That is, Let the Jews mock at Christ we ought to fear God, because we are in the same condemnation-the punishment of the cross, to which we are justly condemned. 16), but he also exhorted his companion to the same fear. This robber showed that he not only feared God himself, for “the beginning of wisdom” (and salvation) “is the fear of the Lord” (Ecclus. The Syriac says, “Dost thou not fear, no, not even from God” (etiam, non, a Deo, non tirmes tu)?-that is, the scribes and Jews are well and strong and do not fear God, and therefore scoff at Christ but thou, who art tormented on the cross, oughtest to fear Him, lest He punish thee severely, for blaspheming His Christ so sacrilegiously. 40.- But the other (who is said to have hung on the right side) answering rebuked him. This made His trial the more hard for the robber ought to have suffered with Christ and to have taken thought for the salvation of his soul, and to have begged it of Christ as we also should beg that we may be quiet under scoffs, derisions, and insults, and be patient in mind and silent in speech. Christ chose to undergo the most bitter sufferings from all classes, and to be mocked and blasphemed, not only by the scribes and Jews, but even by the robber, the companion of His punishment. If thou be the Christ, and Saviour of the world, save Thyself and us, free us from the cross and restore us to life and liberty. 39.- And one of the malefactors which were hanged-(this one, according to tradition, hung on the left hand of Christ)- railed on Him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. Here, following, is his full patristic commentary on the conversion of the Good Thief as given in Saint Luke XXIII, 39-43. So, to satisfy my own question regarding the inerrancy of scripture, I went to a’Lapide. That is a beautiful tradition that is related in Abbe Gaume’s book The Good Thief. It is my opinion, one that I must have read somewhere, that Dismas was converted when he heard Jesus say “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Then, too, there is a tradition that Our Lady prayed for this man’s conversion because he was one of the robbers who took pity on the Holy Family when they were traveling in Egypt to escape Herod. Other fathers, the majority, taught that the good thief converted while he was dying with Christ. Some of the fathers thought that the plural “thieves” was simply used for the singular as a figure of speech called synecdoche, where the whole can be applied to a part or vice versa. But Luke gives us the facts of the conversion of one of the thieves. Saint Matthew has it that the “thieves” joined in with the Jews in reviling Our Lord, taunting Him to save Himself (and, for the thieves, their own selves) and “come down from the cross” if You are the Son of God. There appears to be a discrepancy in the Gospel accounts of the two thieves crucified to the right and the left of Our Savior.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |