Fragmenta in sancti Pauli epistulam ad Hebraeos

His manner of instruction was also exceedingly wise and very finely and skillfully furnished. For it is variegated with legal writings and spiritual concepts and the manifold foretelling of the holy prophets, and his aim was to teach thoroughly in every way and to persuade those who would read that the things done through Moses were types pregnant with the power of the truth, while the truth is Christ—showing that the most useful exhibition for the ancients, as from type and shadow, was superfluous. In addition to this he also makes this clear to us, that even for those who lived splendidly under the law, it happened in no other way that they came to be in glories and to be well reputed, except through faith in God, and that faith is an ancient thing and well-worn among the holy fathers. But he did not use the openings and prefaces customary to him, since he was under suspicion and slander among the believing Jews, as one who was attached to the Gentiles and taught all people everywhere to regard the law as nothing and to despise ancestral customs as worthless, and as one who was going, as it were, on another path, as is to be learned from the acts of the apostles. Most economically, therefore, he veils the customary things, and he has passed over in silence the grace of his apostleship; but he has proceeded rather to the necessity of remembering the fathers and the holy prophets, believing that by this his word would be readily acceptable to them. For he said, "Having spoken to the fathers in the prophets.

God spoke in the Spirit to those of older times through the mouth of holy men and through the voice of prophets. Indeed, he said through one of them, putting to shame the follies of the Jews: "Where are your fathers, and will the prophets live forever? Nevertheless, receive my laws and my commandments, as many as I command in my Spirit to my servants the prophets." But even if the grace of prophecy was in the Spirit for those of older times, it did not come about without the Word of God who is from the Father; for his Spirit likewise speaks to the holy ones. And surely no one who has understanding would say that the Holy Spirit, accomplishing a ministerial service toward us, receives in equal measure with the prophets the knowledge, that is, the revelation, concerning whatever he might wish from the Word of God, and thus conveys it to us; for in that case he would differ in no way from the holy prophets, if this were so. But knowing all things that are in himself, he is said to receive from him and to announce to the holy ones. Therefore the Only-Begotten also spoke long ago to those of older times through the Holy Spirit; and he spoke in many ways, commanding the venerable and great mystery of his incarnation to be formed. So one may hear him saying through the prophets: "I multiplied visions, and I was likened in the hands of the prophets," and again: "I myself who speak am present, as the hour upon the mountains, as the feet of one proclaiming good news, the hearing of peace, proclaiming good things." For at the consummation of the ages the Son himself spoke to us through himself, no longer with a prophet intervening and the voice of holy ones, but the Only-Begotten, having become among us through himself, has made his words to us.

We say that the Father spoke in the Son, not as through some man individually, placed in between and conveying to us words that are not his own but another's, but the Son speaking to us in his own voice through the body; for the flesh was his own, of the Only-Begotten, and not of some other. For being God by nature, he became man while remaining God; for then he made known to us the hidden counsel of God and the Father. For this reason "his name is also called the Angel of Great Counsel." Rightly, then, Paul says that God and the Father spoke to us in the Son in the last days. For he knew that Emmanuel was God, and that the Word from God had become with us in humanity; he recognized the free one in the form of the slave; he confessed the fullness of the one who emptied himself for our sake; he beheld the height of glory of the one who humbled himself for our sake to lowliness—who, for this very reason, is said to have been appointed heir of all things, although he has authority over all things, even as he is understood to be and is God. For again he returns to his own wealth even with the flesh. For he has by no means remained in our poverty—not becoming flesh for this reason, that he might remain poor with us, having cast off his own and God-befitting wealth, but rather that we, who are sick with the lack of divine gifts, might become rich through his poverty.

And indeed, being Son by nature and co-eternal with the Father, when for our sake he underwent the generation according to the flesh through the holy virgin, as being brought back to the beginnings of sonship he said through David: "The Lord said to me, You are my Son, today I have begotten you." For the "today" makes clear the time of the present moment, in which he also became flesh. And he is by nature Lord of all things. For John testified concerning him that "he came to his own," calling the world his own; and as being called to the glory of the kingdom, which was unusual for him, he said: "But I was established king by him," clearly by God and the Father. And he endured such things, so that as a man adopted as son—though by nature being God—he might prepare through himself for human nature the participation in adoption, and might call to the kingdom of heaven those tyrannized by sin. For just as, as it were some inheritance from a father extending to the whole race descended from him, we have received the calamities from the transgression in Adam, burdened with a curse and death, so again the splendid things in Christ will run through the whole human race. For the Only-begotten receives them for us, certainly not for himself—for he is full, since he is also God by nature, and needs nothing at all, but rather he enriches the whole creation with the good things from above. He has therefore been appointed as a man heir of all things by economy, so that thereafter, as belonging to him and being his own, he might recover as an inheritance those on the earth who have been impiously plundered by the devil and the evil powers with him.

And indeed God and the Father said to him, "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance," and so on; when this had been brought to fulfillment, he says to his own Father concerning us, "Those whom you have given me out of the world were yours, and you have given them to me." Consider, then, how he ascends to the wealth that belongs to him by nature, even with the flesh; for if those in the world were the Father's, in what way could they be understood as belonging to the Word who reigns together with him? Therefore he also said, "All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them." How, then, is he commanded to ask, and does he receive the nations as an inheritance, and does he make the ends of the earth his possession? For the Creator and Father of all things, wishing to preserve from the slavery under God the man who had rebelliously slipped away into decay, sent into this world the only-begotten God the Word, so that having become flesh and having lived among men as a man, he might proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and might call the acceptable year of the Lord. Therefore, even if he is said to receive and to be appointed heir because of the human nature, we will not be ignorant of the economy; for where in the world did he become poor, unless he became as we are, that is, a man while remaining God? Persuading us to think thus, the

The divine Paul necessarily added, "through whom also he made the ages." How then could this also be true? For if in the last times of the age the holy virgin bore for us Emmanuel, how does he say that the ages were made through him? And quite rightly. For the Word who was begotten from God the Father before every age and time is said in these last days to have been born in the flesh from a woman. But it will do no harm at all to his God-befitting antiquity that the more recent element of the economy is as it is by nature, nor indeed will the most ancient element of his existence lose its own glory; for it is written, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." And that he, having appeared also in the flesh, bore witness to himself as being most ancient, as in a divine nature, he will confirm by saying to the Jews, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." The divine John the evangelist also said, "He who comes after me has become before me, because he was first of me." For Christ is rich in all things and holds the first place. He who being the radiance of the glory. Just as the Father is immutable, always remaining that which he is—Father, clearly, not Son—so also the Son abides in his own properties, always remaining Son and not changing over into Father, so that he may appear in this very respect also as being the express image of the Father's person. And one may see in him the beauty of the Begetter's preeminence and indeed glory shining forth. For he is true God from true God, light from light, and life likewise from life; and he is exalted above the whole creation as much as the Father himself would be conceived.

For he is unbegotten from the unbegotten, and is not numbered among those brought from non-being into being; for the Word was in the beginning and the Word was God. How then will the saying "He was not" be true when spoken of him by those who fight against the divine Scriptures? For if, according to them, he is created, he will certainly be reckoned together with all the others and will accept the yoke of slavery, and he will differ in no way from the things that have come to be of himself. He is therefore God rather as from God; for he bears all things by the word of his power. For "all things came to be through him and without him nothing came to be"; and again he himself sustains all things unto unshaken permanence. We were saying that God gave oracles to the more ancient through Moses and the prophets; but we have become, according to the voice of the prophet, "taught of God." For we have had as teacher the very Word from God, who became man for our sake, the maker of the ages, the radiance of the Father's glory, the express image of his substance. Having contemplated these things in due order, we shall add what follows: these things are the all-powerful Word of God and the Father: "He spoke and they were made, he commanded and they were created; he established them for ever and for ever and ever; he set a decree and it shall not pass away." For since the nature of those brought into being does not possess incorruptibility, nor indeed the power to remain always in the same state—for this is proper to the highest essence of all—he himself bears all things by the word of his power.

For he himself is a Word subsisting in his own person and begotten by nature from God the Father, and his utterance is all-powerful and effective and able easily to accomplish all things. To these things he adds: Having made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Having shown him to be the express image of the Father's person and indeed the radiance of his glory, he necessarily proceeds to the economy of the incarnation, through which we have both been saved and have been enriched with the forgiveness of sins, and have been sanctified through his blood. For as the most wise Paul himself says, "In him we have redemption through his blood," the forgiveness of trespasses. And John also writes as follows concerning God the Father: "If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with him, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin." We have therefore been cleansed by the holy blood of Christ, the Savior of us all, who has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But when? When he made purification through his blood, then he is said to have sat down, and to have become better than the angels, and to have inherited a more excellent name than they; for he has been called Son. For the Word became flesh, although he was the Word and the radiance of the Father's glory and the express image of his person, not by his own nature undertaking the labors, so to speak, of the economy with the flesh; for he endured "the cross, despising the shame," and dishonors and insults and spittings.

