Works › Sermons for the Seasons of the Year
Volume 13 · pp. 100–103
Sermon XX. On the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
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Sermo XX.
In Dominica V post Epiphaniam.
Simile factum est regnum caelorum homini, qui seminavit bonum semen in agro suo. Matth. xiii, 25.
In praesenti Evangelio quatuor principaliter sunt notanda:
I. Quid per hominem seminatorem, et ejus inimicum figuretur? II. Quid per bonum semen, et quid per zizaniam designetur? III. Quando utriusque seminis messis exspectetur? IV. Quis locus zizaniis, et quis locus tritico deputetur?
I.
De primo nota, quod per hominem illum, qui bonum semen seminavit, Dei Filius intelligitur. Per inimicum autem ejus, diabolus exprimitur. Unde et ipse Dominus, rogatu Discipulorum suorum, praesentis Evangelii parabolam exponens, ita dicit, Matth. xiii, 37 et seq.: Qui seminat bonum semen, est Filius hominis. Ager autem est mundus... Inimicus autem, qui seminavit zizaniam, est diabolus. Igitur homo iste, qui seminat bonum semen, est Filius hominis, id est, Filius Virginis Jesus Christus, quem Maria Virgo concepit, Virgo peperit, Virgo quem genuit, adoravit. Inimicus ejus est diabolus, qui statim post creationem suam adversus Creatorem suum inimicitias erexit. Propterea dicitur de diabolo, Isa. xiv, 12 et seq.: Quomodo cecidisti de caelo lucifer, qui mane oriebaris? qui dicebas in corde tuo: In caelum ascendam, super astra exaltabo solium meum, similis ero Altissimo?
Quod autem diabolus esset inimicus Filii Dei, satis patenter declaravit: videlicet, quod persuasit Judae, quod Dominum ac magistrum suum Judaeis tradere non vereretur: et quia hoc promovit, ut Jesus caperetur, colaphizaretur, alapis feriretur, velaretur, conspueretur, flagellaretur, spinis coronaretur, illuderetur, in cruce suspenderetur, aceto et felle potaretur, lancea transfigeretur. Haec autem omnia Jesus innocenter, patienter, et sapienter sustinens: per innocentiam, sapientiam, ac patientiam, suum ac totius humani generis inimicum vicit ac prostravit, ac de potestate ejus multorum sanctorum animas diu injuste detentas eripuit.
Sermon XX.
On the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany.
The kingdom of heaven was made like to a man who sowed good seed in his field. Matthew 13:25.
In the present Gospel four things are principally to be noted:
I. What is figured by the man who sows, and by his enemy? II. What is designated by the good seed, and what by the cockle? III. When is the harvest of each seed expected? IV. What place is assigned to the cockles, and what place to the wheat?
I.
Concerning the first, note that by that man who sowed good seed, the Son of God is understood. But by his enemy the devil is expressed. Hence the Lord himself, explaining the parable of the present Gospel at the request of his Disciples, says thus, Matthew 13:37 and following: He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. But the field is the world. And the enemy who sowed the cockle is the devil. Therefore that man who sows good seed is the Son of man, that is, the Son of the Virgin, Jesus Christ, whom the Virgin Mary conceived, a Virgin bore, and, when she had borne him, adored. His enemy is the devil, who immediately after his creation raised up enmities against his Creator. Therefore it is said about the devil, Isaiah 14:12 and following: How have you fallen from heaven, Lucifer, who rose in the morning? You who said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven; above the stars I will exalt my throne; I will be like the Most High.
But that the devil was the enemy of the Son of God he declared openly enough, namely because he persuaded Judas not to fear to hand over his Lord and master to the Jews, and because he promoted this, that Jesus should be captured, struck with fists, hit with slaps, veiled, spat upon, scourged, crowned with thorns, mocked, suspended on the cross, given vinegar and gall to drink, and pierced with a lance. But Jesus, sustaining all these things innocently, patiently, and wisely, through innocence, wisdom, and patience conquered and cast down his own enemy and the enemy of the whole human race, and snatched from his power the souls of many saints long held unjustly.
II.
De secundo nota, quod per bonum semen boni Christiani, et per zizaniam nequam et mali homines figurantur. Unde et in expositione hujus Evangelii Dominus ait, Matth. xiii, 38: Bonum semen, hi sunt filii regni: zizania autem, sunt filii nequam. Igitur semen bonum, quod seminat Filius Dei, sunt homines boni, quos seminat in agro hujus mundi. Tunc vero primo coepit seminare semen suum, cum creavit Adam et Evam, ut ex eis magna populorum messis oriretur. Quod videns diabolus, Dei et hominum inimicus, semen Domini pessima persuasione corrupit. Dominus etiam quotidie bonas seminat animas in humana corpora, quae diabolus per peccata corrumpit, et in naturam zizaniorum convertit. Sunt itaque boni homines bonum triticum. Unde dicitur in hodierno Evangelio, quod venit inimicus ejus, et seminavit zizania in medio tritici.
