73

Therefore he also called it the rod of God. For it became for him a rod of power according to what is written. It is also called a flower. For in it, our nature blossomed forth to incorruption, and to newness of life. A flower, also, because of the spiritual fragrance. "For I am," he says, "a flower of the field, a lily of the valleys." And the divine Apostle also says, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and makes manifest through us the aroma of His knowledge in every place, [for] we are the aroma of Christ to God." The flower also signifies his advent, gracious to all, because in a short time, having provided the grace of the incarnation, he makes his sojourn swift and, as it were, fleeting. And he says that the Spirit of God, having many energies, will rest upon him; not that he was a mere man who became spirit-bearing, but that God, having become man, appropriates the properties of humanity. For man does not have the gifts of the spirit from himself, but this itself is a grace and gift of God. "For what do you have," he says, "that you did not receive?" These things, therefore, being God, he did not receive for himself, but for us who are in want of every good thing. For he himself is the provider of the spirit, not giving by measure, but as from his own fullness. Therefore, the receiving on his part is not reckoned by the measure of the emptying; but it will rest, he says, upon him, having not rested upon Adam who inclined toward sin, just as also those after him. For all have turned aside, together they have become worthless; but the Only-Begotten, although he became like us, was impervious to sins. The Holy Spirit, therefore, rested upon the nature of man, as in him first, and as in a second first-fruit of the race, so that it might also rest in us who believe. For we inherit the gifts of Christ, just as also the evils of the first-formed man. And that he did not have a partial participation of the spirit, but was the fullness of the Godhead, dwelling as in his own temple in the flesh animated by a rational soul, he shows by saying: And the spirit of the fear of God will fill him, and the rest. Not a different spirit for each gift, but to one and the same spirit belong different energies, according to Paul who says: "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually," as he wills, just as the Word of God also works in many ways. For he is life, and light, and power. And having said that Emmanuel will be born in due time, he usefully adds the things by which he will be known, from both the God-befitting virtue in him, and from the splendor of his works, saying: He will not judge according to appearance, nor will he reprove according to speech; which indeed Symmachus clearly rendered, saying: He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor will he reprove by the hearing of his ears; with uprightness the poor 2044 of the earth. And the Gospels bear witness to these things. For with great boldness he reproved now the priests, saying: The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruits. And now the Scribes and Pharisees, having often said woe to them. But neither did he reprove according to speech, but looking into their hearts he said: "Why do you test me, hypocrites?" saying to the Herodians (and these were agents of the tax collectors), when they asked if it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar; "For show me," he says, "the tribute money," and the rest. And yet they used fine words, saying, "Teacher, we know that you teach the way of God in truth;" and yet he convicted them of doing evil. And he passed judgment for the humble, and reproved the humble of the earth, or according to Symmachus, the poor with uprightness; concerning whom he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," such as his disciples happened to be, whom he would reprove, at one time saying: "Are you also still without understanding?" And again, "Do you not yet perceive or understand?" and at another time to Peter, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And saying many such things he would reprove them. To which he says: And he will strike the earth with the word of his mouth. Similar to, "I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword." And the sword is the word of his mouth, by which he did away with the earthly mindsets of those who had believed in him. But some say, that the divine [nature] of the Savior through

73

διὸ καὶ Θεοῦ ῥάβδον ταύτην ὠνόμαζε. Γέγονε γὰρ αὐτῷ ῥάβδος δυνάμεως κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἄνθος. Ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ, ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις πρὸς ἀφθαρσίαν ἀνέθαλεν, καὶ εἰς καινότητα ζωῆς. Ἄνθος δὲ καὶ διὰ τὴν νοητὴν εὐοσμίαν. "Ἐγὼ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἄνθος τοῦ πεδίου, κρίνον τῶν κοιλάδων." Λέγει δὲ καὶ ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, "Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ χάρις τῷ πάντοτε θριαμβεύοντι ἡμᾶς ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ τὴν ὀσμὴν τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ φανεροῦντι δι' ἡμᾶς, ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ, [ὅτι] Χριστοῦ εὐωδία ἐσμὲν τῷ Θεῷ." ∆ηλοῖ δὲ τὸ ἄνθος καὶ τὴν πᾶσιν αὐτοῦ κεχαρισμένην ἐπιδημίαν, ὅτι ἐν βραχεῖ τὴν χάριν παρασχόμενος τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως, ταχεῖαν καὶ οἱονεὶ παροδικὴν ποιεῖται τὴν ἐπιδημίαν. Ἐπαναπαύσεσθαι δέ φησι πνεῦμα Θεοῦ πολλὰς ἔχον τὰς ἐνεργείας· οὐχ ὅτι ἦν πνευματοφόρος ψιλὸς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ὅτι Θεὸς ἐνανθρωπήσας οἰκειοῦται τὰ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἴδια. Ἄνθρωπος γὰρ οὐκ οἴκοθεν ἔχει τὰ χαρίσματα τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος, ἀλλ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο χάρισμά τε καὶ δῶρον Θεοῦ. "Τί γὰρ ἔχεις, φησὶν, ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες;" Ταῦτα τοίνυν οὐχ ἑαυτῷ, Θεὸς ὢν, ἐδέξατο· ἀλλ' ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐν ἐνδείᾳ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ. Χορηγὸς γὰρ αὐτὸς τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ οὐκ ἐκ μέτρου διδοὺς, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐξ ἰδίου πληρώματος. Οὐκ οὖν τὸ λαβεῖν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ, τῷ τῆς κενώσεως λογίζεται μέτρῳ· ἀναπαύσεται δὲ, φησὶν, ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ μὴ ἀναπαυσάμενον πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν ἐκκλίναντα, καθὰ καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτόν. Πάντες γὰρ ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρειώθησαν, ὁ δὲ Μονογενὴς καίτοι γεγονὼς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀνάλωτος ἦν ἁμαρτίαις. Ἐπανεπαύσατο οὖν τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὡς, ἐν αὐτῷ πρώτῳ, καὶ ὡς ἐν ἀπαρχῇ τοῦ γένους δευτέρᾳ, ὡς ἂν καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐπαναπαύηται τοῖς πιστεύουσι. Κληρονομοῦμεν γὰρ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ χαρισμάτων, ὡς καὶ τῶν τοῦ πρωτοπλάστου κακῶν. Ὅτι δὲ μὴ μερικὴν εἶχε τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος μέθεξιν, ἀλλ' ἦν τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς θεότητος, τὸ ὡς ἐν ἰδίῳ ναῷ καταλύον σαρκὶ τῇ ψυχῇ νοερᾷ ἐψυχωμένῃ, δηλοῖ λέγων· Καὶ ἐμπλήσει αὐτὸν πνεῦμα φόβου Θεοῦ, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Οὐ καθ' ἓν δὲ χάρισμα πνεῦμα διάφορον, ἑνὶ δὲ, καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ, διάφοροι πρόσεισιν ἐνέργειαι, κατὰ Παῦλον λέγοντα· "Πάντα ἐνεργεῖ τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα διαιροῦν ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ," καθὼς βούλεται, ὡς καὶ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἐνεργεῖ πολυτρόπως. Ζωὴ γάρ ἐστι, φῶς τε, καὶ δύναμις. Εἰπὼν δὲ ὅτι τεχθήσεται κατὰ καιροὺς ὁ Ἐμμανουὴλ, τὰ δι' ὧν ἔσται γνώριμος, προσεπάγει χρησίμως, ἀπό τε τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ θεοπρεποῦς ἀρετῆς, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἔργων λαμπρότητος λέγων· Οὐ κατὰ τὴν δόξαν κρινεῖ, οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν λαλιὰν ἐλέγξει· ἃ δὴ σαφῶς ἐξέδωκε Σύμμαχος εἰπών· Οὐ τῇ ὁράσει τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ κρινεῖ, οὐδὲ τῇ ἀκοῇ τῶν ὠτῶν αὐτοῦ ἐλέγξει· ἐν εὐθύτητι πτωχοὺς 2044 γῆς. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τούτοις τὰ Εὐαγγέλια. Σὺν παῤῥησίᾳ γὰρ ἤλεγχε πολλῇ νῦν μὲν τοὺς ἱερέας, λέγων· Ἀρθήσεται ἀφ' ὑμῶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ δοθήσεται ἔθνει ποιοῦντι τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς. Νῦν δὲ τοῦς Γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαίους, οὐαὶ τούτοις πολλάκις εἰπών. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ κατὰ τὴν λαλιὰν ἤλεγχεν, εἰς δὲ τὰς καρδίας ὁρῶν ἔφασκε· "Τί με πειράζετε, ὑποκριταί;" τοῖς Ἡρωδιανοῖς λέγων (πράκτορες δὲ οὗτοι τελωνῶν), ἐρωτῶσιν εἰ ἔξεστι δοῦναι κῆνσον Καίσαρι· "Ἐπιδείξατε γάρ μοι, φησὶ, τὸ νόμισμα τοῦ κήνσου," καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Καίτοι λόγοις ἐχρῶντο καλοῖς, "∆ιδάσκαλε, λέγοντες, οἴδαμεν ὅτι τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ διδάσκεις ἐν ἀληθείᾳ·" καὶ ὅμως αὐτοὺς κακουργοῦντας ἐξήλεγξε. Καὶ ταπεινῷ δὲ κρίσιν ἔκρινεν, ἠλέγχετε τοὺς ταπεινοὺς τῆς γῆς, ἢ κατὰ Σύμμαχον, τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἐν εὐθύτητι· περὶ ὧν ἔλεγεν, "Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι," οἵους εἶναι συνέβαινε τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς, οὓς ἤλεγχε, ποτὲ μὲν λέγων· "Ἀκμὴν καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοί ἐστε." Καὶ πάλιν, "Οὔπω νοεῖτε οὐδὲ συνίετε;" ποτὲ δὲ τῷ Πέτρῳ, "Ὀλιγόπιστε, εἰς τί ἐδίστασας." Καὶ πλεῖστα τοιαῦτα λέγων διήλεγχε. Πρὸς οἷς φησι· Καὶ πατάξει γῆν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ. Ὅμοιον τῷ, "Οὐκ ἦλθον βαλεῖν εἰρήνην ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ μάχαιραν." Μάχαιρα δὲ ὁ λόγος τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, δι' οὗ τὰ γεώδη φρονήματα τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστευκότων ἀνῄρει. Τινὲς δέ φασιν, ὡς τὸ θεῖον τοῦ Σωτῆρος διὰ