Breviloquium

Concerning the time of the incarnation, this is to be held: although God could have become incarnate from the beginning, he nevertheless willed it only at the end of the ages, after the law of nature and the law of figure had preceded, and after the Patriarchs and Prophets, to whom and through whom the incarnation had been promised. — After them he deigned to become incarnate as at the end and fullness of time, according to what the Apostle says¹: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, made from a woman, made under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law.

The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: the incarnation is the work of the first principle repairing, according to what is fitting and appropriate in view of freedom of choice, the sublimity of the remedy, and the integrity of the universe; for the wisest Artisan attends to all these things in acting. — Since, therefore, freedom of choice requires that no one be drawn to anything unwillingly, God had to repair the human race in such a way that whoever wished to seek the Savior would find salvation, while whoever did not wish to seek the Savior would consequently not find salvation. But no one seeks a physician unless he recognizes his illness²; no one seeks a teacher unless he recognizes that he is ignorant; no one seeks a helper unless he recognizes that he is powerless. Since, therefore, at the beginning of his fall man was still proud of his knowledge and virtue, God therefore first appointed the time of the law of nature, in which he would be convicted of ignorance; and afterward, once his ignorance was recognized but his pride in virtue remained, by which they said, “There is no lack of one who can act, but there is a lack of one who can command,” he added the law, instructing through moral precepts and burdening through ceremonial ones; so that, having knowledge and recognizing his powerlessness, man would flee to seek divine mercy and grace, which was given to us at the advent of Christ. Therefore, after the law of nature and of Scripture, the incarnation of the Word had to follow³.

Again, since the sublimity of the remedy requires that it be believed with the firmest faith and loved with the most ardent charity, as a most secret and most salutary mystery, it was therefore most fitting that, before Christ’s advent, many testimonies of the Prophets should precede it, explicit in words as well as implicit in figures, so that through many and firm testimonies what was secret might become certain and beyond doubt for belief; and that manifold promises and most ardent desires should also precede it, so that the promised benefit might be awaited, the awaited benefit delayed, the delayed benefit desired more intensely, and what had long been desired might be loved more fervently, received more gratefully, and kept more carefully⁴.

Finally, since the integrity and perfection of the universe requires that all things be ordered with respect to places and times, and this work of the incarnation was the most perfect among all divine works, and the process ought to proceed from the imperfect to the perfect, and not conversely⁵, hence that work had to be accomplished at the end of time. Just as the first man, who was the ornament of the whole sensible world, was created last, namely on the sixth day, for the completion of the whole world, so the second man, the completion of the whole restored world, in whom the first principle is joined to the last, namely, “God with clay,”⁶ was to be made at the end of time, that is, in the sixth age. This is the age suited to the exercise of wisdom, to the weakening of concupiscence, and to the passage from a state of turmoil to rest; all of which befit the sixth age of the course of the world on account of the incarnation of the Son of God.

Since, therefore, Christ’s advent occurred in the time of the law of grace, in the manifestation of the promised mercy⁷, and at the beginning of the sixth age—and all these things signify fullness, because the law of grace fulfills the law of Scripture, the fulfillment of the promise fulfills the promise, and the sixth age, by reason of the perfection of the number six, resounds with fullness—hence it is said that the advent of the Son of God is the fullness of time, not because time ended with his advent, but because temporal mysteries were fulfilled. Just as Christ ought not to have come at the beginning of time, because his advent would have been too hasty, so neither ought he to have delayed until the very end⁸, because then he would have been too late. For it was fitting that the Savior introduce the time of the remedy midway between the time of illness and the time of judgment. It was fitting that the Mediator precede some of his members and follow others. It was fitting that the perfect Leader reveal himself when there was opportunity to run toward the prize; and this is at the end of time, before its conclusion and near the final judgment, so that, stirred by fear of judgment, drawn by hope of reward, and animated by the perfection of his example, we may vigorously and perfectly follow the Leader from virtue to virtue, until we reach the prize of eternal happiness⁹.