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| Chapter LXXVIII.—He proves that this prophecy harmonizes with Christ alone, from what is afterwards written.
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Chapter LXXVIII.—He proves that this
prophecy harmonizes with Christ alone, from what is afterwards written.
“Now this king
Herod, at the time when the Magi came to him from Arabia, and said they
knew from a star which appeared in the heavens that a King had been born
in your country, and that they had come to worship Him, learned from the
elders of your people that it was thus written regarding Bethlehem in the
prophet: ‘And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art by no
means least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall go forth
the leader who shall feed my people.’2243
Accordingly the Magi
from
Arabia came to Bethlehem and worshipped the Child, and presented Him with
gifts, gold and frankincense, and myrrh; but returned not to Herod, being
warned in a revelation after worshipping the Child in Bethlehem. And
Joseph, the spouse of Mary, who wished at first to put away his betrothed
Mary, supposing her to be pregnant by intercourse with a man, i.e., from
fornication, was commanded in a vision not to put away his wife; and the
angel who appeared to him told him that what is in her womb is of the
Holy Ghost. Then he was afraid, and did not put her away; but on the
occasion of the first census which was taken in Judæa, under Cyrenius,
he went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, to which he
belonged, to be enrolled; for his family was of the tribe of Judah, which
then inhabited that region. Then along with Mary he is ordered to proceed
into Egypt, and remain there with the Child until another revelation warn
them to return into Judæa. But when the Child was born in Bethlehem,
since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his
quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there
Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the
Magi who came from Arabia found Him. I have repeated to you,” I
continued, “what Isaiah foretold about the sign which foreshadowed
the cave; but for the sake of those who have come with us to-day, I shall
again remind you of the passage.” Then I repeated the passage from
Isaiah which I have already written, adding that, by means of those
words, those who presided over the mysteries of Mithras were stirred up
by the devil to say that in a place, called among them a cave, they were
initiated by him.2244
| 2244 Text
has, by “them;” but Maranus says the artifice lay in the
priest’s compelling the initiated to say that Mithras himself was
the initiator in the cave. | “So Herod, when the Magi
from Arabia did not return to him, as he had asked them to do, but had
departed by another way to their own country, according to the commands
laid on them; and when Joseph, with Mary and the Child, had now gone into
Egypt, as it was revealed to them to do; as he did not know the Child
whom the Magi had gone to worship, ordered simply the whole of the
children then in Bethlehem to be massacred. And Jeremiah prophesied that
this would happen, speaking by the Holy Ghost thus: ‘A voice was
heard in Ramah, lamentation and much wailing, Rachel weeping for her
children; and she would not be comforted, because they are
not.’2245
Therefore, on account of
the voice which would be heard from Ramah, i.e., from Arabia (for there
is in Arabia at this very time a place called Rama), wailing would come
on the place where Rachel the wife of Jacob called Israel, the holy
patriarch, has been buried, i.e., on Bethlehem; while the women weep for
their own slaughtered children, and have no consolation by reason of what
has happened to them. For that expression of Isaiah ‘He shall take
the power of Damascus and spoils of Samaria,’ foretold that the
power of the evil demon that dwelt in Damascus should be overcome by
Christ as soon as He was born; and this is proved to have happened. For
the Magi, who were held in bondage2246
for the
commission of all evil deeds through the power of that demon, by coming
to worship Christ, shows that they have revolted from that dominion which
held them captive; and this [dominion] the Scripture has showed us to
reside in Damascus. Moreover, that sinful and unjust power is termed well
in parable, Samaria.2247
And none of
you can deny that Damascus was, and is, in the region of Arabia, although
now it belongs to what is called Syrophœnicia. Hence it would be
becoming for you, sirs, to learn what you have not perceived, from those
who have received grace from God, namely, from us Christians; and not to
strive in every way to maintain your own doctrines, dishonouring those of
God. Therefore also this grace has been transferred to us, as Isaiah
says, speaking to the following effect: ‘This people draws near to
Me, they honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; but
in vain they worship Me, teaching the commands and doctrines of men.
Therefore, behold, I will proceed2248
to remove this
people, and I shall remove them; and I shall take away the wisdom of
their wise men, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent
men.’ ”2249
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