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place and to receive this in deed. When therefore they entered into the tomb, and saw only the linen cloths, but the body nowhere, then they believed; but what did they believe, if not the word of Mary who said, 'They have taken my Lord'? Therefore he adds next: 'For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.'

IV. As to how, when according to John two disciples came to the tomb, Peter and John, Luke says only one came, it may be resolved thus. Peter was always great in his eagerness, so as to be the only one among the apostles to say to the Savior: 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you;' and again, the only one to ask to walk on the waves; and the only one to answer and say to him: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God;' for which reason he alone of the disciples hears: 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah.' Therefore he is also the first to dare to enter the tomb, having come with the other disciple whom Jesus loved, according to John; but then, having learned from the Magdalene that the body of the Lord had been taken from the tomb, he went together with the other disciple; then he departed with him, having seen the linen cloths inside the tomb and having believed. But according to Luke, when the other disciples disbelieved, he alone again believes the women who said they had seen the angels who appeared; for not disbelieving the testimonies of the women, he returns to the tomb alone; and again stooping down he sees the linen cloths alone as before; then he departed, wondering to himself about what had happened; and for now he went away wondering about what had happened, but since he was great in eagerness and showed more zeal than all, hurrying and running about, and in every way looking for the Savior with the eyes of his soul opened, seeking and looking around everywhere, he did not fail in his hope, but he himself is also deemed worthy of His divine appearance; of this the same evangelist Luke is a witness, proceeding next somewhere here and saying that 'The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.' The holy Apostle also testifies with him, writing thus to the Corinthians, that 'He appeared to Cephas, then to the eleven.' And Cephas was himself Simon, also called Peter, to whom alone the Savior appeared alone before the eleven, on account of his surpassing zeal beyond all.

V. Further, one might ask how in Matthew 22.992 it is said that Mary Magdalene with her namesake saw only one angel outside the tomb sitting on the stone; while according to John she sees two angels sitting inside the tomb; and according to Luke two men met the women; and according to Mark a young man was seen by them. The accounts in John and Matthew might find such a resolution: for I believe that the story in John precedes that in Matthew, and that the Magdalene, having come the first time, saw the two angels sitting inside the tomb; and after this, having come to the same place a second time with the other Mary, she saw the angel sitting upon the stone. Or perhaps the angel in Matthew is one, and the time and the place of the angel's appearance is another; and his angels who appeared to the women are others; and likewise the two angels in John who were seen inside the tomb are different from the one sitting on the stone outside before the tomb in Matthew. For if Matthew, having said it was late on the Sabbath, and having related that one was sitting on the stone before the door of the tomb, John had kept the same time and the same place and said that late on the Sabbath two were seen sitting on the stone before the door of the tomb, one could truly allege a discrepancy. And likewise if Matthew, similarly observing the morning hour like John, had also said that not two angels but one was seen inside the tomb, he would reasonably have seemed to write contradictorily. But if the evangelists distinguished the times and the manners, and the persons of those seeing, and the words of the angels, no one could

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τόπον καὶ ἔργῳ τοῦτο παραλαβεῖν. Ὅτε γοῦν εἰσῆλθον οὗτοι εἰς τὸ μνῆμα, καὶ τὰ ὀθόνια εἶδον μόνα, τὸ δὲ σῶμα οὐδαμοῦ, τότε ἐπίστευσαν· τίνι δὲ ἐπίστευσαν, ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ τῆς Μαρίας λόγῳ φήσαντι, «Ἦραν τὸν Κύριόν μου;» ∆ιὸ ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς· «Οὔπω γὰρ ᾔδεισαν τὴν Γραφὴν, ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι.»

