John Chrysostom, On Fasting Sermons 1-7

the purple robe and the diadem, by which he frees all; For he has a purple robe: the purple robe is his body, and the diadem is the Word. John, seeing him, cries out and says: We are all partial. Moses legislates for Israel, Isaiah prophesies to Israel, Jeremiah likewise, 60.720 but I a baptism of repentance for the world; but no one sets free. The one who has authority over all has come; he is the one preached by us, he is the king of glory; he does not bestow favor on one nation, but becomes salvation for the whole world. The law had a lamb; but it was slaughtered for one nation, but it did not forgive sins; for it was a type. After this lamb, Isaiah proclaims: As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a speechless lamb before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. Who will declare his generation? His judgment was taken away from him. This is the true lamb, proclaimed through words, and now appearing through works; this is he who gave himself for the whole world; this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, The prophets prophesied future things through letters, they did not show the events; if the events come to pass, it makes the letters true. David prophesied concerning the things that were to happen to Jesus; but with the events not yet present, the letters had a shadow, God having ordained this. For if the Jews had known what was shown by events through the letters, they would have erased the letters, fearing the refutation from the events. For David said in the second psalm: Why did the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? the madness of Herod and Caiaphas; The kings of the earth and the rulers gathered together; he speaks of the plot against the Master Against the Lord, and against his Christ. Let us break their bonds, and cast their yoke from us. But speaking of the cross, in the twenty-first he said: Many dogs have surrounded me, fat bulls have encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones. But they understood and looked upon me; they divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast a lot.

And the letters had a shadow; but when the events came, then the shadow departed, and the Jews see the hands and feet nailed, from their own home, their refutation contained in their own books; and they are no longer able to erase the letters. For both have become manifest; the letters have agreed with the events. Isaiah said: As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and as a speechless lamb before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. His judgment was taken away. Who will declare his generation? The Jews were reading the letters, and did not understand the events; for the law had a shadow of the good things to come, not the very 60.721 image. But when the time came for the events to be made manifest, and the true lamb was being led to the slaughter, and the true sheep was being sacrificed for the whole world, and the true cleansing of men was taking place, and the true blood was being poured out for the salvation of the whole world, and the things were being enacted by the Jews; and with the prophecy of Isaiah being fulfilled, the Jews were put to shame. For if the Jews wish to deny it, I read to them David, I read Isaiah, I bring forth the refutation from their own home. And Moses comes, advocating with me concerning the crucified one; who, wishing to preach to them the one who was to be crucified, preached through letters. For this reason he said: Even if I am silent, the works cry out. What works? The Jews are ignorant; for the shadow of the

τὴν πορφυρίδα καὶ τὸ διάδημα, δι' ὧν τοὺς πάντας ἐλευθεροῖ· Ἔστι γὰρ αὐτῷ πορφύρα· πορφυρὶς τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τὸ διάδημα ὁ λόγος. Τοῦτον ἰδὼν Ἰωάννης βοᾷ καὶ λέγει· Ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐκ μέρους. Μωϋσῆς τῷ Ἰσραὴλ νομοθετεῖ, Ἡσαΐας τῷ Ἰσραὴλ προφητεύει, Ἱερεμίας ὡσαύ 60.720 τως, ἐγὼ δὲ βάπτισμα μετανοίας τῷ κόσμῳ· ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς ἐλευθεροῖ. Ἦλθεν ὁ τῶν πάντων ἔχων τὴν ἐξουσίαν· αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ παρ' ἡμῶν κηρυττόμενος, αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης· αὐτὸς οὐκ ἔθνει ἑνὶ χαρίζεται, ἀλλὰ ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ σωτηρία γίνεται. Ἀμνὸν εἶχεν ὁ νόμος· ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς ἔθνους ἐσφάζετο, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀφῆκεν ἁμαρτίας· τύπος γὰρ ἦν. Μετὰ τοῦτον τὸν ἀμνὸν Ἡσαΐας κηρύττει· Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἄφωνος ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἤρθη. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθινὸς ἀμνὸς, ὁ διὰ λόγων κηρυττόμενος, καὶ νῦν δι' ἔργων φαινόμενος· οὗτός ἐστιν ὑπὲρ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου ἑαυτὸν ἐκδούς· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, Οἱ προφῆται διὰ γραμμάτων τὰ μέλλοντα προεφήτευσαν, οὐ τὰ πράγματα ἔδειξαν· ἐὰν γένηται τὰ πράγματα, ἀληθινὰ ποιεῖ τὰ γράμματα. Προεφήτευσε ∆αυῒδ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν γίνεσθαι· ἀλλὰ μηδέπω παρόντων τῶν πραγμάτων, τὰ γράμματα σκιὰν ἔσχον, τοῦτο οἰκονομήσαντος τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ ἐγνώκεισαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸ διὰ γραμμάτων πράγμασι φαινόμενον, τὰ γράμματα ἦσαν ἀπαλείψαντες, δεδοικότες τὸν ἐκ πραγμάτων ἔλεγχον. Ἔλεγε γὰρ ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ ψαλμῷ· Ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά; τοῦ Ἡρώδου καὶ τοῦ Καϊάφα τὴν ἀπόνοιαν· Συνήχθησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό· τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν τὴν κατὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου λέγει Κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ. ∆ιαῤῥήξωμεν τοὺς δεσμοὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀποῤῥίψωμεν ἀφ' ἡμῶν τὸν ζυγὸν αὐτῶν. Τὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ δὲ λέγων, ἐν εἰκοστῷ πρώτῳ ἔλεγε· Περιεκύκλωσάν με κύνες πολλοὶ, ταῦροι πίονες περιέσχον με. Ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας μου, ἐξηρίθμησαν πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. Αὐτοὶ δὲ κατενόησαν καὶ ἐπεῖδόν με· διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον.

Καὶ εἶχον σκιὰν τὰ γράμματα· ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε τὰ πράγματα, τότε ἡ σκιὰ ἀνεχώρει, καὶ ὁρῶσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἡλωθέντας οἴκοθεν, αὐτῶν τὸν ἔλεγχον ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν βιβλίοις ταῦτα περιέχοντα· καὶ οὐκ ἔτι δύνανται ἐξαλεῖψαι τὰ γράμματα. Πρόδηλα γὰρ γεγόνασι τὰ ἀμφότερα· τὰ γράμματα τοῖς πράγμασι συνεφώνησεν. Ἔλεγεν Ἡσαΐας Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἄφωνος ἐνώπιον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. Ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη. Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; Ἰουδαῖοι ἀνεγίνωσκον τὰ γράμματα, καὶ οὐκ ἐνενόουν τὰ πράγματα· Σκιὰν γὰρ εἶχεν ὁ νόμος τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, οὐκ αὐτὴν 60.721 τὴν εἰκόνα. Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθεν ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ τὰ πράγματα φανερὰ γενέσθαι, καὶ ὁ ἀληθινὸς ἀμνὸς ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤγετο, καὶ τὸ ἀληθινὸν πρόβατον ὑπὲρ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου ἐθύετο, καὶ ἡ ἀληθινὴ κάθαρσις τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγίνετο, καὶ τὸ ἀληθινὸν αἷμα ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου ἐξεχύνετο, καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων ἐδραματουργεῖτο· καὶ τῆς προφητείας τοῦ Ἡσαΐου πληρουμένης κατῃσχύνθησαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι. Ἐὰν γὰρ θελήσωσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀρνήσασθαι, ἀναγινώσκω αὐτοῖς τὸν ∆αυῒδ, ἀναγινώσκω τὸν Ἡσαΐαν, οἴκοθεν αὐτῶν τὸν ἔλεγχον προφέρω. Ἔρχεται καὶ Μωϋσῆς συνηγορῶν μοι περὶ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος· ὃς βουλόμενος αὐτοῖς κηρῦξαι τὸν μέλλοντα σταυροῦσθαι, διὰ γραμμάτων ἐκήρυξε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔφη· Κἂν ἐγὼ σιωπήσω, τὰ ἔργα κράζουσι. Ποῖα ἔργα; Ἀγνοοῦσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι· ἡ γὰρ σκιὰ τοῦ