[GREEK COLUMN] 713 SPURIA. σκου, καὶ τὸν θάνατον καταπάτησον. Σοὶ λέγω, ἐγέρ- θητι : μή βραδύνῃς πρὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν· Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις. Ἐκάλεσα τὸν Λάζαρον ἐκ τάφου, καὶ οὗτος εὐθέως ἐξήλατο τοῦ μνήματος, ὡς τε πάρτην ήμεραν κατασαπεὶς ἐν τῷ μνήματι, καὶ πολλὰ των σπλάγχνων ὑπὸ τῶν σκωλήκων πεπορθημένος. Αλλ' ἡ φωνὴ τῆς ζωῆς τὸν νεκρὸν ὀσφράνασα εἰς εὐ ας μίαν τὴν τῶν σαρκῶν ἀνεχάλκευσε λύσιν, καὶ γέγονε μήτρα του κειμένου τὸ μνῆμα. Σοὶ δὲ προσφάτως ὁ θά νατος ἐμεθόδευσε · σοὶ λέγω, μὴ βραδύνῃς πρὸς τὴν ἀνάστασιν· Ἐγὼ γὰρ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις. Νεκρός ὑπὸ ἦρχεν ὁ θεωρούμενος, καὶ ὡς ἀκούοντι τ· τεθνεῶτι δια ελέγετο ὁ Κύριος. Πότε νεκρὸς ἀκούει ; Καὶ τί φησιν ὁ Δεσπότης ; Σοὶ λέγω, ἐγέρθητι καὶ εὐθέως ἀνεκάθ ισεν ὁ νεκρός· ὥστε οἱ θεωροῦντες [85] ὄχλοι εγέ- νοντο ὡσεὶ νεκροί, πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν, δεύ- τερον διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Διὰ τί γὰρ μὴ κατεπήδησεν, ἀλλ' ἀνεκάθισεν ; Ὅπως ἂν ἀνεπισκίαστον τὴν ἀνάστα σιν θεωρήσωσιν οἱ πάντες, καὶ μὴ φαντασία γνωρισθῇ τὸ γινόμενον. Μονονουχί λέγων πρὸς αὐτούς· Εγώ ὑμᾶς πληροφορῶ τοὺς ἀκηκοότας, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ πρὸς βραχὺ ἀποθανών. Καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἐπελάβετο τοῦ τεθνεῶτος, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὸν ζώντα τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ. Ἡ δὲ λαβοῦσα τὸν υἱὸν, ὑπὸ χαρᾶς καὶ ἀπιστίας συνείχετο · χαίρουσα μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀναστάσει· ἀπιστοῦσα δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων. Μετὰ σπουδῆς τὸ γύναιον ἀκριβῶς τὸν ιἱὸν κατενδει, ταῖς χερσὶν ἐψηλάφα, ὀφθαλμῶν θέσεις διερευνώσα, ὀσφρήσεως, χειλέων, μετώπου, καὶ τοῦ παντὸς προσώπου την διατύπωσιν· εἶτα τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, ὅλον τὸ σῶμα · καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν διελογίζετο λέγουσα· 'Αρα, φησί, μήποτε πλα Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων εἰς τὸν ὅριν τὸν χαλκοῦν· καὶ εἰς τὸν 794 νῶμαι ; μὴ ἄλλον ὑπὲρ ἄλλου κρατῶ ; μὴ πρὸς παρα. μυθίαν τὴν ἐμὴν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ πένθους ὑποστολὴν, καὶ πρὸς τοῦ ἄλγους ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ μου τὸν θάνατον ἐσορίσατο ; καὶ ξένον τινὰ ὡς οἰκεῖον παρέδωκεν Ιη· σούς, τὴν ἐμὴν ὀδύνην ἐπικουφίσαι βουλόμενος; Ουδένα τοῦ γενομένου κέκτημαι μάρτυρα · οὐκ εἶδον τοῦτό ποτε, οὐκ ἄλλος τῶν σὺν ἐμοὶ τεθέαται · οὐδέποτε ἐπὶ κλίνης ώφθη νεκρὸς ἐγηγερμένος. Αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν υἱὸν λα δοῦσα, διελέγετο λέγουσα - Λέγε μοι, φησί, καὶ μὴ δειλιά- σῃς, εἰ σὺ αὐτὸς ὑπάρχεις ὁ υἱός μου· εἰπε, γινώσκεις με; γνωρίζεις με τίς εἰμι ; οἶδας εἰ ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ τεκούσά σε Ἐπιγινώσκω τοὺς χαρακτῆρας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πιστεύω τῷ πράγματι · βοᾷ ὁ ἐφθαλμός, ὑπογράφει ἡ κόρη, κηρύτ τε: τὰ βλέφαρα, ἡ ἀκοὴ, συμφωνεί, μαρτυρεῖ τὸ τῆς οσφρήσεως διατετυπωμένων μεσότοιχον, τὰ χείλη πλη ροφορεί, αὐτὴ ἡ ἡλικία προτρέπεται. Κίνησον γλώσ σαν, ὦ φίλτατε, εἰπέ μοι τὰ τοῦ βίου τεκμήρια. Η χαρά μοι χειμῶνά μοι ἐκίνησε · βλέπω σε, καὶ συνέχομαι ἐγώ σε ἐπ' ἀγκάλαις ἐβάστατα, ἐγὼ μαζοῖς ἐμοῖς ἐθή- λασα βραχὺν ὄντα. Λέγε μοι, τέκνον μου, σὺ ὑπάρχεις ὁ υἱός μου ; καὶ μὴ δειλιάσῃς με. Αλλ' ὡς ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις τὴν πληροφορίαν ἐδέξατο, καὶ ἡ πενθήσασα ὑπο ή έστρεψε χαίρουσα, καὶ ἡ θρηνούσα δοξάζουσα τὸν Θεόν, τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ τὸν παῖδα κατέχουσα, καὶ διὰ τῆς πα λεως πρὸς πάντας πορευομένη βοώσα μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ : Μεγαλύνατε τὸν Κύριον σὺν ἐμοὶ, καὶ ὑψώσωμεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· ὅτι τὸν ἐμὸν νεκρωθέντα ἀνέστησεν, ὅτι τὴν παλαιὰν ἄμπελον ἐχαράκωσε, καὶ τὴν μὴ μητέρα πάλιν μητέρα ἐποίησε, καὶ πηγὰς δα- κρύων εξέκοψε και δοξάσατε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ὅτι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν.
Against the Jews, on the Bronze Serpent; and on that, "He gave him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9); and on that, "For because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself" (Heb. 6:13)
