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he might labor and hunger and 36.2 whatever things are necessary for a man. and that God “will not labor, nor is there any searching of his understanding,” but the Savior is found to have labored; it is not for this reason that he is not the Word who came down from above from the substance of the Father. For he did not labor above, but in the flesh. For it was necessary for the flesh to labor, so that it might not be thought to be an appearance, but a reality; 36.3 and the other things that have such a power, to be drowsy, to sleep, are indicative of a man and to be subject to touch *. For he took these things and 36.4 was found to be a man. “For,” he says, “we have found the Messiah, of whom Moses wrote.” But those who found him * through the incomprehensible nature, * that is, the incarnate one. For since in his incomprehensibility he was not found, for this reason he is seized by scribes and “gave his back to the whips and did not turn his face away from the shame 36.5 of spitting,” he wept and whatever other things are sung about him. But who was able to whip or strike or spit upon the God Logos in heaven, who is so ineffable and incomprehensible? But if the impassible Word of God suffered these things, then the passion is of the body, apart from his own impassibility and yet not apart, because he willed it; 36.6 and yet though he did not suffer, the passion was accounted to himself. And just as a stain on a garment does not reach the body of the wearer, but the stain of the garment is reckoned to the wearer, so God suffered in the flesh, his divinity suffering nothing. But the passion of the flesh, which was worn by the divinity, was reckoned to the divinity, so that salvation might become ours in the divinity. 37.1 And I remember the saying in the Gospel according to Luke and I do not wish to leave it uninterpreted, that which is written: “being in an agony he sweated, and his sweat became like drops of blood. 37.2 And an angel of the Lord appeared, strengthening him.” But the deeper and necessary things of the sayings, as we are accustomed to say, those who do not understand their power, instead of good things, by their wickedness * overturn themselves; for nothing is 37.3 more opportune than this. For in saying “he was in an agony” he shows the Lord's humanity to be a true humanity. And to show that he was a true man and the agony did not come from the divinity, he says “he sweated and his sweat became like drops 37.4 of blood.” The form is of the body and not of the spirit. “And an angel of the Lord appeared, strengthening him,” not because he who is greater than angels needed the strength of an angel, “to whom every knee bows, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth,” being ever God the Word and being ever with the Father and begotten from him, but in order to fulfill what was in the great song of Moses sung in the desert, in which he said “all the sons of God shall worship him, and let the angels 37.5 of God strengthen him.” The phrase “let them strengthen him,” is not as if they were providing him strength; but since the doxology was strong in these to glorify God, by angels indeed immediately above and by spiritual living creatures crying out and saying “yours is the power, yours is the might, yours is the strength,” by this he shows the worshipping and strengthening, that is, giving to him the proper might of strength, as also the angel was seen 37.6 before the disciples worshipping his own master; not being ignorant of the excess of his philanthropic economy, but marveling at so great a work of meekness accomplished in him, which defeated the devil, which crushed the sting of death, which triumphed over principalities and powers, which shattered sin 37.7. And because of the excess of wonder in the doxology the angel said while worshipping: yours is the strength, Master; for you were strong against death and against Hades and against the devil, to crush his sting and to cast him out from humanity.

