268

they hoped in you and were not put to shame.” 10.8.48 Since, therefore, all the saints received these things from you, and having cried out they were heard and “were not put to shame,” how much more and more readily will you listen to me, your beloved son, crying out? And if I say with wonder, “I will cry out and you will not hear?” my word is not brought forth “unto folly.” For I know how I offer the prayer, not being insolent nor boasting, but as one of humble mind. 10.8.49 For since “I am meek and lowly in heart,” I humbly and fittingly to my own meekness speak humble things about myself, and so I also call myself “a worm.” For what could be humbler than a worm? Whence I would not even call myself a man, having descended from my own greatness to such humility, so as to seem no different from a worm, because of having reached even unto death and the corruption of the body. For from where else could a worm be born than from the corruption of bodies, into which I myself also descended, and fittingly know myself to be a worm and not a man. 10.8.50 For this reason I have become “a reproach of men, and the despised of the people,” not having become either “a reproach of men” or “the despised,” if I had not reached the state of a worm at the time of the passion. For at that time, seeing me hanging upon the cross, they “scorned” and “spoke with their lips, they shook” their “head,” saying, “He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him; let him save him, because he delights in him.” 10.8.51 All these things, therefore, were clearly prophesied through the psalm concerning the things that were to happen long afterward, and they reached their fulfillment when, according to Matthew, two robbers were crucified with him, one “on the right” and one “on the left” of the savior, “those who passed by blasphemed him, shaking their heads, and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ 10.8.52 Likewise also the chief priests, mocking with the elders and scribes, said, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. If he trusts in God, let him deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, “I am the Son of God,”’ and according to Luke: “the people stood watching, and the rulers with them also scorned him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the Son of God, the chosen one’,” 10.8.53 and according to Mark: “And those who passed by blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross.’ Likewise also the chief priests, mocking one another with the scribes, said, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe in him.’” 10.8.54 For how would these things differ from what was proclaimed beforehand in the psalm, in the words, “But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me scorn me; they speak with their lips, they shake their heads: ‘He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him; let him save him, because he delights in him.’” 10.8.55 And do not wonder if these things were both said and fulfilled concerning the passion of our savior, since even to this day he is considered “a reproach of men” by all those who have not yet received faith in him. For what could be more shameful and worse than any reproach than to be crucified? But he is also “the despised of the people” of the circumcision, their entire nation being accustomed to mock and despise and spit upon him even now and to this day, whence also the apostle fittingly says: “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” 10.8.56 And the things said next in the psalm you would still even now find among

268

ἐπὶ σοί τε ἤλπισαν καὶ οὐ κατῃσχύνθησαν». 10.8.48 ἐπειδὴ οὖν πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι τούτων ἔτυχον παρὰ σοῦ, κεκράξαντές τε εἰσηκούσθησαν καὶ «οὐ κατῃσχύνθησαν», πόσῳ δὴ πλέον ἐμοῦ τοῦ σοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ παιδὸς βοῶντος μᾶλλον ἁπάντων καὶ ἑτοιμότερον εἰσακούσῃ; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀποθαυμαστικῶς φημι «κεκράξομαι καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούσῃ;» ἀλλ' «οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν» ὁ λόγος μοι προφέρεται. οἶδα γοῦν ὅπως τὴν εὐχὴν προφέρω, μὴ ἐναβρυνόμενος μηδὲ ἐγκαυχώμενος, ἀλλ' ὡς ταπεινοφρονῶν. 10.8.49 ἐπεὶ γὰρ «πρᾶός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ», ταπεινῶς καὶ τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ πραότητι οἰκείως περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ ταπεινὰ φθέγγομαι, οὕτω δὴ καὶ «σκώληκα» ἐμαυτὸν ὀνομάζω. τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο σκώληκος ταπεινότερον; ὅθεν οὐδ' ἄνθρωπον ἐμαυτὸν εἴποιμ' ἄν, εἰς τοσαύτην ταπείνωσιν ἐκ τοῦ οἰκείου μεγέθους κατελθών, ὥστε καὶ σκώληκος μηδὲν δοκεῖν διαφέρειν, διὰ τὸ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου καὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος φθάσαι φθορᾶς. πόθεν γὰρ ἄλλοθεν ἂν γεννηθείη σκώληξ ἢ ἀπὸ σωμάτων φθορᾶς, εἰς ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς κατελθὼν εἰκότως ἐμαυτὸν σκώληκα καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπον γινώσκω. 10.8.50 διὸ καὶ γέγονα «ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουδένημα λαοῦ», οὐκ ἂν γενόμενος οὔτε «ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων» οὔτε «ἐξουδένημα», εἰ μὴ μέχρι σκώληκος ἐφθάκειν παρὰ τὸν τοῦ πάθους καιρόν. τηνικαῦτα γοῦν θεωροῦντές με ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀνηρτημένον, «ἐξεμυκτήρισαν» καὶ «ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησάν» τε «κεφαλὴν» λέγοντες, «ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ κύριον, ῥυσάσθω αὐτόν· σωσάτω αὐτόν, ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν». 10.8.51 ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἅπαντα διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ σαφῶς περὶ τῶν μελλόντων γενήσεσθαι μακροῖς ποθ' ὕστε ρον χρόνοις ἐθεσπίζετο, τέλους δὲ ἐτύγχανεν, ὁπότε, κατὰ τὸν Ματθαῖον, σταυρωθέντων σὺν αὐτῷ δύο λῃστῶν, ἑνὸς «ἐκ δεξιῶν» καὶ ἑνὸς «ἐξ εὐωνύμων» τοῦ σωτῆρος «οἱ παραπορευόμενοι ἐβλασφήμουν αὐτόν, κινοῦντες τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ λέγοντες, οὐὰ ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναὸν καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις οἰκοδομῶν, σῶσον σεαυτόν· εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ, κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ. 10.8.52 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐμπαίζοντες μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ γραμματέων ἔλεγον, ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται σῶσαι. εἰ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ ἐστι, καταβάτω νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ καὶ πιστεύσομεν αὐτῷ. εἰ πέποιθεν ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν, ῥυσάσθω νῦν αὐτόν, εἰ θέλει αὐτόν· εἶπεν γὰρ ὅτι υἱὸς θεοῦ εἰμι,» κατὰ δὲ τὸν Λουκᾶν· «εἱστήκει ὁ λαὸς θεωρῶν, καὶ ἐξεμυκτήριζον αὐτὸν οἱ ἄρχοντες σὺν αὐτοῖς λέγοντες, ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, σωσάτω ἑαυτόν, εἰ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ ἐκλεκτός», 10.8.53 κατὰ δὲ τὸν Μάρκον· «καὶ οἱ παράγοντες ἐβλασφήμουν αὐτὸν κινοῦντες τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν καὶ λέγοντες· οὐὰ ὁ καταλύων τὸν ναὸν καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις οἰκοδομῶν αὐτόν, σῶσον σεαυτὸν καὶ κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ. ὁμοίως καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐμπαίζοντες εἰς ἀλλήλους μετὰ τῶν γραμματέων ἔλεγον· ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὐ δύναται σῶσαι. ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καταβάτω νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ πιστεύσωμεν αὐτῷ.» 10.8.54 ταῦτα γὰρ τί ἂν διαφέροι τῶν ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ προαναπεφωνημένων ἐν τῷ «ἐγὼ δέ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐξουδένημα λαοῦ. πάντες οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με, ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλήν· ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ κύριον, ῥυσάσθω αὐτόν· σωσάτω αὐτόν, ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν». 10.8.55 καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς, εἰ ταῦτα κατὰ τὸ πάθος τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἴρητό τε καὶ πεπλήρωτο, ὁπότε εἰσέτι δεῦρο παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τοῖς μηδέπω τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πίστιν ἀνειληφόσιν «ὄνειδος ἀνθρώπων» νενόμισται. τί γὰρ ἂν αἴσχιον καὶ παντὸς ὀνείδους χεῖρον τοῦ σταυρωθῆναι; ἀλλὰ καὶ «ἐξουδένημα λαοῦ» ἐστιν τοῦ ἐκ περιτομῆς, παντὸς αὐτῶν τοῦ ἔθνους εἰσέτι νῦν καὶ σήμερον χλευάζειν καὶ ἐξουθενεῖν καὶ καταπτύειν εἰωθότος αὐτοῦ, ὅθεν καὶ εἰκότως ὁ ἀπόστολος· «ἡμεῖς δὲ κηρύσσομεν Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, ἔθνεσι δὲ μωρίαν». 10.8.56 καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς δὲ εἰρημένα ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν εὕροις ἂν παρὰ