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he says. And yet He did not charge them, nor did He rebuke them, but He even confirmed their opinion. For when the leper immediately came and said: Lord, if you will, you can cleanse me; what does He say? I will, be cleansed. And why did he not simply say, Be cleansed? And yet the leper testified that He had authority, saying, If you will. But so that you might not think that the "If you will" was the leper's opinion, He Himself added, saying: I will, be cleansed. Thus, He deliberately showed His own authority everywhere, and that 48.792 He does all things from authority; since if this were not so, what was said would have been superfluous. 2. Having learned, therefore, through all things His authority, if we see Him elsewhere doing and saying something humble, both for the reasons which we enumerated before, and because He wishes to lead those who hear to humility, let us not on this account slander Him into an inferiority of substance. For He endured the very act of taking on flesh out of humility, not because He was inferior to the Father. And from where is this clear? For indeed the enemies of the truth bring this up, saying that if He was equal to the one who begot Him, why did the Father not take on flesh, but the Son put on the form of a servant? Is it not clear that it is because He was inferior? And yet, if for this reason He put on our nature, the Spirit, whom they themselves say is less than the Son (for we would not say so), ought to have been incarnated. For if the Father is greater than the Son for this reason, because the one was incarnated and the other was not, the Spirit will also be greater than Him for the same reason; for He also did not take on flesh. But so that we might not declare this from syllogisms, let us present it from the Scriptures themselves, showing that it was for humility that He took on flesh. For Paul, who knew these things precisely, whenever he is about to exhort us to something useful, brings down for us the examples of virtue from above; for example, he often counsels concerning love, and wishing to lead the disciples to love one another, he brings Christ into the midst, saying: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church. Again, whenever he discourses concerning almsgiving, he does this very thing; for which reason he also says: You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich. What he says is something like this: just as your Master became poor, putting on flesh, so you become poor in possessions; for just as the poverty of glory did not harm Him at all, so too the poverty of possessions will not be able to harm you, but will produce great wealth for you. So also, when discoursing again to the Philippians concerning humility, he brings Christ into the midst, and having said, In humility esteeming one another better than yourselves, he added: For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. And yet if He consented to wear flesh because He was lesser by nature, what happened was no longer an act of humility, but Paul brought it forth superfluously when exhorting to humility; for humility is when an equal obeys an equal. Therefore, showing this very thing, he says: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. What does it mean, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant? He who has seized something not belonging to him holds onto it continually and would not choose to set it aside, being afraid and not having confidence in his possession; 48.793 but he who has an inalienable good, even if he hides it, is not afraid. For example, so that I might make the argument clear by an example, let there be someone of the

