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my, and as the moon established for ever, and the faithful witness in heaven." These promises the truthful Lord renewed again through Isaiah the prophet. "For a rod shall come forth, he says, from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up from his root. And the spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and godliness; the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him;" and the things that follow holding to the same thought. And again; "There shall be the root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to rule the nations; in him shall the nations hope, and his rest shall be glorious." And in another place; "And I will make, he says, an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. For what I promised to him I will fulfill, and through his seed I will save the world. For my promise is faithful and true." Showing the truth of these promises, the evangelist Matthew, in the very preface of his writing, preaches the gospel to the world, that the expectation of the nations has blossomed. "For the book, he said, of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." For to both were the promises concerning the seed made. And indeed the divine Apostle, writing to the Romans, at the beginning of the Epistle, showed the fulfillment of the promise to David. "For Paul, he says, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he had promised before through his prophets in the Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." And by adding "according to the flesh," he has shown that our Lord Jesus Christ was also God before the ages; but he was called son of David according to the human nature. And teaching this more clearly he added; "The Son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ." 83.504 For having risen, he says, from the dead, and having filled the apostles with the grace of the Spirit, through the miracles performed by them he was revealed as God. For in his name they performed the greatest wonders. And in the middle of the Epistle, having mentioned the good things given of old to the Jews, he added; "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God." And in the one person he showed the difference of the two natures; born of the Jews according to the flesh, but over all, God as God, and blessed for ever. And to the blessed Timothy he commands, saying; "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Gospel, for which I suffer trouble even to bonds as an evildoer." And it is possible to find very many other testimonies in both Scriptures, proclaiming the kinship according to the flesh of our Savior. But these things are also sufficient to teach that he took upon himself the perfect human nature, and for this reason was called also son of David, and son of Abraham, and son of man, and man, and Adam, and Jacob, and Israel. For just as he was perfect God, so also indeed perfect man, he offered perfect salvation to men. 15. -That He raised up the nature which He had assumed. And that He raised up the nature which He had assumed, He himself testifies, both showing his hands and his feet to the apostles; and the fingers of Thomas testify, having touched the wounds, and this the other apostles also did, the Lord having commanded it. "For handle me, he said, and see that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have." And the divine apostle John also cries out at the beginning of his Epistle; "That which we have seen, and our hands have handled." But the great Peter

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μου, καὶ ὡς ἡ σελήνη κατηρτισμένη εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ ὁ μάρτυς ἐν οὐρανῷ πιστός." Ταύτας δὲ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου πάλιν ὁ ἀψευ δὴς ∆εσπότης ἀνενεώσατο. "Ἐξελεύσεται γὰρ, φησὶ, ῥάβδος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ἄνθος ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης ἀναβήσεται. Καὶ ἐπαναπαύσεται ἐπ' αὐτὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, πνεῦμα σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως, πνεῦμα βου λῆς καὶ ἰσχύος, πνεῦμα γνώσεως καὶ εὐσεβείας, πνεῦμα φόβου Θεοῦ ἐμπλήσει αὐτόν·" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τῆς αὐτῆς ἐχόμενα διανοίας. Καὶ πάλιν· "Ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ, καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν· ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι, καὶ ἔσται ἡ ἀνάπαυσις αὐτοῦ τιμή." Καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ χωρίῳ· "Καὶ διαθήσο μαι, φησὶν, ὑμῖν διαθήκην αἰώνιον, τὰ ὅσια ∆α βὶδ τὰ πιστά. Ἃ γὰρ ὑπεσχόμην ἐκείνῳ πληρώσω, καὶ διὰ τοῦ σπέρματος ἐκείνου σώσω τὴν οἰκουμένην. Πιστὴ γάρ μοι καὶ ἀψευδὴς ἡ ὑπόσχεσις." Τού των τῶν ὑποσχέσεων ἐπιδεικνὺς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς Ματθαῖος, ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ αὐτῷ τῆς συγγραφῆς εὐαγγελίζεται τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, ὡς ἡ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἤνθησε προσδοκία. "Βίβλος γὰρ, ἔφη, γενέ σεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, υἱοῦ ∆αβὶδ, υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ." Πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους γὰρ αἱ περὶ τοῦ σπέρματος ὑπο σχέσεις ἐγένοντο. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστο λος ἐπιστέλλων Ῥωμαίοις, ἐν τῇ τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς ἀρχῇ, τῆς πρὸς τὸν ∆αβὶδ ἐπαγγελίας τὸ τέλος ἐπέδειξε. "Παῦλος γὰρ, φησὶ, δοῦλος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, κλητὸς ἀπόστολος, ἀφωρισμένος εἰς Εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ, ὃ προ επηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν αὑτοῦ ἐν Γραφαῖς, περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὑτοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ κατὰ σάρκα." Τὸ δὲ κατὰ σάρκα προστεθει κὼς, δεδήλωκεν ὡς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν προαιώνιος· υἱὸς δὲ ∆αβὶδ κατὰ τὴν ἀν θρωπείαν φύσιν ἐχρημάτισε. Καὶ τοῦτο διδάσκων σαφέστερον ἐπήγαγε· "Τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης, ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ." 83.504 Ἀναστὰς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύ ματος χάριτος τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐμπλήσας, διὰ τῶν ὑπ' ἐκείνων γενομένων θαυμάτων ἀπεφάνθη Θεός. Ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰς μεγίστας ἐπετέλουν θαυματουργίας. Ἐν δέ γε τῷ μέσῳ τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς, τῶν πάλαι δεδομένων τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἀγαθῶν μνημο νεύσας, ἐπήγαγεν· "Ὧν οἱ πατέρες, καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων Θεός." Καὶ ἐν τῷ ἑνὶ προσώπῳ τῶν δύο φύσεων τὸ διάφορον ἔδειξεν· ἐξ Ἰουδαίων μὲν κατὰ σάρκα γεγενημένον, ἐπὶ πάντων δὲ Θεὸν ὡς Θεὸν, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶ νας εὐλογητόν. Τῷ δὲ μακαρίῳ Τιμοθέῳ παρεγγυᾷ, λέγων· "Μνημόνευε Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐγηγερμένον ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αβὶδ κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιόν μου, ἐν ᾧ κακοπαθῶ μέχρι δεσμῶν ὡς κακοῦργος." Καὶ ἄλλας δὲ παμπόλλας ἔστιν εὑρεῖν μαρτυρίας ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ Γραφῇ, τὴν κατὰ σάρκα τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν κηρυττούσας συγγένειαν. Ἀπόχρη δὲ καὶ ταῦτα δι δάξαι ὡς τελείαν τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν ἀνέλαβε, καὶ τούτου χάριν καὶ υἱὸς ∆αβὶδ, καὶ υἱὸς Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ Ἀδὰμ, καὶ Ἰακὼβ, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ ὠνομάσθη. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τελειος ἦν Θεὸς, οὕτω δὴ καὶ τέλειος ἄνθρωπος τελείαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις παρέσχεν τὴν σωτηρίαν. ΙΕʹ. -Ὅτι ἣν ἀνέλαβεν ἀνέστησε φύσιν. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἣν ἀνέλαβεν ἀνέστησε φύσιν, μαρτυρεῖ μὲν αὐτὸς, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἐπιδεικνύς· μαρτυροῦσι δὲ καὶ οἱ τοῦ Θωμᾶ δάκτυλοι τῶν ὠτειλῶν ἁψάμενοι καὶ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ δεδράκασιν ἀπόστολοι τοῦ Κυρίου προστετα χότος. "Ψηλαφήσατε γὰρ, ἔφη, καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει, καθὼς ἐμὲ θεωρεῖτε ἔχοντα." Βοᾷ δὲ καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος Ἰωάννης ἐν τῇ τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς ἀρχῇ· "Ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν." Ὁ δὲ μέγας Πέτρος