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Chapter 55SermC.1.55

Sermo 55

The Bridegroom Leaps Like a Roe Deer

The Bridegroom is fittingly compared to a roe deer and a young stag, creatures swift in running and keen in sight, because the Word of God runs swiftly and discerns where to leap.

My beloved is like a roe deer and a young stag.✦ This is drawn from the previous verse. For the one he had just described as leaping and hastening, he now fittingly compares to a roe deer and a young stag. And this is fitting, since this kind of creature is swift in its running and nimble in its leaping. Furthermore, the discourse is about the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is the Word. And the Prophet says of God that his word runs swiftly — which is surely fitting for this passage, where the Bridegroom, who is the Word of God, is described as leaping and springing — and so he is made like a roe deer and a young stag.✦ And this is the reason for the likeness. Add this too, so that no aspect of the likeness — even the least point — may be missed: for the roe deer is remarkable not only for the swiftness of its running, but also for the keenness of its sight.

Mercy and Judgment in the Leaping Bridegroom

Christ the Bridegroom burns with love yet leaps with prudent discernment, revealing both His desire to save all and His knowledge of those He has chosen.

This, then, properly applies to that part of the narrative in which the bridegroom is described as not only leaping but also jumping over — because without a keen and penetrating gaze he could never, especially while running, discern toward whom he should leap and whom he ought to skip. Otherwise the comparison with the young deer alone could have served to suggest the haste of one speeding along, since it is known to carry itself with a swifter pace. But now, since this bridegroom — though burning with love — seems to rush headlong into the beloved's embrace, he nevertheless knows how to guide his steps, or rather his leaps, with prudent consideration, careful where to plant his foot. So it was necessary for the likeness to include not only the young deer but also the roe deer, so that through the one the desire of the Savior might be expressed, and through the other the discernment of the One who chooses. Christ, then — just and merciful, Savior and Judge: because he loves, he desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and because he judges, he knows who are his, and he himself knows those he chose from the beginning.

Fear the Lamp of the Judge

The Holy Spirit commends mercy and judgment through these creatures, recalls Christ's infancy, and warns that the sharp-eyed Judge will search Jerusalem with lamps, examining kidneys and hearts.

So let us take to heart these two good things of the bridegroom — mercy, that is, and judgment — commended to us in these two living creatures by the Holy Spirit, so that, as a witness to the wholeness and perfection of our faith, we too, following the prophet, may sing mercy and judgment to the Lord.✦ I don't doubt that other things about their nature could be shown by those who are curious and knowledgeable about such matters — things that could be fittingly and suitably applied to the bridegroom — but these, I think, are sufficient to give an account of the comparison that has been introduced. Beautifully, then, the Holy Spirit gave the likeness not of a young stag but of a young stag of the hinds, in which he also made mention of the Fathers, from whom Christ came according to the flesh, and called to mind the infancy of the Savior.✦ For the young stag appeared as the little one born for us.✦ But you who long for the coming of the Savior, fear the scrutiny of the judge, fear the eyes of the gazelle, fear him who says through the prophet: 'And on that day, I will search Jerusalem with lamps.'✦ It has a sharp gaze; its eye will leave nothing unexamined. It will search the kidneys and hearts, and the very thought of a person will confess to him.✦ What is safe in Babylon, if Jerusalem remains under scrutiny?✦

Who Is Truly Jerusalem and Who Is Babylon

The prophet's Jerusalem designates those who live religiously in imitation of the heavenly city, unlike Babylon's confusion of sins, while the monk's hidden sins will be exposed by the searching lamp.

I think that in this passage the prophet used the name Jerusalem to designate those who lead a religious life in this world, imitating the character of that heavenly Jerusalem with conduct that is, as far as they're able, honorable and ordered — and not like those who belong to Babylon, laying waste their lives in the turmoil of vices and the confusion of sins.✦ In the end, their sins are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment, and they don't need to be examined — they need to be punished.✦ My own sins, however — I who seem to be a monk and a citizen of Jerusalem — are certainly hidden, sketched out in name and dress as a monk's. And so they'll need to be investigated with a fine-grained examination, and brought out of the dark into the light as if by bringing lamps up close.✦✦

Judge Yourself Before the Light Comes

God will search the righteous with strict judgment, so we must fear self-deception, judge ourselves thoroughly, and tremble at falling into the hands of the living God, for the spiritual person judges all things.

We can bring something forward, too, from the psalm, to confirm what is said about the need to examine Jerusalem. For it says in the person of the Lord: 'When the time comes, I will judge with justice.'1 The ways of the righteous — unless I'm mistaken — and their deeds, he says he will search out and examine.2 We ought to be deeply afraid at this point, lest under such a strict examination many of our supposed righteous acts turn out to be sins.3 There is one thing, however: if we have judged ourselves thoroughly, we certainly will not be judged.✦4 It is a good judgment that withdraws and hides me from that strict and divine judgment.5 I absolutely shudder at falling into the hands of the living God — at being presented, by vow, to the face of wrath already judged, not to be judged.✦6 The spiritual person judges all things, and yet is judged by no one.✦7

The Discipline of Self-Searching

The preacher resolves to judge his own evils and goods, correct sin by fasting and tears, serve humbly, keep pure intention, and examine his ways so that the coming Judge finds nothing unweighed.

So I will judge my evils — and I will judge my good as well. I will take care to correct evils by better deeds, to wash them away with tears, to punish them with fastings, and by the other labors of holy discipline.8 When things go well, I will think humbly of myself, and as the Lord's command says, I will consider myself a useless servant who has only done what was required.✦9 I will make sure not to offer weeds among the wheat, or chaff mixed with grain.✦10 I will examine my ways and my pursuits, so that the one who is about to search Jerusalem with lamps may find nothing in me unexamined or unweighed.✦11 For the one about to judge won't judge the same matter twice.

The Eye Behind the Wall

The preacher longs to track down every sin in clear light so as not to fear the roe deer's gaze, knowing that all things lie open to God's eye, and he fears the hidden Searcher who stands behind the wall.

Who will grant me this: to pursue and thoroughly track down all my sins in the clear light, so that I need never fear the eyes of a roe deer, so that in nothing, under the light of the lamps, I happen to blush?✦ And now I seem to see, but I do not truly see: the eye is close at hand to which all things lie open, even though it itself does not lie open.✦ A time will come when I will know just as I am known; but for now I know in part, and yet not in part—known, but not wholly.✦ I fear the gaze of that searcher who stands behind the wall. For Scripture adds this about the one whom it compared to a roe deer for sharpness of sight: 'See,' it says, 'he himself stands behind the wall, looking back through the windows, peering through the lattice-work.'✦ We will speak about this one in its proper place. This hidden searcher of hidden things, then, is the one I fear. The Bride fears nothing, because she is conscious of nothing against herself.

Rise Up, My Dove

The Bride is called beautiful and fearless, addressed by the Bridegroom who says 'Rise up, my friend, my dove, my beautiful one,' and the sermon closes with a doxology to Christ the Lord.

What, then, should you be afraid of, friend, beautiful dove? Surely you have it continually: 'See,' he says, 'my beloved speaks to me.' He leaves nothing unsaid, and so I fear his gaze, because I have no testimony to offer. What do you hear said about yourself, O bride? What does your beloved say to you? 'Rise up,' he says, 'make haste, my friend, my dove, my beautiful one.' But I'll hold this point for another beginning as well, and I won't cut short with brevity the things that call for careful treatment — otherwise I might perhaps be found guilty on this score too, if you are not built up in this area, toward the understanding and love of the bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Similis est dilectus meus capreae hinnuloque cervorum. Ex praecedenti versiculo pendet. Quem enim salientem et properantem modo descripserat, consequenter comparat capreae hinnuloque cervorum. Apte quidem, quod hoc genus animantium cursu velox, et saltu agile sit. Porro sermo de sponso est, et sermo sponsus est. Et Propheta dicit de Deo quia velociter currit sermo eius; sane congruens huic loco, ubi sponsus, qui sermo Dei est, saliens transiliensque describitur, similis proinde factus capreae hinnuloque cervorum. Et haec ratio similitudinis. Adde tamen, ne nulla similitudinis ipsius vel anima proportiuncula vacet, quia caprea quidem non modo cursus pernicitate, sed et acumine visus eminet.

Quod utique proprie illam respicit narrationis partem, qua sponsus, non solum saliens, sed et transiliens apparere refertur; quia nisi acuto et perspicaci intuitu non posset omnino, praesertim inter currendum, discernere in quos salire, et quos transilire deberet. Alioquin poterat sufficere, ad designandam festinantis velocitatem, de solo hinnulo comparatio; is quippe rapidiori se ferre noscitur cursu. Nunc vero quoniam sponsus iste, etsi ardenter amans, cursim ruere in dilectae videatur amplexus, nihilominus tamen gressus, vel potius saltus suos prudenti consideratione dirigere novit, cautus ubi oporteat figere pedem: oportuit profecto cum hinnulo etiam de caprea similitudinem dari, quatenus et per illum desiderium salvantis, et per hanc eligentis exprimeretur iudicium. Christus nempe iustus et misericors, salvator et iudex: et quia amat, vult omnes homines salvos fieri, et ad agnitionem veritatis venire; et quia iudicat, novit qui sunt eius, et ipse scit quos elegit a principio.