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φησί. Καὶ μὴν οὐκ ἐνεκάλεσεν αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ ἐπετίμησεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκύρωσεν αὐτῶν τὴν γνώμην. Προσελθόντος γὰρ εὐθέως τοῦ λεπροῦ καὶ λέγοντος· Κύριε, ἐὰν θέλῃς, δύνασαί με καθαρίσαι· τί φησι; Θέλω, καθαρίσθητι. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ εἶπεν ἁπλῶς, Καθαρίσθητι; καίτοι ὁ λεπρὸς ἐμαρτύρησεν αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν, εἰπὼν, Ἐὰν θέλῃς. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς τῆς τοῦ λεπροῦ γνώμης εἶναι τὸ Ἐὰν θέλῃς, προσέθηκε καὶ αὐτὸς λέγων· Θέλω, καθαρίσθητι. Οὕτως ἐπίτηδες πανταχοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐδείκνυε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ὅτι 48.792 πάντα ἀπὸ αὐθεντίας ποιεῖ· ἐπεὶ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, περιττὸν ἦν τὸ λεγόμενον. ʹ. Μαθόντες τοίνυν διὰ πάντων αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἂν ἴδωμεν ἑτέρωθι ταπεινόν τι ποιοῦντα καὶ λέγοντα, διά τε τὰς αἰτίας ἃς ἠριθμήσαμεν πρῴην, καὶ διὰ τὸ βούλεσθαι τοὺς ἀκούοντας εἰς ταπεινοφροσύνην ἐναγαγεῖν, μὴ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν εἰς εὐτέλειαν οὐσίας διαβάλλωμεν. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸ σάρκα ἀναλαβεῖν ἀπὸ ταπεινοφροσύνης ὑπέμεινεν, οὐ διὰ τὸ καταδεέστερον εἶναι τοῦ Πατρός. Καὶ πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο περιφέρουσιν οἱ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχθροὶ, λέγοντες, ὅτι Εἰ ἴσος ἦν τῷ γεγεννηκότι, τίνος ἕνεκεν ὁ Πατὴρ οὐκ ἀνέλαβε σάρκα, ἀλλ' ὁ Υἱὸς ὑπέδυ τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφήν; ἆρα οὐκ εὔδηλον ὅτι ἐπειδὴ καταδεέστερος ἦν; Καὶ μὴν, εἰ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἡμετέραν ὑπέδυ φύσιν, τὸ Πνεῦμα, ὅ φασιν αὐτοὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἔλαττον εἶναι (οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἡμεῖς εἴποιμεν), ἐκεῖνο σαρκωθῆναι ἔδει. Εἰ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο μείζων τοῦ Υἱοῦ ὁ Πατὴρ, ἐπειδὴ ὁ μὲν ἐσαρκώθη, ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἐσαρκώθη, ἔσται καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν μεῖζον· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸ σάρκα ἀνέλαβεν. Ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ ἀπὸ συλλογισμῶν τοῦτο ἀποφαινώμεθα, φέρε ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν Γραφῶν αὐτὸ παραστήσωμεν, δεικνύοντες ὅτι διὰ ταπεινοφροσύνην σάρκα ἀνέλαβεν. Ὁ γὰρ Παῦλος ὁ ταῦτα εἰδὼς ἀκριβῶς, ἐπειδὰν μέλλῃ τι τῶν χρησίμων ἡμῖν παραινεῖν, τὰ ὑποδείγματα ἄνωθεν ἡμῖν κατάγει τῆς ἀρετῆς· οἷον, συμβουλεύει πολλάκις περὶ ἀγάπης, καὶ βουλόμενος ἐναγαγεῖν τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰς τὸ ἀγαπᾷν ἀλλήλους, Χριστὸν εἰς μέσον παράγει λέγων· Οἱ ἄνδρες, ἀγαπᾶτε τὰς γυναῖκας, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Πάλιν, ἐπειδὰν περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης διαλέγηται, τοῦτο αὐτὸ ποιεῖ· διὸ καὶ λέγει· Γινώσκετε τὴν χάριν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι δι' ὑμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε πλούσιος ὢν, ἵνα ὑμεῖς τῇ ἐκείνου πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσητε. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· ὥσπερ ὁ ∆εσπότης σου ἐπτώχευσε, σάρκα περιβαλόμενος, οὕτω σὺ πτώχευσον ἐν χρήμασι· καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνον οὐδὲν ἔβλαψεν ἡ πτωχεία τῆς δόξης, οὕτως οὐδὲ σὲ βλάψαι δυνήσεται ἡ τῶν χρημάτων πτωχεία, ἀλλὰ πολὺν ἐργάσεταί σοι τὸν πλοῦτον. Οὕτω καὶ περὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης πάλιν Φιλιππησίοις διαλεγόμενος τὸν Χριστὸν εἰς μέσον ἄγει, καὶ εἰπὼν, Τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ ἀλλήλους ἡγούμενοι ὑπερέχοντας ἑαυτῶν, ἐπήγαγε· Τοῦτο γὰρ φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν, ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών. Καίτοι εἰ διὰ τὸ ἐλάττω εἶναι κατὰ φύσιν, κατεδέξατο σάρκα φορέσαι, οὐκ ἔτι ταπεινοφροσύνης τὸ γενόμενον, ἀλλὰ περιττῶς αὐτὸ παρήγαγεν ὁ Παῦλος εἰς ταπεινοφροσύνην παρακαλῶν· ταπεινοφροσύνη γάρ ἐστιν ὅταν ἴσος ὑπακούῃ τῷ ἴσῳ. Τοῦτο οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς δεικνὺς λέγει· Ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών. Τί ἐστιν, Οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών; Ὁ ἁρπάσας τι τῶν μὴ προσηκόντων κατέχει τοῦτο διηνεκῶς καὶ ἀποθέσθαι οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιτο, δεδοικὼς καὶ θαῤῥεῖν οὐκ ἔχων ὑπὲρ τῆς κτήσεως· ὁ 48.793 δὲ ἀναφαίρετον ἔχων ἀγαθὸν, κἂν ἀποκρύπτῃ τοῦτο οὐ δέδοικεν. Οἷον, ἵνα καὶ ἐπὶ ὑποδείγματος ποιήσω τὸν λόγον φανερὸν, ἔστω τις τοῦ