Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Address to Marcianus: one path of faith§1

1I know, beloved Marcianus, your zeal for the piety that is toward God — the only road that leads a human being unto life everlasting. (life everlasting; Mt 19:16) So I share your joy, and I pray that by keeping the faith whole and unshaken you may be well-pleasing to God who made you. (well-pleasing to God)

Would that it were granted us to be always together, to help one another, and to lighten the labors of this present life by daily converse on what is profitable! But since at this moment we are parted in body, we will not omit — so far as we are able — to speak with you a little by writing, and to set out briefly the preaching of the truth, for the confirming of your faith. (confirming of your faith; Acts 16:5)

We send you, as it were, a memorandum of the chief points, that from a little you may reach much: that in a short compass you may grasp the whole body of the truth, and in few words receive the demonstration of the things of God. So it will bear fruit for your own salvation, and you will put to shame all who teach what is false, and with all confidence you will hand on our healthy and pure teaching to everyone who wishes to learn it. (healthy teaching; Tt 1:9; Tt 2:1)

For there is one way that leads upward for all who see, lit with heavenly light; but many and dark and contrary are the ways of those who do not see. This way leads to the kingdom of heaven, joining the human being to God; but those ways bring down to death, separating the human being from God. (kingdom of heaven; Jn 14:6)

Therefore it is necessary for you and for all who care for their own salvation to make your course unswerving, firm, and sure by means of faith, lest you grow slack and be held back among bodily desires, or turn aside and wander from the straight.

Holiness of body and soul; Psalm 1 triad§2

2Now since the human being is a living creature compounded of soul and flesh, it is necessary to take account of both. And since offenses arise from both sides, holiness of the flesh is restraining abstinence from every shameful thing and every unjust deed, and holiness of the soul is keeping faith toward God entire — neither adding to it nor taking from it. (neither add nor take away; Rev 22:18-19)

For piety toward God is withered and stained by the defilement of the flesh, and it is broken and polluted and no longer whole if falsehood enters the soul. But it will keep its own beauty and measure when truth abides in the soul and purity in the flesh.

For what profit is it to know the truth in words, and to pollute the flesh and work the works of evil? Or what profit can purity of the flesh bring, if truth is not in the soul? For these rejoice with one another, and are allied, to set the human being face to face against God.

Therefore the Holy Spirit says through David: ‘Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly’ (Ps 1:1) — that is, the counsel of the nations that do not know God; for those are ungodly who do not worship the God who truly is. And therefore the Word says to Moses: ‘I am the One who is.’ (Ex 3:14) But those who do not worship the God who is — these are the ungodly.

‘And has not stood in the way of sinners’ (Ps 1:1): but sinners are those who have knowledge of God and do not keep his commandments — that is, disdainful scorners. ‘And has not sat in the seat of the pestilent’ (Ps 1:1): now the pestilent are those who by wicked and perverse teachings corrupt not only themselves but others also. For a seat is a symbol of teaching. Such then are all heretics: they sit in the seats of the pestilent, and those who receive from them drink in the venom of their doctrine.

Rule of faith; baptism into Father, Son, Spirit§3

3But we shall not suffer anything of this kind if we hold the rule of the faith without deviation, and do the commandments of God, believing in God and fearing him as Lord and loving him as Father. Now this doing is produced by faith; for Isaiah says: ‘If you do not believe, neither shall you understand.’ (Isa 7:9 LXX sense)

And faith is produced by the truth; for faith rests on things that truly are. For in things that are, as they are, we believe; and believing in things that are, as they ever are, we keep firm our confidence in them. Since then faith is the preservation of our salvation, we must bestow much care on maintaining it, that we may have a true comprehension of the things that are.

Now faith occasions this for us, even as the elders, the disciples of the apostles, have handed down to us. First of all it bids us bear in mind that we have received baptism for the remission of sins, in the name of God the Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became incarnate and died and rose again, and in the Holy Spirit of God. (; Acts 2:38; remission of sins)

And that this baptism is the seal of eternal life, and is the new birth unto God, that we should no longer be sons of mortal men only, but of the eternal and everlasting God; (new birth; Tt 3:5) and that what is everlasting and continuing is made God; and is over all things that are made, and all things are put under him; (all things under him; Ps 8:6) and all the things that are put under him are made his own; for God is not ruler and Lord over the things of another, but over his own; and all things are God’s; and therefore God is Almighty, and all things are of God.

One unmade Father who makes what was not§4

4For it is necessary that things that are made should have the beginning of their making from some great cause; and the beginning of all things is God. For he himself was not made by any, and by him all things were made. (all things were made through him; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2)

And therefore it is right first of all to believe that there is One God, the Father, who made and fashioned all things, and made what was not that it should be, and who, containing all things, alone is uncontained. (made what was not; 2 Macc 7:28)

Now among all things is this world of ours, and in the world is the human being: so then this world also was formed by God.

Word and Spirit: creation, adornment, Pauline triad§5

5Thus then there is shown forth One God, the Father, not made, invisible, creator of all things; above whom there is no other God, and after whom there is no other God. (no other God; Dt 4:35; Dt 6:4)

And since God is rational, therefore by the Word he created the things that were made; and God is Spirit, and by the Spirit he adorned all things: as also the prophet says: ‘By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by his spirit all their power.’ (Ps 33:6)

Since then the Word establishes — that is, gives body and grants the reality of being — and the Spirit gives order and form to the diversity of the powers, rightly and fittingly is the Word called the Son, and the Spirit the Wisdom of God.

Well also does Paul his apostle say: ‘One God, the Father, who is over all and through all and in us all.’ (Eph 4:6) For over all is the Father; and through all is the Son, for through him all things were made by the Father; and in us all is the Spirit, who cries ‘Abba, Father,’ (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6) and fashions the human being into the likeness of God. (likeness of God)

Now the Spirit shows forth the Word, and therefore the prophets announced the Son of God; and the Word utters the Spirit, and therefore is himself the announcer of the prophets, and leads and draws the human being to the Father.

Three points of the rule: Father, Word, Spirit§6

6This then is the order of the rule of our faith, and the foundation of the building, and the stability of our way of life: God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible; one God, the creator of all things: this is the first point of our faith.

The second point is: the Word of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was manifested to the prophets according to the form of their prophesying and according to the method of the Father’s economy; through whom all things were made; who also at the end of the times, to complete and gather up all things, was made man among men, visible and tangible, in order to abolish death and show forth life and produce a community of union between God and man. (gather up all things; abolish death; Heb 2:14)

And the third point is: the Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied, and the fathers learned the things of God, and the righteous were led forth into the way of righteousness; and who in the end of the times was poured out in a new way upon humankind in all the earth, renewing the human being unto God. (poured out; Acts 2:17; Tt 3:5)

Baptismal regeneration through the three; knowledge of Father via Son and Spirit§7

7And for this reason the baptism of our regeneration proceeds through these three points: God the Father bestowing on us regeneration through his Son by the Holy Spirit. For as many as carry the Spirit of God are led to the Word, that is to the Son; and the Son brings them to the Father; and the Father causes them to possess incorruption. (led by the Spirit; incorruption)

Without the Spirit it is not possible to behold the Word of God, nor without the Son can any draw near to the Father: for the knowledge of the Father is the Son, and the knowledge of the Son of God is through the Holy Spirit; and, according to the good pleasure of the Father, the Son ministers and dispenses the Spirit to whomsoever the Father wills and as he wills. (no one comes to the Father except through me; Mt 11:27)

Father as Most High for believers, Jews, Gentiles; judgment§8

8And by the Spirit the Father is called Most High and Almighty and Lord of hosts; that we may learn concerning God that he it is who is creator of heaven and earth and all the world, and maker of angels and men, and Lord of all, through whom all things exist and by whom all things are sustained; merciful, compassionate and very tender, good, just, the God of all — both of Jews and of Gentiles, and of those who believe. (Most High; Lord of hosts; God of Jews and Gentiles)

To those who believe he is as Father, for in the end of the times he opened up the covenant of adoption; (adoption; Gal 4:5) but to the Jews as Lord and Lawgiver, for in the intermediate times, when humankind forgot God and revolted from him, he brought them into subjection by the Law, that they might learn that they had for Lord the maker and creator, who also gives the breath of life, and whom we ought to worship day and night; and to the Gentiles as maker and creator and almighty; and to all alike sustainer and nourisher and king and judge.

For none shall escape and be delivered from his judgment — neither Jew nor Gentile, nor believer that has sinned, nor angel: but they who now reject his goodness shall know his power in judgment, according to that which the blessed apostle says: ‘Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance; but according to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who shall render to every one according to his works.’ (Rom 2:4-6)

This is he who is called in the Law the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of the living; (Ex 3:6; Mt 22:32) although the sublimity and greatness of this God is unspeakable.

Seven heavens; sevenfold Spirit on the Son; menorah pattern§9

9Now this world is encompassed by seven heavens, in which dwell powers and angels and archangels, doing service to God, the Almighty and Maker of all things: not as though he were in need, but that they may not be idle and unprofitable and ineffectual.

Wherefore also the Spirit of God is manifold in his indwelling, and in seven forms of service is he reckoned by the prophet Isaiah, as resting on the Son of God, that is the Word, in his coming as man. ‘The Spirit of God,’ he says, ‘shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of knowledge and of godliness; the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill him.’ (Isa 11:2-3)

Now the heaven which is first from above, and encompasses the rest, is that of wisdom; and the second from it, of understanding; and the third, of counsel; and the fourth, reckoned from above, is that of might; and the fifth, of knowledge; and the sixth, of godliness; and the seventh, this firmament of ours, is full of the fear of that Spirit which gives light to the heavens.

For, as the pattern of this, Moses received the seven-branched lampstand that shone continually in the holy place; for as a pattern of the heavens he received this service, according to that which the Word spoke unto him: ‘You shall make it according to all the pattern of the things which you have seen on the mountain.’ (Ex 25:40; Heb 8:5; seven lamps)

Word and Wisdom glorify the Father; cherubim/seraphim; bounds of creation§10

10Now this God is glorified by his Word who is his Son continually, and by the Holy Spirit who is the Wisdom of the Father of all; and the powers of these — namely of the Word and of Wisdom — which are called Cherubim and Seraphim, with unceasing voices glorify God; and every created thing that is in the heavens offers glory to God the Father of all. (holy, holy, holy; Rev 4:8)

He by his Word has created the whole world, and in the world are the angels; and to all the world he has given laws wherein each several thing should abide, and according to that which is determined by God should not pass their bounds, each fulfilling his appointed task. (set bounds; Job 38:10-11; Jer 5:22)

Man formed by God’s hands; breath; dominion; angels in the place§11

11But as for the human being — him he formed with his own hands, taking from the earth what was finest and purest, and uniting his own power with the earth in measure. (; image of God) For this purpose he stamped his own likeness upon the formation, so that what was seen might be of divine form: for as the image of God the human being was formed and set on the earth.

And that he might become living, God breathed upon his face the breath of life; and that vivifying breath made the human being like unto God. () He was created free and master of his own acts, and was destined by this same God to rule over all that would be upon the earth. ()

Great creations in the world had been prepared by God before the human being was made. A place was given to the human being, furnished with all things. In this place God, the maker of all things, had set servants, each with his own particular office. A chiliarch-steward was guardian of the place and was set over his fellow-servants. These servants were angels; and as for the chiliarch-steward, he was an archangel.

Man still a child; Paradise prepared; Word walks with him§12

12Now God made the human being master of the earth and of all that it contains; he also established him specially as master of those beings who were to serve him. But while these latter were in their full strength, the master — that is, the human being — was still small; he was a child who must necessarily grow in order to reach his perfection.

That he might live and grow in joy and well-being, God had prepared for him the best region of the world as to air, beauty, light, food, plants, fruits, and waters; nothing was lacking of what suits the needs of life. And this place was named Paradise. (garden in Eden)

And so Paradise was fair and good. The Word of God went there every day, walking about, conversing with the human being of things to come, and applying himself above all to make him understand that he would dwell and converse with him, and that he would remain with human beings to teach them righteousness. (walked in the garden; Word became flesh / dwell)

But the human being was a child; he did not yet have the perfect use of his faculties, and so he was easily deceived by the seducer.

Naming the animals; Eve from Adam’s rib§13

13Now while Adam was walking in Paradise, God, who was there, brought before him all the animals and ordered him to give a name to each; and Adam imposed a name on each of the living creatures. ()

God also resolved to give a helper to the human being; then he spoke thus: ‘It is not good that the human being should be alone; let us make for him a helper like him.’ (Gen 2:18) For among all the living beings there was no helper equal, proportionate, and like Adam.

Now God himself sent an ecstasy upon Adam and put him to sleep; and for the accomplishment of his masterpiece God willed that Adam should fall into sleep, which previously did not exist in Paradise. God took one of Adam’s ribs and re-formed the flesh in its place; and from that rib which he had drawn out he made the woman; then he set her in Adam’s presence. ()

At this sight Adam cried: ‘This now is bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she comes from a man who is hers.’ (Gen 2:23)

Naked without shame; childlike innocence§14

14Adam and Eve — such is the name of the woman — were naked and they were not ashamed, for they were innocent and had only pure thoughts like those of children; () nothing entered their mind and intelligence that could give birth in the soul to evil desires and shameful movements.

It is that then they kept the integrity of their nature, for what had been breathed into them at the moment of creation was a breath of life. Now so long as this breath kept its intensity and its force, it sheltered their thought and spirit from evil. Therefore they were not ashamed if they embraced and exchanged innocent caresses, like children.

Law of the tree: immortality kept or mortality if transgressed§15

15But so that the human being might not think himself too great and swell with pride, as if he had no master; so that, in his relations with God his creator, he might not mistake the power and liberties given him by overpassing the bounds set for him; and lest, flattering himself in proud thoughts, he should revolt against God — a law was given him by God, to teach him that he has a master, the Lord of all things.

And he set him certain limits, so that if he should keep the commandment of God he should always remain as he was — that is, immortal; but if he should not keep it, he should become mortal and be dissolved into earth from which his formation had been taken. (dust you are)

Now the commandment was this: ‘Of every tree that is in the Paradise you shall freely eat; but of that tree alone from which is the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day you eat, you shall surely die.’ (Gen 2:16-17)

Disobedience; Satan through the serpent; expulsion§16

16This commandment the human being did not keep, but was disobedient to God, being led astray by the angel who, because of the great gifts of God which he had given to the human being, was envious and jealous of him, and both brought himself to nought and made the human being sinful, persuading him to disobey the commandment of God. (serpent deceived; envy of the devil)

So the angel, becoming by his falsehood the author and originator of sin, himself was struck down, having offended against God, and the human being he caused to be cast out from Paradise. And because through the guidance of his disposition he apostatized and departed from God, he was called Satan, according to the Hebrew word — that is, Apostate; but he is also called Slanderer (Devil). (Satan; devil / diabolos)

Now God cursed the serpent which carried and conveyed the Slanderer; and this malediction came on the beast himself and on the angel hidden and concealed in him, even on Satan. () And humankind he put away from his presence, removing them and making them dwell on the way toward Paradise at that time; because Paradise does not receive the sinful.

Toil outside Paradise; Cain kills Abel; Seth raised up§17

17Once driven from Paradise, Adam and Eve his wife fell into many afflictions of anxiety and suffering, passing in this world in pain, labors, and groanings. For it was under the rays of the sun that Adam worked the earth, and it brought forth thorns and thistles, the punishment of sin. (thorns and thistles)

Then was fulfilled that which is written: ‘Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain; and after him she bore Abel.’ (Gen 4:1-2) But the rebel angel who had drawn the human being into disobedience, who had made him a sinner and who had been cause of his expulsion from Paradise, was not content with this first evil; he caused a second to be committed between the two brothers. For, having filled Cain with his spirit, he made him a fratricide. ()

So Abel died, slain by his brother; and thereby it was signified that some would be persecutors and oppressors and become murderers — but that it would be the wicked who would kill and persecute the righteous. (righteous Abel; 1 Jn 3:12) Thereupon the anger of God grew heavier; he cursed Cain, and it came about that all his race, generation after generation, became like their father. (cursed from the ground) And God raised up for Adam another son in place of Abel who was slain. ()

Wickedness spreads; angels and daughters; arts of magic§18

18And evil, spreading and propagating more and more, ended by reaching the whole human race, so that there remained among them only some rare seed of righteousness. And indeed unlawful unions took place upon the earth; angels having had commerce with the daughters of the children of men, these bore them children who, because of their extraordinary size, were called sons of the earth (giants). ()

Now the angels made a present to their wives of lessons of malice, for they taught them the virtues of plants and herbs, the use of colors and cosmetics, the discovery of precious substances, magic, hatreds, loves, passions, evil suggestions, the secrets of sorcery, every kind of divination and the idolatry proper to those who hate God: all this, entering into the world, poured out a torrent of evil, and righteousness went on weakening. ( allusive; idolatry)

Flood in the tenth generation; Noah’s ark; Shem Ham Japheth§19

19When the justice of God, to chastise the world, unleashed the flood, ten generations after the creation of the first human being, only one just man was found — Noah. (; 1 Pet 3:20) Because of his righteousness he was saved, and with him his wife and his three sons, and the three wives of his sons; they were shut up in the ark with all the animals that God had designated to Noah to bring in with him. (ark)

And as the destroying scourge had extended to all — to human beings and even to the animals that were upon the earth — the stock of these beings was preserved in the ark. The three sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, by whom the race was multiplied again; they were the stem of humankind after the flood. (Gen 9:18-19)

Ham cursed; Shem and Japheth blessed; Gentile calling foreshadowed§20

20But one of them fell under the stroke of curses; the other two inherited the blessing because of their works. For the younger of them, called Ham, mocked his father; and because of the insult and contempt shown to his father he was condemned for a sin of impiety and cursed, and he made the curses fall back upon all who were born of him: so it came about that all his race after him was cursed, grew, and multiplied in sin. (cursed be Canaan)

On the contrary, Shem and Japheth, his brothers, because of their filial piety toward their father, were loaded with blessings. Now the curse of Ham, launched against him by his father Noah, was this: ‘Cursed be the child of Ham; let him be the servant of his brothers!’ (Gen 9:25) His children had a numerous posterity upon the earth; for fourteen generations it developed in their land, until the day when it was harvested by God, who made it undergo his judgment.

And just as the curse passed on, so also the blessing passed on to the race of him who was blessed, each in his order. For first Shem was blessed in these words: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and Ham shall be his servant.’ (Gen 9:26) The power of the blessing lies in this — that the God and Lord of all should be to Shem a peculiar possession of worship. And the blessing extended and reached unto Abraham, who was reckoned as descended in the tenth generation from the race of Shem. (genealogy Shem to Abram)

Now the blessing of Japheth is on this wise: ‘God shall enlarge unto Japheth, and he shall dwell in the house of Shem, and Ham shall be his servant.’ (Gen 9:27) That is: at the end of the ages he blossomed forth, at the appearing of the Lord, through the calling of the Gentiles, when God enlarged unto them the calling; and their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Rom 10:18; Ps 19:4) The enlarging, then, is the calling from among the Gentiles — that is, the Church — and Japheth’s dwelling in the house of Shem signifies dwelling in the inheritance of the fathers, having received in Jesus Christ the rights of the firstborn. (; firstborn among many brothers)

Blessing of Shem to Abraham; Japheth and the nations§21

21Just as the curse ran its course, so the blessing spread abroad upon the blessed line, each according to his order. First among them Shem was blessed in these words: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and Ham shall be his servant.’ (Gen 9:26) The force of that blessing is this: that God, the Lord of all, became the privileged possession of Shem’s piety.

That blessing flowered when it reached Abraham, who stands tenth in the genealogy counted down from Shem’s seed. (Shem to Abram) For this reason the Father and God of all was pleased to be named the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — for upon Abraham the blessing of Shem had come to rest. (God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Mt 22:32)

And the blessing of Japheth runs thus: ‘May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the house of Shem; and let Ham be his servant.’ (Gen 9:27) That is: this blessing came into bloom at the end of the ages, when the Lord was manifested in the calling of the Gentiles, God having stretched his call out to them. For ‘their voice went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’ (Ps 19:4; Rom 10:18)

‘Enlarge,’ then, means the calling of the nations — that is, the Church; and ‘Japheth shall dwell in the house of Shem’ means that he shall dwell in the fathers’ inheritance, having received in Jesus Christ the rights of the firstborn. (Gentiles fellow heirs; firstborn) And each, according to the order in which he was blessed, receives by descent the fruit of the blessing.

Noahic covenant: rainbow, meat, blood; image of God§22

22But after the flood God bound himself by oath toward the whole world — above all toward living creatures and human beings — that he would never again destroy by a flood whatever would spring up on the earth; and he set them a sign: ‘When I cover the sky with a cloud, the bow shall appear in the cloud, and I will remember the oath of my covenant, and I will no more destroy by water all flesh that moves upon the earth.’ (Gen 9:14-15)

He also changed human food, granting permission to eat flesh; for from Adam’s making until the flood people lived on seeds and the fruit of trees, and flesh was not allowed them.

Since Noah’s three sons were the stock of the human race, God blessed them to increase and multiply, saying: ‘Increase and multiply and fill the earth and rule it. The fear and dread of you shall be upon every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky; and they shall be food for you, even as the green plants. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life-blood. And your own blood I will require at the hand of every beast and of man. Whoever sheds the blood of a human being, by a human being shall his blood be shed; for God made the human being in his image.’ (Gen 9:1-6)

Now the image of God is the Son, after whose likeness the human being was made. (image of God; Col 1:15) And for this reason he appeared at the end of the ages, to show that his image is like him. After this covenant the race from those three sons multiplied; and the earth had one lip — that is, one language. (one language)

Babel: one tongue divided; races scattered§23

23Then people rose and left the lands of the East; and as they went forward upon the earth they came to the broad plain of Shinar. (Gen 11:2) There they set about building a tower by which they hoped to climb to heaven, leaving a monument to keep their memory among later generations. The structure was of burnt brick and asphalt. (Gen 11:3-4)

Their daring arrogance grew the more because they shared one purpose and lived in one place, and because a single language powerfully furthered the design they had fixed.

But God, unwilling that the work should be finished, divided their languages so that they could no longer understand one another. (Gen 11:7-8) So they were split, scattered, and took possession of the world. They dwelt in clans and tribes, each according to its own tongue: hence so many peoples and languages upon the earth.

And since three races of humankind took the earth, and one of them lay under the curse while two had been blessed, the first blessing belonged to Shem, whose posterity dwelt in the East and occupied the land of the Chaldeans. (Ur of the Chaldeans)

Abraham seeks God; call, promise, faith, circumcision§24

24Later — that is, in the tenth generation after the flood — we find Abraham seeking God, returning to him and belonging to him because of the blessing of his forefather. According to the bent and desire of his soul he went through the world asking where God was; and when he was near to growing weary in the search, God took pity on the only one who sought him in secret. He showed himself to Abraham through the Word, as by a ray of light, and made himself known.

For from heaven he spoke to him and said: ‘Go out from your country and your kindred and your father’s house; come into the land that I will show you, and dwell there.’ (Gen 12:1) Trusting the heavenly voice — though already mature, seventy years old, and married — he went out from Mesopotamia with his wife, taking with him Lot, the son of his dead brother.

And when he had come into the land now called Judea, then inhabited by seven peoples of Ham’s race, God appeared to him again and said: ‘I will give this land to you and to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.’ (Gen 12:7; Gen 13:15) He also announced that his seed would be sojourners in a land not their own, afflicted and enslaved there four hundred years; and in the fourth generation they would return to the land promised to Abraham, for God had judged the nation that had enslaved his seed. (Gen 15:13-16)

And that Abraham might know not only the fruitfulness but also the glory of his race, God brought him out of his tent by night and said: ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars, if you are able; so shall your seed be.’ (Gen 15:5) Seeing that Abraham did not waver but believed with his whole soul, God bore him witness by the Holy Spirit in the Scripture: ‘Abraham believed, and it was counted to him for righteousness.’ (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3) He was still uncircumcised when that witness was given. And that the excellence of his faith might be known by a sign, God gave him circumcision, the seal of the righteousness of faith which he had while uncircumcised. (Rom 4:11)

Afterward Sarah, who was barren, bore him a son, Isaac, according to God’s promise; and he circumcised him according to the covenant God had made; and Isaac begot Jacob. So the ancient blessing granted to Shem at the beginning was handed on to Abraham, and from Abraham to Isaac, and from Isaac to Jacob, by the Spirit who made them sharers in the inheritance. Therefore God was called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Ex 3:6) And Jacob begot twelve sons, who gave their names to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Egypt, Passover lamb, Red Sea; Christ foreshadowed§25

25Famine fell upon the whole earth, and it came about that food remained only in Egypt. Then Jacob left his country and went with all his household to dwell in Egypt. The number of those who went down was seventy-five persons; and in four hundred years, as the oracle had foretold, they grew to six hundred and sixty thousand. (Gen 46:27; Acts 7:14; Ex 12:37)

And when they were crushed with afflictions and harsh slavery, and groaned and cried out to God — the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — that same God brought them out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron, and struck the Egyptians with ten plagues. (Ex 3:7-10; Ex 7–12) The last plague was to send a destroying angel who slew all the firstborn, of people and of beasts. (Ex 12:29)

Thus he saved the children of Israel’s life, and he mysteriously revealed the passion of Christ by commanding that a spotless lamb be slain, whose blood the Hebrews were to put upon the doors of their houses and so be kept from the stroke. (Passover lamb; 1 Cor 5:7; Jn 1:29) And the name of that mystery is the Passion, the cause of deliverance.

God also divided the Red Sea and by every means led the children of Israel into the wilderness. (Ex 14:21-22) But the Egyptians who pursued them and entered the sea as well all perished. So God punished those who had unjustly mistreated Abraham’s seed.

Law, tabernacle, priesthood in the wilderness§26

26And in the wilderness Moses received from God the Law — the ten commandments written by the finger of God on tablets of stone (in the Holy Spirit), and then the statutes of the Law and the judgments he ordered the children of Israel to keep. (Ex 31:18; Dt 9:10; finger of God)

And at God’s command he made the tabernacle, a visible work on earth after the pattern of what is spiritual and invisible in heaven — a figure of the Church and a prophecy of things to come. (Ex 25:40; Heb 8:5) It held the vessels, the altars, and the ark with the tablets.

He also appointed priests — Aaron and his sons — and entrusted the priesthood to their whole house: they were of Levi’s line. (Ex 28:1) By God’s order he set that same tribe to serve in the worship of God’s temple. He gave them the Levitical law to show the qualities and conduct required of those continually occupied in ministry in God’s house.

Spies; Hosea renamed Jesus; forty years for unbelief§27

27And when the Hebrews drew near the land God had promised to Abraham and his seed, Moses chose one man from each tribe and sent them to spy out the land, its cities, and their inhabitants. (Num 13:1-3) Then God revealed to him the name of the One who alone can save all who believe in him. Moses therefore changed the name of Hosea son of Nun, one of those sent, and named him Jesus; then he sent him in the full strength of that name, persuaded that under its protection they would return safe — as indeed they did. (Num 13:16; name of Jesus)

When the spies came back from their search, bringing a cluster of grapes, some of the twelve terrified the whole assembly, saying they had found very great cities fortified with walls, and that the people of those lands were giants, sons of giants, so that it was impossible to master the country. (Num 13:23-33) Then all the people wept, doubting whether God would give them strength and put all under their power. They added that the wicked land was not worth facing so many dangers to conquer it.

But two of the twelve — Jesus son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh — seeing the harm of those words, tore their clothes and pleaded with the people not to lose heart, because God had given those nations into their hands and because the land was exceedingly fertile. (Num 14:6-9) The people would not be persuaded but persisted in unbelief; so God turned and changed their route and made them wander in the wilderness to test and chastise them.

And as the spies had spent forty days going to explore the land and return, so God, appointing a year for each day, kept them forty years in the wilderness. (Num 14:33-34) None of those of full age and sound mind was judged worthy to enter that land because of unbelief — except the two who had given a true witness to the promised inheritance, Jesus son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, and those still too small to know their right hand from their left. (Heb 3:18-19) The whole unbelieving people perished and wasted away in the wilderness, little by little paying the penalty of their unbelief. But through those forty years the children multiplied until they filled the gaps left by their fathers’ death.

Deuteronomy: second law; prophecies of Christ and nations§28

28When the forty years were ended, the people came near the Jordan and, gathering together, pitched camp opposite Jericho. (Num 22:1; Dt 1:1-5) There Moses assembled the multitude and recapitulated all that had happened. He told the wonders God had done until then — how he had raised up those who had multiplied in the wilderness and formed them to fear God and keep his commandments.

All this became for them a kind of new legislation, added to what they had before. This is what is called Deuteronomy, which holds many prophecies concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning the people of Israel, concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and concerning the kingdom. (prophet like Moses; Acts 3:22-23)

Moses dies; Jesus son of Nun; Jerusalem and Temple§29

29And when Moses had finished the course of his life, it was said to him from God: ‘Go up this mountain and die; for you shall not bring my people into this land.’ (Dt 32:48-52; Dt 34:1-5) Moses died according to the word of the Lord, and Jesus son of Nun succeeded him.

He divided the Jordan, led the people into the promised land, and after subduing and destroying the seven peoples who lived there, he portioned it out to the people. (Josh 3–4; Josh 11:23)

There is Jerusalem, where David reigned and Solomon his son. Solomon built the Temple for God’s honor, taking as model the tabernacle Moses had made after the pattern of heavenly and spiritual realities. (2 Sam 5:5-9; 1 Kgs 6; Heb 8:5)

Prophets announce Christ: Son of David and Son of God§30

30There God sent the prophets, who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit rebuked the people and turned them back to the God of their fathers, the Almighty. (2 Chr 24:19; Neh 9:26)

In their oracles they announced the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, saying that he would spring up as a shoot from the race of David, that according to the flesh he would be son of David, descending from Abraham through a long line of generations. (Isa 11:1; Rom 1:3; Mt 1:1)

According to the Spirit he would be Son of God, being in the beginning with his Father, begotten before the foundation of the world, and manifested to the whole universe as man at the end of the ages — the Word of God who was to recapitulate in himself all things in heaven and on earth. (Jn 1:1-2; Eph 1:10; Col 1:16-20)

Word made visible: communion and the yoke of death broken§31

31Now it is he who has joined the human being to God and has worked the communion between God and the human being. Had he not come to us, we could in no way have shared in incorruptibility. (2 Pet 1:4) That incorruptibility was invisible and hidden from our eyes, and it did us no good. The Word made himself visible in order to make us able to share fully in incorruptibility. (Jn 1:14)

As by creation we all depend on our first father Adam, so we have all been bound to death because of his disobedience; it was necessary to shatter death’s yoke by the obedience of the one who became human for us. (Rom 5:19; 1 Cor 15:22)

Virgin soil and Virgin birth: recapitulating Adam§32

32But whence does our first father have his being? From the will and wisdom of God and from virgin earth. For Scripture says that God had not yet sent rain before the human being was made, and there was no human being to work the ground. (Gen 2:5) God took clay from that earth while it was still virgin, and from it he created the human being who became the stock of the race. (Gen 2:7)

The Lord, wishing to recapitulate the human being, followed the same economy when he took flesh. He was born of a Virgin by the will and wisdom of God, so that it might be plain he had a body like Adam’s, and that he had become what the human being was at the beginning — made in the image and likeness. (Gen 1:26-27; Lk 1:34-35)

Eve and Mary: lost sheep sought; disobedience undone§33

33It was because of a virgin who disobeyed that the human being was struck, and after the fall became subject to death. Likewise, it is because of the Virgin obedient to God’s word that the human being has been brought back to life and recovered it. (Lk 1:38)

The Lord came to seek the lost sheep — that is, the human being who had gone astray. (Lk 15:4-6; Mt 18:12-13) Therefore he became a creature only through her who was herself from Adam’s race, and he kept the whole likeness.

For it was necessary that Adam be recapitulated in Christ so that what is mortal might be swallowed up by immortality, (1 Cor 15:53-54) and that Eve be restored in Mary, so that a Virgin becoming advocate for a virgin, the disobedience of the one might be destroyed by the obedience of the other.

Tree and tree: obedience on the wood; cosmic cross§34

34And the sin to which the tree had given birth was wiped away by the tree of obedience, on which the Son of Man was nailed, obedient to God; so, abolishing the knowledge of evil, he introduced and distributed the knowledge of good. (Gen 2:17; Phil 2:8) As evil is to disobey God, to obey God is the good.

Therefore the Word speaks through the prophet Isaiah, revealing beforehand what must be fulfilled — for to be a prophet is to announce what is to come. By that means the Word says: ‘I will not refuse and will not contradict. I offered my back to blows and my cheeks to slaps, and I did not hide my face from shameful spitting.’ (Isa 50:6)

By the obedience he practiced unto death, being fastened upon the wood, he atoned for the ancient disobedience that the wood had provoked. (Phil 2:8; 1 Pet 2:24)

Almighty Word of God, his invisible presence extends through the whole creation and upholds its length, breadth, height, and depth: all things are governed by the Word of God. (Eph 3:18; Col 1:17) He was crucified, the Son of God, in these four dimensions — he whose universe already bore the cross-shaped imprint. Having made himself visible, he had to show in a sensible way, upon the cross, his invisible working. For it is he who lights the heights — that is, the heavens — who searches the depths of the earth; he ranges the stretch from east to west, reaches the vast space from north to south, and calls to the knowledge of his Father the human beings scattered everywhere. (Jn 12:32)

Abraham’s promise fulfilled: faith, stars, Gentiles§35

35It is Jesus who has filled the promise God made to Abraham — to make his seed as many as the stars of heaven. (Gen 15:5; Gen 22:17) Christ fulfilled it, born of that Virgin who descends from Abraham, forming those who believe in him to be lights in the world, (Phil 2:15) and by that faith justifying the Gentiles as well as Abraham.

For ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.’ (Gen 15:6; Gal 3:6) So with us: it is by faith in God that we are justified, since ‘the righteous shall live by faith.’ (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17)

And ‘the promise was made to Abraham not through the Law but through faith.’ (Rom 4:13) Abraham was justified by faith, and the law was not laid down for the righteous. (1 Tim 1:9) Likewise for us, it is not the Law that justifies us, but the faith that has received the witness of the Law and the prophets; and that faith is what the Word of God gives us.

David’s promise: eternal King from the Virgin of his line§36

36In the same way he has filled the promise made to David. God had promised to raise up from the fruit of his inward parts an eternal King, whose kingship would have no end. (2 Sam 7:12-16; Ps 132:11; Lk 1:32-33)

And that King is Christ, the Son of God, who became son of man — that is, he was conceived and born of that Virgin from David’s race. Therefore the promise was fulfilled through the fruit of the womb; what is particular and unique in this birth is that the child is the fruit of a woman’s singular conception, not of fleshly desire or mixed blood, (Jn 1:13) so that this singular fact may be plain: the child is the offspring of a virgin of David’s house, king forever over David’s house, and his kingship will know no end.

Son of David and Abraham: Word made flesh to undo death§37

37Thus he was working our salvation gloriously, fulfilling the promise made to our fathers and repairing the ancient disobedience. The Son of God therefore became son of David and son of Abraham; for he fulfilled the promise by recapitulating all things in himself to restore life to us. (Mt 1:1; Eph 1:10)

The Word of God became flesh through the Virgin, in order to destroy death and give life back to the human being. (Jn 1:14; 2 Tim 1:10) For before his coming we were in the bonds of sin, born guilty and subject to death. (Rom 5:12)

Light in our prison; firstborn from the dead; tent of David§38

38So God the Father, full of mercy, sent us the Word, the Creator, who came down to save us. He showed himself to us in the very places where we lost life, and broke the bonds in which we were held. (Lk 1:78-79) His light appeared to us; it scattered the darkness of our prison and sanctified our birth, abolishing death and snapping the very chains in which we were tangled. (Isa 9:2; Mt 4:16)

And by working his own resurrection he became himself the firstborn from the dead; he raised in himself the fallen human being and brought him up to the highest heavens, to the right hand of the Father’s glory. (Col 1:18; Acts 2:33)

So God had promised through his prophet: ‘And I will raise up the fallen tent of David’ (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16) — that is, the body he drew from David. This our Lord Jesus Christ truly fulfilled, working our salvation gloriously. He truly raises us, bringing us safe to the Father.

If someone will not admit birth from a Virgin, how will he admit his resurrection from the dead? For there is nothing astonishing if one who had no birth should rise from the dead — yet we cannot even speak of resurrection in his case, since a birthless immortal cannot fall under death’s blows. How could one who lacks the human beginning have the human end?

Against denying the birth: firstborn in every order§39

39If he was not born, then he did not die either; and if he did not die, he has not risen from the dead; and if he has not risen from the dead, he has not triumphed over death or destroyed its dominion; and if death has not been conquered, how shall we rise to life — we who from the beginning fell under death’s blows? (1 Cor 15:17-22)

Those who will not admit the human being’s salvation, who do not believe God will raise them from the dead, also despise our Lord’s birth. The Word of God, having deigned to become flesh, submitted to this birth for us, in order to show the resurrection of the flesh and to have the primacy over all in heaven. (Col 1:18)

For he is the firstborn in the Father’s counsel, the perfect Word, governing and ordering all things on the earth by himself; he is the firstborn of the Virgin, a human being just, holy, devout, good, pleasing to God, perfect in all things, saving from Hades all who follow him; he is the firstborn from the dead and the guide who leads into the life of God. (Rom 8:29; Heb 2:10)

Primacy of the Word: Wonderful Counselor; Messiah come§40

40And so the Word of God has the primacy over all; for being true human being, and at the same time the Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God, (Isa 9:6) he has again called the human being to enjoy intimate union with God, so that through communion with him we may share in his incorruptibility. (2 Pet 1:4)

Now he who is announced in the Law by Moses and by the prophets of the Most High and Almighty God — the Son of the Father of all, through whom all things were made, (Jn 1:3) he who spoke with Moses — that one has come into Judea, begotten of God by the working of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, herself of the race of David and of Abraham: he is God’s Anointed, Jesus, who has shown that he is indeed the Messiah announced beforehand by the prophets. (Lk 1:35; Acts 10:38)

John the Forerunner; apostles, baptism, Church, judgment§41

41Jesus Christ had as forerunner John the Baptist, whose charge was to prepare and shape the people for receiving the Word of life. (Mt 3:1-3; Jn 1:6-8) And John declared that the Christ was the very one on whom the Spirit of God rested, joined to his body. (Jn 1:32-34; Isa 11:2)

Disciples of Jesus and witnesses of all his good works and teaching, witnesses of his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven after his rising in the flesh, the apostles, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, were sent by him into the whole world to effect the calling of the Gentiles, to show human beings the way of life, to tear them from idolatry, fornication, and greed, and to cleanse their souls and bodies by the baptism of water and the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:8; Mt 28:19; Acts 2:38)

So the apostles, after distributing and imparting to the believers that Holy Spirit which they themselves had received from the Lord, established and ordered the Church. By spreading faith, love, and hope they accomplished what the prophets had announced beforehand — the calling of the nations. (1 Cor 13:13; Isa 49:6) By the help of their ministry they made plain the mercy of God, admitting the nations to share in the promises made to the fathers. (Eph 3:6; Rom 15:8-9)

Thus those who believe, who love the Lord and live in holiness, righteousness, and patience, the God of all will grant eternal life through the resurrection of the dead — and that through the merits of him who died and rose again, Jesus Christ, to whom he has given universal kingship, authority, and power to judge the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim 4:1) The apostles, preaching the word of truth, taught them to keep the body pure and the soul unstained for the resurrection.

Spirit abides; Japheth’s blessing; prophecy confirms salvation§42

42But that believers may keep themselves so, the Holy Spirit must remain closely joined to them. Given by God in baptism, the Holy Spirit abides in the one who receives him so long as that one lives in truth and holiness, in righteousness and patience. (1 Cor 6:19; Eph 1:13-14) For it is also by the power of this Spirit that believers will rise, when the body is again united to the soul and enters the kingdom of God. (Rom 8:11)

Such, then, are the fruits of Japheth’s blessing, made visible through the Church — that is, the calling of the nations, who have waited patiently to enter the house of Shem according to God’s promise. (Gen 9:27)

By the prophets’ voice the Spirit of God announced beforehand that all this would be so, in order to strengthen faith in those who worship God in truth. For what is utterly impossible to our nature — and for that reason might stir doubt among human beings — God had announced in advance through the prophets. Since the thing was proclaimed long ago and at last comes to pass just as it was foretold, we may conclude that God alone has revealed our salvation beforehand. (Isa 46:9-10; 1 Pet 1:10-12)

Eternal Son: Genesis reading; Psalm; John 1§43

43In all things it is necessary to believe the word of God, for God is truthful in everything. We must believe especially that there is a Son of God, and that he exists not only at the moment when he is about to appear in the world, but even before the world’s creation. (Jn 17:5; Col 1:15-17)

Moses, who first foretold him, says in Hebrew — according to the reading handed down among us — a form whose sense is: ‘The Son was in the beginning; God then created the heaven and the earth.’ (Gen 1:1) The prophet also certifies this: ‘I have begotten you before the morning star, and your name is before the sun’ (Ps 110:3 LXX sense) — and that is before the world’s making, since the stars were formed together with the world. And again: ‘Blessed is he who was before he became man.’

For with God the Son was in the beginning before the world’s creation; but for us, it is since he appeared to us. Before that, for us he was not, because we did not know him. Therefore his disciple John declares that he is the Son of God, that he was with the Father before the world was, that through him all creatures exist, saying: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.’ (Jn 1:1-3) He shows clearly that he who in the beginning was the Word with the Father, through whom all things were made, is indeed his Son.

