Chapter CI.—Christ refers all things to the Father

“Then what follows of the Psalm is this, in which He says: ‘Our fathers trusted in Thee; they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto Thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people;’ which show that He admits them to be His fathers, who trusted in God and were saved by Him, who also were the fathers of the Virgin, by whom He was born and became man; and He foretells that He shall be saved by the same God, but boasts not in accomplishing anything through His own will or might. For when on earth He acted in the very same manner, and answered to one who addressed Him as ‘Good Master:’ ‘Why callest thou me good? One is good, my Father who is in heaven.’388    Luke xviii. 18 f. But when He says, ‘I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people,’ He prophesied the things which do exist, and which happen to Him. For we who believe on Him are everywhere a reproach, ‘despised of the people;’ for, rejected and dishonoured by your nation, He suffered those indignities which you planned against Him. And the following: ‘All they that see me laughed me to scorn; they spake with the lips, they shook the head: He trusted in the Lord; let Him deliver him, since he desires Him;’ this likewise He foretold should happen to Him. For they that saw Him crucified shook their heads each one of them, and distorted their lips, and twisting their noses to each other,389    The text is corrupt, and the meaning doubtful. Otto translates: naribus inter se certantes. they spake in mockery the words which are recorded in the memoirs of His apostles: ‘He said he was the Son of God: let him come down; let God save him.’

[101] Τὰ δὲ ἀκόλουθα τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ταῦτα ἐν οἷς λέγει: Ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, ἤλπισαν καὶ ἐρρύσω αὐτούς: πρὸς σὲ ἐκέκραξαν, καὶ οὐ κατῃσχύνθησαν: ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουδένωμα λαοῦ: δηλωτικά ἐστι τοῦ καὶ πατέρας αὐτὸν ὁμολογεῖν τοὺς ἐλπίσαντας ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν καὶ σωθέντας ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, οἵτινες καὶ πατέρες ἦσαν τῆς παρθένου, δι' ἧς ἐγεννήθη ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος, καὶ αὐτὸς σωθήσεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ θεοῦ μηνύων, ἀλλ' οὐ τῇ αὐτοῦ βουλῇ ἢ ἰσχύϊ πράττειν τι καυχώμενος. καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ γῆς τὸ αὐτὸ ἔπραξε: λέγοντος αὐτῷ τινος: Διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, ἀπεκρίνατο: Τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; εἷς ἐστιν ἀγαθός, ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν Ἐγώ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουθένημα λαοῦ, ἅπερ φαίνεται καὶ ὄντα καὶ γινόμενα αὐτῷ προέλεγεν. ὄνειδος μὲν γὰρ ἡμῖν, τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύουσιν ἀνθρώποις, πανταχοῦ ἐστιν: ἐξουθένημα δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅτι ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ ὑμῶν ἐξουδενωθεὶς καὶ ἀτιμωθεὶς ταῦτα ἔπαθεν ἅπερ διεθήκατε αὐτόν. καὶ τὰ ἀκόλουθα: Πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με, καὶ ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλήν: Ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ κύριον, ῥυσάσθω αὐτόν, ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν: τὰ αὐτὰ ὁμοίως ἐγγίνεσθαι αὐτῷ προεῖπεν. οἱ γὰρ θεωροῦντες αὐτὸν ἐσταυρωμένον τὰς κεφαλὰς ἕκαστος ἐκίνουν καὶ τὰ χείλη διέστρεφον, καὶ τοῖς μυξωτῆρσιν ἐν ἀλλήλοις διαρρινοῦντες ἔλεγον εἰρωνευόμενοι ταῦτα ἃ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασι τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ γέγραπται: Υἱὸν θεοῦ ἑαυτὸν ἔλεγε, καταβὰς περιπατείτω: σωσάτω αὐτὸν ὁ θεός.