On Our Lord, Part 1

Grace has come near to mouths that once blasphemed, and has made them harps that sound out praise. So let every mouth give praise to the one who took blasphemous speech away from them. Glory to you, who left one dwelling to take up your home in another! He did this so that he might come and make us a dwelling place for the one who sent him. The only Son left his dwelling with the Godhead and took up his home in the Virgin, so that by a birth like everyone else’s he, though the only Son, might become the brother of many. And he left Sheol and took up his home in the kingdom, so that he might open a path from Sheol, which oppresses everyone, to the kingdom, which repays everyone. For our Lord gave his resurrection to mortals as a pledge that he would take them out of Sheol, which receives the dead without distinction, into the kingdom, which admits the invited with distinction. So from the one, which makes all the bodies in it equal, we may come to the other, which tells apart the works of all who are in it. This is he who went down to Sheol and came up again, so that from the place that corrupts those who stay in it he might bring us to the place that feeds its dwellers with its blessings. These are the dwellers who, with the possessions, the fruits and the flowers of this world that passes away, have crowned and adorned for themselves there dwellings that do not pass away. That Firstborn, who was begotten according to his nature, was born in another birth that was outside his nature, so that we might know that after our natural birth we must have another birth that is outside our nature. For as he, being spiritual, could not be bodily until he came to his bodily birth, so too those who are bodily cannot be spiritual unless they are born in another birth. But the Son, whose begetting cannot be searched out, was born in another birth that can be searched out. By the one we learn that his majesty has no limit, and by the other we are taught that his grace has no measure. For his majesty is great beyond measure, since his first begetting cannot be pictured in any of our thoughts. And his grace is abundant beyond limit, since his second birth is proclaimed by every mouth. [a]

This is he who was begotten from the Godhead according to his nature, and from manhood not according to his nature, and from baptism not according to his custom, so that we might be begotten from manhood according to our nature, and from the Godhead not according to our nature, and by the Spirit not according to our custom. He who came to a second birth, then, was begotten from the Godhead, so as to bring us to the birth that is spoken of: his begetting from the Father, not so that it should be searched out, but so that it should be believed; and his birth from the woman, not so that it should be despised, but so that it should be exalted. Now his death on the cross bears witness to his birth from the woman, for he who died was also born. And Gabriel’s announcement declares his begetting by the Father, namely, “The power of the Most High will overshadow you.” If it was the power of the Most High, then plainly it was not the seed of a mortal man. So his conception in the womb is bound up with his death on the cross, and his first begetting is bound up with the angel’s announcement. Then whoever denies his birth may be refuted by his crucifixion, and whoever supposes that his beginning was from Mary may be warned that his Godhead is before all things. And whoever has concluded that his beginning was bodily may be shown to be wrong by this, that his coming forth from the Father is told. The Father begot him, and through him created the creatures. Flesh bore him, and through him killed cravings. Baptism brought him forth, so that through him it might wash away stains. Sheol brought him forth, so that through him its treasures might be emptied out. He came to us from beside his Father by the way of those who are born, and by the way of those who die he went out to go to his Father. So by his coming through birth his arrival might be seen, and by his return through resurrection his departure might be confirmed. [b]

But our Lord was trampled on by Death, and in his turn trod out a road over Death. This is he who of his own will made himself subject to death and endured it, so that he might throw down death against death’s will. For our Lord carried his cross and went out as Death willed; but he cried out on the cross and brought the dead out from within Sheol against Death’s will. For in the very thing by which Death had killed him, that is, the body, he carried off the victory over Death, as in armor. But the Godhead hid itself in the manhood and fought against Death. Death killed and was killed. Death killed the natural life, and the life that is above nature killed Death. And because Death could not devour him without the body, nor Sheol swallow him without the flesh, he came to the Virgin, so that from her he might take what would carry him down to Sheol. It was just as they brought him, from beside the donkey, the colt on which he entered Jerusalem, and proclaimed, in a hidden way, her overthrow and the destruction of her children. So with the body that came from the Virgin he entered Sheol, plundered its storehouses, and emptied its treasures. He came, then, to Eve, the mother of all living. She is the vine whose hedge Death broke open by her own hands, and he made her taste his fruits. So Eve, the mother of all living, became the wellspring of death for all the living. But Mary sprouted, a new shoot from Eve, the ancient vine, and new life lived in her. Then, when Death came confidently, as he usually did, to feed on mortal fruits, the life that kills death would be stored up there against him; and when Death had swallowed the fruits without fear, he would vomit them up, and many with them. For the one who is the medicine of life flew down from heaven and was mingled with the body, the mortal fruit. And when Death came to feed as usual, Life in its turn swallowed up Death. This is the food that hungered to eat the one who ate it. So by one fruit that Death swallowed hungrily, he vomited up many lives that he had swallowed greedily. The hunger that hurried him against one emptied out the greed that had hurried him against many. So Death worked hard to swallow one, but hurried to set many free. For while one was dying on the cross, many who were buried within Sheol were coming out at his cry. This is the fruit that split open Death, who had swallowed it, and brought out from inside him the life it had been sent to seek. For Sheol hid away everything she had devoured; but through one whom she did not devour, everything she had devoured was given back from inside her. A man whose stomach is upset vomits up both what is sweet to him and what is not. So Death’s stomach was upset, and as he vomited up the medicine of life that had sickened him, he vomited up along with it the lives he had swallowed with pleasure. [c] This is the carpenter’s son, who skillfully made his cross a bridge over Sheol, which swallows everyone, and brought humankind across into the dwelling of life. And because it was through the tree that humankind had fallen into Sheol, it was on the tree that they crossed over into the dwelling of life. So through the tree on which bitterness was tasted, sweetness also was tasted, so that we might learn from him that nothing among the creatures can resist him. Glory to you, who laid your cross as a bridge over death, so that souls might cross on it from the dwelling of the dead to the dwelling of life!

The Gentiles praise you because your word became a mirror before them, so that in it they might see death secretly swallowing their lives. Their carved images were being adorned by their craftsmen, and with their ornaments they were disfiguring those who adorned them. But you drew them to your cross, and while the beauty of the body was disfigured on it, the beauty of the mind shone out from it. Then, as for the Gentiles who used to go after gods that were no gods, he who was God went after them, and with his words, as with a bridle, turned them from many gods to the One. This is that Mighty One whose preaching became a bridle in the jaws of the Gentiles and led them away from idols to the one who sent him. But the dead idols, with their closed mouths, used to feed on the lives of their worshipers. That is why you mingled your blood in their flesh, the blood by which death was weakened and brought low, so that the mouths of those that devoured them might be driven away from their lives. And because Israel killed you and was defiled with your blood, the idolatry that had been grafted onto him was driven out of him because of your blood. For through your blood he was weaned from that paganism, which he had never been weaned from before. [e] But Israel crucified our Lord on the claim that he was leading us astray from the One God, though they themselves were always wandering away from the One God after their many idols. So while they imagine they are crucifying the one who leads them astray from the One God, they are found to be led by him away from every idol to the One God. Because they would not learn from him willingly that he is God, they would learn it from him under compulsion, when the good that had come to them through him accused them of the evil their hands had done. So even though the tongue of the oppressors denied it, the help with which they were helped convicted them. For grace loaded them beyond what they could carry, so that, laden with your blessings, they would be ashamed to deny who you are. And you also had mercy on those whose lives had been made food for dead idols. For the one calf they made in the desert grazed on their lives as on grass in the desert. The idolatry they had stolen from Egypt and carried out in their hearts, once it came into the open, openly killed those in whom it had been living in secret. It was like fire hidden in wood, which, when it is kindled from inside, burns the wood. For Moses ground the calf to powder and made them drink it in the water of ordeal, so that by drinking the calf all who were living for its worship might die. For the sons of Levi ran at them, those who had run to help Moses and had strapped on their swords. The sons of Levi did not know whom they should kill, because those who had worshiped were mixed in with those who had not. But he, for whom it was easy to tell them apart, did tell the defiled apart from the undefiled, so that the innocent might give thanks that their innocence had not gone unseen by the Just One, and the guilty might be convicted that their offense had not escaped the eye of the Judge. The sons of Levi were the open avengers. So Moses set a mark on the offenders, to make it easy for the avengers to take vengeance. For the drink of the calf went into those in whom the love of the calf was living and showed a plain sign in them, so that the drawn sword might rush on them. So he made the congregation, which had committed fornication in the worship of the calf, drink the water of ordeal, so that the mark of adulteresses might appear in it. From here came the law about women, that they should drink the water of ordeal. By the mark that came on adulteresses, the congregation would be reminded of its fornication in the worship of the calf; it would guard itself in fear against another fornication, and remember the former one with repentance of soul. And when they were judging their women, if the women had played the prostitute against them, they would condemn themselves, who were playing the prostitute against their God. [f]

Glory to you, who by your cross took away the paganism over which both the circumcised and the uncircumcised had stumbled! Praise to you, the medicine of life, who have turned all the baptized to him who is the life of all and the Lord of all! The lost who are found bless you, for by finding the lost you have given joy to the angels, who are found and were never lost. The uncircumcised praise you, for in your peace the hostility that stood between is swallowed up. You received in your flesh the outward sign of circumcision, the sign by which the uncircumcised who were yours used to be counted as not yours. For you made the circumcision of the heart your sign, and by it the circumcised were shown to be not yours. For you came to your own, and your own did not receive you, and by this they were shown to be not yours. But those to whom you did not come cry out after you, through your mercy, that you would fill them with the crumbs that fall from the children’s table. [h] God was sent from the Godhead to come and prove that the carved images were no gods. And when he took from them the name of God, which had decked them out, the blemishes of their persons came to light. Their blemishes were these: they have eyes and do not see, and ears and do not hear. Your preaching persuaded their many worshipers to exchange their many gods for the One. For when you took the name of godhead away from the idols, worship too was withdrawn along with the name, the worship that is bound up with the name, for worship also attends on the name of God. Because worship was also given to the name by all the Gentiles, at the last the name that is worshiped will be gathered in wholly to its Lord. So at the last worship too will be gathered in completely to its Lord, so that it may be fulfilled that all things will be made subject to him. Then he in his turn will be made subject to the one who made all things subject to him. So that name, rising step by step, will be bound to its root. For when all creatures are bound by their love to the Son, through whom they were created, and the Son is bound by the love of the Father, by whom he was begotten, all creatures will at the last give thanks to the Son, through whom they received every blessing; and in him and with him they will give thanks also to his Father, from whose treasury he hands out all riches to us. [i]

Glory to you, who clothed yourself in the body of mortal Adam and made it a fountain of life for all mortals. You are the one who lives, for those who killed you were like farmers to your life: they sowed it like wheat in the depths of the earth, so that it might rise and raise many with it. Come, let us make our love the great censer of the community, and offer on it as incense our hymns and our prayers to the one who made his cross a censer for the Godhead and offered from it on behalf of us all. He who was above stooped down to those below, to hand out his treasures to them. So though the needy came near to his manhood, they received the gift from his Godhead. That is why he made the body he put on the treasurer of his riches, so that he, O Lord, might bring them out of your storehouse and hand them out to the needy, the sons of his own kin. Glory to him who received from us so that he might give to us, so that through what is ours we might receive more abundantly of what is his! Yes, through that Mediator humankind was able to receive life from its helper, just as in the beginning, through a mediator, it had received death from its slayer. You are the one who made the body a servant for yourself, so that through it you might give those who long for you all that they long for. And in you the hidden wishes of those who killed you and buried you were made visible, through this, that you clothed yourself in a body. For, taking their opportunity from that body of yours, your slayers killed you and were killed by you; and taking their opportunity from your body, your buriers buried you and were raised with you. That Power which cannot be handled came down and clothed itself in members that can be touched, so that the needy might come near to him and, in touching his manhood, might discern his Godhead. For that mute man whom the Lord healed perceived, with the fingers of the body, that he had come near his ears and touched his tongue. Indeed, with his fingers that can be touched, he touched the Godhead that cannot be touched, as it was loosing the string of his tongue and opening the clogged doors of his ears. For the Architect of the body and the Craftsman of the flesh came to him, and with his gentle voice pierced his thickened ears without pain. And his mouth, which had been shut so that it could not give birth to a word, gave birth to praise for the one who made its barrenness fruitful in the birth of words. So he who gave Adam the power to speak at once without being taught himself gave the mute the power to speak easily languages that are learned with difficulty. [j]

See, another question is made clear here. We ask in what languages our Lord gave the power of speech to the mute, who came to him from every language. And although this is easy to know, our soul drives us on to a knowledge greater than this. That knowledge is this: to know that the first man was made through the Son. For from this fact, that speech was given through him to the mute, the sons of Adam, we may learn that speech was given through him to Adam, their first father. And here too a defect of nature was supplied by our Lord. Plainly, then, he who was able to supply the defect of nature is the one through whom the supply of nature is established. But there is no greater defect than this, when a man is born without speech. For since it is in speech that we excel all the creatures, the lack of it is greater than every other defect. So he through whom this whole defect was supplied is plainly the one through whom all fullness is established. And because through him the members receive all their fullness secretly in the womb, through him their defect was supplied openly, so that we might learn that through him the whole frame was put together in the beginning. He spat on his fingers, then, and put them in the ears of that deaf man; and he made clay of his spittle and spread it on the eyes of the blind man; so that we might learn that as there was a defect in the eyeballs of the man who was blind from his mother’s womb, so there was a defect in the ears of this man. So by yeast from the body of him who makes complete, what was lacking in our formation is supplied. For it was not fitting that our Lord should cut anything off from his body to supply what other bodies lacked; but with what could be taken from him he supplied the lack of those who lacked, just as mortals eat him in what can be eaten. He supplied the lack, then, and gave life to mortality, so that we might know that from the body in which fullness lived, the lack of those who lacked was supplied, and from the body in which life lived, life was given to mortals. [k] Now the prophets performed all the other signs, but never once supplied a missing member of the body. The lack in the body was kept back to be supplied through our Lord, so that souls might perceive that it is through him that every lack must be supplied. It is right, then, that the wise should perceive that he who supplies what the creatures lack is master of the Creator’s shaping power. And while he was on earth, our Lord gave the deaf and mute the power to hear and to speak languages they had not learned, so that after he had ascended, people might understand that he gave his disciples the power to speak in every language.

Now when our Lord was dead, the crucifiers supposed that his signs had died with him. But his signs plainly went on living through his disciples, so that the murderers might know that the Lord of the signs was alive. Beforehand his murderers stirred up trouble, crying out that his disciples had stolen his corpse; but afterward his signs, done through his disciples, filled them with trouble. For his disciples, who were supposed to have stolen a dead body, were found raising the dead bodies of others to life. The ungodly were terrified and said, “His disciples have stolen his body,” so that they might be held in contempt when it was found out. But the disciples, who, as they said, stole the dead body from the living guards, were found attacking Death in the name of the one who was stolen, so that Death might not steal the life of the living. So before he was crucified he gave the deaf the power to hear, so that after he was crucified all ears would hear and believe in his resurrection. For beforehand he made our hearing firm by the word of the mute man whose mouth was opened, so that it would not doubt the preaching of the Word. Our Redeemer was equipped in every way, so that in every way he might rescue us from our captor. For our Lord did not merely clothe himself in a body, but also put on members and garments, so that through his members and his garments those afflicted with diseases might take courage to approach the treasury of healing: those who were encouraged by his mercy might approach his body, and those who were dismayed by the dread of him might approach his clothing. For one woman’s fear allowed her only to come near the hem of his clothes, but another woman’s love moved her to come right up to his flesh. By the woman who was healed through his clothes, those who were not healed by his words were put to shame; and by the woman who kissed his feet, the man who did not want to kiss his lips was rebuked. [l] Now our Lord gave great gifts through small means, to teach us what those lose who scorn great things. For if healing like this was secretly stolen from the hem of his garment, could he not certainly heal when his word openly granted healing? And if defiled lips were made holy by kissing his feet, how much more should pure lips be made holy by kissing his mouth? For by her kisses the sinful woman received the grace of his holy feet, which had come with toil to bring her the forgiveness of her sins. She was refreshing her Healer’s feet with oil freely, for he had freely brought her the treasure of healing for her sickness. It was not for the sake of his own stomach that he who satisfies the hungry became a guest; it was for the sake of the sinful woman’s repentance that he who counts sinners righteous made himself a guest.

It was not for the delicacies of the Pharisees that our Lord hungered; it was for the tears of the sinful woman that he was hungry. For when he had been satisfied and refreshed by the tears he hungered for, he turned and rebuked the man who had invited him to the food that passes away, to show that he had become a guest not for the sake of food for the body but for the sake of help for the soul. For it was not for pleasure that our Lord mixed with gluttons and drunkards, as the Pharisee supposed, but so that into their food, as mortals, he might mix his teaching for them as the medicine of life. For just as it was in the matter of eating that the Evil One gave his deadly counsel to Adam and the helper made for him, so in the matter of eating the good Lord gave his life-giving counsel to the sons of Adam. For he was the fisherman who came down to fish for the lives of the lost. He saw the tax collectors and the prostitutes rushing into wasteful living and drunkenness, and he hurried to spread his nets among their gathering places, so that he might catch them away from food that fattens bodies to fasting that fattens souls. [m] Now the Pharisee made great preparations for our Lord at his banquet, and the sinful woman did only small things for him there. Yet with his great delicacies he showed how small his love for our Lord was, while with her tears she showed how great her love for our Lord was. So the man who had invited him to the great banquet was rebuked for the smallness of his love, while she with her few tears atoned for the many follies of her offenses. Simon the Pharisee received our Lord as a prophet because of the signs, and not because of faith. For he was a son of Israel, who, when signs came near, himself came near to the Lord of the signs, and when the signs stopped, stood stripped of faith. This man too, when he saw our Lord with signs, thought of him as a prophet; but when our Lord stopped working signs, the doubting mind of the sons of his people entered him: “If this man were a prophet, he would have known that this woman is a sinner.” But our Lord, for whom everything everywhere is easy, did not stop his signs here either. For he saw that because he had stopped working signs for a little while, the Pharisee’s blind mind had turned away from him. For the man had said in error, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known.” In this very thought the Pharisee doubted whether our Lord was a prophet or not; but by this very thought he learned that he is the Lord of the prophets, so that from the very source through which error entered him, our Lord might bring him help. [n]

Then our Lord told him the parable of the two debtors and made him the judge, so that by his own tongue he might catch the man in whose heart the truth was not. One owed five hundred denarii. Here our Lord showed the Pharisee how many the sinful woman’s offenses were. So the man who imagined our Lord did not know she was a sinner heard from him in the end how great the debt of her sins was. The Pharisee, who imagined our Lord did not know who she was or what the sinful woman’s reputation was, was found himself not to know who our Lord was or what his reputation was. So he was rebuked in his error, though he did not even see his error, for in his error the knowledge that he was certainly wrong escaped him. But he received a reminder from the one who came to remind those who go astray. The Pharisee had seen great signs done by our Lord, as Israel had by Moses; but because there was no faith in him to which the wonders he saw might be joined, a small cause got in the way and made them void: “If this man were a prophet, he would have known that this woman is a sinner.” For he let slip the wonders he had seen, and blindness easily entered him. For he was one of the sons of Israel, whom terrifying signs went with as far as the sea, so that they might fear, and whom blessed miracles surrounded in the barren desert, so that they might be reconciled. But through lack of faith they rejected them for a slight cause, saying, “As for this Moses who brought us up, we do not know what has become of him.” They stopped heeding the mighty works that had surrounded them. They saw that Moses was not near them, and for this cause that had come up they drew near to the paganism of Egypt. For Moses was taken from before them for a little while, so that the calf that was before them might appear and they might worship it openly too, for they had been worshiping it secretly in their hearts. [o] But when their paganism came out from inside into the open, Moses too came out from hiding and appeared openly, to punish openly those whose paganism had run riot beneath the holy cloud that had overshadowed them. God took the Shepherd of the flock away from it for forty days, so that the flock might show that its trust was fixed on the calf. While God was feeding the flock with every delight, it chose for its shepherd the calf, which could not even eat. Moses, who kept them in awe, was taken from them, so that the idolatry that Moses’ restraint had kept down in their hearts might cry aloud in their mouths. For they cried, “Make us gods, to go before us.” [q]

But when Moses came down, he saw their paganism running riot on the wide plain with drums and cymbals. Quickly he put their madness to shame by means of the Levites and drawn swords. In the same way here, our Lord hid his knowledge for a little while when the sinful woman came to him, so that the Pharisee might give shape to his thought, as his fathers had shaped the ruinous calf. But when the Pharisee’s error came to a head within him, our Lord’s knowledge was shown against it and drove it away: “I came into your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet them with her tears. Therefore her sins, which are many, are forgiven her.” But when the Pharisee heard our Lord naming the woman’s sins, many sins, he was deeply ashamed, because he had been deeply wrong. For he had supposed that our Lord did not even know she was a sinner. Our Lord had first shown himself as though he did not know she was a sinner. For he let the man who had seen his signs show the doubt of his mind, so that it might become plain that his mind was bound in the ungodliness of his fathers. But the physician who brings out a hidden disease by his medicines is not the disease’s helper but its destroyer. For while the disease is hidden, it rules in the members; but when it is brought into the open by medicines, it is rooted out. So the Pharisee saw great things and doubted over small things. But when our Lord saw that the man’s littleness made little of great things in his mind, he quickly showed him not only that she was a sinner, but even how many her sins were, so that the man who had not believed in wonders might be put to shame by little things. [r] God gave Israel room to enlarge its paganism in the wide desert, and then cut them short with a sharpened sword, so that their idolatry would not spread among the Gentiles. So our Lord let the Pharisee imagine perverse things, so that he might in turn rebuke his pride as it deserved. For the Pharisee was thinking wrongly about the things the sinful woman was doing rightly. But our Lord in his turn rebuked him over the right things he had wrongly held back: “I came into your house; you gave me no water for my feet.” See the withholding of what was owed! “But she has wet them with her tears.” See the payment of what was owed! “You did not anoint me with oil.” See the token of neglect! “But she has anointed my feet with sweet ointment.” See the sign of zeal! “You did not kiss me.” See the testimony of hostility! “But she has not stopped kissing my feet.” See the sign of love! So by this list our Lord showed that the Pharisee owed him all these things and had held them back, but that the sinful woman had come in and paid all the things he had held back. And because she had paid the debts of the man who wrongly held them back, the Just One forgave her her own debt, that is, her sins. [s]