∆ʹ. Τὸ δὲ πῶς δύο παρὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην μαθητῶν ἐλθόντων εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, Πέτρου καὶ Ἰωάννου, ὁ Λουκᾶς ἕνα μόνον φησὶν ἀπηντηκέναι, οὕτως ἂν λυθείη. Πολὺς ἦν ὁ Πέτρος ἀεὶ τῇ προθυμίᾳ, ὡς μόνον παρὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους εἰπεῖν τῷ Σωτῆρι· «Κἂν δέῃ με σὺν σοὶ ἀποθανεῖν, οὐ μή σε ἀπαρνήσομαι·» καὶ μόνον πάλιν ἐπιβῆναι τοῖς κύμασιν ἀξιῶσαι· καὶ μόνον ἀποκρίνασθαι καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ· «Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος·» διὸ καὶ μόνος τῶν μαθητῶν ἀκούει· «Μακάριος εἶ, Σίμων Βὰρ Ἰωνᾶ.» ∆ιὸ καὶ πρῶτος τολμᾷ εἰσιέναι εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, σὺν τῷ ἑτέρῳ μαθητῇ ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐλθὼν, κατὰ τὸν Ἰωάννην· ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν παρὰ τῆς Μαγδαληνῆς ἦρθαι τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου μεμαθηκὼς, ἀπήντα ἅμα τῷ ἑτέρῳ μαθητῇ· εἶτα ἀνεχώρει σὺν αὐτῷ, τὰ ὀθόνια εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος τεθεαμένος καὶ πιστεύσας. Κατὰ δὲ Λουκᾶν, τῶν ἄλλων ἀπιστούντων μαθητῶν, μόνος αὐτὸς πάλιν πιστεύει ταῖς λεγούσαις ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἑωρακέναι τοὺς ὀφθέντας ἀγγέλους· οὐ γὰρ ἀπιστήσας δὲ ταῖς τῶν γυναικῶν μαρτυρίαις, παλινδρομαῖος ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον μόνος παραγίνεται· καὶ αὖθις παρακύψας βλέπει τὰ ὀθόνια μόνα ὡς καὶ τὸ πρότερον· εἶτα ἀπῄει, πρὸς ἑαυτὸν θαυμάζων τὸ γεγονός· καὶ νῦν μὲν ἀπῄει θαυμάζων τὸ γεγονὸς, ἐπεὶ δὲ πολὺς ἦν τῇ προθυμίᾳ καὶ πλείονα σπουδὴν παρὰ πάντας ἐπεδείκνυτο, σπεύδων καὶ περιτρέχων, καὶ πάντη τὸν Σωτῆρα περιαθρῶν ἀνεωγόσι τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμασι, πανταχοῦ δὲ ζητῶν καὶ περιβλεπόμενος, οὐκ ἠτύχησε τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀξιοῦται τῆς αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας· τούτου μάρτυς ὁ αὐτὸς εὐαγγελιστὴς Λουκᾶς ὧδέ πη προϊὼν ἑξῆς καὶ λέγων ὅτι ὄντως ἠγέρθη ὁ Κύριος καὶ ὤφθη Σίμωνι. Συμμαρτυρεῖ δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ ἱερὸς Ἀπόστολος ὧδε Κορινθίοις γράφων, ὅτι «Ὤφθη Κεφᾷ, εἶτα τοῖς ἔνδεκα.» Κεφᾶς δὲ αὐτὸς ἦν Σίμων ὁ καὶ Πέτρος, ᾧ καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἕνδεκα μόνος μόνῳ ὤφθη ὁ Σωτὴρ, τῆς παρὰ πάντας ὑπερβαλλούσης αὐτοῦ χάριν σπουδῆς.

Εʹ. Ἔτι ζητήσειεν ἄν τις πῶς παρὰ μὲν τῷ Ματ 22.992 θαίῳ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ Μαρία μετὰ τῆς ὁμωνύμου ἑωρακέναι ἐκτὸς τοῦ μνήματος ἐπικαθήμενον τῷ λίθῳ ἕνα μόνον ἄγγελον εἴρηται· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Ἰωάννην εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος ἀγγέλους δύο θεωρεῖ καθημένους· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Λουκᾶν δύο ἄνδρες ἀπήντων ταῖς γυναιξί· κατὰ δὲ τὸν Μάρκον νεανίσκος ἦν αὐτοῖς ὁρώμενος. Τὰ μὲν παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ καὶ Ματθαίῳ λύσεως ἂν τύχοι τοιαύτης· ἡγοῦμαι γὰρ προηγεῖσθαι μὲν τὴν παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ ἱστορίαν, τῆς παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ, καὶ τὴν Μαγδαληνὴν τὸ πρῶτον ἐλθοῦσαν τοὺς δύο ἀγγέλους εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος καθεζομένους ἰδεῖν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δεύτερον ἐπιστᾶσαν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης Μαρίας τὸν ἐπικαθήμενον τῷ λίθῳ ἄγγελον ἑωρακέναι. Ἢ τάχα ἕτερος μὲν ὁ παρὰ Ματθαίῳ ἄγγελος, ἕτερος δὲ καὶ ὁ χρόνος καὶ ὁ τόπος τῆς τοῦ ἀγγέλου θέας· ἕτεροι δὲ καὶ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ οἱ πρὸς τὰς γυναῖκας· ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ οἱ παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ δύο ἄγγελοι οἱ εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος ὀφθέντες ἕτεροί εἰσι παρὰ τὸν ἔξω πρὸ μνήματος ἐπὶ τῷ λίθῳ καθεζόμενον παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ Ματθαίου ὀψὲ Σαββάτων εἰρηκότος, καὶ ἕνα πρὸ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνημείου καθήμενον ἐπὶ τῷ λίθῳ ἱστορηκότος, φυλάξας ὁ Ἰωάννης τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον εἰρήκει ὀψὲ Σαββάτων, πρὸ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνήματος ἐπὶ τῷ λίθῳ δύο καθεζομένους ὁρᾶσθαι, ἦν ἀληθῶς διαφωνίαν αἰτιᾶσθαι. Καὶ ὁ Ματθαῖος ὡσαύτως εἰ ὁμοίως Ἰωάννῃ τὴν πρωϊνὴν ὥραν τηρήσας, εἴσω τοῦ μνήματος καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ δύο ἀγγέλους ἀλλ' ἕνα ἔφησε τεθεωρῆσθαι, τἀναντία ἔδοξεν ἂν εἰκότως συγγράφειν. Εἰ δ' ἀφώρισαν οἱ εὐαγγελισταὶ καὶ τοὺς χρόνους καὶ τοὺς τρόπους, καὶ τὰ πρόσωπα τῶν θεωμένων, καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἀγγέλων λόγους, οὐκ ἄν τις