[LATIN COLUMN] 758 SPURIA. [...] A pendas! O new story! Since the soldiers are as dead men, he says to the women, "Do not fear"? For it was necessary for the unbelieving guards to remain in fear, and for the believing women to be announced the grace of salvation. "Do not be afraid": for Adam was formed by the fashioner of our nature, as if on the wheel of the cross. "Do not be afraid": for the crime of condemnation of your mother Eve has been loosened. "Do not be afraid": for before I rolled away the stone, He whom you seek has risen with power: to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
ON THE PARABLE OF HIM WHO FELL AMONG THIEVES
We have heard, brothers, in the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ saying: "A certain man was descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who also stripped him, and having inflicted wounds, left him half-dead" (Luke 10:30). B But a priest and a Levite passing along that way, and seeing him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan coming to the place, and seeing him, was moved with mercy toward him; and he poured wine mixed with oil upon him, and bound his wounds, and placing him upon his own beast, he led him to the inn, and gave to the innkeeper two denarii, saying: "Take care of this man, and if you have spent anything more, I will repay you when I return" (Ibid. v. 35). Let us examine, therefore, this parable, so that, exploring with a wise mind, we may recognize the mysteries of God.
The man is Adam; Jerusalem, the heavenly life and prudence; Jericho, the world. As long, therefore, as Adam before his disobedience possessed heavenly sense, and led a life equal to the angels, he had entry without obstacle into the heavenly city, Jerusalem, and, dwelling in the observation of God's commandments, he was conquered by no one, he received wounds from no one: but when he did not obey God, and did not keep the precept, but was led away by the C serpent's fraud, then he descended into Jericho, that is, into the earth, and performed earthly things: for Jerusalem signifies [an] ascension, Jericho a flood.
He descended, therefore, as if from Jerusalem into Jericho, from a heavenly life to a life prepared by the devil's fraud. For when anyone keeps the commandments of God, he then dwells in the heavens, and the Apostle says, "For our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). He descended from glory into ignominy, from the paradise of pleasure to the thorny earth, from life into death: "For in whatsoever day you shall eat of the tree, you shall die the death" (Gen. 2:17), that is, by sin. For the death of the soul is to sin, and not to obey God. He descended from the justice which he had in paradise, from heavenly holiness, and came into Jericho, that is, into the fall of disobedience, into the death of sin.
And he fell among thieves; that is, into the devil and the opposing powers. The way is this life, where, walking, Adam fell among thieves, who strip him. And of what do they strip him? The stole D of obedience, friendship with the angels, glory not fleeting, conversation with Christ, the pleasure of paradise, the heavenly life. With this garment they stripped him. And they themselves inflicted wounds, that is, sins, fornication, adultery, idolatry, witchcraft, murders, envy, quarrels, anger, and every other operation of evils. For these works indeed lash man, these generate stench and corruption. And that this is true, learn from David, how, depicting Adam's wounds upon himself, he calls them beautifully "scars," saying: "My scars have rotted and are corrupted, because of my foolishness" (Ps. 37:6). And every sin makes a scar and a wound. He was wounded, therefore, through disobedience, struck with wounds through iniquities, as the prophet says: "I was struck like grass, and my heart withered, because I forgot to eat my bread" (Ps. 101:5); that is, to keep the commandment of God.
But "half-dead," he says, they left him, not because they did not wish to kill him, but because God did not concede it. "For I do not desire," he says, "the death of the sinner, but his repentance." And where do they leave him? In the way, that is, in this life: for this world is called a way, because all men pass through it.
And there arrived, he says, a priest traveling, and seeing him, he passed by. He calls blessed Moses and Aaron a priest: for David testifies saying: "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name" (Ps. 98:6). This, therefore, wonderful and celebrated Moses, who afflicted the Egyptians with ten plagues, who divided and dried up the Red Sea, and led the people through it, who rendered the water in Marra sweet, who spoke with God in the cloud, who did many miracles, when he was traveling the way of this life, seeing the man lying wounded, he passed by, and did not lift him up. And likewise the Levite; that is, the prophetic order. For the prophets who were after Moses, traveling the same way, and finding Adam wounded, did not lift him up. Neither Moses by the law, nor the prophets by signs, cured Adam's wound. No one awakened him, no one granted him life, no one redeemed him from death, no one compressed the wound of sin: for they themselves were held in sins. And although for an honest life they were friends of God; but because they were of the same flesh as Adam, and from a dead root, they could not, as branches, pull the root from sin.
But a certain Samaritan, he says, studious in work, merciful in intent, well-disposed toward fellow-servants, coming to the place, and seeing him wounded, was moved with mercy, and applied wine and oil, and bound his wounds, that is, his sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ assumes the person of the Samaritan. But let some auditor say, "What? Do you call the Lord a Samaritan?" Yes, I call Him a Samaritan, not by the nature of divinity, but by the imitation of mercy. For as the Samaritan was in the nature of his body similar to others, but not in his intent of mercy, but seemed better: so also the Lord truly seemed in body similar to the prophets, to the patriarchs, according to the man assumed from Mary, but by the power of divinity He was demonstrated greater than all; equal according to the human form, but not according to supreme glory.