Now the Pharisee, while doubting whether our Lord was a prophet, unknowingly bound himself to the truth by saying, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known that this woman is a sinner.” So if it turns out that our Lord knew she was a sinner, then by your own word, Pharisee, he is a prophet. That is why our Lord hurried to show both that she was a sinner and that her sins were many, so that the testimony of the man’s own mouth might refute him as a liar. For he was a companion of those who said, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” From them our Lord received the testimony that he who can forgive sins is God. From then on, the contest was this: that our Lord should show them whether he could forgive sins or not. So he quickly healed the members that could be seen, to make it certain that he had forgiven the sins that could not be seen. For our Lord threw out before them a word that was expected to catch the one who said it, so that when they rushed in to catch him by it, as they wished, they might be caught by him, as he wished: “Do not be afraid, my son; your sins are forgiven you.” While they were hurrying to catch him on a charge of blasphemy, they unknowingly bound themselves to the truth: “For who can forgive sins but God alone?” So our Lord refuted them, as though saying, “If I show that I can forgive sins, then even though you do not believe in me that I am God, keep to your own word, which settled that whoever forgives sins is God.” So, to teach them that he forgives sins, our Lord forgave that man his hidden sin and had him carry his bed openly, so that by the carrying of the bed, which carries those who lie on it, they might believe in the killing of the sin that kills. It is a wonderful thing that while our Lord there called himself the Son of Man, his adversaries, without knowing it, made him God, as the one who forgives sins. So while they thought they had trapped him by their cunning, he entangled them in their cunning and made it a testimony to his truth. Their evil thoughts became bitter bonds for them; and so that they might not free themselves from their bonds, our Lord made them stronger by giving strength to the man to whom he said, “Get up, take up your bed, and go to your house.” For the testimony could not be undone again, as though he were not God, since he had forgiven sins. Nor could it be falsely claimed that he had not forgiven sins, for look, he had healed the man’s limbs. For our Lord bound up his hidden testimonies in the visible ones, so that their own testimony might choke the unbelievers. So our Lord made their thoughts make war on them, because they had made war on the Good One, who by his healing power made war on their diseases. What Simon the Pharisee imagined, and what the scribes, his companions, imagined, they imagined secretly in their hearts; but our Lord laid it out openly. Our Lord set their hidden imaginings before them, so that they might learn that his knowledge reveals and shows their secrets. Then, though they had not recognized him by his open signs, they might recognize him when he set out their secret imaginings; and if only by this, that he searched out their hearts, their hearts might perceive that he was God; and at least, when they saw that their imaginings could not be hidden from him, they might stop imagining evil against him. For they had imagined evil in their hearts, but he exposed it openly with this word: “Why are you imagining evil in your hearts?” So by this, that our Lord perceived their hidden thought, they should recognize his hidden Godhead. For that Godhead, by the very thing for which they in their error were reviling it, was made known to them through that reviling. For they reviled our Lord in the body, supposed that he was not God, and threw him down low from on high. But by the body he was made known to them as God, by that body which was found passing to and fro among them. By casting him down to the depths, they tried to show that God, who is above, cannot be born below in a body. But by his passing up to the height he taught them that it is not the nature of a body sent down below to pass up to the height rather than down to the depths; so that by the body that passed from below upward through the air, they might learn of God that by his grace he came down below from on high. [t]