Igitur duo haec bona sponsi, misericordiam scilicet et iudicium, in his duobus animantibus commendata a Spiritu sancto nobis interim sentiamus, ut in testimonium integritatis et perfectionis fidei nostrae, nos quoque Prophetam imitantes, misericordiam et iudicium cantemus Domino. Ego autem non dubito, et alia de horum natura ab his quidem, qui talium curiosi et gnari sunt, posse monstrari, quae sponso aptari utiliter et congruenter queant: sed haec, ut arbitror, sufficere possunt ad dandam rationem adductae similitudinis. Pulchre tamen Spiritus sanctus non de cervo, sed de hinnulo cervorum similitudinem dedit, in quo et Patrum fecit mentionem, e quibus Christus secundum carnem, et infantiae meminit Salvatoris. Ut hinnulus quippe apparuit parvulus qui natus est nobis. Verum tu qui adventum desideras Salvatoris, time scrutinium iudicis, time oculos capreae, time illum qui per prophetam dicit: Et erit in die illa, et ego scrutabor Ierusalem in lucernis. Acuto visu est; nihil inscrutatum relinquet oculus eius. Scrutabitur renes et corda, ipsaque cogitatio hominis confitebitur ilii. Quid tutum in Babylone, si Ierusalem manet scrutinium?

Puto enim hoc loco prophetam Ierusalem nomine designasse illos, qui in hoc saeculo vitam ducunt religiosam, mores supernae illius Ierusalem conversatione honesta et ordinata pro viribus imitantes; et non veluti hi, qui de Babylone sunt, vitam in perturbatione vitiorum, scelerumque confusione vastantes. Denique illorum peccata manifesta sunt, praecedentia ad iudicium, et non egent scrutinio, sed supplicio. Mea autem, qui videor monachus et Ierosolymita, peccata certe occulta sunt, nomine et habitu monachi adumbrata: et idcirco necesse erit subtili ea investigari discussione, et quasi admotis lucernis de tenebris in lucem prodi.

Possumus afferre aliquid et de psalmo ad confirmandum id quod dicitur de scrutanda Ierusalem. Ait namque sub persona Domini: Cum accepero tempus, ego iustitias iudicabo. Vias iustorum, ni fallor, et actus eorum discussurum se examinaturum dicit. Verendum valde cum ad hoc ventum fuerit, ne sub tam subtili examine multae nostrae iustitiae, ut putantur, peccata appareant. Unum est tamen, si nosmetipsos diiudicaverimus, non utique iudicabimur. Bonum iudicium, quod me illi districto divinoque iudicio subducit et abscondit. Prorsus horreo incidere in manus Dei viventis; voto vultui irae iudicatus praesentari, non iudicandus. Spiritualis homo omnia diiudicat, et ipse a nemine iudicatur.

Iudicabo proinde mala mea, iudicabo et bona. Mala melioriribus curabo corrigere actibus, diluere lacrymis, punire ieiuniis, caeterisque sanctae laboribus disciplinae. In bonis de me humiliter sentiam, et, iuxta praeceptum Domini, servum me inutilem reputabo, qui quod facere debui, tantum feci. Dabo operam nec lolia pro granis, nec paleas cum granis offerre. Scrutabor ego vias meas et studia mea, quo is qui scrutaturus est Ierusalem in lucernis, nihil inscrutatum in me sive indiscussum inveniat. Neque enim iudicaturus est bis in idipsum.

Quis mihi det ita ad liquidum prosequi et persequi universa delicta mea, ut nullo oporteat vereri oculos capreae, in nullo ad lumen contingat erubescere lucernarum? Et nunc videor, sed non video: praesto est oculus cui omnia patent, etsi non patet ipse. Erit quando cognoscam, sicut et cognitus eum: at nunc quidem cognosco ex parte non tamen ex parte; cognitus, sed ex toto. Vereor aspectum exploratoris illius, qui post parietem stat. Hoc enim Scriptura addit de illo, quem pro acumine visus capreae assimilavit: En ipse stat, inquit, post parietem, respiciens per fenestras, prospiciens per cancellos. De quo suo loco videbimus. Hunc ergo vereor occultum occultorum exploratorem. Sponsa nihil veretur, quia nihil sibi conscia est.

