Commentarii in Lucam In occursum domini

Homily 12. On the Encounter of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The assembly is very large indeed, and the hearer is eager (for we see the Church full); but the mystagogue is not rich. Yet the one who gives a person both mouth and tongue will again supply us with good thoughts. For He Himself says: "Open your mouth, and I will fill it." And since you have all come eagerly, the brightness of the Lord's feast having gathered you together with bright lamps, let us celebrate brightly, and let us take up the contemplation of what has been divinely fulfilled today, gathering for ourselves from all sides confirmation in faith and love of God. We saw briefly an infant lying in a manger, the Emmanuel, swaddled in human fashion, but hymned divinely by the host of holy angels; and they announced his birth to the shepherds. For God the Father has distributed, as a special privilege, the firstfruits of the proclamations about him to those in heaven. We saw him also today yielding to the laws given through Moses, or rather, the divine lawgiver, as a man, subject to his own ordinances. And for what reason, the most wise Paul teaches, saying: "When we were children, we were enslaved under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law." Therefore, Christ ransomed from the curse of the law those who were under the law, but who had not yet kept it. And how did he ransom them? By fulfilling it.

And in another way, to resolve the charges of Adam's transgression, he presented himself as obedient and compliant in every respect on our behalf to God the Father. For it is written that just as through the disobedience of one man the many were rendered sinful, so through the obedience of one the many will be rendered righteous. Therefore he bowed his neck with us under the law, and did so economically; for it was fitting for him to fulfill all righteousness. Since he had entirely taken the form of a servant, for this reason, as one who had come under the yoke on account of the human condition, he even paid the two-drachma tax to the tax collectors, although by nature he is free and exempt, as the Son. So when you see him observing the law, do not be scandalized, nor reduce the free man to the level of servants; rather, consider the depth of the economy. When the eighth day arrived, on which it is customary for circumcision in the flesh to be performed according to the law's requirement, he received the name, that is, Jesus. This is interpreted as "Salvation of the people." For thus God the Father wished his own Son to be named, born in the flesh from a woman; he then especially became the salvation of the people, and not of one alone, but of many, indeed of every nation and of the whole world under heaven. At the same time, therefore, the matter of circumcision was accomplished, and he received the appellation. And what the enigma is, or what mysteries the rite will indicate to us, let us again examine and see. The blessed Paul said: Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. But it is likely that some will say to this:

Has God, then, through the all-wise Moses, commanded that nothing be observed, and attached punishment to those who transgress it? Yes, I would say. For as far as the nature of the matter is concerned—that is, what is fulfilled in the flesh—it is absolutely nothing, but it gives birth to a not uncomely type of mystery, rather having the revelation of the truth hidden within it. For on the eighth day Christ rose from the dead, and gave us circumcision in the Spirit. For God commanded the holy apostles: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And we say that circumcision in the Spirit is accomplished especially at the time of holy baptism, when Christ also makes us partakers of the Holy Spirit. And again, that ancient Joshua, the general after Moses, was a type of this. For he led the sons of Israel across the Jordan, and then, immediately after they had crossed, he circumcised them with stone knives. Therefore, when we cross the Jordan, then Christ circumcises us with the power of the Holy Spirit, not cleansing the flesh, but rather cutting away the defilement in souls. So Christ is circumcised on the eighth day, and receives the name, as I said. For then, then we are saved through him. And they bring him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. O great and wondrous economy! O depth of the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God!

He who is in the bosom of the Father, the Son who is his assessor and coeternal, through whom all things are brought forth in a manner befitting God, yet when he came within the measures of humanity, also offers a sacrifice—he who is gilded with the worship of all and glorified together with his own Begetter. And what has he offered as firstborn and male? A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons, according to what is prescribed in the law. But let us now examine what the turtledove signifies, and what the other, that is, the pigeon, means. Now, one of these is the most talkative among the birds of the field, while the other is gentle and meek. And such has the Savior of all become toward us, possessing gentleness to the utmost, and like a turtledove, flooding the whole world beneath heaven and filling his own vineyard—that is, us who believe in him—with his own beautiful voice. For it is written in the Song of Songs: "The voice of the turtledove was heard in our land." For he has spoken to us the divine and evangelical saving proclamation. So turtledoves and pigeons were offered when he presented himself to the Lord, and one could see at the same time the truth together with the types. Therefore, Christ has offered himself as a sweet fragrance, so that through himself and in himself he might bring us to God the Father, and thus dissolve the aversion that had arisen against us, on account of the transgression in Adam and the sin that tyrannized over all of us. For we were the ones who once cried out: "Look upon me and have mercy on me.

What could be equal in joy to learning that God has saved the world beneath heaven through the mediation of the Son, because he became as we are? For it is written, "One God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom on our behalf." For he willingly descended to our poverty, that he might declare us rich, gaining his own benefits. See him, then, as one of us, presenting himself to the Father, following the shadows of the law, still sacrificing according to custom, even if these things were done through his mother. Was he, then, unknown to all in Jerusalem, and known to no one there? Yet how is this true? For God the Father proclaimed beforehand through the prophets from eternity that the Son would appear in due time, to save the lost and enlighten those in darkness. For he said through one of the prophets, "My justice and my mercy are soon to be revealed, and my salvation will burn like a torch." Now mercy and justice are Christ.

