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of death, that is, the devil. Rightly, therefore, the pre-existing Word of God, being life itself, for the destruction of death took up a mortal instrument, the human body, and delivered this to death as a demonstration of his own nature, and then snatched it from death as a display of his divine power, he both breaks the power of death, and he also breaks the tyranny of the devil against humans; but he also extinguishes the activity of the evil demons and unclean spirits that formerly held sway over the human race, and having cast down every opposing power hostile to God, he procures the Father's kingdom in God for all the nations through the evangelical proclamation. Wherefore, with the dominion of death having been dissolved, and with him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, having been rendered powerless, and with the Lord now reigning henceforth over all the nations upon the earth, and with the life according to God reigning with him among men, the divine Spirit, rightly dancing at the achievement and 23.1185 gathering us all to the dance, cries out and says: The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself with beauty. And the Lord reigns, he being life itself, and he being the Word of God, over every soul which unreason and folly do not touch, and over which sin does not reign, and which the devil does not control, and which death does not overcome, wounding it and destroying it through its own stings. And the Apostle teaches that the sting of death is sin, through which the soul is destroyed according to the prophecy that says: The soul that sins, it shall die. Therefore, we must strive that neither unreason, nor sin, nor the devil, nor death through sin has dominion over us; but that only the Word and life, that is, the Lord, should rule over us, reigning through all virtue over those deemed worthy of his kingdom. And since the Word of God, being himself the Lord, was about to reign not only over the living, but also over the dead, and not only over those in heaven but also those on earth, as he himself teaches, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth; he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, that is, the mortal body and the human instrument; for this was the form of the servant; At that time, when he was doing these things, he was clothed in unseemliness, so that it was said of him, We saw him, and he had no form, nor beauty; but his form was without honor and lacking among the sons of men; but when, having received the glory which he previously had with the Father, he transformed the form of the servant into something better, according to the apostolic testimony, which says, Who will transform the body of our humiliation, to be conformed to the body of the glory of Christ, at that very time he clothed himself with beauty; when he also secured the kingdom of the Father, and all things, not only of those in heaven, but also of the nations throughout the whole inhabited world, having cast down all polytheistic error. Therefore it is said: The Lord has reigned, he has clothed himself with beauty; indeed, "he has clothed himself" is said as of one who at a certain time had divested himself of beauty; and when he endured the things of the passion, he was crucified, says the Apostle, out of weakness; but when, having conquered death, he received the kingdom over all things, again he fulfilled the words, The Lord has clothed himself with power and has girded himself. For Christ was the power of God and the wisdom of God. Then, having clothed himself with his own power, and having girded himself with it, he gives himself to a great achievement. And what this was, the text teaches next, saying: For he has established the inhabited world, which shall not be shaken. For when it had been almost entirely carried down into the abyss, at the time when the workings of demons were strong against all, he raised it up and set it right, having overthrown every hostile and demonic power, and the polytheistic error. Thus indeed he established the inhabited world, so that it would no longer be sh 23.1188

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τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι τὸν διάβολον. Εἰκότως οὖν ὁ προὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, αὐτὸς ὢν ἡ ζωὴ, ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τοῦ θανάτου θνητὸν ὄργανον τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἀνθρώπειον ἀναλαβὼν, καὶ τοῦτο τῷ θανάτῳ παραδοὺς εἰς ἔνδειξιν τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως, κἄπειτα αὐτὸ τοῦ θανάτου ἐξελὼν εἰς παράστασιν τῆς ἐνθέου δυνάμεως, λύει μὲν τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος, λύει δὲ καὶ τοῦ διαβόλου τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τυραννίδα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πάλαι κατακρατούντων τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους δαιμόνων πονηρῶν καὶ πνευμάτων ἀκαθάρτων τὴν ἐνέργειαν σβέννυσι, πᾶσάν τε καθελὼν τὴν ἀντικειμένην καὶ ἐχθρὰν τῷ Θεῷ δύναμιν, τὴν πατρικὴν τῷ Θεῷ βασιλείαν διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ κηρύγματος πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι προξενεῖ. ∆ιὸ δὴ καταλυθείσης τῆς τοῦ θανάτου δυναστείας, καὶ καταργηθέντος τοῦ τὸ κράτος ἔχοντος τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι τοῦ διαβόλου, βασιλεύοντος δὲ ἤδη λοιπὸν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἁπάντων ἐθνῶν τοῦ Κυρίου, σὺν αὐτῷ βασιλευούσης ἀνθρώπων τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ζωῆς, εἰκότως τὸ θεῖον Πνεῦμα, χορεῦον ἐπὶ τῷ κατορθώματι καὶ 23.1185 πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν χορείαν συνάγον, ἀναφωνεῖ καὶ λέγει· Ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, εὐπρέπειαν ἐνεδύσατο. Βασιλεύει δὲ ὁ Κύριος, αὐτὸς ὢν ἡ ζωὴ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὢν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, πάσης ψυχῆς, ἧς μὴ καθάπτεται ἀλογία καὶ ἀφροσύνη, καὶ ἧς μὴ βασιλεύει ἁμαρτία, καὶ ἧς μὴ κρατεῖ ὁ διάβολος, καὶ ἧς μὴ καταδυναστεύει θάνατος, τιτρώσκων αὐτὴν καὶ ἀναιρῶν διὰ τῶν ἰδίων κέντρων. Τὸ δὲ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι διδάσκει ὁ Ἀπόστολος, δι' ἧς ἀναιρεῖται ψυχὴ κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν προφητείαν· Ψυχὴ ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὐτὴ ἀποθανεῖται. ∆ιὸ ἀσκητέον τὸ μήτε ἀλογίαν, μήτε ἁμαρτίαν, μήτε τὸν διάβολον, μήτε τὸν θάνατον ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας κρατεῖν· μόνον δὲ κυριεύειν ἡμῶν τὸν Λόγον καὶ τὴν ζωὴν, τουτέστι τὸν Κύριον, διὰ πάσης ἀρετῆς βασιλεύοντα τῶν κατηξιωμένων τῆς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ βασιλείας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ μέλλων βασιλεύειν, οὐ μόνον ζώντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ νεκρῶν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος αὐτὸς ὢν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ οὐ μόνον τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς, καθὼς αὐτὸς διδάσκει λέγων, Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, τουτέστι τὸ θνητὸν σῶμα καὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπειον ὄργανον· τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν ἡ μορφὴ τοῦ δούλου· τότε μὲν, ὅτε ταῦτ' ἔπραττεν, ἀπρέπειαν περιεβάλλετο, ὥστε περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγειν, Εἴδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος, οὐδὲ κάλλος· ἀλλ' ἦν τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὅτε δὲ ἀπολαβὼν τὴν δόξαν, ἣν καὶ πρότερον εἶχε παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ, τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μετεσχημάτισε, κατὰ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν μαρτυρίαν, ἥ φησιν, Ὃς μετασχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν, σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ τηνικαῦτα εὐπρέπειαν ἐνεδύσατο· ὅτε καὶ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς βασιλείαν, καὶ τὰ πάντων, οὐ μόνον τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐθνῶν ἐκράτυνε, πᾶσαν τὴν πολύθεον καθελὼν πλάνην. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, εὐπρέπειαν ἐνεδύσατο· τὸ γοῦν ἐνεδύσατο, ὡς κατά τινα καιρὸν ἀποδυσαμένου τὴν εὐπρέπειαν, λέλεκται· καὶ ὅτε μὲν ὑπέμενε τὰ κατὰ τὸ πάθος, ἐσταυρώθη, φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ἐξ ἀσθενείας· ὅτε δὲ νενικηκὼς τὸν θάνατον, τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἀπελάμβανε βασιλείαν, πάλιν ἐπλήρου τὸ, Ἐνεδύσατο Κύριος δύναμιν καὶ περιεζώσατο. Χριστὸς γὰρ Θεοῦ δύναμις ἦν καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία. Εἶθ' ἅτε τὴν οἰκείαν δύναμιν ἐνδυσάμενος, καὶ ταύτῃ περιζωσάμενος, μεγάλῳ κατορθώματι ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδίδωσι. Τί δὲ ἦν τοῦτο, ἑξῆς ὁ λόγος διδάσκει φάσκων· Καὶ γὰρ ἐστερέωσε τὴν οἰκουμένην, ἥτις οὐ σαλευθήσεται. Μικροῦ γὰρ δεῖν ὅλην αὐτὴν διόλου κατὰ βαράθρων ἐνεχθεῖσαν, ὁπηνίκα τὰ τῆς δαιμονικῆς ἐνεργείας κατὰ πάντων ἴσχυεν, ἀνήγειρε καὶ διωρθώσατο, πᾶσαν τὴν ἐχθρὰν καὶ δαιμονικὴν δύναμιν, τήν τε πολύθεον πλάνην ἀνατρέψας. Οὕτω γοῦν ἐστερέωσε τὴν οἰκουμένην, ὡς μηκέτ' αὐτὴν σα 23.1188