Letter 593

To Methodius the Cubicularius [chamberlain of the imperial bedchamber]. In no way did Christ, the Master of all things, fear death; he came to dwell among us in order to suffer for the salvation of mankind. So when you hear him saying, "Father, if it is possible, let the cup of death pass from me," understand that he does not utter such words out of cowardice and trembling, but in order, by the meanness of the words, to entice the spiritual dragon, so that the dragon, supposing him to be a mere man, fearing the passion and trembling, might bring to completion through the Jews who served him the very thing he had set his mind upon, and might do against himself what he was striving to do against us. For the enemy, contriving the cross, did not perceive that he was contriving it against himself, so that what is said in the Psalms might be fulfilled: that "in the works of his hands the sinner was taken," and "his wickedness shall return upon his own head," the Master having, in the form of a servant and with lowly words, been baited toward his [the enemy's] destruction. For the devil, who hunts us, was himself hunted, being called a sea-monster and a dragon. For it is said in the book of Job concerning Christ that "he is about to subdue the great sea-monster," and that he will catch the dragon with the hook of the dispensation according to the flesh [the Incarnation]. And again, when you hear the Lord crying out upon the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" do not fail to recognize that he says these things in the person of all the men descended from Adam, just as the advocate, not having himself been singled out, nor having been plundered, cries out on behalf of his client to the judge, "We have been outraged, we have been plundered, we have been despoiled." For if we, all the men descended from Adam, had not been forsaken by God, we would not have fallen under the outrage of countless sins, we would not have offered sacrifices, prostrating ourselves before stones, and trees, and waters, and the lifeless stars, and apes, and dogs, and wolves, and crocodiles, and most wicked demons, and the devil himself.

Οὐδαμῶς Χριστὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων Δεσπότης πεφόβηται θάνατον· ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας παθεῖν ἐπεδήμησεν. Ὅταν οὖν ἀκούεις λέγοντος αὐτοῦ· « Πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν, παρελθέτω ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ θανάτου, » νόησον ὅτι οὐχὶ δειλιῶν καὶ φρίττων τὰ τοιαῦτα φθέγγεται, ἀλλὰ τῇ εὐτελείᾳ τῶν ῥημάτων δελεάζων τὸν νοητὸν δράκοντα, ἵνα ψιλὸν τοῦτον ἄνθρωπον εἶναι τοπάσας, δεδοικότα τὸ πάθος καὶ τρέμοντα, τελέσῃ διὰ τῶν ὑπουργούντων αὐτῷ Ἰουδαίων, ὅπερ ἐπεβάλετο, καὶ δράσαι καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ὃ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν διεπούδαχεν. Ἔλαθεν γὰρ ὁ ἐχθρὸς καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν σταυρὸν σοφιζόμενος, ἵνα τὸ εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς Ψαλμοῖς πληρωθῇ, ὅτι « Ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ συνελήφθη ὁ ἁμαρτωλός » καὶ « Ἐπιστρέψει ἡ πονηρία αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, » σχήματι δουλικῷ καὶ ταπεινοῖς ῥήμασι Δεσπότου σεσαγινευμένου πρὸς ὄλεθρον. Ὁ γὰρ ἀγρεύων ἡμᾶς ἠγρεύθη διάβολος, κῆτος καὶ δράκων προσαγορόμενος. Εἴρηται γὰρ ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τοῦ Ἰὼβ περὶ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι « Αὐτὸς μέλλει τὸ κῆτος τὸ μέγα χειρώσασθαι, » καὶ ὅτι ἀγρεύσει τὸν δράκοντα ἐνάγκιστρῳ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίας. Ὅταν δὲ πάλιν ἀκούσεις ἐπὶ σταυροῦ βοῶντος τοῦ Κυρίου « Θεέ μου, θεέ μου, ἵνα τί ἐγκαταλέλοιπάς με ; » μὴ ἀγνοήσῃς, ὅτι ἐκ προσώπου πάντων τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ γενομένων ἀνθρώπων ταῦτα λέγει, ὥσπερ ὁ συνήγορος μὴ καθορισθείς, μηδὲ διηρπαγμένος ὑπὲρ τοῦ συνηγόρου βοᾷ πρὸς τὸν δικαστήν, Ὑβρισμεθα, διηρπάγμεθα, ἐλεηλατήθημεν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἐγκατελείφθημεν ὑπὸ θεοῦ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἀδὰμ γενώμενοι ἄνθρωποι, οὐκ ἂν τῇ τῶν μυρίων ἁμαρτημάτων ὕβρει ὑπεπέσαμεν, οὐκ ἂν λίθοις, καὶ δένδροις, καὶ ὕδασι, καὶ τοῖς ἀψύχοις ἄστροις, καὶ πιθήκοις, καὶ κυσί, καὶ λύκοις, καὶ κροκοδείλοις, καὶ δαίμοσι κακίστοις, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ διαβόλῳ προσκυχήσαντες, θυσίας προσεκομίσαμεν.