“Samaria was the chief city of the Israelitish kingdom whose chiefs
were led away to idolatry in Nineveh, and Gentiles were placed in her.
The Jews abhorred their fellowship, making them a byword of
malediction. So when reviling the Lord, they called Him a Samaritan.
The Lord was the true Samaritan, being called guardian (_custos_)
since the human race is guarded by Him. He went down this way when
from heaven He came into this world. He saw the wounded traveller,
inasmuch as He saw man held in misery and sin. He was moved with
compassion for him, since for man He undergoes all pains. Approaching,
He bound his wounds when, proclaiming eternal life, He taught man to
cease from sin. He bound his wounds together with the two parts of the
bandage when He quelled sins through two fears--the servile fear which
forbids through penalties, and the filial fear which exhorts the holy
to good works. He drew tight the lower part of the bandage when He
struck men’s hearts with fear of hell. Their worm, He said, does not
die, and their fire is not quenched. He drew tight the upper part when
He taught the fear which belongs to the study of good. ‘The children
of the kingdom,’ said He, ‘shall be cast into outer darkness, where
there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ He poured in wine and oil
when He taught repentance and pardon. He poured in wine when He said,
‘Repent ye’; He added oil when He said, ‘for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand.’ He set him upon His beast when He bore our sins in His body
on the Cross. He led him to the inn when He joined him to the supernal
Church. The inn, in which living beings are assembled at night, is the
present Church, where the just are harboured amid the darkness of this
life until the Day of Eternity blows and the shadows of mortality give
way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account