Chapter LXXVI.—From other passages...

Chapter LXXVI.—From other passages the same majesty and government of Christ are proved.

“For when Daniel speaks of ‘one like unto the Son of man’ who received the everlasting kingdom, does he not hint at this very thing? For he declares that, in saying ‘like unto the Son of man,’ He appeared, and was man, but not of human seed. And the same thing he proclaimed in mystery when he speaks of this stone which was cut out without hands. For the expression ‘it was cut out without hands’ signified that it is not a work of man, but [a work] of the will of the Father and God of all things, who brought Him forth. And when Isaiah says, ‘Who shall declare His generation?’ he meant that His descent could not be declared. Now no one who is a man of men has a descent that cannot be declared. And when Moses says that He will wash His garments in the blood of the grape, does not this signify what I have now often told you is an obscure prediction, namely, that He had blood, but not from men; just as not man, but God, has begotten the blood of the vine? And when Isaiah calls Him the Angel of mighty counsel, ²²³⁴ did he not foretell Him to be the Teacher of those truths which He did teach when He came [to earth]? For He alone taught openly those mighty counsels which the Father designed both for all those who have been and shall be well-pleasing to Him, and also for those who have rebelled against His will, whether men or angels, when He said: ‘They shall come from the east [and from the west ²²³⁵ ], and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.’ ²²³⁶ And, ‘Many shall say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not eaten, and drunk, and prophesied, and cast out demons in Thy name? And I will say to them, Depart from Me.’ ²²³⁷ Again, in other words, by which He shall condemn those who are unworthy of salvation, He said, ‘Depart into outer darkness, which the Father has prepared for Satan and his, angels.’ ²²³⁸ And again, in other words, He said, ‘I give unto you power to tread on serpents, and on scorpions, and on scolopendras, and on all the might of the enemy.’ ²²³⁹ And now we, who believe on our Lord Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, when we exorcise all demons and evil spirits, have them subjected to us. For if the prophets declared obscurely that Christ would suffer, and thereafter be Lord of all, yet that [declaration] could not be understood by any man until He Himself persuaded the apostles that such statements were expressly related in the Scriptures. For He exclaimed before His crucifixion: ‘The Son of man must suffer many p. 237 things, and be rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ ²²⁴⁰ And David predicted that He would be born from the womb before sun and moon, ²²⁴¹ according to the Father’s will, and made Him known, being Christ, as God strong and to be worshipped.”

Footnotes

236:2234

[Isa. ix. 6, according to LXX.]

236:2235

Not in all edd.

236:2236

Matt. viii. 11.

236:2237

Matt. vii. 22.

236:2238

Matt. xxv. 41.

236:2239

Luke x. 19. [“And on scolopendras” (i.e. centipedes) not in the original.]

237:2240

Luke ix. 22.

237:2241

Justin puts “sun and moon” instead of “Lucifer.” [Ps. cx. 3, Sept, compounded with Prov. viii. 27.] Maranus says, David did predict, not that Christ would be born of Mary before sun and moon, but that it would happen before sun and moon that He would be born of a virgin.