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Chapter 12BernT.1.12

De Sepulcro

The Tomb's First Place Among Holy Places

Bernard opens by honoring the tomb as the foremost holy place, where the memory of Christ's death stirs deeper devotion than the memory of his life.

Among holy and desirable places, the tomb holds a kind of first place, and there's something more felt in devotion where the dead one rested than where he lived and walked; and the memory of his death moves us to reverence more than the memory of his life. I think the former seems harsher, the latter sweeter: the rest of sleep flatters human weakness more than the labor of daily living; the security of death more than the uprightness of life. The life of Christ became for me the rule of how to live; his death, redemption from death. That one instructed life; this one destroyed death. Life is indeed toilsome, but death precious; and each, in truth, is absolutely necessary. For how could belonging to Christ benefit someone, whether death coming to a person living wickedly, or life to a person dying damnably? After all, does the death of Christ even now set free those who live wickedly unto death from eternal death, or did holiness free the holy fathers who died before Christ from life? As it is written: Who is the man who will live and not see death, who will rescue his soul from the hand of the grave?

Christ's Life, Death, and the Forgiveness of Sins

Christ taught us how to live by living and made death safe by dying, adding the gift of forgiveness without which nothing else would avail.

(Psalm 88:49)? So then, because both were equally necessary for us — to live piously and to die safely — he taught us how to live by living, and made death safe by dying: since indeed, about to rise again, he lay down, and gave to those who die the hope of rising again.✦ But he added a third benefit as well, when he even granted forgiveness of sins, without which the rest certainly would not have availed. For what — as far as true and highest blessedness is concerned — could however much uprightness or length of life have benefited the one who was held bound even by original sin alone? Sin indeed went before, so that death would follow: which surely, if man had guarded against it, he would not have tasted death forever.✦

Sin's Just Reversal and the Soul's Rebellion

By sinning, man justly lost life and found death; the soul that refused to be ruled by God now cannot rule the body, and the Creator finds his creature rebelling.

By sinning, then, he lost life and found death — for God had foretold exactly this, and it was surely just that if a human being sinned, he would die.✦ What could be more just than to receive back the same measure?✦ For God is the life of the soul, just as the soul is the life of the body. By sinning willingly, he willingly lost the power to live; unwillingly, he now loses the power to give life as well. He freely rejected life when he refused to live; now he has no power to give that life to whomever he wishes, or on whatever terms he chooses. The soul refused to be ruled by God; now it cannot rule the body. If it does not obey its superior, why should it rule what is beneath it? The Creator found his own creature rebelling against him; so too the soul finds its own servant rebelling against it.

The Double Death and Its Fitting Cure

Sin separates the soul from God and death separates the body from the soul; Christ met our double death with his single bodily and voluntary death, thereby condemning both of ours.

The one who transgressed the divine law was found to be human: let that person also find another law within his own members, one that resists the law of his own mind and holds him captive under the law of sin. Rom. 7:23). Furthermore, sin, as it is written, separates us from God. Let death, then, also separate our body from us. The soul could not be cut off from God except through sinning, nor the body from the soul except through dying. What therefore did the soul endure more harshly in punishment than it alone suffered from the subject, when it rebelled against its author? Nothing is more fitting than that death should bring about death: spiritual death bringing bodily death, culpable death bringing penal death, voluntary death bringing necessary death. So then, since through this double death man had been condemned in both his natures — one death spiritual and voluntary, the other bodily and necessary — God made man met each one with a single death of his own, bodily and voluntary, and by that single death of his condemned both of ours. And rightly so: for since from our two deaths one was reckoned to us as the merit of guilt and the other as the debt of punishment, he took on the punishment while knowing no guilt, and by dying willingly and in the body alone, he won for us both life and righteousness. Otherwise, if he had not suffered in the body, he would not have paid the debt; if he had not died willingly, that death would have had no merit. But now, if — as has been said — the merit of death is sin and the debt of sin is death, then with Christ remitting sin and dying for sinners, there is surely no merit left, and the debt has been paid.

Christ's Power and Will to Forgive Sins

Christ can forgive sins because he is God, proven by miracles and Scripture; and since sin is committed against him alone, he alone has the right and power to pardon it.

But how do we know that Christ can forgive sins? From this, without doubt: because he is God, and whatever he wills, he can do. But how do we know that he is God? The miracles prove it. He does works that no one else could do — not to mention the prophecies of the prophets, and the testimony of the Father's voice sent down from heaven to him from the glorious majesty. If God is for us, who can be against us?✦ God is the one who justifies; who is there to condemn?✦ If he is the one, and no other, to whom we confess daily, saying: Against you alone have I sinned (Ps.✦ Who has a better claim—or really, who else at all—to forgive a sin committed against them? Or how can he himself not be able, who is able to do all things? In the end, I can freely pardon whatever is done against me, if I choose; and God cannot forgive what is committed against himself? So then, if the Almighty can forgive sins, and he alone can, against whom alone sin is committed; blessed indeed is the one to whom he himself will not impute sin.✦ Therefore we have come to know that Christ, by the power of his divinity, was able to loosen sins.

