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for He has fulfilled all human things except sin. For He was born both according to the law of nature, and above the law of nature. For that which is from a woman, is of human nature; but above this, is that which is from a Virgin. He received swaddling clothes and circumcision, and nourishment from milk, and offered sacrifices, He fasted, and was hungry, He was thirsty, and He grew weary. Thus also He is continually recorded as praying in the holy Gospels. And here, therefore, in a human way He calls upon the divine help. 22. "Deliver me, for I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me." This we also find spoken by Him in the holy Gospels. For when He was about to approach the passion, He said: "Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause I came unto this hour." 80.1764 23. "Like a shadow when it declines, I am taken away; I am shaken off as the locusts." By these things He signified His death. For, He says, like a shadow that has declined and been taken away, I received the end of life; but also like locusts fanned by the winds, and carried hither and thither, I continued; having no city, no village, no house; but at one time going to this, at another time to that, at another time moving to the mountains, and running to the desert. 24. "My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh is changed for want of oil." For I did not live a relaxed and luxurious life, but a simple, and hardened, and austere one. And witnesses are those who were deemed worthy of His holy discipleship, and the barley loaves which they carried, and the ears of corn that were plucked and rubbed in their hands because of hunger. And the phrase, "My flesh is changed for want of oil," Symmachus thus interpreted: And my flesh is changed from want of anointing. 25. "And I became a reproach to them: they saw me, they shook their heads." And this has reached its fulfillment. Seeing Him on the cross, shaking their heads, they said, "Aha, you who would destroy this temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross." And others said: "He saved others; himself he cannot save." 20, 27. "Help me, O Lord my God: and save me according to thy mercy. And let them know that this is thy hand, and that thou, Lord, hast done it." Let them learn, He says, that they did not hand me over to the cross against my will, but that this is the work of your economy. For through my passion you willed to grant impassibility to men; and by hand He calls the energy of God. 28. "They will curse, and you will bless." To this very day the Jews have persisted in using blasphemies against the Savior, but while they blaspheme, the preaching becomes more manifest daily. "Let them that rise up against me be ashamed, but let thy servant rejoice." Nor does this saying compel us to take the psalm in another sense. For we also hear the divine Paul saying that "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." And He Himself, crying out through Isaiah, says thus: "He who formed me from the womb to be his servant;" and after a little: "I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the end of the earth." And in the holy Gospels He spoke thus: "Just as the Son of man came not 80.1765 to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." "Servant," therefore, is a name for the nature He assumed; not because He is a servant to it (for how could that be which is united to God the Word, and has received the lordship of all things?), but so that the property of that nature itself might be shown. Therefore, "servant" here is not indicative of rank, but of nature. 29. "Let them that slander me be clothed with confusion, and let them cover themselves with their own shame, as with a double cloak." Again, the others interpreted "those who slander" as "adversaries." And the facts bear witness to the prophecy. For they are in perpetual shame, and they are clothed with it as with some garment. 30. "I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth; and in the midst of many I will praise him." The Lord is called the Head of the Church

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γὰρ τὰ ἀνθρώπεια πλὴν ἁμαρτίας πε πλήρωκεν. Ἐτέχθη γὰρ καὶ κατὰ τὸν νόμον φύ σεως, καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν νόμον τῆς φύσεως. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ γυναικὸς, τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως· ὑπὲρ ταύτην δὲ, τὸ ἐκ Παρθένου. Ἐδέξατο σπάργανα καὶ περιτομὴν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ γάλακτος τροφὴν, καὶ θυσίας προσ ήνεγκεν, ἐνήστευσε, καὶ ἐπείνασεν, ἐδίψησε, καὶ ἐκοπίασεν. Οὕτω καὶ προσευχόμενος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις διηνεκῶς ἀναγέγραπται. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν ἀνθρωπίνως τὴν θείαν ἐπικαλεῖται βοήθειαν. κβʹ. "Ῥῦσαί με, ὅτι πτωχὸς καὶ πένης εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, καὶ ἡ καρδία μου τετάρακται ἐντός μου." Τοῦτο καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις εἰρημένον εὑρίσκομεν. Μέλλων γὰρ προσιέναι τῷ πάθει, εἶπε· "Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται, καὶ τί εἴπω; Πάτερ, σῶσόν με ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης· ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἐλήλυθα εἰς τὴν ὥραν ταύτην." 80.1764 κγʹ. "Ὡσεὶ σκιὰ ἐν τῷ ἐκκλῖναι αὐτὴν ἀνταν ηρέθην, ἐξετινάχθην ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες." ∆ιὰ τούτων τὸν θάνατον παρεδήλωσε. Σκιᾷ γὰρ, φησὶ, κλιθείσῃ καὶ ἀναιρεθείσῃ παραπλησίως ἐδεξάμην τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος· ἀλλὰ καὶ δίκην ἀκρίδων ὑπ' ἀνέμων ῥιπιζο μένων, καὶ τῇδε κἀκεῖσε περιφερομένων, διετέλεσα· οὐ πόλιν ἔχων, οὐ κώμην, οὐκ οἰκίαν· ἀλλὰ ποτὲ μὲν εἰς ταύτην, ποτὲ δὲ εἰς ἐκείνην, ἄλλοτε δὲ εἰς ὄρη μεταβαίνων, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον τρέχων. κδʹ. "Τὰ γόνατά μου ἠσθένησαν ἀπὸ νηστείας, καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου ἠλλοιώθη δι' ἔλαιον." Οὐ γὰρ ἀνειμένον καὶ ἁβροδίαιτον ἐβιότευσα βίον, ἀλλ' ἀπέ ριττον, καὶ κατεσκληκότα, καὶ αὐχμηρόν. Καὶ μάρ τυρες οἱ τῆς ἱερᾶς αὐτοῦ μαθητείας ἀξιωθέντες, καὶ οἱ κρίθινοι ἄρτοι, οὓς ἐπεφέροντο, καὶ οἱ τιλλόμενοι στάχυες, καὶ ταῖς χερσὶ τριβόμενοι διὰ πείνην. Τὸ δὲ, "Ἡ σάρξ μου ἠλλοιώθη δι' ἔλαιον," Ὁ Σύμμαχος οὕτως ἡρμήνευσεν· Καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου ἠλ λοιώθη ἀπὸ ἀναλειφίας. κεʹ. "Κἀγὼ ἐγενήθην ὄνειδος αὐτοῖς, εἴδοσάν με, ἐσάλευσαν κεφαλὰς αὑτῶν." Καὶ τοῦτο τέλους τετύ χηκεν. Ὁρῶντες αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ, κινοῦντες τὰς κεφαλὰς, ἔλεγον, "Οὐὰ, ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγείρων αὐτὸν, κατά βηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ." Ἄλλοι δὲ ἔλεγον· "Ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται σῶσαι." κʹ, κζʹ. "Βοήθησόν μοι, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ σῶσόν με κατὰ τὸ ἔλεός σου. Καὶ γνώτωσαν ὅτι ἡ χείρ σου αὕτη, καὶ σὺ, Κύριε, ἐποίησας αὐτήν." Μαθέτωσαν, φησὶν, ὡς οὐκ ἄκοντά με παρέδοσαν τῷ σταυρῷ, ἀλλὰ τῆς σῆς τοῦτο ἔργον οἰκονομίας. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πάθους ἐβουλήθης τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν ἀπάθειαν δωρήσασθαι· χεῖρα δὲ καλεῖ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. κηʹ. "Καταράσονται αὐτοὶ, καὶ σὺ εὐλογήσεις." Μέχρι καὶ τήμερον διέμειναν Ἰουδαῖοι ταῖς κατὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος χρώμενοι βλασφημίαις, ἀλλὰ ἐκείνων βλασ φημούντων περιφανέστερον ὁσημέραι τὸ κήρυγμα γίνεται. "Οἱ ἐπανιστάμενοί μοι αἰσχυνθήτωσαν, ὁ δὲ δοῦλός σου εὐφρανθήσεται." Οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἡμᾶς τὸ ῥῆμα λαβεῖν εἰς ἑτέραν ὑπόθεσιν τὸν ψαλμὸν ἀναγκάζει. Ἀκούομεν γὰρ καὶ τοῦ θεσπεσίου Παύλου λέγοντος, ὅτι "Ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβών." Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ διὰ Ἡσαΐου βοῶν οὕτως λέγει· "Ὁ πλάσας με ἐκ κοιλίας δοῦλον ἑαυτῷ·" καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα·" Τέθεικά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, τοῦ εἶναί σε εἰς σωτηρίαν ἕως ἐσχά του τῆς γῆς." Καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς Εὐαγγελίοις οὕτως ἔφη· "Ὥσπερ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθε 80.1765 διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι, καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὑτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν." Ὁ δοῦλος τοίνυν τῆς ληφθείσης φύσεως ὄνομα· οὐκ ἐπειδὴ δουλεύει ἐκείνῃ (πῶς γὰρ ἥγε τῷ Θεῷ συνημμένη Λόγῳ, καὶ τῶν ἁπάντων δεξαμένη τὴν δεσποτείαν;), ἀλλ' ἵνα δειχθῇ τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς τὸ ἴδιον. Οὐκ ἀξιώματος τοίνυν ἐνταῦθα τὸ, δοῦλος, ἀλλὰ φύσεως δηλωτικόν. κθʹ. "Ἐνδυσάσθωσαν οἱ ἐνδιαβάλλοντές με ἐν τροπὴν, καὶ περιβαλέσθωσαν ὡς διπλοΐδα αἰσχύνην αὑτῶν." Πάλιν τοὺς ἐνδιαβάλλοντας οἱ λοιποὶ ἀντικειμένους ἡρμήνευσαν. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῇ προ φητείᾳ τὰ πράγματα. Ἐν αἰσχύνῃ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι δι ηνεκεῖ, καὶ ταύτην ἀμπέχονται καθάπερ τι περιβό λαιον. λʹ. "Ἐξομολογήσομαι τῷ Κυρίῳ σφόδρα ἐν τῷ στόματί μου, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ πολλῶν αἰνέσω αὐτόν." Κεφαλὴ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὁ ∆εσπότης καλεῖται