Homilies on Second Corinthians 3 part 2/2

but this diadem no one, not even after death, will be able to take away from him who wears it, neither his own kin nor strangers.

Now consider with me also the most precious stone of this diadem.

For just as a precious stone, so this binds it together at the very end.

And what is this—the words 'for my sake'? For the marvel is not this, that he did not spare, but that he did it for His sake.

O blessed right hand, of what a knife was it deemed worthy!

O wondrous knife, of what a right hand was it deemed worthy!

O wondrous knife, for what a use was it prepared, and what a service did it accomplish, and what a type did it serve!

How was it stained with blood, and how was it not stained with blood!

So awesome was the mystery.

It did not touch the skin of the child, nor pass through the throat of that holy one, nor was it reddened with the blood of the righteous boy;

or rather, it did both touch and pass through and was reddened and was baptized, and yet was not baptized.

Perhaps I seem to you to be beside myself, contradicting myself in this way.

And indeed I am beside myself, as I ponder the marvel of the righteous man; but I do not contradict myself.

For the hand of the righteous man plunged it into the throat of the child;

but the hand of God, even when it was plunged in, did not permit it to be defiled with the blood of the child.

For it was not Abraham alone who held it back, but God also;

and the one pressed it forward by his resolve, while God held it back by His voice.

For the same voice both armed the right hand and restrained it;

and as though marshalled under God as its general, it wrought all things at His nod, and ministered all things at His voice.

He said, 'Slay,' and immediately it was being armed;

He said, 'Do not slay,' and immediately it was being disarmed;

for all things stood in readiness.

And now God was displaying the soldier and general to the whole world, the crowned victor to the theatre of the angels, the priest, the king, the one crowned rather with the knife than with a diadem, the bearer of the trophy, the champion, the conqueror who won without a clash of battle.

For just as if some general, having an excellent soldier, should strike terror into his adversary by his skill in arms, by his stance, by his strength;

so also God, by the resolve, by the bearing, by the mere stance of the righteous man, struck terror into the devil, the common enemy of us all, and put him to flight.

For I think that he too then shuddered and withdrew.

And why did He not permit the right hand to be baptized, and then raise up all at once the one that had been offered? Because it was not lawful for God to receive such blood, but such a table belongs to avenging demons.

But here both were displayed: both the loving-kindness of the Master and the gratitude of the servant.

And first he went forth from his land;

but then he withdrew from nature itself.

Wherefore he also received back the principal with interest;

for he chose not to be called father, that he might be shown a grateful servant.

For this reason he became not only a father, but also a priest;

and since he withdrew from his own for God's sake, therefore God also, together with these, graciously granted him what was his own.

So then, when enemies plot, He proceeds to work wonders even up to the actual trial;

as in the case of the furnace and the lions;

but when He Himself commands, He lets the command stand only as far as the willingness.

For what, tell me, was still lacking to

this feat of valour? For did Abraham foreknow the outcome? Did he count upon the loving-kindness of God? For even if he was a prophet, yet the prophet does not know all things.

So that the slaying was thenceforth superfluous, and unworthy of God.

And if it was needful to learn that God is able to raise from the dead, he had learned this in a far more wonderful way from the womb;

or rather, even before that demonstration.

But do not merely marvel at the righteous man, but also emulate him;

and seeing him sailing as though in a calm amid so great a tumult and surging of the waves, do you likewise take in hand the rudder of obedience and of courage.

For do not tell me only this, that he built an altar, and the wood;

but call to mind also the voice of the child, and consider how many snowstorms of armies came upon him, terrifying him, when the father heard the child saying:

'Where is the sheep?'—consider how many thoughts were then stirred within him, armed not with iron but with fiery spears, and piercing him on every side and cutting him asunder.

For if even now many, who are not fathers, are broken down and weep, unless they knew the outcome;

indeed I see many weeping even though they know this;

what was it likely that he suffered—he who had begotten him, who had reared him, in his old age, who had this one only such son, who beheld him, who heard him, who was straightway about to slay him? What was the discretion of the words? What the gentleness of the question? Who then was at work—was it the devil, to set nature ablaze? God forbid; rather it was God, that He might all the more test the golden soul of the righteous man.

For when the wife of Job speaks, the devil is at work;

but this one utters nothing blasphemous, but on the contrary something exceedingly reverent and full of thoughtful care;

and much grace blossomed upon his words, much was the honey of his sayings that dropped, flowing from a soul that was calm and gentle;

and these words were enough to soften a heart of stone.

But they did not turn that man of adamant about, nor even shake him, nor did he say:

'Why do you call me father, you who a little later will not be my son, you who have already lost this honour?' And for what reason does the child ask? Not out of idle curiosity nor meddlesomeness, but in anxious concern over what lay before him.

For he reasoned that, if he had not wished to take him as a partner in what was being done, he would not have left the servants below to remain, and taken him alone.

For this very reason too, when they were alone, then he asks him, when no one heard what was said;

so great was the discernment of the child.

Were you not all set aflame, both men and women? Does not each of you in your mind embrace and kiss the child, and marvel at his understanding, and revere the piety with which, even while being bound and laid upon the wood, he was not dismayed, did not struggle, did not condemn his father as a madman, but was bound and lifted up and laid upon it, and bore all in silence, like some lamb—or rather, like the common Master of all? For he was imitating that One's gentleness, and was preserving the type;

for 'He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb.'

And yet this one did speak;

for indeed his Master also spoke;

how then was he dumb? That is, he said nothing insolent, nor harsh, but all things gentle and soothing, and rather than his silence, his words made manifest his gentleness.

Since Christ also said:

'If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil;

but if well, why do you strike me?' And thereby He made manifest His gentleness even more than if He had kept silence.

And just as this one pleads with the father from beside the altar, so also that One speaks from the cross, saying, 'Father, forgive them.'

What then does the patriarch say? 'God will provide for Himself a sheep for a whole burnt offering, my child.'

Both call upon the names of nature:

the one says 'Father,' and this one says 'child.'

And on both sides a grievous war is stirred up, and great is the tempest, yet nowhere is there shipwreck;

for love of wisdom prevails over all things.

Then, when he heard 'God,' he said nothing further, nor did he pry into the matter;

so understanding was the child, and that too in the very flower of his youth.

Over how many armies did that king prevail, how many wars that came against him? For not even the barbarians, when they came against the city of Jerusalem, oftentimes were so terrible to it as were these reasonings that beset him on every side;

but nevertheless he overcame them all.

Do you wish to behold the priest as well? The example is not far off.

For when you see him holding fire and a knife, and standing at the altar, why any longer do you doubt concerning his priesthood? And if you wish to behold the sacrifice as well, behold it double.

He offered a child, he offered also a sheep; or rather, before all else, his own resolve;

and with the blood of the sheep he sanctified his right hand, and with the slaying of the child he sanctified his soul.

Thus was he ordained a priest, by the blood of an only-begotten son, by the sacrifice of a lamb.

For indeed the priests too were sanctified by the blood of the sacrificial victims that were offered to God.

Do you wish to behold a prophet as well? 'Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see My day;'

'and he saw it, and was glad,' He says.

So do you also become king, and priest, and prophet in the laver of baptism;

a king, in that you have cast to the ground all wicked deeds and slaughtered your sins;

a priest, in that you have offered yourself to God, and have made a sacrifice of your body, and yourself been slain;

'For if we died together with Him,' he says, 'we shall also live together with Him;'

and a prophet, in that you learn the things to come, and become inspired by God, and are sealed.

For just as there is a seal upon soldiers, so also upon the faithful is the Spirit set;

and if you desert your post, you become manifest to all.

For the Jews had circumcision as a seal, but we have the earnest of the Spirit.

Knowing these things, then, and considering our own dignity, let us show forth a life worthy of the grace, that we may also attain to the kingdom to come;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.