8
to those needing this for the promise that was brought in next; and this was the ability to forgive sins through the power of the Holy Spirit. And thus from both of the evangelists one common account will be completed, with the things said by Luke being passed over in silence by John; and the things handed down in writing by John being kept in silence by Luke; with the things said by Luke coming first, and those by John being joined to them next; and so the accounts of both preserving one mind and one thought. So much for this.
10. How is it that in Matthew an angel, having appeared to the women, instructed them
to tell his disciples that, "He is risen from the dead, and he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him," and similarly 22.1004 in Mark the young man, whom they saw sitting on the right side, said these things to the women. But in Luke, in Jerusalem itself, when the eleven disciples were gathered together, and were relating to one another the things concerning his resurrection, he himself stood in their midst, and spoke with them, and ate a piece of broiled fish before them. And according to John, again in Jerusalem itself, he appeared to the eleven not once, but a second time, first on the very day of the resurrection, in the evening; then after eight days. How then, given that according to Luke and John he appeared so many times to the disciples in Jerusalem itself, are these same disciples, according to Mark and Matthew, commanded through the women to go to Galilee, as if they were to see him there, but were not going to see him in Jerusalem? Furthermore, if the scripture of the Gospels knew only the eleven disciples of the Savior, then one might have said that the account is in no way lacking, if for the time being, to minister to his disciples who disbelieved the women's proclamations, he appeared once and a second time to them secretly while they were hiding in Jerusalem; but in Galilee, no longer in hiding, not once or twice, nor to them when they were shut in for fear of the Jews, but with much boldness he made his theophany, and the manifestation of his divinity, presenting himself to them alive after he had suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God, and staying with them, as Luke says in the Acts; and this is a first solution. But since of the disciples, the chosen and first ones completed the choir of the twelve, and besides these there was a second order of the seventy, about whom Luke says in the Gospel: "After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also;" and besides these, there were also many other acquaintances of the Savior, of whom the holy Apostle also spoke, saying: "Then he was seen by over five hundred brethren," and these themselves were also deemed worthy of the name of disciples, for whom it was not possible for him to be seen after the resurrection by all of them gathered together at the same time in Jerusalem, it is reasonable that two of the evangelists, both Luke and John, record that he was seen by the eleven alone in Jerusalem. But the other two of these said that the Savior himself and the angel who appeared before him commanded not only the eleven to hasten to Galilee, but simply all the disciples and brethren, indicating all of them indefinitely and absolutely. But the first solution is better and truer; therefore, the appearances to the disciples after the resurrection have been numerous and varied. And some say that he said these things, others that he did these things; and there are times when, speaking about the main point, the second fills in what was omitted by the first.
8
δεομένοις τούτου εἰς τὴν ἑξῆς ἐπιφερομένην ἐπαγγελίαν· αὕτη δὲ ἦν τὸ δύνασθαι ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος δυνάμεως. Καὶ οὕτως ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν εἷς κοινωνὸς ἀπαρτισθήσεται λόγος, τῶν μὲν παρὰ τῷ Λουκᾷ λελεγμένων, σιωπηθέντων παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ· τῶν δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰωάννου γραφῇ παραδοθέντων, σιγῇ ταμιευθέντων παρὰ τῷ Λουκᾷ· καὶ πρώτων μὲν τῶν παρὰ τῷ Λουκᾷ λελεγμένων, ἑξῆς δὲ ἐκείνοις συναπτομένων τῶν παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ· οὕτω τε ἕνα νοῦν καὶ μίαν διάνοιαν σωζόντων τῶν παρ' ἀμφοτέροις. Ταῦτα μὲν ταύτῃ.
Ιʹ. Πῶς δὲ παρὰ μὲν τῷ Ματθαίῳ ἄγγελος ὀφθεὶς ταῖς γυναιξὶ παρήγγειλεν
ἀπαγγεῖλαι τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι, Ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ προάγει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, ἐκεῖ αὐτὸν ὄψεσθε, ὁμοίως 22.1004 δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῷ Μάρκῳ ὁ νεανίσκος, ὃν εἶδον καθήμενον ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, ταῦτα εἶπε ταῖς γυναιξί. Παρὰ δὲ τῷ Λουκᾷ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἠθροισμένων κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ τῶν μαθητῶν τῶν ἕνδεκα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ ἀλλήλοις ὑφηγουμένων, ἔστη μέσος αὐτὸς, καὶ προσδιαλέγεται, καὶ ἰχθύος ὀπτοῦ μέρος ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ἔφαγε. Καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πάλιν, οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ καὶ δεύτερον ὤφθη τοῖς ἕνδεκα, πρῶτον μὲν καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἀναστάσεως, ὀψίας· εἶτα μεθ' ἡμέρας ὀκτώ. Πῶς οὖν κατὰ τὸν Λουκᾶν καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην τοσαυτάκις ὀφθέντος αὐτοῦ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, κατὰ τὸν Μάρκον καὶ τὸν Ματθαῖον κελεύονται οἱ αὐτοὶ διὰ τῶν γυναικῶν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν ἀπελθεῖν, ὡς ἐκεῖ αὐτὸν ὀψόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐ μέλλοντες αὐτὸν θεᾶσθαι ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ; Ἔτι εἰ μὲν τοὺς ἕνδεκα μόνους μαθητὰς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων ἠπίστατο γραφὴ, καὶ οὕτως εἶπεν ἄν τις μηδὲν τὸν λόγον λείπειν, εἰ τέως μὲν ἀπιστοῦντας ταῖς τῶν γυναικῶν ἐπαγγελίαις τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς θεραπεύων, ἅπαξ καὶ δεύτερον αὐτοῖς λαθραίως κρυπταζομένοις ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐφάνη· ἔν γε μὴν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ οὐκέτ' ἐπικεκρυμμένως, οὐδὲ ἅπαξ οὐδὲ δεύτερον, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐγκεκλεισμένοις διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων, σὺν πολλῇ δὲ τῇ παῤῥησίᾳ τὴν θεοφάνειαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς θεότητος τὴν ἔνδειξιν ἐποιεῖτο, παριστῶν αὐτοῖς ἑαυτὸν ζῶντα μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν, ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις, δι' ἡμερῶν τεσσαράκοντα ὀπτανόμενός τε καὶ λέγων τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ συναυλιζόμενος, ὥς φησιν ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι· καὶ αὕτη μὲν πρώτη λύσις. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν μαθητῶν οἱ μὲν ἔκκριτοι καὶ πρῶτοι τὸν τῶν δώδεκα συνεπλήρουν χορὸν, δεύτερον δὲ παρὰ τούτους ἐτύγχανε τάγμα τὸ τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα, περὶ ὧν φησι Λουκᾶς ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ· «Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀνέδειξεν ὁ Κύριος καὶ ἑτέρους ἑβδομήκοντα·» τούτων δὲ ἐκτὸς, ὑπῆρχον καὶ ἕτεροι πλείους γνώριμοι τοῦ Σωτῆρος, οὓς καὶ ἔφησεν ὁ ἱερὸς Ἀπόστολος λέγων· «Ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς,» καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ οὗτοι τοῦ τῶν μαθητῶν ὀνόματος ἠξιωμένοι ἦσαν, οἷς οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν ὁμοῦ πᾶσι κατὰ ταυτὸ συνηθροισμένοις ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὀφθῆναι αὐτὸν μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν, εἰκότως δύο μὲν τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν, ὅ τε Λουκᾶς καὶ ὁ Ἰωάννης, μόνοις τοῖς ἕνδεκα ὦφθαι αὐτὸν ἀναγράφουσιν ἐν τῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ. ∆ύο δὲ τούτων οἱ λοιποὶ οὐ τοῖς ἔνδεκα μόνον σπεύδειν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἅπασι καὶ ἀδελφοῖς ἔφασαν παρακελεύσασθαι αὐτόν τε τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ τὸν προφανέντα αὐτοῦ ἄγγελον, ἀορίστως καὶ ἀπολύτως τοὺς πάντας δηλώσαντες. Ἀμείνων δὲ καὶ ἀληθεστέρα ἡ πρώτη λύσις· πλείους τοίνυν αἱ ὀπτασίαι καὶ διάφοροι γεγένηνται τοῖς μαθηταῖς μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τάσδε εἰρηκέναι αὐτόν φασιν, οἱ δὲ τάσδε καὶ πεπραχέναι· ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ περὶ τοῦ κεφαλαίου λέγοντες, ἀναπληροῖ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ προτέρου ἐλλειφθέντα ὁ δεύτερος.