On the Incarnation 1 part 3/3

but know that, in offering faith into Me—the One seen in flesh—you will not have believed simply into a man, but into the Father Himself, through Me, the Son, who in every respect am equal and unchangeably so to Him, having been made flesh indeed for your sake and having appropriated as a lowly garment the humanity, yet possessing toward Him that which is of equal nature and equal operation, and wholly inviolate in identity of glory. {B} So it seems.

{A} And you may also learn in another way that He did not reject faith, but received it without any cutting or distinction, as into His own person, even though He became flesh.

For when He healed the man born blind and implanted in him the sweet but unaccustomed light, He was deservedly marveled at by all.

But the man who had been freed from his affliction was being put on trial among the Jews, and he confessed his Healer.

And Christ, meeting him, said: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" And when the man cried out, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?" He answered, saying:

"Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee."

And yet, how is it not evident to all that the divine and most exalted nature is wholly invisible? For "no man hath seen God at any time," according to what is written.

If, then, separating from Himself what is human, the Word from God the Father, having appeared as this very thing, naked and alone, claimed to be believed, why did He not rather command the man who had been benefited that he ought to reflect upon the nature of God, whatever it is—and did He instead point to it bodily, so that it could be beheld even with the eyes? For He said, "Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee."

Shall we not say that He pointed to the flesh? {B} Most certainly.

{A} Then how could the flesh after all be He Himself, unless it be understood according to the union, as being He Himself, His own proper flesh—just as indeed happens also in our case? For one might point out the man among us—the one composed, I mean, of soul and body—neither in a divided nor in an incomplete way, even from his flesh alone.

{A} And our wise John has somewhere written that "Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that believing ye might have life in His name."

And one might be no less astonished at the inspired Peter, who addressed the Jews clearly and openly:

"Ye rulers of the people, and elders, if we this day be examined concerning the good deed done to an impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole."

"And there is salvation in no other."

"For neither is there any other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

...begotten, but in the last time, at the consummation of the age, also bodily of a woman? He, then, who admits faith into Him will carry off the choice reward;

for he will be called a son of God;

for "as many as received Him, to them gave He power," he says, "to become children of God, even to them that were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

For that He Himself might have the preeminence in all things, as it is written, He was indeed born through a woman.

But since He is the firstfruits of the creation that is being refashioned through sanctification toward God, and before the rest He Himself was shown to be begotten of the Spirit, leaping over the union of man and woman—not condemning nature with dishonor and blame (for marriage is honorable, and He who formed them from the beginning made them male and female), but already, in some way, assigning human things to that which is greater and incomparably superior—

for He willed that we should still be called begotten of the Spirit, not of men.

And indeed He says: "Call no man your father upon the earth;

for one is your Father, the heavenly One, and ye are all brethren."

Therefore, to believe into Him is wholly blameless; rather, it is even honored with the remission of transgressions.

For the choice Paul writes thus again:

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but only through the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus."

And I shall by no means shrink from repeating, by way of recapitulation, what I have already said before: that Christ Jesus is conceived of not as the bare Word from God in and of Himself, but when He took to Himself what is human and was interwoven with flesh.

Being and being seen thus, and existing in the form like ours, the Father pointed Him out to the holy apostles, a voice such as this being produced from above:

"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him."

Understand, then, how He does not say "in this one is My Son"—lest the Son be conceived of separately, as one in another, as it were—but that He should be understood as one and the same according to the economic union.

And that it is a fault to resist, and one of the most perilous, John will persuade us, writing thus: "For this is the witness of God, that He hath testified concerning His Son;

he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness of God in himself.

He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar, because he hath not believed the witness that God hath testified concerning His Son."

And He has testified that this One—the One with flesh and in the form of a servant—is uniquely and individually My Son in truth.

What then? Shall we not grant that the glorious grace through holy baptism, and the quickening in Him, and the participation in God through sanctification in the Spirit, have been wrought through Jesus Christ? {B} Necessarily.

For I shall remember John saying:

"He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.

He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

{A} Shall we then say, my friend, that to be able to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire is a work of our humanity? {B} And how could that ever be? {A} And yet, speaking of a man who was almost immediately to be present and to be seen, he said that He would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit—not sending into the baptized a Spirit that was alien, in a servile and ministerial manner, but as God by nature, with the supreme authority, the Spirit that is from Him and His own, through whom the divine impress is stamped upon us.

For we are refashioned, as into the divine image, into Christ Jesus—not undergoing a bodily reshaping (for it would be utterly foolish to suppose this), but, through partaking of the Holy Spirit, possessing Christ Himself richly within ourselves, so that we may, as it were, already rejoice to cry out:

"Let my soul exult in the Lord;

for He hath clothed me with the garment of salvation and the robe of gladness."

"Ye have put on Christ," he says.

{B} Have we then been baptized into a man, and shall we say this is true? {A} Speak no ill-omened words, O man.

What are you doing, you there? You are dragging our hope down to the earth.

For we have been baptized not simply into a man, but into God made man, who releases from punishment and from the ancient guilt those who have received faith into Him.

And indeed the inspired Peter said, addressing the Jews:

"Repent therefore, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

For releasing from sins the one who cleaves to Him, He thereafter anoints him with His own Spirit—which He Himself sends in, as the Word from God the Father, and causes to well up for us from His own nature; yet making the gift, as it were, common to the economy with flesh because of the union, He also breathed it forth bodily as a man.

For He breathed upon the apostles, saying:

"Receive the Holy Spirit"; and He does not give the Spirit by measure, according to the word of John, but He Himself sends it forth out of Himself, just as indeed the Father also does.

And indeed the inspired Paul, removing every difference in this respect, is seen at one time assigning it to God the Father, and at another again to the Son.

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.

Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness."

{B} It is established, then, that the Spirit is the Son's own—and not only in so far as He has appeared as the Word from the Father, but even if He be conceived of as having become man like us.

{A} It is His own, as from the Father, in the consubstantial offspring, the Word who was begotten of Him; and even if He be said to receive it when He became man—He who, in His own nature, was destitute of the properties of the Godhead.

And indeed, though He Himself is the life of all, because of the ineffable generation from the living Father, He is said to be made alive together with us.

It is possible, then, nevertheless, to see Him bestowing upon His own flesh the glory of the divine operation, while again appropriating the things of the flesh, and, as it were, according to the economic union, attaching them to His own nature.

{B} In what manner do you mean? {A} Will you not say that it most especially befits the Word, who is truly by nature from God the Father, to have come from above and from heaven, and to be able to give life to those into whom He may wish to send life? {B} I do say so.

{A} What then? To create in a divine manner—tell me—would you grant that to belong to human things? {B} I would not.

{A} Why then does He give us life as God, yet not only by the partaking of the Holy Spirit, but also setting before us as food the flesh that was assumed? For He said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have no life in yourselves."

And when the Jews once mocked Him, and—I know not how—undertook to fasten upon the blessed Moses the verdict given for the better things, saying openly:

"Our fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

What sign showest Thou then, that we may believe Thee? What dost Thou work, as having brought down to us from above and from heaven Thy body?" He says:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, the true bread.

For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."

And in addition to these things, all but pointing to Himself in the body with His finger, He says, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.

And the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

"He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him.

As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me."

...but was of the Virgin, according to the Scriptures? But the Word is <not edible>, yet gathering both into one, and, as it were, blending together the properties of the natures with one another, He is seen by us through ever so many sayings.

For to Nicodemus, who did not understand the mystery but cried out ignorantly:

"How can these things be?" He says, "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended into heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of <man>."

And again to the Jews, who were sick with the same lack of instruction as that man and—I know not how—had chosen to deride Him, since He said that His own body was life-giving and from heaven, He says: "Doth this offend you?"

"What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?" Shall we not say that Emmanuel was born of a woman? {B} How could we not? {A} Where then was He before? Or how has He ascended to where He says He Himself is, although the body united to Him was born through the holy Virgin? And should we not confess that the flesh from earth, in so far as concerns its own nature, is powerless to be able to give life? {B} True.

{A} How then, tell me, is the flesh life-giving? Or how could that which is from earth be conceived of as also from heaven? {B} According to the union, I think, with the Word who is both living and from heaven.

{A} Know that you have thought things most upright and in accord with the sacred sayings.

And I shall make the inspired Paul a fellow-helper of the argument once more, who has written thus:

"Giving thanks unto God the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love; in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins; who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist; and He is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence; for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, whether things on earth, or things in heaven."

Behold, then, again openly he says that through Him and for Him all things were created, and indeed that He is before all things, and that all things consist in Him, and he says that He is the firstborn from the dead, having made peace through His blood both for the things in heaven and for the things on earth.

Do you think anything in these things ought to be censured? {B} Not in the least.

{A} And you may see the Spirit-bearing men elsewhere going by the same arguments.

"In the beginning," he says, "was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."

"There is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things."

"By Him were all things created."

It is plain, then, that the things which exist by nature and individually in the Word who is from the Father have again been preserved to Him even when He became flesh.

It is therefore a hazardous thing to dare to cut Him apart.

For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him the Father created all things.

For He is the Mediator between God and men, according to the Scriptures, being by nature God, and not apart from flesh, and truly man, and not a mere man like us, but being what He was even though He became flesh.

For it is written that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and unto the ages."

For do we not believe that Emmanuel was born through the holy Virgin in the last times of the age? {B} Yes.

For we shall not contradict the divine Scriptures.

{A} But "yesterday," tell me, and "today"—would they not signify to us, my friend, the present time and that which has already passed by? {B} I affirm it.

{A} How then could the same one extend to the time that has passed by, although He had not yet received the birth according to the flesh? {B} Because the Word both was in the beginning, and, having appeared as from the eternal and unchangeable God the Father, He Himself also possesses in His own nature what is eternal and unchangeable.

For so it stands, and very rightly too.

Yet to you, who are eager to inquire, I would explain, my good man.

{B} What is it? {A} Is not the name "Jesus Christ" altogether very recent for the Word, having come into being together with the times of the incarnation? {B} And indeed this has been shown to us through ever so many arguments.

{A} Understand, then, that he says Christ Jesus—and not the Word taken simply by Himself—is the same yesterday and today, and unto the ages.

"Yesterday and today the same, and unto the ages"—Christ Jesus.

The supreme antiquity and the unwavering steadfastness of the Word I shall least of all deny, even though He became flesh.

But I shall hold that, according to the union with His own flesh, He is again declared to be the same one existing yesterday and pre-existing.

And indeed the senseless Jew loathed Him, and attempted to stone Him, not admitting faith.

For he was astonished that, although seen as a man like us, He bore witness to Himself of a seniority belonging to an antiquity above man, saying as God:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am."

Whereupon they said in answer to this:

"Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?" And John also said: "He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He was before me."

And yet, how is it that, knowing and naming Emmanuel a man, he says that the one born later and after him came to be before him and first? {B} He says He came to be before him and first according to glory, as it occurs to me to understand it.

{A} And indeed that to understand it in this way is spurious and ignorant, you will know from no lengthy arguments.

For if we admit that "before" refers to what is better, in glory, then by the same reasoning we shall say that "after" too quite clearly indicates what is second in honor.

It would then turn out, it seems, that we suppose senselessly that Christ was inferior to John's glory and ran behind him.

For he said, "After me cometh a man."

But we shall suppose it is not so, having rightly understood what is written in the Psalms:

"For who in the clouds shall be equal to the Lord? And who shall be likened unto the Lord among the sons of God?" {A} We must therefore ascribe to Him, even with the flesh, the supreme antiquity, as to God who by nature has been united to flesh and is wont to make common to His own body the good things of His own nature.

{A} And you may learn that this is so and rightly said also from other testimonies, my friend, if you so choose.

"And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephratah, art little to be among the thousands of Judah;

out of thee shall come forth unto Me one to be ruler in Israel; and His goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity."

And concerning the sons of Israel the most holy Paul says:

"That all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all did eat the same spiritual meat, and all did drink the same spiritual drink.

For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them."

Behold, then, in Christ Jesus, according to the economic union, the antiquity that individually belongs to the Word.

Is not the saying clear? For he says full well that the Bethlehemite, as a man and from a woman, has His goings forth from of old, from the days of eternity.

For in the beginning, and before every age, was the Word who became man, and He Himself was the Rock who made the thirsting Israel drunk with unhoped-for and unexpected streams, although He was begotten according to the flesh and the humanity in the last times, and was anointed for the mission into the world by God the Father.

For He has been named Christ for no other reason than this:

and "the Rock was Christ," according to Paul.

Or will you say the matter is doubtful? {B} By no means.

{A} And again the wise John will contend for and strive together with the argument, all but gathering together the natures and bringing into a confluence the power of the properties that befit each.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; and the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and declare unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us."

Behold, he says that the One who is from the beginning was both clearly seen and even submitted to touch.

"My Lord and my God," measuring with his finger both the side of the body and the piercings of the nails.

And our divine Luke also says that the holy apostles became eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word.

For the bodiless became visible, and the intangible touchable—no longer having the flesh from earth as an alien garment, but having made it His own temple, and being known together with it as God and Lord.

And you know, I suppose, that the most holy Paul has written:

"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.

Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

For to this end Christ both died and lived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living."

It is established, then, that He has truly become Lord of both the dead and the living—He who died and was raised for no other reason than this and this alone.

{A} Whom then, noble friend, do we say underwent death, but again came back to life? {B} The Son, obviously.

{A} Well, that you say it is the Son, I shall commend you indeed.

But I should like to learn thoroughly from you whether the Word from God the Father is mortal and subject to corruption, or beyond death and corruption, being better, as life. {B} I say the latter.

{A} Then how has He come to be among the dead and free, according to the Scriptures? For the Word would in no way die in and of Himself.

{B} Because, when His flesh had died, He Himself is said to have suffered this.

{A} Most rightly and without error.

Therefore, not apart from flesh, but rather with it and together with it, did He who by the law of the flesh and by our nature died and was raised bind upon Himself the glory of lordship.

Showing that to die is a human passion, but to come back to life a divine operation, so that through both He might be known to be at once like us and above us, as God and <Lord> of all, and might be seen to have come to be with us, together with the Father.

Thus Nathanael, recognizing Him, said:

And He Himself to His own disciples:

And confirming it by deed, He remits sins, and gave authority over unclean spirits so as to cast them out, and to heal every sickness and every disease among the people.

Was it not in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that the man lame in both feet, who sat at the Beautiful Gate, was healed? And Aeneas shook off so long an infirmity, and escaped a disease most hard to flee, to whom the inspired [Paul] said:

"Aeneas, Jesus the Christ healeth thee."

For how great the gain that will accrue to those who glorify Him thus, the disciple of Christ will make clear, saying:

"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know the true God, and we are in the true One, even in His Son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and life eternal." And through Him and together with Him, to God the Father be the glory, with the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages.