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having found nothing, sent him to Pilate. Pilate says, What accusation do you bring against him? And not even here do they have anything to say, but they have used certain conjectures concerning the city. From here he himself, being at a loss, says: Take him, you, and according to your law judge him. Then they said: It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. And this they said, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what death he was about to die. And how did this show it, It is not lawful to put anyone to death? Or the evangelist says this, that he was to be slain not for them only, but also for the Gentiles; or that it was not lawful for them to crucify. But if they say, It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death, they say it according to that time. For that they did kill and killed in another way, Stephen being stoned shows; but they desired to crucify him, that they might also make a public spectacle of the manner of his death. But Pilate, wishing to be rid of the burden, does not permit a long trial; but going in he asks Jesus, and says: Are you the king of the Jews? And he said: Do you say this of yourself, or did others tell you this? For what reason does Christ ask this? Wishing to reveal the evil mind of the Jews. Pilate had indeed heard this from many; but since they had nothing to say to prevent a lengthy examination, he wishes to bring into the open that which was always being bandied about. But since he said to them, Judge him according to your law, wishing to show that the sin is not a Jewish one, they say, It is not lawful for us. For he has not sinned according to our law, but the crime is a common one. Pilate therefore, seeing this, as he was about to be in danger, says: Are you the king of the Jews? Christ therefore does not ask in ignorance, but wishing the Jews to be accused even by him, he says, Did others tell you? Which Pilate then indicating said: Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done? here wishing to absolve himself. Then since he said, Are you the king? Jesus, refuting him, says: For you heard this from the Jews. For what reason do you not make the examination 59.453 accurate? They said that I am an evildoer; ask what evil I have done. But you do not do this, but simply put together accusations. Do you say this of yourself, or from another? Then he, that he heard it, cannot say immediately, but simply follows the crowd, saying, They handed you over to me. Therefore you ought to ask what you have done. What then does Christ say? My kingdom is not of this world. He leads Pilate up, who was not very wicked, nor like them, and wishes to show that he is not a mere man, but God, and the Son of God. And what does he say? If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought, that I might not be handed over to the Jews. What Pilate had feared until then, he dispelled, the suspicion of tyranny. Then is his kingdom not of this world? Most certainly it is. How then does he say, It is not? Not that he does not rule here also, but that he has his rule from above, and it is not human, but much greater than this one and more glorious. If then it is greater, how was he captured by this one? Willingly and by giving himself up. But he does not yet reveal this, but what does he say? If I were of this world, my servants would have fought, that I might not be handed over. He shows here the weakness of the kingdom among us, that it has its strength in its servants; but the one above is self-sufficient, needing nothing. From this the heretics taking their starting-points, say that he is alien to the Creator. What then, when he says, He came to his own? and what, when he says, They are not of the world, just as I am not of this world? Thus also he says his kingdom is not from here, not depriving the world of his providence and superintendence, but showing, as I said, that it is not human nor perishable. What then says Pilate? So you are a king? Jesus answered: You say that I am a king. For this I was born. If therefore a king has been born, and all the other things

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μηδὲν εὑρὼν, ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν τῷ Πιλάτῳ. Ὁ Πιλᾶτος λέγει, Τίνα κατηγορίαν φέρετε κατ' αὐτοῦ; Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔχουσί τι εἰπεῖν, ἀλλὰ στοχασμοῖς τισι κέχρηνται πόλιν. Ἐντεῦθεν αὐτὸς ἀπορήσας φησί· Λάβετε αὐτὸν, ὑμεῖς, καὶ κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὑμῶν κρίνατε αὐτόν. Εἶπον οὖν ἐκεῖνοι· Ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἀποκτεῖναι οὐδένα. Τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγον, Ἵνα πληρωθῇ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου, ὃν εἶπε, σημαίνων ποίῳ θανάτῳ ἤμελλεν ἀποθνήσκειν. Καὶ πῶς τοῦτο ἐδήλου, Οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἀποκτεῖναι οὐδένα; Ἢ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς, ὅτι οὐχ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἔμελλεν ἀναιρεῖσθαι· ἢ ὅτι σταυρῶσαι αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἐξῆν. Εἰ δὲ λέγουσιν, Οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν ἀποκτεῖναι οὐδένα, κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνόν φασιν. Ἐπεὶ ὅτι γε ἀνῄρουν καὶ ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ ἀνῄρουν, δείκνυσιν ὁ Στέφανος λιθαζόμενος· ἀλλὰ σταυρῶσαι αὐτὸν ἐπεθύμουν, ἵνα καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς τελευτῆς ἐκπομπεύσωσιν. Ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἀπαλλαγῆναι ἐπαχθείας βουλόμενος, εἰς κρίσιν μὲν οὐκ ἀφίησι μακράν· εἰσελθὼν δὲ ἐρωτᾷ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καί φησι· Σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἀπὸ σαυτοῦ τοῦτολέγεις, ἢ ἄλλοι σοι τοῦτο εἶπον; Τίνος ἕνεκεν τοῦτο ἐρωτᾷ ὁ Χριστός; Τὴν πονηρὰν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐκκαλύψαι γνώμην θέλων. Ἠκηκόει μὲν οὖν παρὰ πολλῶν τοῦτο ὁ Πιλᾶτος· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐδὲν ἔσχον εἰπεῖν ἐκεῖνοι ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ πολλὴν γίνεσθαι τὴν ἐξέτασιν, ὅπερ ἀεὶ περιεφέρετο, τοῦτο εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν βούλεται. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι Κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὑμῶν κρίνετε αὐτὸν, δεῖξαι βουλόμενοι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν Ἰουδαϊκὸν τὸ ἁμάρτημα, λέγουσιν, ὅτι Οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ κατὰ τὸν νόμον τὸν ἡμέτερον ἥμαρτεν, ἀλλὰ κοινόν ἐστι τὸ ἔγκλημα. Τοῦτο οὖν συνιδὼν ὁ Πιλᾶτος, ὡς μέλλων κινδυνεύειν, λέγει· Σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων; Οὐ τοίνυν ἀγνοῶν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐρωτᾷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κατηγορηθῆναι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους βουλόμενος, φησὶν, Ἄλλοι σοι εἶπον; Ὅπερ οὖν ἐμφαίνων ὁ Πιλᾶτος ἔλεγε· Μή τι ἐγὼ Ἰουδαῖός εἰμι; Τὸ ἔθνος σου καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς παρέδωκάν σε ἐμοί· τί ἐποίησας; ἐνταῦθα βουλόμενος ἑαυτὸν ἀπαλλάξαι. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ εἶπε, Σὺ εἶ ὁ βασιλεύς; ἐλέγχων αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς φησι· Τοῦτο γὰρ ἤκουσας παρὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων. Τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ ἀκριβῆ ποιῇ τὴν ἐξέτα 59.453 σιν; Εἶπον, ὅτι κακοποιός εἰμι· ἐρώτησον, τί κακὸν ἐποίησα. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὐ ποιεῖς, ἁπλῶς δὲ αἰτίας συντιθεῖς. Ἀπὸ σαυτοῦ τοῦτο λέγεις, ἢ ἑτέρωθεν; Εἶτα ἐκεῖνος, ὅτι μὲν ἤκουσε, παραχρῆμα οὐκ ἔχει λέγειν, ἁπλῶς δὲ ἕπεται τῷ δήμῳ, Παρέδωκάν σε ἐμοὶ, λέγων. ∆εῖ οὖν σε ἐρωτῆσαι τί ἐποίησας. Τί οὖν ὁ Χριστός; Ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. Ἀνάγει τὸν Πιλᾶτον οὐ σφόδρα ὄντα πονηρὸν, οὐδὲ κατ' ἐκείνους, καὶ βούλεται δεῖξαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος ψιλὸς, ἀλλὰ Θεὸς, καὶ Θεοῦ Υἱός. Καὶ τί φησιν; Εἰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἦν ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ, οἱ ὑπηρέται οἱ ἐμοὶ ἠγωνίσαντο ἂν, ἵνα μὴ παραδοθῶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις. Ὅπερ ἐδεδοίκει τέως ὁ Πιλᾶτος, διέλυσε, τὴν τῆς τυραννίδος ὑποψίαν. Εἶτα οὐκ ἔστι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ; Πάνυ μὲν οὖν. Πῶς οὖν φησιν, Οὐκ ἔστιν; Οὐχ ὅτι οὐ κρατεῖ καὶ ἐνταῦθα, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἄνωθεν ἔχει τὴν ἀρχὴν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνθρωπίνη, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μείζων ταύτης καὶ λαμπροτέρα. Εἰ οὖν μείζων, πῶς ὑπὸ ταύτης ἑάλω; Ἑκὼν καὶ ἑαυτὸν παραδούς. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀποκαλύπτει τέως τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ τί φησιν; Εἰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἤμην, οἱ ὑπηρέται οἱ ἐμοὶ ἠγωνίσαντο ἂν, ἵνα μὴ παραδοθῶ. ∆είκνυσιν ἐνταῦθα τῆς βασιλείας τῆς παρ' ἡμῖν τὸ ἀσθενὲς, ὅτι ἐν τοῖς ὑπηρέταις ἔχει τὴν ἰσχύν· ἡ δὲ ἄνω αὐτάρκης ἐστὶν ἑαυτῇ, μηδενὸς δεομένη. Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ αἱρετικοὶ λαβόντες ἀφορμὰς, ἀλλότριον αὐτὸν εἶναί φασι τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ. Τί οὖν, ὅταν λέγῃ, Εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἦλθε; τί δὲ, ὅταν λέγῃ, Οὐκ εἰσὶν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, καθὼς ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου; Οὕτω καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν οὔ φησιν ἐντεῦθεν εἶναι, οὐ τὸν κόσμον ἀποστερῶν αὐτοῦ τῆς προνοίας καὶ τῆς ἐπιστασίας, ἀλλὰ δεικνὺς, ὅπερ ἔφην, οὐκ οὖσαν ἀνθρωπίνην οὐδὲ ἐπίκηρον. Τί οὖν ὁ Πιλᾶτος; Οὐκοῦν βασιλεὺς εἶ σύ; Ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Σὺ λέγεις ὅτι καὶ βασιλεύς εἰμι. Ἐγὼ εἰς τοῦτο γεγέννημαι. Εἰ τοίνυν βασιλεὺς γεγέννηται, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα