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For this reason He said, Which of you convicts me of sin, if I have transgressed the law? For since He was a man, He also displayed human things.

8. Therefore, pay close attention to the word. Since the woman was a Canaanite,

and from those regions, where there is rage, and madness, and impiety, where there is the tyranny of the devil, and the frenzies of demons, and nature trodden underfoot, and they have descended into the senselessness of irrational beings, into the madness of demons, and the law also commanded,

Have nothing to do with Canaanites, neither give to, nor take from them, do not take a wife, do not take a son, do not make contracts, nor transactions. For this reason I have placed a hedge around you. But Christ, having come and taken up the arms of men, was circumcised immediately, offered sacrifices, offerings, all other things, and He was about to abolish the law. Lest they say that because He was unable to fulfill it, for this reason He abolished it, first He fulfills it, and then He abolishes it, so that you may not think He is weak, but He fulfills everything according to custom. For this reason He cries out and says, Which of you convicts me of sin? Since, therefore, this was also lawful, to have nothing in common with the Canaanites, so that the Jews might not begin to accuse Him and say, For this reason we did not believe you; for you were a lawbreaker, you abolished the law. You went into the land of the Canaanites, you mingled with Canaanites, when the law says: Do not mingle. For this reason He says nothing to her for a time. Pay attention to how He fulfills the law, and does not betray salvation; He both silences the Jews, and wins her over.

But He answered her not a word, it says. Give me no excuses. See, I do not speak; see, I do not converse; see, a calamity, and I do not show my own power; see, a shipwreck, and I, the pilot, do not calm the storm because of your ignorance, 52.456 so that you may have no excuse. See, a woman has become a spectacle before me, and she still receives no answer, so that you may not say, You have given yourself over to Canaanites, and have transgressed the law, and we have this as an excuse for not believing you. Observe how for this reason He did not answer the woman, so that He might answer the Jews; the silence towards the woman became a voice of condemnation to the Jews.

9. And He did these things not according to His own dignity, but condescending to their

weakness. For when He cleansed the leper, He says: Go, offer the gift that Moses commanded. You cleansed him, and you send him to the law of Moses? Yes. Why? For the sake of the Jews, so that they may not begin to accuse, that I have transgressed the law. For this reason also, when He healed the leper, He healed him in a strange way; and hear how: And behold, a leper, approaching, besought Him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. And stretching out His hand, He touched him, saying: I am willing, be cleansed. In the law, one was not supposed to touch a leper. Therefore, when Naaman the general came to Elisha the prophet, afflicted with leprosy, the disciple says to him, Behold, a leprous general is outside. But he sends his disciple to go out and say to him, Go, wash in the Jordan. And he himself did not dare to go out and see the leper, and to touch him. Since, therefore, Elisha cleansed a leper, so that the Jews might not say that He cleansed in the same way as Elisha, for this reason that one does not dare to touch, but this one touches, and says, I am willing, be cleansed. And stretching out His hand, He touched the leper. Why did He touch him? To teach you that He is not a servant subject to the law, but a Master over the law. How then did He keep the law? By saying, I am willing, be cleansed, and not immediately touching him. The word went first, the disease fled, then He touched the unclean man, and said, I am willing, be cleansed. How? Immediately he was cleansed. The evangelist cannot find a word to say—for even 'immediately' is too slow—he cannot find a word to match the speed of the action.

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διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγε, Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας, εἰ παρέβην τὸν νόμον; Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἦν, καὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἐπεδείκνυτο.

ηʹ. Λοιπὸν προσέχετε μετὰ ἀκριβείας τῷ λόγῳ. Ἐπειδὴ ἡ γυνὴ Χαναναία ἦν,

καὶ τῶν ὁρίων ἐκείνων, ἔνθα καὶ λύσσαι, καὶ μανία, καὶ ἀσέβεια, ἔνθα διαβόλου τυραννὶς, καὶ δαιμόνων βακχεῖαι, καὶ φύσις πατουμένη, καὶ εἰς ἀλόγων ἀλογίας κατηνέχθησαν, εἰς δαιμόνων μανίας, ἐπέταττε δὲ καὶ ὁ νόμος,

Μηδὲν σοὶ καὶ Χαναναίοις, μὴ δῷς, μὴ λάβῃς παρ' ἐκείνων, μὴ γυναῖκα λάβῃς, μὴ υἱὸν λάβῃς, μὴ συμβόλαια ποιήσῃς, μὴ συναλλάγματα· διὰ τοῦτο δὲ φραγμὸν περιέθηκα· ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀναλαβὼν ὅπλα, αὔθωρον περιετμήθη, θυσίας προσήνεγκε, προσφορὰς, τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, ἔμελλε δὲ λύειν τὸν νόμον· ἵνα μὴ λέγωσιν, ὅτι ἀτονήσας πληρῶσαι αὐτὸν, διὰ τοῦτο ἔλυσε, πρότερον αὐτὸν πληροῖ, καὶ τότε λύει, ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς ὅτι ἀτονεῖ, ἀλλὰ πληροῖ πάντα κατὰ τὸ ἔθος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο βοᾷ καὶ λέγει, Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας; Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ τοῦτο νόμιμον ἦν, τὸ μηδὲν κοινὸν ἔχειν μετὰ Χαναναίων, ἵνα μὴ ἄρξωνται ἐγκαλεῖν αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ λέγειν, ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπιστεύσαμέν σοι· παράνομος γὰρ ἦς, ἔλυσας τὸν νόμον· ἀπῆλθες εἰς τὴν Χαναναίων χώραν, Χαναναίοις ἀνεμίγης, τοῦ νόμου λέγοντος· Μὴ ἀναμιγῇς· διὰ τοῦτο αὐτῇ οὐδὲν λαλεῖ τέως. Πρόσεχε πῶς πληροῖ τὸν νόμον, καὶ οὐ προδίδωσι τὴν σωτηρίαν· καὶ Ἰουδαίους ἐπιστομίζει, καὶ ταύτην ἀνακτᾶται.

Ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἀπεκρίνατο, φησὶν, αὐτῇ λόγον. Μή μοι προφάσεις εἴπῃς. Ἴδε, οὐ λαλῶ· ἴδε, οὐ διαλέγομαι· ἴδε συμφορὰ, καὶ τὸ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυμι· ἴδε ναυάγιον, καὶ ὁ κυβερνήτης οὐκ ἀναλύω τὸν χειμῶνα διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγνωμοσύνην, 52.456 ἵνα μὴ ἔχητε πρόφασιν. Ἴδε, γυνὴ θέατρόν μοι περιέστηκε, καὶ οὔπω λαμβάνει ἀπόκρισιν, ἵνα μὴ λέγητε, ὅτι Ἐπέδωκας σεαυτὸν Χαναναίοις, καὶ παρέβης τὸν νόμον, καὶ ταύτην πρόφασιν ἔχομεν τοῦ μὴ πιστεῦσαί σοι. Σκόπει πῶς διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀπεκρίνατο τῇ γυναικὶ, ἵνα ἀποκριθῇ Ἰουδαίοις· ἡ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα σιγὴ, φωνὴ ἀγνωμοσύνης τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐγίνετο.

θʹ. Ταῦτα δὲ ἐποίει οὐ πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀξίαν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνων

συγκαταβαίνων ἀσθένειαν. Καὶ γὰρ ὅτε τὸν λεπρὸν ἐκαθάρισε, λέγει· Ἄπελθε, προσένεγκε τὸ δῶρον, ὃ προσέταξε Μωϋσῆς. Σὺ ἐκάθαρας, καὶ πέμπεις αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν νόμον Μωϋσέως; Ναί. ∆ιὰ τί; ∆ιὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ἵνα μὴ ἄρξωνται ἐγκαλεῖν, ὅτι παρέβην τὸν νόμον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὅτε ἐθεράπευσε τὸν λεπρὸν, ξένως ἐθεράπευσεν αὐτόν· καὶ ἄκουε πῶς· Καὶ ἰδοὺ λεπρὸς προσελθὼν παρεκάλει αὐτὸν λέγων, Κύριε, ἐὰν θέλῃς, δύνασαί με καθαρίσαι· καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ, ἥψατο αὐτοῦ λέγων· Θέλω, καθαρίσθητι. Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ οὐκ ἐχρῆν ἅπτεσθαι λεπροῦ. Ὅτε οὖν ἦλθε Νεαιμὰν ὁ στρατηλάτης πρὸς Ἐλισσαῖον τὸν προφήτην λέπρᾳ κατεχόμενος, λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μαθητὴς, Ἰδοὺ λεπρὸς στρατηλάτης ἔξω. Ὁ δὲ πέμπει τὸν μαθητὴν ἐξελθεῖν καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ, Ἄπελθε, λοῦσαι εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην. Καὶ οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν ἐξελθεῖν αὐτὸς καὶ ἰδεῖν τὸν λεπρὸν, καὶ ἅψασθαι αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐκαθάρισεν ὁ Ἐλισσαῖος λεπρὸν, ἵνα μὴ λέγωσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι ὁμοίως Ἐλισσαίῳ ἐκάθαρε, διὰ τοῦτο ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὐ τολμᾷ ἅψασθαι, οὗτος δὲ ἅπτεται, καὶ λέγει, Θέλω, καθαρίσθητι· καὶ ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ, ἥψατο τοῦ λεπροῦ. ∆ιὰ τί ἥψατο; Ἵνα σε διδάξῃ ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι δοῦλος ὑποκείμενος νόμῳ, ἀλλὰ ∆εσπότης ἐπικείμενος τῷ νόμῳ. Πῶς οὖν ἐτήρησε τὸν νόμον; Τῷ εἰπεῖν, Θέλω, καθαρίσθητι, καὶ μὴ εὐθέως αὐτοῦ ἅψασθαι. Προέλαβεν ὁ λόγος, ἐδραπέτευσε τὸ νόσημα, εἶτα ἥψατο τοῦ ἀκαθάρτου, καὶ εἶπε, Θέλω, καθαρίσθητι. Πῶς; Εὐθέως ἐκαθαρίσθη. Οὐχ εὑρίσκει ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς εἰπεῖν καὶ γὰρ τὸ εὐθέως βραδύ ἐστι, οὐχ εὑρίσκει λόγον ἰσόῤῥοπον τῷ τάχει τῆς ἐνεργείας.