by deceiving the deceiver, I shall undo the deceit. He with deceitful words deceived Adam, I with cowardly words deceive the deceitful one. But he uttered deceptive words, that he might destroy man; I utter words of cowardice, that I might free the inhabited world. I am a fisherman fishing for the fisherman. For just as the fisherman, having placed the worm around the hook, extends the rod and sometimes lets out the hook, and sometimes pulls and draws it in, so that by showing the worm fleeing he might cause the fish to rush upon it, so also I, having placed the body like a worm on the hook of my divinity—for I am a worm and not a man—sometimes I draw death on as if in cowardice, and sometimes I let out the hook as if with courage, so that the devil, like a fish leaping upon the worm, that is, coming upon the flesh, might unwittingly fall upon the hook of divinity and having fallen upon it be drawn up, so that what was said by Job might be fulfilled in him: "Will you draw out the dragon with a hook?" Therefore, not fearing death, I said: "My soul is very sorrowful." Nor, being cowardly about suffering, do I say: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." For I do all things so that death may not escape me. I show cowardice as a man, so that, having been swallowed as a man, I may work as God. I have used humble words, so that having swallowed the leaven of my body, he might find the coal of divinity terribly burning him. I show cowardice, so that he may chew my body, a mustard seed; he will find the pungency of the divinity vehemently tormenting him. I show cowardice, so that he may swallow me as a man. For if he swallows me, he will find the solid rock of divinity shattering his teeth, so that what is written might be fulfilled in him, that "God will break their teeth in their mouth." Therefore, for this reason I hide the authority of the divinity, but I put forward the cowardice of the flesh, so that he may not be caught by the power of the divinity, but rather be overthrown by the weakness of the body. For so that he might not think great things of himself as being defeated by God, for this reason I deceive him through the flesh, so that he might be plotted against by the very means by which he plotted. Therefore I conquer him through the weakness of the body, so that he may not think great things of himself as being convicted by divine power. For to be defeated by the divinity would have brought him glory rather than insult. Wherefore now I conquer him through cowardly and humble and weak flesh, not tempting but being tempted, not striking but being struck, not killing but dying, not crucifying but being crucified, not beating but being beaten, so that the things of victory may not be ascribed to me, but that through the form of man the prizes might be awarded to the race of men. For this reason, then, I seem to be cowardly, so that the devil might fall upon the bait like a fish, and death be stuck to the lime like a sparrow. For since he deceived evilly, for this reason he is deceived well. Since through bodily pleasure he bewitched the race of men, for this reason he is driven out of the race through a body. What he did, he suffers; what he perpetrated against the many, this he endures from one. But what he did was destructive to those who suffered it, while what I do to him will be salvific for the inhabited world. For I deceive the deceiver through the body, so that being convicted he may no longer be able to deceive those whom he himself deceived by the body; he offers death, I through it provide the resurrection. Unwillingly he benefits the race. For by the means by which he brings death, he brings the occasion of the resurrection. The plotter against all has suddenly become the benefactor of the inhabited world; and he benefited the inhabited world by being deceived, having devised a deception beneficial to the world and a trophy against his own tyranny. Just as one hurling a stone against a rock will not shatter the rock, but will break the stone, so also the devil, having hurled death like a stone against my body, did not destroy my body—For you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption—the

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τὸν ἀπατεῶνα ἐξαπατήσας τὴν ἀπάτην λύσω. Ῥήμασιν ἐκεῖνος δολεροῖς ἠπάτησεν τὸν Ἀδάμ, ῥήμασιν ἐγὼ δειλοῖς ἀπατῶ τὸν δολερόν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἀπατηλοὺς ἐφθέγξατο λόγους, ἵνα τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀπολέσῃ, ἐγὼ δειλίας φθέγγομαι ῥήματα, ἵνα τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐλευθερώσω. Ἁλιεύς εἰμι ἁλιεῖς ἁλιεύων. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἁλιεὺς τῷ ἀγκίστρῳ τὸν σκώληκα περι θεὶς ἐκτείνει τὸν κάλαμον καὶ ποτὲ μὲν ἐνδίδωσιν τὸ ἄγκιστρον, ποτὲ δὲ ἕλκει καὶ ὑποσύρει, ἵνα φεύγοντα τὸν σκώληκα δείξας ἐπιδραμεῖν τὸν ἰχθὺν παρασκευάσῃ, οὕτως κἀγὼ τῷ ἀγκίστρῳ τῆς θεότητός μου ὥσπερ σκώληκα περιθεὶς τὸ σῶμα-Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος-ποτὲ μὲν ἕλκω τὸν θάνατον ὡς δειλιῶν, ποτὲ δὲ ἐνδίδωμι τὸ ἄγκιστρον ὡς θαρρῶν, ἵνα ὁ διάβολος ὥσπερ ἰχθὺς τῷ σκώληκι ἐφαλλόμενος, τουτέστιν τῇ σαρκὶ ἐπερχόμενος, λανθανόντως τῷ ἀγκίστρῳ περιπέσῃ τῆς θεότητος καὶ περιπεσὼν ἑλκυσθῇ, ὡς πληρωθῆναι ἐπ' αὐτῷ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἰρημένον· Ἄξεις δὲ δράκοντα ἐν ἀγκίστρῳ. Οὐ φοβούμενος οὖν τὸν θάνατον εἶπον· Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυ χή μου. Οὐδὲ δειλιῶν τὸ παθεῖν λέγω· Πάτερ εἰ δυνατὸν παρελθάτω ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο. Πάντα γὰρ ποιῶ, ἵνα με ὁ θάνατος μὴ διαφύγῃ. ∆ειλιῶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἵνα καταποθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐργάσωμαι ὡς θεός. Ταπεινοῖς κέχρημαι ῥήμασιν, ἵνα καταπιών μου τὴν ζύμην τοῦ σώματος εὕρῃ τὸν ἄνθρακα τῆς θεότητος δεινῶς αὐτὸν κατακαίοντα. ∆ειλιῶ, ἵνα μασήσηταί μου τὸ σῶμα, κόκκον σινάπεως· εὑρήσει τὴν δριμύτητα τῆς θεότητος σφοδρῶς αὐτὸν βασανίζουσαν. ∆ειλιῶ, ἵνα καταπίῃ με ὡς ἄνθρωπον. Ἐὰν γάρ με καταπίῃ, εὑρήσει τὴν στερεὰν τῆς θεότητος πέτραν τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ συντρίβουσαν, ὡς πληρωθῆναι ἐπ' αὐτῷ τὸ γε γραμμένον ὅτι Ὁ θεὸς συνθλάσει τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν κρύπτω τῆς θεότητος τὴν αὐθεντίαν, προβάλλω δὲ τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν δειλίαν, ἵνα μὴ τῇ δυνάμει τῆς θεότητος θηρευθῇ, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τοῦ σώματος καθαιρεθῇ. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ μέγα φρονῇ ὡς ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἡττώμενος, διὰ τοῦτο διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτὸν ἀπατῶ, ἵνα δι' ὧν ἐπεβούλευσεν ἐπιβουλευθῇ. Νικῶ τοίνυν αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας τοῦ σώματος, ἵνα μὴ μέγα φρονῇ ὡς ὑπὸ θείας δυνάμεως ἐλεγχόμενος. Τὸ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς θεότητος ἡττηθῆναι αὐτόν, δόξαν αὐτῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ὕβριν ἔφερεν. Ὅθεν νῦν αὐτὸν διὰ δειλῆς καὶ ταπεινῆς καὶ ἀσθενοῦς σαρκὸς νικῶ, οὐ πειράζων ἀλλὰ πειραζόμενος, οὐ βάλλων ἀλλὰ βαλλόμε νος, οὐκ ἀποκτέννων ἀλλ' ἀποθνῄσκων, οὐ σταυρῶν ἀλλὰ σταυ ρούμενος, οὐ τύπτων ἀλλὰ τυπτόμενος, ἵνα μὴ ἐμοὶ τὰ τῆς νίκης ἐπιγραφῇ, ἀλλ' ἵνα διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μορφῆς τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ βραβεῖα ἀπονεμηθῇ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν δοκῶ δειλιᾶν, ἵνα ὁ μὲν διάβολος ὡς ἰχθὺς ἐπὶ τὸ δέλεαρ πέσῃ, ὁ δὲ θάνατος ὥσπερ στρουθίον τῇ κόλλῃ προσ παγῇ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἠπάτησεν κακῶς, διὰ τοῦτο ἀπατᾶται καλῶς. Ἐπειδὴ διὰ σωματικὴν ἡδονὴν ἐγοήτευσεν τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, διὰ τοῦτο διὰ σώματος ἀπελαύνεται τοῦ γένους. Ὅπερ ἐποίησεν πάσχει· ὃ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἔπραξεν, τοῦτο παρ' ἑνὸς ὑπομένει. Ἀλλ' ὃ μὲν ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖνος, τοῖς πεπονθό σιν ὀλέθριον ἦν, ὃ δὲ ἐγὼ εἰς αὐτὸν ποιῶ, τῇ οἰκουμένῃ ἔσται σωτήριον. Ἀπατῶ γὰρ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τὸν πλάνον, ἵνα ἐλεγχ θεὶς μηκέτι δύνηται πλανᾶν οὓς ἐπλάνα αὐτὸς τῷ σώματι· προσ φέρει τὸν θάνατον, ἐγὼ δι' αὐτοῦ παρέχω τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ἄκων εὐεργετεῖ τὸ γένος. ∆ι' ὧν γὰρ τὸν θάνατον προσάγει, τῆς ἀνα στάσεως πρόφασιν προσάγει. Ὁ πάντων ἐπίβουλος εὐεργέτης τῆς οἰκουμένης γέγονεν ἄφνω· εὐεργέτησεν δὲ τὴν οἰκουμένην πλανηθείς, πλάνην τῷ κόσμῳ συμφέρουσαν καὶ τρόπαιον κατὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ τυραννίδος ἐπινοήσας. Ὥσπερ ὁ λίθον ἀκοντίζων κατὰ πέτρας τὴν μὲν πέτραν οὐ διαρρήξει, τὸν δὲ λίθον συντρίψει, οὕτως καὶ ὁ διάβολος κατὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ἐμοῦ ὥσπερ λίθον τὸν θάνατον ῥίψας τὸ μὲν ἐμὸν σῶμα οὐ διέφθειρεν-Οὐ δώσεις γὰρ τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν-τὰ

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