Adam's sin: and Adam was
not buried in Jerusalem, but in Hebron; for it is written (Josh.
14:15): "The name of Hebron before was called Cariath-Arbe: Adam the
greatest in the land of [Vulg.: 'among'] the Enacims was laid there."
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Luke 13:33): "It cannot be that a
prophet perish out of Jerusalem." Therefore it was fitting that He
should die in Jerusalem.
_I answer that,_ According to the author of _De Qq. Vet. et Nov.
Test.,_ qu. lv, "the Saviour did everything in its proper place and
season," because, as all things are in His hands, so are all places:
and consequently, since Christ suffered at a suitable time, so did He
in a suitable place.
Reply Obj. 1: Christ died most appropriately in Jerusalem. First of
all, because Jerusalem was God's chosen place for the offering of
sacrifices to Himself: and these figurative sacrifices foreshadowed
Christ's Passion, which is a true sacrifice, according to Eph. 5:2:
"He hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God
for an odor of sweetness." Hence Bede says in a Homily (xxiii): "When
the Passion drew nigh, our Lord willed to draw nigh to the place of
the Passion"--that is to say, to Jerusalem--whither He came five days
before the Pasch; just as, according to the legal precept, the
Paschal lamb was led to the place of immolation five days before the
Pasch, which is the tenth day of the moon.
Secondly, because the virtue of His Passion was to be spread over the
whole world, He wished to suffer in the center of the habitable
world--that is, in Jerusalem. Accordingly it is written (Ps. 73:12):
"But God is our King before ages: He hath wrought salvation in the
midst of the earth"--that is, in Jerusalem, which is called "the
navel of the earth" [*Cf. Jerome's comment on Ezech. 5:5].
Thirdly, because it was specially in keeping with His humility: that,
as He chose the most shameful manner of death, so likewise it was
part of His humility that He did not refuse to suffer in so
celebrated a place. Hence Pope Leo says (Serm. I in Epiph.): "He who
had taken upon Himself the form of a servant chose Bethlehem for His
nativity and Jerusalem for His Passion."
Fourthly, He willed to suffer in Jerusalem, where the chief priests
dwelt, to show that the wickedness of His slayers arose from the
chiefs of the Jewish people. Hence it is written (Acts 4:27): "There
assembled together in this city against Thy holy child Jesus whom
Thou h
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