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of the woman was calling the one who was received as a guest for a time, * because neither the 39.7 name escaped him, nor the creature, nor the thought of man. “Who,” he says, “do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And he himself states that he is the Son of Man, confessing it, so that they might not think he was asking about the invisible one. But they say Elias and Jeremiah and John. “But who do you say that I am?”; “You are the Christ, 39.8 the Son of the living God,” he says, and immediately he is blessed. For he did not ask out of ignorance, but wishing to show that the teaching which proclaims the Son to the church as true God is from the Father, so that Peter would be compelled to say what he had been taught by the Father. 40.1 And do not be surprised if he says “through me they enter to the Father” and you suppose him to be altered from the substance of the Father. For he himself teaches again, “no one comes to me, unless the Father has drawn him.” As therefore the Father sends to the Son, so the Son brings to the Father, in order to show that the Godhead is one and the same. 40.2 And as for “he advanced in stature and wisdom,” if he is the wisdom of God, he is not in need of wisdom. But since he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, the fullness * was not diminished; * but it was to show that he was emptied from heaven into humanity, that is, into the workshop of Mary. 40.3 “For your name is ointment emptied out,” he says; he did not say poured over, but emptied out from heaven to earth, so that from earth it might be emptied into Mary. And from Mary, having become flesh, he is conceived, in Bethlehem he is born, from Bethlehem he goes to Nazareth, from Nazareth to Capernaum, from Capernaum to Jerusalem and the sea when he walked on the waters, and the regions of Tyre and Nain and Judea and Jericho and to Bethphage and Bethany, to Jerusalem and the temple and the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane, to the house of Caiaphas, to the praetorium and to Herod, to the place of Golgotha, to the tomb and 40.4 even to Hades, to the earth after the resurrection and into the heavens. For ointment emptied from vessel to vessel makes all the vessels fragrant, and the presence of Christ from heaven sanctified the whole earth, for those 40.5 receiving him in truth. The mountain that is, as is said in Daniel, and a great mountain, “and a stone cut without hands” * hinting at being without the seed of a man, the greater again being found small; but a stone again taking on its size and again becoming a great mountain, and clearly the mountain not being in one place, but 40.6 filling the whole world, this one, being wisdom and having become man, extending his power to the world, so that he might fill 40.7 the world with grace, “advanced in stature and wisdom.” Since, being the wisdom of the Father and “teaching men” to speak and having articulated a tongue for men and “having planted the ear” for those who hear, how did he not know how to call “father” or “mother”? * “he shall take the power of Damascus and the 40.8 spoils of Samaria” and the rest? But since, if, having been born from the womb, he were shown speaking immediately and uttering clearly as newborns do, his enfleshed conception would have been considered a phantom and not true but rather an appearance, for this very reason he endures the littleness of his age, so that he might not destroy the truth of the sequence. 41.1 But again they hunt for * other vain suppositions, interweaving them with the divine words, and they think contrarily and say: “How then is it written, ‘receive the high priest of our confession, who is faithful to him who made him,’ and ‘let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, 41.2 this Jesus whom you crucified.’” And great wonder comes upon me how those who grasp the contexts are ignorant of the power expressed in them. For to say, “receive the

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τῆς γυναικὸς ἐκάλει ὁ ἐπιξενωθεὶς πρὸς τὴν ὥραν, * ὅτι οὔτε τὸ 39.7 ὄνομα αὐτὸν λέληθεν οὔτε πλάσμα οὔτε διανόημα ἀνθρώπου. «τίνα με» φησί «λέγουσιν εἶναι οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου;» καὶ τὸν μὲν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου αὐτὸς φράζει ὁμολογῶν, ἵνα μὴ νομίσωσι περὶ τοῦ ἀοράτου αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν. οἱ δέ φασιν Ἠλίαν καὶ Ἰερεμίαν καὶ Ἰωάννην. «ὑμεῖς δὲ τίνα με λέγετε;»· «σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς 39.8 ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος» φησὶ καὶ εὐθὺς μακαρίζεται. οὐ γὰρ ἀγνοῶν ἠρώτα, ἀλλὰ δεῖξαι βουλόμενος ὅτι πατρός ἐστιν ἡ διδαχὴ ἡ τὸν υἱὸν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀληθινὸν θεὸν κηρύττουσα, ἵνα ἀναγκασθῇ ὁ Πέτρος λέγειν ἃ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐδιδάχθη. 40.1 Καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς ἐὰν εἴπῃ ὅτι «δι' ἐμοῦ εἰσέρχονται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα» καὶ ἠλλοιωμένον τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς οὐσίας ὑπολάβῃς. αὐτὸς γὰρ πάλιν διδάσκει «οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρός με, ἐὰν μὴ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτὸν ἑλκύσῃ». ὡς γοῦν ὁ πατὴρ πέμπει πρὸς τὸν υἱόν, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς εἰσφέρει πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ἵνα δείξῃ μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι θεό40.2 τητα. τὸ δέ «προέκοπτεν ἡλικίᾳ καὶ σοφίᾳ», εἰ σοφία ἐστὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐκ ἐνδέεται σοφίας. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, οὐ τὸ πλήρωμα * ἠλαττώθη· * ἀλλ' ἵνα δείξῃ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ μετακενωθέντα εἰς ἀνθρωπότητα τουτέστιν εἰς ἐργαστήριον Μαρίας. 40.3 «μύρον γὰρ ἐκκενωθὲν ὄνομά σοι», φησίν· οὐκ εἶπεν ἐκχυθέν, ἀλλ' ἐκκενωθὲν ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ εἰς γῆν, ἵνα ἀπὸ γῆς εἰς Μαρίαν ἐκκενωθῇ. καὶ ἀπὸ Μαρίας σὰρξ γενόμενος κυΐσκεται, εἰς Βηθλεὲμ γεννᾶται, ἀπὸ Βηθλεὲμ εἰς Ναζαρὲτ μεταβαίνει, ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ εἰς Καπερναούμ, ἀπὸ Καπερναοὺμ εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ θάλασσαν ἐν τῷ βαδίζειν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων καὶ τὰ μέρη Τύρου καὶ Ναῒν καὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν καὶ Ἱεριχὼ καὶ εἰς Βηθφαγὴ καὶ Βηθανίαν, εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ τε τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὸ ὄρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν καὶ Γεθσημανῆ, εἰς οἶκον Καϊάφα εἰς τὸ πραιτώριον καὶ πρὸς Ἡρῴδην, εἰς τόπον Γολγοθᾶ εἰς τὸ μνῆμα καὶ 40.4 ἕως τοῦ Ἅιδου, εἰς γῆν μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν καὶ εἰς οὐρανούς. μύρον γὰρ ἐκκενωθὲν ἀπὸ ἄγγους εἰς ἄγγος πάντα τὰ ἄγγη μυρίζει καὶ Χριστοῦ ἡ παρουσία ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ ὅλην τὴν γῆν ἡγίασε, τοὺς αὐτὸν 40.5 λαμβάνοντας ἐν ἀληθεία. ὁ ὄρος ὁ ὤν, ὡς ἐν τῷ ∆ανιὴλ λέγεται, καὶ μέγα ὄρος, «λίθος δὲ τεμνόμενος ἄνευ χειρῶν» * ἄνευ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς ὑπαινιττόμενος, τὸ μεῖζον αὖθις μικρὸν εὑρισκόμενον· λίθος δὲ πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνων τὸ μέγεθος καὶ γινόμενος αὖθις ὄρος μέγα καὶ δηλονότι τὸ ὄρος οὐκ ὂν ἐν ἑνὶ τόπῳ, ἀλλὰ 40.6 πληρῶν ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην, οὗτος ὁ σοφία ὢν καὶ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἐπεκτείνων ἑαυτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἵνα πληρώσῃ 40.7 τὴν οἰκουμένην χάριτος, «προέκοπτεν ἡλικίᾳ καὶ σοφίᾳ». ἐπεὶ σοφία ὢν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ «διδάσκων ἀνθρώπους» λαλεῖν καὶ ἀνθρώποις διαρθρώσας γλῶσσαν καὶ «φυτεύσας τὸ οὖς» τοῖς ἀκούουσι, πῶς οὐκ ᾔδει καλεῖν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα; * «λήψεται δύναμιν ∆αμασκοῦ καὶ τὰ 40.8 σκῦλα Σαμαρείας» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς; ἀλλ' ἐπειδή, γεννηθεὶς ἀπὸ κοιλίας εὐθὺς λαλῶν εἰ ἐδείκνυτο καὶ καθαρῶς οἷα δὴ ἀρτίπαις ἐφθέγγετο, φαντασία ἂν ἐνομίσθη καὶ οὐκ ἀληθὴς ἀλλ' ἢ μᾶλλον δόκησις ἡ ἔνσαρκος αὐτοῦ κύησις, διά τοι τοῦτο ὑπομένει τὸ ὀλίγον τῆς ἡλικίας. ἵνα μὴ ἀφανίσῃ τὸ ἀληθὲς τῆς ἀκολουθίας. 41.1 Ἑτέρας δὲ πάλιν θηρῶνται * ματαίας ὑπολήψεις παραπλέκοντες τοῖς θείοις λόγοις καὶ ἐναντίως διανοοῦνται καί φασιν· πῶς οὖν γέγραπται «δέξασθε τὸν ἀρχιερέα τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν πιστὸν ὄντα τῷ ποιήσαντι αὐτόν» καί «γνωστὸν ὑμῖν ἔστω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε, κύριον καὶ Χριστὸν 41.2 αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησε». καὶ θαῦμά μοι μέγα ἐπέρχεται πῶς οἱ τῶν ἀκολουθιῶν ἐφαπτόμενοι τὴν ἐν αὐταῖς φραζομένην δύναμιν ἀγνοοῦσι. τὸ γὰρ εἰπεῖν «δέξασθε τὸν