Son with Abraham at Mamre; Sodom judged§44

44Again Moses says that the Son of God came down to Abraham and conversed with him: ‘And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre at midday. And lifting his eyes he looked, and behold, three men stood before him. And bowing to the earth he said: Lord, if indeed I have found favor in your eyes…’ (Gen 18:1-3) And in all that follows he speaks with the Lord, and the Lord speaks with him.

Now two of those three persons were angels; but the third was the Son of God, with whom Abraham spoke, interceding that the people of Sodom not be destroyed if at least ten righteous could be found there. (Gen 18:22-33) While they conversed, the two angels went down to Sodom and were received by Lot.

Then Scripture adds: ‘And the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven’ (Gen 19:24) — that is, the Son, the very one who spoke with Abraham; as Lord he received from the Lord, the Father who is master of all, the power to punish the people of Sodom.

Now Abraham was a prophet and saw the things that were to happen — that is, the Son of God who, in human form, would converse with human beings, eat with them, and afterward become their judge, he who had received from the Father, master of all, power to chastise the people of Sodom. (Jn 5:22; Jn 5:27)

Jacob’s ladder as cross; Word, not the unseen Father§45

45Jacob too, when he went into Mesopotamia, saw him in a dream standing upon a ladder — an image of the cross — that reached from earth to heaven. (Gen 28:12-13) It is by the cross that those who believe in him ascend to heaven. For the passion of our Lord is our ascent on high. (Jn 12:32)

Now all these different visions represent the Son of God conversing with human beings and living among them. It is not the Father of all. The Father and Creator of the universe, whom the world does not see, who said: ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is the footstool of my feet. What house will you build for me, and what will be the place of my rest?’ (Isa 66:1; Acts 7:49) — nor ‘he who holds the earth in his hand and measures the heaven with a span’ (Isa 40:12) — it is not he who came into this corner of the earth to speak with Abraham, but the Word of God, who did not abandon the human race, guiding what was to happen and teaching human beings the things of God. (Jn 1:18)

Burning bush; Exodus types; rock and Joshua’s arms§46

46He again spoke to Moses in the burning bush and said: ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them.’ (Ex 3:7-8) It is he who went up and came down for the salvation of the afflicted, to deliver us from the Egyptians’ dominion — that is, from all idolatry and impiety — to save us from the Red Sea — that is, to keep us from the bloody quarrels of the nations and the bitter scandal of their blasphemies. (1 Cor 10:1-2)

All this was an anticipation of what we ourselves have lived; for the Word of God then showed beforehand in figure what was to happen; and now he has truly delivered us from the cruel slavery of the Gentiles and made a river of water gush abundantly in the wilderness from the rock — and the rock was he. (Ex 17:6; 1 Cor 10:4) And he made twelve springs flow — that is, the teaching of the twelve apostles.

Those who refuse to believe in him will waste away and perish in the wilderness. But those who have believed in him, children without malice, he has admitted to the fathers’ inheritance; and it is not Moses who enters that inheritance and divides it, but Jesus who delivers us from Amalek by the stretching out of his arms, leads us, and raises us to the kingdom of his Father. (Ex 17:11-13; Josh 1:1-2)

Father and Son both Lord and God; anointing oil§47

47Now the Father is Lord, and the Son is Lord. The Father is God, and the Son is God; for he who is born of God is God. (Jn 1:18; Jn 20:28) Thus by the very essence and nature of his being it is shown that there is only one God, yet at the same time the design of our salvation shows that there exists a Son and a Father.

Since the Father of all is invisible and inaccessible to created beings, those who must draw near to God necessarily receive through the Son access to the Father. (Eph 2:18; Jn 14:6)

Still more plainly David says concerning the Father and the Son: ‘Your throne, O God, is established forever and ever. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God has anointed you with an oil of gladness beyond your companions.’ (Ps 45:6-7; Heb 1:8-9) Since he is God, the Son must receive from the Father — that is, from God — the throne of the eternal kingdom and be consecrated with the anointing oil far beyond his companions. The oil of anointing is the Spirit; and his companions are the prophets, the righteous, the apostles, and all who receive a share in his kingdom — that is, his disciples.

Psalm 110: session, priesthood, exaltation§48

48And David says again: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will stretch forth from Zion the scepter of your power; rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the beginning in the day of your power in the splendor of the holy ones; from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek… He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.’ (Ps 110:1-7; Heb 5:6; Acts 2:34-35)

By these words he proved that the Christ exists before all things, that he is lord of the Gentiles, and that he executes judgment on all human beings and on the kings who now hate him and persecute his name — for such are his enemies. And by naming him God’s eternal priest he declares that he is immortal. And when he says, ‘He drank from the brook on the way; therefore he will lift up his head,’ he speaks of his glorious exaltation after his incarnation, his lowliness, and his humiliations. (Phil 2:8-9)

Anointed Lord of the nations; Spirit speaks in the prophets§49

49In turn the prophet Isaiah said: ‘Thus says God the Lord to my Anointed, the Lord, whose right hand I have taken to bring the nations to obedience before him.’ (Isa 45:1 as read of Christ) How is the Christ called Son of God and king of the Gentiles — that is, of all human beings? David says that the Anointed, the Christ, is called and truly is Son of God and king of all. Here are his words: ‘The Lord said to me: You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession.’ (Ps 2:7-8; Acts 13:33)

These words are not addressed to David, since he ruled neither the Gentiles nor the world and reigned only over the Jews. It is therefore plain that the promise made to the Christ to reign over the whole universe belongs to the Son of God. David himself acknowledges him as his Lord when he says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand,’ and the rest already cited. (Ps 110:1; Mt 22:43-45)

For he says that the Father speaks with the Son. We have already seen the same in Isaiah: ‘God says to my Anointed, the Lord… to bring the nations to obedience through him.’ The same promise is made by both prophets: he will be king. Therefore God’s words address one and the same person — I mean the Christ, the Son of God. David says, ‘The Lord said to me.’ We must grant that it is neither David nor any of the other prophets who speaks on his own; for it is not the human being who prophesies, but the Spirit of God who, through the prophets, takes the figure and form of the person in question and speaks now in the name of the Christ, now in the name of the Father. (2 Pet 1:21)

Servant from the womb: light of the nations§50

50What the Father has said to him, the Christ says, and with equal fitness he expresses through the prophets the other things that concern him. To cite only one, we read in Isaiah: ‘And now the Lord says — he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to him. I am honored in the Lord’s eyes, and my God is my strength. And he said: It is too small a thing for you to be called my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and bring back scattered Israel. I will make you a light of the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’ (Isa 49:5-6; Acts 13:47)

Isaiah 49 proves preexistence, virgin birth, Lord and Savior§51

51This text first marks the preexistence of the Son of God. It follows from the Father conversing with him and from the fact that, before his birth, he has already been shown to human beings. (Isa 49:5-6; Jn 17:5)

Next the prophet affirms that he will truly be a human being, drawn from humankind, and that God himself must fashion him in a Virgin’s womb — that is, he will be born of God’s Spirit. (Lk 1:35)

Finally he says that he is Lord of all human beings and savior of those who believe in him, Jews and the rest. For the Jewish people is called Israel in Hebrew, from Jacob their father, who was first named Israel; all other human beings are the nations. (Gen 32:28)

The Son calls himself the Father’s servant because of his obedience to his Father; for every child is servant of his father, even among human beings. (Phil 2:7-8)

Scriptures attest the preexisting Son as king and savior§52

52This is what the Scriptures attest: the Christ is the Son of God who exists before all creation. Without ceasing to be with the Father and beside him, the Christ has drawn ever nearer and joined himself to human beings; he is king of the universe, since the Father has placed all that exists under his dominion, and he is savior of those who believe in him. (Col 1:15-17; Mt 28:18; Jn 3:16)

It is impossible to cite every text that could support this thesis; but the texts already quoted light up others like them, if you believe in the Christ and ask God for wisdom and understanding to grasp all that the prophets have said. (Jas 1:5; Lk 24:27)

Emmanuel: Virgin birth; Christ and Jesus named§53

53This same Christ who, as Word of God, was with the Father, was to take flesh, become human, and undergo the condition of human birth; he was to be born of a Virgin and live among human beings, his incarnation being the work of the Father of all. Isaiah announces it thus: ‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call him Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey; before he knows or distinguishes evil, he chooses the good; for before the child knows good or evil, he refuses the evil to choose the good.’ (Isa 7:14-16; Mt 1:22-23)

That he must be born of a Virgin, Isaiah affirms; that he must be truly human, he hints by saying that he will eat, and by calling him ‘child,’ rather than by the name alone — for ‘God with us,’ or Emmanuel, might mislead if taken without the humanity.

The newborn has a double name: in Hebrew Messiah means Christ, that is, the Anointed; Jesus means Savior; and these two names will express the works he must accomplish. He is called Christ because through him the Father anointed and ordered all things, and because at his coming as man he was anointed by the Spirit of God his Father. (Acts 10:38) He himself says of himself through Isaiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me to preach to the poor.’ (Isa 61:1; Lk 4:18)

And he is Savior, because he is the cause of salvation for those whom in his own time he delivered from every kind of evil and from death, and because he is the giver of the goods to come and of eternal salvation for those who, coming after him, believe in him. (Mt 1:21; Heb 5:9)

Emmanuel and the wonder of the Virgin birth§54

54As for the word Emmanuel, it is translated ‘God with us’; or else, if the word was spoken by the prophet as a wish — ‘May God be with you!’ — then it explains and makes plain the gospel’s message. ‘Behold,’ says Isaiah, ‘the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son,’ who, being God, ‘will be with us.’ And as if seized with wonder at this event, he adds what follows from it — namely that ‘God will be with us.’ (Isa 7:14; Mt 1:23)

And again concerning his birth the same prophet says elsewhere: ‘Before she was in labor and before she suffered the pains of childbirth, she was delivered and brought forth a male child.’ (Isa 66:7) Thus he reveals his miraculous and inconceivable birth by means of the Virgin.

The same prophet also says: ‘A son is born to us and a child is given to us, and he has been named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.’ (Isa 9:6)

Wonderful Counselor with the Father and with us§55

55He calls him ‘Wonderful Counselor’ first of the Father. It is by his counsel that the Father does all things in common with him, as it is said in the first book of Moses, titled Genesis: ‘And God said: Let us make the human being in our image and after our likeness.’ (Gen 1:26) Here we see the Father addressing the Son as his ‘Wonderful Counselor.’