We have been pitied through him and justified, having washed away the filth of baseness, evidently through faith in him. And what a lamp held before those in night and darkness is, that Christ has become for those in mental mist and darkness, instilling in them the divine light. For this reason the blessed prophets also called to become partakers of such grace, saying, "Show us, Lord, your mercy, and give us your salvation." So Christ was brought into the temple, while still an infant, small and at the breast. But the blessed Symeon, honored with prophetic grace, receives him into his arms; filled with the highest joy, he blessed God, saying, "Now you release your servant, Master, according to your word in peace, because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before the face of all peoples: a light for the revelation of the nations, and glory for your people Israel." For the mystery of Christ was prepared even before the foundation of the world itself; it was revealed in the last times of the age, and it became light for those in darkness, for those who were led astray and had fallen under the devil's hand. And these were those who worshipped the creation instead of the creator, and who also paid homage to the primeval serpent and to the unclean multitude of demons, ascribing to them the glory of God. But they were called by God the Father to the knowledge of the Son, who is the true light. For he said through the voice of Isaiah, "I will give them a sign, and I will receive them, because I will redeem them, and they will be multiplied, inasmuch as many were those who were led astray, called through Christ.

Many again, as also before, have been received and redeemed, having taken a token of peace from God and Father, the appropriation and grace through faith in Christ. The divine disciples were sown among the peoples. And what follows from this? Those who were far from God have become near in disposition; to them the divine Paul also writes, saying: "But now you, who once were far, have become near in the blood of Christ." Having become near, they boast in Christ. For God and Father said again concerning them: "And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and in his name they will boast," says the Lord. This the blessed Psalmist also teaches, speaking as to the Saviour of all, saying: "Lord, in the light of your face they will walk, and in your name they will rejoice all the day, and in your righteousness they will be exalted, because you are the boast of their power." We also find the prophet Jeremiah crying out to God: "Lord, my strength and my help, and my refuge in the day of my troubles; to you nations will come from the end of the earth, and they will say: How falsely our fathers fashioned idols, and there is no benefit in them." Christ has therefore become a light for the revelation of the nations, but also for the glory of Israel. For even if some of them have become insolent and disobedient, and have their minds full of folly, yet the remnant has been saved and glorified through Christ. And the firstfruits of these have been the divine disciples, whose splendor of good repute shines throughout the whole region under heaven.

Glory also in another way to Israel, because from them he came in the flesh, although he is God over all, and blessed for the ages. Amen. And Symeon blesses the holy Virgin, as having served the divine will, and ministered to the birth, and not having submitted to the laws of humanity. For being a virgin she gave birth, and not from a man, but by the Holy Spirit coming upon her. What then does the prophet Symeon say concerning Christ? Behold, this one is placed for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a disputed sign. For Emmanuel has been placed by God and Father as a foundation of Zion, being a chosen stone, a cornerstone, precious. But those who believed in him were not put to shame; but as many as were unbelieving and ignorant, and were unable to see the mystery concerning them, fell and were crushed. For God and Father said somewhere again: Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal, and he who believes in it shall not be put to shame; but upon whomever it falls, it will shatter him. But the prophet secured those from Israel, saying: And sanctify him, and he will be your light; and if you are confident in him, he will be for you a sanctification, and you will not encounter him as a stone of stumbling, nor as a rock of transgression. Therefore, since Israel did not sanctify Emmanuel, who is Lord and God, nor wished to be confident in him, they fall as upon a stone because of unbelief, and were crushed and have fallen; but many arose, that is, those who accepted faith in him.

They were transplanted from the legal worship to the spiritual, and from having a servile spirit within themselves, they have been enriched with the liberating one, that is, the Holy Spirit; they have become partakers of the divine nature, have been deemed worthy of adoption, and are in hopes of also acquiring the upper city itself, that is, the kingdom of the heavens. And he calls the precious cross a disputed sign, as the most wise Paul writes: to Jews a scandal, to Gentiles folly; and again, the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God for salvation. Therefore the sign is disputed, seeming folly among those who are perishing, but to those who have recognized its power, salvation and life. So Symeon said to the holy Virgin, that a sword will also pass through your own soul; by sword he perhaps means the grief she had over Christ, seeing him whom she had borne crucified, and not knowing at all that he would be stronger than death and would rise from the dead.

And do not be surprised if the Virgin was ignorant, since we will find even the holy apostles themselves lacking in faith concerning this matter. Indeed, the blessed Thomas, unless he had placed his hands into His side after the resurrection and also felt the places of the nails, would not have consented to believe, even when the other disciples said that Christ had risen and He had manifested Himself to them. Therefore, the most wise evangelist benefits us by teaching all that the Son, having become flesh, endured for our sake and on our behalf, and did not disdain to take on our poverty, so that we might glorify Him as Redeemer, as Lord, as Savior and God, because to Him and together with Him, to God the Father, belongs the glory and the power, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.