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In illud: Homo quidam descendebat

On the parable in the Gospel according to Luke which says, A certain man was going down, and fell among robbers.

61.755 Truly, according to the divine apostle, those who run in a race, all run, but one receives the prize. Today the priest ran, the Levite also ran, and the Samaritan alone received the prize. For running without weariness he overtook those who had come and run before him; for what the experts in the law did not do, this the foreigner accomplished. For they, seeing in another their own nature in danger, closed their hearts to compassion, and shutting their eyes, they passed over the man lying there as if he were a dead pillar, just as once the rich man passed by Lazarus who was cast before his gates; but the unbelieving Samaritan, or rather more faithful even than the priests, forgetting his own affairs, comforted the stranger, and forgetting the pressing need he had, hastened to the healing of the one who was wounded, and not knowing the law, fulfilled it, having done all the things of the law.

For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts mutually accusing one another. What then does the evangelist say? A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having inflicted wounds, went away, leaving him half-dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and seeing him, passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite also, coming to the place, came and saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came upon him, and seeing him, he had compassion, and going to him, he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.

And having set him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the next day when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him: Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return. Let us learn, therefore, what is Jerusalem, and what is Jericho, and who are the robbers among whom he fell, and what is the garment of which they stripped him, and what are the wounds which they inflicted on the man, and why they went away leaving him half-dead, and who is the priest, and who the Levite, and who the Samaritan, and what is the oil, and what the wine, and what are the bandages, and what the beast, and what the inn, and who the innkeeper, and what the two denarii, and what is the extra expense which he promised to repay, and what is the return of the Samaritan. Who then is the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho? Jerusalem 61.756 is paradise, Jericho, this world; and the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho is the first-formed Adam; for having fallen from paradise he went down to Jericho; that is, into this world. And having gone, he fell among robbers; that is, the evil and most murderous demons; who also, stripping him of the garment of immortality, which he wore before the sin, clothed him with fig leaves. Why fig leaves? Because they are rough and bitter.

And since after the sin, a harshness of affairs and much bitterness came upon him, for this reason he was clothed with fig leaves. And having inflicted wounds, that is,

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In illud: Homo quidam descendebat

Εἰς τὴν τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν Εὐαγγελίου παραβολὴν λέγουσαν, Ἄνθρωπός τις κατέβαινε, καὶ λῃσταῖς περιέπεσεν.

61.755 Ὄντως, κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον, Οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες, πάντες μὲν

τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον. Ἔδραμε σήμερον ὁ ἱερεὺς, ἔδραμε καὶ Λευίτης, καὶ ὁ Σαμαρείτης μόνος ἔλαβε τὸ βραβεῖον. Τοὺς γὰρ πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἐλθόντας καὶ δραμόντας ἀκόπως δραμὼν παρεπήδησεν· ἃ γὰρ οἱ νομομαθεῖς οὐκ ἐποίησαν, ταῦτα κατώρθωσεν ὁ ἀλλόφυλος. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἰδόντες ἐν ἑτέρῳ τὴν οἰκείαν κινδυνεύουσαν φύσιν, τὰ σπλάγχνα ἀπέκλεισαν τῆς συμπαθείας, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καμμύσαντες, ὡς στήλην νεκρὰν τὸν κείμενον ὑπερέβησαν, ὡς καί ποτε ὁ πλούσιος πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν αὐτοῦ ἐῤῥιμμένον τὸν Λάζαρον· ὁ δὲ ἄπιστος Σαμαρείτης, πιστότερος δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ τῶν ἱερέων, τῶν οἰκείων ἐπιλαθόμενος πραγμάτων, παρεμυθήσατο τὸν ξένον, καὶ τῆς ἐπειγούσης αὐτὸν χρείας ἐπιλαθόμενος, πρὸς τὴν θεραπείαν τοῦ πεπληγότος ἠπείγετο, καὶ τὸν νόμον οὐκ εἰδὼς, ἐπλήρωσε, πάντα πεποιηκὼς τὰ τοῦ νόμου.

