans VII, 12: And so the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. But so that for the present I may be silent about the other commandments, is not the commandment just which he gave us in Luke VI, 31, saying: As you wish men to do to you, so also do to them similarly? Is not also the commandment just and good which he gave in John XIII, 34, saying thus: A new commandment I give to you, etc.?

2. Concerning the second, namely that he will make just judgments, he testifies through himself in John V, 22 and 30, saying thus: The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son... and my judgment is just. The Angels in heaven also testify that the judgment of the Son of God is just. Hence John says in Apocalypse XVI, 7: I heard the Angel from the altar saying: Indeed, Lord God almighty, true and just are your judgments.

3. Concerning the third, namely that he will give just rewards, he himself says in Matthew XV, 4: Go also you into my vineyard, and what will have been just I will give to you.

We also, since we are sons of Jesus, must represent his name through works on our foreheads. We also ought to be just in imitation of our just father Jesus. Hence I John II, 29 says: If you know that he is just, know that everyone who does justice has been born from him. But that we may firmly embrace justice, Ecclesiasticus IV, 33 admonishes us: Strive for justice even to death, and God will fight for you against your enemies.

And note that for seven causes we ought to join justice to ourselves as a most dear bride. The first cause is because Scripture testifies that it is very pleasing to God. The second cause is because it is proved to be perpetual and immortal. The third cause is because through it a man is defended in all his way. The fourth is because through it a man is adorned as though with noble garments. The fifth cause is because through it a man is freed from perpetual death. The sixth cause is because through it protection is furnished to man on the day of judgment. The seventh cause is because through it and because of it a man is raised high in glory.

Concerning the first, namely that justice is very pleasing and acceptable to God, Proverbs XVI, 5 says: The beginning of a good way is to do justice; but it is more accepted before God than to sacrifice victims.

Concerning the second, namely that it is perpetual and immortal, Wisdom I, 15 says: Justice is perpetual and immortal; but injustice is the acquisition of death.

Concerning the third, namely that justice guards and defends a man in every way, Proverbs XIII, 6 says: Justice guards the way of the innocent; but impiety supplants the sinner.

Concerning the fourth, namely that a man is adorned through justice, Ecclesiastes XXVII, 9 says: If you follow justice, you will apprehend it, and you will put it on like a robe of honor. Hence Job XXIX, 14 also says: I have been clothed with justice, and I have clothed myself as with a garment, etc.

Concerning the fifth, namely that a man is freed from eternal death through justice, Proverbs X, 2 says: The treasures of impiety will profit nothing; but justice will free from death. The Gloss: "Justice sometimes frees from both deaths, but always frees from eternal death." Likewise Proverbs XI, 4 says: Riches will not profit on the day of vengeance; but justice will free from death. The Gloss: "eternal."

Concerning the sixth, namely that justice is a protection for man on the day of judgment, Ecclesiasticus XXVII, 9 says: Justice will protect you forever, and on the day of recognition you will find it a support. By the day of recognition, as the Gloss says, the day of judgment is understood. For then the just judge will take knowledge of all causes and will give a just sentence concerning them, and then justice will furnish protection to those who have held it.

Concerning the seventh, namely that a man will be raised high in glory because of justice, Isaiah LVIII, 8 says: Your justice will go before your face, and the glory of the Lord will gather you. Proverbs XIV, 34 also says: Justice elevates a people, namely to a glorious seat; but sin makes peoples miserable.

II. Second, Jesus is called Most Honorable. Therefore Wisdom X, 11 says: Wisdom honored him in labors and completed his labors. In the fraud of those surrounding him it was present with him and made him honorable. By wisdom, which is called savory knowing, divinity is understood, which honored Jesus Christ according to his humanity in all his labors which he bore in the body; it also was present with him in the fraud of the surrounding Jews and made him honorable. For because the Apostle says to the Colossians II, 9: In him dwells all the fullness of divinity bodily, that is, truly, he was so holy and innocent and undefiled that he could think, speak, or do nothing unless it was fitting and honorable.

Therefore, since we are sons, brothers, of Jesus, we too ought also to be honorable. But so that we may be able to have honorableness, let us ask it from God; for Ecclesiasticus XI, 23 says: It is easy in the eyes of God suddenly to honor the poor man. But we ought to have threefold honorableness, namely in heart, mouth, and work. This threefold honorableness is nothing other than threefold cleanness or chastity.

1. To honorableness of heart the Apostle invites us in Romans XIII, 12 and 13: Let us put on, he says, the arms of light... Let us walk honorably as in the day. The arms of light are signs of the mouth and signs of the heart, which we ought to put on, so that on the day of judgment, in that honorableness of heart which we previously had, we may proceed without shame before all the Saints.

2. To honorableness of the mouth also the Apostle admonishes us in I Corinthians XIV, 40: Let all things, he says, be done honorably and according to order among you. Then things are done honorably and according to order in us, when we guard our tongue under the bridle of discipline in such a way that by our words no one's ears are defiled, nor even the heart troubled in anything.

3. To honorableness of work the Apostle exhorts us in I Thessalonians IV, 11 and 12: We command you to walk honorably toward those who are outside, and to desire something belonging to no one. Therefore he walks honorably who by works scandalizes, injures, or saddens no one.

III. Third, Jesus is called Most Elegant. Hence he is marked by Moses, concerning whom Exodus II, 2 reads, where it is said that when his mother had borne him, seeing him elegant, she hid him for three months. For Moses is interpreted "taken up from water," and signifies Jesus Christ, who was taken up from the water of tears which the Patriarchs and Prophets, because of their great desire for his nativity, poured forth most abundantly. And certainly that child was hidden not only three months, but rather seven years in Egypt, so that he might escape the persecution of Herod. The Master says in the histories concerning the beauty of Moses that God had made him so graceful that he was loved even by enemies and was held worthy of nourishment. Besides, Josephus says that the child Moses was of such beauty that no one was so severe who would not look upon him. And many, when they saw him being carried through the street, would leave the occupations in which they were engaged. Therefore, if the Lord bestowed such elegance or beauty upon Moses, how much is he believed to have bestowed upon his only-begotten Son? Concerning him Luke I, 22 reads: Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice was made from heaven: You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased. But that Jesus is beautiful and fair the faithful soul testifies, Canticles I, 15: Behold, it says, you are beautiful, my beloved, and fair. As though it said: O beloved Jesus, you are beautiful above everything that is on earth, and you are fair above everything that is in heaven.

This most beautiful or most elegant one seeks from us at least a double beauty, namely that we be beautiful in faith and in work. Hence he himself says in Canticles I, 14 to the soul of any Christian: Behold, you are beautiful, my friend, behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are of doves. As though he said: O Christian soul, who are my friend not through feigned charity, you are beautiful through sincerity of faith, and you are beautiful through the brightness of good work; and your eyes are like those of doves, because you, leaving behind the straws of the world, choose the glorious nobility of heaven.

Alas, concerning many souls of Christians today it can be said: Behold, you are foul, my enemy; behold, you are foul, your eyes are of crows. For many do not have charity, and on account of this are not friends of the Lord. Many lack true faith, and on account of this are foul. Many also are in evil work, and on account of this are unclean. Many too prefer the unclean corpse of a woman to the sweet Lord, and therefore they are imitators of that crow which, enticed by a corpse, was unwilling to return to the ark, as is read in Genesis VII, 7.

