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that the things prophesied would not happen in Jerusalem, but in the wilderness, I mean, that the glory of the Lord would be seen and the salvation of God would be made known to all flesh. And these things were fulfilled historically and literally in John the Baptist, who preached the saving theophany in the wilderness of the Jordan, in which the salvation of God was also seen. Christ himself, and his glory was made known to all, when at his baptism "the heavens were opened," and "the Holy Spirit, descending in the form of a dove," "remained on him," and a fatherly "voice" was brought to bear, testifying to the Son: "This is my beloved Son, listen to him." For all these were signs of the saving glory accomplished in the wilderness of the Jordan, and testified to by John the Baptist, but indeed also in meaning, to the church from the Gentiles, which was formerly God's wilderness, the same voice was sent up, still even today crying out, proclaiming the good news of the salvation of God and preparing the ears of those who approach for the reception of the glory of the Word of God who was "in the beginning with God." He did not name the one crying in the wilderness for comparison or as a word, but for the time being as a preparatory voice for the perfect Word who was about to be seen, for whom the voice cries out, preparing the souls of men, that it is necessary to prepare the way of the Lord and to make straight the paths of our God, and according to Symmachus, a voice in the wilderness said, make ready the way of the Lord, make smooth in an untrodden place a path for our God; for these things were said as of God who was about to visit the wilderness and the place that had been untrodden from of old. And all the nations were a wilderness of the knowledge of God and untrodden by all of God's righteous men and prophets. Therefore the voice commands to prepare a way for the Word of God and to make the untrodden and rough path smooth, so that our God may set foot upon it on his arrival, with the addition of "our"; for it says, make straight the paths of our God; for the one crying in the wilderness says these things as though addressing others; for there were countless men, even from foreign nations, who came to John's baptism, but also the evangelical word in the church addresses these things to the nations throughout the whole world. Then it awakens the souls that are humbled in the depth of wickedness, adding: Every valley shall be filled, and it teaches that the proud and those who exalt themselves against the knowledge of God will suffer the opposite, saying: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, but it also says that the crooked things shall be made straight and it commands the rough soul to become smooth, so that it may become receptive of God's treading upon it. He necessarily exhorted them to do all these things because of the following reason, which he presents next, saying: and the glory of the Lord shall be seen, or according to the other interpreters: and it shall be revealed. And to whom it will be revealed, he clarifies by adding: and all flesh shall see the salvation of God; and flesh were all men who were only "carnal" and in no way "partakers of the Holy Spirit." This indeed Moses also represents, recording God as saying: "My Spirit shall not abide in these men, for they are flesh." Therefore, that all flesh was to know the salvation of God, the voice crying out in the wilderness taught through its first proclamation; "for he who promised is not false." But the prophetic spirit was not unaware of the disobedience and unbelief of the Jewish people; wherefore the same voice makes a second proclamation, crying out and saying: All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. This, then, is the nature of all flesh and of the man "who bears" "the image of the earthy," I mean of the one who loves the body and "who lives according to the flesh"; for like the grass of the earth and the beautiful flowers, it flourishes and is beautiful for a short time, then not long after it is withered by its fluid and unstable nature, which the scripture teaches, saying: The grass withered, and the

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μὴ ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ γενήσεσθαι τὰ θεσπιζόμενα, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου, λέγω δὲ τὸ ὀφθήσεσθαι τὴν δόξαν κυρίου καὶ τὸ πάσῃ σαρκὶ γνωσθήσεσθαι τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ἐπληροῦτο πρὸς ἱστορίαν καὶ λέξιν ἐπὶ τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ Ἰωάννου κηρύσσοντος τὴν σωτήριον θεοφάνειαν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸ σωτήριον ὤφθη τοῦ θεοῦ. αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός, ἥ τε δόξα αὐτοῦ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐγνώσθη, ὅτε βαπτισθέντος αὐτοῦ «ἠνεῴχθησαν οἱ οὐρανοί», καὶ «τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς καταβὰν» «ἔμεινεν ἐπ' αὐτόν», «φωνή» τε ἠνέχθη πατρικὴ τῷ υἱῷ μαρτυροῦσα· «οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε». ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν ἅπαντα σημεῖα τῆς σωτηρίου δόξης ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου συντελεσθέντα, ὑπό τε Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ μαρτυρηθέντα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ διάνοιαν ἐπὶ τὴν πάλαι τοῦ θεοῦ ἔρημον τὴν ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίαν ἀνεπέμπετο εἰσέτι καὶ σήμερον ἡ αὐτὴ φωνὴ βοᾷ εὐαγγελιζομένη τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ προπαρασκευάζουσα τὰς ἀκοὰς τῶν προσιόντων ἐπὶ τὴν παραδοχὴν τῆς δόξης τοῦ «ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν» θεοῦ λόγου. οὐ πρὸς παράθεσιν οὐδὲ λόγον ὠνόμασε τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ βοῶντα, ἀλλὰ τέως φωνὴν προπαρασκευαστικὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος ὀφθήσεσθαι τελείου λόγου, ᾧ παρασκευάζουσα τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς ἡ φωνὴ βοᾷ, δεῖν ἑτοιμάζειν ὁδὸν κυρίου καὶ εὐθείας ποιεῖν τὰς τρίβους τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν, κατὰ δὲ τὸν Σύμμαχον φωνὴ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἔλεγεν, εὐτρεπίσατε τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου, ὁμαλίσατε ἐν ἀβάτῳ ὁδὸν τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν· ὡς γὰρ μέλλοντος ἐπιδημεῖν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ τῇ ἐξ αἰῶνος ἀβάτῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ταῦτα ἐλέγετο. ἦν δὲ τὰ ἔθνη πάντα ἔρημα θεοῦ γνώσεως καὶ ἄβατα πᾶσι τοῖς τοῦ θεοῦ δικαίοις τε καὶ προφήταις ἀνδράσι. διόπερ ἡ φωνὴ παρακελεύεται ὁδὸν εὐτρεπίζειν τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγῳ καὶ τὴν ἄβατον καὶ τραχεῖαν ὁμαλὴν ποιεῖν, ἵνα ἐπιβῇ ἐπιδημήσας ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν μετὰ προσθήκης τῆς ἡμῶν· εὐθείας γάρ φησι ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν· ὡς γὰρ ἑτέροις προσφωνῶν ταῦτα φάσκει ὁ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ βοῶν· ἦσαν γὰρ μυρίοι καὶ ἐξ ἀλλοφύλων ἐθνῶν οἱ προσιόντες τῷ τοῦ Ἰωάννου βαπτίσματι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελικὸς λόγος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ταῦτα τοῖς καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἔθνεσι προσφωνεῖ. Εἶτα διεγείρει τὰς ἐν βάθει κακίας τεταπεινωμένας ψυχὰς ἐπιλέγων· πᾶσα φάραγξ πληρωθήσεται, καὶ τὰς ὑπερηφάνους τε καὶ ἐπαιρομένας κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἐναντίον πείσεσθαι διδάσκει λέγων· καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ βουνὸς ταπεινωθήσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔσται τὰ σκολιά φησιν εἰς εὐθεῖαν καὶ τὴν τραχεῖαν δὲ ψυχὴν ὁμαλὴν γίγνεσθαι προστάττει, ὡς ἂν δεκτικὴ γένοιτο τῆς ἐπιβάσεως τοῦ θεοῦ. ταῦτα πάντα ἀναγκαίως παρεκελεύσατο ποιεῖν διὰ τὴν ἐπιφερομένην αἰτίαν, ἣν παρίστησιν ἑξῆς λέγων· καὶ ὀφθήσεται ἡ δόξα κυρίου, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτάς· καὶ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται. τίνι δὲ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται, διασαφεῖ ἐπιφέρων· καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ· σὰρξ δὲ ἦσαν οἱ αὐτοὶ μόνον «σάρκινοι» καὶ οὐδαμῶς «πνεύματος ἁγίου μέτοχοι» πάντες ἄνθρωποι. ὃ δὴ παρίστησι καὶ Μωσῆς ἀναγράφων τὸν θεὸν λέγοντα· «Οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας». ὅτι μὲν οὖν πᾶσα σὰρξ ἔμελλε τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ γνωρίζειν, διὰ τοῦ πρώτου κηρύγματος ἐδίδασκεν ἡ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ προσβοῶσα φωνή· «ἀψευδὴς γὰρ ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος». Οὐ μὴν ἔλαθε τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα ἡ ἀπείθεια καὶ ἡ ἀπιστία τοῦ Ἰουδαίων λαοῦ· διόπερ δεύτερον κήρυγμα ἡ αὐτὴ ποιεῖται βοῶσα καὶ λέγουσα· Πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου. αὕτη γοῦν ἐστι πάσης σαρκὸς φύσις καὶ τοῦ «τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ» «φοροῦντος» ἀνθρώπου, λέγω δὲ τοῦ φιλοσωμάτου καὶ «τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα ζῶντος»· ὁμοίως γοῦν τῷ χόρτῳ τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῖς ὡραίοις ἄνθεσι πρὸς βραχὺ θάλλει καὶ ὡραΐζεται, εἶτ' οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ῥευστῆς καὶ ἀστάτου φύσεως ἀπομαραίνεται, ὅπερ διδάσκει ἡ γραφὴ λέγουσα· ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος, καὶ τὸ