Chap. XV.—Of the Life and Miracles of Jesus, and Testimonies Concerning Them.

Having spoken of the second nativity, in which, He showed Himself in the flesh to men, let us come to those wonderful works, on account of which, though they were signs of heavenly power, the Jews esteemed Him a magician. When He first began to reach maturity637    Cum primus cœpit adolescere.   He was baptized by the prophet John in the river Jordan, that He might wash638    Aboleret.   away in the spiritual laver not His own sins, for it is evident that He had none, but those of the flesh,639    Not of His own flesh, but of human nature. Our Lord Himself gives a better explanation of His baptism, in His reply to the Baptist, who at first forbade him: “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. iii. 15).   which He bare; that as He saved the Jews by undergoing circumcision, so He might save the Gentiles also by baptism—that is, by the pouring forth640    Perfusione.   of the purifying dew. Then a voice from heaven was heard: “Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten Thee.”641    Compare Matt. iii. 17 with Ps. ii. 7.   Which voice is found to have been foretold by David. And the Spirit of God descended upon Him, formed after the appearance of a white dove.642    [“A brilliant dove” is the idea. Ps. lxviii. 13. Comp. Justin, vol. i. note 6, p. 243.]   From that time He began to perform the greatest miracles, not by magical tricks, which display nothing true and substantial, but by heavenly strength and power, which were foretold even long ago by the prophets who announced Him; which works are so many, that a single book is not sufficient to comprise them all. I will therefore enumerate them briefly and generally, without any designation of persons and places, that I may be able to come to the setting forth of His passion and cross, to which my discourse has long been hastening. His powers were those which Apollo called wonderful:643    Portentificas.   that wherever He journeyed, by a single word, and in a single moment, He healed the sick and infirm, and those afflicted with every kind of disease: so that those who were deprived of the use of all their limbs, having suddenly received power, were strengthened, and themselves carried their couches, on which they had a little time before been carried. But to the lame, and to those afflicted with some defect644    Pedum vitio afflictos.   of the feet, He not only gave the power of walking, but also of running. Then, also, if any had their eyes blinded in the deepest darkness, He restored them to their former sight. He also loosened the tongues of the dumb, so that645    In eloquium sermonemque solvebat.   they discoursed and spake eloquently. He also opened the ears of the deaf, and caused them to hear;646    Insinuabat auditum.   He cleansed the polluted and the blemished.647    Aspersos maculis, i.e., lepers.   And He performed all these things not by His hands, or the application of any remedy,648    Except in the case of the blind man, whose eyes He anointed with clay. John ix. 9.   but by His word and command, as also the Sibyl had foretold: “Doing all things by His word, and healing every disease.”  

Nor, indeed, is it wonderful that He did wonderful things by His word, since He Himself was the Word of God, relying upon heavenly strength and power. Nor was it enough that He gave strength to the feeble, soundness of body to the maimed, health to the sick and languishing, unless He also raised the dead, as it were unbound from sleep, and recalled them to life.  

And the Jews, then, when they saw these things, contended that they were done by demoniacal power, although it was contained in their secret writings that all things should thus come to pass as they did. They read indeed the words of other prophets, and of Isaiah,649    Isa. xxxv. 3–6. The passage is quoted from the Septuagint. The authorized English version follows the Hebrew, “Strengthen ye the weak hands,” etc.   saying: “Be strong, ye hands that are relaxed; and ye weak knees, be comforted. Ye who are of a fearful650    Pusilli animi.   heart, fear not, be not afraid: our Lord shall execute judgment; He Himself shall come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear: then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb speak plainly:651    Plana erit, “shall be intelligible.”   for in the wilderness water hath broken forth, and a stream in the thirsty land.” But the Sibyl also foretold the same things in these verses:—  

On account of these powers and divine works wrought by Him when a great multitude followed Him of the maimed, or sick, or of those who desired to present their sick to be healed, He went up into a desert mountain to pray there. And when He had tarried there three days, and the people were suffering from hunger, He called His disciples, and asked what quantity of food652    Quantos secum cibos gestarent. See Matt. xiv.; Mark vi.; Luke ix.; John vi.   they had with them. But they said that they had five loaves and two fishes in a wallet. Then He commanded that these should be brought forward, and that the multitude, distributed by fifties, should recline on the ground. When the disciples did this, He Himself broke the bread in pieces, and divided the flesh of the fishes, and in His hands both of them were increased. And when He had ordered the disciples to set them before the people, five thousand men were satisfied, and moreover twelve baskets653    Cophini. This miracle is always distinguished from the feeding of the four thousand by the use of this word. Thus Juvenal: “Judæis, quorum cophinus, fœnumque supellex.”   were filled from the fragments which remained. What can be more wonderful, either in narration or in action? But the Sibyl had before foretold that it would take place, whose verses are related to this effect:—  

I ask, therefore, what the art of magic could have contrived in this case, the skill of which is of avail for nothing else than for deceiving654    Ad circumscribendos oculos. Cicero also uses the word “circumscriptio” to denote “fraud and deceit.”   the eyes? He also, when He was about to retire to a mountain, as He was wont, for the sake of prayer, directed His disciples to take a small ship and go before Him. But they, setting out when evening was now coming on, began to be distressed655    Laborare.   through a contrary wind. And when they were now in the midst of the sea,656    Pedibus mare ingressus.   then, setting His feet on the sea,657    Matt. xiv. 24.   He came up to them, walking as though on the solid ground,658    In solido. So Virg., Georg., ii. 231:—   “Alteque jubebis” In solido puteum demitti.” not as the poets fable Orion walking on the sea, who, while a part of his body was sunk in the water,  

And again, when He had gone to sleep in the ship, and the wind had begun to rage, even to the extremity of danger, being aroused from sleep, He immediately ordered the wind to be silent; and the waves, which were borne with great violence, were still, and immediately at His word there followed a calm.  

But perhaps the sacred writings660    Matt. viii.; Mark iv.; Luke viii.   speak falsely, when they teach that there was such power in Him, that by His command He compelled the winds to obey, the seas to serve Him, diseases to depart, the dead to be submissive. Why should I say that the Sibyls before taught the same things in their verses? one of whom, already mentioned, thus speaks:—  

And again another, which says:—  

Some, refuted by these testimonies, are accustomed to have recourse to the assertion that these poems were not by the Sibyls, but made up and composed by our own writers. But he will assuredly not think this who has read Cicero,661    Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii.   and Varro, and other ancient writers, who make mention of the Erythræan and the other Sibyls, from whose books we bring forward these examples; and these authors died before the birth of Christ according to the flesh. But I do not doubt that these poems were in former times regarded as ravings, since no one then understood them. For they announced some marvellous wonders, of which neither the manner, nor the time, nor the author was signified. Lastly, the Erythræan Sibyl says that it would come to pass that she would be called mad and deceitful. But assuredly  

Therefore they were662    Jacuerunt. [Elucidation II.]   neglected for many ages; but they received attention after the nativity and passion of Christ had revealed secret things. Thus it was also with the utterances of the prophets, which were read by the people of the Jews for fifteen hundred years and more, but yet were not understood until after Christ had explained663    Interpretatus est.   them both by His word and by His works. For the prophets spoke of Him; nor could the things which they said have been in any way understood, unless they had been altogether fulfilled.  

CAPUT XV. De Jesu vita et miraculis; atque de iis testimonia.

Quoniam de secunda nativitate diximus, qua se hominibus in carne monstravit, veniamus ad opera illa 0490C miranda, quae cum essent coelestis indicia virtutis, 0491A magum Judaei putaverunt. Cum primum coepit adolescere, 0491A tinctus est a Joanne propheta in Jordane flumine, ut lavacro spiritali peccata non sua, quae utique non habebat, sed carnis, quam gerebat, aboleret; ut quemadmodum Judaeos suscepta circumcisione, sic etiam gentes baptismo, id est purifici roris perfusione salvaret. Tunc vox audita de coelo est: Filius meus es tu; ego hodie genui te (Ps. II). Quae vox apud David praedicta invenitur. Et descendit super eum Spiritus Dei formatus in speciem columbae candidae. Exinde maximas virtutes coepit operari, non praestigiis magicis, quae nihil veri ac solidi ostentant, sed vi ac potestate coelesti quae jampridem prophetis nuntiantibus canebantur. Quae opera tam multa sunt, ut unus liber ad complectenda omnia satis non sit. Enumerabo 0491B igitur illa breviter, et generatim, sine ulla personarum ac locorum designatione, ut ad exponendam passionis ejus crucisque rationem possim pervenire, quo jamdudum festinat oratio. Virtutes ejus fuerunt, quas Apollo portentificas appellavit: quod quacumque iter faciebat, aegros et debiles, et omni morborum genere laborantes, uno verbo unoque momento reddebat incolumes, adeo ut membris omnibus capti, receptis repente viribus roborati, ipsi lectulos suos reportarent, in quibus fuerant paulo ante delati. Claudis vero ac pedum vitio afflictis, non modo gradiendi, sed etiam currendi dabat facultatem. Tunc quorum caeca lumina in altissimis tenebris erant, eorum oculos 0492A in pristinum restituebat aspectum. Mutorum quoque linguas in eloquium sermonemque solvebat. Item surdorum patefactis auribus insinuabat auditum: pollutos, ac aspersos maculis, repurgabat. Et haec omnia non manibus, aut aliqua medela, sed verbo ac jussione faciebat, sicut etiam Sibylla (Serm. 8, post med.) praedixerat: Πάντα λόγω πράττων, πᾶσάν τε νόσον θεραπεύων.Nec utique mirum, quod verbo faciebat mirabilia, cum ipse esset Dei Verbum, coelesti virtute ac potestate subnixum . . . ; Nec satis fuit quod vires imbecillis redderet, debilibus integritatem, quod aegris et languentibus sanitatem, nisi etiam mortuos suscitaret (Matth. XII, Marc. III, Luc. VII et XI, Joan. II), velut e somno solutos, ad vitamque revocaret.

0492B Quae videntes tunc Judaei, daemoniaca fieri potentia arguebant, cum omnia sic futura, ut facta sunt, arcanae illorum litterae continerent. Legebant quippe cum aliorum prophetarum, tum Esaiae verba dicentis (cap. XXV): Confortamini manus resolutae, et genua debilia consolidamini. Qui estis pusilli animi, nolite timere, nolite metuere. Dominus noster judicium retribuet; ipse veniet, et salvos faciet nos. Tunc aperientur oculi caecorum; et aures surdorum audient. Tunc saliet claudus sicut cervus, et plana erit lingua mutorum, quia rupta est in deserto aqua, et rivus in terra sitienti. Sed et Sibylla eadem cecinit his versibus: . . . . . . Νεκρῶν δὲ ἀνάστασις ἔσται, 0493A Καὶ χωλῶν δρόμος ἔστ᾽ ὠκὺς, 0493A καὶ κωφὸς ἀκούσει; Καὶ τυφλοὶ βλέψουσι, λαλήσουσ᾽ οὐ λαλέοντες. Ob has ejus virtutes, et opera divina, cum magna illum multitudo sequeretur vel debilium, vel aegrorum, vel eorum qui curandos suos offerre cupiebant, ascendit in montem quemdam desertum, ut ibi adoraret. Ubi cum triduo moratus esset, ac fame populus laboraret, vocavit discipulos, quaerens quantos secum cibos gestarent. At illi quinque panes et duos pisces in pera se habere dixerunt. Afferri ea jussit, ac multitudinem per quinquagenos distributam discumbere. Quod cum discipuli facerent, frangebat ipse panem minutatim, carnemque piscium comminuebat, et utraque in manibus ejus augebantur. Et cum apponere illa populo discipulis imperasset, saturata sunt quinque hominum millia, et insuper duodecim cophini de 0493B residuis fragminibus impleti. Quid aut dici, aut fieri potest mirabilius? At id Sibylla futurum cecinerat olim, cujus versus tales feruntur: Εἰν ἄρτοις ἅμα πέντε, καὶ ἰχθύεσσι δοιοῖσιν, Ἀνδρῶν χιλιάδας ἐν ἐρήμῳ πέντε κορέσσει, Καὶ τὰ περισσεύοντα λαβὼν μετὰ κλάσματα πάντα, Δώδεκα πληρώσει κοφίνους εις ἐλπίδα πολλῶν.Quaero igitur quid hic potuerit ars magica moliri, cujus peritia ad nihil aliud quam ad circumscribendos oculos valet. Idem, secessurus orandi gratia, sicut solebat, in montem, praecepit discipulis, ut naviculam 0494A sumerent, seque praecederent. At illi, urgente jam vespere profecti, contrario vento laborare coeperunt. Cumque jam medium fretum tenerent, tum pedibus mare ingressus consecutus est eos, tamquam in solido gradiens; non ut poetae Orionem mentiuntur in pelago incedentem, qui, demersa corporis parte, Humero supereminet undas.Et rursus cum obdormisset in navi, et ventus usque ad extremum periculum saevire coepisset, excitatus e somno, silere ventum protinus jussit; et fluctus, qui maximi ferebantur, conquievere, statimque sub verbo ejus tranquillitas insecuta est.

Mentiuntur fortasse Litterae sanctae (Luc. VIII, Marc. IV, Matth. VIII), docentes tantam fuisse in eo potestatem, ut imperio suo cogeret ventos obsequi, maria 0494B servire, morbos cedere, inferos obedire. Quid quod eadem Sibyllae carminibus suis ante docuerunt? quarum una, cujus supra fecimus mentionem, sic ait: Τοὺς ἀνέμους παύσει τε λόγῳ, στρώσει δὲ θάλασσαν Μαινομένην, ποσὶν εἰρήνης πίστει τε πατήσας.Et rursus alia, quae dicit: Κύματα πεζεύσει, νόσον ἀνθρώπων ἀπολύσει, Στήσει τεθνηῶτας, ἀπώσεται ἄλγεα πολλὰ, Ἐκ δὲ μιᾶς πἑρης ἄρτου κόρος ἔσσεται ἀνδρῶν.0495A His testimoniis quidam revicti, solent eo confugere, ut aiant non esse illa carmina Sibyllina, sed a nostris ficta 0495A atque composita. Quod profecto non putabit qui Ciceronem Varronemque legerit, aliosque veteres, qui Erythraeam Sibyllam caeterasque commemorant: quarum ex libris ista exempla proferimus: qui auctores ante obierunt quam Christus secundum carnem nasceretur. Verum non dubito quin illa carmina prioribus temporibus pro deliramentis habita sint, cum ea nemo tum intelligeret. Denguntiabant enim monstruosa quaedam miracula, quorum nec ratio, nec tempus, nec auctor designabatur. Denique Erythraea fore ait, ut diceretur insana, et mendax. At enim: . . . . . . Φήσουσι Σιβλλην 0495B Μαινομένην ψευστείραν· ἐπὰν δὲ γένηται ἅπαντα, Τηνίκα μου μνήμην ποιήσετε, κ᾽ οὐκ ἔτι μ᾽ οὐδεὶς Μαινομένην φήσει με θεοῦ μεγάλοιο προφῆτιν.Jacuerunt igitur multis saeculis; postea vero animadversa sunt, quam Christi nativitas et passio patefecit arcana: sicut etiam voces prophetarum, quae cum per annos mille quingentos, vel eo amplius lectae fuissent a populo Judaeorum, nec tamen intellectae sunt, nisi postquam illas Christus, et verbo, et operibus interpretatus est. Illum enim prophetae annuntiaverunt; nec ullo modo poterant, quae illi loquebantur, intelligi, nisi fuissent universa completa.