IV. Fourth, Jesus is called Most Wise. Hence II Kings XXI, 8 says: David sitting in the chair, the wisest prince among three, he is like the most tender little worm of wood. Concerning David it is read in I Kings XVI, 12, that he was ruddy and beautiful to behold and fair in face. Hence through him the Son of God is figured, who was made ruddy when he was reddened with his own blood, namely when he sweated blood in agony, and when he was scourged and torn by thorns, and when he was fixed to the cross with nails, and finally pierced by a lance. He is also beautiful to behold according to divinity, and fair in face according to humanity. He also sits in the chair of empire, as prince of the kings of the earth. And he is one of the three wisest. For the three wisest are the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore in the midst of the Father and the Holy Spirit sits the Son, most wise with the most wise, and he reaches from end to end mightily and disposes all things sweetly, as is said in Wisdom VIII, 1. He is also called the most tender little worm of wood. For just as nothing is softer than the little worm of wood, which is called a woodworm, when it is touched, and just as nothing is harder or stronger than it when it touches, for it pierces the hardest wood, so also it is said of Christ: now, when he is touched and harassed by the tongues and deeds of sinners, nothing is more patient than he. For he overlooks the sins of men because of penance, as is said in Wisdom XI, 24. But truly on the day of judgment, when he himself begins to touch sinners, nothing will be felt harder or stronger than he; for then no one will be found who can resist his sentence.

We too ought also to be wise in imitation of Jesus. For Wisdom VI, 13 and 21 says that wisdom is bright and never withers... And desire for wisdom leads to the perpetual kingdom. Proverbs XVI, 16 also says: Possess wisdom, because it is better than gold. But true wisdom consists in at least three things. The first is that we pass from the region of death into the region of life. The second is that we construct a beautiful dwelling for our soul. The third is that we acquire food for ourselves against perpetual hunger.

1. Concerning the first, namely that we pass from the region of death into the region of life, Ecclesiastes VI, 8 says: What does the wise man have more than the fool? and what does the poor man have except to go there where life is? Just as he would be regarded as foolish who would leave that region in which all people were healthy and blessed, and would cross over to that land where all were sick and miserable, so also those are foolish who through their sins distance themselves from the homeland of paradise, where all are unharmed and blessed, and transfer themselves into the exile of hell, where all languish and are subject to every misery. On the contrary, those are wise who flee the death of hell and go to the eternal and happy life of the kingdom of God.

2. Concerning the second, namely that we construct a firm and beautiful dwelling for our soul, Proverbs XIV, 1 says: A wise woman builds her house; the unwise woman will destroy with her hands even what has been built. For Proverbs XXIV, 3 says: By wisdom the house will be built, and by prudence it will be strengthened. Therefore the wise woman, that is, the prudent soul, through pursuits of virtues and works of alms builds herself a house in heaven; but the unwise soul, as much as is in her, destroys with her own hands, that is, with her worst works, the house built for her by Christ.

3. Concerning the third, that we may avoid eternal hunger and acquire food for ourselves in due season, we are admonished by Proverbs VI, 6 and following: Go to the ant, O lazy one, and consider its ways, and learn wisdom; although it has no commander, nor teacher, nor prince, it prepares food for itself in summer and gathers at harvest what it may eat, namely in winter. There the Gloss says: "If so small an animal, lacking a prince, devoid of reason, with nature as leader, provides for itself for the future, much more ought you, made to the image of God, called to see his glory, aided by so great teaching of Doctors, having the Creator himself as leader, to gather in the present the fruit of good works, by which you may live eternally in the future." Therefore it is sufficiently miserable that many think so little about the future life: provided only that they have enough to feed the belly here and satisfy their lust, they have no solicitude about what happens to the miserable soul after this life.

V. Fifth, Jesus is called Most Truthful. Hence Matthew XXII, 16 says: The Jews send their disciples to Jesus with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and you have no concern for anyone; for you do not regard the person of men. Hence Jesus himself also says in John XIV, 6: I am the truth. And note that Jesus is truthful in his twofold promise: for he will pay to the just and to the unjust what he promised them. Indeed he will give eternal rewards to the just, but everlasting punishments to the unjust. Concerning these two things the Lord says in Isaiah I, 19 and 20: If you are willing and hear me, you will eat the goods of the land. But if you are unwilling and provoke me to anger, the sword will devour you. As though he said: If you are willing, that is, if you conform your will to my will, and hear me, that is, carry out my commandments, you will eat the goods of the land of the living, reclining at the table of glory. But if you are unwilling, that is, murmur against my will, and provoke me to anger, that is, work evils, the sword of eternal damnation will devour you as you groan in the depth of gehenna. There are many who, unless trusting in divine mercy, indeed unless listening to the serpent's fallacy, do not believe that God will eternally damn the impious; and such people wish to make truthful Jesus a liar, who says in Matthew XXV, 46: The impious will go into eternal punishment, but the just into eternal life. On account of this Augustine says: "If you do what the devil suggests and despise what God commands, the day of judgment will come, and you will find true what God threatened, and at the same time what the devil promised."

