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resting on the seraphim in a manner befitting God; for where there is the form of a servant, there is the donkey that bears him; but where there is the form of God, there is the paternal bosom that cherishes. You just heard about this also, from the evangelist saying: And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat upon it. O, what paradoxical events! For was not the Lord Christ able, He who has heaven as his throne and the earth as his footstool, He who brought all existing things from non-being into being with a nod, to present a multitude of snow-white mules, or pearl-like chariots welded with gold, or a herd of horses with many-colored trappings, or a quiet gathering of handsome spear-bearers, or the well-ordered procession of distinguished rulers, or all the rest of the retinue that the friends of the world gladly parade? But he pursues none of these things. Why? So that he might not frustrate the economy, so that the achievement might not be inscribed to mere appearance, so that those who believe might run not to the form but to the reality, so that the children of the Jews and Greeks might not be about to say, that the royal dignity of the one who came, or the honor, or the bodyguard, or the spectacle convinced the more simple-minded, and not the truth of the events. Therefore, that every wicked mouth might be stopped and the whole world might be held accountable to God, for this reason the Lord Christ, seated on a lowly donkey and choosing only twelve humble disciples, common men, poor men, hunters of mute fish, hooked the entire inhabited world through them, not by casting a line into the deep, but by sending a word into the world. What word? The one which Lazarus heard and leaped out of the tomb, the dead man opening his hearing not by a sequence of nature but by the energy of divinity. For you just heard the evangelist saying: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus who had died was, whom he had raised from the dead. Six days before the Passover. Hear the day, you who long for the day of the Lord. Six days before the Passover. Count the days, so that you may enjoy the day. The presence is near, the night is far spent, the day is at hand; the winter of ignorance has passed, the spring of knowledge has appeared. Run the course of the forty days like an athlete and await the crown of the feast. For it is good to remind you of this also, that the forty days, with the good will of God, have been completed, and the week of the Lord's passion is opened from today; for it was not when the Lord Christ fasted that he also suffered. Listen with understanding. For he fasted after his baptism, when, having fought with the devil, he struck him down and granted the victory to Adam. For our Lord Christ did not suffer for himself, but for the one lying below; nor did he fast for himself, but for the one who had swallowed disobedience; nor was he baptized for himself, but for the one who was defiled by sin. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ fasted after his baptism. But nevertheless let us also inquire into this in a digression, why we fast before baptism, but the Lord Christ fasted after baptism. Why? Because we, being swollen with sins and having burdened the belly of our soul, necessarily accept the fast before baptism as a God-given antidote, so that, having cleansed ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, we may come to desire the heavenly bread. But the Lord Christ, as being free from sin, fasts after baptism, bestowing a model, not bewailing sin. For though our Lord Christ was called a curse and sin, nevertheless he himself was not defiled, but he took upon himself our sins; and a sponsor for anything whatever is held responsible not as a master, but as a mediator. Wherefore, having taken up Adam's debt and paid it, he also wiped away the record of our sins on the cross with the sponge of his loving-kindness and not

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σεραφὶμ ἀναπαυόμενον θεοπρεπῶς· ὅπου γὰρ δούλου μορφή, ἐκεῖ ὀνάριον τὸ βαστάζον· ὅπου δὲ θεοῦ μορφή, ἐκεῖ πατρικὸς κόλπος ὁ θάλπων. Ἤκουες ἀρτίως καὶ περὶ τούτου τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Εὑρὼν δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὀνάριον ἐκάθισεν ἐπ' αὐτό. Ὢ τῶν παραδόξων πραγμάτων. Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἴσχυεν ὁ δεσπότης Χριστός, ὁ οὐρανὸν θρόνον ἔχων, τὴν δὲ γῆν ὑποπόδιον, ὁ πάντα τὰ ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι νεύματι παραγαγών, πλῆθος ἐξάσπρων ἡμιόνων παραστῆσαι, ἢ ἅρματα μαργαριτοειδῆ χρυσοκόλλητα, ἢ ἵππων ποικιλοστρώτων ἀγέλην, ἢ δορυφόρων ὡραιομόρφων ἥσυχον συνδρομήν, ἢ ἀρχόντων ἐπισήμων εὔρυθμον προοδοιπόρησιν, ἢ πᾶσαν τὴν λοιπὴν θεραπείαν ἣν ἡδέως οἱ τοῦ κόσμου φίλοι περισύρουσιν; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν τούτων μετέρχεται. ∆ιὰ τί; Ἵνα μὴ ἐκκόψῃ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, ἵνα μὴ φαντασίᾳ ἐπιγραφῇ τὸ κατόρθωμα, ἵνα μὴ τῷ σχήματι, ἀλλὰ τῷ πράγματι προσδράμωσιν οἱ πιστεύοντες, ἵνα μὴ μέλλωσι λέγειν Ἰουδαίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων παῖδες, ὅτιπερ τὸ βασιλικὸν ἀξίωμα τοῦ παραγενομένου ἢ ἡ τιμὴ ἢ ἡ δορυφορία ἢ ἡ φαντασία ἔπεισε τοὺς ἀκεραιοτέρους, οὐχὶ δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια τῶν πραγμάτων. Ἵνα οὖν πᾶν στόμα φαῦλον φράξῃ καὶ πᾶς ὁ κόσμος ὑπόδικος γένηται τῷ θεῷ, τούτου ἕνεκεν ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς εὐτελεῖ ὀναρίῳ καθεσθεὶς καὶ δεκαδύο μόνους μαθητὰς ἐκλεξάμενος εὐτελεῖς, ἰδιώτας, πένητας, ἀφώνων ἰχθύων θηρευτάς, τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν δι' αὐτῶν ἠγκίστρευσεν, οὐχ ὁρμιὰν εἰς βυθὸν ῥίψας, ἀλλὰ λόγον εἰς κόσμον πέμψας. Ποῖον λόγον; Ὃν ἀκούσας Λάζαρος ἐξεπήδησε τοῦ μνημείου, οὐ φύσεως ἀκολουθίᾳ ἀλλὰ θεότητος ἐνεργείᾳ τὴν ἀκοὴν ἀνοίξας ὁ τεθνεώς. Ἤκουες γὰρ ἀρτίως τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ λέγοντος· Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος ὁ τεθνηκώς, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα. Ἄκουε τὴν ἡμέραν, ὁ ποθῶν τὴν ἡμέραν κυρίου. Πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα. Ἀρίθμει τὰς ἡμέρας, ἵνα ἀπολαύσῃς τῆς ἡμέρας. Ἐγγὺς ἡ παρουσία, ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν· ὁ χειμὼν τῆς ἀγνωσίας παρῆλθεν , τὸ ἔαρ τῆς γνώσεως παρέκυψεν. Τὸν τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς δρόμον ἀθλητικῶς διάνυσον καὶ τῆς ἑορτῆς τὸν στέφανον περίμενε. Καλὸν γὰρ ὑμᾶς ὑπομνῆσαι καὶ περὶ τούτου, ὅτιπερ ἡ τεσσαρακοστὴ σὺν εὐμενείᾳ θεοῦ πεπλήρωται, τοῦ δὲ κυριακοῦ πάθους ἡ ἑβδομὰς ἀπὸ τῆς σήμερον ἀνέῳκται· οὐχ ὅτε γὰρ ἐνήστευσεν ὁ δεσπότης Χριστός, τότε καὶ ἔπαθεν. Ἄκουε συνετῶς. Ἐνήστευσε γὰρ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα, ὅτε πυκτεύσας τῷ διαβόλῳ τοῦτον κατέρραξε καὶ τὴν νίκην τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἐχαρίσατο. Οὐ γὰρ δι' ἑαυτὸν ἔπαθεν ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν Χριστός, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν κάτω κείμενον· οὔτε δι' ἑαυτὸν ἐνήστευσεν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν τὴν παρακοὴν καταπιόντα· οὐδὲ δι' ἑαυτὸν ἐβαπτίσθη, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ῥυπωθέντα τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Ἐνήστευσεν οὖν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα. Ἀλλ' ὅμως καὶ τοῦτο ἐν παρεκβάσει ζητήσωμεν, διὰ τί μὲν ἡμεῖς πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος νηστεύομεν, ὁ δὲ δεσπότης Χριστὸς μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ἐνήστευσεν. ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι ἡμεῖς μὲν ὠγκωμένοι ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις καὶ πεφορτισμένοι τὴν ψυχικὴν γαστέρα, ἀναγκαίως πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος τὴν νηστείαν ὡς θεοδώρητον ἀντίδοτον δεχόμεθα, ἵνα καθάραντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ παντὸς μολυσμοῦ σαρκὸς καὶ πνεύματος εἰς ὄρεξιν ἔλθωμεν τοῦ ἐπουρανίου ἄρτου. Ὁ δὲ δεσπότης Χριστὸς ὡς ἁμαρτίας ἐλεύθερος μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα νηστεύει τύπον δωρούμενος, οὐχ ἁμαρτίας ὀδυρόμενος. Εἰ γὰρ ἀρὰ καὶ ἁμαρτία ἐκλήθη ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν Χριστός, ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ αὐτὸς ῥερύπωται, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τὰς ἡμετέρας ἀνεδέξατο· ὁ δὲ ἀνάδοχος πᾶν ὁτιοῦν οὐχ ὡς αὐθέντης, ἀλλ' ὡς μεσίτης εὐθύνεται. Ὅθεν ὡς τοῦ Ἀδὰμ τὸ χρέος ἀναδεξάμενος καὶ τοῦτο ἀποτίσας, καὶ τὸ χειρόγραφον ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τῷ σπόγγῳ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἀπήλειψε καὶ οὐκ