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| On the Words, And Rose Again from the Dead on the Third Day, and Ascended into the Heavens, and Sat on the Right Hand of the Father.
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Lecture
XIV.
On the Words, And Rose Again from the
Dead on the Third Day, and Ascended into the Heavens, and Sat on the
Right Hand of the Father.
1 Cor. xv. 1–4
Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which
I preached unto you….that He hath been raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, &c.
Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and keep high festival, all ye
that love Jesus; for He is risen. Rejoice, all ye that
mourned before1655
, when ye heard of
the daring and wicked deeds of the Jews: for He who was
spitefully entreated of them in this place is risen again. And as
the discourse concerning the Cross was a sorrowful one, so let the good
tidings of the Resurrection bring joy to the hearers. Let
mourning be turned into gladness, and lamentation to joy: and let
our mouth be filled with joy and gladness, because of Him, who after
His resurrection, said Rejoice1656
. For I know
the sorrow of Christ’s friends in these past days; because, as
our discourse stopped short at the Death and the Burial, and did not
tell the good tidings of the Resurrection, your mind was in suspense,
to hear what you were longing for.
Now, therefore, the Dead is risen, He who was
free among the dead1657
, and the deliverer
of the dead. He who in dishonour wore patiently the crown of
thorns, even He arose, and crowned Himself with the diadem of His
victory over death.
2. As then we set forth the testimonies
concerning His Cross, so come let us now verify the proofs of His
Resurrection also: since the Apostle before us1658
affirms, He was buried, and has been
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. As an
Apostle, therefore, has sent us back to the testimonies of the
Scriptures, it is good that we should get full knowledge of the hope of
our salvation; and that we should learn first whether the divine
Scriptures tell us the season of His resurrection, whether it comes in
summer or in autumn, or after winter; and from what kind of place the
Saviour has risen, and what has been announced in the admirable
Prophets as the name of the place of the Resurrection, and whether the
women, who sought and found Him not, afterwards rejoice at finding Him;
in order that when the Gospels are read, the narratives of these holy
Scriptures may not be thought fables nor rhapsodies.
3. That the Saviour then was buried, ye have
heard distinctly in the preceding discourse, as Isaiah saith, His
burial shall be in peace1659
: for in His
burial He made peace between heaven and earth, bringing sinners unto
God: and, that the righteous is taken out of the way of
unrighteousness1660
: and, His
burial shall be in peace: and, I will give the wicked for
His burial1661
. There is
also the prophecy of Jacob saying in the Scriptures, He lay down and
couched as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp: who shall
rouse Him up1662
? And the
similar passage in Numbers, He couched, He lay down as a lion, and as a
lion’s whelp1663
. The Psalm
also ye have often heard, which says, And Thou hast brought me down
into the dust of death1664
. Moreover we
took note of the spot, when we quoted the words, Look unto the rock,
which ye have hewn1665
| 1665 ἐπεσημειωσάμεθα,
“noted for ourselves;” Middle Voice. Is. li. 1: quoted in Cat. xiii. 35. | . But now let
the testimonies concerning His resurrection itself go with us on our
way.
4. First, then, in the 11th Psalm He says,
For the misery of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will I
arise, saith the Lord1666
. But this
passage still remains doubtful with some: for He often rises up
also in anger1667
, to take vengeance
upon His enemies.
Come then to the 15th Psalm, which says
distinctly: Preserve Me, O Lord, for
in Thee have I put my
trust1668
: and
after this, their assemblies of blood will I not join, nor make
mention of their names between my lips1669
| 1669 Ib. xvi.
4: “their
drink-offerings of blood will I not offer.” The Psalmist
abhors the bloody rites, and the very names of the false gods. | ;
since they have refused me, and chosen Cæsar as their
king1670
| 1670 John xix 15. Cyril applies to the Jews what
the Psalmist says concerning those that hasten after another god. | : and also the next words, I foresaw
the Lord alway before Me, because He is
at My right hand, that I may not be moved1671
: and soon after Yea and even until
night my reins chastened me1672
| 1672 Ib.
7. Quoting from memory,
Cyril transposes these sentences. | . And
after this He says most plainly, For Thou wilt not leave My soul in
hell1673
; neither wilt
Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. He said not,
neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see death, since then He
would not have died; but corruption, saith He, I see not, and
shall not abide in death. Thou hast made known to Me the ways
of life1674
. Behold here
is plainly preached a life after death. Come also to the 29th
Psalm, I will extol Thee, O Lord,
for Thou hast lifted Me up, and hast not made My foes to rejoice over
Me1675
. What is it
that took place? Wert thou rescued from enemies, or wert thou
released when about to be smitten? He says himself most plainly,
O Lord, Thou hast brought up My soul from
hell1676
. There he
says, Thou wilt not leave, prophetically: and here he speaks of
that which is to take place as having taken place, Thou hast brought
up. Thou hast saved Me from them that go down into the
pit1677
. At what time
shall the event occur? Weeping shall continue for the evening,
and joy cometh in the morning1678
: for in
the evening was the sorrow of the disciplines, and in the morning the
joy of the resurrection.
