§ 33
These things being so, and the demonstration of the Resurrection of His body and of the victory won over death by the Saviour now standing plain, come, let us refute both the unbelief of the Jews and the mockery of the Greeks. For it is here, perhaps, that the Jews refuse to believe and the Greeks laugh, tearing at the unseemliness of the Cross and of the Word of God becoming man. But our argument will not shrink from advancing against both, and all the more because the proofs it holds against them are clear as day.
The Jews, in their unbelief, can be refuted out of the very Scriptures they themselves read, from end to end, since absolutely every God-inspired book teaches these things, as the words themselves are plain. For the prophets gave notice long beforehand of the wonder wrought in the Virgin and of the birth that came from her, saying: "Behold, the Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us."
But Moses, who was truly great, and whom they themselves believe to have spoken truth, weighed the saying about the Saviour's becoming man and judged it a thing of great moment; and, knowing it to be true, he set it down in these words: "There shall rise a star out of Jacob, and a man out of Israel, and he shall break in pieces the rulers of Moab." And again: "How lovely are thy dwellings, O Jacob, thy tents, O Israel, like shady glens, and like gardens beside the rivers, and like tents which the Lord hath pitched, like cedars beside the waters. A man shall come forth out of his seed, and shall be lord over many nations."
And again Esaias: "Before the Child know how to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians." That a man would appear, then, is proclaimed beforehand in these words. But that the One who comes is Lord of all, the prophets give notice once again, saying: "Behold, the Lord sitteth upon a light cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the graven images of Egypt shall be shaken." For from there too the Father calls Him back, saying: "Out of Egypt have I called My Son."
§ 34
Nor is His death passed over in silence. On the contrary, it is signified in the divine Scriptures, and with great clearness. For the prophets were not afraid to state even the cause of His death, that He endures it not for His own sake but for the immortality and salvation of all, nor to state the plotting of the Jews against Him and the outrages inflicted upon Him at their hands, so that no one should be left ignorant of what took place, or be led astray.
They say, then: "A man in stripes, and knowing how to bear weakness, for his face is turned away; he was dishonored and held of no account. He beareth our sins, and is in pain for our sake; and we reckoned him to be in trouble, and in stripes, and in ill usage. But he was wounded for our sins, and made weak for our transgressions. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we were healed."
Marvel at the love of the Word for mankind, that for our sake He is dishonored, so that we may be brought to honor. "For all we," it says, "like sheep have gone astray; man had wandered in his own way; and the Lord delivered him up for our sins. And he openeth not his mouth, because he hath been evilly entreated. As a sheep was he led to the slaughter, and as a lamb dumb before his shearer, so openeth he not his mouth. In his abasement his judgment was taken away."
Then, so that no one should take Him for a common man on account of the suffering, the Scripture anticipates the surmises of men, and recounts both the power that is His and the unlikeness of His nature to ours, saying: "But who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. From the transgressions of the people was he brought to death. And I will give the wicked instead of his burial, and the rich instead of his death; for he did no wickedness, neither was guile found in his mouth. And the Lord willeth to cleanse him from his stripes."
§ 35
But perhaps, having heard the prophecy of His death, you ask to learn also what is signified concerning the Cross. For neither has this been passed over in silence; it has been made plain by the holy men, and with great clearness. For Moses first announces it beforehand, and with a loud voice, saying: "Ye shall see your life hanging before your eyes, and ye shall not believe." And the prophets after him bear witness to the same thing, saying: "I was as an innocent lamb led to be sacrificed, and I knew it not. They devised evil against me, saying: Come, let us cast wood into his bread, and let us wipe him out from the land of the living."
And again: "They pierced my hands and my feet; they numbered all my bones; they parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." Now a death lifted up on high, and taking place upon wood, could be nothing other than the Cross; and in no other death are the hands and the feet bored through, but in the Cross alone. And since at the coming of the Saviour all the nations everywhere began to know God, the prophets did not leave even this unmarked, but there is mention of these things too in the holy writings. "For there shall be," it says, "the root of Jesse, and he that riseth to rule the nations; upon him shall the nations hope."
