Christ’s Death and Resurrection
Barnabas, Epistle of Barnabas 12
Similarly, he again defines the cross through another prophet who asks, "When will these things be fulfilled?" The Lord answers: "When a tree is bent and then stands upright, and when blood drips from wood." Here again you have a reference to the cross and to the one who was about to be crucified.
He also speaks again to Moses when Israel was being warred against by the foreigners, and He did so in order to remind them while they fought that they had been handed over to death because of their sins. The Spirit said to the heart of Moses to make a type of the cross and of the one who was about to suffer, saying, "If they do not put their hope in him, they will be warred against forever." So Moses stacked one shield upon another in the middle of the battle, stood higher than everyone, and stretched out his hands; and thus Israel prevailed again. But whenever he lowered his hands, they were killed. Why? So that they might know they cannot be saved unless they put their hope in him.
And again in another prophet he says: "All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people who walk in a way that is not right." (Isaiah 65:2, adapted; see also Romans 10:21)
Again Moses makes a type of Jesus, because he must suffer, and he will give life to the one whom they think has been lost, in the sign of Israel's falling. For the Lord made serpents bite them all, and they were dying, since the transgression came through the serpent in Eve. He did this to convict them, because through their transgression they would be handed over to the affliction of death. Although Moses had been commanded, "You shall not have a molten or carved image for a god," he himself makes one so that he might show a type of Jesus. Therefore Moses makes a bronze serpent and sets it up prominently, and with a proclamation he calls the people. When they came to him, they begged Moses to offer a prayer for their healing. Moses said to them: "When any of you is bitten, let him come to the serpent on the wood, and let him trust and believe that the one who is dead is able to give life, and he will be saved immediately." And they did so. Here again, in these things, you have the glory of Jesus, because all things are in him and for him.
What does Moses say again to Jesus son of Nun, after giving him this name, since he was a prophet, so that all the people might hear? That the Father reveals everything concerning his Son Jesus. So Moses says to Jesus son of Nun, after giving him this name, when he sent him as a spy of the land: "Take a book in your hands and write what the Lord says, because the Son of God will cut off from the roots the whole house of Amalek in the last days." See again: Jesus is not a son of man, but the Son of God, revealed in flesh as a type.
Since they are about to say that the Christ is a son of David, David himself prophesies, fearing and understanding the error of sinners: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'" (Psalm 110:1) And again Isaiah says: "The Lord said to my Christ, my Lord, whose right hand I have held, to make nations hear before him, and I will break the strength of kings." (Isaiah 45:1) See how David calls him Lord, and does not call him son.
Greek
Ὁμοίως πάλιν περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ὁρίζει ἐν ἄλλῳ προφήτῃ λέγοντι: Καὶ πότε ταῦτα συντελεσθήσεται; λέγει κύριος: ὅταν ξύλον κλιθῇ καὶ ἀναστῇ, καὶ ὅταν ἐκ ξύλου αἷμα στάξῃ. ἔχεις πάλιν περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ καὶ τοῦ σταυροῦσθαι μέλλοντος. λέγει δὲ πάλιν τῷ Μωῡσῇ, πολεμουμένου τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, καὶ ἵνα ὑπομνήσῃ αὐτοὺς πολεμουμένους, ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν παρεδόθησαν εἰς θάνατον: λέγει εἰς τὴν καρδίαν Μωϋσέως τὸ πνεῦμα, ἵνα ποιήσῃ τύπον σταυροῦ καὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος πάσχειν, ὅτι, ἐὰν μή, φησίν, ἐλπίσωσιν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα πολεμηθήσονται. τίθησιν οὖν Μωϋσῆς ἓν ἐφ̓ ἓν ὅπλον ἐν μέσῳ τῆς πυγμῆς, καὶ ὑψηλότερος σταθεὶς πάντων ἐξέτεινεν τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ οὕτως πάλιν ἐνίκα ὁ Ἰσραήλ. εἶτα, ὁπόταν καθεῖλεν, ἐθανατοῦντο. πρὸς τί; ἵνα γνῶσιν ὅτι οὐ δύνανται σωθῆναι, ἑὰν μὴ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἐλπίσωσιν. καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ προφήτῃ λέγει: Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθῆ καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα ὁδῷ δικαίᾳ μου. πάλιν Μωϋσῆς ποιεῖ τύπον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν παθεῖν, καὶ αὐτὸς ζωοποιήσει, ὃν δόξουσιν ἀπολωλεκέναι, ἐν σημείῳ πίπτοντος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, ʽἐποίησεν γὰρ κύριος πάντα ὄφιν δάκνειν αὐτούς, καὶ ἀπέθνησκον ἐπειδὴ ἡ παράβασις διὰ τοῦ ὄφεως ἐν Εὔᾳ ἐγένετὀ. ἵνα ἐλέγξῃ αὐτούς. ὅτι διὰ τὴν παράβασιν αὐτῶν εἰς θλῖψιν θανάτου παραδοθήσονται. πέρας γέ τοι αὐτὸς Μωϋσῆς ἐντειλάμενος: Οὐκ ἔσται ὑμῖν οὔτε χωνευτὸν οὔτε γλυπτὸν εἰς θεὸν ὑμῖν. αὐτὸς ποιεῖ, ἵνα τύπον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ δείξῃ. ποιεῖ οὖν Μωϋσῆς χαλκοῦν ὄφιν καὶ τίθησιν ἐνδόξως καὶ κηρύγματι καλεῖ τὸν λαόν. ἐλθόντες οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐδέοντο Μωῦσέως, ἵνα περὶ αὐτῶν ἀνενέγκῃ δέησιν περὶ τῆς ἰάσεως αὐτῶν. εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς Μωϋσῆς: Ὅταν, φησίν. δηχθῇ τις ὑμῶν, ἐλθέτω ἐπὶ τὸν ὄφιν τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου ἐπικείμενον καὶ ἐλπισάτω πιστεύσας, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὢν νεκρὸς δύναται ζωοποιῆσαι, καὶ παραχρῆμα σωθήσεται. καὶ οὕτως ἐποίουν. ἔχεις πάλιν καὶ ἐν τούτοις τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα καὶ εἰς αὐτόν. τί λέγει πάλιν Μωϋσῆς Ἰησοῦ, υἱῷ Ναυή, ἐπιθεὶς αὐτῷ τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, ὄντι προφήτῃ, ἵνα μόνον ἀκούσῃ πᾶς ὁ λαός; ὅτι πάντα ὁ πατὴρ φανεροῖ περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ Ἰησοῦ. λέγει οὖν Μωϋσῆς Ἰησοῦ, υἱῷ Ναυή, ἐπιθεὶς τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα, ὁπότε ἔπεμψεν αὐτὸν κατάσκοπον τῆς γῆς: Λάβε βιβλίον εἰς τὰς χεῖράς σου καὶ γράψον, ἃ λέγει κύριος, ὅτι ἐκκόψει ἐκ ῥιζῶν τὸν οἶκον πάντα τοῦ Ἀμαλὴκ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπ’ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν. ἴδε πάλιν Ἰησοῦς, οὐχὶ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, ἀλλὰ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, τύπῳ δὲ ἐν σαρκὶ φανερωθείς. ἐπεὶ οὖν μέλλουσιν λέγειν, ὅτι Χριστὸς υἱὸς Δαυείδ ἐστιν, αὐτὸς προφητεύει Δαυείδ, φοβούμενος καὶ συνίων τὴν πλάνην τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν: Εἷπεν κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου: Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. καὶ πάλιν λέγει οὕτως Ἡσαΐας: Εἷπεν κύριος τῷ Χριστῷ μου κυρίῳ. οὗ ἐκράτησα τῆς δεξιᾶς αὐτοῦ, ἐπακοῦσαι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ ἔθνη, καὶ ἰσχὺν βασιλέων διαρρήξω. ἴδε, πῶς Δαυεὶδ λέγει αὐτὸν κύριον. καὶ υἱὸν οὐ λέγει.