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of a part. Some of the members would be the eyes of Christ's body, others ears, others hands; accordingly, then, there will be others who are His feet, concerning whom it is said: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news! So then, of these feet, so that no one might strike his foot against a stone, nor be scandalized in the race, and that he may run the course of the Gospel smoothly and unhindered, angels are appointed as guardians, watching over the tabernacle that has been revealed. Again, other angels are entrusted with the churches of Christ established everywhere on earth. But the devil, not understanding these things; for how or from where could he understand the voices of the divine Spirit? in tempting the Savior, having led him up to the pinnacle of the temple, said to him: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, that He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. For having perceived by the works themselves that the prophecy in the preceding texts was fulfilled in the Savior, and seeing a strange sight in human nature, how his whole army was overthrown, and all his powers were conquered by the one who appeared, and thousands in throngs, and ten thousands falling before him, and him calmly and without stumbling treading upon the asp and the basilisk, and trampling upon the lion and the dragon, his ruling powers, he was trying to know this, whether, if he threw himself from the pinnacle, angels would come and bear him up. To this false suspicion of his the Savior answered: It is written, he said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. For to hurl oneself down from the heights, and to do this in order to know whether one will receive help through angels or not, was the act of one tempting God; which indeed the tempter wished to tempt. For it was fitting for him, while tempting the Savior, to dare also to tempt God. But the Savior did not tempt; for he knew well and was persuaded of the Father's power working with him. Therefore he also commanded the devil authoritatively, saying: You shall not tempt the Lord your God, opposing a text of divine Scripture from the law to the voice of the present Scripture, which the devil, not understanding, brought forward to him, not understanding that the Savior did not need the help of angels, even if hypothetically he had wished to let himself down by his own choice; since also during the ascension into heaven (which was greater than the descent through the air from the pinnacle of the temple to the earth), he did not need an angelic hand. But see how, when the devil quoted, They will lift you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone, he did not add the connected following 23.1164 part; that is, You will tread on the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the lion and the dragon, which clearly represents the Savior's victory over the devil himself and his angels. For he did not wish to present the proof against himself. If he ought not to have considered by his own understanding, that it was not for the same person to be able to tread on and trample such ruling powers, and not to strike his foot against a stone, as to need the protection and help of angels. But he, not understanding, uses the voice from the aforementioned prophecy, because he had seen the other things fulfilled in him; but the Savior does not deny that the oracle was spoken about him; but since the devil did not understand it, he dismisses him, using a fitting response to him. But as for us, by his grace, that of our Savior, how we have contemplated the things according to the passages, it is for those who read to discern from what has been said. You will tread on the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the lion and the dragon. Because he has hoped in me, and I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he has known my name. He will cry to me, and I will hear him,

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μέρους. Εἶεν ἂν τῶν μελῶν οἱ μὲν ὀφθαλμοὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σώματος, οἱ δὲ καὶ ὦτα, οἱ δὲ καὶ χεῖρες· κατὰ ταῦτα τοίνυν ἔσονται αὐτοῦ καὶ πόδες ἕτεροι, περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων ἀγαθά! Τούτων δὴ οὖν τῶν ποδῶν, ὅπως μή τις προσκόψῃ πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα, μηδὲ σκανδαλίζηται ἐν τῷ δρόμῳ, ὁμαλῶς τε καὶ ἀκωλύτως διατρέχῃ τὴν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου πορείαν, ἄγγελοι καθέστανται φρουροῦντες τοῦ δηλωθέντος σκηνώματος φύλακες. Πάλιν ἕτεροι ἄγγελοι οἱ τὰς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὰς ἁπανταχοῦ γῆς ἱδρυθείσας πεπιστευμένοι. Ταῦτα δὲ μὴ συνιεὶς ὁ διάβολος· πῶς γὰρ ἢ πόθεν αὐτῷ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος συνιέναι φωνάς; ἐν τῷ πειράζειν τὸν Σωτῆρα, εἰς τὸ πτερύγιον αὐτὸν τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀναγαγὼν, εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν· Εἰ Υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, βάλε σεαυτὸν κάτω. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ ἐντελεῖται περὶ σοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου. Συνιδὼν γὰρ ἔργοις αὐτοῖς εἰς τὸν Σωτῆρα πεπληρωμένην τὴν ἐν τοῖς προκειμένοις προφητείαν, ὁρῶν τε ξένον θέαμα ἐν ἀνθρώπου φύσει, ὡς πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν στρατείαν καθῃρῆσθαι, καὶ πάσας αὐτοῦ νενικῆσθαι τὰς δυνάμεις, ὑπὸ τοῦ φαινομένου, χιλιάδας τε ἀθρόας, καὶ μυριάδας ἀπέμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πιπτούσας, αὐτόν τε ἀτρεμεὶ καὶ ἀπαραποδίστως ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβαίνοντα, λέοντά τε καὶ δράκοντα, τὰς ἀρχοντικὰς αὐτοῦ δυνάμεις, καταπατοῦντα, καὶ τοῦτ' ἐπείραζε γνῶναι, εἰ, ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ πτερυγίου ῥίψαντος, ἄγγελοι προσελθόντες αὐτὸν βαστάσουσι. Πρὸς ταύτην αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπόνοιαν διεψευσμένην οὖσαν ὁ Σωτὴρ ἀπεκρίνατο· Γέγραπται, λέγων, Οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου. Τὸ γὰρ ἑαυτὸν κρημνίζειν καὶ καταβάλλειν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑψηλοτάτων, καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἵνα γνῷ. πότερόν ποτε βοηθείας τεύξεται τῆς διὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἢ μὴ, πειράζοντος ἦν τὸν Θεόν· ὃ δὴ πειράζειν ἐβούλετο ὁ πειράζων. Οἰκεῖον γὰρ αὐτῷ ἦν πειράζοντι τὸν Σωτῆρα, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν πειράζειν τολμᾷν. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ Σωτήρ γε ἐπείραζεν· εὖ γὰρ ᾔδει καὶ πέπειστο περὶ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς δυνάμεως τῆς συνεργούσης αὐτῷ. ∆ιὸ καὶ τῷ διαβόλῳ προστακτικῶς παρεκελεύετο λέγων· Οὐκ ἐκπειράσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, θείας Γραφῆς λέξιν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἀντιπαρατιθεὶς τῇ φωνῇ τῆς παρούσης Γραφῆς, ἣν μὴ νοήσας ὁ διάβολος προήγαγεν αὐτῷ, μὴ συνιεὶς, ὅτι οὐκ ἐδεῖτο βοηθείας ἀγγέλων ὁ Σωτὴρ, εἰ καὶ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν οἰκείᾳ προαιρέσει καθεῖναι ἑαυτὸν ἐβουλήθη· ἐπεὶ καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψιν (ὅπερ ἦν μεῖζον τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ πτερυγίου τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν δι' ἀέρος καθόδου), οὐκ ἀγγελικῆς ἐδεήθη χειρός. Ὅρα δὲ, πῶς, μνημονεύσας ὁ διάβολος τοῦ, Ἐπὶ χειρῶν ἀροῦσί σε, μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου, τὸ ἑξῆς συνημμέ 23.1164 νον οὐ προσέθηκε· τοῦτο δὴ τὸ, Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα, σαφῶς τὴν κατ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ διαβόλου καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ νίκην τοῦ Σωτῆρος παριστῶντα. Οὐ γὰρ ἐβούλετο τὸν καθ' ἑαυτοῦ ἔλεγχον παρατίθεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ μὴ τὴν ἑαυτῷ συνέσεως χρῆν ἐπιλογίσασθαι, ὡς οὐκ ἦν τοῦ αὐτοῦ τὸ δύνασθαι ἐπιβαίνειν καὶ καταπατεῖν τὰς τοιαύτας ἀρχοντικὰς δυνάμεις, καὶ μὴ προσκόπτειν πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα, ὡς δεῖσθαι φυλακῆς ἀγγέλων καὶ βοηθείας. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὐ συνιεὶς κέχρηται τῇ ἀπὸ προκειμένης προφητείας φωνῇ, διὰ τὸ τὰ λοιπὰ συνεωρακέναι πεπληρωμένα εἰς αὐτόν· ὁ δὲ Σωτὴρ οὐκ ἀπαρνεῖται μὲν τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρῆσθαι τὸ λόγιον· μὴ συνιέντα δὲ αὐτὸ τὸν διάβολον, ἀφίησι καταλλήλῳ χρησάμενος τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀποκρίσει. Ἡμεῖς δὲ, τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ὅπως τὰ κατὰ τοὺς τόπους τεθεωρήκαμεν, πρόκειται τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων διαγινώσκειν. Ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ, καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα. Ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἤλπισε, καὶ ῥύσομαι αὐτόν· σκεπάσω αὐτὸν, ὅτι ἔγνω τὸ ὄνομά μου. Κεκράξεται πρὸς μὲ, καὶ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ,