Chapter 9

§ 1.

This therefore being plainly shewn, (and it will be shewn yet more plainly,) That neither the Prophets, nor the Apostles,¹ nor the Lord Christ in His own person, confessed any other Lord or God, but Him Who in the primary sense is God and Lord; the Prophets first and Apostles confessing the Father and the Son, but naming no other as God, nor confessing Him as Lord; and the Lord Himself afterwards delivering to the Disciples the Father only as God and Lord, Him Who alone is God and Sovereign of all:—we, if at least we are His Disciples, must follow their statements, the tenor of which is as follows.

That Matthew the Apostle, knowing that He is one and the same God,² Who made the promise to Abraham, that He would make his seed as the stars of Heaven, and Who called us by His Son Christ Jesus from the worship of stones to the knowledge of Himself—that what was no people might become a people,³ and she who was not beloved, beloved:—he saith that John, preparing the way for Christ, said to certain, who while they gloried in their kindred after the flesh, had their minds discoloured and filled with all kinds of mischief, and to whom he was preaching such repentance as should recall them from mischief:⁴—O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. He was preaching to them, therefore, repentance in that sense, in which the word is related to moral guilt: but he was not announcing another God, besides Him Who had made the promise to Abraham: I mean, that Forerunner of Christ, concerning whom again Matthew saith, and in like manner also Luke;⁵ For this is he which was spoken of by the Lord through the Prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.⁶ Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough into smooth ways: and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. He is one therefore and the same God, the Father of our Lord, Who both promised by the Prophets to send His Forerunner, and made His salvation, i.e., His Word, to become visible unto all flesh, Itself also incarnate, that in all things He might shew Himself their King.⁷ For it was meet that the subjects of judgment should see their Judge, and know Him by Whom they are judged: and it was meet that the beings which obtain glory, should know Him Who bestows on them the gift of glory.

§ 2.

And again, speaking of an Angel, Matthew saith, The Angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in sleep.⁸ Of what Lord, he himself explains;⁹ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, Out of Egypt have I called My Son.¹⁰ Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a Son, and they shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Of Him, Who is Emmanuel, born of the Virgin, David said, Turn not away the face of Thy Christ.¹¹ The Lord sware unto David the Truth, and wilt not despise him, Of the fruit of thy body shall I set upon thy seat.¹² And again, God is known in Jewry, and His place is formed in peace, and His habitation in Sion. One therefore and the same God is He, Who was preached by the Prophets, and announced by the Gospel, and His Son Who is of the fruit of David’s body, i.e., of David by the Virgin, and Emmanuel: Of Whose Star also Balaam for his part did thus prophesy,¹³ A star shall dawn out of Jacob, and a chief shall arise out of Israel: and Matthew again saith, that the Wise men coming from the east said,¹⁴ We have seen His Star in the East, and are come to worship Him: and that being brought safe by a Star into the House of Jacob to Emmanuel,¹⁵ did by the gifts which they offered shew, Who He was, Who received their adoration: by the Myrrh first, because it was He, who should die and be buried for the perishable race of man: Gold again, because He is a King, of Whose Kingdom there is no end:¹⁶ and Frankincense because He is God, Who was both made known in Judea,¹⁷ and displayed unto those who sought Him not¹⁸.

§ 3.

Again, in the Baptism, Matthew saith, The Heavens were opened unto Him,¹⁹ and He saw the Spirit of God like a Dove coming upon Him. And lo! a voice from Heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. For it was not Christ who then came down on Jesus; nor is Christ one, and Jesus another: but the Word of God, Who is the Saviour of all, and the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Who is Jesus (as we have before shewn), Who also took flesh,²⁰ and was anointed by the Father with the Spirit, He became Jesus Christ; as also Esaias saith: There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up out of his root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness; and the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord shall fill Him. He shall not judge according to reputation, nor according to talk shall He rebuke, but to the lowly He will judge judgment, and He will rebuke the renowned ones of the earth.

And again the same Esaias, foreshewing His anointing and the purpose of it, saith:²¹ The Spirit of God is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me; He hath sent Me to preach the Gospel to the meek, to heal the broken-hearted, to announce remission to the captives, and sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of recompence, to comfort all that mourn. For in that the Word of God was Man, of the root of Jesse, and a Son of Abraham, in that respect the Spirit of God rested upon Him, and He was anointed to preach the Gospel to the lowly. And in that He was God, He judged not according to reputation, nor according to talk did He reprove.²² For He had no need that one should witness²³ concerning a man, knowing as He did of Himself what was in man. And He called to Him all men that mourn, and giving remission to those who by their sins were led into captivity, released them from those chains, of which Solomon saith,²⁴ Every one is bound by the cords of his own sins. The Spirit therefore of God descended upon Him, His Spirit, Who had promised by the Prophets that He would anoint Him, that we receiving of the abundance of His anointing, might be saved. And thus, for his part, speaks Matthew.