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He obeyed. But to whom was He brought, if not to Pilate? And He was silent while being falsely accused. For He knew that His defense would accomplish nothing (for He was being judged by enemies) but would rather inflame them to a more savage anger, as He said He was the Son of God, and the Savior and Redeemer of all. Yet He did not leave them without excuse for their sin, saying to Caiaphas who put Him under oath: "Henceforth you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power;" and: "You have said so," saying to Pilate who asked if He was the King of Israel. Therefore, sharing in their frenzy, he handed Him over to be scourged. Whence he brought forth, As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent. For He is silent, even though, as is likely, the blade is a pain as it grazes the skin. Thus also Christ, when reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten; but He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. True, therefore, is this: In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. For as against someone of no account they readily passed sentence. Therefore, it denotes the lawless and unjust judgment that was passed upon Him. But even if, he says, He was judged in a humble manner, He was by nature God. Whence he adds: Who will declare His generation? And with respect to each of His births, the same incomprehensibility follows. How God, on the one hand, and how a Virgin, on the other, gives birth. For only this much have we known. On the one hand, that He is God from God, Light from Light; on the other hand, that "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." And regarding each, the birth? It is indescribable; because His life is taken up from the earth. This means His manner of life, and His life according to the flesh, is higher than those on earth. For He alone committed no sin. And in another way, the existence of the Only-Begotten is above all that is created. But Symmachus has rendered it: For he was cut off from the land of the living, and because of the iniquity of my people, a plague to them. And Theodotion: Because he was cut off from the land of the living, because of the impiety of my people, he touched them. For it rather took hold of them, and His death became a very great plague to them. But some say that, "is taken up from the earth," denotes His glory after the resurrection; for the experience of the things dispensed showed His divine worth, He Himself submitting to death, while all are made alive to incorruption by His grace, and redeemed by faith. But how did He who knew no sin come under a death sentence? The Father says: For the iniquities of my people He was led to death, either that it was for their iniquities, or that they 2528 killed Him while transgressing the law. But instead of, "I will give the wicked," Symmachus says, "and he will give the impious." And who will give, if not the judge of all? And he speaks of those who did the aforementioned things. For they were handed over to the Romans. And he says that He will hand over those who were formerly rich, in the advantages in which they abounded, in exchange for His death. And he means those honored with legal, and priestly, and royal dignity; for these, in addition to killing Him, also gave sufficient money, wishing to hide the resurrection. For this reason, then, he calls them rich; or also as lovers of money. For they killed Jesus, so that they might be rich from not judging rightly. Concerning whom the prophet said: "Companions of thieves, loving gifts, seeking a reward." And they considered also that when the worship in the law ceased, they would not have the first-fruits brought to them according to the law, whom He also pronounced wretched, saying, that "You tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith." And the justice of their condemnation is shown by what is added, "that He did no iniquity." For having killed Him unjustly, they themselves have been justly condemned. And the Father is a trustworthy witness, having called the Son sinless. They lied, then, at one time saying that, "This man stirs up the people, and forbids giving tribute to Caesar," and at another: "If this man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you." For the Father has thus testified to His sinlessness in both deed and word. But this is according to His humanity. For the divine nature is unchangeable.

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ὑπήκουσε. Τίνι δὲ προσηνέχθη, ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ Πιλάτῳ; ἐσίγα δὲ ψευδομαρτυρούμενος. Ἠπίστατο γὰρ ἀνήσουσαν μὲν οὐδὲν τὴν ἀπολογίαν (παρ' ἐχθροῖς γὰρ ἐκρίνετο) πρὸς θυμὸν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὑφάπτουσαν ἀγριώτερον, Υἱὸν ἑαυτὸν εἶναι λέγοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, Σωτῆρά τε πάντων καὶ λυτρωτήν. Πλὴν οὐκ ἀπροφάσιστον αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν, ὁρκίζοντι μὲν εἰπὼν τῷ Καϊάφᾳ τό· "Ἀπάρτι ὄψεσθε τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καθήμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς δυνάμεως·" καὶ τό· "Σὺ εἶπας," εἰπὼν Πιλάτῳ πυνθανομένῳ εἰ βασιλεύς ἐστι τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. ∆ιὸ συμμανεὶς αὐτοῖς μαστιγῶσαι παρέδωκεν. Ὅθεν ἐπήνεγκεν, Ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος. Σιγᾷ γὰρ, κἂν, ὡς εἰκὸς, λύπη παραψαύουσα τῶν δερμάτων ἡ μάχαιρα. Οὕτω καὶ Χριστὸς λοιδορούμενος οὐκ ἀντελοιδόρει. Πάσχων οὐκ ἠπείλει· παρεδίδου δὲ τῷ κρίνοντι δικαίως. Ἀληθὲς οὖν ἄρα τό· Ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἦρται. Ὡς κατ' εὐτελοῦς γὰρ προχείρως τὴν ψῆφον ἐξήνεγκαν. Τὴν οὖν παράνομον καὶ ἄδικον κρίσιν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ γενομένην δηλοῖ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ταπεινῶς, φησὶν, ἐκρίνετο, Θεὸς κατὰ φύσιν ἐτύγχανεν. Ὅθεν ἐπάγει· Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; Ἐφ' ἑκατέρας δὲ γεννήσεως τὸ ἄπορον ὁμοίως ἀκολουθεῖ. Πῶς μὲν Θεὸς, πῶς δὲ Παρθένος γεννᾷ. Τοσοῦτον γὰρ μόνον ἐγνώκαμεν. Πὴ μὲν, ὅτι Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτός· πὴ δὲ, ὅτι "Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπί σε, καὶ δύναμις" Ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι. Ἐφ' ἑκατέρου δὲ τὸ, ἡ γέννησις; ἀδιήγητον· ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. Τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὑψηλότερα τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἡ πολιτεία, καὶ ὁ κατὰ σάρκα βίος αὐτοῦ. Μόνος γὰρ ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν. Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ, ὑπὲρ πᾶν γενητὸν ἡ ὕπαρξίς ἐστι τοῦ Μονογενοῦς. Ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος ἐξέδωκεν· Ἀπετμήθηγὰρ ἐκ γῆς ζώντων, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀδικίαν τοῦ λαοῦ μου πληγὴ αὐτοῖς. Ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων· Ὅτι ἀπετμήθη ἀπὸ γῆς ζώντων, ἀπὸ ἀθεσίας τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἥψατο αὐτῶν. Μᾶλλον γὰρ αὐτῶν καθήψατο, καὶ πληγὴ αὐτοῖς μεγίστη γέγονεν ὁ αὐτοῦ θάνατος. Τινὲς δὲ τὸ, αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, φασὶ τὴν μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ δόξαν δηλοῦν· θεϊκὴν γὰρ ἀξίαν ἡ τῶν οἰκονομηθέντων ὑπέδειξε πεῖρα, αὐτοῦ μὲν θανάτου ὑποβαλλομένου, πάντων δὲ εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν αὐτοῦ χάριτι ζωοποιουμένων, καὶ πίστει λυτρουμένων. Ἀλλὰ πῶς ὁ μὴ εἰδὼς ἁμαρτίαν ὑπὸ ψήφῳ κατέστη θανατικῇ; φησὶν ὁ Πατήρ· Ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἤχθη εἰς θάνατον, ἢ ὅτι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτοῦ, ἢ ὅτι παρα 2528 νομοῦντες αὐτὸν ἀπέκτειναν. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, δώσω τοὺς πονηροὺς, ὁ Σύμμαχος, καὶ δώσει τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, φησί. Τίς δὲ δώσει, ἢ ὁ τῶν ὅλων κριτής; λέγει δὲ τοὺς τὰ εἰρημένα ποιήσαντας. Ῥωμαίοις γὰρ παρεδόθησαν. Καὶ τοὺς πάλαι δὲ πλουσίους, ἐν οἷς ἐπλεονέκτουν προτερήμασι, παραδώσειν φησὶν ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ. Λέγει δὲ τοὺς ἐν γνώσει νομικῇ, καὶ ἱερατικῇ, καὶ βασιλικῇ τετιμημένους ἀξίᾳ· οὗτοι γὰρ πρὸς τῷ ἀποκτεῖναι, καὶ ἀργύρια δεδώκασιν ἱκανὰ, κρύψαι βουλόμενοι τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο οὖν πλουσίους αὐτοὺς καλεῖ· ἢ καὶ ὡς φιλαργύρους. Ἀπέκτειναν γὰρ Ἰησοῦν, ἵν' ἔχοιεν πλουτεῖν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ κρίνειν ὀρθῶς. Περὶ ὧν ἔλεγεν ὁ προφήτης· "Κοινωνοὶ κλεπτῶν, ἀγαπῶντες δῶρα, διώκοντες ἀνταπόδομα." Ἐνενόουν δὲ καὶ ὅτι παυσαμένης τῆς ἐν νόμῳ λατρείας, οὐχ ἕξουσι τὰς κατὰ νόμον προσαγομένας αὐτοῖς ἀπαρχὰς, οὓς καὶ ἐταλάνιζεν λέγων, ὅτι "Ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον, καὶ τὸ κύμινον, καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου, τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ τὴν πίστιν." Τὸ δὲ δίκαιον τῆς αὐτῶν δηλοῖ κατακρίσεως τὸ, ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν, ἐπαγόμενον. Ἀδίκως γὰρ ἀποκτείναντες, δικαίως αὐτοὶ κατακέκρινται. Ἀξιόπιστος δὲ μάρτυς ὁ Πατὴρ, ἀναμάρτητον εἰπὼν τὸν Υἱόν. Κατεψεύσαντο ἄρα ποτὲ μὲν λέγοντες, ὅτι "Οὗτος ἀνασείει τὸν λαὸν, καὶ κωλύει Καίσαρι διδόναι φόρους," ποτὲ δέ· "Εἰμὴ ἦν οὗτος κακοποιών, οὐκ ἄν σοι παρεδώκαμεν αὐτόν." Ὁ γὰρ Πατὴρ οὕτω τὸ ἀναμάρτητον ἔργῳ τε καὶ λόγῳ μεμαρτύρηκεν. Τοῦτο δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον. Ἡ γὰρ θεία φύσις ἐστὶν ἀναλλοίωτος.