Divinity of Christ
The author demonstrates a great sign of love for God, just as one who is cursed by their persecutor shows they are not overly joyful about suffering for Christ, but one who blesses shows great love toward them.
If they repented, their sin was forgiven, as he says; indeed, Paul, who threw many stones with his hands and persecuted the Church, became a leader of the Church.
The passage of Scripture he was reading was: 'As a sheep led to slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth'.
The mind of the preceding words is very clear; for sheep are led to be sheared at the right time, and shepherds bring knives to shear them, yet although they suffer, those who do this do not provoke them to leap; similarly, Christ, when insulted, did not retaliate with insult; when suffering, He did not threaten.
Because of this he says, 'Who shall declare His generation?' since His life is taken from the earth, but rather, His life is lifted up and is higher than those on earth, that is, His citizenship; His life is also taken away in another way, and is above all, that is, the existence of the Only-Begotten; when He was outside the flesh and not yet according to us.
Who was I to hinder God?
A certain economy occurred because of the great distinction of those from circumcision who believed before baptism, so that those around Cornelius were deemed worthy of the Spirit, in order to stop the murmuring of the discontented.
Having heard they became silent, as John completed his course he said, 'What do you suppose me to be? I am not, but behold, one coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals'.
For it is the work of the all-surpassing substance alone and specifically to enable those who approach it to partake of the Holy Spirit and divine nature, this exists in Christ not by participation or sharing from another, but inherently and substantially, for He baptizes in the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the incarnate Word is God and fruit of God and Father, and when He became man, He exists as one Son with flesh inseparably and incomprehensibly united to Him.
For the blessed Baptist, having declared that he is not worthy to bend and untie the strap of His sandals, immediately added: 'This one will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire'; and obviously having feet and wearing sandals, for no one would say that the Word, being incorporeal and not yet become according to us, has feet and sandals, but when He became man, since being God He did not lose His divinity.
Greek
Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Σημεῖον μέγιστον ἐκφέρων τῆς εἰς Θεὸν ἀγάπης. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ καταρώμενος τῷ διώκοντι δείκνυσιν ὅτι οὐ σφόδρα χαίρει ὑπὲρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ταῦτα πάσχων, οὕτως ὁ εὐλογῶν πολὺν ἐμφαίνει αὐτοῖς τὸν ἔρωτα. Τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Τί οὖν οὐκ ἔστησεν αὐτοῖς τὸ ἁμάρτημα, ἀλλ' ἀφήθη, φησίν; Εἰ μετενόησαν ἀφήθη. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ μυρίαις βάλλων αὐτὸν χερσὶ, καὶ διώξας τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν Παῦλος, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας προστάτης ἐγένετο. Ἡ δὲ περιοχὴ τῆς Γραφῆς ἣν ἀνεγίνωσκεν, ἦν αὕτη· Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείραντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος· οὗτος οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. Κυρίλλου. Ἐμφανὴς μὲν λίαν τῶν προκειμένων ὁ νοῦς. Ἀποφέρονται γὰρ εἰς τὸ καρθῆναι κατὰ και ‹74.768› ροὺς τὰ πρόβατα, καὶ τὰς κουρίδας μαχαίρας ἐπιφέρουσιν οἱ ποιμένες· καίτοι πάσχοντα, τοῖς τοῦτο δρῶσιν οὐκ ἐπιπηδᾷ· οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντιλοιδόρει· πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει· ἐπειδή περ καὶ ὑπὲρ φύσιν τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς πεπράχθαι πιστεύεται τὸ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ μυστήριον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; Ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ· ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἐπαίρεται καὶ ὑψηλοτέρα τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν ἡ πολιτεία. Αἴρεται δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως, καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντας ἐστὶν ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ· τουτέστιν ἡ ὕπαρξις τοῦ Μονογενοῦς· ὅταν ἔξω σαρκὸς καὶ οὕπω καθ' ἡμᾶς γενόμενος. Ἐγὼ τίς ἤμην δυνατὸς κωλῦσαι τὸν Θεόν; Κυρίλλου. Οἰκονομία τις ἐγένετο διὰ τὴν πολλὴν τῶν ἐκ περιτομῆς πιστευσάντων διάκρισιν, πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος καταξιωθῆναι τοὺς περὶ τὸν Κορνήλιον τοῦ Πνεύματος· ἵνα τὴν ἀντίῤῥησιν τῶν ἀγανακτούντων παύσῃ. Ὅθεν δὲ καὶ εἰκότως περὶ τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων εἴρηται· Ἀκούσαντες δὲ ἡσύχασαν. Ὡς δὲ ἐπλήρου Ἰωάννης τὸν δρόμον, ἔλεγε· Τίνα με ὑπονοεῖτε εἶναι, οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ, ἔρχεται μετ' ἐμὲ, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς τὸ ὑπόδημα τῶν ποδῶν λῦσαι. Κυρίλλου. Μόνης γὰρ καὶ ἰδικῶς ἔργον ἐστὶ τῆς πάντα ὑπερκειμένης οὐσίας, τὸ ἓν εἶναι δύνασθαί τισι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ θείας φύσεως κοινωνοὺς ἀποφαίνειν τοὺς προσιόντας αὐτῇ. Ἐνυπάρχει δὲ τοῦτο οὐ κατὰ μετάληψιν καὶ μέθεξιν τὴν παρ' ἑτέρου τινὸς, ἀλλ' οἴκοθεν καὶ οὐσιωδῶς τῷ Χριστῷ· βαπτίζει γὰρ ἐν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι. Θεὸς οὖν ἄρα ἐστὶ καὶ καρπὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς ὁ ἐνανθρωπήσας Λόγος. Ἀλλ' ἔδρα τοῦτο, καὶ ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ὡς εἷς ὢν Υἱὸς μετὰ τῆς ἀῤῥήτως τε καὶ ἀπερινοήτως ἑνωθείσης αὑτῷ σαρκός. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ μακάριος Βαπτιστὴς προειπὼν, ὅτι Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἄξιος ἵνα κύψας λύσω τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ, προσήνεγκεν εὐθύς· Οὗτος ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί· καὶ πόδας δηλονότι καὶ ὑποδήματα ἔχων. Οὐ γάρ τοι φαίη τις ἂν, εἴ γε νοῦν ἔχοι, ὡς ἄσαρκος ὢν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ οὔπω γενόμενος καθ' ἡμᾶς, πόδας ἔχει καὶ ὑποδήματα, ἀλλ' ὅτε γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος· ἐπειδὴ τὸ εἶναι Θεὸς οὐκ ἀπώλεσεν·