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In parabolam Samaritani

On the parable of the man who fell among thieves.

62.755 We have heard, brethren, in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ saying, that a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; who also, stripping him and inflicting wounds, left him half-dead. And a priest and a Levite passing by that way, and seeing him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, coming to the place and seeing him, had compassion on him, and pouring on oil with wine and mixing them, he poured it on him, and bound up his wounds, and taking him up onto his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and gave the innkeeper two denarii, saying: ‘Take care of this man, and whatever more you spend, I, when I return, will repay you.’ Let us therefore see the parable of these things, so that, understanding with a discerning heart, we may know the mysteries of God. The man is Adam, Jerusalem is the heavenly city and understanding, and Jericho is the world. Therefore, as long as Adam before the transgression had the heavenly mind, and the life equal to the angels, he had unhindered entry into the heavenly city of Jerusalem, and making his dwelling and abode in the commandments of God, he was conquered by no one, nor was he wounded; but when he disobeyed God, and did not keep the commandment, but was carried away by the deceit of the serpent, then he went down to Jericho, that is, to the earth, and worked the things of the earth; for Jerusalem is interpreted as ‘ascent,’ but Jericho as ‘deluge.’ He went down therefore as from Jerusalem to Jericho, so from the heavenly life, to the life of the deceit of the devil.

For when someone keeps the commandments of God, then he lives as a citizen in the heavens, as the Apostle says, But our citizenship is in heaven. He went down from glory to dishonor, from the delight of paradise to a thorny earth, from life to death; For in that, he says, you eat from the tree, you shall surely die; that is, by sin; for the death of the soul is sin, to disobey God. He went down from the righteousness that is in paradise, from the holiness that is in heaven, and came to Jericho, that is, to the fall of disobedience, to the death of sin. And he falls among the thieves, that is, the devil and the powers opposed to him. The road is this life, where Adam, having walked, fell among the thieves, and they strip him. And what did they strip from him? The garment of obedience, friendship with the angels, incorruptible glory, abiding with Christ, the delight in paradise, the heavenly life. This garment they stripped from him. And they inflicted wounds upon him, that is, sins, fornications, adulteries, idolatries, sorceries, murders, envies, strife, anger, and all the rest of the working of evil things. For these works scourge man, these produce a foul smell and corruption.

And that this is accurate, learn from David, how he depicts the wounds of Adam 62.756 in himself, rightly calling them bruises: My bruises have become foul and are corrupt because of my foolishness. And every sin works a bruise and a wound. He was wounded, therefore, through disobedience, he was struck through iniquities, as the prophet says: I was struck like grass, and my heart is withered, because I forgot to eat my bread; that is, to keep the commandment of God. And ‘half-dead,’ he says, they left him, not as if they did not want this man

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In parabolam Samaritani

Εἰς τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ ἐμπεσόντος εἰς τοὺς λῃστάς.

62.755 Ἠκούσαμεν, ἀδελφοὶ, ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

λέγοντος, ὅτι Ἄνθρωπός τις κατέβαινεν ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἱεριχὼ, καὶ λῃσταῖς περιέπεσεν· οἳ καὶ ἐκδύσαντες αὐτὸν, καὶ πληγὰς ἐπιθέντες κατέλιπον ἡμιθανῆ τυγχάνοντα. Ἱερεὺς δὲ καὶ Λευΐτης διερχόμενοι διὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐκείνης, καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν, ἀντιπαρῆλθον. Σαμαρείτης δέ τις ἐλθὼν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν, ἐσπλαγχνίσθη ἐπ' αὐτὸν, καὶ σὺν ἐλαίῳ οἶνον βαλὼν καὶ ἀναμίξας ἐπέχεεν αὐτῷ, καὶ κατέδησε τὰ τραύματα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀναλαβὼν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον κτῆνος, ἤγαγεν εἰς πανδοχεῖον, καὶ ἔδωκε τῷ πανδοχεῖ δύο δηνάρια, εἰπών· Ἐπιμελήθητι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου, καὶ εἴ τι προσδαπανήσῃς, ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ ἐπανέρχεσθαί με ἀποδώσω σοι. Ἴδωμεν οὖν τὴν τούτων παραβολὴν, ἵνα συνιέντες καρδίᾳ συνετῇ, γνωρίσωμεν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ μυστήρια. Ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ὁ Ἀδὰμ, Ἱερουσαλὴμ δὲ ἡ ἐπουράνιος πολιτεία καὶ ἡ φρόνησις, Ἱεριχὼ δὲ ὁ κόσμος. Ἐφ' ὅσον τοίνυν ὁ Ἀδὰμ πρὸ τῆς παρακοῆς εἶχε τὸ ἐπουράνιον φρόνημα, καὶ τὴν ἰσάγγελον πολιτείαν, ἀκώλυτον εἶχε τὴν εἴσοδον ἐν τῇ ἐπουρανίῳ πόλει Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ τὴν κατοικίαν καὶ διατριβὴν ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ποιούμενος, ὑπ' οὐδενὸς ἐνικᾶτο, οὐδὲ ἐτραυματίζετο· ὅτε δὲ παρήκουσε τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἐντολὴν οὐκ ἐφύλαξεν, ἀλλ' ἀπηνέχθη τῇ ἀπάτῃ τοῦ ὄφεως, τότε κατέβη εἰς Ἱεριχὼ, τουτέστιν, εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὰ τῆς γῆς εἰργάζετο· Ἱερουσαλὴμ γὰρ ἀνάβασις ἑρμηνεύεται, Ἱεριχὼ δὲ κατακλυσμός. Κατέβη οὖν ὡς ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς Ἱεριχὼ, οὕτως ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου πολιτεύματος, ἐπὶ τὸ τῆς ἀπάτης τοῦ διαβόλου πολίτευμα.

Ὅτε γάρ τις φυλάσσει τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τότε ἐν οὐρανοῖς πολιτεύεται, καθά φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, Ἡμῶν δὲ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει. Κατέβη ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς ἀδοξίαν, ἀπὸ παραδείσου τρυφῆς εἰς ἀκανθηφόρον γῆν, ἀπὸ ζωῆς εἰς θάνατον· Ἐν ᾧ γὰρ, φησὶ, φάγεσθε ἐκ τοῦ ξύλου, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε· τουτέστι, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ· θάνατος γὰρ ψυχῆς ἁμαρτία τὸ παρακοῦσαι Θεῷ. Κατέβη ἀπὸ δικαιοσύνης τῆς ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, ἀπὸ ἁγιωσύνης τῆς ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Ἱεριχὼ, τουτέστιν, εἰς τὸ πτῶμα τῆς παρακοῆς, εἰς τὸν θάνατον τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Καὶ ἐμπίπτει εἰς τοὺς λῃστὰς, τουτέστιν, εἰς τὸν διάβολον καὶ τὰς ἀντικειμένας αὐτῷ δυνάμεις. Ὁδὸς δέ ἐστιν ὁ βίος οὗτος, ὅπου περιπατήσας ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἔπεσεν εἰς τοὺς λῃστὰς, καὶ ἐκδιδύσκουσιν αὐτόν. Καὶ τί αὐτὸν ἐξέδυσαν; Τὴν στολὴν τῆς ὑπακοῆς, τὴν μετ' ἀγγέλων φιλίαν, τὴν ἀκήρατον δόξαν, τὴν μετὰ Χριστοῦ διατριβὴν, τὴν ἐν παραδείσῳ τρυφὴν, τὴν ἐπουράνιον ζωήν. Ταύτην αὐτὸν ἐξέδυσαν τὴν στολήν. Καὶ πληγὰς αὐτῷ ἐπέθηκαν, τουτέστι, τὰς ἁμαρτίας, πορνείας, μοιχείας, εἰδωλολατρείας, φαρμακείας, φόνους, φθόνους, ἔρεις, θυμὸν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν λοιπὴν τῶν κακῶν ἐργασίαν. Ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ ἔργα μαστιγοῦσι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ταῦτα δυσωδίαν καὶ φθορὰν ἐμποιοῦσι.

Καὶ ὅτι ἔστι τοῦτο ἀκριβῶς, μάθε παρὰ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, πῶς τὰς τοῦ Ἀδὰμ 62.756 πληγὰς εἰς ἑαυτὸν εἰκονογραφῶν, μώλωπας αὐτὰς καλῶς λέγων· Προσώζεσαν καὶ ἐσάπησαν οἱ μώλωπές μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀφροσύνης μου. Πᾶσα δὲ ἁμαρτία μώλωπα καὶ τραῦμα ἐργάζεται. Ἐτραυματίσθη τοίνυν διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς, ἐπλήγη διὰ τῶν ἀνομιῶν, ὥς φησιν ὁ προφήτης· Ἐπλήγην ὡσεὶ χόρτος, καὶ ἐξηράνθη ἡ καρδία μου, ὅτι ἐπελαθόμην τοῦ φαγεῖν τὸν ἄρτον μου· τουτέστι, τοῦ φυλάξαι τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡμιθανῆ δὲ, φησὶ, τοῦτον κατέλιπον, οὐχ ὡς μὴ βουλόμενοι τοῦτον