Ὅταν γὰρ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα, φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐργάζωνται, οὗτοι νόμον μὴ ἔχοντες, ἑαυτοῖς εἰσι νόμος· οἵτινες ἐνδείκνυνται τὸ ἔργον τοῦ νόμου γραπτὸν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν, συμμαρτυρούσης αὐτῶν τῆς συνειδήσεως, καὶ μεταξὺ ἀλλήλων τῶν λογισμῶν κατηγορούντων. Τί οὖν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής φησιν; Ἄνθρωπός τις κατέβαινεν ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἱεριχὼ, καὶ λῃσταῖς περιέπεσεν, οἳ καὶ ἐκδύσαντες αὐτὸν, καὶ πληγὰς ἐπιθέντες, ἀπῆλθον, ἀφέντες ἡμιθανῆ τυγχάνοντα. Κατὰ συγκυρίαν δὲ ἱερεύς τις κατέβαινεν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν, ἀντιπαρῆλθεν. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Λευίτης γενόμενος κατὰ τὸν τόπον, ἐλθὼν καὶ ἰδὼν, ἀντιπαρῆλθε. Σαμαρείτης δέ τις ὁδεύων, ἦλθε κατ' αὐτὸν, καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν, ἐσπλαγχνίσθη, καὶ προσελθὼν κατέδησε τὰ τραύματα αὐτοῦ, ἐπιχέων ἔλαιον καὶ οἶνον.

Ἐπιβιβάσας δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον κτῆνος, ἤγαγεν εἰς πανδοχεῖον, καὶ ἐπεμελήθη αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον ἐξελθὼν, ἐκβαλὼν δύο δηνάρια, ἔδωκε τῷ πανδοχεῖ, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἐπιμελήθητι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅ τι ἂν προσδαπανήσῃς, ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ ἐπανέρχεσθαί με ἀποδώσω σοι. Μάθωμεν οὖν τίς ἐστιν ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ τίς ἡ Ἱεριχὼ, καὶ τίνες οἱ λῃσταὶ οἷς περιέπεσε, καὶ τί τὸ ἔνδυμα ὃ ἀπέδυσαν αὐτὸν, καὶ τίνες αἱ πληγαὶ ἃς ἐπέθηκαν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, καὶ διὰ τί ἀπῆλθον ἀφέντες ἡμιθανῆ τυγχάνοντα, καὶ τίς ὁ ἱερεὺς, καὶ τίς ὁ Λευίτης, καὶ τίς ὁ Σαμαρείτης, καὶ τί τὸ ἔλαιον, καὶ τίς ὁ οἶνος, καὶ τίνες οἱ ἐπίδεσμοι, καὶ τί τὸ κτῆνος, καὶ τί τὸ πανδοχεῖον, καὶ τίς ὁ πανδοχεὺς, καὶ τί τὰ δύο δηνάρια, καὶ τί τὸ προσανάλωμα ὃ προσεπηγγείλατο προσαποδοῦναι, καὶ τίς ἡ ἐπάνοδος τοῦ Σαμαρείτου. Τίς οὖν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ καταβαίνων ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἱεριχώ; Ἡ Ἱερουσαλήμ 61.756 ἐστιν ὁ παράδεισος, ἡ Ἱεριχὼ, ὁ κόσμος οὗτος· ἄνθρωπος δὲ ὁ καταβαίνων ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἱεριχὼ, ὁ πρωτόπλαστός ἐστιν Ἀδάμ· ἐκπεσὼν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου κατῆλθεν εἰς Ἱεριχώ· τουτέστιν, εἰς τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον. Καὶ ἐλθὼν λῃσταῖς περιέπεσε· τουτέστι, τοῖς πονηροῖς δαίμοσι τοῖς φονικωτάτοις· οἳ καὶ ἐκδύσαντες αὐτὸν τὸ ἔνδυμα τῆς ἀθανασίας, ὃ πρὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐφόρει, ἐνέδυσαν αὐτὸν φύλλα συκῆς. ∆ιὰ τί φύλλα συκῆς; Ὅτι τραχέα εἰσὶ καὶ πικρά.

Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τραχύτης προσεγένετο αὐτῷ πραγμάτων καὶ πικρία πολλὴ, διὰ τοῦτο ἐνεδύσατο φύλλα συκῆς. Καὶ πληγὰς ἐπιθέντες, τουτέστι,