God Sent His Word to Heal

If you want to know how admirably the apostle preached this, hear how this saying was put into his mouth, as if from the mouth of God himself; for the Lord says: “For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Look: as you see, the Lord himself declares that he was sent by God the Father to save mankind. [a]

But perhaps you think it ought to be shown still more clearly which Son God sent to save men. God’s own and only Son can only be one, and when God is said to have sent his Son, he is certainly shown to have sent his only Son. Still, hear the prophet David pointing out with the utmost clearness the one who was sent for the salvation of men: “He sent,” he said, “his Word and healed them.” Can you twist this so as to refer it to the flesh, as if you could say that a mere man was sent by God to heal mankind? You certainly cannot. The prophet David and all the Holy Scriptures would cry out against you, saying: “He sent his Word and healed them.”

You see, then, that the Word was sent to heal men. For though healing was given through Christ, yet the Word of God was in Christ and healed all things through Christ. And so, since Christ and the Word were united in the mystery of the incarnation, Christ and the Word of God became one Son of God in either substance. And when the apostle John was anxious to state this clearly, he said: “God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” Do you see how he joined God and man together in a union that cannot be severed? For Christ, who was born of Mary, is beyond the slightest doubt called Savior, as it is said: “For to you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” But here he calls the very Word of God, which was sent, a Savior, saying: “God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”