The Sunday Sermons of St. Bonaventure

Sermon 39: Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

The Sunday SermonS of ST. BonavenTure 418 sermon 39: TwelfTh sunday afTer PenTeCosT [Sermon] 1. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell in among robbers, who stripped him. Luke 10:30. Since coarse and sensual people are more easily led to the knowledge of spiritual realities when they are surrounded with a variety of examples; Our Lord, therefore, wanting to lead this Jew and, in fact, the coarse and sensual Jewish people, to invisible realities through visible realities, describes in the proposed verse, in accord with proper terminology, the primogenitor with the metaphor of the man who, going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, falls in among robbers, when it says: A certain man went down, etc. Certainly in this verse, if the interpretation of Jerusalem and Jericho, the conditions, and even the stripping committed by the robbers are diligently considered, the primogenitor is described quite correctly according to three conditions: namely, in regard to the beginning state of his creation, the middle state of his transgression, and the last state of his punishment. The beginning of his creation was that state of original innocence, the middle of the transgression, due to the fall of detestable sin, and the last state of punishment, that being the damage or defect of miserable punishment. These three things are ordered among themselves, for God first created the human person upright683 in regard to the state of original innocence; afterward the will, falling from the rectitude of justice, acquired the defect of 683 See Sir 7:30: “God made the human person upright….” The image of standing upright represents the person before the fall. penTecoST and The SundayS afTer 419 miserable punishment. First, in the proposed text the primogenitor is described in regard to the state of innocence , when it says: from Jerusalem. Through Jerusalem, which is interpreted as the vision of peace,684 the state of innocence is understood, in which there was the highest concord and harmony in the flesh and spirit of the primigenitor , granted they now oppose each other due to their sin. Second, in regard to the fall of detestable sin, when it adds: went down to Jericho. Through Jericho, which is interpreted as the moon or defective,685 the fall of sin is signified, for to sin is the same as to fall short.686 Third in regard to the damage of miserable punishment, when it adds again: fell in among robbers, that is, demons, who stripped the garment of innocence from him. And this division is found in the Gloss, which describes it as follows: “This man is to be understood as Adam who, through the fall of transgression, descended from the height of the celestial Jerusalem to the miseries and imperfection of this inconstant and false life.”687 2. First, therefore, in the proposed verse the state of original innocence is understood through Jerusalem; and appropriately, if its conditions and interpretations are considered; for Jerusalem was the first place of dignity and honor, because it was the place of regal rule; second, the place of delight and affluence, because it emanated milk and honey; third, the place of perfect security, because it was in the custody of angels day and night. And these three were present in the state of innocence in a perfect manner, for in that state Adam possessed first 684 See CCSL lxxii, 121: “Jerusalem means vision of peace.” 685 See CCSL lxxii, 137: “Jericho means its odor or moon.” 686 Cf. Book Book XII, c. 7 of Augustine’s De civitate Dei in CCSL xlviii, 362. 687 The critical edition states that this is from the Glossa Ordinaria . The Sunday SermonS of ST. BonavenTure 420 the dignity of original innocence, second the delight of pleasing grace, third the security of divine protection; and through these three things he was perfectly ordered to that blessed Trinity, for by reason of the first he was ordered to the beauty of the Son, by reason of the second to the benignity of the Holy Spirit, and by reason of the third to the power of the eternal Father. 3. First, through Jerusalem the state of innocence is understood, because in it the first person possessed the dignity of original innocence. And this can be explained by Ezekiel 8:3: The spirit raised me between heaven and earth and led me into Jerusalem to the vision of God. Literally : God raised...