What Was Handed Over to the Son, and Why

For man sinned and fell, and by his fall all things were thrown into confusion. Death prevailed from Adam to Moses, the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise was shut, heaven was offended, and man, last of all, was corrupted and became like the beasts, while the devil exulted over us. Then God, in his loving-kindness, not willing that man, made in his own image, should perish, said, “Whom shall I send, and who will go?” And while all held their peace, the Son said, “Here am I; send me.” And it was then, saying, “Go,” that he handed man over to him, so that the Word himself might become flesh and, by taking the flesh, restore it completely. For man was handed over to him as to a physician, to heal the serpent’s bite; as to life, to raise what was dead; as to light, to light up the darkness; and, because he was the Word, to renew the rational nature. [a]

Since, then, all things were handed over to him, and he has become man, at once all things were set right and made complete. The earth receives a blessing instead of a curse. Paradise was opened to the thief, Hades cowered, the tombs were opened and the dead raised, and the gates of heaven were lifted up to await him who “comes from Edom.” Indeed, the Savior himself states plainly in what sense all things were handed over to him, when he goes on, as Matthew tells us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Yes, you were handed over to me, to give rest to those who had labored, and life to the dead. And what is written in John’s Gospel agrees with this: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” Given, so that just as all things were made through him, so in him all things might be renewed.

For they were not handed over to him so that, being poor, he might become rich; nor did he receive all things so as to gain a power he lacked before. Far from it! He received them so that, as Savior, he might rather set all things right. For it was fitting that, while all things came into being “through him” at the beginning, all things should be set right “in him.” Notice the change of words. At the beginning they came into being through him; but afterward, when all had fallen, the Word became flesh and put it on, so that in him all might be set right. By suffering himself, he gave us rest; by hungering himself, he fed us; and by going down into Hades, he brought us back from there. For example, at the creation of all things, their making consisted of a word of command, such as “Let the earth bring forth” or “Let there be.” But at the restoration it was fitting that all things should be handed over to him, so that he might become man and all things be renewed in him. For man, being in him, was made alive. This was why the Word was united to man: so that the curse might no longer prevail against man.

This is why the request made on behalf of mankind is recorded in the seventy-first Psalm: “Give the King your judgment, O God.” It asks that the sentence of death hanging over us may be handed over to the Son, and that he may then, by dying for us, abolish it for us in himself. He himself showed this when he said in the eighty-seventh Psalm, “Your indignation lies heavy on me.” For he bore the indignation that lay upon us, as he also says in the hundred and thirty-seventh: “Lord, you will take vengeance for me.”