John Chrysostom, On Holy Pascha -

man, he was scourged as a man, he was spat upon as a man, he was crucified as a man, he was mocked as a man, he was given vinegar to drink as a man, he died as a man, he was buried as a man, he rose as God not as a man. How was he found to be a self-risen God? He suffered many things from many people and defended himself against none of them, he was dishonored by his slaves and he harmed none of them. The Jews were shouting and saying: Is this not the carpenter's son? And again: He has a demon and is mad, why do you listen to him? And again: You are a Samaritan and have a demon. And: he rendered to no one evil for evil. These things deceived my foolishness, these things mocked me, the wretched one, by these things I was hooked, by these things I was baited. He condescended to endure all things through the body; if ever he showed the greatness of his divinity, flying with swift feet I invisibly withdrew. He often overshadowed them with sufferings and I could not bear his incomprehensible power; whence often seeing the proofs of his divinity I would shout and say through the evil demons that followed me: I beg you, do not torment me, and again: What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?

But when I heard him crying: My soul is very sorrowful, even to death, and: now is my soul troubled, when I saw him agonizing and crying to his own Father: Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, I leaped upon him again, reckoning him to be a common man. But as it seems, it was for my sake that he spoke thus, in order to bait me and, having deceived me, to redeem man who had been deceived by me. But I, the wretched one, did not understand; I should have, having heard him say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, to investigate the truth from the facts themselves. For he who counsels a man not to fear death, how could he himself be seized by the fear of death? But having put him to death, I was put to death; having crucified him, I was publicly disgraced; having forged the nails, I was pierced; having woven the thorns, I was wounded; having brought him gall, I was bitterly put to death; having clothed him in a cloak, I was shackled. Since therefore the day is filled with such gladness, this is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day which the Lord has made; for he himself made the day and through his own resurrection he made it bright. For the creator of the day also condescended through the flesh to serve the number of days and months and hours and years, he whom the blessed John the evangelist preached, saying: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John, how did you raise your mind, how did you bring your reasoning to a peak, how did you transcend nature, how did you tread upon heaven, how did you pass by the orders of angels and archangels and the powers and choirs above, how did you approach the holy throne itself, and how did you pass by that and see the Word who was truly in the beginning, the Son of God? Who taught you, John, this utterance?

How did you dare to speak the unspeakable things? How did you name the Son 'Word'? No one else has uttered these things. And certainly John will say that it is not I who speak, but the Holy Spirit who speaks in me. It prepared him not to say, 'in the beginning the Son was begotten,' since those who think wrongly are meddlesome and scrutinize the words and handle the sayings. And hearing 'in the beginning the Son was begotten' they were about to arrange the manner of the generation, and how and when, and to suppose the generation to be passible. For this reason he also banishes the doubt of their soul and dispels the passible suspicion by saying: In the beginning was the Word. And just as from the mind the word comes forth without passion and neither diminishes the one who begets it and itself comes forth perfect, so also the Son of God is begotten perfect from the whole

ἄνθρωπος, ἐμαστίχθη ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἐνεπτύσθη ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἐσταυρώθη ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἐνεπαίχθη ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ὄξος ἐποτίσθη ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἀπέθανεν ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἐτάφη ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἀνέστη ὡς θεὸς οὐχ ὡς ἄνθρωπος. Πῶς εὑρέθη θεὸς αὐτέγερτος; Ἔπαθε πολλὰ παρὰ πολλῶν καὶ οὐδένα τούτων ἠμύνατο, ἠτιμάσθη παρὰ τῶν δούλων καὶ οὐδένα τούτων ἐλυμήνατο. Ἰουδαῖοι ἐβόων καὶ ἔλεγον· Οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός, καὶ πάλιν· ∆αιμόνιον ἔχει καὶ μαίνεται, τί αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε, καὶ πάλιν· Σαμαρείτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις· καί· οὐδενὶ κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ ἀπέδωκεν. Ταῦτά μου τὴν ἀφροσύνην ἠπάτησεν, ταῦτά με τὸν ἄθλιον ἐχλεύασεν, διὰ τούτων ἠγκιστρεύθην, διὰ τούτων ἐδελεάσθην. Πάντα ὑπομεῖναι διὰ τοῦ σώματος κατεδέξατο· εἴ ποτε τῆς θεότητος ὑπέδειξε μέγεθος, ὀξέσι ποσὶν ἱπτάμενος ἀοράτως ὑπέστρεφον. Συνεσκίαζε πολλάκις παθήμασι καὶ οὐκ ἔφερον αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀχώρητον δύναμιν· ὅθεν πολλάκις θεασάμενος τῆς θεότητος τὰ τεκμήρια ἐβόων καὶ ἔλεγον διὰ τῶν ἑπομένων μοι πονηρῶν δαιμόνων· ∆έομαί σου μή με βασανίσῃς, καὶ πάλιν· Τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοί, υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ; ἦλθες πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς.