Quid denique vereatur, amica, columba, formosa? Nempe subinde habes: En dilectus meus, inquit, loquitur mihi. Nihil non loquitur; et ideo formido aspectum, quoniam non habeo testimonium. Tu quid audis de te, o sponsa? Quid tibi loquitur dilectus tuus? Surge, inquit, propera, amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea. Verum hoc quoque alteri servabo principio, nec brevitate arctabo ea quae diligentiam desiderantia sunt; ne forte et de hoc reus inveniar, si quominus vos inveniamini in hac parte aedificati ad intelligentiam et amorem sponsi Ecclesiae Iesu Christi Domini nostri, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.2.9;Song.2.17 — My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. Song.2.17 — Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.
  2. ↩Ps.147.15 — He sends his word to the earth; his command runs swiftly.
  3. ↩Ps.101.1 — Of David. A psalm. I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make melody.
  4. ↩Song.2.9 — My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
  5. ↩Isa.9.6 — For the increase of his government and for peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
  6. ↩Zeph.1.12 — And it will be at that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thick upon their lees, who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, and he will not do harm.'
  7. ↩Ps.7.10 — Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and establish the righteous one — the One who tests hearts and kidneys, O righteous God.
  8. ↩Zeph.1.12 — And it will be at that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thick upon their lees, who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, and he will not do harm.'
  9. ↩Heb.12.22;Rev.21.2 — But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, Rev.21.2 — And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
  10. ↩1Tim.5.24 — The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment; but for others, their sins follow after.
  11. ↩Luke.11.33-Luke.11.36;Zeph.1.12 — No one, having lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar nor under the basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. Luke.11.34 — The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but when it is diseased, your body is full of darkness. Luke.11.35 — See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Luke.11.36 — If your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, then it will be fully bright, as when a lamp gives you light with its shining. Zeph.1.12 — And it will be at that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thick upon their lees, who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, and he will not do harm.'
  12. ↩Gal.4.26;Heb.12.22 — But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Heb.12.22 — But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,
  13. ↩1Cor.11.31 — But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.
  14. ↩Heb.10.31 — It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
  15. ↩1Cor.2.15 — The spiritual person discerns all things, yet is discerned by no one.
  16. ↩Luke.17.10 — So also you, when you have done all that was commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what we were obligated to do.'
  17. ↩Matt.13.24-Matt.13.30;Matt.3.12;Luke.3.17 — He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field." Matt.13.25 — but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away Matt.13.26 — But when the wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. Matt.13.27 — But the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then does it have weeds?' Matt.13.28 — But he said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' Matt.13.29 — But he said, 'No, lest while gathering the weeds you uproot the wheat along with them.' Matt.13.30 — Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.' Matt.3.12 — His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. Luke.3.17 — His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
  18. ↩Zech.12.1;Luke.15.8 — An oracle. The word of the LORD concerning Israel. A declaration of the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him. Luke.15.8 — Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
  19. ↩Song.2.9 — My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
  20. ↩Heb.4.13 — And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
  21. ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
  22. ↩Song.2.9 — My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The clause 'Cum accepero tempus, ego iustitias iudicabo' echoes a psalm verse about God judging in its appointed time; candidate pending Moses resolution.
  2. 2 ↩'ni fallor' rendered as 'unless I'm mistaken'; 'discussurum se examinaturum' rendered as 'he will search out and examine' (future participle periphrasis).
  3. 3 ↩'iustitiae, ut putantur, peccata appareant' rendered as 'supposed righteous acts turn out to be sins'; the contrast between reputation and reality before God's scrutiny is preserved.
  4. 4 ↩'non utique iudicabimur' rendered as 'we certainly will not be judged'; the force of utique is preserved as emphasis on the negative outcome.
  5. 5 ↩'Bonum iudicium, quod me ... subducit et abscondit' rendered as 'a good judgment that withdraws and hides me'; the paradox of self-knowledge as mercy is preserved.
  6. 6 ↩'voto vultui irae iudicatus praesentari, non iudicandus' rendered as 'by vow, to the face of wrath already judged, not to be judged'; the distinction between being presented as already judged versus being judged is preserved.
  7. 7 ↩The maxim 'Spiritualis homo omnia diiudicat, et ipse a nemine iudicatur' closely parallels 1 Corinthians 2:15 ('The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one'); candidate pending Moses resolution.
  8. 8 ↩melioriribus is an unusual form, likely a comparative ablative plural ('by better things/deeds'); rendered 'by better deeds' to fit the parallel with actibus.
  9. 9 ↩The clause 'qui quod facere debui, tantum feci' echoes the parable of the unworthy servant (Luke 17:10); the connective force of the relative clause is rendered as 'who has only done what was required.'
  10. 10 ↩lolia (tares/darnel) and paleas (chaff) evoke Matt 3:12 and the winnowing image; rendered with 'weeds among the wheat' and 'chaff mixed with grain' for natural English.
  11. 11 ↩The image of searching Jerusalem with lamps echoes Zech 12:1 / Luke 15:8; the Latin 'inscrutatum … sive indiscussum' is rendered 'unexamined or unweighed' to preserve the two-term emphasis.

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