A 1. The Word of God, brethren, as we have often said, is simple indeed, clear, and manifest to all, and full of much light; but because He has various operations, He receives various names, so that He is often called light, and life, and lamp, and torch, and sword, and river, and fountain, and blade, and axe, and door. He accepts these names in proportion to His benefits, in order to enlighten the thoughts of the hearers, and to raise our mind from things among us to things above us. Hence our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the fountain of wisdom, in conversing with the people, has used parables, teaching things above the world from things in the world, the invisible from the visible, the divine from the human. And sometimes He brings a parable of a vineyard, sometimes of fishing, sometimes of a net, at other times of leaven, just as today, conversing with the Jews, He said: "A certain man had two sons, and he said to the first, 'Go, work in the vineyard'" (Matt. 21:28). Since these things are practiced among us, and we are conversant with them, He leads us toward the super-celestial wisdom; as He was saying also in the previous one; for on yesterday's day the Savior was saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard." Yesterday He introduced the parable of the vineyard, and today the same. It is necessary also to note those times at which the Master of the vineyard went out. He went out, he says, early in the morning, and about the third, and sixth, and ninth, and eleventh hours. Five times of the calling appear: early in the morning, third hour, sixth, ninth, eleventh. Nothing useless is with God. For He who threatens that "you will give an account for every idle word" (Matt. 12:36), the very fountain of wisdom itself would not have used an idle word. The divine school therefore teaches us now that God calls at various times. The Master is the same, He has the same vineyard, but He makes the call at different times according to the different generations of men. The day is the same, the Master is the same, the vineyard the same; the times are not the same, but early in the morning, third, sixth, ninth, eleventh. When did He go out early in the morning to hire laborers? By morning He calls the beginnings of the divine creation. It was morning, because Adam was created; for in the beginnings the aeon had just newly raised the sun, just newly the beauty of the moon and the order of the stars was shown. Early in the morning the Master went out to hire. Whom first of men did He hire? Adam. He placed him in paradise to work and to keep it. The first time, therefore, is from Adam until Noah, this is one calling, one time. And at that time indeed Adam was hired for work, Abel for the work of virtue, Seth and Enoch, who was translated because of surpassing virtue. Until Noah was the first time of the calling. When Noah appeared, the time of the third hour, He went out again to hire. For the first generation having been destroyed because of lawlessness, the race of men again needed a second calling. He introduces laborers for the second time into the vineyard, those from Noah until Abraham; the second calling. Observe precisely, I beg you: the first hour, those from Adam until Noah; the third hour, those from Noah until Abraham; the sixth hour, those from Abraham until Moses; the ninth hour, those from Moses until Christ; the eleventh hour, those from Christ until the end. For just as the eleventh hour is the end of the day, so also the time of the presence was the end of the ages. For just as the eleventh hour hurries the day to an end, so the time of the presence hints at the consummation. Therefore the apostle Paul says: "These things, brethren, happened to them as types; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Cor. 10:11). And also the wonderful thing: the first ones were hired, the second, the third, the fourth, and at the end the fifth; and the wage was not given to the first until the last arrived; but they endured the toil, while they had not yet received the wage. For God did not wish to give the wage to the first until the fruits of the Church should arrive, and He commands the steward: "Give from the last unto the first." That God deferred not giving the wage to the first until the last should come, Paul testifies, saying in the Epistle to the Hebrews. He mentioned Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs, and other prophets and righteous men, and adds: "And all these, having been attested through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect" (Heb. 11:39-40). Just as here,
A five seasons and callings were given, first from Adam to Noah, second from Noah to Abraham, third from Abraham to Moses, fourth from Moses to Christ, fifth from the Saviour to the consummation. In other places, He manifests the parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out" (Matt. 20:1). Why five and five? Five wise and five foolish. For each generation has its wise and foolish, and in each generation there are those who are diligent and those who are sluggish, and those who are pious and those who are blameless. Observe the harmony of the times everywhere — these callings have B their own distinct affairs, and their own time. And just as the owner of the vineyard demands at each time its respective fruits, so too, after the winter, he does not demand the fruits of spring, nor does he demand the fruits of spring from the winter, nor the fruits of summer from the last, nor from the autumn those of its own season. Thus also does God, in demanding fruits, demand of each time its own respective generation. He demands a fruit today which he demanded of the first ones; another he demands after the coming of Christ. For just as he did not demand the fruits of the present time from those who came before, but demanded of each generation its own fruits, so does He still. The time then was different, and it had a different law, and it had a different ordinance, God not changing, but applying commandments that were fitting. Therefore, the Scripture C testifies many times concerning Noah: "And Noah was a just man, perfect" (Gen. 6:9). In what way? "In his generation," in comparison to those after him. "For each is required to perform the service of his own generation," as Peter says concerning David: "David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep" (Acts 13:36). Each according to his own generation. There are, therefore, five generations. We do not say these things rashly, but following the footsteps of the Master. The Saviour shows the power: "Returning," he says, "into the city, he saw a fig tree: and it had nothing but leaves" (Matt. 21:19), and he sought fruit. He approached, being hungry. I see much difficulty in these words, unless God leads our mind to reverence, so that we do not speak or think anything rashly against God, but follow the target of the truth. "Returning," he says, late at night he was hungry, and approached the fig tree seeking fruit, and found none: "For it was not the season for figs" (Mark 11:13). Thus it is written. Who—I am not speaking of God, nor do I bring forward God's dignity now—who among us men is so foolish and senseless as to go to a fig tree out of season? If we speak according to a human standard, it is alien to sense to seek fruit out of season; if according to God, why did He not know the bounds of His own creation? However you examine what was said, whether according to humanity or according to divinity, it does not befit the Saviour. For neither does a prudent man demand the fruits of trees out of season, since otherwise he would not demand them even from the beginning; nor would God, who established order, time, and laws for each tree and fruit, demand them beyond their own bounds. For if you had established a law for the fig tree not to bear in its own time, and even if the time were right, it still did not bear fruit, that would have to be attributed to the will of God, who did not give the tree the power. Therefore, brethren, it was more of an economy than of necessity. This was not a necessity, but an economy of Christ: He wanted to signify to the disciples that His passion was certainly to be. Because immediately after these things He was to go to Jerusalem, and was to suffer there (for if anyone reads accurately, he will find how the cross followed this history): because, therefore, he was to go to Jerusalem and was to suffer, and the disciples were scandalized by the passion; that no one might suspect Him of suffering out of infirmity, He gives clear indications that He can wither his adversaries, like the fig tree; to show His power on the inanimate fig tree, but His patience toward rational men; and that from the memory of the recent miracle they might understand that He suffered willingly, He who had withered the fig tree with a word. D That these things, brethren, are true, and that He Himself dispenses all these things in order to show His power, is understood from what follows; though many can understand this. The fig tree, he says, is the synagogue of the Jews; and he threatened the synagogue that no fruit would ever come from it. Some have wished to understand it thus; but facts seem not to agree with this prediction: for after the cross and after this pronouncement, many thousands of Jews believed; nor does that agree, "Let no fruit be from you forever," with such a great number of those who believe. Resume the statement. If He had spoken the sentence against the Jews and against the synagogue, so that it would bring forth no more fruit, and if the fruits of the synagogue are the Churches, then it ought to have been that after this sentence no Jew believed: but that many believed, hear the Scripture. One sermon of Peter received three thousand, another of the same one four thousand; and these were seven thousand souls; and elsewhere, while the word was progressing, a great multitude of Jews followed the faith. If most of the Jews, nay, many thousands followed, and if finally the word progressed so much among the Jews, that the apostles said to Paul, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed" (Acts 21:20); if there were so many thousands of believing Jews, how does this sentence agree with that, "Let no fruit be from you?" For after that sentence, many thousands of fruits appeared. But the matter has this consequence. Flee from forced allegories: sometimes the Scripture itself opens its eyes to speculation; at other times it teaches how to apply tropes. When therefore the speculation or history is bare, do not attempt the impenetrable, but take the matter from the series. The cross was there, and the passion was to come. Lest they ascribe the economy to infirmity, He showed His power for the sake of those who were to have the hope of salvation. For the Saviour knew that the cross would be the salvation of men, and that by being lifted up on the wood, He would capture the whole world. Therefore He says: "If I be lifted up," that is, if I am crucified, "I will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32). Attend, I ask: that which is said, "If I be lifted up," what is it? Unless He Himself interprets it, I cannot establish the meaning. The Saviour says to Nicodemus: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14-15). A Because the people of the Jews were murmuring about the manna which they were eating, and were trampling upon this food given from heaven, and were desiring the Egyptian table, and saying: "We remember the caldrons of flesh, which we ate in Egypt" (Exod. 16:3): and the Egyptian pots were preferred to the heavenly food. What then did God do? Because they had despised the heavenly bread, He sends deadly serpents into the people: serpents went forth biting, bringing death with the bite. And rightly was no other beast sent, not a lion, not a bear, but serpents. For because from the beginning God had said to the serpent, "Upon thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Gen. 3:14), He sent this beast against those who were murmuring while eating manna; for it, truly, was eating and not murmuring. He sent a biting serpent; death followed the bite. They fall down before Moses, Moses falls down before God: God suggests a remedy for the wounds; even though He could, if asked, put the serpents to flight; but He leaves the plague and gives the medicine. "Make for me," He says, "a brazen serpent" (Num. 21:8), and fix it on wood at the gate of the tabernacle of the testimony, and proclaim to the children of Israel and say: "If anyone has been bitten by a serpent, let him come and look upon this serpent fixed on wood, and if he believes, he shall live." Could the serpents not have been put to flight? Could they not have been destroyed? Could He not have healed them with a word? Indeed, just as the word of God could bring water out of a rock, yet the rock did not obey until it saw the symbol of the cross: so too in this place: He could have put the serpents to flight; but until they saw the image of the cross, which took away the bites of the demons, they did not become whole. Why, moreover, did the Saviour make a serpent His image? What similarity is there between this image and the serpent? So that you may remember, when you shall have contended against the Jews, or against enemies who use the Scripture and fight against the Scripture, how you expect salvation and blessing from the crucified One. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Deut. 21:23). Attend diligently: if a Jew or another enemy of the Church should say, usurping the words of Scripture and fighting against the Scripture: "How do you wish to receive a blessing from the crucified Lord, when Moses clearly writes, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'?" Answer him, "If you read the Scripture, attend: for not only reading is required, but also understanding, as Philip said to the eunuch: 'Do you think that you understand what you read?' And what did that worthy man say to this? 'How can I, sir, unless some man guide me?' (Acts 8:30-31)? If he says, 'How do you expect a blessing from the crucified One? For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree,' say to him, 'How did the children of Israel in the desert receive a blessing from the serpent, when God from the beginning had said, 'Cursed art thou among all the beasts of the earth' (Gen. 3:15)?"
And [regarding the Law], 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree' (Deut. 21:23)? Do not attend to the sequence of the words, but learn the distinction. For since the Savior was about to take upon himself the curse that was stored up for the world—and the first curse was, 'Earth thou art, and to earth thou shalt return' (Gen. 3:19)—he accepted this sentence into himself, as the Apostle says: A 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us' (Gal. 3:13). He set forth [this] image in the mountain B beforehand; and rightly so in the mountain. Just as that bronze serpent had the appearance, form, and image of a serpent, but did not have its poison and malice, so the Savior appears in the flesh in the likeness of sin. For this very flesh became [sinless] through Him. He assumed, therefore, the flesh of a sinner, not having sinned himself, but having taken upon himself the sin of the world: 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29). Thus, the Savior also assumed flesh, having the image of flesh and its true nature, but not C having the sin of the flesh. For 'he committed no sin,' says Isaiah, 'nor was deceit found in his mouth' (Isa. 53:9). For what is poison in the serpent, that is deceit in a man; of which the Scripture says concerning the wicked: 'The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness' (Ps. 13:3, 9, 29). For just as, to repeat myself, that serpent had the image and form of a serpent, but did not have the malice of a serpent, so the body of the Savior had the form of men, but did not have the malice D of men. Again, there is another image: just as there, the serpents are those that bite, but different is the one who suffers on their behalf; for it was necessary to take one of the biters and crucify it, yet those that were biting were let go, and the one who had done no wrong was crucified. And he who neither shared in the destruction nor the ruin of the others endures the fixing upon the tree, because he was an image of the Savior; for while all men have sinned, no one among those who have sinned is crucified on behalf of a sinner, but he who is sinless. You have known the theory; remember the voice of the Lord saying to Nicodemus: 'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life' (John 3:14-15). ‘So must the Son of man be lifted up.’ Beautiful is the word; since the passion was thought to be a humiliation, the Savior calls it an exaltation. For the whole world was lifted up by the cross; the whole world A which was lying prostrate was raised up through the dispensation of the cross. For this reason: 'The Lord hath reigned, he hath clothed himself with majesty' (Ps. 92:1). For indeed he set the world aright. He did not say, 'He created.' The first was 'He created,' the second, 'He set aright.' Thus, 'the Son of man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may not perish.' It seems necessary to me to call a prophet as a witness to this exaltation, one who openly proclaims that God is exalted. Hear, therefore, the blessed Isaiah proclaiming this exaltation. For even though he declared the passion most clearly, saying: 'As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb; he takes away our sins and is in pain for us; for the sins of my people he came to death' (Isa. 53:7-8), yet nevertheless, elsewhere he calls the passion itself an exaltation. For what does he say? 'Sing to the Lord, praise his name; declare his glory among the nations, that he has done high things. Exult and rejoice, you who dwell in Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is exalted, in the midst of thee hath he been exalted' (Id. 12:5-6). But a heretical voice rises up against this and says: 'If he was exalted, yet he was exalted by the Father; for it is written: B Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and the rest' (Phil. 2:9-10). The enemies of the truth thus fasten themselves upon the proclamation of the truth. But it is necessary regarding such people—or rather, toward such people—not to give answers hastily, but first to demand from them an account of their own fixed opinions, and then to provide a solution to the matters being questioned. Since you say, 'The Father highly exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus,' etc., first prove to me what this name is which is above every name; for it is not possible simply to assert it, but it must be established by the truth. When the wicked man asks, [the Savior] will counter-ask with justice; solve the absurd question. For the Savior showed clearly today how one must answer the devious. The Pharisees asked the Savior, saying: 'By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?' (Matt. 21:23). The Savior, wishing to show that one must not satisfy wickedness, but should not answer absurd questions, says to the Pharisees: 'I will ask you one word, which if you tell me, I also will answer you: The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven, or from men?' (Id. v. 24-25). He restrained the wicked; *he who catches the wise in their craftiness*. 'By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?' And being asked, he does not answer them, but asks in turn: 'I will also ask you one word.' For this reason the Prophet says: 'With the holy thou shalt be made holy, and with a blameless man thou shalt be blameless, and with the elect thou shalt be elect, and with the perverse thou shalt pervert' (Ps. 17:26-27). This word many thought was spoken by God to men. The Prophet says these things to God, that 'With the just thou shalt be justified, with a blameless man thou shalt be blameless, and with the elect thou shalt be elect, and with the perverse thou shalt pervert.' And that you might learn that he is addressing God, he adds: 'For thou shalt save the humble people, and the eyes of the proud thou shalt humble' (Id. v. 28). The Savior always tortured the wickedness of the Jews by silence; for wickedness not being satisfied is tortured all the more. He was asked many times, and did not answer; the Jews asked him, and he did not give them a report. He tortured their souls so much that the Jews once said to him: 'How long do you take away our soul? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly' (John 10:24). And yet he did not answer, but [said], 'I have told you often, and you do not hear; what do you wish to hear again?' See how they proclaimed the torture of their own soul: 'How long do you take away our soul?' even though you said, 'Ask, and it shall be given you; knock, and it shall be opened to you; seek, and you shall find' (Matt. 7:7)? You have read the Scripture, but you have not known the one who says: 'The wicked shall seek me, and they shall not find' (Prov. 1:28). That you might learn that the character is the same both of the one who spoke through the Gospels and of the one who spoke through the prophets, and that he himself is the one who spoke through them and through these, just as here, being questioned by the Jews, he did not answer but bound them with counter-questions; so also in the Old [Testament] God says to Ezekiel: 'Son of man, behold the people of the land come to me to ask a word; *I live, if I shall answer them*' (Ezek. 20:3). See the same character; look how many tortures, how many questions, how many requests, and he did not answer. But where he finds a soul simple and faithful, full of light and simplicity, not only when asked does he give a full answer, but even when not asked, he teaches. Once Jesus went about Samaria; he finds a Samaritan woman drawing water, and says to her: 'Give me to drink' (John 4:7). The giver of life says to her: 'Give me to drink.' He was sitting by the well, the fountain [sitting] above the fountain. Then, to be brief (for the task at hand is not to unfold the present history, but to come to the matter at hand), [she] asked him...
"I know indeed that Messiah comes, who is called Christ. When he comes, he will teach us all things" (John 4:25). Look at a soul possessing desire before it even sees. The Jews, seeing, did not believe; she receives [the truth] before she has even seen. As Christ saw that simple mind, he said, "I am he who speaks to you" (Ibid. v. 26). How often did the Jews ask, and were they tortured? "How long do you lift up our soul?" (Ibid. 10:24); and he did not answer. She says, "He comes," and the one who was preached declared himself. This is that which is said: "Perverse thoughts separate from God; but he appears to those who are not incredulous toward him" (Wisd. 1:3). B Since he has taught us to solve absurd questions by other questions, I ask the heretic, "What is that, 'the name above every name'?" As you wish, answer. What is this name? Is it Jesus? Is it Christ? Is it Savior? Tell me that name. Set this down first; and when I bring forth the divine testimony—the opinion of the prophets, the preaching of the apostles—do not pervert that testimony. But first settle your own opinion; tell me, what name do you think is 'above every name'? But what shall I do? I am in the midst of the faithful and I do not wish to leave the children of the Church suspended by the opportunity [given to] the enemies. Let us explain, therefore; and if any enemy be present, let him receive a benefit, and from an enemy become a friend, from an adversary [become one who is] like-minded; let him not think himself defeated if he is conquered by the truth, let him not study to bring back a bad victory, but let him take care that a good victory be brought back concerning himself. Let us explain, therefore, the matter as they think it should be explained. What, therefore, do you say is the name given to him, which is above every name? Is it that he was called Jesus? But Jesus the son of Nave was called that before him. Is it that he was called Christ? Every king and prophet is a christ. Thus David speaks of Saul the king, even though he was wicked; nevertheless, he had the royal chrism. When certain of his bodyguards were persuading him, "Behold the day, which the Lord said, in which he would deliver your enemy into your hands; strike him" (1 Reg. 24:5, 7); David answers, "The Lord lives: I will not bring my hand upon him, because he is the Lord's christ." Nor is there only one christ, but there are many: "Do not touch my christs, and among my prophets do not do malignity" (Ps. 104:15); and Habacuc, "You went forth for the salvation of your people, that you might save your christs" (Hab. 3:13). How, therefore, is it 'above every name'? For if before him others have had this name, how did the Father give him the name which is above every name, or what is that name? Is it 'Savior'? But many have been called Saviors. Remember the things said above: which one is that 'above every name'? But because you cannot answer opportunely, or [rather] because you know indeed but craftily hide it, learn now: the Scripture often calls the 'name' not the appellation of God, but the glory. The Name of God is called the glory of God, as when he does wonders, the name is derived from the miracle; as the blessed prophet says: "Where is he who led Moses by the right hand? who fixed the water before his face, and led forth his people in the desert, and made for himself a name" (Isa. 63:12, 13); that is, fame; namely, his name was celebrated. And among us it is said, a man 'famous by name,' not because he has a name; for everyone has one; but because his name is celebrated everywhere. He calls glory and fame the 'name' celebrated everywhere. Thus God says to Solomon: "And I have made for you a name, as is the name of the ancient kings" (1 Par. 17:8). But did he not change his name? Was not Solomon called [Solomon]? But "I have made for you a name," that is, fame, glory. C Thus also in this place he says, "He gave him a name"—that is, glory. What glory? Lest I explain, hear Paul saying: "That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess [that] the Lord Jesus Christ [is in the glory of God the Father]" (Philipp. 2:10-11). You see how he calls the glory, the adoration of the universe, and that he is glorified everywhere, and announced through the whole universe. "Indeed," he will say, "I have received the explanation: and I do not desist, the Father gave him a name." Do you wish, he says, to understand the name as an appellation? Do you wish to understand the name as glory? Do you wish [to understand it as] fame? Do you wish [to understand it as] celebrity? I, meanwhile, do not desist from that: "God gave him a name," therefore he superexalted him. It is necessary, therefore, to investigate this: for that name is found [to be] given to the Savior as if [it were] a reward: for Paul says: "Let this be minded in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who when he was in the form of God, thought it not a robbery to be equal to God; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man: he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name, which is above every name" (Philipp. 2:5-9). But it is shown here that because he suffered, he received the reward of the passion: because he humbled himself unto death, therefore God exalted him: for that "therefore" states the cause on account of which he brings him glory. This glory and exaltation is the reward of the passion. Who, therefore, suffered? D Who accepted the reward? Lest Paul should allow you to rave rashly against the divinity, he added: "And he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man, he humbled himself." First he said 'man,' and then that he received glory. Attend diligently: he said the 'form of God,' "when he was in the form of God"; then he showed the form of a servant, "taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man"; so that he might show that the form of a servant, the man, was receiving the reward and the name. For there are two. Because the Savior laid down his own soul (for he indeed had a soul, since he assumed the whole man), the flesh itself, which served the Savior Word, accepts the reward, that it might be ministered to him above every name, and that "every knee should bow to Christ, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." I will say another thing briefly: if he received these things after the cross, and if, because he humbled himself unto death, God gave him [a name] as a reward; if that name be seen not to have been had before the cross, he received the glory by grace. Contend with me: for the thought is subtle and profound. They say: "Because Christ suffered." They read the Apostle and do not understand the apostolic saying, that because Christ suffered, therefore God exalted him, and gave him a name, which is "above every name," so that "in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." He received the reward before the cross. If the Only-begotten is seen not to be worshipped before the cross, and every knee is not bowed to the Only-begotten, he truly received the reward, and a grace which he did not have. But if the economy or incarnation is found to be worshipped before the cross, the passion, and the exaltation, what place will that vain chatter hold? Why, wretch, do you not know what that dignity is before the ages, what the form of the incarnation is? Think of the form of God, and the form of a servant; the one assuming, and the one assumed: do not confuse the order, do not destroy the truth; nay, rather, do not be destroyed by the truth. Let us show, therefore, whether every knee bows before the economy, and the Only-begotten is to be worshipped, not receiving [it] from the cross, but having the act of adoration before the cross and before the ages. For listen to what he says. Therefore the blessed Isaias says: "Thus says the Lord: I am the Lord God, and there is no other. A just man and a savior is not besides me. Turn to me, and you shall be saved, all from the extremity of the earth: I am God, and there is no other" (Isa. 45:21, 22). And again: "I have sworn by myself, if justice shall go forth from my mouth" (Ibid. v. 23); "I am God, there is no other. A just man and a Savior besides me is not. I am God, and there is no other." He resumes a third time and says: "Turn to me, I swear by myself, if justice shall go forth in my mouth. My words shall not be turned away," that is, my word shall not come in vain: "because to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear by the true God" (Ibid. v. 24). Every knee, every tongue. Who said this? The Father. For this is what the heretic wishes, not that he may worship the Father, but that he may deprive the Son of his glory. But by me, a believer, and by the Church, it is understood that the Father said these things, and that the Son brought them forth, and the Holy Spirit is preached. I have said these things theologically: there is no difference. For he declared, "I am just, and there is no other." Who, therefore, is it who said these things, let them be asked again. But because it happens to them, as formerly to the Pharisees, to say within themselves: "If we say this, he will answer us thus"; lest I seem, brothers, to speak either from myself, or to bring forward rashly certain things from a prejudiced opinion, I shall bring forward Paul as a witness from the prophecy itself. Let us see this prophecy of Paul, "I live, I swear by myself, because to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue"; let us see, I say, to where Paul leads it. He wrote to the Romans, because there was dissension between the faithful from the Jews, and those from the Gentiles who had been made Christians (Rom. 14); and these from the Gentiles used all foods indiscriminately; but those who were from the Jews wished both to worship Christ and to observe Judaic foods. The one party reproached the other. Those who were from the Jews reproached those from the Gentiles, because they did not observe the law; those from the Gentiles reproached those from the Jews, because they did not walk according to the grace of the Gospel. Those from the Gentiles were saying to the Jews, "If it is the law that justifies, why did Christ come? But if Christ came, why, leaving the law of Christ, do you follow Judaic rites?" The Romans were enlightened by the doctrine of Paul, who said: "For if justice [is] through the law, [then]..."