For since we are sons of Jesus, it befits us to be truthful. For truth is commendable for three reasons. 1. Through truth the grace of God is found. 2. Through truth a man is guarded everywhere. 3. Through truth one also comes even to the inspection of divine glory.

1. Concerning the first, namely that through truth the grace of God is found, Proverbs III, 4 says: Let mercy and truth not desert you, and you will find grace and good discipline before God and men. Hence it is also said in Psalm LXXXIII, 12: God loves mercy and truth. Note that the sister of truth is mercy; hence it is also joined to truth and ought never to be found without it.

2. Concerning the second, namely that a man is guarded everywhere through truth, Proverbs XX, 28 says: Mercy and truth guard the king, that is, any Christian, who is called to this, that he rule himself through virtues and thus obtain the crown of glory in the kingdom of God.

3. Concerning the third, namely that a man comes to the sight of divine glory through truth, Ecclesiasticus XV, 8 says: Truthful men will have success even to the inspection of God. Therefore, since truth is so commendable, the Holy Spirit admonishes us to buy it. For Proverbs XXIII, 23 says: Buy truth. The Gloss: "at the price of your body." But alas, many so cheapen noble truth that they desert it for a mouthful of bread, as is said in Proverbs XXVIII, 21: He who recognizes a face in judgment does not do well. That man also deserts truth for a mouthful of bread. That man also who, in secular, clerical, or spiritual judgment, attends to the rich man and does not acknowledge the poor man: such a one, I say, deserts truth for a mouthful of bread.

Therefore Jesus requires threefold truth from us, namely that we pay what we have promised to him himself, and to his Saints, and to our neighbors.

To the first Ecclesiastes V, 3 admonishes us: If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay to render it; for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases him; but whatever you have vowed, render it.

Concerning the second Proverbs XX, 25 says: It is the ruin of a man to devour the Saints and after vows to draw back. Therefore whoever has devoured the Saints, that is, has vowed or promised something to the Saints, should pay it to them; otherwise it yields to him in ruin and everlasting destruction.

Concerning the third Proverbs III, 28 says: Do not say to your friend: Go and return; tomorrow I shall give to you, when you can give immediately. This authority is understood of those who defer their debts from day to day when they could pay them immediately.

VI. Sixth, Jesus is called Most Sweet. For he is sweet to those believing in him, loving him, and doing good works.

1. Concerning the first, namely that the Lord is sweet to those who believe in him, it is said in Psalm XXXIII, 9: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet. For first the soul sees God through faith, and thus it already begins to taste him.

2. Concerning the second, namely that he is sweet to those who hope in him, it is said in Psalm LXXXV, 5: For you, Lord, are sweet and mild, and of much mercy to all calling upon you. For those who hope in the Lord call upon him, and in calling upon him they experience his sweetness.

3. Concerning the third, namely that he is sweet to those who love him, it is said in Psalm XCIX, 3 and 4: Praise his name, for the Lord is sweet; his mercy is forever, and his truth is unto generation and generation. For those who sincerely love the Lord sometimes experience so great a sweetness that they break forth in praise of his goodness.

4. Concerning the fourth, namely that he is sweet to those who do good things, it is said in Psalm CXLIV, 9: The Lord is sweet to all, and his mercies are over all his works. Many in the act of good works are refreshed inwardly by the Lord with wonderful