5. But wouldst thou know the place
also? Again He saith in Canticles, I went down into the garden
of nuts1679
; for it was a
garden where He was crucified1680
. For though
it has now been most highly adorned with royal gifts, yet formerly it
was a garden, and the signs and the remnants of this remain. A
garden enclosed, a fountain sealed1681
,
by the Jews who said, We remember that that deceiver said while He
was yet alive, After three days, I will rise: command, therefore,
that the sepulchre be made sure; and further on, So they went, and made
the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone with the guard1682
. And aiming well at these, one saith,
and in rest Thou shalt judge them1683
| 1683 Job vii. 18:.…try him every
moment. Heb. עגרֶֶ “a wink,” as in Job xxi. 13,
misinterpreted in both passages by the LXX. as
meaning “rest.” | . But who is the fountain that is
sealed, or who is interpreted as being a well-spring of living
water1684
? It is the
Saviour Himself, concerning whom it is written, For with Thee is the
fountain of life1685
.
6. But what says Zephaniah in the person of
Christ to the disciples? Prepare thyself, be rising at the
dawn: all their gleaning is destroyed1686
| 1686 Zeph. iii. 7: they rose early and
corrupted all their doings. The passage is wholly is
understood by the Seventy, whom S. Cyril follows. | : the gleaning, that is, of the Jews,
with whom there is not a cluster, nay not even a gleaning of salvation
left; for their vine is cut down. See how He says to the
disciples, Prepare thyself, rise up at dawn: at dawn
expect the Resurrection.
And farther on in the same context of Scripture He
says, Therefore wait thou for Me, saith the Lord, until the day of My Resurrection at the
Testimony1687
| 1687 Zeph. iii. 8: until the day that I
rise up to the prey. For דעלְ, to the prey,
the LXX. seem to have read דע“לְְ, to the testimony. About ten
years before these Lectures were delivered, Eusebius (Life of
Constantine, III. c. xxviii.), speaking of the discovery of the
Holy Sepulchre, a.d. 326, calls it “a
testimony to the Resurrection of the Saviour clearer than any voice
could give.” | . Thou seest
that the Prophet foresaw the place also of the Resurrection, which was
to be surnamed “the Testimony.” For what is the
reason that this spot of Golgotha and of the Resurrection is not
called, like the rest of the Churches, a Church, but a Testimony?
Why, perhaps, it was because of the Prophet, who had said, until the
day of My Resurrection at the Testimony.
7. And who then is this, and what is the
sign of Him that rises? In the words of the Prophet that follow
in the same context, He says plainly, For then will I turn to the
peoples a language1688
: since, after
the Resurrection, when the Holy Ghost was sent forth the gift of
tongues was granted, that they might serve the Lord under one
yoke1689
| 1689 Ib. to serve him with one
consent (Marg. shoulder). | . And what
other token is set forth in the same Prophet, that they should serve
the Lord under one yoke? From
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia they shall bring me
offerings1690
. Thou knowest
what is written in the Acts, when the Ethiopian eunuch came from beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia1691
. When
therefore the Scriptures tell both the time and the peculiarity of the
place, when they tell also the signs which followed the Resurrection,
have thou henceforward a firm faith in the Resurrection, and let no one
stir thee from confessing Christ risen from the dead1692
.
8. Now take also another testimony in the
87th Psalm, where Christ
speaks in the Prophets, (for He who then spoke came afterwards among
us): O Lord, God of My salvation, I
have cried day and night before Thee, and a little, farther on,
I became as it were a man without help, free among the
dead1693
| 1693 Ps. lxxxviii. 1, 4, 5. | . He said not,
I became a man without help; but, as it were a man without
help. For indeed He was crucified not from weakness, but
willingly and His Death was not from involuntary weakness. I
was counted with them that go down into the pit1694
. And what is the token? Thou
hast put away Mine acquaintance far from Me1695
(for the disciples have fled). Wilt Thou shew wonders to the
dead1696
? Then a
little while afterwards: And unto Thee have I cried, O
Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer
come before Thee1697
. Seest thou
how they shew the exact point of the Hour, and of the Passion and of
the Resurrection?
9. And whence hath the Saviour risen?
He says in the Song of Songs: Rise up, come, My
neighbour1698
: and in what
follows, in a cave of the rock1699
! A cave of the rock He called the cave
which was erewhile before the door of the Saviour’s sepulchre,
and had been hewn out of the rock itself, as is wont to be done here in
front of the sepulchres. For now it is not to be seen, since the
outer cave was cut away at that time for the sake of the present
adornment. For before the decoration of the sepulchre by the
royal munificence, there was a cave in the front of the rock1700
. But where is the rock that had in it
the cave? Does it lie near the middle of the city, or near the
walls and the outskirts? And whether is it within the ancient
walls, or within the outer walls which were built afterwards? He
says then in the Canticles: in a cave of the rock, close to
the outer wall1701
| 1701 Cant. ii. 14: in the clefts of the
rock, in the secret places of the stairs. The Revised Version
reads, in the covert of the steep place. | .
10. At what season does the Saviour
rise? Is it the season of summer, or some other? In the
same Canticles immediately before the words quoted He says, The winter
is past, the rain is past and gone1702
| 1702 Cant.
ii. 11. In παρῆλθεν,
ἐπορεύθη
ἑαυτῷ the LXX. have imitated the pleonastic use of
ןֹל
after verbs of motion, corresponding to our idiom “Go away with
you,” and to the Dativus Ethicus in Greek and
Latin. See Gesenius Lexicon on this use of
לְ, and Ewald,
Introductory Grammar, § 217, l. 2. | ; the flowers
appear on the earth; the time of the pruning is come1703
| 1703 Cant. ii. 12: the singing of
birds. The Hebrew word (רימִזָ֯ means either “cutting,” as in
the LXX. τομῆς, Symmachus κλαδεύσεως
, and R.V. Marg. “pruning,” or as
in A.V. “singing.” | . Is not then the earth full of flowers
now, and are they not pruning the vines? Thou seest how he said
also that the winter is now past. For when this month
Xanthicus1704
| 1704 Xanthicus is the
name of the sixth month in the Macedonian Calendar, corresponding
nearly to the Jewish Nisan (Josephus, Antiq. II. xiv. 6), and to
the latter part of Lent and Easter. On the tradition that the
Creation took place at this season, see S. Ambrose,
Hexæmeron, I. c. 4, § 13. | is come, it is
already spring. And this is the season, the first month with the
Hebrews, in which occurs the festival of the Passover, the typical
formerly, but now the true. This is the season of the creation of
the world: for then God said, Let the earth bring forth herbage
of grass, yielding seed after his kind and after his likeness1705
| 1705 Gen. i. 11: grass, the herb yielding
seed.
