and of that blood, by comparison it raised to a higher level the blood which is truly superior. For it says: "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Hebr. 12. 22-24). For the one speaks as an intercessor for sinners, and brings propitiation to the world. For the blood of Christ is the sprinkling of the inhabited world; the blood of Christ is the ransom of men. It is better, he says, than that of Abel, in the sense that the one intercedes, while the other acts as an advocate. Furthermore, the blood of Abel had a likeness to the blood of the Master in this manner: Adam, having sinned, fell under the curse of death: "Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return" (Gen. 3. 19). He accepted the sentence; Abel, having become righteous and not having fallen into transgressions, but having also been testified to by the divine vote, lived his life honorably. Then the fratricide Cain, having opened the gates of death, caused a bad thoroughfare for death to come to pass, or rather a good one. For observe the philanthropy of God. The condemned were not yet dead, neither Adam nor Eve; Abel not having sinned, first A
ON HOLY AND GREAT FRIDAY, ON THE HOLY PASSION OF THE LORD.
I wish today to fulfill the debt of yesterday's promise, beloved. But I seek the point where we left off; we were saying that the Jews took counsel against Jesus, how they might destroy him. And when they were gathered together B for the same purpose, behold Judas came to them and said to them: "What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?" (Matt. 26. 15). And they arose with swords and staves and followed him. And he gave them a sign, saying: "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast." And when they had come to the place where Jesus was with his disciples, Judas approached and kissed him, saying: "Hail, Rabbi." But the Lord said to him: "Friend, wherefore art thou come? That which thou art come to do, do." O treacherous kiss, full of iniquity and destruction! O bitter kiss, loss of the soul, harbinger of Gehenna! The harlot who kissed the feet of the Lord called back her own soul from the mire; but this man, by kissing, was severed from the book of life. O the philosophy of the woman! O the folly of the disciple! While she was kissing the feet of the Lord, angels were rejoicing and preparing her crown; but when this man kissed, demons rejoiced and were weaving the rope for the noose. "Hail, Rabbi." He rejoices, but thou art mourning because thou wert cast out of the joy. "Hail, Rabbi," and he kissed him. C And they took him and led him to Annas and Caiaphas the high priests. And they sought false witness against him and found none. Then they led him and set him up. And Pilate asked him, saying: "Art thou the king of the Jews?" But the Lord was silent, according to that which is written: "And as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isai. 53. 7). Pilate sat judging, and he who is to judge the living and the dead stood by; and the Sun of Justice stood by, and endured. The Lord, therefore, was on trial for the salvation of the world. But Pilate, being persuaded by the very facts that they delivered him up out of envy, taking water, washed his hands, saying: "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it" (Matt. 27. 24). But Judas, seeing that he was condemned, returned the pieces of silver to the chief priests, saying: "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood." And having cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself. And that which was written was fulfilled: "His travail shall return upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his own pate" (Ps. 7. 17). And Pilate said to the Jews: "I find no cause in him." And wishing to release him, he saith unto them: "It is a custom with you at the feast to release one of the evildoers. Hearken then, and I will release unto you one in whom I find no cause." But they with voices demanded that the murderer be released, but the one who justifies the ungodly, they cried, "Crucify him." Then D having scourged him, Pilate delivered him to be crucified. The Lord was scourged so that he might deliver us from diabolical bonds and whips; he wore a crown of thorns so that he might undo the curse against us. The earth was commanded to bring forth thorns and thistles for us because of the transgression; he wears the crown of thorns upon his head so that he might dissolve the curse against us. He was crucified upon a tree so that he might undo the sin that was brought about through the tree. For because of the tree Satan cast Adam out of paradise, and through the tree the Lord manifested the thief as a citizen of paradise. And the wondrous thing, beloved: on the sixth day the Lord fashioned Adam and on the sixth day he was cast out of paradise. Therefore the Lord also on the sixth day opened paradise and brought in the thief. In the evening Adam was cast out of paradise, having disobeyed the commandment of the Lord; in the evening the thief, having obeyed the voice of the Master, was brought into paradise. When therefore the devil saw that all things happened according to the divine economy, and the signs that occurred on the cross, the sun being darkened, the earth shaking, the veil of the temple being rent, the rocks being split, and himself being mocked, he fled to Hades and says to it: "Woe is me, the wretch! I have been mocked. Help my lowliness; let us close the doors, lest he enter here; secure them with bolts, and with all our might let us resist, so that we may not receive him." Hades ran therefore and locked the doors, and secured them with iron bars. And behold, the Lord comes to Hades, pursuing the devil, and the Powers were running ahead. And behold, the gates were closed, and the Powers called out, saying: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in" (Ps. 23. 9, 10). And Hades says from within, answering: "Who is this King of glory?" And again the Powers say: "The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of glory" (Ps. 23. 10). Hades answering said: "Who is this, of whom ye speak? And if he is such, what does he seek here? Why did he leave heaven and descend here?" And the Powers say: "Because he is the King of glory, he came to bind the one who became a condemned prisoner through rebellion and deliver him to thee, and to pull his soldiers out from thee and to call them back." But Hades, answering, says to the devil: "Three-headed Beelzebub, fallen from the angels, laughing-stock of the saints, weakling, hidden from the light, did I not say to thee: 'Do not fight with him?' See now what I foretold thee; he is present, and what dost thou do, wretch? Why didst thou disobey my words? See, he has come to seek thee and to bind thee, and through thee I am being made a prisoner. Get out, if thou art able, and meet him. For I am not able to help thee." And the devil to him: "Have mercy on me for a while; do not open; sometimes he turns away; for now, strive on my behalf, even if I have been mocked." For who is not mocked by such words of his? For sometimes, fearing death, he was saying: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death"; and sometimes he was offering a supplication to the Father, saying: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." These words baited me. The other, answering, said: "These things I also, the wretch, supposed, that fearing death he was sorrowing. While they were saying these things