52. Christ joined himself to her, in order to make her spotless: he united himself with her, in order to remove adultery. And because he was under the Law, it was necessary for him to die, so that he could be freed from the Law, and so that through that death, the marriage of the Law and the flesh could be dissolved. Therefore, the flesh died in Christ, so that we, who have been deadened to the Law through the body of Christ, as the Apostle said (Rom. VII, 4), might become those who have risen from the dead, and that the passions and desires of the flesh, and the thoughts of sins that were in our members because of the Law, might die in that death; but we, freed from the law of death, as a new bond of Christ, might rise again in the newness of spirit.
53. And yet those who violated the Law in the flesh of Christ and thought it should be violated were all killed by the warriors at David's command. By this evidence it is shown that what they taught later was a sign, that none of those who killed Christ escaped; and this is most clearly revealed, that those whom Jesus had taken before his death, like the Jews, perished as children and infants: but those whom he admitted into the number of sons after his death, are saved in the kingdom. According to this mystery, it is fitting that the first birth among the Jews was weak, so that later an eternal fruit could be born among Christians.
Caput XI.
The parable of Nathan is proposed, and it is understood morally, and soon it is translated allegorically.
54. But now let us move on to the message. For in the previous days we had discussed with us about that infamous adultery and murder of David the prophet, and having gone through the mysteries, we found not only nothing to condemn, but also something to praise. Now the discussion begins about the message which the title of the previous psalm, often repeated, indicates. For it is written as follows: Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba (Psalm 50:1).
And so this part of the story must be told, which is as follows. There were a rich man and a poor man living in the same city (2 Samuel 12:1 et seq.). The rich man had many cattle and many sheep; the poor man had only one sheep, which he nourished with bread and wine and kept in his bosom. A guest came to the rich man; the rich man did not take anything from his own cattle or his own flocks, but killed the one sheep of the poor man. When David learned of this, he said, 'That man shall surely die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold.' Then Nathan said to him, 'You are the man!' After that, he opened to him the heavenly command, saying that the Lord had commanded many good things to him, that is, royal possessions, taking away from the number of the shepherds, and that he had poured out his mercy upon him. And because he had angered the Lord with his sin, everything would be taken away from him, plundered by enemies, and his house would be laid waste. Then he said, 'I have sinned.' And Nathan replied, 'Since you confess your sin, the Lord will forgive you; but your son who was born of Bathsheba will die.' When his son was sick, David wept, lay on the ground, covered himself with sackcloth, fasted. When he learned of his son's death, he rose, washed, ate, and comforted others.
See how many things. First of all, because God is kind and merciful, we accept the adversities that happen to us as the price of our error. Therefore, we have learned that captivity is the price of sin; for this is the punishment for the crime. Then we notice that the downfall of kings is the punishment of peoples. For just as we are saved by their virtue, so we are also endangered by their error. Hence it is desirable for us to be able to have a glorious and perfect king. Therefore, if we want to have a perfect king, do we not want to have a perfect Lord? Or can those who do not want God to be perfect desire man to be perfect? This also briefly demonstrates the workings of the story, so that we may note how quickly hope follows forgiveness. But there is no small significance to what Nathan the prophet denounces, that is, the lesser prophet. For indeed, it is serious shame and modesty of a sin to be reproved by someone of lower status. You see that fault diminishes grace. Nathan knew what David did not know: his mind was so clouded by a certain cloud of vices. Then there is Nathan, who in previous times prophesied to David, having been accepted by the Lord; so that he might grieve for the sin being rebuked by the same person by whom his merit had been praised.
57. But now let us investigate the mystery. There were two men, he says, in one city, one rich and the other poor (2 Kings 12:1). Who is this rich or poor man, if not perhaps one Jewish people and the other Christian people? That one is rich in the Law, rich in the words of God entrusted to him, rich in prophecies, rich in oracles; but this one is poor. But do not shun this poverty, for the kingdom of heaven follows it. For it is written: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Good poverty, which does not lose what it has. Good poverty, which if it does not have the treasures of money, nevertheless has the treasures of knowledge and wisdom. Sons, do not despise poverty as if it were worthless. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him (Psalm 34:7). Do not envy great wealth: The rich have become poor and hungry (ibid., 11). But if you want to have good things, seek the Lord: Those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing (ibid.). Therefore, do not refuse every poor person. Peter was poor, and he did not have a coin to give; but he gave a more valuable gift than all money: salvation. That poor man was Lazarus in the Gospel (Luke 16:19 et seq.); but the one who lay before, rich in purple and fine linen, desired to be refreshed by the finger of the poor man after the end of life. Although that proud man, adorned with royal purple and fine clothes, despised the wounds of the poor man and abhorred the poor man, he, being placed in hell, desired to have been in the same place as Lazarus. In this passage, it does not seem to be describing a rich or poor person in terms of money, but rather a poor person who, for faith and devotion, is not afraid of suffering bodily wounds and enduring hunger and fasting.
Since the Jewish people had many flocks of sacrificial animals, yet he chose to take one small lamb that the poor people had, subjecting it to glorious suffering. Do you want to know which lamb? He was led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), he was nourished with the bread of the poor, he used the drink of the poor, and he slept in the bosom of the poor. He used our food, he rested in the lap of our hearts. For he remembered that he could not find rest in the bosom of the Jews, saying: The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Luke 9:58).
And the guest came, he said, to that rich man. Who is this guest, if not a miserable sin? For indeed guilt entered into this world like a guest, foreign and alien to our nature. Therefore, he did not offer a sacrifice from his own flock; but he took the little lamb of the poor, and killed it. Although the passion of that sacrifice may have benefited some for their salvation; yet it seems to them to have been the nourishment of their own madness, and the food of guilt, and an incentive to sin. Finally, Judas received the bread from Christ, and then he was even more filled with the devil; because he did not accept in faith, he who was preparing betrayal for such a hospitable Lord.
60. And David became angry at that man. We said that the people of the Jews are declared through the Prophet, and therefore condemns himself under this figure. That man is worthy of death who did this, and he will restore the little sheep fourfold, that is, the people of the Jews will perish, but the Christian people will enjoy more abundant goods; because the status that is owed from the resurrection is more excellent than present circumstances.
61. It was my intention, that you might deign to remember, to speak against those who think that David should be accused of murder and adultery, and for me to respond in my own words: and so our course of discussion turned out with the support of your unity in such a way that it seemed to deserve to be preached by the mouth of all, which we thought could not be defended. But since our holy man does not need our help, let him now speak for himself to you, and let his actions be defended by his own words.
Caput XII.
David confesses his sin to God, composing Psalm 50, in which several verses are explained; first, it is asked what great mercy is and how great a multitude of mercies there are; then it is taught that only God can forgive our iniquities, which cannot be hidden, as David himself confesses. Finally, it becomes clear that the Arians fall into the impiety of the Manicheans.
62. Have mercy on me, O Lord, according to your great mercy. (Psalm 50:3). Perhaps, dear brothers, this conjunction of words is new, that it should be said 'according to your great mercy'. I do not easily recall having read it elsewhere, and therefore we will not easily say what great mercy is. However, we do read about the great power of God. And therefore, by considering what great power is, we can infer what great mercy he wanted to designate. For we read in the Holy Jeremiah: Who are you, Lord? You have made heaven and earth, in your great power and with your outstretched arm (Jer. XXXII, 17). Therefore, great power has made heaven. What is this great power; of the Father or of the Son? It is certainly the great power of the Father; for he made heaven and earth through the Son, as you have: In the beginning God created heaven and earth (Gen. I, 1). However, the Son is also of great power. For when you read of the power of the Father, the Son, as you have, is Christ, the wisdom and power of God, and certainly since the Son is the power of the Father, he is of great power. Therefore, since the Almighty is denied, whom we confess to be the great power of God? Therefore, this great power made the heavens; because the Son made the heavens, as you have: All things were made by him (John I, 3). Therefore, if both the Father and the Son made, certainly the unity of their operation indicates unity. Therefore, the operation of the Father and the Son does not differ. But if there is one operation, certainly there is one power of operation, and there is one majesty of the works. This is about the Father and the Son.