These are only a few things, set down to prove what has come to pass. The whole of Scripture is filled with the refutation of the unbelief of the Jews. For which of those recorded in the divine Scriptures, of the righteous men, the holy prophets, the patriarchs, ever had the birth of his body from a virgin alone? Or what woman was sufficient of herself, apart from a man, for the bringing forth of human beings?
Was not Abel from Adam, and Enoch from Jared, and Noe from Lamech? Was not Abraham from Tharra, Isaac from Abraham, Jacob from Isaac? Was not Judas from Jacob, and Moses and Aaron from Ameram? Was not Samuel of Elkana, David of Jesse, Solomon of David, Ezekias of Achaz, Josias of Amos, Esaias of Amos, Jeremias of Chelkias, Ezekiel of Buzi? Did not each of them have his father as the author of his coming to be? Who, then, is he that came from a virgin alone? For the prophet took great care over the sign of this very thing.
And whose birth did a star run before in the heavens, marking out the newborn to the whole world? For Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents. David was not so much as heard of by his neighbors, seeing that even the great Samuel did not know him, but asked whether Jesse had yet another son. Abraham became known to those near him only afterwards, once he had grown great. But of the birth of Christ the witness was no man, but a star appearing in heaven, from where He also came down.
§ 36
But what king that ever was reigned and took trophies over his enemies before he had strength to call father or mother? Did not David reign at thirty years of age, and Solomon reign when he had grown to be a young man? Did not Joas come to the kingdom at seven years old, and Josias, a later king still, take hold of the rule at about seven years? And yet these, at that age, had strength to call father or mother.
Who, then, is He that reigns and despoils His enemies almost before He is born? Let the Jews search and tell us what king of this kind ever arose in Israel and in Juda, one upon whom all the nations set their hope, and who had peace. Were not the nations rather set against them on every side? For as long as Jerusalem stood, they had war without truce, and all men fought against Israel: the Assyrians oppressing them, the Egyptians pursuing them, the Babylonians falling upon them. And what is most remarkable, they had even the Syrians, their neighbors, warring against them.
Did not David make war upon those in Moab, and cut down the Syrians? Did not Josias guard himself against those near at hand, and Ezekias tremble at the boasting of Senacherim? Did not Amalek take the field against Moses, and the Amorrhites set themselves against him, and the inhabitants of Jericho stand in array against Jesus the son of Naue? In a word, were not the nations implacable toward Israel, with no friendship between them at all? Who, then, is He upon whom the nations set their hope? It is worth seeing, for such a one there must be, since it is impossible for the prophet to lie.
And which of the holy prophets, or of the patriarchs before them, met his death upon a cross for the salvation of all? Or who was wounded and destroyed for the healing of all? And which of the righteous, or of the kings, went down into Egypt, and at his coming down did the idols of the Egyptians cease? For Abraham went down, and idolatry still held sway over all. Moses was born there, and the religion of the deluded was no less strong there than before.
§ 37
And which of those spoken of in the Scripture was bored through in the hands and the feet, or hung at all upon wood and brought to his end on a cross for the salvation of all? For Abraham died on his bed, failing at the last; Isaac and Jacob likewise drew up their feet upon a bed and died. Moses and Aaron died on the mountain, and David ended his life in his house, having suffered no plot at the hands of the peoples; and though he was hunted by Saul, he was preserved unharmed.
Esaias was sawn asunder, but he was not hung upon wood. Jeremias was outraged, but he did not die under sentence. Ezekiel suffered, but not on behalf of the people; he suffered in order to signify what was coming upon the people. And besides, these men, even in their suffering, were men, such as all men are by the likeness of their nature. But He who is signified out of the Scriptures as suffering on behalf of all is not called simply a man; He is called the life of all, even though according to nature He is like to men.
For it says: "Ye shall see your life hanging before your eyes"; and again: "Who shall declare his generation?" For of all the saints a man can learn the descent and recount it from the beginning, who each one was and from where he came; but of Him who is Life the divine words signify that His generation cannot be told. Who, then, is He of whom the divine Scriptures say these things? Or who is so great that the prophets should proclaim so much beforehand concerning Him?
But no other is found in the Scriptures than the common Saviour of all, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. For He it is who came forth from a virgin and appeared as man upon earth, and whose generation according to the flesh cannot be told. For there is no one who can name a father of His according to the flesh, since His body was not from a man, but from a virgin alone. Just as one can trace the fathers of David and of Moses and of all the patriarchs, so no one can recount a generation of the Saviour according to the flesh from a man.
He it is who made the star signify the birth of His body. For the Word, coming down from heaven, had also to have His sign from heaven; and the King of creation, as He came forth, had to be known openly by the whole world. Indeed, He was born in Judaea, and men came from Persia to worship Him. He it is who, even before His bodily appearing, took the victory over the demons ranged against Him, and trophies against idolatry.
All those of the nations, then, everywhere, forswear their ancestral custom and the godlessness of the idols, and set their hope henceforth upon Christ, and enroll themselves as His, as one may see even with the eyes. Nor did the godlessness of the Egyptians cease at any other time than when the Lord of all came down there in the body, as though borne upon a cloud, and abolished the error of the idols, and brought all men over to Himself, and through Himself to the Father.
He it is who was crucified, with the sun for witness, and creation, and those who brought His death upon Him; and by His death salvation has come to all, and the whole creation has been ransomed. He it is who is the life of all, and who, like a sheep, gave up His own body to death as a ransom for the salvation of all, even though the Jews do not believe it.
§ 38
For if they do not think these proofs sufficient, let them be persuaded at least from other sources, from the oracles they themselves possess. Of whom do the prophets say: "I was made manifest to them that sought me not; I was found of them that asked not after me. I said, Behold, I am here, to a nation that called not upon my name. I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people"?
Who, then, is He that was made manifest? One might say to the Jews: if it is the prophet, let them say when he was hidden, so as to appear afterwards. And what sort of prophet is this, who both became manifest out of obscurity and stretched out his hands upon a cross? None of the righteous men, but the Word of God alone, who is bodiless in His nature, and who for our sake appeared in a body and suffered on our behalf.
Or, if this too is not sufficient for them, let them be put out of countenance from others still, since the refutation they see is so plain. For the Scripture says: "Be strong, ye hands that hang down, and ye feeble knees. Take comfort, ye that are little of faith in mind; be strong, fear not. Behold, our God rendereth judgment; He Himself will come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain."
What, then, can they say about this, or how do they dare to look it in the face at all? For the prophecy signifies that God is coming to dwell among men, and the signs make known also the time of His coming. For the blind seeing again, and the lame walking, and the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the stammerers made plain, are spoken of as belonging to the divine coming when it takes place. When, then, did such signs happen in Israel? Or where did anything of the kind happen in Judaea? Let them say.
Naiman the leper was cleansed, but no deaf man heard, and no lame man walked. Elias raised a dead man, and so did Elisseus; but no man blind from birth received his sight. To raise a dead man is truly a great thing, but it is not such a thing as the wonder wrought by the Saviour. Yet if the Scripture did not pass over in silence what concerned the leper and the widow's dead son, then certainly, if it had ever come to pass that a lame man walked and a blind man saw, the account would not have left these unrecorded either. But since Scripture is silent about them, it is plain that they had not happened before.
When, then, did these things come to pass, if not when the Word of God Himself came in a body? And when did He come, if not when the lame walked, and the stammerers were made plain of speech, and the deaf heard, and the blind from birth received their sight? For this is what the Jews of that time said when they saw it, on the ground that they had never heard of such things happening at any other time: "Since the world began it hath not been heard that any man opened the eyes of one born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
§ 39
But perhaps, being themselves unable to fight against what is plain, they will not deny what is written, but will insist that they are still waiting for these things, and that the Word of God has not yet come. For they harp upon this incessantly, and do not blush to brazen it out in the face of what stands before their eyes. Yet on this point above all they shall be refuted, and not by us, but by the most wise Daniel, who signifies both the present time and the divine coming of the Saviour.
He says: "Seventy weeks are cut short upon thy people, and upon the holy city, for sin to be brought to an end, and for sins to be sealed up, and to blot out the iniquities, and to make atonement for the iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. And thou shalt know and understand, from the going forth of the word that answer be given, and that Jerusalem be built, until Christ the governor."
Perhaps in other matters they can find pretexts, and put off what is written to a time still to come. But what can they say to this, or how can they face it at all, seeing that the Christ Himself is signified, and that the one anointed is proclaimed to be, not simply a man, but the Holy of Holies, and that Jerusalem stands until His coming, and that from then on prophet and vision cease in Israel?
David of old was anointed, and Solomon, and Ezekias; but for all that, Jerusalem and the place still stood, and prophets still prophesied, Gad and Asaph and Nathan, and after them Esaias and Osee and Amos and others. And besides, the men who were anointed were called holy, and not Holy of Holies. But if they put forward the captivity, and say that because of it Jerusalem was not standing, what would they say about the prophets? For of old too, when the people went down into Babylon, Daniel and Jeremias were there, and Ezekiel and Aggaeus and Zacharias were prophesying.
§ 40
So the Jews are telling fables, and are putting off to the future a time that is already present. For when did prophet or vision cease from Israel, if not now, when Christ the Holy of Holies came? For it is a sign, and a great token, of the presence of the Word of God, that Jerusalem no longer stands, that no prophet is raised up, and that no vision is revealed to them. And this is entirely fitting.
For when the thing signified had come, what further need was there of the things that signified it? And when the truth was present, what further need was there of the shadow? It was for this that the prophets went on prophesying, until Righteousness itself should come, and He who redeems the sins of all. It was for this that Jerusalem stood so long, so that there they might rehearse beforehand the figures of the truth. Now that the Holy of Holies is present, vision and prophecy have been fittingly sealed up, and the kingdom of Jerusalem has ceased.
For kings were anointed among them only until the Holy of Holies should be anointed; and Moses prophesies that the kingdom of the Jews shall stand until Him, saying: "A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a leader from his loins, until there come the things laid up for him; and he is the expectation of the nations." And for this reason the Saviour Himself cried aloud, saying: "The law and the prophets prophesied until John."
If, then, there is now among the Jews a king, or a prophet, or a vision, they do well to deny the Christ who has come. But if there is neither king nor vision, and every prophecy is henceforth sealed up, and the city and the temple are taken, why are they so impious and so lawless as to see what has happened and yet deny the Christ who has done it? And why, when they see men of the nations forsaking their idols and setting their hope through Christ upon the God of Israel, do they deny the Christ who came of the root of Jesse according to the flesh and reigns from that time on?
For if the nations were worshipping some other god, and were not confessing the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses, they would have good ground for pleading once more that God has not come. But if the nations revere the very God who gave the law to Moses and made the promise to Abraham, and whose Word the Jews dishonored, why do the Jews not know, or rather why do they willingly overlook, that the Lord prophesied of by the Scriptures has shone upon the world and has appeared to it bodily?
For so the Scripture said: "The Lord God hath shined upon us"; and again: "He sent His Word and healed them"; and again: "Not an ambassador, not an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them." It is with the Jews as if a man, deranged in his understanding, were to see the earth lit by the sun and yet deny the sun that lights it. For what more has the one they look for to do, when he comes? To call the nations? But they have already been called.
To make prophet and king and vision cease? This too has already come to pass. To convict the godlessness of the idols? It has already been convicted and condemned. To abolish death? It has already been abolished. What, then, has not come to pass, that the Christ must do? Or what is left unfulfilled, that the Jews should now make merry and disbelieve?
For if, as indeed we see, there is among them no king, no prophet, no Jerusalem, no sacrifice, no vision; and if the whole earth besides is filled with the knowledge of God, and those of the nations, forsaking their godlessness, take refuge henceforth with the God of Abraham through the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ; then it would be plain even to the most shameless that the Christ has come, and that He has shone upon absolutely all men with His own light, and taught concerning His own Father the true and divine teaching. The Jews, then, may fairly be refuted by these arguments, and by more than these, out of the divine Scriptures.