From Power to Will: Christ's Humanity Reveals His Mercy

His deity shows he was able to forgive; his humanity shows he willed it, since he who bore death's penalty for us has already paid what could ever be demanded from us again.

And now, who would still have doubts about his will? He who took on our flesh and underwent death — do you really think he'll refuse to share his righteousness with us? Willingly incarnate, willingly suffering, willingly crucified — would he keep his righteousness all to himself and not give it to us? So what is clear from his deity is that he was able; what became known from his humanity is that he willed. But on what grounds do we trust, then, that he took away death? This much is plain: he endured death himself, though he didn't deserve it. On what basis, then, could what he has already paid for us ever be demanded from us again? He who bore the due penalty of sin, granting us his own righteousness; he himself paid back death's debt and restored life.

Life Through Death: The Mystery of Redemption

Life returns through death and justice through the removal of sin; Christ could die because he was human, and his death availed for others because he was righteous.

That's how it is: life comes back through death, just as justice comes back once sin is taken away. What's more, death is put to flight by Christ's death, and Christ's justice is credited to us. But how could the one who was God die? Because, surely, he was also human. But in what way did the death of that human being have power for another? Because he was also righteous. Certainly, since he was human, he was able to die; since he was righteous, he did not have to die for nothing. A sinner isn't enough to pay the debt of death for another sinner, since each one dies for himself.

Mercy, Not Justice: The Innocent Dying for the Wicked

The innocent dying for the wicked is not justice but mercy; yet even if it were justice, one person could not satisfy for many unless that one were more than merely just.

But if someone doesn't have the right to die for himself, should he die in vain for someone else? The more undeservedly the one who hasn't earned death dies, the more justly the one he dies for lives. But what kind of justice is it, you ask, that an innocent person should die for the wicked? It isn't justice, but mercy. If it were justice, he wouldn't be dying freely, but out of obligation. If out of obligation, he would indeed die, but the one he died for wouldn't live. But if it isn't justice, it still isn't against justice. Otherwise, he couldn't be both just and merciful at the same time. But even if a just person could justly make satisfaction for a sinner, by what arrangement could one person do it for many? For it would seem enough to satisfy justice if one person, by dying, restored life to one person.

One for Many: The Apostle's Answer

Paul answers that as one man's offense brought condemnation to all, so one man's righteousness brings justification and life to all; Adam's sin harmed all, and Christ's righteousness restores all.

Let the Apostle answer this now. For as he says, through one person's offense, condemnation came to all people; so also through one person's righteousness, justification of life came to all people.✦ For just as through one person's disobedience many were made sinners, so also through one person's obedience many will be made righteous (Rom.✦ 5, 18, 19). But perhaps one person could indeed restore righteousness to many, but could not restore life. Through one person, he says, death came, and through one person, life.✦ For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor.✦ 15, 21, 22). What then? One person sinned, and all are held guilty; and will the innocence of one be credited to only one? The sin of one brought death upon all, and will the righteousness of one restore life to only one? Did God's justice avail more for condemning than for restoring? Or could Adam do more in evil than Christ in good? Will Adam's sin be charged to me, and Christ's righteousness not apply to me? That one's disobedience destroyed me, and will this one's obedience do me no good?

Born of God: Spiritual Generation Over Fleshly Descent

Though we descend from Adam by carnal desire, we are born of God by the Spirit and chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world; love poured out by the Spirit proves we are God's children.

But you say we all rightly contract Adam's sin, since in it we all sinned: because when he sinned, we were in him, and born from his flesh through the lust of the flesh. Yet by God we are born far more truly according to the spirit than according to the flesh from Adam; and by that same spirit we were in Christ long before we were in Adam according to the flesh: if at least we too are confident of being counted among those of whom the Apostle says, He chose us in him (doubtless the Father in the Son) before the foundation of the world (Eph.✦ 1:4). That they are also born from God, the evangelist John testifies where it says, Who were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John✦ 1:13); likewise he himself in the Letter, Everyone who is born of God does not sin, because a heavenly generation preserves him (1 John✦ 3:9). But the descent through the flesh, he says, is testified by carnal desire: and the sin we feel in the flesh clearly proves that according to the flesh we descend from the flesh of the sinner. And yet, all the same, that spiritual generation is felt not in the flesh but in the heart, and only by those who can say with Paul, We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor.✦ In this, too, they recognize how far they have advanced, so that they themselves can say with complete confidence, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16).✦ And this: "We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things given to us by God" (1 Cor. 2:12).✦ (2 Cor. 5:12.)✦ Therefore, through the Spirit who is from God, love has been poured out in our hearts, just as through the flesh, which is from Adam, concupiscence flows, planted in our members.✦ And just as that concupiscence which descends from the progenitor of bodies has never, in this mortal life, fallen away from the flesh, so also that love which proceeds from the Father of spirits never falls away from the intention of the sons — of the perfect alone.✦

Grace Abounds More Than Sin

If death came through one man, much more does life come through one; the gift is not like the trespass, for grace followed many trespasses and brought justification.

