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Chapter 8BernT.1.8

De Nazareth

The Flower and the Fruit

Nazareth as a flower heralds the fruit of the Incarnation, and Nathanael's journey from fragrance to taste models the soul's movement from promise to full experience of Christ.

And Nazareth is seen — which means "flower" — where the one born in Bethlehem was nourished as God made flesh, like fruit growing within a flower: so that the fragrance of the flower might herald the taste of the fruit, and from the nostrils of the Prophe the holy liquid might pour itself into the throats of the Apostles; and while the Jews were satisfied with a faint fragrance, he might refresh Christians with solid food for their taste.✦✦ Nathanael had sensed this flower, however — because it gave off a fragrance sweeter than all spices.✦ So he used to say, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"✦ But not content with fragrance alone, he answered himself: "Come and see."✦ (John 1:46), he followed Philip.✦ Indeed, delighted by a generous sprinkling of that wonderful sweetness, and made flavor by drinking in the good fragrance, with fragrance itself as his guide, he took care to reach the fruit without any delay, longing to experience more fully what he had only glimpsed from afar, and tasting in person what he had merely smelled while absent.

Isaac's Fragrance and the Letter

Isaac's blessing over Jacob's fragrant garments is introduced as a type that illuminates the difference between outward scent and inward sweetness.

Let us look then at Isaac's sense of smell as well, in case it may have foreshadowed something that bears on the very matters now before us. Scripture speaks of him like this: "And as soon as he caught the fragrance of his garments (surely Jacob), 'See,' he said, 'the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a full field, which the Lord has blessed' (Gen.✦ XXVII, 27).

The Garment of the Letter

Isaac delighted only in the garment's scent and missed the wearer; so the Jew clings to the letter of Scripture and the likeness of sinful flesh, failing to perceive the Word within.

He caught the fragrance of the garment, but he didn't recognize the presence of the one who wore it: delighted outwardly by the scent of the garment alone, as though by the perfume of a flower, he didn't taste the inner sweetness of the fruit, since he remained cheated of the knowledge both of the chosen Son and of the Sacrament at the same time.✦ What's the point of this? The garment of the spirit is surely the letter, and the flesh of the Word. But even now the Jew doesn't know the Word in the flesh, nor does he see through the deity in the man; nor under the covering of the letter does he perceive the spiritual meaning: touching the kid's skin on the outside, which had portrayed the likeness of the greater, that is, of the first and ancient sinner, he doesn't reach the bare truth. He appeared not in the flesh of sin, but in the likeness of sinful flesh, he who came not to commit sin but to take it away, and this for the very reason he himself didn't keep silent about: so that those who don't see may see, and those who see may become blind (John✦✦ IX, 39). Deceived, then, by this likeness, the prophet — blind even to this day — blesses the one he doesn't know, while the one he pores over in the Scriptures he remains ignorant of, and in the miracles: and the one he handles with his own hands, binding, scourging, and striking, he by no means understands, even as he rises again.

The Lord of Glory Unrecognized

Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor.✦ II, 8).✦

A Brief Survey of Holy Places

The author proposes to recall only the more notable holy places briefly, since each cannot be lingered over.

Let's run through the other holy places in brief, and if not all of them, at least some: since we can't stop to admire each one individually, it's pleasant to recall at least the more notable ones, and that briefly.

Read the original Latin

Cernitur et Nazareth, quae interpretatur flos, in qua is qui natus in Bethlehem erat, tanquam fructus in flore coalescens, nutritus est Deus infans: ut floris odor fructus saporem praecederet, ac de naribus Prophetarum, faucibus se Apostolorum liquor sanctus infunderet; Judaeisque tenui odore contentis, gustu solido reficeret Christianos. Senserat tamen hunc florem Nathanael, quod super omnia aromata suave redoleret. Unde et aiebat: A Nazareth potest aliquid boni esse? Sed nequaquam sola contentus fragrantia, respondentem sibi, Veni et vide (Joan. I, 46), Philippum secutus est. Imo vero mirae illius suavitatis admodum respersione delectatus, haustuque boni odoris factus saporis a vidior, odore ipso duce, ad fructum usque sine mora pervenire curavit, cupiens plenius experiri quod tenuiter praesenserat, praesensque degustare quod odoraverat absens. Videamus et de olfactu Isaac, ne forte aliquid, quod pertineat ad haec ipsa quae in manibus sunt, portenderit. Loquitur de illo Scriptura sic: Statimque ut sensit vestimentorum ejus fragrantiam (haud dubium quin Jacob), Ecce, inquit, odor filii mei sicut odor agri pleni, cui benedixit Dominus (Gen.

XXVII, 27). Vestimenti fragrantiam sensit, sed vestiti praesentiam non agnovit: soloque vestis, tanquam floris odore, forinsecus delectatus, quasi fructus interioris dulcedinem non gustavit, dum et electi filii simul et sacramenti fraudatus cognitione remansit. Quo spectat hoc? Vestimentum profecto spiritus, littera est et caro Verbi. Sed ne nunc quidem Judaeus in carne Verbum, in homine scit deitatem; nec sub tegmine litterae sensum pervidet spiritualem: forisque palpans haedi pellem, quae similitudinem majoris, hoc est primi et antiqui peccatoris, expresserat, 551 ad nudam non pervenit veritatem. Non sane in carne peccati, sed in similitudine carnis peccati, qui peccatum non facere, sed tollere veniebat, apparuit, ea scilicet de causa quam ipse non tacuit, ut qui non vident videant, et qui vident caeci fiant (Joan. IX, 39). Hac ergo similitudine deceptus Propheta, caecus hodieque, quem nescit benedicit, dum quem lectitat in libris, ignorat et in miraculis: et quem propriis attrectat manibus, ligando, flagellando, colaphizando, minine tamen vel resurgentem intelligit.

Si enim cognovissent, nunquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent (I Cor. II, 8). Percurramus succincto sermone et caetera loca sancta, et si non omnia, saltem aliqua: quoniam quae admirari per singula non sufficimus, libet vel insigniora, et ipsa breviter recordari.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Heb.5.12-Heb.5.14 — For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you still need someone to teach you the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. Heb.5.13 — For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. Heb.5.14 — But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
  2. ↩1Cor.3.2 — I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able. But indeed, even now you are not able,
  3. ↩John.1.47 — Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, "Look, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit."
  4. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  5. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  6. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  7. ↩Gen.27.27 — So he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his garments and blessed him. And he said, "See, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed."
  8. ↩Gen.27.27 — So he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his garments and blessed him. And he said, "See, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed."
  9. ↩Rom.8.3 — For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
  10. ↩John.9.39 — And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind."
  11. ↩1Cor.2.8 — None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
  12. ↩1Cor.2.8 — None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

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