260

which the passion endured; when taking bread, and having given thanks he broke it and said: "Take, eat of it; this is my body." Likewise also having mixed the cup, he gave it to his disciples, saying: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood, of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." And we find Melchizedek, being both a priest and a king; for he was a type of the true priest and king; and offering to God not irrational victims, but bread and wine. For these things he also offered to Abraham, spiritually foreseeing in the loins of the patriarch the archetype of his own high priesthood. If, therefore, Christ is from David according to the flesh, and David from Judah, and Christ received the high priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek; the Levitical priesthood has ceased, and the blessing of the greater priesthood 80.1773 has passed to the tribe of Judah. And now Christ, who sprang from Judah according to the flesh, acts as priest, not offering anything himself, but being designated the head of those who offer. For he calls the Church his body, and through it he acts as priest as a man, but he receives what is offered as God. And the Church offers the symbols of his body and blood, sanctifying the whole lump through the first-fruits. 5. "The Lord at your right hand has shattered kings in the day of his wrath." And he will deliver over to punishment on the day of judgment the rulers and kings who now resist and behave insolently. And the phrase, "The Lord at your right hand," is similar to that in the fifteenth psalm, "For I foresaw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, that I might not be shaken." For there too he has said this in a human way, and has declared the inseparability of the united nature; and here in the same way he says both divine and human things. For, "Sit at my right hand," is suitable to the human nature; but, "From the womb before the morning star I begot you," is indicative of the divinity; and, "You are a priest forever," is again said as to a man. Likewise also, "The Lord at your right hand," means, you have the united divinity inseparably. 6. "He will judge among the nations, he will fill them with corpses; he will shatter the heads of many on earth." Here he has more clearly indicated the judgment, and that on that day he will deliver over to all kinds of punishments those who have lived in impiety; and indeed in the present life, he has often subjected them to many corrections, teaching his own power to those who are ignorant of it. 7. "He will drink from the torrent on the way, therefore he will lift up his head." Having become man, he says, he will use great humility, so as to cure his thirst even with the waters found along the way. But it seems to me that the prophecy also has another, deeper meaning. It is his custom to call the passion a cup; for he said, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me;" and he calls the Jews a torrent, having obtained divine grace, but not always enjoying it. For just as the torrent does not have a perpetual flow of waters, but is formed from the rains born from the clouds; so the Jews had the grace of the law for a time, supplied as it were from certain clouds, the prophets. But after these things, when the summer appeared, according to the Lord's voice: "For lift up your eyes," he says, "and see the fields, that they are white for harvest;" of necessity the torrent 80.1776 has remained bereft of its former abundance, and is seen dry, deprived of all moisture. Since, therefore, the Jews fashioned the cross, and the Lord calls the passion a cup, it is fitting that the prophet, foreseeing these things, said: "He will drink from the torrent on the way." And he calls this life the way. And what follows also bears witness to this meaning, "Therefore he will lift up his head." And the apostle Paul has said something similar to this: "He humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross; therefore God also has highly exalted him." And it is clear that he has posited this also in a human way. For as God, not

260

ἣν τὸ πάθος ὑπ έμεινεν· ἡνίκα λαβὼν ἄρτον, καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασε καὶ εἶπε· "Λάβετε, φάγετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ· τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ σῶμά μου." Ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ποτήριον κεράσας, ἔδωκε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὑτοῦ λέγων· "Πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ αἷμά μου, τὸ τῆς και νῆς διαθήκης, τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυνόμενον εἰς ἄφε σιν ἁμαρτιῶν." Εὑρίσκομεν δὲ τὸν Μελχισεδὲκ, καὶ ἱερέα ὄντα, καὶ βασιλέα· τύπος γὰρ ἦν τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ἱερέως καὶ βασιλέως· καὶ προσφέροντα τῷ Θεῷ οὐκ ἄλογα θύματα, ἀλλὰ ἄρτους καὶ οἶνον. Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ προσενήνοχε, τὸ τῆς οἰκείας ἀρχιερωσύνης ἀρχέτυπον ἐν τῇ τοῦ πατριάρ χου ὀσφύϊ πνευματικῶς προορῶν. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐκ ∆αβὶδ ὁ Χριστὸς κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ δὲ ∆αβὶδ ἐξ Ἰούδα, τὴν δὲ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲκ ἀρχιερωσύνην ἔλαβεν ὁ Χριστός· πέπαυται μὲν ἡ Λευϊτικὴ ἱερω σύνη εἰς δὲ τὴν Ἰούδα φυλὴν ἡ τῆς μείζονος ἱερω 80.1773 σύνης εὐλογία μετέβη. Ἱερατεύει δὲ νῦν ὁ ἐξ Ἰούδα κατὰ σάρκα βλαστήσας Χριστὸς, οὐκ αὐτός τι προσ φέρων, ἀλλὰ τῶν προσφερόντων κεφαλὴ χρημα τίζων. Σῶμα γὰρ αὑτοῦ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν καλεῖ, καὶ διὰ ταύτης ἱερατεύει ὡς ἄνθρωπος, δέχεται δὲ τὰ προσφερόμενα ὡς Θεός. Προσφέρει δὲ ἡ Ἐκκλησία τὰ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ αἵματος σύμβολα, πᾶν τὸ φύραμα διὰ τῆς ἀπαρχῆς ἁγιά ζουσα. εʹ. "Κύριος ἐκ δεξιῶν σου συνέθλασεν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς αὑτοῦ βασιλεῖς." Τοὺς δὲ νῦν ἀντιτείνοντας, καὶ θρασυνομένους ἄρχοντάς τε καὶ βασιλέας ἐν τῇ τῆς κρίσεως ἡμέρᾳ παραδώσει κολάσει. Τὸ δὲ, "Κύριος ἐκ δεξιῶν σου," ἔοικε τῷ ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ καὶ δεκάτῳ ψαλμῷ, "Προωρώμην γὰρ τὸν Κύριον ἐνώπιόν μου διὰ παντὸς, ὅτι ἐκ δεξιῶν μού ἐστιν, ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῶ." Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἀνθρωπίνως τοῦτο εἴρηκε, καὶ δεδήλωκε τῆς ἑνωθείσης φύσεως τὸ ἀχώριστον· καὶ ἐνταῦθα κατὰ ταυτὸν καὶ τὰ θεῖα λέ γει, καὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ, "Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου," τῇ ἀνθρωπείᾳ φύσει πρόσφορον· τὸ δὲ, "Ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε," δηλωτικὸν τῆς θεότητος· τὸ δὲ, "Σὺ εἶ ἱερεὺς εἰς αἰῶνα," πά λιν ὡς πρὸς ἄνθρωπον εἴρηται. Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τὸ, "Κύριος ἐκ δεξιῶν σου," ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἀχώριστον ἔχεις τὴν ἑνωθεῖσαν θεότητα. ʹ. "Κρινεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, πληρώσει πτώματα· συνθλάσει κεφαλὰς ἐπὶ γῆς πολλῶν." Σαφέστερον ἐνταῦθα τὴν κρίσιν ἐδήλωσε καὶ ὅτι κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν παντοδαπαῖς παραδώσει τιμωρίαις τοὺς δυσσεβείᾳ συνεζηκότας· καὶ κατὰ τὸν παρόντα μέν τοι βίον, πολλαῖς αὐτοὺς πολλάκις παιδείαις ὑπέβαλε, τὴν οἰκείαν δύναμιν τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας δι δάσκων. ζʹ. "Ἐκ χειμάῤῥου ἐν ὁδῷ πίεται, διὰ τοῦτο ὑψώσει κεφαλήν." Πολλῇ, φησὶν, ἐνανθρωπήσας εὐ τελείᾳ χρήσεται, ὥστε καὶ τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν εὑρι σκομένοις ὕδασι θεραπεύειν τὸ δίψος. ∆οκεῖ δέ μοι καὶ ἑτέραν βαθυτέραν ἔχειν ἡ προφητεία διάνοιαν. Ποτήριον ἔθος αὐτῷ τὸ πάθος καλεῖν· "Πάτερ γὰρ, ἔφη, εἰ δυνατὸν, παρέλθῃ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο ἀπ' ἐμοῦ·" χειμάῤῥουν δὲ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους καλεῖ, θείας μὲν χάριτος τετυχηκότας, οὐκ ἀεὶ δὲ ταύτης ἀπο λαύσαντας. Καθάπερ γὰρ ὁ χειμάῤῥους οὐκ ἀένναον ἔχει τὴν τῶν ὑδάτων φορὰν, ἀλλὰ ἐκ τῶν τικτομένων ἐκ τῶν νεφῶν συνίσταται ὑετῶν· οὕτως Ἰουδαῖοι πρόσκαιρον ἔσχον τοῦ νόμου τὴν χάριν, οἷον ἀπό τινων νεφῶν τῶν προφητῶν χορηγουμένην. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοῦ θέρους φανέντος, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνήν· "Ἐπάρατε γὰρ, φησὶ, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν, καὶ βλέπετε εἰς τὰς χώρας, ὅτι λευκαί εἰσι πρὸς θερισμόν·" ἀναγκαίως ὁ χειμάῤῥους τῆς 80.1776 προτέρας εὐπορίας ἔρημος μεμένηκε, καὶ ξηρὸς ὁρᾶται πάσης ἰκμάδος ἐστερημένος. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν σταυρὸν ἐτεκτήναντο, ποτήριον δὲ καλεῖ τὸ πάθος ὁ Κύριος, εἰκότως ὁ προφήτης ταῦτα προ θεωρῶν εἴρηκεν· "Ἐκ χειμάῤῥου ἐν ὁδῷ πίεται." Ὁδὸν δὲ τὸν βίον καλεῖ. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ τὰ ἐπαγόμενα, "∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὑψώσει κεφαλήν." Τούτῳ δὲ ὅμοιον καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος εἴρηκε Παῦλος· "Ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ· διὸ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσε." ∆ῆλον δὲ ὡς ἀνθρωπίνως καὶ τοῦτο τέθεικεν. Ὡς γὰρ Θεὸς, οὐ