In illud Pater si possibile est transeat

On the passage, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me," but not as I wish, but as you wish; and against the Marcionists and Manichaeans; and that one must not rush into dangers, but prefer the will of God to every other will. 1. We recently made a deep incision upon those who seize and wish to be greedy, not to strike them, but to correct them; not hating the people, but turning away from wickedness. For even a physician cuts the wound, not warring against the suffering body, but fighting against the disease and the injury. Come then, today let us give them a little respite, so that they may recover from the pain, and not, being continually struck, recoil from the treatment. Physicians do this too: after the incisions, they apply plasters and remedies, and they leave off for days, devising things that soothe the pain. Imitating them, then, today we devise such things, so that we may reap the benefit from our discourse, and let us set in motion the discussion about doctrines, directing the discourse to the readings. For I think many are perplexed as to why these words were spoken by Christ; and it is likely that heretics present will leap upon what has been said, and from this trip up many of the simpler brethren. Therefore, in order both to wall off their attack and to free those who are perplexed from disturbance and confusion, let us take up what has been said, dwell on the wording, and descend to the depth of the meanings. For reading is not sufficient unless knowledge is also present.

For even the eunuch of Candace used to read, but until the teacher came to explain to him what it was that he was reading, he reaped no great benefit. So that you may not suffer the same thing, pay attention to what is said, concentrate your mind, offer me your soul at leisure, let your eye be sharp-sighted, your purpose focused, your soul free from worldly cares, so that we may not cast what is said into thorns, or onto rocks, or by the roadside, but tilling deep and rich soil, we may reap the abundant ear of grain. For if you attend to what is said in this way, you will make the labor lighter for us, and you will make the discovery easier for yourselves. What then is the reading? "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." What is it that he says? For we must interpret what has been said more clearly, and then bring on the solution. What then is it that he says? "Father, if it is possible, let the cross pass by." What are you saying? Does he not know whether this is possible or impossible? And who would say that? Yet the words are those of one who does not know; for the addition of "if" is characteristic of one who is uncertain. But, as I said, we must not attend to the words, but turn to the meanings, and know the intention of the speaker, and the cause, and the occasion, and, gathering everything together, thus hunt for the underlying thought. So the ineffable wisdom, the one who knows the Father as the Father knows the Son, how could he have been ignorant of this? For this knowledge concerning the passion is not greater than the knowledge concerning the essence, which he alone knows precisely.

For," he says, "just as the Father knows me, so I know the Father." And what am I saying about the only-begotten Son of God? For not even the prophets appear to have been ignorant of this, but rather they knew clearly and proclaimed beforehand with full assurance that this must happen, and that it would certainly come to pass. Listen, then, to how all of them in various ways announce the cross. First, the patriarch Jacob; for, addressing his words to him, he says: "From a shoot, my son, you ascended"—indicating the shoot as the Virgin and the purity of Mary. Then, revealing the cross, he said: "You fell asleep like a lion, and like a lion's cub, who will rouse him?" For he called his death a sleep and a slumber, and he joined the resurrection to the death, saying: "Who will rouse him?" No one else, but he himself. For this reason Christ also said: "I have authority to lay down my soul, and I have authority to take it up again"; and again: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." And what does it mean: "You fell asleep like a lion"? For just as a lion is fearsome not only when awake but also when sleeping, so Christ was fearsome not only before the cross, but also on the cross itself, and at the very moment of his death, and then he worked great wonders—turning back the sun, splitting rocks, shaking the earth, rending the veil, terrifying Pilate's wife, and convicting Judas.