63. Why then do we remain silent about the Spirit, especially when the divine Scripture does not allow us to remain silent? For it provides the most opportune testimony to the unity of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son, so that we may not separate His operation from the work of the Father and the Son. For we read that there is great power in the Father, who made the heavens; and there is also great power in the Son, who also made the heavens: not only did He make them, but He also established them. For by the word of the Lord the heavens were established (Psalm 32:6). Therefore, if both the creation and the establishment of the heavens are of great power, we cannot separate the Holy Spirit from the majesty of great power; for it is written: 'And by the breath of his mouth, all their power.' (Ibid.). For when the heavens and the earth were created, the Spirit was borne; as the prophet David also says elsewhere: 'Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.' (Psalm 103:13). Of whom he also said elsewhere: 'For I will see your heavens, the works of your fingers.' (Psalm 8:4). For God did not create heaven and earth with physical fingers, but with the sevenfold grace of the Spirit, namely that finger about which you have in the Gospel: But if I cast out devils by the finger of God (Luke 11:20). For elsewhere He called this finger the Spirit, as you have: But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28). Therefore, if the Spirit of God is a finger, since the arm of God is the Son, undoubtedly the Spirit, cooperating with the Father and the Son through the unity of operation, created heaven and earth. Therefore, the Son is called the Finger, so that as the unity of the body is expressed, so is the unity of divinity. Therefore, if great power created the heavens, surely great wisdom created the heavens, because it is written: You have made all things in wisdom (Psalm 103:24).
64. Therefore, we have learned what great virtue is, now let us gather what great mercy is. If great virtue made the heavens, and great mercy must be from heaven, and great justice must be from heaven; for justice looked down from heaven, and mercy came from heaven. Great mercy, therefore, has been made, because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John I, 14). Therefore, great virtue made the heavens, great virtue inclined the heavens, as we read: And he inclined the heavens and came down (Psalm XVII, 10). Whereby it is shown that the Son of God, never devoid of His divinity, nor when He dwelt among men; for although He assumed what He was not, He did not cease to be what He was. Therefore, when it is said: And He inclined the heavens and came down, it does not seem so much that He descended from heaven, as that He descended with heaven itself. For when the Father addressed the Son while situated on earth, and the angels ministered, it seems that the Son of God did not so much change the abode as transfer it. Therefore, we have learned that mercy is great.
Therefore, if it is a great mercy that has descended from heaven, we must understand and distinguish the multitude of mercies. For it follows: 'According to the multitude of your mercies, wipe away my iniquity' (Psalm 50:3). These two verses do not have the same meaning. The first is referring to the Incarnation, while the second seems to refer to the injuries that the Son of God suffered in the flesh, because he fasted, he hungered, he wept, he was beaten, he was crucified, he died, and he was buried. For these are the insignia of the flesh, not of divinity. And it was necessary, in order to drive away the multitude of sufferings, that the multitude of mercies would be of benefit to us in the struggle of the Lord's passion.
For he did not remove his own sins, for he had committed no sin; but because he became sin, our sins had to be removed, as David said: Remove my iniquity. What does remove mean? Let us consider this word; for it is not idle. Moreover, elsewhere he says: I am the one who removes your iniquities, and I will not remember (Isaiah XLIII, 25). Indeed, there are certain deep-seated wounds of our conscience, and certain scars of our minds and souls, which are covered by the ulcers of our errors. Therefore, it has its own characters and accents by which it is revealed: not something we invent with our own skill, but something we mark with the authority of prophecy. It is written, therefore; and where it is written, see: 'In the inscriptions of your heart,' he says (Jer. 17:1). That is, there the series of guilt is written, but also the form of virtue; not on stone tablets, but on carnal tablets of the heart. But the good things are not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; the wicked things, however, with an iron stylus and a diamond pen. Such is the nature of sin: it is written with an iron stylus, it is restrained by an iron rod, as it is written: You shall rule them with an iron rod (Psalm 2:9). There is another straight rod, the rod of your kingdom (Psalm 44:7): it punishes the guilty, it governs the innocent. Therefore, the fault is written: let us see where. Not outside, but inside your heart and your chest. For just as the word is close to your mouth and in your heart: so the figure of sin and the image of error are expressed in the hearts of the unbelievers. Therefore, both fault and virtue are within. And therefore the Lord says: 'I feel virtue has gone out from me' (Luke, 8:46), to show that good things proceed from the interior, and conversely, bad things come forth from the interior. For it is not what enters into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth' (Matthew, 15:11). For out of the heart come forth thoughts, and therefore beware that evil thoughts do not come forth from your heart, which will accuse and condemn you in the future. For God does not need witnesses or arguments to convict you: your own fault accuses and betrays you.
