Chapter IX.
The prophets signify that God, who had turned away from humans because of their sins, was later reconciled to them through the passion of Christ: where God is averse to human sacrifices, it is confirmed by the testimony of Isaiah that he can still be reconciled. Likewise, in order for us to enter the house of God, we who were battered by the waves of crimes like islands, suffered shipwrecks, have been renewed in many ways by Christ.
32. Therefore, seeing in the spirit that sweetness of the heavenly sacraments, that table which repels the snares of those who would wear us down, just as he himself said in the preceding: 'You have prepared a table before me against those who wear me down' (Psalm 22:5), he says: 'And I will go to the altar of my God, to God who delights my youth' (Psalm 42:4). He has said it beautifully, as if Adam, 'And I will go.' For indeed we were cast out from the paradise of the Lord, after Adam, conscious of his sin, turned away his face from the Lord. He also added this decree: And I will go to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. For he turned his back on our offerings, when Cain the murderer did not approve of his offerings. Cain was hiding from the sight of the Lord, raging with a wild fierceness because the Lord had regarded the offerings of his brother but had not regarded his own, and in his anger he left his rightful inheritors in offense. He killed Abel, not for himself, but for all of us. No sacrifice was nearly acceptable anymore; for there was no one who could do good, there was not even one, when neither faith in God nor piety towards one's own brother was upheld. The Lord Jesus came to resurrect Adam. He was resurrected, and Abel, whose offerings pleased God. The Lord Jesus offered himself, that is, the firstfruits of his body, in the sprinkling of his blood, which spoke better than the blood of Abel on the earth. God looked upon his gifts, from which he left divine grace of reconciliation to good heirs. Therefore, the holy David rightly says, as if in the person of a reconciled man: And I will go in to the altar of my God, to God who makes joyful my youth.
33. Let us ponder this passage, if we can, following the example of another prophet, how the Lord first rejected the sacrifices of a man, and then was reconciled to him. We have it written in the book of Isaiah, with the Lord saying: 'What to Me is the abundance of your sacrifices?' says the Lord. 'I am full: (Isaiah. I, 11), that is, I abound in them, but I do not seek yours: I do not want burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats, nor do you come before my presence in this way.' And indeed, Abel offered a sacrifice of the offspring of the flock, in which God was pleased, but it did not require a symbol, as it anticipated the truth of the sacrifice. The salvific passion of the Lord was anticipated. Who indeed required these things from your hands? You will not trample on my kingdom. (Ibid. 12). And further, When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my face away from you . . . . But cleanse yourselves, be clean, remove malice from your souls. Judge the orphan, and justify the widow, and come, let us argue, says the Lord (Ibid. 15 and 16). Therefore, it is clear that the Lord turned away from man's sacrifices before, and later reconciled, in order to look favorably upon our sacrifices.
34. Therefore, he who enters the mercy of the Lord enters securely. Finally, it is said to the good servant: Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21). But concerning the wicked servant, it is said: Cast him into outer darkness (ibid. 30). Therefore, Adam, cast out from his heavenly homeland and the seat of paradise, was banished to the island of sin. Thus, Scripture correctly says: Be renewed, O islands (Isaiah 41:1). For we are surrounded by the waves of sin, like islands in the sea of this world. Therefore, these islands were renewed by the coming of the Lord through the forgiveness of sins, that is, men were immersed in the water as if placed in the midst of the sea like islands, they were struck by the waves like islands, resounding with the waves of sins as if they were islands, in which, before, there were frequent shipwrecks for the simple reason that there was deceit in their hearts and flattery on their lips. But truly, after the Lord Jesus, in whom there is no deceit, came into this world, he illumined the deep regions of human minds with the heavenly exposition of his teaching, and he poured forth tranquility upon the desires of individuals, removing the hedge of discord as if they were the supports of harbors drawing near; so that each person may establish the vessel of their own peace in the affection of their neighbor or brother, and may abide on the shore in a certain seclusion of a devout mind.
35. Therefore not undeservedly does David cry out as one renewed: And I will go in unto the altar of my God, to God who makes joyful my youth; whereas he had said that he had fallen into old age among his enemies, as we read in the sixth Psalm, he here says that his youth is renewed to him out of the inveterate decay of human old age. For we are renewed by the regeneration of baptism; we are renewed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; we shall also be renewed by the resurrection, as he says in the later passage: Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle’s. To describe how we are renewed, listen: You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: You shall wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow (Psalm 50:9). And in Isaiah it says: If your sins are like scarlet, they shall become white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). One is truly renewed when they are changed from the darkness of sin to the light of virtues and grace: so that the one who was previously defiled by foul filth may shine brightly above the snow with a dazzling radiance.