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if it happened. So when the coming of Christ happens, we do not need to examine whether Christ has come.

But the question is, if He comes with a cross; for let us not forget the promise. Hear, therefore, what follows. Then, He says; then, when? When the Son of man comes, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. For so great then will be the excess of light, that even the brightest stars will be hidden. Then also the stars will fall, then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven. Have you seen how great is the virtue of the sign of the cross? The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not appear; but it shines and is bright, so that you may learn that it is brighter than the sun and the moon. And just as when a king enters a city, the soldiers, taking up beforehand the so-called standards, carry them on their shoulders, announcing his entrance; so also when the Lord descends from the heavens, the armies of angels and archangels go before, carrying that sign on their shoulders, and announcing His royal entrance to us. Then the powers of the heavens will be shaken, he says concerning the angels; trembling will seize them then and great fear. And for what reason, tell me? That tribunal will be fearsome; for our whole nature is about to be judged and to stand before the fearsome judge.

For what reason, then, do the angels fear and tremble? For they are not about to be judged. For just as when a magistrate is judging, not only the guilty, but also those of the court, who are conscious of no wrong in themselves, fear and tremble because of the fear of the judge; so also then, when our nature is being judged, even the angels, who are conscious of no wrong in themselves, fear because of the overwhelming fear of the judge. But why does the cross appear then, and why does he come having it? So that those who crucified him might learn their own ingratitude, for this reason he shows the very symbol of their shamelessness. And that he bears it for this reason, hear the prophet saying: Then the tribes of the earth will mourn, seeing their accuser, and recognizing their sin. And why do you wonder, if he comes bearing the cross, when he also shows the very wounds then; For they shall look, he says, on him whom they pierced? For just as he did in the case of Thomas, wishing to correct the unbelief of a disciple, and having risen he showed him the print of the nails, and the wounds, saying, Put your hand here, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones; so also then he will show the wounds and the cross, in order to show that this was the one who was crucified.

5. Not from the cross alone, but also from the very words on

the cross it is possible to see his ineffable love for mankind. For while still nailed, and being mocked and ridiculed then and spat upon, he said: Father, forgive them their sin; for they know not what they do. And being crucified he prays for those who are crucifying him; and yet they were saying the opposite: If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe you, he says. And indeed for this reason he does not come down from the cross, because he is the Son of God, and for this reason he came, that he might be crucified for us.

Come down from the cross, he says, and we will believe you. These are words, and a pretext for unbelief. For to rise again, with the stone lying upon the tomb, was much greater than to come down from the cross; to bring Lazarus out of the tomb, dead, bound, and having been four days, with the grave-clothes, was much greater than to come down from the cross. They then were saying: If you are the Son of God, save yourself; but he was doing everything, so that he might save those who were reviling

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εἰ ἐγένετο· οὕτω τῆς παρουσίας γινομένης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὐ δεόμεθα ἐξετάζειν, εἰ παρεγένετο ὁ Χριστός.

Ἀλλὰ τὸ ζητούμενον, εἰ μετὰ σταυροῦ ἔρχεται· μὴ γὰρ δὴ ἐπιλαθώμεθα τῆς ὑποσχέσεως. Ἄκουσον τοίνυν τῶν ἑξῆς. Τότε, φησί· τότε, πότε; Ὅταν ἔρχηται ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς. Τοσαύτη γὰρ ἔσται τοῦ φωτὸς τότε ἡ ὑπερβολὴ, ὡς καὶ τὰ φαιδρότατα ἄστρα ἀποκρυβῆναι. Τότε καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες πεσοῦνται, τότε τὸ σημεῖον φανήσεται τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ. Εἶδες πόση ἀρετὴ τοῦ σημείου τοῦ σταυροῦ; Ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται, καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ φανήσεται· ἐκεῖνο δὲ λάμπει καὶ φαίνει, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι καὶ ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης φαιδρότερον. Καὶ καθάπερ βασιλέως εἰς πόλιν εἰσιόντος, οἱ στρατιῶται προλαμβάνοντες τὰ λεγόμενα σίγνα, βαστάζουσιν ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων αὐτῶν, προαγγέλλοντες τὴν εἴσοδον αὐτοῦ· οὕτω καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου κατιόντος ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν προέρχεται τὰ στρατόπεδα τῶν ἀγγέλων καὶ ἀρχαγγέλων, τὸ σημεῖον ἐκεῖνο φέροντες ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων, καὶ τὴν βασιλικὴν αὐτοῦ εἴσοδον ἀπαγγέλλοντες ἡμῖν. Τότε σαλευθήσονται αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν, περὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων φησί· τρόμος λήψεται αὐτοὺς τότε καὶ φόβος πολύς. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν, εἰπέ μοι; Φοβερὸν ἔσται τὸ δικαστήριον ἐκεῖνο· πᾶσα γὰρ ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις μέλλει κρίνεσθαι καὶ παρίστασθαι τῷ φοβερῷ δικαστῇ.

Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν οἱ ἄγγελοι δεδοίκασι καὶ φρίττουσιν; οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι μέλλουσι κρίνεσθαι. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἄρχοντος δικάζοντος, οὐχὶ οἱ ὑπεύθυνοι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ τῆς τάξεως, οἱ μηδὲν ἑαυτοῖς συνειδότες δεδοίκασι καὶ φρίττουσι διὰ τὸν φόβον τοῦ δικαστοῦ· οὕτω καὶ τότε, τῆς φύσεως τῆς ἡμετέρας κρινομένης, καὶ οἱ μηδὲν ἑαυτοῖς συνειδότες ἄγγελοι δεδοίκασι διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ φόβου τοῦ δικαστοῦ. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τί ὁ σταυρὸς φαίνεται τότε, καὶ διὰ τί ἔχων αὐτὸν ἔρχεται; Ἵνα μάθωσι τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτῶν ἀγνωμοσύνην οἱ σταυρώσαντες αὐτὸν, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸ τὸ σύμβολον τῆς ἀναισχυντίας αὐτῶν δείκνυσι. Καὶ ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν φέρει, ἄκουσον τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Τότε κόψονται αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς, βλέπουσαι τὸν κατήγορον, καὶ ἐπιγινώσκουσαι τὸ ἁμάρτημα. Καὶ τί θαυμάζεις, εἰ τὸν σταυρὸν φέρων ἔρχεται, ὅπου γε καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ τραύματα τότε δείκνυσιν· Ὄψονται γὰρ, φησὶν, εἰς ὃν ἐξεκέντησαν; Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ Θωμᾶ ἐποίησε, βουλόμενος ἀπι 49.405 στίαν διορθώσασθαι μαθητοῦ, καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔδειξεν αὐτῷ τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων, καὶ τὰ τραύματα, εἰπὼν, Βάλε τὴν χεῖρά σου, καὶ βλέπε, ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστᾶ οὐκ ἔχει· οὕτω καὶ τότε δείξει τὰ τραύματα καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν, ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι οὗτος ἦν ἐκεῖνος ὁ σταυρωθείς.

εʹ. Οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ αὐτῶν τῶν ῥημάτων τῶν ἐν

τῷ σταυρῷ τὴν ἄφατον αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Ἔτι γὰρ προσηλωμένος καὶ κωμῳδούμενος καὶ καταγελώμενος τότε καὶ ἐμπτυόμενος, ἔλεγε· Πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσι. Καὶ σταυρούμενος ὑπὲρ τῶν σταυρούντων εὔχεται· καίτοι ἐκεῖνοι τὸ ἐναντίον ἔλεγον· Εἰ Υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ πιστεύσομέν σοι, φησί. Καὶ μὴν διὰ τοῦτο οὐ καταβαίνει ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἐπειδὴ Υἱός ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθεν, ἵνα σταυρωθῇ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.

Κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, φησὶ, καὶ πιστεύσομέν σοι. Ῥήματα ταῦτα, καὶ πρόφασις ἀπιστίας. Τοῦ γὰρ καταβῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ πολλῷ μεῖζον ἦν τὸ ἀναστῆναι, τοῦ λίθου ἐπικειμένου τῷ τάφῳ· τοῦ καταβῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ πολλῷ μεῖζον ἦν τὸ νεκρὸν δεδεμένον καὶ τετραήμερον ὄντα τὸν Λάζαρον μετὰ τῶν κειριῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν τοῦ μνήματος. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἔλεγον· Εἰ Υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, σῶσον σεαυτόν· αὐτὸς δὲ πάντα ἔπραττεν, ὅπως ἐκείνους σώσῃ τοὺς ὀνειδίζοντας