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κοπιάσῃ καὶ πεινάσῃ καὶ 36.2 ὅσαπερ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ εἰσὶ χρειώδη. καὶ ὅτι ὁ θεὸς «οὐ κοπιάσει οὐδ' ἔστιν ἐξεύρεσις τῆς φρονήσεως αὐτοῦ», κεκοπιακὼς δὲ ὁ σωτὴρ εὑρίσκεται, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς οὐσίας ἄνωθεν κατελθὼν ὁ Λόγος. οὐ γὰρ ἄνω κεκοπίακεν, ἀλλ' ἐν σαρκί. ἔδει γὰρ τὴν σάρκα κοπιάσαι, ἵνα μὴ δοκήσει νομίζηται, ἀλλ' ἀληθείᾳ· 36.3 καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσαπερ τοιαύτην ἔχει δύναμιν, τὸ νυστάξαι τὸ ὑπνῶσαι, ἀνθρώπου ἐστὶν ὑποφαντικὰ καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ ἁφὴν *. ἔλαβε γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ 36.4 ἄνθρωπος εὑρέθη. «εὑρήκαμεν, γάρ φησιν, Μεσσίαν, ὃν ἔγραψε Μωυσῆς». οἱ δὲ εὑρόντες αὐτὸν * διὰ τῆς ἀκαταλήπτου φύσεως, * τουτέστι τῆς ἐνσάρκου. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκαταληψίᾳ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο, διὰ τοῦτο ὑπὸ γραμματέων συλλαμβάνεται καὶ «τὸν νῶτον αὐτοῦ ἔδωκεν εἰς μάστιγας καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπέστρεψεν ἀπὸ αἰσχύνης 36.5 ἐμπτυσμάτων», ἔκλαυσε καὶ ὅσαπερ ἄλλα περὶ αὐτοῦ· ᾄδεται. τίς δὲ ἠδύνατο τὸν θεὸν Λόγον ἐν οὐρανῷ μαστίζειν ἢ ῥαπίζειν ἢ καταπτύειν τοῦ τοιούτου ἀφράστου καὶ ἀκαταλήπτου; εἰ δὲ ταῦτα πέπονθεν ὁ ἀπαθὴς τοῦ θεοῦ Λόγος, ἄρα τὸ πάθος σωματικόν ἐστιν, ἐκτὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀπαθείας καὶ οὐκ ἐκτὸς πάλιν διὰ τὸ εὐδοκῆσαι· 36.6 καίτοι γε μὴ πάσχοντος αὐτοῦ εἰς ἑαυτὸν τὸ πάθος λελόγισται. καὶ καθάπερ ἐν ἱματίῳ σπῖλος τὸ σῶμα τοῦ φοροῦντος οὐ φθάνει, ὁ δὲ σπῖλος τοῦ ἱματίου εἰς τὸν φοροῦντα λογίζεται, οὕτως ὁ θεὸς πέπονθεν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ μηδὲν παθούσης. εἰς δὲ τὴν θεότητα τὸ πάθος τῆς σαρκὸς ὑπὸ τῆς θεότητος φορουμένης ἐλογίσθη, ἵνα ἐν τῇ θεότητι ἡμῖν ἡ σωτηρία γένηται. 37.1 Μέμνημαι δὲ τοῦ ῥητοῦ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν εὐαγγελίου καὶ οὐ βούλομαι αὐτὸ ἐᾶσαι ἀνερμήνευτον, τὸ γεγραμμένον ὅτι «γενόμενος ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ ἵδρωσε καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτῷ ὁ ἱδρὼς ὡς θρόμβοι αἵματος. 37.2 ὤφθη δὲ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐνισχύων αὐτόν». τὰ βαθύτερα δὲ τῶν λόγων ὡς εἰώθαμεν λέγειν καὶ τὰ ἀναγκαῖα οἱ μὴ τὴν δύναμιν νοοῦντες, ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν τῇ κακίᾳ * ἀνατρέπουσιν ἑαυτούς· οὐδὲν 37.3 γὰρ τούτου καιριώτερον. ἐν τῷ γὰρ εἰπεῖν «γέγονεν ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ» τὸν κυριακὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀληθινὸν ἄνθρωπον ὄντα δείκνυσι. καὶ ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι ἀληθινὸς ἦν ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς θεότητος ἡ ἀγωνία γέγονε, φησίν «ἵδρωσε καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτῷ ὁ ἱδρὼς ὡς θρόμβοι 37.4 αἵματος». σωματικόν ἐστι τὸ εἶδος καὶ οὐχὶ πνευματικόν. «ὤφθη δὲ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐνισχύων αὐτόν», οὐχ ὅτι τῆς ἰσχύος τοῦ ἀγγέλου ἐπεδέετο ὁ μείζων ἀγγέλων, «ᾧ κάμπτει πᾶν γόνυ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων», θεῷ ὄντι ἀεὶ Λόγῳ καὶ πρὸς τῷ πατρὶ ὄντι ἀεὶ καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγεννημένῳ, ἀλλ' ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὸ ἐν τῇ ᾠδῇ τῇ μεγάλῃ Μωυσέως ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ᾀσθείσῃ, ἐν ᾗ ἔλεγε «προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ πάντες υἱοὶ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐνισχυσάτωσαν αὐτὸν ἄγγελοι 37.5 θεοῦ». τό «ἐνισχυσάτωσαν αὐτόν», οὐχ ὡς παρέχοντες αὐτῷ ἰσχύν· ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἴσχυεν ἡ δοξολογία ἐν τούτοις δοξάζειν τὸν θεόν, ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων μὲν εὐθὺς ἄνω καὶ πνευματικῶν ζῴων βοώντων καὶ λεγόντων «σή ἐστιν ἡ δύναμις, σόν ἐστι τὸ κράτος, σή ἐστιν ἡ ἰσχύς», ἐν τούτῳ δείκνυσι τὸ προσκυνεῖν καὶ ἐνισχύειν, τουτέστι διδόναι αὐτῷ τὸ ἴδιον τῆς ἰσχύος κράτος, ὡς καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος ὤφθη 37.6 ἐνώπιον τῶν μαθητῶν προσκυνῶν τὸν αὐτοῦ δεσπότην· μὴ ἀγνοῶν τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς αὐτοῦ φιλανθρώπου οἰκονομίας, θαυμάζων δὲ τὴν τοσαύτην ἐν αὐτῷ γεγενημένην πραότητος πραγματείαν, τὴν τὸν διάβολον ἡττήσασαν, τὴν τὸ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου συντρίψασαν, τὴν τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας θριαμβεύσασαν, τὴν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν 37.7 θραύσασαν. καὶ διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς θαυμασιότητος ἐν τῇ δοξολογίᾳ ὁ ἄγγελος ἔλεγε προσκυνῶν· σή ἐστιν ἡ ἰσχύς, δέσποτα· σὺ γὰρ ἴσχυσας κατὰ θανάτου καὶ κατὰ Ἅιδου καὶ κατὰ διαβόλου, συντρῖψαι τὸ κέντρον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκβαλεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος.