87

of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he adorns the ends of the Epistles with this blessing: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. And it is possible to find very many other testimonies, through which it is easy to learn that our Lord Jesus Christ is no other person besides the Son who completes the Trinity. For the same one was, before the ages, the only-begotten Son and God the Word, but after the incarnation was named both Jesus and Christ, having received the titles from the facts. For Jesus is interpreted as Savior; For you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. But he is called Christ, as having been anointed in his humanity by the all-holy Spirit, and having been proclaimed our high priest, and apostle, and prophet, and king. For the divine Moses cries out from afar: The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren, like me. And the divine David has cried out, saying: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. And the divine Apostle confirms the prophecy again: Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. That he is also pre-eternal king as God, the prophetic melody again teaches us: For your throne, he says, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. But he also shows us his human power. For having dominion over all things as God and creator, he receives it as man. For which reason he added: You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And in the second psalm, the anointed one himself says: But I was appointed king by him on Zion his holy mountain, proclaiming the decree of the Lord. The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. And these things he has said as a man. For as a man he receives what he has as God. And indeed in the prelude of the psalm, the prophetic grace placed him with God the Father. For why, he says, did the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. Therefore let no one foolishly think Christ is someone other than the only-begotten Son; nor let us suppose ourselves wiser than the grace of the Spirit. But let us hear the great Peter crying out: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And let us hear the Lord Christ, strengthening this confession. For on this rock, he said, I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. For this reason also Paul the all-wise, the best architect of the Churches, laid down not another, but this very one as the foundation. For I, he says, as a wise architect have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. How then do they devise another foundation, when they have been commanded not to lay a foundation, but to build upon the one that is laid? And that divine man knows Christ as the foundation, and is made glorious by this title. And now he says: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And now: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And again: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And a little before this: But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. And to the Galatians indeed

87

Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ . Καὶ τῶν Ἐπιστολῶν δὲ τὰ τέλη τῇδε τῇ εὐλογίᾳ διακοσμεῖ· Ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν. Ἀμήν . Καὶ ἑτέρας δὲ παμπόλλας ἔστιν εὑρεῖν μαρτυρίας, δι' ὧν καταμαθεῖν εὐπετές, ὡς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς οὐκ ἄλλο πρόσωπόν ἐστι παρὰ τὸν Υἱὸν τῆς Τριάδος πληρωτικόν. Ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς πρὸ μὲν τῶν αἰώνων Υἱὸς ἦν μονογενὴς καὶ Θεὸς Λόγος, μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν ὠνομάσθη καὶ Ἰησοῦς καὶ Χριστός, ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων τὰς προσηγορίας δεξάμενος. Ἰησοῦς μὲν γὰρ Σωτὴρ ἑρμηνεύεται· Καλέσεις γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι αὐτὸς σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτοῦ . Χριστὸς δὲ κέκληται, ὡς κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπειον τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ παναγίῳ χρισθείς, καὶ χρηματίσας ἀρχιερεὺς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀπόστολος, καὶ προφήτης, καὶ βασιλεύς. Μωϋσῆς μὲν γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος βοᾷ πόρρωθεν· Προφήτην ὑμῖν ἀναστήσει Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐμέ . Ὁ δὲ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ κέκραγεν λέγων· Ὤμοσε Κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται, σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ . Βεβαιοῖ δὲ τὴν προφητείαν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος καὶ πάλιν· Ἔχοντες οὖν ἀρχιερέα μέγαν διεληλυθότα τοὺς οὐρανούς, Ἰησοῦν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, κρατῶμεν τῆς ὁμολογίας . Ὅτι δὲ καὶ βασιλεύς ἐστι προαιώνιος ὡς Θεός, ἡ προφητικὴ πάλιν ἡμᾶς μελῳδία διδάσκει· Ὁ θρόνος σου γάρ , φησίν, ὁ Θεός, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου . Ὑποδείκνυσι δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπειον αὐτοῦ κράτος. Ἔχων γὰρ τῶν ὅλων τὴν δεσποτείαν ὡς Θεὸς καὶ δημιουργός, λαμβάνει ταύτην ὡς ἄνθρωπος. Οὗ δὴ χάριν ἐπήγαγεν· Ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην, καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ Θεός, ὁ Θεός σου, ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου . Καὶ ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ γέ φησιν ψαλμῷ αὐτὸς ὁ χρισθείς· Ἐγὼ δὲ κατεστάθην βασιλεὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Σιὼν ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ, διαγγέλλων τὸ πρόσταγμα Κυρίου. Κύριος εἶπε πρός με· Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε. Αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς . Ταῦτα δὲ ὡς ἄνθρωπος εἴρηκεν. Ὡς γὰρ ἄνθρωπος λαμβάνει ἅπερ ἔχει ὡς Θεός. Καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ γε τῷ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ προοιμίῳ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ συνέταξεν αὐτὸν ἡ προφητικὴ χάρις. Ἵνα τί γάρ, φησίν, ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά; Παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ . Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ἀνοήτως ἄλλον τινὰ τὸν Χριστὸν νομιζέτω παρὰ τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ· μηδὲ σοφωτέρους ἑαυτοὺς ὑπο λάβωμεν τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτος. Ἀλλ' ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ μεγάλου Πέτρου βοῶντος· Σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος . Καὶ ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ, τήνδε τὴν ὁμολογίαν κρατύνοντος. Ἐπὶ ταύτῃ γάρ , ἔφη, τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς . ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος ὁ πάνσοφος, ὁ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἄριστος ἀρχιτέκτων, οὐχ ἕτερον, ἀλλὰ τοῦτον αὐτὸν κατέπηξεν τὸν θεμέλιον. Ἐγὼ γάρ , φησίν, ὡς σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων θεμέλιον τέθεικα, ἄλλος δὲ ἐποικοδομεῖ. Ἕκαστος δὲ βλεπέτω πῶς ἐποικοδομεῖ. Θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεὶς δύναται θεῖναι παρὰ τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός . Πῶς τοίνυν ἕτερον ἐπινοοῦσι θεμέλιον, οὐ πηγνύναι θεμέλιον, ἀλλ' ἐποικοδομεῖν τῷ κειμένῳ προστεταγμένοι; Ὁ δὲ θεῖος ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ τὸν Χριστὸν οἶδε θεμέλιον, καὶ ταύτῃ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ λαμπρύνεται. Καὶ νῦν μέν φησι· Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι· ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός. Νῦν δέ· Ἐμοὶ τὸ ζῆν Χριστός, καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος . Καὶ πάλιν· Οὐ γὰρ ἔκρινα τοῦ εἰδέναι τι ἐν ὑμῖν, εἰ μὴ Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ τοῦτον ἐσταυρωμένον . Καὶ μικρὸν πρὸ τούτων· Ἡμεῖς δὲ κηρύττομεν Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, ἔθνεσι δὲ μωρίαν, αὐτοῖς τε κλητοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ Ἕλλησι Χριστὸν Θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ Θεοῦ σοφίαν . Καὶ Γαλάταις μὲν