behind me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me, because you do not think the things of God, but the things of men; so also here it is understood; for having become in the likeness of men, he declines the passion, as a man; but being God, and being impassible according to his divine substance, he eagerly accepted the passion and 1024 death; because it was not possible for him to be held by death; because he was God, having become in the likeness of men, dying voluntarily, and rising by his own authority as God, as David also said: Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; and again: Awake, O Lord my God, in the command that you commanded, and a congregation of peoples will surround you. And for its sake return on high; The Lord will judge the peoples. And the Apostle also says elsewhere: He suffered from weakness, but he lives by the power of God. And the Son is the power of God, having suffered from weakness, that is, from the fleshly entanglement; and declining the passion, as a man; but living through his own power. And when the Lord says in the Gospel according to John: And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; elsewhere the same John calls the Son true God: For we know, he says, that the Son of God has come; and he has given us understanding, that we may know the true God, and we are in the true one, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. So the Son is true God, both before he became man, and after he became the mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ. For this is, 'and Jesus Christ whom he sent,' the one united to the Father according to the Spirit, but to us according to the flesh, and thus having mediated between God and men; who is not only man, but also the same one being God, as Jeremiah also says: This is our God, no other shall be accounted of in comparison with him. He has found out all the way of knowledge; and has given it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. After this he was seen upon earth and conversed with men. And when did he converse with men, if not when he was born with them of a woman, and was an infant with them, and grew up with them, and 1025 ate with them? And elsewhere he says: His heart is deep beyond all things; and he is a man, and who shall know him? Likewise Isaiah also says that, A child is born to us, and a Son is given to us, whose government was born upon his shoulder. And his name is called Angel of great counsel, wonderful, counselor, mighty God, ruler, prince of peace, father of the age to come. And elsewhere he says: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us. Therefore, he who was born of a Virgin is God, and became man from Mary the Theotokos. And again elsewhere he says: And we saw him, and he had no form, nor beauty. For he had seen him before this in his divine and glorious form, sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, when the seraphim also glorified him, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth. And after this he sees him having taken the form of a servant, and having become in the likeness of man. For this reason he says: We saw him, and he had no form, nor beauty; but his form was dishonored, and lacking beyond all the sons of men. A man being in affliction, and knowing how to bear weakness. Because his face is turned away; he was dishonored and not esteemed; this one bears our weaknesses, and is in pain for us. And we considered him to be in trouble, and in affliction, and in distress. But he was wounded for our sins; and was bruised for our iniquities. And elsewhere he says about him: Behold, our God renders judgment, and will render it. He himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear. And again elsewhere he says: Not

ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ, σκάνδαλόν μου εἶ, ὅτι οὐ φρονεῖς τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· οὕτως καὶ ἐνταῦθα νοεῖται· γενόμενος γὰρ ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων, παραιτεῖται τὸ πάθος, ὡς ἄνθρωπος· Θεὸς δὲ ὢν, καὶ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν τὴν θεϊκὴν ἀπαθὴς ὑπάρχων, προθύμως ὑπεδέξατο τὸ πάθος καὶ 1024 τὸν θάνατον· διότι οὐκ ἦν δυνατὸν κρατεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου· ὅτι Θεὸς ἦν ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος, ἀποθνήσκων ἑκοντὶ, καὶ ἐγειρόμενος κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἰδίαν ὡς Θεὸς, ὡς καὶ ∆αβὶδ εἶπεν· Ἀναστήτω ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ· καὶ αὖθις· Ἐξεγέρθητι, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, ἐν προστάγματι, ᾧ ἐνετείλω, καὶ συναγωγὴ λαῶν κυκλώσει σε. Καὶ ὑπὲρ ταύτης εἰς ὕψος ἐπίστρεψον· Κύριος κρινεῖ λαούς. Λέγει δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἀλλαχοῦ· Ἔπαθεν ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ζῇ δὲ ἐκ δυνάμεως Θεοῦ. ∆ύναμις δέ ἐστι Θεοῦ ὁ Υἱὸς, παθὼν ἐξ ἀσθενείας, τουτέστιν, ἐκ τῆς σαρκικῆς συμπλοκῆς· καὶ παραιτούμενος τὸ πάθος, ὡς ἄνθρωπος· ζῶν δὲ διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως. Καὶ ὅτε λέγει ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγελίῳ· Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ, ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν· ἀλλαχοῦ ὁ αὐτὸς Ἰωάννης τὸν Υἱὸν λέγει ἀληθινὸν Θεόν· Οἴδαμεν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἥκει· καὶ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν διάνοιαν, ἵνα γινώσκωμεν τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐσμὲν ἐν τῷ ἀληθινῷ ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ. Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθινὸς Θεὸς, καὶ ζωὴ ἡ αἰώνιος. Ὥστε ἀληθινὸς Θεός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ μετὰ τὸ γενέσθαι μεσίτην Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἄνθρωπον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλεν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, τὸν ἡνωμένον Πατρὶ κατὰ Πνεῦμα, ἡμῖν δὲ κατὰ σάρκα, καὶ οὕτω μεσιτεύσαντα Θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις· τὸν μὴ μόνον ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θεὸν τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα, καθὼς καὶ Ἱερεμίας λέγει· Οὗτος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, οὐ λογισθήσεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν. Ἐξεῦρε πᾶσαν ὁδὸν ἐπιστήμης· καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἰακὼβ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤφθη καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνανεστράφη. Πότε δὲ συνανεστράφη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, εἰ μὴ ὅτε συνεγεννήθη μετ' αὐτῶν ἐκ γυναικὸς, καὶ συνενηπίασε, καὶ συνηύξησε, καὶ 1025 συνέφαγε; Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει· Βαθεῖα ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ παρὰ πάντας· καὶ ἄνθρωπός ἐστι, καὶ τίς γνώσεται αὐτόν; Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ἡσαΐας λέγει, ὅτι Παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν, καὶ Υἱὸς ἐδόθη ἡμῖν, οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐγενήθη ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ. Καὶ καλεῖται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος, θαυμαστὸς, σύμβουλος, Θεὸς ἰσχυρὸς, ἐξουσιαστὴς, ἄρχων εἰρήνης, πατὴρ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει· Ἰδοὺ ἡ Παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται, καὶ τέξεται υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός. Θεὸς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ γεννηθεὶς ἐκ Παρθένου, καὶ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ Μαρίας τῆς Θεοτόκου. Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει· Καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος, οὐδὲ κάλλος. Ἦν γὰρ αὐτὸν πρὸ τούτου θεωρήσας ἐν τῇ θεϊκῇ καὶ ἐνδόξῳ αὐτοῦ μορφῇ, καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου, ὅτε καὶ οἱ σεραφὶμ ἐδοξολόγουν αὐτὸν, λέγοντες· Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κύριος Σαβαώθ. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ὁρᾷ αὐτὸν δούλου μορφὴν λαβόντα, καὶ ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπου γενόμενον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο λέγει· Εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος, οὐδὲ κάλλος· ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ πάντας τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν, καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν. Ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ· ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη· οὗτος τὰς μαλακίας ἡμῶν φέρει, καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται. Καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ, καὶ πληγῇ, καὶ ἐν κακώσει. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν· καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ· Ἰδοὺ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν κρίσιν ἀνταποδίδωσι, καὶ ἀνταποδώσει. Αὐτὸς ἥξει καὶ σώσει ἡμᾶς. Τότε ἀνοιχθήσονται ὀφθαλμοὶ τυφλῶν, καὶ ὦτα κωφῶν ἀκούσονται. Τότε ἁλεῖται ὡς ἔλαφος ὁ χωλὸς, καὶ τρανὴ ἔσται γλῶσσα μογιλάλων. Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ λέγει· Οὐκ