Then he said, "I sinned by handing over innocent blood." And Pilate's wife made it known, "Have nothing to do with this just man, for I have suffered much in dreams because of him." Then darkness seized the inhabited world, and night appeared in the middle of the day; then death was dissolved, and its tyranny was overthrown; indeed, many bodies of the departed saints were raised. The patriarch, foretelling these things from above and showing that even when crucified he would be fearsome, says, "You lay down and slept like a lion." And he did not say, "You will sleep," but "You slept," because of the certainty of the event. For it is the custom of the prophets in many places to foretell future events as if they had already happened. For just as it is impossible for what has happened not to have happened, so also this, though future, cannot fail to happen. For this reason, they announce future events using the form of the past tense, thereby indicating their infallibility and absolute certainty. Thus also David, indicating the cross, said, "They dug my hands and my feet." He did not say, "They will dig," but "They dug." "They counted all my bones." And he says not only this, but also what was done by the soldiers: "They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing." And not only this, but also that they fed him gall and gave him vinegar to drink. For he says, "They put gall into my food, and they gave me vinegar to drink for my thirst." And another again says that they struck him with a spear: "They will see the one whom they pierced." And Isaiah, again in another way, foretelling the cross, said:

He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer he is speechless, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. 2. But observe for me how each of these speaks as if about past events, indicating what will certainly happen and incontrovertibly come to pass through this time. Thus also David, describing this tribunal, said: Why did the nations rage, and the peoples devise empty things? The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. He not only mentions the tribunal, and the cross, and the things on the cross, but also the betrayer, that he was a table-companion and a messmate: For he who ate my bread, he says, magnified the heel against me. And he also foretells the cry that he was about to utter on the cross, saying: God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And again the tomb: They placed me in the lowest pit, in dark places, and in the shadow of death. And the resurrection: For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption.

And the ascension: "God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet." And the seat at the right hand: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a footstool under your feet.'" Isaiah also states the cause, saying, "It is from the sins of my people that he comes to death," and, "Because all have wandered like sheep, for this reason he is sacrificed." Then he also adds the benefit, saying, "By his wound we were all healed," and, "He bore the sins of many." Then the prophets knew both the cross and the cause of the cross, and the benefits from the cross, and the tomb, and the resurrection, and the ascent, and the betrayal, and the trial, and they described everything with precision. But the one who sent them and commanded them to say these things—does he himself not know? And who, having sense, would say that? Do you see that one must not simply attend to the words? For this is not the only difficulty, but what follows is even more perplexing. For what does he say? "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." For he will be found not only to be ignorant, but also to be declining the cross. For what he says is this: "If it is possible," he says, "may I not fall into being crucified, nor be killed." And yet, when Peter, the chief of the apostles, said to him, "Mercy on you, Lord, this will not happen to you," he rebuked him so severely as to say, "Get behind me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me, because you do not think the things of God, but the things of men," even though he had blessed him shortly before.

But it seemed so absurd to him not to be crucified, that he called the one who received the revelation from the Father, the blessed one, the one who received the keys of the heavens, Satan and a scandal, and accused him, as not understanding the things of God, because he said to him, "I am merciful to you, Lord; this will not happen to you, to be crucified." So the one who insulted the disciple in this way and used such vehemence against him, even calling him Satan after so many praises, because he said, "Do not be crucified," how could he himself have wished not to be crucified? And how, after this, when describing the image of the good shepherd, did he say that this especially is a sign of his virtue, to be slaughtered for the sheep, speaking thus: "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep"? And he did not stop even there, but added: "But the hired hand, who is not a shepherd, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and flees." If, then, being slaughtered is characteristic of the good shepherd, and not wishing to endure this is characteristic of the hired hand, how does he, claiming to be a good shepherd, ask not to be sacrificed? And how did he say, "I lay down my life of my own accord"? For if you lay it down of your own accord, how do you ask another that you not lay it down? And how does Paul admire him for this very reason, speaking thus: "He who, existing in the form of God, did not consider it a usurpation to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men, and being found in form as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, and death on a cross"?

He himself again speaks in some such way: "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, in order to receive it again." For if he does not wish it, but declines and entreats the Father, how is he loved for this reason? For love is of things that are according to one's will. And how does Paul again say, "Love one another, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us"? And Christ himself, when about to be crucified, said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son," calling the cross glory; and how does he here decline, but there even press urgently? For that the cross is glory, hear what the evangelist says: "For the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." And what he means is this: The grace had not yet been given, because the enmity toward men had not yet been dissolved, since the cross had not yet gone forward. For the cross dissolved the enmity of God toward men, brought about the reconciliations, made earth heaven, mingled men with angels, brought down the citadel of death, enervated the power of the devil, annihilated the strength of sin, freed the earth from error, restored truth, drove out demons, demolished temples, overturned altars, abolished the savor of burnt offerings, planted virtue, rooted the Churches. The cross, the will of the Father, the glory of the Son, the exultation of the Spirit, the boast of Paul: "For I," he says, "may it never be that I boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." The cross, brighter than the sun, more radiant than the ray.

For when that one is darkened, then this one shines; but the sun is darkened not by being extinguished, but by being overcome by the brightness of the cross. The cross tore up our bond, rendered the prison of death useless; the cross is the proof of God's love. For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish. And again Paul: For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. The cross is the unbreakable wall, the invincible weapon, the security of the rich, the abundance of the poor, the wall of those plotted against, the weapon of those under attack, the destruction of the passions, the acquisition of virtue, the wondrous and paradoxical sign. For this generation seeks a sign; and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. And again Paul: Since the Jews ask for a sign, and the Greeks seek wisdom, we proclaim Christ crucified. The cross opened paradise, brought in a thief, and led the human race, which was about to perish and was not even worthy of the earth, to the kingdom of the heavens. So many good things have come and are coming from the cross, and he does not wish to be crucified, tell me? And who would say this? But if he did not wish it, who compelled him? who forced him? And why did he also send prophets announcing that he would be crucified, if he was not going to be crucified, nor willing to undergo this? And for what reason does he call the cross a cup, if he did not wish to be crucified?

This is the mark of one who shows the desire he has for the matter. For just as the cup is sweet to those who are thirsty, so too is crucifixion sweet to him; on account of which he also said, "I earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you," not saying this simply, but for this reason, because after the evening the cross was to receive him. 3. Therefore, the one who both calls the matter glorious, and rebukes the disciple for hindering him, and shows the good shepherd from the fact of being slaughtered for the sheep, and says he desires the matter with longing, and comes willingly to this, how does he entreat that this not happen? And if he did not wish it, what difficulty was there in preventing those who came for this? But now you see him even running to the matter. For when they approached him, he says, "Whom do you seek?" And they say, "Jesus." And he says to them, "Behold, I am he"; and they went backward and fell to the ground. Having thus first blinded them and shown that he could have escaped, then he gave himself up, so that you might learn that not by necessity, nor by force, nor by the tyranny of those who came did he undergo this unwillingly, but willingly, and by choice, and with desire, and having long arranged these things. For this reason both prophets were sent beforehand, and patriarchs foretold, and through both words and deeds the cross was prefigured. For the sacrifice of Isaac signified the cross to us; on account of which he said, "Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see my glory, and he saw and rejoiced." Then the patriarch rejoiced seeing the image of the cross, but does he himself decline the matter? And

Moses thus overcame Amalek because he displayed the type of the cross; and one could see countless things in the Old Testament happening that prefigure the cross. For what reason, then, did this happen, if the one who was to be crucified did not want this to take place? And what follows is even more perplexing. For after saying, "Let this cup pass from me," he added, "Yet not as I wish, but as you." From this, then, as far as the wording goes, we find two wills opposed to each other, if indeed the Father wills him to be crucified, while he himself does not will it. Yet everywhere we see him willing the same things as the Father, choosing the same things. For when he says, "Give to them, as I and you are one, that they also may be one in us," he says nothing other than that the will of Father and Son is one. And when he says, "The words that I speak, I do not speak myself, but the Father who dwells in me, he does these works," he indicates this. And when he says, "I have not come from myself," and, "I can do nothing from myself," he does not say this to declare that he is deprived of authority either to speak or to act (far from it!), but wishing to show with precision that his will is in harmony, both in words and in deeds and in all arrangements, being one and the same with the Father, as we have already often demonstrated. For the statement, "I do not speak from myself," is not a denial of authority, but a demonstration of agreement. How then does he say here, "Yet not as I wish, but as you"? Perhaps we have thrown you into great struggle, but rouse yourselves.

For even if much has been said, I well know that your zeal is fresh; for the discourse now hastens to the solution itself. For what reason, then, has it been spoken thus? Pay close attention. The doctrine of the incarnation was very hard to accept. For the excess of his love for humanity and the magnitude of his condescension were full of awe and required much preparation in order to be received. Consider how great it was to hear and learn that God—the ineffable, the incorruptible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the inconceivable, he in whose hand are the ends of the earth, he who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, he who touches the mountains and makes them smoke, whose weight of condescension even the Cherubim could not bear but hid their faces with the projection of their wings—this one who surpasses every mind and overcomes every reasoning, passing by angels, archangels, and all the higher intellectual powers, deigned to become man, to take up flesh formed from earth and clay, to enter a virgin's womb, to be carried for a nine-month period, to be nourished with milk, and to undergo all human experiences. Since what was to happen was so extraordinary that even after it occurred it was disbelieved by many, he first sent prophets announcing this very thing. For the patriarch himself foretold it, saying, "From a shoot, my son, you ascended; you fell and slept like a lion"; and Isaiah, saying, "Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel"; and another again, "We saw him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land.

He calls the womb that thirsts for the earth the virginal womb, because it did not receive the seed of a man, nor did it enjoy intercourse, but bore him without marriage. And again, "A child was born to us, a son, and was given to us"; and again, "A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise from the root." And Baruch, in Jeremiah, says: "This is our God; no other will be reckoned beside him; he discovered every path of knowledge and gave it to Jacob, his servant, and to Israel, his beloved." After these things, he appeared on the earth and lived among men. And David, indicating his incarnate presence, said: "He will descend like rain on a fleece, and like a drop that falls upon the earth," because he entered the virginal womb without sound and without disturbance. 4. But these things alone were not enough; rather, when he arrived, so that what happened might not be thought a phantasm, he confirmed the matter not only by sight, but also by a long time, and by passing through all human experiences. For he does not simply enter into a fully formed and completed man, but into a virginal womb, so as to undergo both pregnancy and childbirth, and being fed with milk, and growth, and to confirm what happened by the length of time and the entire succession of ages. And the proofs do not stop here alone, but, carrying the flesh about, he allows it to endure the weaknesses of nature—to hunger, to thirst, to sleep, to become weary—and finally, coming to the cross, he allows it to suffer the things of the flesh.

For this reason, streams of sweat poured from her, and an angel was found supporting her, and she is distressed and troubled; for before saying these things, she says: "My soul is disturbed, and it is utterly sorrowful unto death." If, then, when all these things occurred, the evil mouth of the devil through Marcion of Pontus, and Valentinus, and Manichaeus the Persian, and many other heresies attempted to overturn the account of the economy, and sounded some satanic echo saying that he was not incarnate, nor did he put on flesh, but that this was illusion and fantasy, a pretense and hypocrisy—although the passions, death, the tomb, hunger cry out—if none of these had happened, how would the devil not have sown these evil doctrines of impiety all the more? For this reason, just as he hungered, just as he slept, just as he labored, just as he ate, just as he drank, so also he requests death, displaying the human element and the weakness of nature, which does not bear to be torn from present life without suffering. For if he had said none of these things, he could have said that if he were a man, he ought to suffer the things of a man. And what are these? That, about to be crucified, he would be fearful and anxious, and not be torn from present life without suffering; for the affection for present things is inherent in nature. For this reason, wishing to show the true assumption of flesh and to confirm the economy, he sets forth the passions naked with much demonstration. This, then, is one argument; but there is also another no less important than this. And what is this?

When Christ came, he wished to teach human beings every virtue; and the one who teaches does not instruct by word alone, but also by deed, for this is the best teaching of the instructor. Just as a pilot, seating the student beside him, shows him how to hold the tiller, and adds speech to the deed, and neither speaks only nor acts only; likewise a builder, having set beside him the one who is to learn from him how a wall is woven, shows him through the deed and also shows him through the speech; similarly a weaver, an embroiderer, a goldsmith, a coppersmith, and every craft has the teacher through both words and deeds. Since he himself came to teach us every virtue, for this reason he both says what must be done and does it. For "the one who has done and taught," he says, "this one will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." But observe: he commanded us to be humble-minded and gentle, and he taught through words. See how he instructs in these also through deeds. For having said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek," he shows how these must be accomplished. How then did he teach? Taking a towel, he girded himself and washed the feet of the disciples. What is equal to this humility? For no longer does he teach this only through words, but also through deeds. Again, gentleness and forbearance

He teaches by means of deeds. How? He was slapped by the servant of the high priest, and says: If I spoke evilly, bear witness concerning the evil; but if well, why do you strike me? He commanded to pray for enemies; again he teaches this also by deeds: for going up on the cross he says: Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they do. Just as he commanded to pray, so also he himself prays, teaching you to pray, not himself being unable to forgive. Again he commanded to do good to those who hate us, and to treat well those who abuse us; and this he did by deeds: for he cast out the demons of the Jews who called him demon-possessed, he benefited those who drove him out, he fed those who plotted against him, he led those who wished to crucify him into the kingdom. Again he said to the disciples: Do not acquire gold, nor silver, nor bronze for your belts, anointing them toward poverty; this again he taught by deeds, saying thus: The foxes have dens, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And he had no table, no house, nor anything else of that sort; not because he was in need, but because he was teaching human beings to come this way. In this manner, then, he also taught them to pray.

They therefore said to him: Teach us to pray. For this reason he also prays, so that they might learn to pray. But it was necessary for them to learn not only to pray, but also how one ought to pray; for this very reason he also handed down a prayer that runs thus: Our Father who art in the heavens, let thy name be sanctified; let thy kingdom come; let thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, that is, into danger, into plots. Since, then, he commanded them to pray, "Do not lead us into temptation," he himself teaches them this very thing through the deed itself, saying, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, instructing all the saints not to leap at dangers, nor to throw themselves forward, but to await them when they come, and to display all courage; yet not to leap forward themselves, nor to be the first to go headlong into terrors. Why so? Both teaching humility and freeing them from charges of vainglory. For this reason also here, when he said these things, "Having gone away," it says, "he prayed"; and after praying he speaks to the disciples thus: Were you not able to keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation. Do you see that he not only prays, but also exhorts? For the spirit is willing, he says, but the flesh is weak. And he said this, emptying their soul of pride and freeing them from folly, making them restrained, preparing them to be moderate.

What he therefore wished to teach them, to pray, this he himself prayed in a human manner, not according to the divinity (for the Divine is impassible), but according to the humanity. He prayed, teaching us to pray, and always to seek deliverance from evils; but if it should not be possible, to be content with what seems good to God. For this reason he said: Yet not as I wish, but as you; not because his will is one thing and the Father's another, but in order to teach men, even if they are in anguish, even if they tremble, even if danger comes upon them, even if they are unwilling to be torn away from the present life, nevertheless to prefer the will of God to their own will; just as Paul, having been taught, showed both these things through his deeds: for he deemed it right that his trials be removed from him, speaking thus: For this I entreated the Lord three times; and since it did not seem good to God, he says: Therefore I am content in weaknesses, in insults, in persecutions. Perhaps what has been said is unclear; therefore I will make it clearer: Paul was in many dangers, and he prayed not to be in danger. He then heard Christ saying, My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is in weakness.

is perfected. Since, therefore, he saw that it was the will of God, he henceforth subordinates his own will to the will of God. By this prayer, then, he taught both these things: neither to rush into dangers, but also to pray not to fall into them; and if they should come, to bear them nobly, and to prefer the will of God to one's own will. Knowing these things, then, let us pray that we may never enter into temptation; and if we do enter, let us beseech God to give us endurance and courage, and let us prefer his will to every will of our own. For in this way we will both complete the present life in safety and attain the future goods; may it be that we all attain them, by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.