If, then, we are born of God and chosen in Christ, what kind of justice is it that what is human and earthly should harm us more than what is divine and heavenly — that fleshly descent should overpower God's choosing, and a passing desire of the flesh should override his eternal purpose? Indeed, if through one man death came, why not much more through that one man, life?✦ And if in Adam we all die, why not far more powerfully in Christ will we all be made alive?✦ In short, the gift is not like the trespass.✦ For judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but grace followed many trespasses and brought justification.✦ Rom. 5:15, 16). Christ, then, could forgive sins, since he is God; and could die, since he is human; and by dying could pay death's debt, since he is righteous; and as one man could be enough for righteousness and life for all, since both sin and death spread from one person to everyone.✦

Christ's Whole Work: Teaching, Suffering, and Saving

Christ lived among us to teach, work wonders, and suffer, completing our salvation by forgiving sins; nothing is lacking provided we imitate his examples and reverence his works.

But this too was provided entirely of necessity: because death had been put off, man deigned to live among men for a while, so that by frequent and truthful speech he might stir them toward invisible things, by wondrous works he might build up faith, and by upright conduct he might instruct right morals. Therefore, in the sight of all people, God as man lived soberly, justly, and devoutly, spoke true things, worked wonders, and suffered things unworthy — in all of which, what has been lacking to us for salvation? Let the grace of the forgiveness of sins be added — that is, that he freely forgive sins — and indeed the work of our salvation is complete. There is no reason to fear that, in forgiving sins, either the power might be lacking to God or the will to the one who suffered — and suffered so much for sinners — provided only that we are found duly careful, as is fitting, both to imitate his examples and to reverence his miracles; and that we prove unbelieving toward his teaching, and ungrateful for his sufferings.

Weakness as Strength: The Wisdom of the Cross

Christ's weakness was as beneficial as his majesty; what seems folly—his self-emptying, poverty, and suffering—is our wisdom, justice, and holiness, and by paying what he never seized he recovered what was lost.

And so everything about Christ has had its full effect on us — everything whole, everything saving, everything necessary — and his weakness was no less beneficial than his majesty: for even though by the power of his divinity he banished the yoke of sin by his command, yet by the weakness of his flesh he shattered the claims of death by dying. Hence the Apostle beautifully says: 'What is weak in God's sight is stronger than human strength.'✦ But even what is called his folly — through which it pleased him to save the world, to confound the world's wisdom, to put the wise to shame — that is to say, though he was in the form of God, equal to God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant; that though he was rich, he became poor for our sake — small from being great, lowly from being exalted, weak from being powerful; that he hungered, that he thirsted, that he grew weary on the journey, and all the other things he suffered by choice, not by necessity — was not this so-called folly of his a way to us of wisdom, a pattern of justice, and a model of holiness?✦✦✦ For this reason also the Apostle says: 'What is foolish in God's sight,' he says, 'is wiser than human wisdom' (1 Cor.✦ 1, 25). Death, therefore, freed us from death, life from error, and grace from sin. And indeed death achieved its victory through its justice: for the Just One, by paying back what he had not seized, rightly recovered what had been lost. Life, for its part, fulfilled what pertained to itself through wisdom, and has stood as an example and a mirror for us of life and discipline.

Christ Our Life, Wisdom, and Justice

Christ's death is the death of our death; he is himself our life, wisdom, and justice, as Scripture testifies.

Furthermore, grace from that power—as has already been said—forgave sins: the power by which he did all things, whatever he willed. The death of Christ, then, is the death of my death, because he died so that I might live. For how could anyone not now live for whom Life itself dies? Or who now, in conduct or in the knowledge of things, would fear going astray with Wisdom as their guide? Or from what direction now will the accused be held, when Justice herself has acquitted them? Indeed, Life itself testifies to himself in the Gospel: 'I am,' he says, 'the life' (John✦ 14:6). Furthermore, the Apostle bears witness to the next two things, saying: 'Who became for us justice and wisdom from God the Father' (1 Cor.✦ 1:30).✦

Freed Yet Waiting: The Law of Sin and Death

Though freed from the law of sin and death by the Spirit, we still die for God's truth's sake; sin and death remain in part until the redemption of the body.