Et nota, quod tria considerari possunt in grano tritici. Est enim exterius rubicundum, et interius candidum, et est in una parte divisum: sic etiam boni Christiani debent esse rubicundi per Dominicae passionis recordationem. Debent etiam esse candidi per castitatis ac munditiae conservationem. Debent nihilominus esse divisi per piam compassionem. Propter haec tria dicit Joan. in Apoc. vii, 9: Vidi turbam magnam, quam dinumerare nemo poterat, ex omnibus gentibus et tribubus, et populis, et linguis: stantes ante thronum, et in conspectu Agni, amicti stolis albis, et palmae in manibus eorum. Per illam turbam magnam omnes electi figurantur, qui propter tria triplex praemium acceperunt. Quia enim olim Jesum in doloribus crucis intuebantur, propterea stant ante thronum, ut eum in divinitatis suae gloria dulciter intueantur. Et quia olim se candidos et mundos per castitatem conservarunt, propter hoc stolis albis et candidis sunt amicti. Quia etiam olim ad miserias pauperum per piam compassionem cor et manus aperiebant, propterea modo palmas in manibus eorum portant; fructus enim quidam dulcissimus crescit in palma, qui fructus dactyli nuncupatur. Quia igitur misericordes olim pauperes per dulces eleemosynas refecerunt, ob hoc et ipsi dactylos caelestium palmarum habentes in manibus, stantes coram Agno suaviter reficiuntur.
II.
Concerning the second, note that by the good seed good Christians are figured, and by the cockle wicked and evil human beings. Hence also in the exposition of this Gospel the Lord says, Matthew 13:38: The good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; but the cockles are the sons of the wicked one. Therefore the good seed that the Son of God sows are good human beings, whom he sows in the field of this world. Then indeed he first began to sow his seed when he created Adam and Eve, so that from them a great harvest of peoples might arise. Seeing this, the devil, enemy of God and of human beings, corrupted the Lord's seed by the worst persuasion. The Lord also daily sows good souls in human bodies, which the devil corrupts through sins and converts into the nature of cockles. Therefore good human beings are good wheat. Hence it is said in today's Gospel that his enemy came and sowed cockle in the midst of the wheat.
And note that three things can be considered in a grain of wheat. For it is red on the outside, white within, and divided on one side. So also good Christians ought to be red through remembrance of the Lord's passion. They ought also to be white through preservation of chastity and cleanness. They ought no less to be divided through pious compassion. Because of these three things John says in Apocalypse 7:9: I saw a great crowd, which no one could number, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palms in their hands. By that great crowd all the elect are figured, who on account of three things received a threefold reward. For because they once looked upon Jesus in the pains of the cross, for that reason they stand before the throne so that they may sweetly look upon him in the glory of his divinity. And because they once preserved themselves white and clean through chastity, for this reason they are clothed in white and shining robes. Because also they once opened heart and hands to the miseries of the poor through pious compassion, for that reason they now carry palms in their hands; for a certain sweetest fruit grows on the palm, and this fruit is called dates. Therefore because the merciful once refreshed the poor through sweet alms, for this reason they themselves too, having the dates of heavenly palms in their hands, are sweetly refreshed standing before the Lamb.
Nota etiam, quod per zizaniam sive lolium, mali et nequam homines figurantur. Sicut enim per zizaniam triticum premitur et suffocatur, ita et mali bonis hominibus per suam nequitiam sunt infesti in hoc mundo. Sunt enim eos corde odientes, ore laedentes, et operibus persequentes. Unde potest dicere quilibet bonus homo hoc, quod dicitur in Ps. cxviii, 157: Multi persequuntur me, et tribulant me. Hic etiam dicit Apostolus II ad Tim. iii, 12: Omnes, qui pie volunt vivere in Christo Jesu, persecutionem patientur.
III.
De tertio nota, quod messis zizaniorum et tritici est finis saeculi. Unde etiam ipse Dominus exponens istud Evangelium ait: Messis, consummatio saeculi est: Messores autem, Angeli sunt 1. Dominus igitur, quia patiens et misericors, et quia peccatorum paenitentiam desiderat: propterea peccatores non statim cum peccant, exterminat, sed sinit eos crescere usque ad messem in malitia, id est, quousque falx mortis naturalis eos abscindat. Dominus itaque propter hoc peccatorem exspectat, ut a malis suis paeniteat. Peccator vero, quia patienter exspectatur a Domino, propter hoc de die in diem magis ac magis delinquit, et peccat. Unde dicit Eccle. viii, 11: Quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque ullo timore filii hominum perpetrant mala.
IV.
De quarto nota, quod locus ille, in quem zizania, id est, mali et nequam homines mittentur, est caminus ignis ardentis. Unde Dominus in expositione praesentis Evangelii sic ait: Sicut ergo colliguntur zizania, et igni comburuntur: sic erit in consummatione saeculi. Mittet Filius hominis Angelos suos, et colligent de regno ejus omnia scandala, et eos qui faciunt iniquitatem: et mittent eos in caminum ignis. Ibi erit fletus, et stridor dentium 2. Ecce quis est locus impiorum. Per caminum signatur gehenna, in qua sunt tria mala, videlicet ignis, et fletus, et stridor dentium. Ignis exprimit poenae atrocitatem, quae semper desaeviet in miseros peccatores. Fletus demonstrat damni irrecuperabilitatem. Haec est enim quasi causa praecipua fletus eorum, quod numquam recuperare poterunt gaudia illa, a quibus exciderunt. Stridor dentium notat odii immanitatem: quilibet enim alterum graviter odiet in inferno, et propter hoc dentibus stridebit in ipsum. Et qualiter reprobi mittentur in gehennam, certe ipse Dominus dicit, Matth. xiii, 30: Colligite primum zizania, et alligate ea in fasciculos ad comburendum. Propter hoc reprobi simul alligati mittuntur in infernum, ut qui similes et pares fuerunt in malitia, similes etiam et pares fiant in poena. Unde Glossa: "In fasciculos dicit, non in unum fascem: quia pro modo perversitatis suae unusquisque punietur."
Note also that by cockle or darnel evil and wicked human beings are figured. For just as wheat is pressed and suffocated by cockle, so also evil persons are troublesome to good human beings through their wickedness in this world. For they hate them in heart, wound them by mouth, and persecute them by works. Hence any good human being can say what is said in Psalm 118:157: Many persecute me and trouble me. Here also the Apostle says in 2 Timothy 3:12: All who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
III.
Concerning the third, note that the harvest of the cockles and of the wheat is the end of the age. Hence the Lord himself, explaining that Gospel, says: The harvest is the consummation of the age; but the harvesters are the Angels 1. Therefore the Lord, because he is patient and merciful, and because he desires the penance of sinners, for that reason does not immediately destroy sinners when they sin, but lets them grow in malice up to the harvest, that is, until the sickle of natural death cuts them off. Therefore the Lord waits for the sinner for this reason, that he may repent of his evils. But the sinner, because he is patiently awaited by the Lord, for this reason from day to day offends and sins more and more. Hence Ecclesiastes 8:11 says: Because sentence is not quickly brought forth against the evil, the children of human beings perpetrate evils without any fear.
IV.
Concerning the fourth, note that that place into which the cockles, that is, evil and wicked human beings, will be sent is the furnace of burning fire. Hence the Lord in the exposition of the present Gospel says thus: As therefore cockles are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be in the consummation of the age. The Son of man will send his Angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all scandals and those who do iniquity, and they will send them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth 2. Behold what the place of the impious is. By the furnace Gehenna is signified, in which there are three evils, namely fire, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Fire expresses the atrocity of punishment, which will always rage against wretched sinners. Weeping shows the irrecoverability of the loss. For this is as it were the chief cause of their weeping, that they will never be able to recover those joys from which they fell. Gnashing of teeth marks the savagery of hatred, for each will hate another gravely in hell, and because of this will gnash teeth against him. And certainly the Lord himself says how the reprobate will be sent into Gehenna, Matthew 13:30: First gather the cockles and bind them in little bundles to burn. For this reason the reprobate, bound together, are sent into hell, so that those who were alike and equal in malice may also be alike and equal in punishment. Hence the Gloss: "He says, into little bundles, not into one bundle, because each will be punished according to the measure of his perversity."
Quem etiam locum debeat habere triticum Domini, Dominus ipse declarans in Evangelio, ait: Triticum congregate in horreum meum 3. Per horreum intelligitur gloriosum regnum; unde ipse Jesus ait, Matth. xiii, 43, in fine expositionis praesentis Evangelii: Tunc justi fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris eorum. In his verbis Dominus promittit tria bona tritico suo, videlicet incomparabilem claritatem, regiam dignitatem, et suavissimam charitatem. Primum notatur ibi, ubi dicit: Tunc justi fulgebunt. Soli quippe nullum terrenum lumen compari potest. Secundum notatur ibi, ubi additur: In regno. Quilibet enim electus erit rex magnae dignitatis. Tertium notatur ibi, ubi subjungitur: In regno Patris eorum. Sicut enim pueri in conspectu charissimi patris collocati: ita etiam electi in sinu Dei congregati, suaviter se ad invicem diligent et amabunt.
Rogate ergo Dominum, ut sic bonum semen inveniamur, ut in aeternam gloriam transferamur. Quod nobis praestare, etc.
But what place the wheat of the Lord ought to have, the Lord himself, declaring in the Gospel, says: Gather the wheat into my barn 3. By the barn the glorious kingdom is understood; hence Jesus himself says, Matthew 13:43, at the end of the exposition of the present Gospel: Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. In these words the Lord promises three goods to his wheat, namely incomparable brightness, royal dignity, and sweetest charity. The first is marked there where he says: Then the just will shine. For no earthly light can be compared to the sun. The second is marked there where it is added: In the kingdom. For each elect person will be a king of great dignity. The third is marked there where it is joined: In the kingdom of their Father. For just as boys placed in the sight of a dearest father, so also the elect gathered in the bosom of God will sweetly love and cherish one another.
Therefore pray to the Lord that we may be found as good seed, so that we may be transferred into eternal glory. May he grant this to us, etc.
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