67. Then in this psalm David says well: And my sin is always against me (Psalm 50:5). Woe to me, for I desire to hide, and I cannot hide! For how can I hide, who carry within my heart the inscriptions of my own sinful acts? On that day of judgment, the heart of each person will be laid bare, with their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them. On the day when the Lord judges the secrets of men, everything will be revealed. What shame is that, when that which we thought hidden is exposed to all; when each image of wrongdoing begins to reveal itself, so that each is convicted by the series of his own crimes? What shame is it when you see that one whom you judged contemptible in this world, is seen to be exalted; your servant, whom you thought inept and incapable according to the cunning of this world, you now know to be honored by the wealth of his simplicity? Therefore, while we live, let us take refuge in him who can erase sin. Do not fear what is written with an iron stylus and a diamond nail; for here he broke down iron gates and gates made of adamant, and do not fear to admit fault.
68. David confessed, he acknowledged his iniquity, he acknowledged his error; and therefore he said: For I acknowledge my iniquity. David acknowledges, and you do not acknowledge? David confesses, and you deny? Paul proclaims himself guilty, and you assert yourself innocent? Therefore, there is no greater place for shame, when there are associations mixed with many sins; if, however, we follow the desire to correct. Nor should you fear again that the confession of guilt will be held against you for punishment. For God, who is both good and merciful, is accustomed not only to forgive the sins of those who confess them, but also to bestow rewards on those who correct them; if, however, each person seeks to be given what they understand is not hidden. Therefore, confess your iniquities, that you may be justified (Isaiah 43:26). This is the voice of God, who is willing to forgive; this is the voice of God, who promises to destroy your sin.
69. David says to you, 'I have sinned and done evil before you.' This means that even if humans cannot see, you see; even if humans cannot judge me, because they are participants in the offenses, you are still the judge of each individual, because you are free from offenses. Although harmful thoughts may hide in the innermost heart, they are still before you, who can say, 'Why do you think evil thoughts in your hearts?' (Matthew 9:4) Christ himself says this. Therefore, whoever knows what is written in the heart can erase whatever is written in the heart. Our David confesses not only to have sinned in himself, but also in the first man, while divine precepts were being disregarded.
70. Moreover, dear brethren, it is allowed to turn one's attention to the fact that all heresies, while they attack one another, recur within themselves. Thus the Arians, while separating the power of the Father and the Son, fiercely fall into the outcome of dispute, so that their assertion coincides with that of the Manichaeans, for those ones say that there is one God of the Old Testament and another of the New. This profane assertion the holy Church condemns, which acknowledges one God, because there is one God the Father from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus through whom are all things (1 Corinthians 8:6). Certainly the all-powerful power is declared as both the Father and the Son, so that we do not separate the grace of the New Testament from the Father, nor do we separate the Son from the restoration of the world.
71. Finally, let us consider whether the same God is the creator of both Testaments. Indeed, we all sinned in the first man, and through the succession of nature, the succession of guilt is also transmitted from one to all. In whom, then, did I sin? In the Father or in the Son? Surely in the one who believed in me, because I sinned by not keeping the commandment. It was commanded to man to taste everything that was in paradise, but not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen., II, 17). Therefore, Adam is in each of us. For in him human nature fell, because through one man sin passed into all. I see the highest trust that has been given to me; I see the weight of transgression that I have taken on while tasting forbidden and prohibited things. Hence, I must pay interest on the entrusted fate; because spotless faith could not preserve the interest of heavenly commands.
72. We have recognized the one who is believed, let us also recognize the one who believes. For it is the right of the creditor to demand and to release; and therefore the one who has the right to demand also releases. So when Christ says to me in the Gospel: Your sins are forgiven you (Luke 5:20), do I not understand Him as the Lord of mercy, whom I acknowledge as the judge of forgiveness? Or if the Father believed and the Son released, not by unity, as we say, but as the Arians assert, by a difference of power: did a different God believe and a different God release? Where they rush in to not escape the treachery of the Manicheans. Then by calling the one good God, they should take note of the snares of their own madness. If it is good, the one who believed, then how is it not good, the one who relaxed? Therefore, they have a share with the Arians, into whose assertion they come. It is not surprising if the one who once began to stray from the truth, becomes entangled in the bonds of another's error.