If, then, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed us from the law of sin and of death, why do we still die, and not immediately put on immortality?✦ Indeed, so that God's truth might be fulfilled. For God loves mercy and truth (Ps.✦ LXXXIII, 12), it is indeed necessary for a person to die, since God had foretold it; but nevertheless to rise again from death, lest God forget to show mercy. So therefore death, even if it does not reign perpetually, remains nonetheless for God's truth's sake, or for a time, in us: just as sin, even if it no longer reigns in our mortal body, is nonetheless not entirely absent from us. Accordingly, Paul indeed boasts that he has been set free from the law of sin and of death; but again he complains that he is nonetheless burdened in part by some law, whether when he cries out miserably against sin, I find another law in my members (Rom.✦ VI, 23), and so on; or when he groans, burdened, there is no doubt that by the law of death, awaiting the redemption of his own body (Rom.✦ , VIII, 23).

Sweetness at the Tomb: Pilgrimage and New Life

Gazing upon the tomb pours devotion into the heart; though empty of Christ's remains, it is full of joyful sacraments, for through baptism we are buried with him to walk in newness of life.

So whether these things, or whatever others of this kind, are suggested to Christian minds on the occasion of the tomb — just as each person abounds in feeling about such matters — I think no ordinary sweetness of devotion is poured in upon the one who gazes at it up close, and no small benefit comes from seeing with even bodily eyes the physical place of the Lord's rest. For although it is now empty of its sacred remains, it is nevertheless full of our own and most joyful sacraments. Ours, I say, ours — if only we embrace them as eagerly as we hold them with full confidence! For the Apostle says: 'For we have been buried together through Baptism into death, so that just as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.'✦ For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we will at the same time also be partakers of his resurrection (Rom.✦ VI, 4, 5). How sweet it is for pilgrims, after the great weariness of a long journey, after so many dangers on land and sea, to rest at last in the very place where they recognize that their Lord himself rested! I think that now, because of their joy, they no longer feel the toil of the journey, nor do they count the burden of expenses; but as though they had obtained the reward of their labor, or the prize of the race, they rejoice greatly, in accord with the saying of Scripture, when they have found the tomb (Job.✦ III, 22).

A Glorious Tomb Foretold

Isaiah foretold that the root of Jesse's tomb would be glorious; we see this fulfilled, so that joy meets newness and authority meets antiquity.

Nor should it be thought that the tomb gained such a celebrated name by chance or suddenly, or through some slippery popular whim of favor, since Isaiah himself had predicted this very thing so clearly so long ago: "And there shall be," he says, "in that day the root of Jesse, who stands as a sign of the peoples; the nations shall entreat him, and his tomb shall be glorious" (Isa.✦ XI, 10).✦ Truly, then, we see fulfilled what we read had been prophesied — new indeed to the one looking on, yet ancient to the one reading: so that joy may be present in the thing's newness, and authority may not be lacking in its antiquity. And let this much suffice concerning the tomb.

Read the original Latin

Inter sancta ac desiderabilia loca sepulcrum tenet quodammodo principatum, et devotionis plus nescio quid sentitur, ubi mortuus requievit, quam ubi vivens conversatus est; atque amplius movet ad pietatem mortis, quam vitae recordatio. Puto quod illa austerior, haec dulcior videatur: magisque infirmitati blandiatur humanae quies dormitionis, quam labor conversationis; mortis securitas, quam vitae rectitudo. Vita Christi, vivendi mihi regula exstitit: mors, a morte redemptio. Illa vitam instruxit, mortem ista destruxit. Vita quidem laboriosa, sed mors pretiosa; utraque vero admodum necessaria. Quid enim Christi prodesse poterat, sive mors nequiter viventi, sive vita damnabiliter morienti? Nunquid denique aut mors Christi etiam nunc male usque ad mortem viventes a morte aeterna liberat, aut mortuos ante Christum sanctos patres vitae sanctitas liberavit? sicut scriptum est, Quis est homo qui vivet, et non videbit mortem, eruet animam suam de manu inferi?

(Psal. LXXXVIII, 49)? Nunc ergo quia utrumque nobis pariter necessarium erat, et pie vivere, et secure mori; et vivendo vivere docuit, et mortem moriendo securam reddidit: quoniam quidem resurrecturus occubuit, et spem fecit morientibus resurgendi. Sed addidit et tertium beneficium, cum etiam peccata donavit, sine quo utique caetera non valebant. Quid enim (quantum quidem ad veram summamque beatitudinem spectat) quantalibet vitae rectitudo seu longitudo prodesse poterat illi, qui vel solo originali peccato teneretur adstrictus? Peccatum quippe praecessit, ut sequeretur mors: quod sane si cavisset homo, mortem non gustasset in aeternum.