Ἀλλ' ὡς ἤκουον βοῶντος· Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως θανάτου, καί· νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται, ὡς ἐθεασάμην ἀγωνιῶντα καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα βοῶντα· Πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι παρελθέτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, ἐπεπήδησα πάλιν κοινὸν λογισάμενος εἶναι ἄνθρωπον. Ὡς δὲ ἔοικεν, δι' ἐμὲ οὕτως ἐφθέγγετο, ἵνα με δελεάσῃ καὶ ἀπατήσας ἐμὲ τὸν ὑπ' ἐμοῦ ἀπατηθέντα λυτρώσηται ἄνθρωπον. Οὐκ ἔγνων δὲ ὁ δείλαιος· ἔδει με αὐτοῦ ἀκούσαντα· Μὴ φοβήθητε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκτενόντων τὸ σῶμα τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐρευνᾶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ὁ γὰρ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι ἀνθρώπῳ συμβουλεύων τὸν θάνατον, πῶς αὐτὸς φόβῳ τοῦ θανάτου συνείχετο; Ἀλλὰ θανατώσας ἐθανατώθην, σταυρώσας ἐστηλιτεύθην, ἥλους χαλκεύσας περιεπάρην, ἀκάνθας πλέξας ἐτραυματίσθην, χολὴν προσκομίσας πικρῶς ἐθανατώθην, χλανίδα ἐνδύσας συνεποδίσθην. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τῆς τοιαύτης εὐφροσύνης ἡ ἡμέρα πεπλήρωται, αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ. Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐποίησε τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῆς ἰδίας ἐφαίδρυνεν αὐτήν. Ὁ γὰρ δημιουργὸς τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν κατεδέξατο διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ μησὶ καὶ ὥραις καὶ ἐνιαυτοῖς δουλεῦσαι, ὃν ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐκήρυσσε λέγων· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. Ἰωάννη, πῶς ὕψωσάς σου τὸν νοῦν, πῶς ἐκορύφωσάς σου τὸν λογισμόν, πῶς ὑπερέβης τὴν φύσιν, πῶς ἐπάτησας τὸν οὐρανόν, πῶς παρῆλθες τάξεις ἀγγέλων καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς ἄνω δυνάμεις καὶ χοροστασίας, πῶς αὐτῷ τῷ θρόνῳ τῷ ἁγίῳ ἤγγισας, πῶς δὲ κἀκεῖνον παρέδραμες καὶ ἐθεάσω τὸν ἐν ἀρχῇ ὄντα ὄντως υἱὸν θεοῦ λόγον; Τίς σε, Ἰωάννη, ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν ἐδίδαξεν;

Πῶς λέγειν τὰ ἄρρητα κατετόλμησας; Πῶς τὸν υἱὸν λόγον ὠνόμασας; Οὐδεὶς ἄλλος ταῦτα ἐφθέγξατο. Καὶ πάντως Ἰωάννης ἐρεῖ ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ λαλῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ λαλοῦν ἐν ἐμοί. Αὐτὸ παρεσκεύασε μὴ λέγειν ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ υἱὸς ἐγεννήθη, ἐπειδὴ φιλοπράγμονες ὑπάρχουσιν οἱ κακῶς φρονοῦντες καὶ περιεργάζονται τοὺς λόγους καὶ τρακτεύουσι τὰ ῥήματα. Καὶ ἤμελλον ἀκούσαντες ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ υἱὸς ἐγεννήθη τὸν τρόπον τῆς γεννήσεως συντάττειν καὶ πῶς καὶ πότε καὶ παθητὴν ὑπολαμβάνειν τὴν γέννησιν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ἀμφιβολίαν αὐτῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξορίζει καὶ τὴν παθητικὴν διασκεδάζει ὑπόνοιαν λέγων· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος. Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ νοῦ ἀπαθῶς ὁ λόγος προέρχεται καὶ οὔτε τὸν γεννήσαντα μειοῖ καὶ αὐτὸς προέρχεται τέλειος, οὕτως καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τέλειος ἐξ ὅλου γεγέννηται