Parallel of Christ with Elijah and Elisha. 173 embossed with gold, in which we are assembled; and have embellished it with rarities of silver and gold and precious And if this come to the governor's ears, they say, we will persuade him. Yea, though ye persuade the soldiers, yet ye will not persuade the world; for why, as Peter's guards were condemned when he escaped out of ward, were not they also who watched Jesus Christ condemned? It was because the former, on whom sentence was pronounced by Herod, were ignorant and had nothing to say for themselves; while the latter, who had seen the truth, and concealed it for money, were protected by the Chief Priests. Nevertheless, though but a few of the Jews were persuaded at the time, the world became obedient. They who hid the truth, have been themselves hidden; but they who received it were made manifest by the power of the Saviour, who not only rose from the dead, but also raised the dead with Himself. And in the person of these the Prophet Osee says plainly, After two days will He revive us, and the Hos.6,2. third day will He raise us up, and we shall live in His sight, 15. But since the disobedient Jews will not be persuaded (8.) by the Divine Scriptures, but forgetting all that is written gainsay the Resurrection of Jesus, it were good to meet them thus: On what ground, while you say that Eliseus and Elias raised the dead, do you gainsay the Resurrection of our Saviour? Is it that we have no living witnesses now out of that generation to what we say? Well, do you also bring forward witness of those other deeds? But that is written;-so is this also written: why then do ye receive the one, and reject the other? They were Hebrews who wrote those things; so were all the Apostles Hebrews: why then do ye disbelieve the Jews? Matthew who wrote the Gospel wrote it in the Hebrew tongue'; and Paul the preacher was an Hebrew of the Hebrews; and the twelve Apostles were all of Hebrew race: then fifteen Bishops of Jerusalem, were appointed in succession from among the Hebrews. What then is your reason for allowing your own accounts, and rejecting ours ? since these also are written by Hebrews from among yourselves. d So say Papias, (apud Euseb. Hist. iii. 39.) Origen, (ibid. vi. 25.) Jerom, (præf. in Evang.) and Epiphanius. (Hær. 51. 5.) e i. e. till the destruction of Jerusalem by Hadrian A.D. 134. Parallel of Christ with Jonah. XIV. 52. 53. LECT. 16. But it is impossible, some one will say, that the dead should arise; and yet Eliseus twice raised the dead,-when he was alive, and also when dead. Now, we believe, that when Eliseus was dead, a dead man who was cast upon him and touched him, arose; is then Christ not risen? But in that case, the dead man who touched Eliseus, arose, yet he who raised him continued nevertheless dead: now the Dead of whom we speak both arose Himself, and many dead were Mat. 27, raised without having even touched Him. For many bodies of the Saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His Resurrection, and went into the Holy City, (evidently this, in which we now are,) and appeared unto many. Eliseus then raised indeed a dead man, but he conquered not the world; Elias raised a dead man, but devils are not driven away in the name of Elias. We are not speaking against the Prophets, but we are making much of their Master; for we do not exalt our own by disparaging theirs; for theirs are ours; but by what happened among them, we recommend our own. 174 (9.) 40. 17. But they say again, " A corpse lately dead was raised by the living; but shew us how one three days dead can possibly arise, how a man should be buried, and rise after three days." If we seek for Scripture testimony in proof, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself supplies it in the Gospels, saying, Mat. 12, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And on examining the story of Jonas, great is the force of the resemblance. Jesus was sent to preach repentance; so also was Jonas; though the one fled, not knowing what should come to pass; but the other came willingly, to give repentance unto salvation. Jonas ἴριγχι. slumbered in the ship, and was fast asleep amidst the stormy xar' - sea; and while Jesus slept, according to God's providence, Sept. via the sea began to rise, to shew in the sequel the might of Him Jon.1,6. who slept. To the one they said, Why art thou so fast in irzus. sleep? Arise, call upon thy God, that God may save us; but in the other case they say unto the Master, Lord, save us.— 25. 26. Then they said, Call upon thy God; here they say, Do Thou Jon. 1, save. But the one says, Take me, and cast me forth into the Mat. 8, 12. sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; the other, Himself t Christ brought the old Fathers from Hades to Heaven. 175 rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The one was cast into a whale's belly; but the other descended of His own accord thither, where is the invisible vonróv. whale of death. And He descended of His own accord, that death might cast forth those whom he had devoured, according to that which is written, I will ransom them from the Hos. 13, power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. 14. 18. And here let us consider whether it be harder for a man after having been buried to rise again, or for a man in the belly of a whale, and in so great heat of a living creature, to escape corruption. For who among men knows not, that the heat of the belly is so great, that even bones which have been swallowed moulder away? How then did Jonas, who was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, escape corruption? And, seeing that the nature of all men is such that we cannot live without breathing, as we do, the air, how did he live without it for three days? But the Jews make this answer, The power of God, they say, descended with Jonas when he was tossed about in hell. Then, does the Lord grant life to His own servant, by sending with him His power, and can He not grant it to Himself as well? If that is credible, this is credible also; if this is incredible, that also is incredible. For to me both are alike worthy of credence. I believe that Jonas was preserved, for all things are possible with God; I believe that Christ also was raised from the dead; for I have many testimonies of this, both from the Divine Scriptures, and from the operative power even at this day of Him who arose,-who descended into hell alone, but who ascended thence with a great company; for He went down to death, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose through Him. 19. Death was struck with dismay on beholding a new (10.) visitant descending into Hades, not bound by the chains of that place. Wherefore, O ye porters of Hades, when ye saw Him, were ye scared? What unwonted fear seized you? Death fled, and his flight betrayed his cowardice. The holy prophets ran unto Him, and Moses the Lawgiver, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; David also, and Samuel, and Esaias, and John the Baptist, who bore witness when he asked, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another? Mat. 11, 176 Jonah's prayer fulfilled in Christ only. XIV. LECT. All the Just were ransomed, whom death had devoured; for it behoved the King who had been heralded, to become the redeemer of His noble heralds. Then each of the Just said, 1 Cor. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? For the Conqueror hath redeemed us. 15, 55. 20. Of this our Saviour, the Prophet Jonas wrought out a Jon.2,2. figure, from the belly of the whale praying and saying, I cried by reason of my affliction, and so on; out of the belly of hell, and yet he was in the whale; yet though in the whale, he says that he is in hell; for he was a figure of Christ, who should descend into Hades. And after a little, he says, in the Jon.2,6. person of Christ, prophesying most clearly, I went down to the Sept. chasms of the mountains; and yet he was in the belly of the whale. What mountains then encompass thee? I know, he says, that I bear the figure of Him, who is to be laid in the Sepulchre hewn out of the rock. And being in the sea, Jon.2,7. Jonas says, I went down to the earth, since he bore the figure Sept. of Christ, who descended to the heart of the earth. And foreseeing that the Jews would persuade the soldiers to lie, and would tell them, Say that they stole Him away, he says, Jon. 2,8. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. For He who pitied them came, and was crucified, and rose again, giving His own precious blood both for the Jews and the Gentiles; yet they say, Say that they stole Him away, observing lying vanities. But concerning His resurrection, Is. 63, Esaias also says, He who brought from the earth the great Heb. 13, Shepherd of the sheep; he hath added the word, great, lest He should be thought on a level with the shepherds who had gone before Him. 11. 20. partly from each. us. 21. Since then we have the prophecies, let faith abide with Let them fall who fall through unbelief, since they so will; but thou hast taken thy stand on the rock of faith in the Resurrection. Let no heretic ever persuade thee to speak evil of the Resurrection. For to this day do the Manichees say, that the resurrection of the Saviour was phantom-wise, and Rom. 1, not real, slighting Paul who says, Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and again, By the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead. And again he aims at them, and speaks thus, Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven; or, who shall descend 3.5. (11.) Rom. 10, 6. 7. Witnesses to our Lord's Resurrection. 177 8. 15. into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead; and in like manner warning as he has elsewhere written again, Remember that Christ Jesus was raised from 2Tim. 2, the dead; and again, And if Christ be not risen, then is our 1 Cor. preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we 15, 14. are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up. But in what follows he says, But now is Christ risen from ver. 20. the dead, the first fruits of them that slept;-And He was ver. 5. seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; (for if thou believe not one witness, thou hast twelve witnesses;) then He was seen of above ver. 6. five hundred brethren at once; (if they disbelieve the twelve, let them admit the five hundred;) then He was seen of James, His own brother, and first Bishop of this diocese. Seeing raguxía. then that such a Bishop originally saw Christ Jesus when risen, T.TENTOdo not thou, his disciple, disbelieve him. But thou sayest that His brother James was a partial witness; Then He was seen v. 8. also of me Paul, His foe; but what testimony is doubted, when an enemy proclaims it?" I, once the persecutor, now preach the glad tidings of the Resurrection." τύπως· xiii. 39. 22. Many are the witnesses of the Saviour's resurrection.The night, and the light of the full moon, (for that night was the sixteenth';) and the rock of the sepulchre which received Him. The stone also shall rise up against the face of the Jews, for it saw the Lord; even the stone which was then vid. sup. rolled away, itself testifies of the Resurrection, lying there to this day. The Angels of God who were present testified of the Resurrection of the Only-begotten. Peter and John, and Thomas, and the rest of the Apostles; some of whom ran to the sepulchre, and saw the burial-clothes, in which He was wrapped before, lying there after the Resurrection; and others handled His hands and His feet, and beheld the prints of the nails; and all together enjoyed that salutary Breath, John 20, and were counted worthy to forgive sins in the power of the 22. Holy Ghost. Women too were witnesses, those who held His feet, and who beheld the mighty earthquake, and the radiance of the Angel who stood by. And the linen clothes which f On the question of the days of the month Nisan on which the Crucifixion and Resurrection took place, vid. Gres well's Dissertations, vol. iii. Diss. 4. N |