Excerpts from the Sermon on the Passion of Christ
Pay attention, all families of the
nations, and observe! An extraordinary murder has taken place in the center of Jerusalem,
in the city devoted to God's law, in the city of the Hebrews, in the city of
the prophets, in the city thought of as just. And who has been murdered? And
who is the murderer? I am ashamed to give the answer, but give it I must. For
if this murder had taken place at night, or if he had been slain in a desert
place, it would be well to keep silent; but it was in the middle of the main
street, even in the center of the city, while all were looking on, that the
unjust murder of this just person took place. And thus he was lifted up upon
the tree, and an inscription was affixed identifying the one who had been
murdered. Who was he? It is painful to tell, but it is more dreadful not to
tell. Therefore, hear and tremble because of him for whom the earth trembled.
The
one who hung the earth in space, is himself hanged; the one who fixed the
heavens in place, is himself impaled; the one who firmly fixed all things, is
himself firmly fixed to the tree. The Lord is insulted, God has been murdered,
the King of Israel has been destroyed by the right hand of Israel. O frightful
murder! O unheard of injustice! The Lord is disfigured and he is not deemed
worthy of a cloak for his naked body, so that he might not be seen exposed. For
this reason the stars turned and fled, and the day grew quite dark, in order to
hide the naked person hanging on the tree, darkening not the body of the Lord,
but the eyes of men.
Yes,
even though the people did not tremble, the earth trembled instead; although
the people were not afraid, the heavens grew frightened; although the people
did not tear their garments, the angels tore theirs; although the people did
not lament, the Lord thundered from heaven, and the most high uttered his
voice. Why was it like this, O Israel? You did not tremble for the Lord. You
did not fear for the Lord. You did not lament for the Lord, yet you lamented
for your firstborn. You did not tear your garments at the crucifixion of the
Lord, yet you tore your garments for your own who were murdered. You forsook
the Lord; you were not found by him. You dashed the Lord to the ground; you,
too, were dashed to the ground, and lie quite dead.
But
he arose from the dead and mounted up to the heights of heaven. When the Lord
had clothed himself with humanity, and had suffered for the sake of the
sufferer, and had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned, and had been
judged for the sake of the condemned, and buried for the sake of the one who
was buried, he rose up from the dead, and cried aloud with this voice: Who is
he who contends with me? Let him stand in opposition to me. I set the condemned
man free; I gave the dead man life; I raised up the one who had been entombed.
Who
is my opponent? I, he says, am the Christ. I am the one who destroyed death,
and triumphed over the enemy, and trampled Hades under foot, and bound the
strong one, and carried off man to the heights of heaven, I, he says, am the
Christ. Therefore, come, all families of men, you who have been befouled with sins,
and receive forgiveness for your sins. I am your forgiveness, I am the passover
of your salvation, I am the lamb which was sacrificed for you, I am your
ransom, I am your light, I am your saviour, I am your resurrection, I am your
king, I am leading you up to the heights of heaven, I will show you the eternal
Father, I will raise you up by my right hand.
This
is the one who made the heavens and the earth, and who in the beginning created
man, who was proclaimed through the law and prophets, who became human via the
virgin, who was hanged upon a tree, who was buried in the earth, who was
resurrected from the dead, and who ascended to the heights of heaven, who sits
at the right hand of the Father, who has authority to judge and to save
everything, through whom the Father created everything from the beginning of
the world to the end of the age.
This
is the alpha and the omega. This is the beginning and the end–an indescribable
beginning and an incomprehensible end. This is the Christ. This is the king.
This is Jesus. This is the general. This is the Lord. This is the one who rose
up from the dead. This is the one who sits at the right hand of the Father. He
bears the Father and is borne by the Father, to whom be the glory and the power
forever. Amen.
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