But in order that he might release us from every defilement, having made us clean by his own blood, and might join us through himself to God the Father—for "through him" we have obtained "our access," and he himself is the door and the way. Yet even if "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," having made his own body the one taken from the holy virgin, nevertheless he was in the glory and nature of divinity and did not depart from the highest thrones of God the Father. For he was a man on earth, yet he filled heaven again, and all things were full of him. And he was made a little lower than the angels, at least by reason of the measure of humanity—for human nature is set below the glory of the angels—yet even so he was "above every principality and authority and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." And knowing this, the inspired Paul writes: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, he became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich by his poverty." Having become by so much better than the angels. For "Angel" is a name signifying service, and it suggests a measure akin to us; but "Son" declares the substantial and natural existence from the Father. For this reason, then, he did not say "greater" or "more honorable" by way of comparison, lest anyone suppose that this one and those were of the same kind; but he said "better," so that he might make known the difference of the Son's nature from things created.

And we have the proof of these things from the divine Scriptures, David singing, "For better is one day in your courts than thousands," and Solomon declaring, "Wisdom is better than precious stones." For how are wisdom and the stones from the earth not different in essence and other in nature? And what kinship is there between the courts in the heavens and the houses on earth? So then there is no kinship at all of the Son toward the angels. And since there is no kinship, the word "better" was not spoken by way of comparison, but by way of distinction, because of the difference of his nature from theirs. And so the apostle himself, interpreting "better," places it in nothing other than the difference of the Son from things created, saying that he is a Son, but they are servants; and he, as a Son, sits at the right hand with the Father, but they, as servants, stand by and are sent and minister. Since these things are written thus, the Son is not signified by them as created, O Arians, but rather he is other than created things, and the Father's own, being in his bosom. For indeed the word "having become" written here does not signify the Son as created, as you suppose. For if he had spoken simply of his "having become" and said nothing more, the Arians would have had a pretext. But since he previously called him Son, having demonstrated throughout the whole passage that he is other than created things, he did not set down "having become" in an absolute sense, but joined "better" to "having become." For he considered the expression indifferent, knowing that, in the case of one who is confessedly a genuine Son, the one who says "having become" says the same as "he has come to be," namely that he is better. For the begotten does not differ, even if

If anyone says something has come to be or has been made—but things that have come to be, being creations, cannot be called begotten, unless perhaps, after these things have partaken of the begotten Son, they too are said to have been begotten; not at all by their own nature, but through participation in the Son in the Spirit. And the divine Scripture knows this again, saying of things that have come to be, "All things came to be through him" and "He made all things in wisdom"; but of begotten sons, "There were born to Job seven sons and three daughters," and "Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him." Therefore, if the Son is one thing among things that have come to be, but is the only proper offspring of the Father's essence, the Arians' pretext concerning "having become" has been made empty. For even if, put to shame in these matters, they force themselves to say again that the statements were spoken comparatively, and that for this reason the things compared are of the same kind, so that the Son is of the nature of the angels, they will first be put to shame as speaking the things of Valentinus and Carpocrates—of whom the one said that the angels are of the same kind as Christ, and the other says that angels are creators of the world. For perhaps having learned from them, these men too compare the Word of God to the angels. But they will be ashamed when they imagine such things, since the psalmist says, "Who shall be likened to the Lord among the sons of God," and "Who is like you among the gods, O Lord?" Yet they will hear, if perhaps they may learn, that comparison is admittedly accustomed to take place among things of the same kind, and not among things of a different kind.

No one, then, compares God to a human being, nor again a human being to irrational creatures, nor wood to stones, because of the dissimilarity of nature; but God is an incomparable thing, whereas a human being is compared to a human being, and wood to wood, and stone to stone; and in these cases one would not say "better," but "more" and "greater in quantity." Thus Joseph was more handsome than his brothers, and Rachel than Leah; and one star is not better than another star, but rather "differs in glory." But in the case of things of different kinds, when one compares them with one another, then "better" is said in relation to what differs, just as it is said of wisdom and of stones. If, then, the apostle had said, "By so much the Son surpasses the angels," or "is greater by so much," you would have had a pretext for thinking that the Son was being compared to the angels; but as it is, by saying that he is better and differs by as much as a son differs from slaves, he shows that he is of another nature than the angels; and by saying again that he is the one who founded all things, he shows that he is other than all created things. And since he is other and of a different substance from the nature of created things, what comparison or likeness of his essence is there to created things? For this reason the Son himself did not say, "My Father is better than I," lest anyone suppose him to be foreign to that one's nature; but he said "greater"—not in magnitude, nor in time, but because of his generation from the Father himself; except that in saying "greater" he again showed the peculiarity of his essence.

And the apostle too, when he wished to distinguish primarily the essence of the Word from things that have come to be, said, "Having become so much better than the angels"; for it is incomparable—or rather, it is something else. But looking to the incarnate economy of the Word and the economy that was then brought about by him, he wished to show that this one is not like those before, so that by as much as he differs in nature from those sent beforehand by him, by so much more also the grace that comes from this one and through him might be better than the ministry through angels. For it belonged to servants to demand only the fruits, but to a Son and Lord to forgive the debts and to transfer the vineyard. These things, then, are sufficient to shame those who fight against the truth. But if, because it is written "Having become better," they do not want the word "having become," as spoken concerning the Son, to be heard as equivalent to "is," or, because the better ministry came to be, they take and understand "having become" as we have said—but think that from this word the Word is called a creature—let them hear again: If the Son is from among the angels, let "having become" apply to him as it does to them, and let him differ from them in nothing by nature, but let them either be sons themselves, or let him too be an angel; and let them all sit together at the right hand of the Father, or let the Son too stand alongside all of them as a ministering spirit sent for ministries, himself rendering the same services as they. But if Paul separates the Son from things that have come to be, saying, "For to which of the angels did he ever say, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you'?

And again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son." But when he again brings in the firstborn. He calls him firstborn, not as those who distort what is right say, assigning this to the creation, but because he is himself first in all things... marveling, they said, "Who is this who comes from Edom"—that is, from the earth—"with the redness of garments from Bozrah?" which in the Greek tongue means constraint or affliction: "Why are your garments red, and your clothes as from one who treads the winepress?" And they also asked this further, saying, "What are these wounds in the midst of your hands?" And he said to them, "Those with which I was struck in the house of my beloved." And surely no one would say that it was by necessity that the marks of the nails were in him after the resurrection and that he ascended into heaven with them; but rather that is worth considering reasonably. Just as to Thomas, who disbelieved, he showed the marks of the nails and the side itself, so that he might persuade him to say from a readily instructed mind, "My Lord and my God," so, as I think, making manifest to the holy angels the manner of the economy with the flesh, he appeared with the signs of the passion—bearing red garments, at any rate, and the very marks of the nails—so that they too might believe that he who by nature and truly is God has also become the Son of Man, having taken a body from the holy virgin and having submitted himself to kenosis, so that, offering himself as an offering and sacrifice for all to God the Father as a sweet savor, he might preserve those under heaven.

Therefore the holy multitude of the angels also worships him, not declining worship because he was firstborn and a man among many brothers, but taught the economy and recognizing the Son by nature from God even when he became flesh. But to the Son: Your throne, O God. How then is it not senseless and rash to pry into the nature through which all things were brought into existence, the nature older than all time? For they came to be through it, and the Word from God the Father is before every age; but the utterly reckless accuse him of being newer, and say that he is created, not knowing that they oppose the words of the Holy Spirit. For those who speak in the Spirit say that the ages were made through him; but they insist that he who is beyond both mind and reason is created, and they do not accept even this in their mind: for God did not become Father in time, but he always was and was in the beginning. And since this is so, it is altogether necessary to understand that the Son coexists with him, so that God may truly be Father. Otherwise let them teach, if the Son is the Word of the Father and wisdom and power and express image and radiance of his substance, what time was there when the Father was without the Word, when the Son did not exist? When was the fountain of wisdom without its own wisdom? When was he without power? When was the radiance of his glory not in God? Or how would his express image not be with him and in him continually? If, then, these things came to be in time, then he was not Father before he became one; he was without the Word and without wisdom, and had no strength, and was without express image and radiance.

But I think that to conceive this is impious, and it contains a proof of the utmost impiety. But the Father always was; therefore the Son also always was, subsisting together always with his own Begetter. You loved righteousness. The inspired David cried out, as it were, a common petition on behalf of all humanity to the Father and God in the heavens: "Command, O God, with your power; strengthen, O God, this which you worked in us." And the power of the Father is the Son, through whom he established the heavens and founded the earth, and wrought the ordering of this universe. And he made man according to his own image and likeness, superior to corruption and death, a worker of righteousness. But since death reigned through sin and we were brought under corruption, and "all turned aside, together they became worthless," the Creator and Lord of all necessarily took forethought for his own creatures; for God and the Father was well pleased "to sum up all things in Christ" and to renew them to their state in the beginning. David therefore makes clear the deep mystery of the incarnation, crying out to the Son by nature from God the Father: "You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your fellows." But some think that such utterances do not befit the Only-Begotten, but were spoken rather as to a man simply, the one born of the holy virgin; but this is nonsense for the one who thinks so, as has been demonstrated through many arguments.

For no common man was born to us, nor one stripped of unity with God, so that someone might say, according to their account, that the God of all foreknew concerning him that he loved righteousness and hated lawlessness as from his own and only will. And yet we would reasonably apply the voice of the psalmist to the Only-Begotten who appeared in human form, and direct our mind carefully to Isaiah's prophecies concerning him. For he spoke thus: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey before he knows or chooses evil; he shall choose the good. For before the child knows good or evil, he rejects evil by choosing the good." And he loved righteousness and hated iniquity as being righteousness itself and God. For since the child did not yet have, at least from that time, the capacity to know what is blameworthy and to praise what is not so, how would he have rejected evil by choosing the good? But he was, as I said, God in flesh, unable to be carried away from the natural goods that were in him. And I do not praise what I wish to say, but let it stand, if it seems good, according to the account of the fickle-minded, and let him who is honored alone with the personal union have his own virtue.

But let them say that, and I will ask: From what sort of achievements will someone be so great—though by nature a man—as to be deemed worthy even of the divine thrones themselves, and to sit in council with God the Father, and to be called Lord on an equal footing with the one who is so by nature, and to have angels as worshippers, and all creation rendering service to him—although the Scripture says, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve," and does not permit a recent god among us? But perhaps they will run to that usual expedient, and indeed they will say that by his union with God he will be invested with the glory of divinity according to nature. Then let him acknowledge the union to be true and not cleverly manipulate the matter, separating the natures and placing each one apart, and saying that the one is unconnected to the other, and having somehow discovered for us the union of the persons alone. We affirm, then, that it has been said to the Son who is by nature from God, as one who has become according to our measure—that is, a man—"You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.

For since the first man transgressed the divine commandment, and then human nature became diseased, being very easily led astray toward sins, for this reason the Word who is from God, being by nature immutable, holy and righteous and hating unrighteousness, became like us and was called a servant, and inscribed the Father as God because of the human nature, although he is God, and he is said to have been anointed from him through the Holy Spirit, not receiving this for himself—for he is by nature holy as God—but as it were bringing us through himself to grace and showing us worthy of the blessing from the Father, although we had long before offended both through the transgression in Adam and through the sin that afterward tyrannized over us. "For not an ambassador, nor an angel, but the Lord himself saved us." But if anyone thinks that the Word who is from God the Father receives sanctification into his own nature, he will depart into a wide and great sea of blasphemies. For if we say that the anointing or sanctification spoken of here was accomplished in the last times of the age, how is it not necessary, and not willingly, to confess that he would not be holy by nature, but rather not even holy, at least in the times in the beginning and before the anointing—that is, the boundless ages—and before he became like us, having been deprived of sanctification? And if this is true, he was not free from sin. How then does the most wise Paul say that the Son is the radiance of the Father's glory, and likewise the express image of his person? For the express image altogether forms in itself the archetype; therefore neither is the Father himself holy by nature. Then who is the one who sanctifies him?

Having thus bid farewell to their vomit, we shall confess that the Son is holy by nature, just as indeed the Father himself is, and we say that he was sanctified in the flesh then, when he is said to have emptied himself, having been designated a man, to whom sanctification belongs by participation from God and not by nature of his own. And it is no wonder if the Word, being God, appropriates the things proper to humanity, both in love of goodness and at the same time in the manner of economy. For he who wholly willed to suffer the emptying, how could he reasonably refuse its consequences? Therefore, if the Word who is from God the Father be conceived in himself, he is in need of nothing good, and we say that the Holy Spirit is his own. But since, as I said, he himself became flesh, he anoints his own temple with his own Spirit; for the Father works whatever he works through no other than through the Son alone in Israel. Therefore he is said to have received the Spirit in the manner of economy as a man; for "Jesus of Nazareth," it says, "how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power"; but as God he gives it to those worthy to receive it. And indeed he breathed upon the holy apostles, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit," and the divine Peter also addressed the assemblies of the Jews concerning him: "Therefore, being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Spirit from the Father, he poured out this which you both see and hear." You hear in these words very clearly that he was exalted by the right hand of God, and that he both received and gave the Spirit, and he is exalted evidently when he humbled himself.

For just as he willingly humbled himself to this, so again he exalts himself, and being himself with the flesh he is the hand of the Father, through which he works all things in a manner befitting God. He is exalted, therefore, by himself according to the will of the Father, when, having broken the bonds of death and having said to the spirits below, "Come out," he sat down at the right hand of the Father. The Son by nature has therefore been anointed with the oil of gladness, when the Father was also called his God, he having become like us. And to say this is in no way absurd; for he said somewhere to the holy apostles, "I go to my Father and your Father and my God and your God." Behold, then, clearly he called his own Father his God because of the human nature. And since we have been called through him to adoption as sons, he has been called a brother to those who are servants by nature, and he has given us his own Father. But just as we, even if we have been called sons of the Father—we are, if indeed we are, evidently men—have not ignored the grace of the one who honored us, so the Son by nature and Lord, even if because of the flesh and his likeness to us he acknowledged his Father as his God, has not fallen outside of being what he is, nor indeed will we ignore the fitting accounts in the economy with the flesh. But how then is he said to have been anointed beyond his fellows? Come, let us speak as we can. For we have been anointed with the Holy Spirit, but the things pertaining to us have been separated by nature, and by as much as the nature of divinity would be conceived beyond every created thing;

But the Word of God, who became man for our sake, anoints his own temple with his own Spirit, not implanting a partial working, nor indeed granting it in the manner of a pledge, as he does to us, but rather filling it with sanctification and with his own power and glory. Therefore he also said, "For their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." But that, although he is said to have been anointed by the Father according to his humanity, he has not ceased to be what he was and is and will be forever, that is, God, the divine Paul himself does not allow us to doubt, applying to the same person in what follows, "And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; and all of them will grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail." Then, immediately joining to these, "But to which of the angels did he ever say, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." And I do not think any sensible person would suppose that the one who sits with the Father is other than the one born according to the flesh from the holy virgin. And to this very point Emmanuel himself confirms us, saying to the teachers of the Jews, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?

They say to him, "Of David"; then Christ says to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call him 'Lord,' saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand'?" Understand, then, that he names as Lord the one anointed as man alongside his partakers, and in the beginning, he said, he laid the foundation of the earth and they worked the heavens, and that he exists also forever; for the Word from God the Father is eternal by nature, although the things that came into being through him do not possess unorigination in time essentially, for they have been called into being by God, who alone is said to have immortality; for nothing is incorruptible and imperishable beside him. And he adds to these things a clear and most vivid proof of the superiority that is in him by nature: "For to which of the angels did he say, 'Sit at my right hand'? Are they not all ministering spirits sent for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" For if he is seated on the thrones of divinity, clothed with the lordly dignity—even if he has become a son of David by taking a body from the holy virgin—while they stand by as God and King of all, to which of existing things is the difference lying between Christ and the angels unclear? For he is Son and God, while they boast the servile measure, and among them the genuine disposition toward obedience is reckoned as the highest glory.

But if someone should say, "And what manner will persuade us to think that he who was born in the last times of the age through the holy virgin established the earth in the beginning and raised up the heavens themselves?" he will hear from us in reply that if he would choose to understand the power of the true union—not the union in persons only and according to will or good pleasure—he will find that human things have become his own through God's economy, and that the things fitting him and him alone, the united Word, are not alien to his humanity; since Emmanuel is one and only and true Son, and is understood by us as both God and man. You subjected all things under his feet. Go up, it says, in your thoughts to the formation of man in the beginning, and inquire what he first became, and examine how we were made by God according to his image and likeness, and were richly honored, having obtained as our lot to rule over the things on the earth. But since the beginning of the race, that is Adam, grieved the divine commandment, the mind of man has henceforth been sick with an easy inclination to transgression; for this reason we continued in the world stripped of glory and incorruption and of the good things of the beginning; but we have been saved through Christ, and by the grace from him we have obtained the means for the recovery of what was formerly given. The breadth of such narratives is what the present discourse introduces; for the inspired David marveled at the excess of the gentleness toward us: "For what is man," he says, "that you remember him, or the son of man that you visit him?"—so small and worthless a creature, and from the earth.

For he lowered him a little in comparison with the angels—for we have been defeated, by common admission, by the nature and glory of the holy angels. Therefore the God of all things deemed him worthy to crown with honor and glory and showed him radiant; for he has appointed him to rule over those on the earth and established "him over the works of his hands." And the blessed David rightly marveled at what pertains to us; but the most wise Paul, being exceedingly skilled in spiritual thoughts, cleverly overturns the force of what has been said into a mystical interpretation, and he calls the coming world the constitution of the age after this one, and the renewal, that is, the fulfillment, of the things given to us that will take place at the appointed times. For we fell away, as I said, from grace in Adam; for it was spoken to him, the first, and to human nature: "Increase and multiply and have dominion over it"; but now, he says, we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Therefore let us seek the time of the matter, which is different, in which what has been said by God, who does not know how to lie, will also be true concerning us. In this way he says that the coming world was not subjected by him to angels rather, but that this was granted to those on the earth. And that the mystagogues are speaking about the world that is to come for us, how could anyone doubt? For by setting aside things present, they persuade us to seek things to come, and they advise that we must hasten "to the prize of the upward calling" and thirst for the hope of the saints, according to which all things will be subjected to them and they will have dominion over the earth.

And the Savior himself also made mention, saying, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Who, then, is he through whom the recapitulation of our affairs has come about from God and the Father? It is clear that it is Christ, whom it is also fitting for us to speak of as through the lyre of the psalmist: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; you are the one who restores my inheritance to me." For through him we have obtained the recovery itself of the good things given by nature in the beginning, and their firmness for possession. And it is not difficult to see that this is so in no other way, since the inspired Paul has written concerning him: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death." You hear how the one who is enthroned with the Father, the one worshiped by the spirits above in the rank of God, to whom a thousand thousands of angels minister and ten thousand times ten thousand stand by—the mystagogue brings him down again in these words:

He describes the manner of the kenosis that took place for our sake, immediately adding as well all the good things that have been accomplished through it for human nature. For consider that he was made for a little while lower than the angels, so that we might become rich in him with things beyond our own nature, in the good pleasure of God and the Father; for he raised us up together "and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ." For when Christ, the Savior of us all, takes his seat, the boast will extend over the whole nature of man. For in what way have we become rich through his poverty, if in no way are our affairs in a better state, when he who is above all creation became as we are? Therefore man has been made for a little while lower than the angels, so that he might honor the nature of man and restore it again to what it was in the beginning, being crowned with glory and honor in it, although as God he is the Lord of glory. For just as the transgression of Adam showed us to be most dishonored, so we have been glorified through the obedience of Christ on our behalf, who even set down his own soul "so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." How is he who is worshiped by the angels made lower than the angels? Or is it because he came down to the measures of humanity, and taking a body naturally subject to death, he suffered willingly in it, and is crowned with the highest glories because of his passion, since through it he abolished death and rendered corruption powerless, being himself incorruption and life. But superiority belongs to the angels, because they are both outside the flesh and better than death, the Son having come to be among these things through his voluntary kenosis.

But the one who was made for a little while lower than the angels because of the measure of humanity, being in the preeminence of divinity, is worshiped by them, and is enthroned on thrones which they stand around glorifying always, and naming him Lord of the powers. That by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. What is "he tasted" is clear to everyone, as I at least think. For having given his own body to death and, as it were, having tasted in the flesh of what had befallen him, he came to life again and straightway trampled the power of death. Therefore the one said to have been made for a little while lower than the angels is himself the Word of God, who did not undergo the lowering in his own nature; for he is always himself and in the same state, unchangeable and immutable, but he endured this too for our sake in a human way; for though he was God by nature, he submitted to the measures of humanity for the sake of the economy. And this is what is most especially to be marveled at in the mystery concerning him. Thus also the prophet Habakkuk said: "Lord, I have heard your report and I was afraid, I considered your works and I was astonished." For what has come to pass is truly an ecstasy and beyond all wonder. But I do not know how some, not having understood the mystery itself rightly, talk nonsense and have even written, wishing to interpret what is in the eighth psalm.

Let us consider, then, who this man is about whom he is astonished and marvels, that the Only-Begotten deigned to remember him and to make visitation of him. Then he adds to these things, very clearly, that the words "What is man, that you remember him, or the son of man, that you visit him?" were not spoken of every man, but of the Son alone. But they attempt to establish their own arguments and to bring them around to the truth, saying that the blessed Paul [applied] the things in the psalm to his own person, because of the phrase "But we see Jesus, who was made for a little while lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death." Then, separating the natures, they say that the one born of the holy virgin is wholly and specifically a man, about whom, they say, David also marvels, because he was deemed worthy of remembrance and visitation; and he was deemed worthy also of things beyond his own nature, as being benefited by God the Word. But they have failed to understand, as it seems, that Christ Jesus is not understood and spoken of by us as a man commonly and specifically in himself, but rather the Word of God who became man. But so that the exposition of the concepts may proceed in the fitting order and appear clearly, come, let us first touch upon the contemplation of the things set forth in the psalm before the others. The inspired David knew as a prophet that, according to the true and divine promise, "from the fruit of his loins according to the flesh" he would come, yet he did not fail to know that, being God by nature, he would humble himself among us in due time.

He converses, then, in the eighth psalm and makes his words addressed to him as to a man and at the same time God, recognizing as one God the one who is from both. In this way he says, "Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth, for your magnificence has been lifted up above the heavens." For where at all, or among whom, has Christ not been marveled at? Or how has his magnificence not been lifted up even above the heavens, and the splendor of his glory? If indeed it is true that "at the name of Jesus Christ every knee bends, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." For that the divine singer says these things of the Word who has appeared in human form and been united to flesh, he would easily show by what follows.

For he said, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise." For since he raised Lazarus from the dead, he was marveled at by all, and "having found a donkey, he sat upon it," when also the children, taking "the branches of the palms," honoring him with the fitting acclamations, said, "Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." And when the others rebuked them, Christ said, "Have you not read that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?" Seeing the Son, then, made man and, so to speak, even riding upon the colt, he was astonished, reasonably pondering that very thing—that he is seen to have descended to such a lowliness, though by nature being God. Then the blessed David, seeing no other cause for the emptying, except that he alone might rescue us who were in necessity both from corruption and from sin and snatch us from tyrannical hands—I mean those of the devil—judges the mystery of the economy with the flesh worthy of all wonder. For this reason he says, "Lord, what is man that you remember him, or the son of man that you visit him?" For what is the nature of man as compared to God? And why do I say this? What is the human race? And how great a portion would those on earth be reckoned to be, I mean as compared to the ranks of the holy angels? But even if man is nothing at all by nature and in number, the Creator did not overlook us, for he remembered us and deemed us worthy of visitation, as of those who were lost.

He who also in the beginning, when he brought us into existence, made us for a little while lower than the angels, but crowned us with honor and glory and set us over the works of his hands, and subjected all things under our feet. And the aim of the whole ode is in these things, but the divine Paul philosophizes exceedingly and skillfully brings around our diseased condition into newness through Christ; for the things in him are a new creation, and the old things have passed away, and all things have become new. This the Holy Spirit also says through one of the prophets: "Take courage, Zion; let not your hands be slack; the Lord your God is in you, mighty to save you, and he will renew you in his love." Paul therefore declares that we have been stripped of the glory formerly given; therefore he says, "But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him." And surely we do not think—we who have chosen to think rightly—that he says such things about one man, but as signifying the universal man in one person, he says that he has been despoiled

...the participation in the former glory that was given. And it is necessary to explain what sort of thing is the constitution of the whole word, and what is the conclusion of the craftsmanship. For he shows that he has missed the glory through the transgression in Adam, in order that he may also set forth the manner of the restoration and make clear what sort of thing was the poverty of the race, in order that he may show again the one through whom we have been enriched. For he adds immediately: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death." For being God by nature, as we have said very many times, the Word from God lowered himself into emptying and was reckoned with us as a man, a little lower than the angels, in order that, having become obedient to the Father even to death, he might crown the nature of man with glory and honor, being crowned as one of us, although he is the Lord of glory. But if someone should say that the man born of the holy virgin was deemed worthy of remembrance and visitation by God the Word, and that he was benefited and deemed worthy of honor beyond his own nature, he would bring down the glory of the mystery, as it were, to the ground, and would incur the greatest possible laughter. For where, tell me, is Christ a mere man? And when is he conceived apart from the Word united to him? For Emmanuel is from the womb, and this did not happen in the course of time. How then do they say that he was deemed worthy of visitation and remembrance by God the Word? Then, separating and dividing him completely, may they be caught both wholly and in part, showing us another Christ and Son, bare and separate from the united Word.