They used carelessness and unmercifulness, and inhumanly passed by the wounded man; but the Samaritan appeared more merciful and pious. So also Christ, while the patriarchs and prophets did not care for the man fallen through disobedience, appeared as the only pitier and merciful one, according to the prophet saying: "The Lord is pitier and merciful, long-suffering and very merciful" (Ps. 102:8); and again, "Since Thou art a merciful God." And as the Samaritan was not of the race of the Jews, but had come from another region, so also Christ was not from the world, but from heaven. He came into the earth; being God, for our sake He was made man; being Lord, He put on the form of a servant. He was moved with mercy upon us; He descended from heaven to earth; he saw man cast down, stripped, wounded by fornications, idolatry, adulteries, murders—he saw, and was moved with mercy concerning His own handiwork, and applied wine with oil, that is, mixing both, he prepared an ointment and applied it to the man.
What does it signify, "Mixing wine with oil?" That is, mixing divinity with humanity, mixing mercy with salvation, he saved man. Mixing wine with oil, that is, mixing the Holy Spirit with his blood, he vivified man. For with the blood of Christ flowing from his side onto the earth, he himself washed our indictment from sins. What does that mean, "He bound his wounds?" That is, he bound the devil, and loosened man; he bound the vessel, and rescued it from shipwreck; he bound and reduced the virtues of the wicked one into servitude, and liberated man. If you wish, however, in another way...
[GREEK COLUMN] 757 A of Mary, yet by the power of his divinity he was shown to be greater than all; equal in human appearance, but not equal in super-celestial glory. Those others, having used negligence and cruelty, passed by the wounded man ruthlessly; but the Samaritan appeared more compassionate, more pious, and more merciful. So too did Christ, whereas the patriarchs and prophets had overlooked the man who had fallen through disobedience, appear alone as compassionate and merciful, according to the prophet who says: *The Lord is compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and rich in mercy* (Ps. CII, 8); and again, *For you, O Lord, are compassionate* (Ps. LXXXV, 15). And just as the Samaritan was not of the nation of the Jews, but came from another country, so too was Christ not of this world, but from heaven. He came upon the earth; being God, he became man for our sake; B being Master, he put on the form of a slave. He was moved with compassion for us, he came down from heaven to earth, he saw man thrown down, maltreated, wounded in fornications, idolatries, adulteries, murders; he saw, and was moved with compassion for his own handiwork, and he applied wine with oil; that is, having mixed both, he made a salve/application, and placed it upon the man. What is it, *mixing wine with oil*? It means, having mixed the divinity with the humanity, having mixed compassion with salvation, he saved mankind. Mixing wine with oil means, having mixed the Holy Spirit with his own blood, he gave life to man. For the blood of the Lord having dropped from his side upon the earth washed away our handwriting from our sins. And what is it, *He bound up his wounds*? It means, he bound the devil, and released man; he bound the foe, and gave life to the shipwrecked vessel; he bound and enslaved the powers of the evil one, and liberated man. But if you wish to understand it in another way, listen. *Mixing wine with oil*; oil brings in the consolatory word, C and wine the astringent, watering down the teaching that gathers the scattered mind, according to that which was said by the Apostle: *Reprove, rebuke, exhort* (2 Tim. IV, 2). He set him on his own beast; that is, Christ, having taken flesh upon the very shoulders of his divinity, bore it to the Father into the heavens. For he did not bear up gold, or silver, or precious stones, but he brought up the man made according to the image from the earth into heaven, into that great and wonderful and spacious inn, into this catholic Church. And he delivered him to the innkeeper, the blessed Paul, the pillar of Christians, the genuine innkeeper, giving him two denarii; and through Paul, to the archpriests and teachers and ministers of each Church; two denarii, the Old and the New Testament, saying: *Take care of this man, and whatever you spend extra, I, when I return, will repay you* (Luke X, 35). What he says is this: Take care, he says, of the people D of the Gentiles, whom I have delivered to you in the Church. Since men are sick, wounded by sins, heal them, 758 applying to them the plaster of stone—the prophetic words and evangelical teachings—making them healthy through the admonitions and consolations of the Old and New Testament, persuading them to depart from sin and leave behind the error of the devil. And if even so they remain uncorrected, persuade them by your own upright deeds, turn/bend them through your stern words; become a type of them and a good pattern in word, in deed, in conduct, in faith, in love, in holiness, so that they may follow your pattern and become imitators of your good lifestyle. And if you do this, and provide some individual addition of words to your deeds, *whatever you spend extra, I, upon returning, will repay you*; that is, at my second coming I will repay you the reward worthy of your labors. For this reason Paul, confident in these promises, says: *But I most gladly will spend and be spent for your souls* (2 Cor. XII, 15), speaking of the teaching to the Gentiles and the ministry of the word. For he himself is the one building up and establishing the Churches of God, and healing all men through spiritual admonitions, offering to each what is fitting, guiding our souls to eternal life. For *to all*, he says, *I have become all, that I might save all* (1 Cor. IX, 22). This is the good innkeeper of the Church, he receives everyone and takes care of everyone; he does not cast away a fornicator, he does not turn away a drunkard, a reviler, an extortioner, he does not despise an idolater, he does not drive away any other impious or unclean person, but receives them all. Just as a physician washes away wounds, and through the laver of regeneration scrubs and cleanses, and offers the astringent remedies, as it were wine, so as not to be led into sins wrought by ignorance, or evils. And again he heals through consolation, anointing our souls like oil; for he says: *I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service* (Rom. XII, 1). As many, therefore, of you who are disciples of Paul's words, let us keep the commandments of Christ, that we may not fall from the heavenly Jerusalem and the city of the living God. May it be that we, having been healed of the wounds of both soul and body, in health and perfection of faith may stand before Christ whole and unblemished, not lacking in any good work, and enjoy the good promise in the heavens, by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the all-holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.