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being insulted, being spat upon, being slapped, he offered healings. As the greatness of healing, he brought his own divinity to the nature of humanity as a medicine, a most effective medicine, an all-powerful medicine. This showed the weak flesh to be more powerful than the invisible things. For just as iron is unapproachable when united with fire, so the grass of our nature, having been united with the fire of the divinity, has become unapproachable to the devil; and since the sons of physicians say that opposites are the cures for opposites, through opposites he casts down opposites: pleasure, through pains; pride, through humility. For not only did he humble himself, being rich in divinity, and becoming man, but also among men he humbled himself. For which of men is so humble? For he has not a place to lay his head. He did not have a beast of burden, not a second cloak, not another tunic. Being reviled he did not revile 96.580 in return; suffering he did not threaten; like a harmless lamb he was led to be sacrificed, not striving, not crying out; being slapped he readily gave his cheek to the one striking him; he did not turn away his face from the shame of spitting; being called a Samaritan and one who has a demon, being persecuted he endures these things, so that we also may follow in his footsteps. All these things he accomplished by the Father's good pleasure. For being from him the only-begotten and consubstantial Son, he made public his fatherly love for us. For God and the Father so loved us, that he gave his only-begotten Son as a ransom for us. O unsurpassable love! The only-begotten Son reigning together with him, for disobedient servants, for blaspheming enemies, and those serving the enemy, and proclaiming him god. O depth of the riches of the goodness of God! But the only-begotten Son did not resist; he did not set aside the Father's will. For he himself was the counsel and the will of the Father. Therefore indeed, as a sharer and partaker of the nature—for the nature of the Father and the Son is one—he serves as by his own will, and becomes man, and becomes obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross, healing my disobedience. 3. He comes therefore, hastening to suffer, and hurrying to drink the cup of death which is the salvation of the whole world. He comes hungering for the salvation of men, and finds no fruit in it; for the fig tree hints at this parabolically. For who eats early? The king, the Lord, the Teacher; hungering early, he does not have the desire for food. He does not control His nature, but as someone unrestrained and licentious, rushes irrationally towards food, at an inopportune time. And how does he teach the disciples to fast, and not to be overcome by the passion of desire? This is not so; but just as in word teaching through parables he spoke, so also in deed he goes through the parables. He approached the fig tree, having hungered. The fig tree represented the nature of humanity. The fruit of the fig tree is sweet, the leaves are rough, and useless, and ready for burning; but also the nature of humanity had the sweetest fruit of virtue, having been commanded by God to bear this fruit. But it acquired through the fruitlessness of virtue the roughness of the leaves. For what is rougher than the cares of life? Once Adam and Eve were naked, and they were not ashamed; naked in simplicity, and artless life. They did not have arts and the cares of life; they did not devise how they would cover the nakedness of the body; they were not ashamed of their lack of possessions; not of the smoothness of life, but even if 96.581 they were naked in body, they were covered by divine grace. They did not have a bodily covering, but they had a garment of incorruptibility; for inasmuch as through obedience they were made intimate with God, so much with the garment of incorruptibility. But having disobeyed, they were distanced from the grace that covered them. They were stripped bare of their rapture toward God

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ὑβριζόμενος, ἐμπτυόμενος, ῥαπιζόμενος, τὰς ἰάσεις προσέφερεν. Ὡς μέγεθος ἰατρείας τὴν αὐτοῦ θεότητα προσήνεγκεν τῇ φύσει τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος φάρμακον, φάρμακον ἐνεργέστατον, φάρμακον πανταδύναμον. Αὕτη τὸ ἀσθενὲς σαρκίον, τῶν ἀοράτων ἀνέδειξεν δυνατώτερον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀπρόσιτος ὁ σίδηρος τῷ πυρὶ ἑνούμενος, οὕτως ὁ χόρτος τῆς ἡμετέρας φύσεως ἑνωθεὶς τῷ πυρὶ τῆς θεότητος, ἀπρόσιτος τῷ διαβόλῳ γέγονε· καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὰ ἐναντία τῶν ἐναντίων ἰάματα οἱ τῶν ἰατρῶν παῖδές φασιν, διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων καταβάλλει τὰ ἐναντία· τὴν ἡδονὴν, διὰ τῶν πόνων· τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν, διὰ τῆς ταπεινώσεως. Οὐ μόνον γὰρ ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν, πλούσιος ὢν θεότητι, καὶ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν. Τίς γὰρ ἀνθρώπων τοσοῦτον ταπεινός; Οὐκ ἔχει μὲν γὰρ ποῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν κλῖναι. Οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ ὑποζύγιον, οὐ δισσὸν περιβόλαιον, οὐ χιτὼν ἄλλος. Λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοι 96.580 δόρει· πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει· ὡς ἀρνίον ἄκακον ἤγετο τοῦ θύεσθαι, οὐκ ἐρίζων, οὐ κραυγάζων· ῥαπιζόμενος ἐδίδου προθύμως τὴν σιαγόνα τῷ πταίοντι· οὐκ ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον ἀπὸ αἰσχύνης ἐμπτυσμάτων· Σαμαρείτης καὶ δαιμονῶν ἀποκαλούμενος, διωκόμενος ταῦτα ὑπομένει, ὅπως καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῖς αὐτοῦ ἀκολουθήσωμεν ἴχνεσι. Ταῦτα πάντα εὐδοκίᾳ πατρικῇ ἐπετέλει. Ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ ὢν Υἱὸς μονογενὴς καὶ ὁμοούσιος, τὴν πατρικὴν αὐτοῦ περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην ἐδημιοσίευσεν. Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ, ὥστε τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκε λύτρον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Ὢ ἀγάπης ἀνυπερβλήτου! Υἱὸν μονογενῆ συμβασιλεύοντα αὐτῷ ὑπὲρ δούλων παρηκόων, ὑπὲρ ἐχθρῶν βλασφημούντων, καὶ τῷ ἐχθρῷ λατρευόντων, καὶ τοῦτον Θεὸν ἀναγορευόντων. Ὢ βάθος πλούτου τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητος! Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀντέστη ὁ μονογενὴς Υἱός· οὐκ ἠθέτησε τὴν πατρικὴν βουλήν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἦν ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ἡ θέλησις τοῦ Πατρός. ∆ιὸ δὴ ὡς τῆς φύσεως κοινωνός τε καὶ μέτοχος· μία γὰρ φύσις ἐστὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ μία· ὡς οἰκείῳ ἐξυπηρετεῖται θελήματι, καὶ ἄνθρωπος γίνεται, καὶ καθίσταται ὑπήκοος τῷ Πατρὶ μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ, τὴν ἐμὴν παρακοὴν ἰώμενος. γʹ. Ἔρχεται τοίνυν παθεῖν ἐπειγόμενος, καὶ σπεύδων πιεῖν τὸ τοῦ θανάτου ποτήριον τὸ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου σωτήριον. Ἔρχεται πεινῶν τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίαν, καὶ οὐχ εὑρίσκει ἐν αὐτῇ καρπόν· ταύτην γὰρ ἡ συκῆ παραβολικῶς αἰνίττεται. Τίς γὰρ πρωῒ ἐσθίει; Ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὁ Κύριος, ὁ ∆ιδάσκαλος· πρωῒ πεινῶν, οὐκ ἔχει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς βρώσεως. Οὐ κρατεῖ τῆς φύσεως, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τις ἀκρατὴς καὶ ἀκόλαστος, ἀλόγως ὁρμᾷ πρὸς τὴν βρῶσιν, ἐν καιρῷ τῷ μὴ προσήκοντι. Καὶ πῶς παιδεύει τοὺς μαθητὰς νηστεύειν, καὶ μὴ ἡττᾶσθαι πάθει ἐπιθυμίας; Οὐχ οὕτως τοῦτό ἐστιν· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ λόγῳ διὰ παραβολῶν διδάσκων ἐλάλει, οὕτω καὶ ἔργῳ τὰς παραβολὰς διεξέρχεται. Προσῆλθε τῇ συκῇ πεινάσας. Ἡ συκῆ ὑπέγραφε τὴν τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος φύσιν. Γλυκὺς καρπὸς τῆς συκῆς, τραχεῖα τὰ φύλλα, καὶ ἄχρηστα, καὶ πρὸς καῦσιν ἕτοιμα· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ φύσις τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος γλυκύτατον εἶχε τὸν καρπὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς, παρὰ Θεοῦ ταύτην καρποφορεῖν προστεταγμένη. Ἐπεκτήσατο δὲ διὰ τῆς ἀκαρπίας τῆς ἀρετῆς τὴν τῶν φύλλων τὴν τραχύτητα. Τί γὰρ τραχύτερον τῶν βιωτικῶν μεριμνῶν; Γυμνὸς ἦν ποτε ὁ Ἀδὰμ καὶ ἡ Εὔα, καὶ οὐκ ᾐσχύνοντο· γυμνὸς τῇ ἁπλότητι, καὶ ἀτέχνῳ ζωῇ. Οὐκ ἦσαν αὐτοῖς τέχναι καὶ βιωτικαὶ μέριμναι· οὐκ ἐπενόουν πῶς ἐπικαλύψουσι τοῦ σώματος τὴν γύμνωσιν· οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνοντο τῇ ἀκτημοσύνῃ· οὐ τῇ τῆς ζωῆς λειότητι, ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ 96.581 γυμνοὶ ἦσαν τῷ σώματι, ἐσκέποντο τῇ θείᾳ χάριτι. Οὐκ ἦν αὐτοῖς σωματικὸν περιβόλαιον, ἀλλ' ἦν αὐτοῖς ἔνδυμα ἀφθαρσίας· ὅσον γὰρ διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς ᾠκειοῦντο τῷ Θεῷ, τοσοῦτον τῷ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἐνδύματι. Παρακούσαντες δὲ, ἐμακρύνθησαν τῆς σκεπούσης αὐτοὺς χάριτος. Ἐγυμνώθησαν τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἐκστάσεως