Глава 4. Смерть Христа

19) Nevertheless, it was pleasing for the Savior to create, so that people who did not know His providence about all things and did not understand His Divinity from creation, even if excited by His bodily works, would raise their gaze to Him, and through Him acquire for themselves the concept of knowledge about the Father, as was said above, from the particular conclusion about His providence in the whole universe. For, seeing His power over demons, or seeing that demons confess Him as their Lord, who else will hesitate from the thought that He is God’s Son, God’s Wisdom and Power? He did so that creation itself did not remain silent, but, what is most wonderful of all, at the time of death, or better yet, during His triumph over death, that is, on the cross, all creation confessed that the one who is known and suffers in the body is not just a man, but the Son of God and the Savior of all. For when the sun turned away its gaze, the earth shook, the mountains fell apart, everyone was horrified; then this showed that Christ Crucified on the Cross is God, and all creation is His servant, testifying with their fear to the presence of the Master. This is how God the Word revealed Himself to people in deeds. But it is also necessary to describe the end of His stay in the body and His treatment of people, to say what His physical death was like (especially since this is the main thing of our faith, and this is in the mouth of all people in general), so that you know how, and from this, no less, God and the Son of God are known in Christ. 20) As for the reason for His coming in the flesh, we explained this above as far as was possible, in part and to the best of our understanding; namely, they said that to add the corruptible to the incorruptible belonged to none other than his Savior, who in the beginning created the universe from nothing, that to recreate the image in people again was characteristic of no other than the Father’s Image, that to resurrect mortal things immortal was characteristic of none other than the source life - our Lord Jesus Christ, what to teach about the Father, but to abolish idolatry - not belonged to someone else, like the Word who brings order to the universe, the one, Only Begotten, true Son of the Father. Because, finally, the debt that fell on everyone had to be paid; for, according to what was said above, everyone had to die, which was the main reason for His coming; then, after having proven His Divinity by deeds, finally offer a sacrifice for everyone, instead of everyone, handing over His church to death, in order to make everyone free from responsibility for the ancient crime, and about Himself, in His incorruptible body having revealed the firstfruits of the general resurrection, to prove that He is higher than death. And don’t be surprised that we talk about the same thing over and over again. Because we talk about God's favor; then we explain the same idea many times, so that nothing is left out, and we do not fall under the accusation that what we have said is unsatisfactory. For it is better to be censured for using identical words than to omit something that should have been written about. So, the body, since it had a common essence with all bodies, and was a human body, although, by an extraordinary miracle, it was formed from a single Virgin, however, being mortal, according to the law of similar bodies, it was subject to death; due to the descent of the Word into him, he did not suffer the corruption characteristic of the bodily nature, but on the contrary, for the sake of the Word of God that dwelt in him, he remained outside of corruption. And in a miraculous way, both were accomplished in one and the same thing: the death of all was fulfilled in the Lord’s body, and death and corruption were destroyed by it for the sake of the Word coexisting in it. Death was necessary, and death had to be accomplished for everyone, in fulfillment of the duty that rests on everyone. Therefore, as stated above, since it was not possible for the Word to die, because He is immortal, He took upon Himself a body that could die, in order, as His own, to offer it for everyone, and as for everyone who suffered, because of His presence in the body, “to abolish him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and to deliver these, who through the fear of death are guilty of work” (Heb. 2, 14–15). 21) Because the common Savior of all died for us; then there is no doubt that we, who are faithful in Christ, no longer die a death, as in ancient times, under the threat of the law, because such condemnation has been abolished; but with the cessation and destruction of corruption by the grace of resurrection, due to the mortality of the body, we are resolved only for the time that God has determined for each, so that we can achieve a better resurrection. Like seeds thrown into the ground, we do not perish when we are resolved, but like those sown we will be resurrected; because death is abolished by the grace of the Savior. This is why blessed Paul, having become a surety for everyone in the resurrection, says: “It is fitting for this corruptible to put on incorruptibility, and for this dead one to put on immortality. When this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then the word will be written: Death was sacrificed in victory. Where is death's sting? Where is the victory? (1 Cor. 15:53–55)? They will say: if it was necessary for Him to give up the body to death for everyone; then why did he not lay down his body like a man in private, but prostrate himself even to the crucifixion? It would have been more decent to lay down his body with honor than to endure such a death along with reproach. - Look, isn’t such an objection again human? And what was accomplished by the Savior is truly divine and for many reasons worthy of His Divinity. Firstly, the death that befalls people comes to them due to the weakness of their nature; they cannot remain in life for a long time, and over time they are destroyed; therefore illnesses befall them, they become exhausted and die. The Lord is not weak, but God’s Power, God’s Word, the source of Life. Therefore, if He had laid down His body somewhere alone and, as is usual for people, on a bed, they would have thought that He, too, suffered this due to the weakness of nature, and was no more advantageous than other people. Since He is the Life and Word of God, death had to be accomplished for everyone; then, as Life and Strength, He strengthened the body with Himself, when death was about to take place, not in Himself, but from others, it borrowed the pretext for performing the sacrifice; because it was not right for the Lord to endure illness when he healed the illnesses of others, and it was also not right for the body in which He supported others in their infirmities to become weak. But why didn’t he forbid death as well as illness? Because He had a body to accept death, and it was indecent to prohibit death, so as not to hinder the resurrection. And it was also indecent for illness to precede death; otherwise it would have been counted as a weakness to Him who appeared in the body. But wasn't He hungry? Yes, he was hungry according to the nature of his body, but he did not melt away with hunger; because it was the Lord who took on the body. Therefore, although the body died for the redemption of all, it did not see corruption; for he has risen whole; because it was the body of no one else, but of Life itself. 22) Someone will say: it was necessary to hide from the malicious intent of the Jews in order to preserve His body completely immortal. “Let him hear that this too was indecent to the Lord.” Just as it was indecent for the Word of God, true Life, to inflict death on His own body, it was also inappropriate to avoid death inflicted by others, and not to pursue death to the point of destruction. Therefore, the Lord acted justly that He did not lay down His body himself, and also did not avoid the malicious Jews. Such a thing did not show weakness in the Word, but, on the contrary, made it possible to understand the Savior and Life in Him; because he was waiting for death in order to destroy it, and he was in a hurry to put an end to the death he inflicted for the salvation of everyone. Moreover, the Savior came to put an end not to His death, but to the death of all people; why not by His own death (as He had no death) He laid aside His body, but accepted death from people, so as to completely destroy this death that touched His body. Moreover, from the following one can see why the Lord’s body had such an end. The Lord's main goal was the resurrection of the body, which He had to accomplish; for the sign of victory over death was to show it to everyone, to assure everyone that He had accomplished the destruction of corruption and had already granted incorruption to bodies. And as if as a guarantee of this incorruptibility for all and as a sign of the future resurrection for all, He kept His body incorruptible. Therefore, if the body suffered from illness, and the Word was released from the body in the sight of everyone; then it would not be fitting for the one who heals the illnesses of others not to take care of His own instrument, which is exhausted by illnesses. How would they believe that He drove away the infirmities of others if His own church had failed? Either they would laugh at him for not being able to remove illness from himself, or he would consider him not to be humane towards others, because he can and does not do so. 23) And if, without any illness, without any suffering, somewhere alone, in a special place, or in the desert, or in a house, or wherever, He hid the body, and then, suddenly appearing again, said about Himself that He had risen from the dead; then everyone would consider it a fable; and His word about the resurrection would not have been believed, all the more so since there would have been no witness at all to His death; resurrection must be preceded by death; because without the preceding death there would be no resurrection. Therefore, if the death of the body happened somewhere in secret; then, since death was invisible and did not take place in front of witnesses, the resurrection of the body would not have been obvious or witnessed. And why, having risen, would he begin to preach about the resurrection, when he allowed death to happen invisibly? Or why - when in the sight of everyone he cast out demons, restored sight to a man blind from birth, and turned water into wine, certifying that He is God's Word - not show in the sight of everyone that what is mortal is incorruptible, to certify that He is Life? How could His disciples have the boldness to preach the resurrection, not having the right to say that He died first? Or how would they be believed when they began to assert that first there was death, and then the resurrection, if the witnesses of death were not the very ones before whom they boldly asserted this? If even in the case when both death and resurrection took place in the sight of everyone, the Pharisees of that time did not want to believe, but even those who saw the resurrection were forced to deny it; then, without a doubt, if this had been done secretly, how many pretexts would they have come up for disbelief? How would the end of death and the victory over it be shown if not, in the sight of everyone, having called upon death, he exposed it that it was already dead, exhausted by the incorruption of the body? 24) But we need to warn us with our answer what others may say. For they will perhaps say this too: if His death had to be accomplished in the sight of everyone and be witnessed, so that they would believe the word about the resurrection; then it would be necessary to at least come up with a glorious death in order to avoid at least the dishonor of the cross. - But if he did so, he would give rise to suspicion about himself that he has power not over all death, but only over that which he invented for himself; and yet again there would be less of a pretext for disbelief in the resurrection. Therefore, it was not from Him, but through malice, that death happened to the body, so that the Savior could destroy the very death that people inflicted on Him. And just as a valiant fighter, high in intelligence and courage, does not choose opponents for himself, so as not to give rise to suspicion that he is afraid of others, but leaves this to the power of the spectators, especially if they are hostile to him, so that by deposing the one who will be opposed to him, he can confirm his superiority over everyone: so the Life of all, our Lord and Savior Christ, did not invent death to the body from Himself, so as not to appear to be afraid of another death, but by accepting death from others, and precisely from enemies, which they considered terrible, dishonorable and hateful, he endured such on the cross, so that, having deposed it, he would certify to Himself that He is Life, and completely abolish the power of death. And a very wonderful and extraordinary thing happened: they thought to inflict a dishonorable death, but it served as a sign of victory over death itself. Why didn’t he suffer John’s death through the beheading of his head, why didn’t he suffer like Isaiah? – In order to preserve the body in death, not fragmented and whole, and therefore so that there would be no pretext for those intending to divide the Church. 25) And this is in response to outsiders who like to think a lot. But one of us, not out of curiosity, but out of love, may ask: why did he endure nothing less than the cross? -Let him also hear that it was to our benefit to suffer in this way and not otherwise; and for us it is best that the Lord endured this. For, if He came on Himself to bear the oath that was upon us, then how else would He become a curse if He did not accept the death that was under the oath? But this is a cross; for it is thus written: “Cursed is he that hangeth on the tree” (Deut. 21:23; Galat. 3:13). Then, if the Lord’s death is the redemption of all, and by the Lord’s death “the middle of the fence” is destroyed (Eph. 2:14), and the calling of the pagans is accomplished; then how would he have called us if he had not been crucified? On one cross they die with outstretched arms. Therefore, it was fitting for the Lord to endure the cross and to stretch out his hands, so that with one hand he could draw the old people to Himself, and with the other, those called from the pagans, uniting the same and others in Himself. He himself spoke this, making it clear by what death he would redeem everyone. For he says, “When I am exalted, I will draw all things to Me” (John 12:32). And one more thing: if the enemy of our race, the devil, having fallen from heaven, wanders through this low air, and there, ruling over other demons similar to him through his disobedience, through them he creates dreams in those who are deceived and intends to detain those who ascend, about which the Apostle speaks: “according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, who is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2, 2); The Lord came to overthrow the devil, to cleanse the air, and to open the way for us to ascend to heaven, as the Apostle said: “by a veil, that is, by His flesh” (Heb. 10:20), and this had to be accomplished by death: then by what other death could this be accomplished, if not by death received in the air, that is, on the cross? For only the one who ends on the cross dies in the air. Therefore, it was not without reason that the Lord endured the cross; for he who was ascended on it cleared the air from the devil and all demonic intrigues, saying: “I saw Satan like lightning falling” (Luke 10:18), while opening the way to ascend to heaven, he renewed it, also saying: “Lift up your gates, O princes, lift up the eternal gates” (Psalm 23:7). For it was not for the Word itself, as the Lord of all, that the opening of the gate was necessary, and nothing created was closed for the Creator; but we had need of this, whom He lifted up with His own body; because just as he brought his body to death for everyone, so with his body he again paved the way for everyone to ascend to heaven.