Peccando itaque vitam amisit, et mortem invenit: quoniam quidem et Deus ita praedixerat, et justum profecto erat, ut si peccaret homo, moreretur. Quid namque justius poterat quam recipere talionem? Vita siquidem Deus animae est, ipsa corporis. Peccando voluntarie, volens perdidit vivere: nolens perdat et vivificare. Sponte repulit vitam cum vivere noluit; non valeat eam dare cui, vel quatenus voluerit. Noluit anima regi a Deo: non queat regere corpus. Si non paret superiori, inferiori cur imperet? Invenit Conditor suam sibi rebellem creaturam: inveniat anima suam sibi rebellem pedissequam.

Transgressor inventus est homo divinae legis: inveniat et ipse aliam legem in membris suis, repugnantem legi 553 mentis suae, et captivantem se in legem peccati (Rom. VII, 23). Porro peccatum, ut scriptum est, separat inter nos et Deum (Isai. LIX, 2): separet proinde etiam mors inter corpus nostrum et nos. Non potuit dividi a Deo anima nisi peccando, nec corpus ab ipsa nisi moriendo. Quid itaque austerius pertulit in ultione, id solum passa a subdito, quod praesumpserat in auctorem? Nihil profecto congruentius, quam ut mors operata sit mortem, spiritualis corporalem, culpabilis poenalem, voluntaria necessariam.

Cum ergo hac gemina morte secundum utramque naturam homo damnatus fuisset, altera quidem spirituali et voluntaria, altera corporali et necessaria; utrique Deus homo una sua corporali ac voluntaria benigne et potenter occurrit, illaque una sua nostram utramque damnavit. Merito quidem: nam ex duabus mortibus nostris, cum altera nobis in culpae meritum, altera in poenae debitum reputaretur; suscipiens poenam, et nesciens culpam, dum sponte et tantum in corpore moritur et vitam nobis, et justitiam promeretur. Alioquin si corporaliter non pateretur, debitum non solvisset: si non voluntarie moreretur, meritum mors illa non habuisset. Nunc autem si, ut dictum est, mortis meritum est peccatum, et peccati debitum mors; Christo remittente peccatum, et moriente pro peccatoribus, profecto jam nullum est meritum, et solutum est debitum.

Caeterum unde scimus, quod Christus possit peccata dimittere? Hinc procul dubio, quia Deus est, et quidquid vult, potest. Unde autem et quod Deus sit? Miracula probant. Facit quippe opera, quae nemo alius facere possit: ut taceam oracula Prophetarum, necnon et paternae vocis testimonium elapsae coelitus ad ipsum a magnifica gloria. Quod si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos? Deus qui justificat, quis est qui condemnet? Si ipse est et non alius, cui quotidie confitemur dicentes: Tibi soli peccavi (Psal.

L, 6); quis melius, imo quis alius remittere potest quod in eum peccatum est? Aut quomodo ipse non potest, qui omnia potest? Denique ego quod in me delinquitur valeo, si volo, donare: et Deus non queat in se commissa remittere? Si ergo peccata remittere et possit, omnipotens, et solus possit, cui soli peccatur; beatus profecto, cui non imputabit ipse peccatum. Itaque cognovimus, quod peccata Christus divinitatis suae potentia valuit relaxare.

Porro jam de voluntate quis dubitet? Qui enim nostram et induit carnem, et subiit mortem; putas, suam nobis negabit justitiam? Voluntarie incarnatus, voluntarie passus, voluntarie crucifixus, solam a nobis retinebit justitiam? Quod ergo ex deitate constat illum potuisse, ex humanitate innotuit et voluisse. Sed unde rursum confidimus quod mortem abstulit? Hinc plane, quod eam ipse qui non meruit, pertulit. Qua enim ratione iterum exigeretur a nobis, quod pro nobis ille jam solvit? Qui peccati meritum tulit, suam nobis donando justitiam; ipse mortis debitum solvit et reddidit vitam.

Sic namque mortua morte revertitur vita, quemadmodum ablato peccato redit justitia. Porro mors in Christi morte fugatur, et Christi nobis justitia imputatur. Verum quomodo mori potuit qui Deus erat? Quoniam nimirum et homo erat. Sed quo pacto mors hominis illius pro altero valuit? Quia et justus erat. Profecto namque cum homo esset, potuit mori; cum justus, non debuit gratis. Non quidem peccator mortis sufficit solvere debitum pro altero peccatore, cum quisque moriatur pro se.

Qui autem mori pro se non habet, nunquid pro alio frustra debet? Quanto sane indignius moritur qui mortem non meruit, tanto is justius pro quo moritur, vivit.

Sed quae, inquis, justitia est, ut innocens moriatur pro impio? Non est justitia, sed misericordia. Si justitia esset, jam non gratis, sed ex debito moreretur. Si ex debito, ipse quidem moreretur: sed is pro quo moreretur, non viveret. At vero si justitia non est, non tamen contra justitiam est. Alioquin et justus, et misericors simul esse non posset. Sed etsi justus 554 non injuste pro peccatore satisfacere valeat, quo tamen pacto etiam unus pro pluribus? Etenim satis esse videretur ad justitiam, si unus uni moriens vitam restituat.

Huic jam respondeat Apostolus. Sicut enim, inquit, per unius delictum, in omnes homines, in condemnationem; sic et per unius justitiam, in omnes homines, in justificationem vitae. Sicut enim per inobedientiam unius hominis peccatores constituti sunt multi, ita et per unius hominis obedientiam justi constituentur multi (Rom. V, 18, 19). Sed forte unus pluribus justitiam quidem restituere potuit, vitam non potuit. Per unum, ait, hominem mors, et per unum hominem vita. Sicut enim in Adam omnes moriuntur, ita et in Christo omnes vivificabuntur (I Cor. XV, 21, 22).

Quid enim? Unus peccavit, et omnes tenentur rei; et unius innocentia soli reputabitur uni? Unius peccatum omnibus operatum est mortem, et unius justitia uni vitam restituet? Itane Dei justitia magis ad condemnandum, quam ad restaurandum valuit? aut plus potuit Adam in malo, quam Christus in bono? Adae peccatum imputabitur mihi, et Christi justitia non pertinebit ad me? Illius me inobedientia perdidit, et hujus obedientia non proderit mihi?

Sed Adae, inquis, delictum merito omnes contrahimus, in quo quippe omnes peccavimus: quoniam cum peccavit, in ipso eramus, et ex ejus carne per carnis concupiscentiam geniti sumus. Atqui ex Deo multo germanius secundum spiritum nascimur, quam secundum carnem ex Adam; secundum quem etiam spiritum longe ante fuimus in Christo, quam secundum carnem in Adam: si tamen et nos inter illos numerari confidimus, de quibus Apostolus, Qui elegit nos, inquit, in ipso (haud dubium quin Pater in Filio) ante mundi constitutionem (Ephes. I, 4). Quod autem etiam ex Deo nati sunt, testatur evangelista Joannes, ubi ait, Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt (Joan. I, 13): item ipse in Epistola, Omnis qui natus est ex Deo, non peccat, quia generatio coelestis conservat eum (I Joan. III, 9). At carnis traducem, ais, carnalis testatur concupiscentia: et peccatum quod in carne sentimus, manifeste probat, quod secundum carnem de carne peccatoris descendimus. Sed enim nihilominus spiritualis illa generatio, non quidem in carne, sed in corde sentitur ab his duntaxat qui cum Paulo dicere possunt, Nos autem sensum Christi habemus (I Cor.

II, 16); in quo et eatenus profecisse se sentiunt, ut et ipsi cum omni fiducia dicant, Ipse enim spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quod sumus filii Dei (Rom. VIII, 16): et illud, Nos autem non spiritum hujus mundi accepimus, sed spiritum qui ex Deo est, ut sciamus quae a Deo donata sunt nobis (I Cor. II, 12). Per spiritum ergo qui ex Deo est, charitas diffusa est in cordibus nostris: sicut et per carnem quae est ex Adam, manat concupiscentia nostris insita membris. Et quomodo ista quae a progenitore corporum descendit, nunquam in hac vita mortali a carne recidit; sic illa procedens ex Patre spirituum, ab intentione filiorum duntaxat perfectorum nunquam excidit.

Si ergo ex Deo nati, et in Christo electi sumus: quaenam justitia est, ut plus noceat humana atque terrena, quam valeat divina coelestisque generatio; Dei electionem vincat carnalis successio, et aeterno ejus proposito carnis praescribat temporaliter traducta concupiscentia? Quinimo si per unum hominem mors, cur non multo magis per unum, et illum hominem vita? Et si in Adam omnes morimur, cur non longe potentius in Christo omnes vivificabimur? Denique non sicut delictum, ita et donum. Nam judicium ex uno in condemnationem; gratia autem ex multis delictis in justificationem (Rom. V, 15, 16). Christus igitur et peccata dimittere potuit, cum Deus sit; et mori, cum sit homo; et mortis moriendo solvere debitum, quia justus; et omnibus unus ad justitiam vitamque sufficere, quandoquidem et peccatum, et mors ex uno in omnes processerit.

Sed hoc quoque necessarie omnino provisum est, quod dilata morte homo inter homines dignatus est aliquandiu conversari: quatenus crebris et veris 555 locutionibus ad invisibilia excitaret, miris operibus astrueret fidem, rectis moribus instrueret. Itaque in oculis hominum Deus homo sobrie, et juste, et pie conversatus, vera locutus, mira operatus, indigna passus, in quo jam defuit nobis ad salutem? Accedat et gratia remissionis peccatorum, hoc est, ut gratis peccata dimittat: et opus profecto nostrae salutis consummatum est. Non autem metuendum, quod donandis peccatis aut potestas Deo, aut voluntas passo, et tanta passo pro peccatoribus desit: si tamen solliciti inveniamur digne, ut oportet, et imitari exempla, et venerari miracula; doctrinae quoque non existamus increduli, et passionibus non ingrati.

Itaque totum nobis de Christo valuit, totum salutiferum, totumque necessarium fuit, nec minus profuit infirmitas quam majestas: quia etsi ex deitatis potentia peccati jugum jubendo submovit, ex carnis tamen infirmitate mortis jura moriendo concussit. Unde pulchre ait Apostolus: Quod infirmum est Dei, fortius est hominibus. Sed et illa ejus stultitia, per quam ei placuit salvum facere mundum, ut mundi confutaret sapientiam, confunderet sapientes; quod videlicet cum in forma Dei esset, Deo aequalis, semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens; quod dives cum esset, propter nos egenus factus est, de magno parvus, de celso humilis, infirmus de potente; quod esuriit, quod sitiit, quod fatigatus est in itinere, et caetera quae passus est voluntate, non necessitate: haec ergo ipsius quaedam stultitia, nonne fuit nobis via prudentiae, justitiae forma, sanctitatis exemplum? Ob hoc item Apostolus: Quod stultum est, inquit, Dei, sapientius est hominibus (I Cor. I, 25). Mors ergo a morte, vita ab errore, a peccato gratia liberavit. Et quidem mors per justitiam suam peregit victoriam: quia justus exsolvendo quae non rapuit, jure omnino quod amiserat recepit. Vita vero quod ad se pertinuit, per sapientiam adimplevit, quae nobis vitae et disciplinae documentum ac speculum exstitit.

Porro gratia ex illa, ut dictum est, potestate peccata dimisit, qua omnia quaecunque voluit, fecit. Mors itaque Christi, mors est meae mortis: quia ille mortuus est, ut ego viverem. Quo pacto enim jam non vivat, pro quo moritur Vita? Aut quis jam in via morum, seu rerum notitia errare timebit duce Sapientia? Aut unde jam reus tenebitur, quem absolvit Justitia? Vitam quidem se ipse perhibet in Evangelio: Ego sum, inquiens, vita (Joan. XIV, 6). Porro duo sequentia testatur Apostolus, dicens: Qui factus est nobis justitia et sapientia a Deo Patre (I Cor.

I, 30).

Si ergo lex spiritus vitae in Christo Jesu liberavit nos a lege peccati et mortis, utquid adhuc morimur, et non statim immortalitate vestimur? Sane ut Dei veritas impleatur. Quia enim misericordiam et veritatem diligit Deus (Psal. LXXXIII, 12), necesse est mori quidem hominem, quippe quod praedixerat Deus: sed a morte tamen resurgere, ne obliviscatur misereri Deus. Ita ergo mors etsi non perpetuo dominatur, manet tamen propter veritatem Dei vel ad tempus in nobis: quemadmodum peccatum, etsi jam non regnat in nostro mortali corpore, non tamen deest penitus nobis. Proinde Paulus ex parte quidem liberatum se a lege peccati et mortis gloriatur; sed rursum se utraque nihilominus lege aliqua gravari ex parte conqueritur, sive cum adversus peccatum miserabiliter clamat, Invenio aliam legem in membris meis (Rom. VI, 23), et caetera; sive cum ingemiscit gravatus, haud dubium quin lege mortis, redemptionem exspectans corporis sui (Rom. , VIII, 23).

Sive itaque haec, sive alia quaecunque in hunc modum, prout in talibus in suo quisque abundat sensu, ex occasione sepulcri christianis sensibus suggerantur: puto quod non mediocris dulcedo devotionis infundatur cominus intuenti; nec parum proficitur cernendo etiam corporalibus oculis corporalem locum dominicae quietis. Etsi quippe jam vacuum sacris membris, plenum tamen nostris et jucundis admodum sacramentis. Nostris, inquam, nostris, si tamen tam ardenter amplectimur, quam indubitanter tenemus 556 quod Apostolus ait: Consepulti enim sumus per Baptismum in mortem, ut quomodo surrexit Christus a mortuis per gloriam Patris, ita et nos in novitate vitae ambulemus. Si enim complantati facti sumus similitudini mortis ejus, simul et resurrectionis erimus (Rom. VI, 4, 5). Quam dulce est peregrinis post multam longi itineris fatigationem, post plurima terrae marisque pericula, ibi tandem quiescere, ubi et agnoscunt suum Dominum quievisse! Puto jam prae gaudio non sentiunt viae laborem, nec gravamen reputant expensarum; sed tanquam laboris praemium, cursusve bravium assecuti, juxta Scripturae sententiam, gaudent vehementer cnm invenerint sepulcrum (Job. III, 22).

Nec casu vel subito, aut veluti lubrica popularis favoris opinione, id tam celebre nomen sepulcrum nactum esse putetur, cum hoc ipsum tantis retro temporibus Isaias tam aperte praedixerit: Et erit, inquit, in die illa radix Jesse, qui stat in signum populorum, ipsum gentes deprecabuntur, et erit sepulcrum ejus gloriosum (Isa. XI, 10). Revera ergo impletum cernimus quod legimus prophetatum, novum quidem intuenti, sed legenti antiquum: ut sic adsit de novitate jucunditas, ut de vetustate non desit auctoritas. Et de sepulcro ista sufficiant.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Cor.15.3-1Cor.15.4 — For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. 1Cor.15.4 — and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
  2. ↩Gen.2.17;Rom.5.12 — but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day you eat from it you shall surely die. Rom.5.12 — Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and so death spread to all people, because all sinned—
  3. ↩Gen.2.17 — but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day you eat from it you shall surely die.
  4. ↩Matt.7.2 — For with the judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
  5. ↩Rom.8.31 — What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
  6. ↩Rom.8.33-Rom.8.34 — Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Rom.8.34 — Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus—the one who died, and more than that, was raised—who is also at the right hand of God, and who also intercedes for us.
  7. ↩Ps.51.4 — Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
  8. ↩Ps.31.2 — In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your righteousness, deliver me.
  9. ↩Rom.5.18 — So then, just as through one trespass there was condemnation for all people, so also through one act of righteousness there was justification leading to life for all people.
  10. ↩Rom.5.19 — For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
  11. ↩1Cor.15.21 — For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being.
  12. ↩1Cor.15.22 — For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
  13. ↩Eph.1.4 — just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love
  14. ↩John.1.13 — who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
  15. ↩1John.3.9 — Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin, because his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
  16. ↩1Cor.2.16 — For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
  17. ↩Rom.8.16 — The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
  18. ↩1Cor.2.12 — Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may understand the things freely given to us by God.
  19. ↩2Cor.5.12 — We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity for boasting about us, so that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart.
  20. ↩Rom.5.5 — And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
  21. ↩Heb.12.9 — Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
  22. ↩Rom.5.15-Rom.5.17 — But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the trespass of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. Rom.5.16 — And the gift is not like what came through the one who sinned. For the judgment following one trespass led to condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses led to justification. Rom.5.17 — For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
  23. ↩1Cor.15.22;Rom.5.12-Rom.5.21 — For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Rom.5.12 — Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and so death spread to all people, because all sinned— Rom.5.13 — For sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Rom.5.14 — Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the one who was to come. Rom.5.15 — But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the trespass of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. Rom.5.16 — And the gift is not like what came through the one who sinned. For the judgment following one trespass led to condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses led to justification. Rom.5.17 — For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Rom.5.18 — So then, just as through one trespass there was condemnation for all people, so also through one act of righteousness there was justification leading to life for all people. Rom.5.19 — For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Rom.5.20 — The law came in alongside so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Rom.5.21 — so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  24. ↩Rom.5.15 — But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the trespass of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.
  25. ↩Rom.5.16 — And the gift is not like what came through the one who sinned. For the judgment following one trespass led to condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses led to justification.
  26. ↩Rom.5.12-Rom.5.21 — Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and so death spread to all people, because all sinned— Rom.5.13 — For sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Rom.5.14 — Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the one who was to come. Rom.5.15 — But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the trespass of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. Rom.5.16 — And the gift is not like what came through the one who sinned. For the judgment following one trespass led to condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses led to justification. Rom.5.17 — For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Rom.5.18 — So then, just as through one trespass there was condemnation for all people, so also through one act of righteousness there was justification leading to life for all people. Rom.5.19 — For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Rom.5.20 — The law came in alongside so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Rom.5.21 — so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  27. ↩1Cor.1.25 — For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
  28. ↩Phil.2.6-Phil.2.7 — who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to exploit, Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being.
  29. ↩1Cor.1.23-1Cor.1.25 — but we proclaim Christ crucified: to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, 1Cor.1.24 — but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1Cor.1.25 — For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
  30. ↩2Cor.8.9 — For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
  31. ↩1Cor.1.25 — For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
  32. ↩John.14.6 — Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'
  33. ↩1Cor.1.30 — But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom for us from God—both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
  34. ↩1Cor.1.30 — But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom for us from God—both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
  35. ↩Rom.8.2 — For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
  36. ↩Ps.83.12 — Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
  37. ↩Rom.7.23 — But I see another law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which is in my members.
  38. ↩Rom.8.23 — Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
  39. ↩Rom.6.4 — Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.
  40. ↩Rom.6.5 — For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.
  41. ↩Job.3.22 — those who rejoice unto exultation, who are glad when they find the grave
  42. ↩Isa.11.10 — And in that day the Root of Jesse, who stands as a banner for the peoples — the nations will seek him, and his resting place will be glory.
  43. ↩Isa.11.10 — And in that day the Root of Jesse, who stands as a banner for the peoples — the nations will seek him, and his resting place will be glory.

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