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Office Of Readings | Advent December 24th | A Reading From A Sermon By Saint Augustine | Truth Has Arisen From The Earth And Justice Has Looked Down From Heaven
‘Truth has arisen from the earth and justice has looked down from heaven.’
Saint Augustine speaks directly to humanity and frames the Incarnation as God’s action for our sake. His repeated call to ‘awake’ stresses that what God has done in Christ concerns human life now, not only at the end of time. God becomes man so that humanity may be restored to life.
The reading sets out a sequence: without Christ’s birth, there is no release from sin; without his death, no return to life; without his coming, no rescue. Augustine is not speculating but explaining why the Incarnation was necessary for salvation. Christ enters time so that humanity, bound by time and death, may be freed.
The central image comes from the psalm: ‘Truth has arisen from the earth and justice has looked down from heaven.’ Augustine interprets this in Christological terms. ‘Truth’ is Christ himself, born of Mary. ‘Justice’ is God’s justifying action, which comes from above and is received by faith. Humanity does not generate justice; it is given.
This leads to Augustine’s insistence that salvation is grace. Justification does not arise from human effort or merit but from God’s gift. For this reason, any boasting must be in the Lord, not in oneself. Human pride has no place in redemption.
Augustine then links this gift of justice to peace. Peace on earth is possible because Christ unites what was divided. Through him, humanity is brought into right relationship with God and with one another. The angelic proclamation at Christ’s birth expresses this: glory belongs to God, and peace is given to those who receive his will.
The reading closes returning to the theme of grace. The Incarnation has no explanation in human deserving. God’s Son becomes the son of man so that human beings may become children of God. Augustine insists that the only answer to why this happened is grace.
A Reading From A Sermon By Saint Augustine | Truth Has Arisen From The Earth And Justice Has Looked Down From Heaven
Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.
You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.
Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.
He has become our justice, our sanctification, our redemption, so that, as it is written: Let him who glories glory in the Lord.
Truth, then, has arisen from the earth: Christ who said, I am the Truth, was born of the Virgin. And justice looked down from heaven: because believing in this new-born child, man is justified not by himself but by God.
Truth has arisen from the earth: because the Word was made flesh. And justice looked down from heaven: because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
Truth has arisen from the earth: flesh from Mary. And justice looked down from heaven: for man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.
Justified by faith, let us be at peace with God: for justice and peace have embraced one another. Through our Lord Jesus Christ: for Truth has arisen from the earth. Through whom we have access to that grace in which we stand, and our boast is in our hope of God’s glory. He does not say: ‘of our glory,’ but of God’s glory: for justice has not come out of us but has looked down from heaven. Therefore he who glories, let him glory, not in himself, but in the Lord.
For this reason, when our Lord was born of the Virgin, the message of the angelic voices was: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to men of good will.
For how could there be peace on earth unless Truth has arisen from the earth, that is, unless Christ were born of our flesh? And he is our peace who made the two into one: that we might be men of good will, sweetly linked by the bond of unity.
Let us then rejoice in this grace, so that our glorying may bear witness to our good conscience by which we glory, not in ourselves, but in the Lord. That is why Scripture says: He is my glory, the one who lifts up my head. For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become son of God?
Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and see whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace.
Christian Prayer With Jesus
Lord God,
you sent your Son into our human life
so that we might be raised from death to life.
You have given us justice from heaven
and truth in our own flesh.
Teach us to receive what we cannot earn
and to glory only in what you have done.
Grant us peace through Christ,
who unites what was divided
and brings us back to you.
May we live by faith in your grace
and give glory to you alone.
Amen.
Glossary Of Christian Terms
Incarnation | The Christian belief that the Son of God became truly human in Jesus Christ.
Truth | In this sermon, a title for Christ himself, who said ‘I am the Truth’ and was born of the Virgin.
Justice (justification) | Being made right with God, not by human effort but by God’s gift, received through faith.
Grace | God’s free and undeserved gift of salvation and life.
Peace | Right relationship with God and unity among people, made possible through Christ.
Justified by faith | The teaching that a person is made right with God by trusting in what God has done, not by personal merit.
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