for them who are being saved, their commonwealth is on earth, but in heaven is their reward and inheritance. But since, he says, I have received authority over all things, go forth without fear and cowardice and doubt, make disciples of all nations, and so on; for the power of my authority will prepare the way and make ready for you a smooth and easy reception of the teaching. And while observing the other things that have been said, it is also possible to say this: that since, having risen, he delivered and raised up with himself all those who were held by Hades, and took up for himself the authority over them which it previously had, he rightly says: All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth; on earth, because I emptied both the tombs of their bodies and the treasuries of Hades, which are thought to be in the recesses of the earth; and in heaven, because the inheritance of those who are rising is in the heavens. And as for "Go and make disciples," it is because Hades, which received the souls of men through their own destruction, has been so weakened and abolished, and all authority has devolved upon me, that the conversion and salvation of the nations will be easy and without toil; for the Master does not appear to have taken on any other authority in heaven or on earth besides those which we have already mentioned; for no other has even been discerned. For the authority in the creation and ordering of heaven, which belonged to him from the beginning, remains the same. And the creation and bringing forth on earth is also unchangeable and admits no alteration, and likewise also for all the things contained within them, the same un-innovated rule of their production and of his lordship is observed. Therefore, "All authority has been given to me," and so on, would be well and properly understood when interpreted according to the aforementioned and explained meanings.
αὐτῷ καὶ σῳζομένων ἐπὶ γῆς μέν ἐστιν ἡ πολιτεία, ἐν οὐρανῷ δὲ ἡ μισθαποδοσία καὶ ἡ κληρονομία. ἐπεὶ δέ, φησίν, ἔλαβον τὴν ἐξουσίαν πάντων, πορευθέντες ἄνευ φόβου καὶ δειλίας καὶ δισταγμοῦ μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ ἑξῆς· τῆς γὰρ ἐμῆς ἐξουσίας ἡ δύναμις προοδοποιήσει καὶ προετοιμάσει λείαν καὶ εὔκολον ὑμῖν τὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας ἐργαζομένη παραδοχήν. ἔστιν δὲ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν εἰρημένων φυλαττομένων καὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ ἀναστὰς πάντας τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ ᾅδου κατεχομένους ῥυσόμενος συνανέστησεν καὶ τὴν κατ' αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν, ἣν πρότερον ἐκεῖνοις εἶχεν, αὐτὸς ἀνεδέξατο, εἰκότως φησίν· ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς· ἐπὶ γῆς μέν, ὅτι τούς τε τάφους ἐκένωσα τῶν σωμάτων καὶ περὶ τοὺς μυχοὺς τῆς γῆς τὰ τοῦ ᾅδου ταμεῖα δοκεῖ· ἐν οὐρανῷ δέ, ὅτι τῶν ἀνισταμένων ὁ κλῆρος ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. τὸ δὲ πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε, ὅτι οὕτως ἐξατονήσαντος καὶ καταργηθέντος τοῦ ᾅδου, ὃς τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς σφῶν ἀπωλείας ὑπεδέχετο ψυχάς, καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας πάσης εἰς ἐμὲ περιελθούσης ῥᾳδία καὶ ἀταλαίπωρος ἔσται ἡ ἐπιστροφὴ καὶ σωτηρία τῶν ἐθνῶν· καὶ γὰρ οὐδ' ἄλλην τινὰ ὁ δεσπότης φαίνεται ἐξουσίαν ἐν οὐρανῷ προσειληφὼς ἢ ἐπὶ γῆς παρ' ἃς ἔφθημεν εἰπόντες· οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδ' ἔστιν ἄλλη διαγνωσθεῖσα· ἥ τε γὰρ ἐν τῇ ποιήσει καὶ διακοσμήσει τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτῷ προσοῦσα ἡ αὐτὴ διαμένει. καὶ ἡ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς δὲ δημιουργία καὶ προαγωγὴ ἀπαράλλακτός ἐστιν καὶ ἀλλοίωσιν οὐ δεχομένη, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐμπεριεχομένων ἐν αὐταῖς ὁ αὐτὸς ἀκαινοτόμητος τῆς προαγωγῆς καὶ δεσποτείας ὅρος καθορᾶται. καλῶς ἄρα καὶ οἰκείως ἂν ἐκληφθείη τὸ ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία καὶ ἑξῆς ἐκλαμβανόμενον κατὰ τὰς προειρημένας καὶ ἀποδεδομένας ἐννοίας.