The LXX.
give an irregular construction,
Βοτανὴν
χόρτου
σπεῖρον
σπέρμα. | . And now, as thou seest, already every
herb is yielding seed. And as at that time God made the sun and
moon and gave them courses of equal day (and night), so also a few days
since was the season of the equinox.
At that time God said, let us make man after our
image and after our likeness1706
| 1706 Gen. i. 26. “The ancient Church very
accurately distinguished between εἰκών (image)
and ὁμοίωσις
(likeness), and the Greek Church does the same in its
Confession. The latter phrase expresses man’s destination,
which is not to be regarded as carried out at the moment of
creation. (Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine, E. Tr.
II. p. 78). The image lies in the permanent capacities of
man’s nature (Gen. ix. 6; 1 Cor. xi. 7; Jas. iii.
9), the likeness
in their realisation in moral conformity with God (ὁμοήθειαν
Θεοῦ, Ignatius, Magnes vi).
“The image of God is a comprehensive thing.…To this belongs
man’s intellective power, his liberty of will, his dominion over
the other creatures flowing from the two former. These make up
the τὸ
οὐσιῶδες, that
part of that divine image which is natural and essential to man, and
consequently can never be wholly blotted out, defaced, or extinguished,
but still remains even in man fallen. But beside these the Church
of God hath ever acknowledged, in the first man, certain additional
ornaments, and as it were complements of the divine image, such as
immortality, grace, holiness, righteousness, whereby man approached
more nearly to the similitude and likeness of God. These were (if
I may so speak) the lively colours wherein the grace, the beauty, and
lustre of the divine image principally consisted; these colours faded,
yea, were defaced and blotted out by man’s transgression.
(Bull, The State of Man before the Fall, Vol. ii. p. 114,
Ox.). Cf. Iren. (V. vi. § 1; xvi. § 2);
Tertullian (de Baptismo, c. 5); Clem. Alex. (Exhort. c.
12); Origen (c. Cels. IV. 30). | . And the
image he received, but the likeness through his disobedience he
obscured. At the same season then in which he lost this the
restoration also took place. At the same season as the created
man through disobedience was cast out of Paradise, he who believed was
through obedience brought in. Our Salvation then took place at
the same season as the Fall: when the flowers appeared, and the
pruning was come.
11. A garden was the place of His Burial,
and a vine that which was planted there: and He hath said, I
am the vine1707
| 1707 John xv. 1. The Benedictine Editor has
a different punctuation: “and the vine which was planted
there hath said, And I am the Vine.” | ! He was
planted therefore in the earth in order that the curse which came
because of Adam might be rooted out. The earth was condemned to
thorns and thistles: the true Vine sprang up out of the earth,
that the saying might be fulfilled, Truth sprang up out of the
earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven1708
. And what will He that is buried
in the garden say? I have gathered My myrrh with My
spices: and again, Myrrh and aloes, with all chief
spices1709
. Now these
are the symbols of the burying; and in the Gospels it is said, The
women came unto the sepulchre bringing the spices which they had
prepared1710
: Nicodemus
also bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes1711
. And farther on it is written, I
did eat My bread with My honey1712
: the
bitter before the Passion, and the sweet after the Resurrection.
Then after He had risen He entered through closed doors: but they
believed not that it was He: for they supposed that they
beheld a spirit1713
. But He said,
Handle Me and see. Put your fingers into the print of the
nails, as Thomas required. And while they yet believed not for
joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here anything to
eat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and
honeycomb1714
. Seest thou
how that is fulfilled, I did eat My bread with My
honey.
12. But before He entered through the closed
doors, the Bridegroom and Suitor1715
| 1715 ὁ θεραπευτής.
In connexion with “Bridegroom,” and “Him whom my soul
loveth” the meaning “Suitor” is more appropriate than
“Physician.” | of souls was
sought by those noble and brave women. They came, those blessed
ones, to the sepulchre, and sought Him Who had been raised, and the
tears were still dropping from their eyes, when they ought rather to
have been dancing with joy for Him that had risen. Mary came
seeking Him, according to the Gospel, and found Him not: and
presently she heard from the Angels, and afterwards saw the
Christ. Are then these things also written? He says in the
Song of Songs, On my bed I sought Him whom my soul loved.
At what season? By night on my bed I sought Him Whom my soul
loved: Mary, it says, came while it was yet dark. On
my bed I sought Him by night, I sought Him, and I found Him
not1716
. And in the
Gospels Mary says, They have taken away my Lord, and I know not
where they have laid Him1717
. But the
Angels being then present cure their want of knowledge; for they said,
Why seek ye the living among the dead1718
? He not only rose, but had also the
dead with Him when He rose1719
. But she knew
not, and in her person the Song of Songs said to the Angels, Saw ye
Him Whom my soul loved? It was but a little that I passed
from them (that is, from the two Angels), until I found Him Whom my
soul loved. I held Him, and would not let Him go1720
.
13. For after the vision of the Angels,
Jesus came as His own Herald; and the Gospel says, And behold Jesus
met them, saying, All hail! and they came and took hold of His
feet1721
. They took
hold of Him, that it might be fulfilled, I will hold Him, and will
not let Him go. Though the woman was weak in body, her spirit
was manful. Many waters quench not love, neither do rivers
drown it1722
; He was dead whom
they sought, yet was not the hope of the Resurrection quenched.
And the Angel says to them again, Fear not ye; I say not to the
soldiers, fear not, but to you1723
;
as for them, let them be afraid, that, taught by experience, they may
bear witness and say, Truly this was the Son of God1724
; but you ought not to be afraid, for
perfect love casteth out fear1725
. Go,
tell His disciples that He is risen1726
;
and the rest. And they depart with joy, yet full of fear; is this
also written? yes, the second Psalm, which relates the Passion of
Christ, says, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with
trembling1727
;—rejoice, because of the risen
Lord; but with trembling, because of the earthquake, and the
Angel who appeared as lightning.
14. Though, therefore, Chief Priests and
Pharisees through Pilate’s means sealed the tomb; yet the women
beheld Him who was risen. And Esaias knowing the feebleness of
the Chief Priests, and the women’s strength of faith, says, Ye
women, who come from beholding, come hither1728
; for the people hath no
understanding;—the Chief Priests want understanding, while
women are eye-witnesses. And when the soldiers came into the city
to them, and told them all that had come to pass, they said to them,
Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we
slept1729
? Well
therefore did Esaias foretell this also, as in their persons, But
tell us, and relate to us another deceit1730
. He who rose again, is up, and for a
gift of money they persuade the soldiers; but they persuade not the
kings of our time. The soldiers then surrendered the truth for
silver; but the kings of this day have, in their piety, built this holy
Church of the Resurrection of God our Saviour, inlaid with silver and
wrought with gold, in which we are assembled1731
| 1731 Cf. Euseb.
(Life of Const. III. 36.). | ;
and embellished it with the treasures of silver and gold and precious
stones. And if this come to the governor’s ears,
they say, we will persuade him1732
. Yea, though ye persuade the soldiers,
yet ye will not persuade the world; for why, as Peter’s guards
were condemned when he escaped out of the prison, were not
they also who watched Jesus
Christ condemned? Upon the former, sentence was pronounced by
Herod, for they were ignorant and had nothing to say for themselves;
while the latter, who had seen the truth, and concealed it for money,
were protected by the Chief Priests. Nevertheless, though but a
few of the Jews were persuaded at the time, the world became
obedient. They who hid the truth were themselves hidden; but they
who received it were made manifest by the power of the Saviour, who not
only rose from the dead, but also raised the dead with Himself.
And in the person of these the Prophet Osee says plainly, After two
days will He revive us, and in the third day we shall rise again, and
shall live in His sight1733
.
15. But since the disobedient Jews will not
be persuaded by the Divine Scriptures, but forgetting all that is
written gainsay the Resurrection of Jesus, it were good to answer them
thus: On what ground, while you say that Eliseus and Elias raised
the dead, do you gainsay the Resurrection of our Saviour? Is it
that we have no living witnesses now out of that generation to what we
say? Well, do you also bring forward witnesses of the history of
that time. But that is written;—so is this also
written: why then do ye receive the one, and reject the
other? They were Hebrews who wrote that history; so were all the
Apostles Hebrews: why then do ye disbelieve the Jews1734
| 1734 Instead of τοῖς
᾽Ιουδαίοις
the Jerusalem Editor adopts from Cod. A. τοῖς
ἰδίοις, “Your own
countrymen,” a better reading in this place, if it had more
support from mss. The Latin in Milles
has only “Cur igitur non creditis?” | ? Matthew who wrote the Gospel wrote it
in the Hebrew tongue1735
| 1735 The statements
of Papias, Irenæus, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Jerome,
concerning a Hebrew Gospel of S. Matthew are ably discussed by Dr.
Salmon (Introduction to N.T. Lect. X.), who comes to the
conclusion that the Canonical Gospel was not translated from Hebrew
(Aramaic), but originally written in Greek. | ; and Paul the
preacher was a Hebrew of the Hebrews; and the twelve Apostles were all
of Hebrew race: then fifteen Bishops of Jerusalem were appointed
in succession from among the Hebrews1736
| 1736 This statement
may have been derived either from Eusebius (Hist. Eccl.. IV. c.
5), or from the “written records” (ἐγγράφων), from
which he had learned that “until the siege of the Jews which took
place under Adrian (135 a.d.), there were
fifteen bishops in succession there, all of whom are said to have been
of Hebrew descent.” See the list of names, and the notes on
the passage in this Series. | . What
then is your reason for allowing your own accounts, and rejecting ours,
though these also are written by Hebrews from among
yourselves.
16. But it is impossible, some one will say,
that the dead should rise; and yet Eliseus twice raised the
dead,—when he was alive, and also when dead. Do we then
believe, that when Eliseus was dead, a dead man who was cast upon him
and touched him, arose and is Christ not risen? But in that case,
the dead man who touched Eliseus, arose, yet he who raised him
continued nevertheless dead: but in this case both the Dead of
whom we speak Himself arose, and many dead were raised without having
even touched Him. For many bodies of the Saints which slept
arose, and they came out of the graves after His Resurrection, and went
into the Holy City1737
, (evidently this
city, in which we now are1738
| 1738 The Archdeacon of
Jerusalem, Photius Alexandrides, observes that “by this
parenthetic explanation Cyril perhaps wished to refute the opinion
which some favoured that these saints which slept and were raised
entered into the heavenly Jerusalem.” See Euseb. Dem.
Evang. IV. 12. | ,) and appeared
unto many. Eliseus then raised a dead man, but he conquered
not the world; Elias raised a dead man, but devils are not driven away
in the name of Elias. We are not speaking evil of the Prophets,
but we are celebrating their Master more highly; for we do not exalt
our own wonders by disparaging theirs; for theirs also are ours; but by
what happened among them, we win credence for our own.
17. But again they say, “A corpse then
lately dead was raised by the living; but shew us that one three days
dead can possibly arise, and that a man should be buried, and rise
after three days.” If we seek for Scripture testimony in
proof of such facts, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself supplies it in the
Gospels, saying, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth1739
. And
when we examine the story of Jonas, great is the force1740
| 1740 “ἐνέργεια [Forte
ἐνάργεια,
Edit.].” This conjecture of the Benedictine Editor is
recommended by the very appropriate sense “distinctness of the
resemblance,” but seems to have no ms.
authority. | of the resemblance. Jesus was sent to
preach repentance; Jonas also was sent: but whereas the one fled,
not knowing what should come to pass; the other came willingly, to give
repentance unto salvation. Jonas was asleep in the ship, and
snoring amidst the stormy sea; while Jesus also slept, the sea,
according to God’s providence1741
, began to
rise, to shew in the sequel the might of Him who slept. To the
one they said, Why art thou snoring? Arise, call upon thy God,
that God may save us1742
; but in the other
case they say unto the Master, Lord, save us1743
. Then they said, Call upon thy
God; here they say, save Thou. But the one says,
Take me, and cast me into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto
you1744
; the other, Himself
rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm1745
. The one was
cast into a whale’s belly: but the other of His own accord
went down thither, where the invisible whale of death is. And He
went down of His own accord, that death might cast up those whom he had devoured,
according to that which is written, I will ransom them from the
power of the grave; and from the hand of death I will redeem
them1746
.
18. At this point of our discourse, let us
consider whether is harder, for a man after having been buried to rise
again from the earth, or for a man in the belly of a whale, having come
into the great heat of a living creature, to escape corruption.
For what man knows not, that the heat of the belly is so great, that
even bones which have been swallowed moulder away? How then did
Jonas, who was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly,
escape corruption? And, seeing that the nature of all men is such
that we cannot live without breathing, as we do, in air, how did he
live without a breath of this air for three days? But the Jews
make answer and say, The power of God descended with Jonas when he was
tossed about in hell. Does then the Lord grant life to His own
servant, by sending His power with him, and can He not grant it to
Himself as well? If that is credible, this is credible also; if
this is incredible, that also is incredible. For to me both are
alike worthy of credence. I believe that Jonas was preserved, for
all things are possible with God1747
; I
believe that Christ also was raised from the dead; for I have many
testimonies of this, both from the Divine Scriptures, and from the
operative power even at this day1748
| 1748 Cf. Cat. iv. 13; xiii.
3. | of Him who
arose,—who descended into hell alone, but ascended thence with a
great company; for He went down to death, and many bodies of the
saints which slept arose1749
through
Him.
19. Death was struck with dismay on
beholding a new visitant descend into Hades, not bound by the chains of
that place. Wherefore, O porters of Hades, were ye scared at
sight of Him? What was the unwonted fear that possessed
you? Death fled, and his flight betrayed his cowardice. The
holy prophets ran unto Him, and Moses the Lawgiver, and Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob; David also, and Samuel, and Esaias, and John the
Baptist, who bore witness when he asked, Art Thou He that should
come, or look we for another1750
? All the
Just were ransomed, whom death had swallowed; for it behoved the King
whom they had proclaimed, to become the redeemer of His noble
heralds. Then each of the Just said, O death, where is thy
victory? O grave, where is thy sting1751
? For the Conqueror hath redeemed
us.
20. Of this our Saviour the Prophet Jonas
formed the type, when he prayed out of the belly of the whale, and
said, I cried in my affliction, and so on; out of the belly
of hell1752
, and yet he was in
the whale; but though in the whale, he says that he is in Hades; for he
was a type of Christ, who was to descend into Hades. And after a
few words, he says, in the person of Christ, prophesying most clearly,
My head went down to the chasms of the mountains1753
| 1753 Ib. v.
6: (R.V.) I
went down to the bottoms of the mountains: the earth with her
bars closed upon me for ever. | ; and yet he was in the belly of the
whale. What mountains then encompass thee? I know, he says,
that I am a type of Him, who is to be laid in the Sepulchre hewn out of
the rock. And though he was in the sea, Jonas says, I went
down to the earth, since he was a type of Christ, who went down
into the heart of the earth. And foreseeing the deeds of the Jews
who persuaded the soldiers to lie, and told them, Say that they
stole Him away, he says, By regarding lying vanities they
forsook their own mercy1754
. For He who
had mercy on them came, and was crucified, and rose again, giving His
own precious blood both for Jews and Gentiles; yet say they, Say
that they stole Him away, having regard to lying
vanities1755
. But
concerning His Resurrection, Esaias also says, He who brought up
from the earth the great Shepherd of the sheep1756
; he added the word, great, lest He
should be thought on a level with the shepherds who had gone before
Him.
21. Since then we have the prophecies, let
faith abide with us. Let them fall who fall through unbelief,
since they so will; but thou hast taken thy stand on the rock of the
faith in the Resurrection. Let no heretic ever persuade thee to
speak evil of the Resurrection. For to this day the Manichees
say, that, the resurrection of the Saviour was phantom-wise, and not
real, not heeding Paul who says, Who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh; and again, By the resurrection of Jesus
Christ our Lord from the dead1757
| 1757 Rom. i. 3, 4. Cyril in his incomplete
quotation of v. 4 makes ᾽Ιησοῦ
Χριστοῦ τοῦ Κ.
ἡμ. depend on ἀναστάσεως. The right order and construction is given in R.V. who was
declared to be the Son of God.…by the resurrection of the
dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord. | . And
again he aims at them, and speaks thus, Say not in
thine heart, who shall ascend
into heaven; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up
Christ from the dead1758
; and in like
manner warning as he has elsewhere written again, Remember Jesus
Christ raised from the dead1759
; and again,
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God;
because we testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised
not up1760
. But in what
follows he says, But now is Christ risen from the dead, the first
fruits of them that are asleep1761
;—And
He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; (for if thou believe not
the one witness, thou hast twelve witnesses;) then He was seen of
above five hundred brethren at once1762
;
(if they disbelieve the twelve, let them admit the five hundred;)
after that He was seen of James1763
| 1763 Ib.
7. This appearance of
Christ to James is not mentioned in the Gospels. Jerome
(Catalog. Script. Eccles. p. 170 D) mentions a tradition that
James had taken an oath that he would eat no bread from the hour in
which he had drunk the Cup of the Lord, until he should see Him rising
from the dead. Wherefore the Saviour immediately after He had
risen appeared to James and commanded him to eat. | ,
His own brother, and first Bishop of this diocese. Seeing then
that such a Bishop originally1764
| 1764 For τοιούτου
τοίνυν
ἐπισκόπου
πρωτοτύπως
ἰδόντος Codd. Roe, Casaub.
have τοῦ
τοίνυν
πρωτοτύπου
ἐπισκόπου
ἰδόντος, which gives the
better sense—“since therefore the primary Bishop saw,
&c.” On the meaning of παροικία, and the
extent of a primitive Diocese, see Bingham. IX. c. 2. | saw Christ Jesus
when risen, do not thou, his disciple, disbelieve him. But thou
sayest that His brother James was a partial witness; afterwards He
was seen also of me1765
Paul, His enemy;
and what testimony is doubted, when an enemy proclaims it?
“I, who was before a persecutor1766
,
now preach the glad tidings of the Resurrection.”
22. Many witnesses there are of the
Saviour’s resurrection.—The night, and the light of the
full moon; (for that night was the sixteenth1767
;)
the rock of the sepulchre which received Him; the stone also shall rise
up against the face of the Jews, for it saw the Lord; even the stone
which was then rolled away1768
, itself bears
witness to the Resurrection, lying there to this day. Angels of
God who were present testified of the Resurrection of the
Only-begotten: Peter and John, and Thomas, and all the rest of
the Apostles; some of whom ran to the sepulchre, and saw the
burial-clothes, in which He was wrapped before, lying there after the
Resurrection; and others handled His hands and His feet, and beheld the
prints of the nails; and all enjoyed together that Breath of the
Saviour, and were counted worthy to forgive sins in the power of the
Holy Ghost. Women too were witnesses, who took hold of His feet,
and who beheld the mighty earthquake, and the radiance of the Angel who
stood by: the linen clothes also which were wrapped about Him,
and which He left when He rose;—the soldiers, and the money given
to them; the spot itself also, yet to be seen;—and this house of
the holy Church, which out of the loving affection to Christ of the
Emperor Constantine of blessed memory, was both built and beautified as
thou seest.
23. A witness to the resurrection of Jesus
is Tabitha also, who was in His name raised from the dead1769
; for how shall we disbelieve that Christ is
risen, when even His Name raised the dead? The sea also bears
witness to the resurrection of Jesus, as thou hast heard
before1770
. The drought
of fishes also testifies, and the fire of coals there, and the fish
laid thereon. Peter also bears witness, who had erst denied Him
thrice, and who then thrice confessed Him; and was commanded to feed
His spiritual1771
sheep. To
this day stands Mount Olivet, still to the eyes of the faithful all but
displaying Him Who ascended on a cloud, and the heavenly gate of His
ascension. For from heaven He descended to Bethlehem, but to
heaven He ascended from the Mount of Olives1772
| 1772 St. Luke (xxiv.
50) describes the
Ascension as taking place at Bethany, but the tradition, which Cyril
follows, had long since fixed the scene on the summit of the Mount of
Olives, a mile nearer to Jerusalem; and here the Empress Helena had
built the Church of the Ascension (Eusebius, Life of
Constantine, III. 43; Demonstr. Evang. VI. xviii. 26).
There is nothing in Cyril’s language to warrant the Benedictine
Editor’s suggestion that he alludes to the legend, according to
which the marks of Christ’s feet were indelibly impressed on the
spot from which He ascended. In the next generation St. Augustine
seems to countenance the miraculous story (In Joh. Evang. Tract
xlvii.): “There are His footsteps, now adored, where last
He stood, and whence He ascended into heaven.” The supposed
trace of one foot is still shewn on Mount Olivet; “the other
having been removed by the Turks is now to be found in the Chapel of S.
Thecla, which is in the Patriarch’s Palace” (Jerusalem
Ed.). Compare Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, c. xiv.;
Dictionary of Bible, Olives Mount of. | ;
at the former place beginning His conflicts among men, but in the
latter, crowned after them. Thou hast therefore many witnesses;
thou hast this very place of the Resurrection; thou hast also the place
of the Ascension towards the east; thou hast also for witnesses the
Angels which there bore testimony; and the cloud on which He went up,
and the disciples who came down from that place.
24. The course of instruction in the Faith
would lead me to speak of the Ascension also; but the grace of God so
ordered1773
| 1773 ᾠκονόμησε.
In this word, as also in the phrase below, κατ᾽
οἰκονομίαν
τῆς Θείας
χάριτος, Cyril refers to the
order of reading the Scriptures as part of a dispensation established
by Divine grace. | it, that thou
heardest most fully concerning it, as far as our weakness allowed,
yesterday, on the Lord’s day; since, by the
providence of divine grace, the course of the Lessons1774
| 1774 ἀναγνωσμάτων
a term including the portions of Scripture (περικοπαί)
appointed for the Epistle and Gospel as well as the daily lessons from
the Old and New Testaments. | in Church included the account of our
Saviour’s going up into the heavens1775
| 1775 The section
Luke xxiv.
36–53, which in the
Eastern Church is the Gospel for Ascension Day, is also one of the
“eleven morning Gospels of the Resurrection (εὐαγγέλια
ἀναστασιμὰ
ἑωθινά), which were read
in turn, one every Sunday at Matins.” Dictionary of Chr.
Antiq. “Lectionary.” This Lecture being delivered
on Monday, the Section in question had been read on the preceding
day. | ;
and what was then said was spoken principally for the sake of all, and
for the assembled body of the faithful, yet especially for thy
sake1776
| 1776 μάλιστα
μὲν…ἐξαιρέτως
δέ. | . But the question is, didst thou
attend to what was said? For thou knowest that the words which
come next in the Creed teach thee to believe in Him “Who
rose again the third day, and ascended into Heaven,
and sat down on the right hand of the Father.” I
suppose then certainly that thou rememberest the exposition; yet I will
now again cursorily put thee in mind of what was then said.
Remember what is distinctly written in the Psalms, God is gone up
with a shout1777
; remember that the
divine powers also said to one another, Lift up your gates, ye
Princes1778
| 1778 Ps. xxiv. 7: Lift up, O gates, your
heads. The order of the Hebrew words misled the Greek
Translators. | , and the rest;
remember also the Psalm which says, He ascended on high, He led
captivity captive1779
; remember the
Prophet who said, Who buildeth His ascension unto
heaven1780
; and all the other
particulars mentioned yesterday because of the gainsaying of the
Jews.
25. For when they speak against the
ascension of the Saviour, as being impossible, remember the account of
the carrying away of Habakkuk: for if Habakkuk was transported by
an Angel, being carried by the hair of his head1781
,
much rather was the Lord of both Prophets and Angels, able by His own
power to make His ascent into the Heavens on a cloud from the Mount of
Olives. Wonders like this thou mayest call to mind, but reserve
the preeminence for the Lord, the Worker of wonders; for the others
were borne up, but He bears up all things. Remember that Enoch
was translated1782
; but Jesus
ascended: remember what was said yesterday concerning Elias, that
Elias was taken up in a chariot of fire1783
;
but that the chariots of Christ are ten thousand-fold even
thousands upon thousands1784
: and that
Elias was taken up, towards the east of Jordan; but that Christ
ascended at the east of the brook Cedron: and that Elias went
as into heaven1785
| 1785 Sept. ὡς
εἰς τὸν
οὐρανόν. In
1 Macc. ii. 58 the mss.
vary between ἕως and
ὡς, but the latter (says Fritzsche) “is an
alteration made to agree with 2 Kings ii. 11. But there the reference is
to the intended exaltation of Elijah into heaven, and
therefore ὡς is rightly used (Kühner,
Gramm. § 604, note; Jelf, § 626, Obs. 1), while here
the thing is referred to as an accomplished historical
fact.” The distinction here drawn by Cyril is therefore
hypercritical, as is seen below in § 26, where he writes,
᾽Ηλίας μὲν γὰρ
ἀνελήφθη εἰς
οὐρανόν. | ; but Jesus, into
heaven: and that Elias said that a double portion in the Holy
Spirit should be given to his holy disciple; but that Christ granted to
His own disciples so great enjoyment of the grace of the Holy Ghost, as
not only to have It in themselves, but also, by the laying on of their
hands, to impart the fellowship of It to them who believed.
26. And when thou hast thus wrestled against
the Jews,—when thou hast worsted them by parallel instances, then
come further to the pre-eminence of the Saviour’s glory; namely,
that they were the servants, but He the Son of God. And thus thou
wilt be reminded of His pre-eminence, by the thought that a servant of
Christ was caught up to the third heaven. For if Elias attained
as far as the first heaven, but Paul as far as the third, the latter,
therefore, has obtained a more honourable dignity. Be not ashamed
of thine Apostles; they are not inferior to Moses, nor second to the
Prophets; but they are noble among the noble, yea, nobler still.
For Elias truly was taken up into heaven; but Peter has the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, having received the words, Whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven1786
. Elias was taken up only to heaven;
but Paul both into heaven, and into paradise1787
(for it behoved the disciples of Jesus to
receive more manifold grace), and heard unspeakable words, which it
is not lawful for man to utter. But Paul came down again from
above, not because he was unworthy to abide in the third heaven, but in
order that after having enjoyed things above man’s reach, and
descended in honour, and having preached Christ, and died for His sake,
he might receive also the crown of martyrdom. But I pass over the
other parts of this argument, of which I spoke yesterday in the
Lord’s-day congregation; for with understanding hearers, a mere
reminder is sufficient for instruction.
27. But remember also what I have often
said1788
| 1788 See Cat. iv. 7; xi.
17. The clause, καὶ
καθίσαντα ἐκ
δεξιῶν τοῦ
Πατρός, does not occur in
the original form of the Nicene Creed, but is found in the Confession
of Faith contained in Const. Apost. c. 41, in the four Eusebian
Confessions of Antioch (341, 2 a.d.), and in
the Macrostichos (344 a.d.). An
equivalent clause is found in the brief Confession of Hippolytus (circ.
220 a.d.) Contra Hæres.
Noeti, c. 1: “καὶ ὄντα ἐν
δεξίᾳ τοῦ
Πατρός,” and in Tertullian,
De Virgin. Veland. c. 1: “Regula quidem Fidei una
omnino est, sola immobilis et irreformabilis,.…sedentem nunc ad
dextram Patris:” de Præscriptione, c
13: “Regula est autem fidei.…sedisse ad
dexteram Patris:” adversus Praxean, c. 2:
“sedere ad dexteram Patris.” | concerning the Son’s sitting at the
right hand of the
Father; because of the next sentence in the Creed, which says,
“and ascended into Heaven, and sat down at the
right hand of the Father.” Let us not curiously pry
into what is properly meant by the throne; for it is
incomprehensible: but neither let us endure those who falsely
say, that it was after His Cross and Resurrection and Ascension into
heaven, that the Son began to sit on the right hand of the
Father. For the Son gained not His throne by advancement1789
| 1789 ἐκ
προκοπῆς. Cf.
Cat. x. 5, note 8. | ; but throughout His being (and His being is
by an eternal generation1790
| 1790 ἀφ᾽
οὗπερ ἔστιν,
(ἔστι δὲ ἀεὶ
γεννηθείς).
In both clauses ἔστιν is emphatic. | ) He also sitteth
together with the Father. And this throne the Prophet Esaias
having beheld before the incarnate coming of the Saviour, says, I
saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up1791
, and the
rest. For the Father no man hath seen at any time1792
, and He who then
appeared to the Prophet was the Son. The Psalmist also says,
Thy throne is prepared of old; Thou art from everlasting1793
. Though then
the testimonies on this point are many, yet because of the lateness of
the time, we will content ourselves even with these.
28. But now I must remind you of a few
things out of many which are spoken concerning the Son’s sitting
at the right hand of the Father. For the hundred and ninth Psalm
says plainly, The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy
footstool1794
. And the
Saviour, confirming this saying in the Gospels, says that David spoke
not these things of himself, but from the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, saying, How then doth David in the Spirit call Him Lord,
saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right
hand1795
? and the
rest. And in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter on the day of
Pentecost standing with the Eleven1796
, and
discoursing to the Israelites, has in very words cited this testimony
from the hundred and ninth Psalm.
29. But I must remind you also of a few
other testimonies in like manner concerning the Son’s sitting at
the right hand of the Father. For in the Gospel according to
Matthew it is written, Nevertheless, I say unto you, Henceforth ye
shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of
power1797
, and the
rest: in accordance with which the Apostle Peter also writes,
By the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is on the right hand of
God, having gone into heaven1798
. And the
Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, says, It is Christ that died,
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God1799
. And charging
the Ephesians, he thus speaks, According to the working of His
mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead, and set Him at His own right hand1800
;
and the rest. And the Colossians he taught thus, If ye then be
risen with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God1801
. And in the
Epistle to the Hebrews he says, When He had made purification of our
sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high1802
. And again, But unto which of the
Angels hath He said at any time, Sit thou at My right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy footstool1803
? And
again, But He, when He had offered one sacrifice for all men, for
ever sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till
His enemies be made His footstool1804
. And again, Looking unto Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the Cross, despising shame, and is set down on the right
hand of the throne of God1805
.
30. And though there are many other texts
concerning the session of the Only-begotten on the right hand of God,
yet these may suffice us at present; with a repetition of my remark,
that it was not after His coming in the flesh1806
| 1806 τὴν
ἔνσαρκον
παρουσίαν.
Cf. § 27. |
that He obtained the dignity of this seat; no, for even before all
ages, the Only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, ever
possesses the throne on the right hand of the Father. Now may He
Himself, the God of all, who is Father of the Christ, and our Lord
Jesus Christ, who came down, and ascended, and sitteth together with
the Father, watch over your souls; keep unshaken and unchanged your
hope in Him who rose again; raise you together with Him from your dead
sins unto His heavenly gift; count you worthy to be caught up in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air1807
,
in His fitting time; and, until that time arrive of His glorious second
advent, write all your names in the Book of the living, and having
written them, never blot them out (for the names of many, who fall
away, are blotted out); and may He grant to all of you to believe on
Him who rose again, and to look for Him who is gone up, and is to come
again, (to come, but not from the earth; for be on your guard, O man,
because of the deceivers who are to come;) Who sitteth on high, and is
here present together with us, beholding the order of each, and the steadfastness of his
faith1808
. For
think not that because He is now absent in the flesh, He is therefore
absent also in the Spirit. He is here present in the midst of us,
listening to what is said of Him, and beholding thine inward thoughts,
and trying the reins and hearts1809
;—who also is now ready to present
those who are coming to baptism, and all of you, in the Holy Ghost to
the Father, and to say, Behold, I and the children whom God hath
given Me1810
:—To whom be
glory for ever. Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
