Chapter XXXVIII.—Utterances of the Son.

And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks from the person of Christ, the utterances are of this sort: “I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good.”77    Isa. lxv. 2. And again: “I gave My back to the scourges, and My cheeks to the buffetings; I turned not away My face from the shame of spittings; and the Lord was My helper: therefore was I not confounded: but I set My face as a firm rock; and I knew that I should not be ashamed, for He is near that justifieth Me.”78    Isa. l. 6. And again, when He says, “They cast lots upon My vesture, and pierced My hands and My feet. And I lay down and slept, and rose again, because the Lord sustained Me.”79    Ps. xxii. 18, Ps. iii. 5. And again, when He says, “They spake with their lips, they wagged the head, saying, Let Him deliver Himself.”80    Ps. xxii. 7. And that all these things happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews, you can ascertain. For when He was crucified, they did shoot out the lip, and wagged their heads, saying, “Let Him who raised the dead save Himself.”81    Comp. Matt. xxvii. 39.

[38] Ὅταν δὲ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγῃ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, οὕτως φθέγγεται: Ἐγὼ ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου ἐπὶ λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα, ἐπὶ τοὺς πορευομένους ἐν ὁδῷ οὐ καλῇ. καὶ πάλιν: Τὸν νῶτόν μου τέθεικα εἰς μάστιγας καὶ τὰς σιαγόνας μου εἰς ῥαπίσματα, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ἀπέστρεψα ἀπὸ αἰσχύνης ἐμπτυσμάτων. καὶ ὁ κύριος βοηθός μου ἐγένετο: διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐνετράπην, ἀλλ' ἔθηκα τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν, καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ, ὅτι ἐγγίζει ὁ δικαιώσας με. καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ: Αὐτοὶ ἔβαλον κλῆρον ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου, καὶ ὤρυξάν μου πόδας καὶ χεῖρας. ἐγὼ δὲ ἐκοιμήθην καὶ ὕπνωσα, καὶ ἀνέστην, ὅτι κύριος ἀντελάβετό μου. καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ: Ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλὴν λέγοντες: Ῥυσάσθω ἑαυτόν. ἅτινα πάντα ὅτι γέγονεν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῷ Χριστῷ, μαθεῖν δύνασθε. σταυρωθέντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐξέστρεφον τὰ χείλη καὶ ἐκίνουν τὰς κεφαλὰς λέγοντες: Ὁ νεκροὺς ἀνεγείρας ῥυσάσθω ἑαυτόν.