But he is also our counselor, remaining with us, giving us advice, without forcing us as God — he who nevertheless is ‘the Mighty God.’ (Isa 9:6) And he exhorts us to cast out ignorance and receive knowledge, to turn from error and come to the truth, to reject corruption and acquire incorruptibility. (Eph 4:22-24)

Child born, cross on shoulders, Angel of great counsel§56

56Isaiah says again: ‘And they wished to be consumed by fire. For a child is born to us and a son is given to us; the power has been set upon his shoulders, and he is called the Angel of great counsel. For I will establish peace with the rulers, and again peace and salvation upon him! Great is his authority, and his peace is without end. The God of hosts will give him access to the throne of David, and will establish him in the kingship; he will establish him by right and justice, from now and forever.’ (Isa 9:6-7) This announces that the Son of God is subject to birth and that he is eternal king.

As for the words ‘They wished to be consumed by fire,’ they address those who do not believe in him and who have done against him all that they have done. The prophet says it because they will declare at the judgment: Would that we had been burned by fire before the Son of God’s birth, rather than not believe in his birth!

For those who died before Christ’s manifestation there is hope that at their resurrection in the judgment they will arrive at salvation — at least those who feared God and died in righteousness and inwardly received God’s Spirit, like the patriarchs, the prophets, and the righteous. (Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 3:19-20) But for those who after Christ’s manifestation have not believed in him, their punishment on the day of judgment will be inexorable. (Jn 3:18-19)

As for the words ‘whose power is upon his shoulders,’ it is a figure to indicate the cross, on which his arms were nailed. (Jn 19:17) For this cross, which was and remains a reproach for him and also for us because of him, marks, he says, his power — that is, it is the sign of his kingdom. (Gal 6:14; 1 Cor 1:18) And the prophet says ‘the Angel of great counsel’ — that is, of the Father, whom he has made known to us. (Jn 1:18)

Judah’s scepter; wine-washed robe; blood of the grape§57

57Accordingly the prophets clearly foretold that the Son of God must be born, and how he must be born and show himself the Christ. They also announced beforehand in what land and from what family he must be born. Here are words Moses puts on those prophets’ lips in Genesis: ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from his race, until he comes for whom it is reserved. He shall be the hope of the nations, when he washes his garment in wine and his cloak in the blood of the grape.’ (Gen 49:10-11)

Judah, ancestor of the Jews, was Jacob’s son, and from him they take their name; and they did not lack a chief or guide until Christ’s coming. But from his coming their quivers lose their strength, and the land of the Jews was subjected to Roman rule; and as a nation they no longer had a chief or particular king. He had come to whom the kingdom of the heavens belongs — he who ‘washed his robe in wine and his cloak in the blood of the grape.’

And his robe, as also his cloak, are those who believe in him, whom he purified when he saved us by his blood. (Rev 7:14; 1 Jn 1:7) And his blood is called the blood of the grape; for as the blood of the grape is not made by a human being but by God, who produces it to gladden those who drink it, so the incarnation and blood of Christ are not a human work but God’s. (Ps 104:15)

The Lord himself gave the sign of the Virgin — that is, the one born of the Virgin, Emmanuel who gladdens those who drink him, namely those who receive his Spirit, eternal joy. (Isa 7:14) Therefore he is the expectation of the Gentiles, of those who hope in him; for we hope that it is he who will restore the kingdom. (Rom 15:12)

Star from Jacob; magi led to Bethlehem§58

58Moses says again: ‘A star shall come forth from Jacob, and a ruler shall arise from Israel.’ (Num 24:17) This proves clearly that the economy of this event according to the flesh unfolds among the Jews, but also that the one who must be born will descend from heaven to serve this purpose. For a star appears in the heaven.

And if the prophet speaks of a ruler, a king, it is because the Christ is king of all who are saved. Now at his birth the star appeared to the magi who lived in the East. By that appearance they learned that the Christ was born, and they came into Judea, guided by that star; they followed it until it arrived at Bethlehem, where the Christ was born, and it entered the house where the child lay wrapped in swaddling clothes. (Mt 2:1-11) The star came to rest over his head, to show the magi the Son of God, the Christ.

Rod and flower from Jesse; Spirit’s seven gifts§59

59Isaiah speaks still more explicitly: ‘A rod shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a flower shall blossom from his root. And the Spirit of God shall rest upon him — Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Spirit of counsel and might, Spirit of knowledge and piety; the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill him… And in that day the root of Jesse shall appear, and he who comes forth from it to rule the nations shall be the one in whom the nations hope, and his resurrection shall be glorious.’ (Isa 11:1-10; Rom 15:12)

By these words Isaiah announces that the Christ will be born of her who is of the race of David and of Abraham. For Jesse was Abraham’s descendant and David’s father; the Virgin who conceived the Christ was of that race — she was therefore the rod. And for that reason Moses used a rod to show his power to Pharaoh. (Ex 4:2-4) There are also other peoples for whom the rod is the sign of power. By the flower Isaiah means the flesh of Christ, which sprang up by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we said before. (Lk 1:35)

Divine judgment without partiality; girded with justice§60

60As for these words: ‘He shall not judge according to appearance, and he shall not rebuke according to opinions; but he shall render justice to the small and have pity on the humble of the earth,’ they prove his divinity still more clearly. (Isa 11:3-4) For it belongs only to God to judge without respect of persons, without being corrupted, without weakness toward the great, rendering justice to the humble in full equality and equity according to the rules of his supreme and sovereign justice; for God suffers no one’s influence and pities only the righteous. (Dt 10:17; Acts 10:34)

‘To exercise mercy’ is also proper to God — to him who by his mercy can procure salvation. (Eph 2:4-5) And ‘he strikes the earth with a mere word, and makes the ungodly perish with a single word’ — that again belongs only to God, who by a word made all things. (Gen 1:3; Heb 1:3)

By these words — ‘Justice shall gird his loins, and truth shall be the belt of his reins’ — the prophet indicates the human form of the Christ according to outward appearance, as also his true sovereign justice. (Isa 11:5; Eph 6:14)

Peace among the nations: wolves and lambs; resurrection glory§61

61As for the concord, union, and peace that are to reign among animals of different kinds — naturally opposed and enemies of one another — the elders hold that this will be realized truly at Christ’s coming, when he has established his reign over all and everywhere. (Isa 11:6-9)

The prophet uses an image to show that people of different nations but of like manners will, because of Christ’s name, gather in a perfect peace. The assembly of the just is compared to a flock of fawns, lambs, kids, and little children, whom no one harms — not even those who formerly, by their rapacity, were like wild beasts, with savage manners, so as to resemble wolves or lions that devour the weak and wage implacable war among themselves. (Isa 65:25)

It will be the same with women who once were more dangerous than asps and vipers, able to pour deadly poisons on those they loved and sacrifice them to their jealousy. These men and women, gathered under one name, will put on peaceful manners and, by God’s grace, strip off their barbarous and savage nature.

And this has already come about; for those who formerly were so unnatural that they committed every kind of iniquity, once they have known Christ and believed in him, have been so changed that they practice all that is most excellent in righteousness — so great is the change that faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, works in those who believe in him! (2 Cor 5:17)

And the prophet adds that once raised, Christ will exercise his power over the Gentiles. For he had to die and rise, so that it might be confessed and believed that he is Son of God and King. Afterward the prophet declares: ‘And his resurrection shall be an honor’ — that is, a glory. (Isa 11:10; Rom 15:12) For it is since he rose that he has been glorified as God. (Rom 1:4; Phil 2:9-11)

Raising David’s fallen tent: body of Christ§62

62Therefore the prophet says again: ‘In that day I will raise up the tent of David that has fallen’ (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16) — that is, the body of Christ, which draws its origin from David, as we said above. This is clearly to declare that after his death Christ will rise from the dead; his body is called a tent.

All these scriptural witnesses establish, then, that the Christ who according to the flesh is to be of David’s race will be the Son of God; that after dying he will rise; that he will have the appearance of a human being, but also the power of God. He himself will judge the whole universe; he alone will accomplish justice and will be savior. (Rom 1:3-4; Acts 17:31)

Bethlehem of Judah: birthplace of David’s son§63

63In turn the prophet Micah indicates where the Christ will be born — that is, in Bethlehem of Judah. Here are his words: ‘And you, Bethlehem of Judah, are not the least among the principalities of Judah; for from you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ (Mic 5:2; Mt 2:5-6)

Bethlehem is the city of David. So it is shown that the Christ is son of David not only through the Virgin who bore him, but also by the fact that he was born in Bethlehem, David’s city. (Lk 2:4-7; Jn 7:42)

David’s oath: eternal king from his body§64

64David also announces that the Christ will be born from his race when he speaks thus: ‘For the sake of David your servant, do not turn away the face of your Christ. The Lord has sworn to David with an oath, and he will not deceive him: I will set upon your throne a fruit of your body, if your sons keep my covenant and the precepts I will teach them; their sons also, forever.’ (Ps 132:10-12; 2 Sam 7:12-16)

But among David’s sons none has had an eternal reign, and of none has the kingdom lasted forever, since all have been destroyed. Christ alone is that king sprung from David’s family. (Lk 1:32-33)

All these witnesses expressly and clearly attest the people and the place where the son of David according to the flesh was to be born; there is therefore no need to seek among the Gentiles or elsewhere the cradle of the Son of God, except in Bethlehem of Judea, in the descent of Abraham and of David. (Mt 1:1)

Entry into Jerusalem: meek king on a colt§65

65As for his entry into Jerusalem — the capital of Judea and the seat of its rulers, where God’s temple stood — the prophet Isaiah said: ‘Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King comes to you’ (Isa 62:11; Mt 21:5); and Zechariah: ‘He is meek and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ (Zech 9:9)

Thus he made his entry into Jerusalem, mounted on a donkey’s foal, on which the people had spread their garments and on which they had seated him. (Mt 21:7-8; Jn 12:14-15) And it is Jerusalem that the prophet calls the daughter of Zion.

Prophets sum up: birth, healings, hatred, cross§66

66The prophets have therefore announced that the Son of God was to be born among us, in what manner and in what place he was to be born, and that he would be the Christ, the only eternal king. They also foretold that the Son of God, having become human, would heal those whom he has healed, would raise the dead whom he has raised, and would be hated, despised, given over to torments, put to death, and crucified. (Isa 53; Ps 22)

He has been hated, despised, and put to death. (Jn 15:18-25; Acts 2:23)

Healings and rising dead: Isaiah’s day of the Lord§67

67Let us speak now of his healings. Isaiah expresses himself thus: ‘It was our sufferings that he bore and our pains that he took upon himself’ (Isa 53:4; Mt 8:17) — that is, he will take and remove them. For sometimes the Spirit of God, through the prophets’ mouth, narrates what is to come as if it were already done. For with God, to project, to set in mind, and to decree is like a deed already accomplished, and the Holy Spirit speaks with a view to the time when the prophecies are fulfilled. (Rom 4:17)

Concerning the healings he speaks thus: ‘In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and freed from darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see.’ (Isa 29:18) The same prophet says again: ‘Strengthen the hands that hang down and the knees that shake; comfort yourselves, troubled hearts. Take courage, do not fear. Our God himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall be loosed.’ (Isa 35:3-6; Mt 11:5)

Of the dead he says that they shall rise: ‘The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall be raised.’ (Isa 26:19; Jn 5:28-29) And one must believe that he who does this is the Son of God.

Despised and suffering servant: Isaiah 52–53; Lamentations§68

68Isaiah also announces that he will be mocked, tormented, and at last put to death: ‘Behold, my servant shall grow, he shall be exalted and highly glorified. Just as many will have been stunned at you, so despised was your face in human eyes; and many nations will be astonished and kings will shut their mouths; for those to whom nothing was told of him shall see, and those who had not heard shall understand. Lord, who has believed what we have heard, and to whom has the arm of God been revealed? We spoke before him as a child; he was like a shoot in arid ground; and he had neither appearance nor glory; and we saw him, and he had neither form nor beauty. But his exterior was without brilliance and inferior to all other human beings; a man of sorrows and acquainted with suffering, for his face is an object of contempt; he was despised and no account was made of him. It is he who bears our iniquities; it is for us that he is exposed to pains.’ (Isa 52:13–53:4; Isa 53:2-4)

And again Jeremiah: ‘He will give his cheeks to the one who strikes him; he will be filled with reproaches.’ (Lam 3:30) All this Christ has endured. (Mt 26:67; Mt 27:30)

By his wounds we are healed; silent lamb; judgment double§69

69Here is what follows in Isaiah: ‘We have been healed by his wounds. All we like sheep have gone astray; each has gone astray in his way. And the Lord has delivered him up for our sins.’ (Isa 53:5-6; 1 Pet 2:24-25) So it is evident that this happened to him by his Father’s will for our salvation. (Acts 2:23)

After that the prophet speaks again of his passion: ‘He does not open his mouth; he was led to the slaughter like a lamb; like a sheep before its shearer he is silent.’ (Isa 53:7; Acts 8:32-35) Thus he declares that he went voluntarily to death.

As for these words of the prophet — ‘In humiliation his sentence of condemnation was taken away’ (Isa 53:8 LXX sense) — they signify the manifestation of his reproaches; it is by reason of his abasements that the reception of the sentence took place. And the sentence was received by some for salvation, and by others for the torments of their reprobation. For one may be received in one way by some and in another by others. So also with the sentence: it has been received by some who undergo it and find in it the torments of reprobation, while for believers it works salvation. (2 Cor 2:15-16)

And that which will be executed by fire will cause the reprobation of unbelievers at the consummation of this world. (2 Thess 1:7-8; 2 Pet 3:7)

Who shall declare his generation? Fear his origin§70

70If the prophet then cries: ‘Who shall declare his generation?’ (Isa 53:8), it is lest, witnessing the hatred of his enemies and the sufferings of his passion, we should come to despise him as a vile and abject human being; it is to work our conversion.

He who has borne all this possesses an unutterable generation, because the prophet calls generation his origin — that is, his Father, who is unutterable and ineffable. (Mt 11:27; Jn 1:18) Recognize, then, that such precisely is the origin of him who endured these sufferings. Do not despise him because of the torments he endured on purpose for you; but fear him because of his origin. (Phil 2:6-11)

Christ our shadow: Lam 4:20; body from Spirit§71

71And elsewhere Jeremiah says: ‘The Spirit of our face, Christ the Lord, how then was he taken in their snares — he of whom we said: We shall live under his shadow among the nations?’ (Lam 4:20)

That the Christ, though Spirit of God, was to be a man of sorrows, Scripture indicates, and is as it were seized with astonishment and wonder at his passion — so many torments was he to undergo, he under whose shadow we said we would live. By shadow one must understand his body. For as the shadow comes from the body, the body of Christ came from his Spirit. (Isa 53:3; Heb 10:5)

Shadow, among the prophets, can also signify humiliation and the capacity to suffer. For as with bodies that stand upright the shadow lies on the ground and is trampled underfoot, so the body of Christ, fallen to the ground in his passion, was as it were trampled underfoot. (Isa 53:7)

And when he calls ‘shadow’ the healing that went out from him, he shows that his presence among human beings was the shadow under which those who believed lived and were freed from every kind of disease; and those on whom his shadow fell were healed. (Mk 6:56; Acts 5:15)

The righteous taken away; burial in peace; long days§72

72The same prophet cries again concerning Christ’s passion: ‘The righteous one has disappeared, and no one takes it to heart; and the devout are taken away, and no one pays heed. For the righteous one has been removed from before injustice. His tomb shall be in peace; he has been taken from our midst.’ (Isa 57:1-2)

And who else is perfectly righteous if not the Son of God, who leads to perfect righteousness those who believe in him, who like him are persecuted and put to death? (1 Pet 3:18; Mt 5:10)

By these words — ‘His burial shall be in peace’ — he declares that he died for our salvation. ‘In peace’ means in salvation. For thanks to the benefit of his death, those who formerly were enemies and opposed to one another, as soon as they feel themselves united in the same faith in him, remain at peace with one another; the common faith they have in him makes them intimate friends. (Eph 2:14-16; Col 1:20)

And he was taken from among us — for after the resurrection he was taken up — yet he remains forever for the ages of ages, since he is henceforth incorruptible. (Acts 1:9; Rom 6:9)

I lay down and slept: death and rising in Psalm 3§73

73David continues, speaking of the death and resurrection of Christ: ‘I lay down and slept; I awoke, because the Lord took hold of me.’ (Ps 3:5)

David was not saying this of himself, since once dead he did not rise; but it is the Spirit of Christ who, as through the mouth of other prophets, speaks of Christ himself through David’s. (1 Pet 1:11; Acts 2:29-31) He calls death a sleep, because he rose.

Nations rage: Herod and Pilate against the Lord and his Christ§74

74David speaks again thus of Christ’s passion: ‘Why have the nations raged, and the peoples meditated vain things? The kings of the earth have risen against him, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.’ (Ps 2:1-2; Acts 4:25-28)

For Herod, king of the Jews, and Pontius Pilate, the emperor’s procurator, agreed together to condemn him to be crucified. Herod supposed that the Christ was to be an earthly king and feared being dispossessed of his kingdom by him. At the instigation of Herod and of the Jews around him, Pilate was driven, though unwilling, to hand Christ over to death; for if he had not done so, he would have acted against the emperor by saving a man who called himself king. (Lk 23:7-12; Jn 19:12-16)

Father’s will in the passion: Psalm 89§75

75And the same prophet says again concerning Christ’s passion: ‘You have cast us off and scorned us, and you have rejected your Christ. You have broken the covenant of your servant; you have defiled his holiness to the ground. You have overthrown all his walls and shaken all his strongholds. Those who passed by the way have stripped him; he has become the reproach of his neighbors. You have raised the right hand of his oppressors; you have made his enemies rejoice over him. You have turned back the help of his sword and have not aided him in battle. You have deprived him of his splendor and cast his throne to the ground. You have shortened the days of his life and overwhelmed him with shame.’ (Ps 89:38-45)

That the Christ was to suffer these things by his Father’s will, the prophet has declared openly; for it was upon the will of his Father that the Christ was to endure his passion. (Mt 26:39; Acts 2:23; Isa 53:10)

Strike the shepherd: disciples scattered§76

76Here is how Zechariah speaks in turn: ‘Sword, awake against my shepherd and against the man who is my companion. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the fold will be scattered.’ (Zech 13:7; Mt 26:31)

This prophecy was fulfilled when Christ was seized by the Jews; all his disciples abandoned him for fear of suffering death with him, because they did not yet have a firm faith until they saw him risen from the dead. (Mt 26:56; Jn 20:19)

Bound and sent to the king: Pilate and Herod reconciled§77

77It is said again in the Twelve Prophets: ‘And having bound him, they offered him as a gift to the king.’ (Hos 10:6)

For Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea, and at that moment he nursed a deep hatred against Herod, king of the Jews. But when Christ was brought to him in chains, Pilate sent him to Herod’s tribunal with leave to examine him in order to decide what to do regarding Christ: that became the occasion of the Roman proconsul’s reconciliation with king Herod. (Lk 23:6-12)

Descent to the dead: Holy One remembers those who slept§78

78In Jeremiah one finds the prediction of Jesus’ death and of his descent to the dead: ‘And the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, remembered his dead, those who were already sleeping in the bosom of the earth, and he went down to them to announce his salvation and to deliver them.’ (1 Pet 3:18-19; 1 Pet 4:6; Eph 4:9)

The cause of his death is indicated: his descent to the dead was the salvation of those who had passed away.

Hands stretched out: cross in Isaiah, Psalm 22, Deuteronomy§79

79Here is how Isaiah speaks of his crucifixion: ‘I have stretched out my hands all day to an unbelieving and rebellious people.’ (Isa 65:2; Rom 10:21) Now this text is an allusion to the cross.

David speaks still more clearly: ‘Hunting dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has circled me; they have pierced my hands and my feet.’ (Ps 22:16) He adds: ‘My heart is like wax melting in my inwards; they have scattered all my bones.’ (Ps 22:14) Then: ‘Deliver my soul from the sword and my body from the nails; for a band of evildoers has risen against me.’ (Ps 22:20) By this he shows plainly that the Christ will be crucified.

Moses had said the same to the people: ‘Your life shall be as it were hanging before you, and you shall tremble day and night and shall not believe in your life.’ (Dt 28:66)

Garments divided; seamless tunic by lot§80

80David says again: ‘They examined me; they divided my garments among them, and for my robe they cast lots.’ (Ps 22:18; Jn 19:23-24)

For after crucifying him the soldiers, according to custom, divided his clothes. To make that division they tore his garments. But his tunic, since it was put on from above and was seamless, they cast lots for, so as to give it to the one to whom it fell.

Thirty pieces; potter’s field§81

81The prophet Jeremiah says: ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whom the children of Israel valued, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.’ (Zech 11:12-13; Mt 27:9-10)

For Judas, one of Christ’s disciples, presented himself before the Jews and swore an agreement with them; knowing they wanted to kill him, and resentful at having been rebuked by him, he received the thirty staters of the province and handed Christ over to them. (Mt 26:14-16)

But repenting of what he had done, he came back and threw the money at the feet of the Jewish leaders and hanged himself. (Mt 27:3-5) They, not judging it fitting to put that sum into the treasury because it was the price of blood, used it to buy a potter’s field in which to bury strangers. (Mt 27:6-8)

Gall and vinegar on the cross§82

82And after they had lifted Jesus on the cross, when he asked for drink, they gave him vinegar mixed with gall. And that too was foretold by David: ‘They gave me gall for food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.’ (Ps 69:21; Mt 27:34; Jn 19:28-30)

Ascension: chariots of God; captivity led captive§83

83Risen from the dead, Christ was to ascend to heaven, according to David: ‘The chariot of God has thousands of angels, thousands of charioteers. The Lord is among them in the sanctuary. He has gone up to Zion on high; he has ended captivity and given gifts to human beings.’ (Ps 68:17-18; Eph 4:8)

The prophet calls captivity the abolition of the power of the rebel angels. He has also marked that he gives gifts to human beings — for by ascending he poured out the Spirit. (Acts 2:33; Jn 16:7)

Sit at my right hand until enemies are footstool§84

84And again David: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ (Ps 110:1; Acts 2:34-35; Heb 1:13)

That this is said of no one else but of the Lord, who rules over all and is the Son of God, whom the Father has made to sit at his right hand, is plain. For David says ‘to my Lord’ — not speaking of himself. (Mt 22:43-45)

Name above every name; every knee bows§85

85Isaiah also says: ‘I am God, and after me there is no other. By myself I swear: righteousness shall go forth from my mouth; my words shall not be turned back; for every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ (Isa 45:22-23; Rom 14:11; Phil 2:9-11)

That this is said of Christ we have shown, for it is to him that every knee bows, of heavenly and earthly and under-earthly beings, and every tongue confesses him, though he underwent the economy of the passion.

Judgment of living and dead; everlasting kingdom§86

86And that he will come to judge, David says: ‘God shall come openly; our God, and he shall not keep silence.’ (Ps 50:3) And again: ‘He shall judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.’ (Ps 96:13; Acts 17:31)

Daniel likewise: ‘I saw one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient of Days… And to him was given dominion and honor and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away.’ (Dan 7:13-14; Mt 24:30; Mt 25:31-32)

This is the judgment of the whole world, when the Son of Man comes on the clouds, and the just shall enter everlasting life and the unjust everlasting fire. (Mt 25:46)

New calling; Spirit poured on all flesh§87

87Joel declares the newness of the Spirit’s gift: ‘And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy… and whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-21)

This was fulfilled when, after the Lord’s ascension, the Spirit was poured on the apostles and thence on all who believe, Jews and Gentiles together. (Acts 10:44-45)

New covenant written on hearts§88

88Jeremiah announces the new covenant: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers… I will put my law in their mind and write it on their heart, and I will be their God and they shall be my people… for I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sins no more.’ (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:8-12)

This new covenant is the gospel of freedom, in which we serve God not on stone tablets but by the Spirit written in the heart. (2 Cor 3:3-6)

Apostles sent to all nations§89

89Therefore after rising he sent his disciples into the whole world, saying: ‘Go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’ (Mt 28:19-20)

And again: ‘You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8) So the preaching went out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, as Isaiah said. (Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2)

Gentiles inherit; leave idols for the Holy One of Israel§90

90Isaiah teaches that the nations themselves must be called to inherit these promises and enter the new covenant: ‘In that day a man shall hope in his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, and they shall no longer hope in altars or in the works of their hands which their fingers have made.’ (Isa 17:7-8)

These words were spoken by the Holy One of Israel for those who abandon idol worship and believe in God our Creator. The Holy One of Israel is the Christ; he has been manifested to human beings — him whom we see, him on whom we keep our eyes fixed. It is not in idols, nor in the works of our hands, that we have placed our hope. (1 Thess 1:9-10)

I appeared to those who did not seek me§91

91And the Word himself, in Isaiah, declares that he has made himself visible among us, and that the Son of God, become son of man, is found in the midst of us who formerly were in ignorance: ‘I appeared to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me. I said: Here I am! to a nation that did not call on my name.’ (Isa 65:1; Rom 10:20)

Not-my-people become sons of the living God§92

92And this nation is to be called a holy people, as Hosea, one of the Twelve, announces: ‘I have called my people him who was not my people, and Beloved her who was not beloved. And in the very place where it was said: You are not my people, they shall be called sons of the living God.’ (Hos 2:23; Rom 9:25-26)

Did not John the Baptist himself say: ‘God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham’? (Mt 3:9) For our hearts have been torn from idol worship by faith in God; we become sons of Abraham, who was justified by faith. (Gal 3:7-9)

So God says through Ezekiel: ‘I will give them another heart; I will put a new spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes… And they shall be my people and I will be their God.’ (Ezek 11:19-20; Ezek 36:26-28)

Word made flesh; barren Church outnumbers the Synagogue§93

93It is through the Word of God incarnate and dwelling among human beings that the calling of the Gentiles and the change of their heart have been worked, according to this word of the disciple John: ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ (Jn 1:14)

Therefore the Church bears many elect; it is no longer only an intercessor, Moses, or a messenger, Elijah, but the Lord himself who has saved us and who gives his Church children more numerous than those of the Synagogue, according to Isaiah: ‘Rejoice, barren one who has not given birth… For the children of the deserted one are more numerous than the children of her who has a husband.’ (Isa 54:1; Gal 4:27)

For the ancient Synagogue had a husband, the law.

Deuteronomy 32: jealousy by a foolish nation§94

94Moses himself in Deuteronomy declares that the Gentiles will be first and the unbelieving people last. He says: ‘You have provoked my jealousy by what is not God, and angered me by your idols; and I will provoke your jealousy by what is not a people, and anger you by a foolish nation.’ (Dt 32:21; Rom 10:19)

For the Jews abandoned God who is, to worship divinities that are nothing. They killed the prophets and prophesied by Baal, a Canaanite idol. Insulting him who is — the Son of God — they rejected him and preferred Barabbas, a robber convicted of murder. (Jn 18:40; Acts 3:14) They denied the eternal king to acclaim as king a temporal Caesar. (Jn 19:15)

For that reason God has deigned to transmit his inheritance to the Gentiles, who did not belong to the city of God and did not even know who God is — yet who now believe and love the neighbor, which forbids doing what can harm the neighbor. (Mt 22:37-39)

Law no longer pedagogue; Sermon perfection§95

95So then the Law must no longer be our pedagogue. (Gal 3:24-25) We converse with the Father; we stand in his presence face to face, become children without malice, firm in all righteousness and purity. (Mt 18:3)

The Law no longer needs to say ‘Do not commit adultery’ to one who does not even think of another’s wife; ‘Do not kill’ to one who has driven anger and hatred from the heart; ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s field or ox or donkey’ to those who make no account of earthly goods but store treasure in heaven; ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth’ to one who has no enemy but treats all as neighbor and so cannot raise a hand for revenge. (Mt 5:21-48; Mt 6:19-21)

The Law will no longer exact the tithe from one who has consecrated all goods to God and left father, mother, and all his own to follow the Word of God. (Mt 19:21; Lk 14:26) Even the demons and all rebellious powers obey that Word.

Name of Jesus drives out Satan; heavenly wisdom saves§96

96By invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, Satan has been driven from human beings; and wherever one of those who believe in him and invoke him while doing his will — Jesus draws near, presents himself, and grants the requests of those who address him with a pure heart. (Mk 16:17; Jn 14:13-14; Acts 3:6)

Receiving salvation thus, we praise God without ceasing, who by his infinite, unsearchable, inscrutable wisdom has saved us and from heaven announced salvation to us — namely the visible coming of our Lord, that is, his human life. (Rom 11:33; 1 Tim 3:16)

We could not procure this grace by ourselves; yet what is impossible for human beings is possible for God. (Lk 18:27) Therefore Jeremiah says: ‘Who has gone up to heaven and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? Who has crossed the sea and, having found her, brought her back at the price of finest gold? There is no one who knows her way or thinks of her path. But he who knows all things knows her… and has given her to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved. Afterward she appeared on earth and lived among human beings.’ (Bar 3:29-38)

This is Wisdom who was with the Father, who appeared on earth and lived among us — the Word made flesh — so that the human being might become after God’s image and likeness again. (Jn 1:14; Gen 1:26)

Rule of truth: prophets, Christ, apostles, Church§97

97Such, my dear friend, is the preaching of the truth and the rule of our salvation; it is also the way that leads to life. (Jn 14:6) The prophets announced it, Christ established it, the apostles transmitted it; everywhere in the world the Church offers it to her children. (1 Tim 3:15)

With all confidence one must follow this way, with a sound will, so as to be pleasing to God by good works and the sincere desire for a perfect manner of life. (Jas 2:17-18; Mt 5:16)

Errors: false Father, deny incarnation, reject Spirit§98

98Hence no one should imagine that God the Father is other than our Creator, as the heretics invent. (Isa 44:24; Jn 1:3) They despise God who is, and make an idol of what is nothing; they forge a father above our Creator, fancying they have found someone greater than the truth. All such are impious and blaspheme their creator and Father, as we showed in the Exposure and overthrow of knowledge falsely so called.

Others disdain the coming of the Son of God and the economy of his incarnation, transmitted by the apostles and foretold by the prophets for humanity’s salvation, as we have briefly shown you. These too must be ranked among unbelievers. (1 Jn 4:2-3; 2 Jn 7)

Others do not receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and push prophetic grace far from them; of them Isaiah said they shall be ‘like a terebinth that has shed its leaves, and like a garden without water’; and those are of no use to God, since they can bring no fruit. (Isa 1:30; 1 Thess 5:19-20)

Baptism’s three articles; flee the unbelieving§99

99Consequently error has strangely departed from the truth on the three principal articles of our baptism. For either they despise the Father, or they do not receive the Son — speaking against the economy of his incarnation — or they do not admit the Holy Spirit, that is, they despise prophecy. (Mt 28:19)

We must beware of all these unbelievers and flee their company, if truly we want to be pleasing to God and attain the salvation that comes from him. (Rom 16:17; 2 Tim 3:5)

Close: keep the rule; glory to the Trinity§100

100Therefore error has strangely strayed from the truth on the three chief points of our baptism: either the Father is despised, or the Son is not received when the economy of his incarnation is spoken against, or the Holy Spirit — that is, prophecy — is not admitted.

We must distrust all such unbelievers and flee their society, if we truly wish to please God and reach the salvation that is from him. (Jude 3)

Demonstration of the apostolic preaching of Saint Irenaeus. Glory to the Most Holy Trinity and to the one Godhead — Father, Son, and all-providing Holy Spirit — unto the ages of ages. Amen.