For it is necessary to understand as another the one who was deemed worthy of oversight and remembrance by him, alongside the one to whom these things were given by him. How then is there still one Lord, one faith, and one baptism? For even if the difference of the natures is great, yet the manner of the union showed the one Son from both. Therefore, if we say that he was deemed worthy of remembrance by God the Word, then we are altogether psychical, not having the Spirit, as it is written; for we divide the one into two. But if he was in the beginning what he is, and Emmanuel from the very womb, if we do not accept the manner of the union, then the Word will surely remember himself, he deemed himself worthy of oversight, he is seen benefiting himself, and the force of these notions brings in upon us great absurdity. For his body is not alien to the Word; and besides, who then is the one said by the holy Scripture to have emptied himself? If, then, setting before us separately the one born of the holy virgin, they say that he himself underwent the emptying, how was he emptied when glorified, if indeed it is honor and glory for a man according to us to be deemed worthy of oversight and remembrance, and to obtain union with God? But if they say that the emptying was accomplished upon the Only-Begotten himself, he emptied himself by suffering something; for to whom suffering has befallen, to him the matter of emptying would more fittingly belong. We are saved, then, through ourselves, if indeed the one born of the holy virgin is a man according to us, not united in subsistence to the Word who sprang from God, as they themselves say. How then is Christ God, if he too, with us, has been deemed worthy of remembrance by God and has become one of those who are benefited?

And yet we come as to God, praying and asking for the supply of good things from above, as one who distributes requests in a manner befitting God to the whole creation. Since, then, the children have shared in blood and flesh, he himself likewise. I think it is necessary, before other things, to examine carefully and precisely about which children the word is spoken, which it says have shared in flesh and blood, and who is the one who likewise partook of the same things. When, therefore, the Only-begotten Word of God, although being God and Lord by nature and a companion of God the Father, lowered himself to the measure of humanity, and for this reason was also arranged as a brother to those called through faith to adoption as sons of God—then indeed, then, having well and truly preserved the skilfulness of the economy, he was saying concerning us, at one time, "I will declare your name to my brothers," and at another, "Behold, I and the children whom God has given me." For all things have been handed over to him by God the Father, and we have become his lot, although formerly "portions of foxes," as David says. For we miserable ones were subjected unwillingly to the herds of demons; but by his own blood Christ acquired us all and has made us his inheritance. And indeed he said to the Father and God in the heavens: "Those whom you have given me out of the world were yours and you have given them to me, and I have given them the glory which you have given me." For although being Son by nature, he says that by grace he has partaken with us of such glory because of the human nature, yet having remained what he was, he has given us his own glory.

For he sealed us with his own Spirit for adoption as sons, and in him we cry, "Abba, Father." Therefore we who are numbered among the children of God have shared in blood and flesh—that is, we exist in blood and flesh and in corruptible and earthly bodies. For this reason the only-begotten Word of God himself, who is life by nature, partook of the same things, and not in a different way but in like manner, so that he might destroy the one who holds the power of death. For since it was not possible in any other way for that which was held in subjection by death and corruption and sin to be restored to its original state except through Christ alone, the blessed David, as the mystery of the incarnation was now to be fulfilled in its proper time, kept calling out and saying, "Why, Lord, have you stood far off, do you overlook in times of trouble, in afflictions?" For this very reason he is called Emmanuel; for he no longer stands far off but has indeed come nearer, having appeared as a man with us, the Word of God. For he partook in like manner with us of blood and flesh, since the race on earth—that is, man—was held in subjection by death and corruption, and it seemed good to God, the God of all, because of his great gentleness and love for mankind, "to sum up all things in Christ," so that death might henceforth be weakened and be found yielding to the victory of earthly bodies, as it were, in Christ the first.

For in this way, in this way, the power of incorruption is extended to our whole race, and the inspired Paul will confirm this by writing: "Since death came through a man, and through a man the resurrection of the dead." For it was necessary, it was necessary that the suffering part be healed and that death be abolished through the flesh which is tyrannized by death. For just as in Adam, having stumbled through transgression, it fell under death, so, since it became well-pleasing in Christ through obedience, it has been removed from the snares of death and from its terrors, so that we, leaping for joy over them, cry out that word: "Where is your victory, O death? Where is your sting, O Hades?" For being life in essence, the Only-begotten Word of God united himself to the earthly and dying flesh, so that death, rushing upon it as upon some untamed beast, might henceforth be weakened, being defeated. For it was not possible for life to yield to death. For surely he does not take hold of angels, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham; therefore he was obliged to be made like his brothers in all things. If the Only-begotten Word of God did not become man, but rather united to himself the person of a man, as it seems to those who distinguish this as being in good pleasure alone and by a inclination according to the will, how has he been made like his brothers in all things? Or rather, how would he be understood at all as a brother, he who is beyond all that is generated and surpasses creation by incomparable excellences—I mean those according to nature? How has he shared in blood and flesh, if these things did not become his own, just as they are ours?

Therefore there is one Son and Lord, by the union according to hypostasis, the Word having been brought together with the human nature, having partaken of flesh and blood, and having been made like to the brethren in all things, so that He might become merciful and a faithful high priest. The inspired Moses, through type and shadow, led Israel into the knowledge of God and showed the way of the righteousness that is in the law, but he was slow of speech and slow of tongue; for this reason at that time the God of all was known to those in Judea alone, and from Dan even to Beersheba, and to river and sea—for these are the boundaries of the land of the Jews—and His name was great and most well known. And the prophet David, seeing this, sings somewhere and says to Him concerning those from Israel: "You brought a vine out of Egypt; You cast out the nations and planted it." And he adds to these things, bounding the land of the Jews by the river Euphrates and indeed by the sea toward the south and the Indian Sea: "Its branches extended to the sea, and its shoots to the rivers." Therefore the preaching of the all-wise Moses is seen to be confined and reaching to scarcely one nation, and he added to those who were called the rewards of obedience and, as recompense for the life according to the law, things temporary and easily fading—I mean, he names the land of promise everywhere. And the law has justified no one.

For no one is justified before God by the law, and it is "impossible for the blood of goats and bulls to take away sins." But our Lord Jesus Christ has become a merciful and faithful high priest, to make atonement for the sins of the people, and in that he himself suffered, having been tempted, he has helped those who are tempted. For he has called the whole inhabited world with a holy and heavenly calling, and he has become a merciful high priest, because he was not a minister of the law that condemns, but rather with graciousness that bears no grudge and with love he has justified through faith and has granted us the washing away of our ancient offenses. For being merciful always and by nature, the Only-Begotten Word of God has been appointed mediator between us and God through his becoming man, so that just as he was always kind and merciful, so again, having been appointed high priest, he might have compassion on those on the earth, doing what is dear and customary to him and not departing from his own good things, and might show to us the Father who is in the heavens as propitious. And he has become faithful according to the will of God the Father, offering himself on our behalf as a sweet-smelling aroma and bearing the sins of us all "in his body on the tree," as it is written; for in this way he has helped those who are tempted, having himself been tempted in what he suffered, for by his wound we have been healed, according to what is written. Let "having been tempted" then be understood in these words in place of "having suffered," that is, having endured the temptation that came from those who crucified him; for giving his body, in which he suffered, on behalf of all, he set us all free from death and sin and temptations.

Therefore he has come to the aid of those who are tempted, having died as one for all, he who is more worthy than all creation, "so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose for them." For that Christ suffered in the flesh, making us holy, the divinely inspired Paul will assure us, saying to those from the Gentiles and the Jews: "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in mind in evil works, he has now reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard." It is wise, then, for those called to a living and abiding hope to say: "Therefore, brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, who is faithful to him who made him, just as also Moses was in his house." And very reasonably he calls the calling through Christ a heavenly one; for the God of all will graciously grant to those called through him, not the temporary and quickly fading things that the law given through Moses gave to the ancients, but those things that belong to those once deemed worthy to attain to

We are extended into a long-lived life and possess it in a way that cannot be lost. But we have also been designated heavenly in another way, since Christ is first, having become both the way and the door for us. Indeed Paul says, "And just as we bore the image of the earthly man, let us also bear the image of the heavenly man," and again, "The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second is from heaven. As the earthly man is, so also are the earthly; and as the heavenly man is, so also are the heavenly." We have therefore become heavenly, for we are formed into Christ through the Spirit, who is from heaven; for this reason, even while walking on earth, we have "our citizenship in the heavens." For we have not come to the same things as the ancients—"to a fire that can be touched, and darkness, and gloom, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice of words"—but we have come rather "to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal assembly, and to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than Abel." For the blood of Abel cried out against the murderer and fratricide, but that precious blood speaks of things better than his, for it all but entreats from the Father mercy for the world, and we have been sprinkled through it for justification. Let us therefore consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus, who is faithful to the one who made him.

Clearly a high priest and apostle, who became faithful even to death and the cross, having lowered himself in the good pleasure of the Father so that he might also make us imitators of himself, not fearing to endure death for his sake, if it should come in due season through piety and obedience to God. The blessed Peter will also join with us for this, saying thus: "For to this you were called, because Christ died for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his footsteps," and the Savior himself says: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Now, to have been called faithful—the Son—would in no way harm his glory; for one may see that this term, being most fitting for God, is also applied to God the Father himself. At any rate it is written: "God is faithful and there is no injustice in him; the Lord is just and holy." And one of Christ's disciples also said: "So then, let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator," and indeed Paul too: "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with his Son." For what else does "faithful" signify to us in these passages than that he is secure and steadfast and trustworthy for belief in whatever he might say or choose to accomplish? The Son became such toward the Father, having also been established in humanity, and having endured cross and death so that he might accomplish what seemed good to him. At any rate he said: "Because I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

This is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For we have been given to the Son as to a Savior and life-giver, and this was his work from the Father; for he accomplishes through the Son everything that he wishes to be brought to pass in a manner befitting God, since he is also his power and wisdom. Therefore the Son himself also said, "But I have testimony greater than John's; for the works that the Father has given me to complete—the very works that I do—testify about me that the Father has sent me." And David sings somewhere, "Command, O God, your power; strengthen, O God, this which you have worked in us." But come, let us inquire, if it seems good, what sort of manner of priesthood belonged to the Son, and in what respects—whether it was servile and ministerial to another's glory, or rather most fitting for the Son according to nature and not inconsistent with the accounts of the incarnation. For those of old who served as priests to God according to the law given through Moses brought offerings as in a type and shadow, themselves consecrating the Son to the Father, and bringing them up as a sweet savor, as in a kid and a ram and a calf very often. For a kid was slaughtered for sin, at least according to the testimony of the sacred writings, but in those things was the shaping of the truth.

The most wise Paul has written to us: "But Christ, having appeared as high priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, nor through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered once for all into the holy places, having obtained eternal redemption." For the power of the worship was carried out by the priests according to the law through the blood of another; for they served as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. But Christ did not do so—far from it—for he saved the world under heaven by his own blood, and "he has become a priest not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an indestructible life." For he offered himself for us, since the worship in the type was weak for justification; for "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Therefore a place was also sought for a second covenant, since the first did not have blamelessness in itself. But the Son, who is by nature from him, knowing the will of God the Father, offered himself for us all and at the same time became a man for us, to serve as priest to him. And the blessed Paul would be a witness to us in this, not speaking falsely; for he said again concerning him: "Therefore, when he enters into the world, he says: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not seek. Then I said: Behold, I have come—in the scroll of the book it is written of me—to do your will, O God." Who then is the one who enters into the world? And how is he said even to have entered in at all? Is it not that he was previously outside it and, as it were, dwelling far away?

The Word who is from God has therefore entered into this world—not in a local sense, but rather in a natural sense, when he himself also appeared as a part of the world, God the Father having prepared his body for him, so that he might also become an exchange for the life of all, having died in the flesh according to the Scriptures. For he has become "for this reason the mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having occurred for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." He has therefore been named high priest and apostle of our confession, having been well and truly made so; he has brought us to the Father like a fragrant odor of spiritual sweetness, and as those already purified—for we come forward, saying the lesson of our faith. Since, then, we have been commanded to make the confession of the pure faith and the consubstantial Trinity, how is it not clear to all that he does not perform this sacred service for another rather than for himself—he who is preeminent and transcendent by nature—but rather for himself together with the Father and the Holy Spirit? God, therefore, even having become flesh, would reasonably be understood as such; for we have been justified by confessing that he both became flesh and remained the Word, and that he has trampled down the power of death on our behalf, being life by nature as from the Father who is life.

For that Emmanuel is God by nature and truly a Son, the blessed Paul will assure us no less, saying that he became an apostle and high priest of our confession, faithful indeed to the one who made him, just as Moses also was in his house, yet he himself has been deemed worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the one who built the house has greater honor than the house. And here again it comes upon me to marvel at the mystagogue, for he ingeniously runs ahead of Israel, which had veered no little toward willfulness and toward the necessity of opposing Christ. And he takes up the words and praises concerning Moses, calling him faithful, and at the same time skillfully introducing alongside these the great and exceedingly lofty superiority of our Savior; for he said that Christ became an apostle and high priest and, moreover, faithful, just as indeed Moses himself also was, and having very aptly brought the name of Moses into the midst and set forth beforehand the praises upon him, he showed that he is immediately behind the glory of Christ; for he said that he has been honored more greatly, inasmuch as the one who built the house has greater honor than the house. Do you see how, even when the Word of God has become flesh and is understood in the form of a servant, he economically recounts him beyond the measures of humanity and sets him beyond the boundaries of servitude, saying that he is the creator of all things and evidently of Moses himself, and through these things he crowns him with the glory of natural lordship.

For if it is true that none of the things made will be the same in essence as the maker, how could anyone doubt that the one who made him will be altogether and in every way better in glory? And observe that he said that he became an apostle and high priest of our confession, faithful indeed to the one who made him, just as Moses himself also was the hierophant, yet he was deemed worthy of greater glory than that one, inasmuch as the one who made it has greater honor than the house. And he adds to these things, showing that Jesus is God: But every house is built by someone, and the one who built all things is God. Therefore, if Christ were a mere man, one of those like us, his case would have to be judged solely from the time of his birth according to the flesh; but since the Only-begotten Son, who is older even than the ages themselves, became man in the good pleasure of God the Father, he has been called Christ Jesus—for this name is new to him and came in together with the times of the economy—there will again be present in him, even if he became flesh, both his being before all time and the necessity that we confess that he is the creator of all things. For there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and again: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. How then could he himself be in the yesterday, though born in the last times of the age? Because the most ancient nature of the Word of God, as I said, has necessarily remained in him, not to be cast off, even in the times of the most recent economy with the flesh.

And indeed he once made statements about our forefather Abraham to Israel, saying, "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw it and was glad." But they, understanding in no way the mystery concerning him, and supposing him to be simply a man like us and nothing beyond that, said foolishly, "You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?" And he said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." Therefore he is the craftsman and creator of Abraham himself and of Moses and of all things, and it is entirely necessary to say that the maker pre-exists his own works, and that the archetypal beauty appears beforehand of those things created according to the image that is toward him. Therefore he will surpass the measure of Moses incomparably, or rather the glory of Christ will be beyond that of every creature called into being. And in another way the divinely inspired Paul tries to establish full assurance that his account concerning these things has become wise and true for him. For Moses, he says, was faithful in his whole house as a servant, for a testimony of the things that would be spoken, but Christ as a son over his house, whose house we are. Observe, then, how he assigns to the blessed Moses the measure of servitude, adorned with the manner of genuineness. For he says that he was faithful in the house for a testimony of the things that would be spoken, that is, for the service of the

...of words from God, but Christ not in this way; for he was not faithful as a servant in a house, but as a Son and Lord over the house of the Father, that is, over us who have been justified in faith and sanctified in the Spirit. For Moses instructed the more ancient ones through the shadow of the law and received the honors of servile legitimacy, God saying to him, "But you, stand here with me," but far greater are the better things in Christ. For he has sat down "at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high," and he has dwelt as Son and Lord in the house of his Father. For he dwells in us as God through his own Spirit, although the all-wise Moses dwelt in no one, for we have not become partakers of Moses, nor indeed have we partaken of any other of the saints, but we have shared in Christ, both through the Spirit and through the mystical blessing. For although God said through one of the holy prophets, "I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people," when the time had now come in which this had to be fulfilled, Christ dwelt in us according to the ancient promise, in order that he might make us temples of the living God, that is, of himself, and unite us through himself to God and the Father. And indeed he said to the holy apostles, "In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you; for the one who clings to the Lord is one spirit," according to what is written.

And setting us before God and the Father, he again says thus: "I do not ask concerning these only, but also concerning all those who believe through their word in me, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected into one." Therefore in Christ we have gained the good of union with God and the Father, and it remains altogether in us, who have kept the boldness and the boast of hope, so bright and manifest a splendor, and besides these things believe that he who was born from the holy virgin is not, in a particular and partial sense, another son besides the one from God the Father, but that he became, according to the Scriptures, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and has not ceased to be God, but is one Son and one Lord, Jesus the Christ. And piercing even to the division. Now the phrase "piercing even to the division of soul and spirit" can also be understood in this way, that the proclamation from God divides and separates the parts of the soul, making it receptive and capable of what is heard. Earth bearing thorns. Now the sluggish soul might reasonably be likened to a wicked and salt land, which often receives the sowings of seeds from those accustomed to till the soil, but brings forth nothing at all.

But to what end will her negligence come, rendering useless the gift given to her by God? Paul will teach, saying that her end is unto burning. Do you wish also to see through actual events that what is said is true? Israel was once a fruitful land, "a vine well-furnished with branches," according to what is written; the blessed prophets became as clouds to it, and watering it with divine words, they earnestly sought to benefit it, but "it produced thorns," it became wild and overgrown with wood; it has therefore been given over to burning, that is, it has been rendered wholly useless, and is stored up for fire. Having a golden censer, etc. But these things have been said at length concerning the tabernacle and the things in it; taking them up again briefly, we shall say that there were three places of the tabernacle: the one outside, set apart for all, after which was the first curtain, which is also called the drawn curtain from being drawn, which separated the court, into which all entered in common, in which they also sacrificed at the bronze

of the altar; and the middle one after the curtain, into which the priests entered, performing the services each day; and this place was called the Holy, which were a type of the old, since the sacrifices through blood were accomplished there; and the inner one was named the Holy of Holies, which was a type of the mystery among us. The first tabernacle, then, after the bronze altar, the apostle calls first, as compared with the Holy of Holies; since indeed it was in the middle, separated from the court by the curtain; and after this middle tabernacle again the veil was stretched; and within it was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, into which no one entered except the high priest alone, and he once a year; and in it was laid up the ark bearing the tablets of the law, and the jar of manna, and the rod of Aaron. And indeed the Kingdoms say that only the tablets were placed in the ark, but perhaps from tradition Paul also added the rod and the jar. And above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Understand, then, how the mercy seat served as an image of the Son become man; for then it became a mercy seat; moreover he commands the cherubim to stand round about, and to overshadow with their wings, always turned toward him and looking at him; and then in some way the prophet says that he saw him, "when he saw the glory, and spoke concerning him." For I saw, he says, "the Lord Sabaoth sitting upon a throne high and lifted up;" and the seraphim stood round about him, and they glorified the Lord upon the throne, stretching their wings;

Thus they were arranged, even in the holy tabernacle, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings. And if the cherubim made of gold had voice and speech, they would have glorified as Lord Sabaoth the Only-begotten Son, who appeared in the form of a servant, who is by nature from God the Father. And with various baptisms and ordinances of the flesh, imposed until a time of reformation. The law perfected no one according to conscience, but rather introduced teachings of baptisms, declarations of sprinklings "for the purification of the flesh"; for the power of the legal priesthood barely reaches this point. For whether one touched a dead body, or a leper, or became one with a discharge, he was baptized, and thus he seemed to be cleansed. But these were ordinances of the flesh, that is, fleshly commandments, justifying in a fleshly manner those who appeared unclean according to the flesh. –But that God did not permit the Israelites by blood to dwell senselessly in the shadows according to the law, we shall learn from the sacred writings themselves. For he commanded the lamb to be sacrificed as a type of Christ, and to be eaten by those equipped for the journey, signifying that the things in types would not stand forever, but would, as it were, run toward the truth. And having insulted the Spirit of grace. For just as a soldier who throws away his shield and flees from battle must not be honored with a second set of standards, but must already be punished and pay the penalty for his cowardice, in the same way, I think, those who thus outrage the grace so venerable and worthy of admiration must not be honored with the gift of a second Spirit, since the first is set aside, but must already be subject to penalties.

For "their unbelief will not nullify the faith of God," nor, because some have set their minds on things behind and despised, will we write down the instability of divine grace; but the Judge of all things will rather impose penalties on those who do not refuse to slip into this impiety, so as to trample underfoot the Son of God and insult the Spirit of grace, in which they were sanctified and became partakers of the divine nature. Which has a great reward. Because through endurance and not being superficial about fulfilling the excellent things of right actions, but always thirsting, and being insatiable, and loving every good thing with an unceasing desire, and heaping up for themselves the good repute that comes from deeds, and being in such zeal as those who are lovers of wealth would be, concerning whom it is written, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver"; and if earthly and temporary and easily withering things do not satisfy them, how is it not necessary for us to employ warmer desires, so that we may gain the things that are from God, which extend into endless ages and have unceasing gladness? By faith we understand that the ages were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being from things that appear. Great, then, and excellent is the good of faith; for it is rich in the putting away of sins, the cleansing from all filth; and it is also a procurer of betrothal from God, and a way to sanctification and adoption, and, simply put, a matchmaker of every good thing; thus the fathers became approved, thus they have had bright and celebrated glory.

But many also despised death itself and put on the unfading crown of glory. By faith Noah, being warned concerning things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his house. For since the whole earth had corrupted its way, as it is written, and the heart of man had turned aside "to evil things from his youth," God brought a flood upon all the earth, recovering it as it were a garden run wild and left fallow, and preserving in it a noble plant, the all-excellent Noah, so that from him the human race, being transformed as it were into another beginning, might be saved again upon the earth. By faith, then, Noah, being warned, prepared the ark for the salvation of his house, "into which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water." For one sentence of death was brought forth against all who were upon the earth, sin having evidently multiplied and having summoned the Creator to unwilling wrath; but Noah, being righteous, was saved with his whole household. For he believed God when He commanded him to build the ark, and the whole earth was baptized, and it floated upon the waters, having received as its pilot God the Savior of all things; and in it was the remnant of humanity together with women and children—he who had faith for his boast. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. But I cannot depart from this great wonder. Blessed Abraham was an old man; he lamented his childlessness; he sought from God an heir by a free woman.

Then, having taken him, and having in him the whole hope of his race and the fulfillment of the divine promise, he was commanded to sacrifice him. What then did the old man do? I consider in how many despondencies he found himself; nature was forcing him toward affection, the divine command was calling him toward obedience; he clung to the child, having him as his only one, and he feared to stumble against God. And just as some great and very tall tree, tossed this way and that by the contrary blasts of the winds, is all but drunk and shaken, so it was with the soul of the righteous man. How then did he overcome the winter of the trial? Paul, most learned in the law, will teach, saying: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, reckoning that God was able even to raise him from the dead. O the firmness of faith! O the security of thoughts befitting holiness! He gave to God the power to accomplish all things. And what came of this? To what end did his faith run? The sacred writing will teach: "For Abraham believed God, it says, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.

But it is more fitting to understand it in this way: that although it was possible for him to revel in the dignities of his own nature and, as befits God, to exult in his incomparable pre-eminence over all things—for this, we say, is the joy set before him—he emptied himself, descending into our condition, so that by enduring death in the flesh on behalf of all, and then trampling it down through resurrection from the dead, he might make the way back to life passable for us as well. And indeed, his suffering was for him a matter of shame and dishonor; but since he raised up his own temple, innovating upon death and gaining the advantage over corruption, as God from God—even if he appeared with flesh—the disgrace in those former things and the unseemliness of their aberration has been utterly done away by the latter things, and the Son has been glorified through the resurrection, although before it he did not thrust aside the most dishonorable and inglorious death because of his voluntary emptying. And he has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Daniel, at any rate, recording for us divine visions and prophetic sights, sets the Ancient of Days upon a throne, and stations around him a thousand thousands of those appointed for service, and ten thousand times ten thousand of those who stand by. And Isaiah says that he beheld the Son in no lesser glory: "I saw," he says, "the Lord Sabaoth sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the house was full of his glory." And "Seraphim stood round about him," and they cried out the sanctification that is threefold in the beginning but comes to rest in a unity and a single lordship. Does it seem to you, then, that the Son now possesses equal rank in his own glory?

For where the throne is the highest, and the pre-eminence is equally apportioned, and the station of the powers in heaven is as in a circle, showing the measure of the servitude of created things and bearing witness to the glory of the lordship of the one who sits—what place for doubt could there be that the Son is naturally glorified with the lordship of the Father? Yet although the Lord is equal in glory and shares the throne, as Son with Father and God with God, he seems, so to speak, to be led up even to the principalities of this so manifest and supercosmic glory because of the flesh and the economy with the flesh, hearing, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." For whatever the divine nature, putting it to rest, subjects under itself, this is certainly borne under the feet of our Savior—not because he acted in a human way, nor because he became flesh did he therefore have strength to rule over the disobedient, but because, having referred the lowliness of humanity to the dignity of the highest nature and having established himself, the Only-begotten Word of God, even with flesh, upon the thrones of divinity, he rules over all things not apart from the Father; for all things are equally through both, the Father working, and the Son having through himself and with him in the Spirit the energy and will for whatever is done. For you have not come, etc. I am fearful and trembling. Paul now also remembers this history and the time when God descended in the form of fire upon Sinai, and "the sound of the trumpet rang out loudly." And the sight was unapproachable to those who saw it, and the sound of the trumpets hard to endure.

Therefore they were saying, "We shall no longer see this great fire," and "we shall not hear the voice of the Lord our God." But now it is still promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth but also the heaven." For heaven has known the mystery, and likewise the whole earth has known it; for there have been two conspicuous changes of lives from all eternity, and they are called two covenants, and earthquakes, because the matter is so renowned: the one from idols to the law, the other from the law to the gospel; and we proclaim a third earthquake, the removal from here to there, to things no longer moved or shaken. Therefore, receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us have grace. Here I would gladly ask those who think that the kingdom of Christ has at some time ceased: of which kingdom shall we say the apostle now makes mention, which he says will be firmly established and has always obtained the unshakable? For I think this word "unshakable" makes clear somewhere this: whether he means in these words the kingdom of the Son, that is, the one that will be given to the saints themselves? If, then, they say that both the kingdom and

I think that those who speak in opposition, having babbled to no purpose, will be put to shame at the pre-eminence of the Son. But if, having let go of the Son, they say that the reign of the saints will be unalterable, first, they will appear better even than Christ himself, and as having already obtained a portion beyond his own—if he will make his rule something to be cast away, while they, having obtained an unceasing gladness, will also possess the security of their glory. And indeed, how could making the accusation so crude not be altogether to be cast away? For the right to hold sway and reign over all things would belong to no other more than to Christ himself, who possesses this wealth not as something acquired or given, as we do, but as following the principles of natural ownership. And we who suffer with him will also reign with him, as it is written. Therefore he is the Lord of ruling, while we are adopted and honored in the manner of participation; for they will reign together with Christ who reigns. Then how will they have their honor unshaken in this regard and reign continually, if the power of Christ will be shaken and come to an end, of which we say they are partakers? And if the provider and president of the kingdom for them will cease from his rule, where will their own things still lie, having such a pit beneath them? For where will they still share, if that which has called them to glory is weak? Or is it not necessary that what is supported slip down together with those who support it, and that the things resting upon it sink into the lowest pits, when the foundation is drawn away from beneath?

When, therefore, the foundation of their glory and the ground of their prosperity is shaken down in their view, the hope of the others too will surely be brought together somewhere into disrepute and abasement. So then the phrase "When he hands over the kingdom" does not mean that he will put it away, but that, having torn it from the grasp of others, he will bring it to the Father; and he himself will surely reign together with him. Jesus Christ is yesterday and today; the same also forever. Of the utterances, some are fitting for God, such as "I am in the Father and the Father is in me"; others are fitting for a man, such as "But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you" [and some are intermediate, of which this is one; for having said "Christ"] he says that he is yesterday and today and forever. See here plainly the Spirit-bearer, who learned from Christ himself the mystery concerning him, confesses that the Son lies in an unchangeable and unalterable nature, which is proper to God the Father alone, and belongs to no other of created things. If, then, God the Father alone is unchangeable, and the Son is in the same identity of nature, always being what the one who begot him also is, how could the one who alone rivals his begetter according to the ineffable principle of his essence be one of created things, and be by nature what the Father is, apart from only this, that he is not Father? For that the Word, having become man like us, is not altered, the Spirit-bearer has indicated in these words. And "yesterday" signifies the past time, "today" the present, and "forever" the future and coming time.

But if some, taking "yesterday and today" in place of "recent," insist on this, how could "yesterday and today" also be "unto the ages"? We too shall shift the force of the question to the opposite position: for the Word who is unto the ages, how could he take "yesterday and today" upon himself, if indeed Christ is one and has not been divided, according to Paul's voice? Or plainly Jesus Christ is "yesterday and today" bodily, the same spiritually and unto the ages. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings. And "to be carried away" is said by way of metaphor from the insane, who are borne hither and thither; or from those who are easily carried about like reeds, easily swayed always toward whatever pushes them, and who hold nothing firm; although Paul cried out, "Be steadfast, immovable," and the Master himself places the utmost condemnation upon those who have a very easily swayed and easily frightened manner, and defines the turning away as the penalty for the disease; for he said thus concerning certain people, "They loved to move their feet and did not spare them," and "God was not well pleased in them"; for that which is firmly and inflexibly established is safe and inviolable with respect to everything that contributes to benefit. For the blood of the animals that is brought in, etc. And there are also very many other arguments concerning these things, but let them be passed over now because of their number; nevertheless Christ died according to the flesh, in order to cleanse us by his own blood. Therefore let us go forth to him, etc. Let us therefore bear his reproach, that is, the cross on our behalf.

Thus he too said, "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me"; and "outside the gate" seems to mean outside the world; for the desire to follow Christ removes us from worldly life. And concerning beneficence and fellowship, etc. But observe again, how Paul here calls the Son God; for if he is the one who brings the whole creation into judgment, and repays "each according to his works," and on this account receives those who do good to their neighbor, saying, "Come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, for I was hungry and you gave me to eat," and the rest, how shall he not be God who is thus proclaimed by the unerring voice of the saints, and who receives the sacrifices of those who do good, repays each with the recompense fitting to him, and sends the choir of the saints into the kingdom of heaven? Of Cyril, from the interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews. For even if the only-begotten Word of God is said to be united to flesh by hypostasis, we do not say that any confusion of the natures into one another has taken place, but rather, each remaining that which it is, we understand the Word to be united to flesh. Of Cyril, from the second tome on the (Epistle) to the Hebrews. "Claiming to be wise, they became fools," according to what is written; for separating the two natures from one another, and showing each in turn to be unconnected with the other, they say that the union took place in persons only; and as if in mere consent and sameness of will and inclinations of wills—

Perhaps in accordance with that which is written in the Acts of the holy apostles: "And the multitude of those who believed had one heart and one soul." For since each of those who have believed, at least according to the principle of his own person, is separated from the others, insofar as it pertains to oneness of will and the unity of the faith, the soul of all is said to be one, and the heart. So then, also in this way, have they known to confess the union of persons? And shortly after: And we say that the nature of the Word of God has not yet been circumscribed in the human body; for the divine is without quantity. Then he adds: One will see in Christ the human nature having perfection, at least according to the principle of its own nature; and likewise the Word begotten of God perfect; except that he will confess one Christ and Son from both, composing the economy not by a union of persons only, but rather gathering the natures into one ineffably and beyond reason, as God himself knows. And surely we do not say that a confusion, as it were, occurred concerning the natures, so that the nature of the Word was changed into that of the man, perhaps; but neither again the human into that of the Word himself; but rather, each being understood and subsisting within the definition of its own nature, we say the union was accomplished, the Word having dwelt bodily in the temple from the virgin. And after a little: If anyone, then, says that the union is of persons only, separating the natures entirely from one another, he is carried outside the straight path. Of Cyril, from the same interpretation.

Observe, then, that in the two goats there is the one Christ, that is, God become man, and dying in the flesh for sin, so that by the sprinkling of his own blood he might sanctify the whole Church, yet remaining again impassible in his divine nature. Of Cyril, from the interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews. But if he has perfected us through water and the Spirit, how did he not work both divinely and humanly, being the same, and as in one both God and man? Of Cyril, from the interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews, second volume. Divinity and humanity came together with each other ineffably and beyond understanding; and the natures are confessedly different, yet there is one and only one Son from both. Of Cyril, from the commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. For even if the natures of those things that have run together into unity are conceived as different and unequal to each other—I mean of flesh and of God—yet there is one and only one Son from both, since it holds truly and firmly for us that the temple united to the Word was also ensouled with a rational soul. Of Cyril, from the interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews. For it was not the work of a mere man and one of those like us to bring the activity of the natural life to its completion; for this reason "by the grace of God" even the very body of the Word who became man for our sake, although it was by nature life, tasted death for the salvation of all, as the most holy Paul himself says, so that the abolishing of death might not be thought to be the work of the earthly body, but rather of the Word himself who was united to it and who is by nature other than it.