74. And again David speaks of Christ's sufferings: "Why are the nations troubled, and the nations plotting vain things? The kings of the earth arise, and the princes take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed" (Psalm II, 1:2). For Herod, king of the Jews, and Pontius Pilate, procurator of the emperor Claudius, came together and condemned Him to be crucified (cf. Luke XXIII, 7ff.). For Herod feared that He would be an earthly king. by which he can be deposed from his kingdom. Pilate was compelled by Herod and the Jews around him to deliver Him up to death against his will, when he preferred to do so rather than act against the emperor by saving the man who bore the name of "king."
75. And again the same prophet speaks of Christ's sufferings: "You have rejected and despised us, you are angry with your anointed; Thou hast ruined the covenant of my servant; Thou hast cast down his holiness to the earth; Thou hast broken down his enclosures, and made his fortress tremble. He is plundered by all who pass by the way, and he has become a laughing stock to his neighbors. Thou hast exalted the right hand of his oppressors; Thou hast suffered his enemies to rejoice over him: thou hast turned back the help of his sword, and hast not strengthened him in battle. Thou hast put an end to his purity, and hast cast his throne to the earth. Thou hast shortened the days of his time and covered him with shame" (Ps. LXXXVIII, 39-46). And that he endured all these things, and that they were to come to pass by the will of the Father, he declared them openly; for He had to endure suffering, according to the will of the Father.
76. And Zechariah says thus: "Sword, rise up against my shepherd and against my man, my partner; smite the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered" (Zech. X, 7). And this happened when He was captured by the Jews; for all the disciples forsook him out of fear. so as not to die. For they did not yet firmly believe in Him until they saw Him risen from the dead.
77. Again he says in the book of the twelve prophets, "And they bound him and brought him as a gift to the king." For Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea, and at that time bore enmity towards Herod, the king of the Jews. But then, when Christ was brought to him bound, Pilate sent him to Herod, leaving him to interrogate him, in order to find out exactly what he wanted in relation to him, using Christ as a pretext to be reconciled with the king (cf. Lk XXIII, 7ff.).
78. And in (the book of) Jeremiah, he announces his death and his descent into hell as follows: "And the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, remembered his dead who had previously fallen asleep on earth, and came down to them to proclaim to them his salvation... to save them." Here He also explains the reasons for His death, for His descent into hell was for the salvation of the dead.
79. And again of His cross Isaiah says: "All day long I stretched out My hands to the foolish and disobedient people" (Isa. LXV, 2). For this is the sign of the cross. And David says even more clearly: "The dogs have surrounded me, a crowd of evil ones has surrounded me; pierced my hands and feet" (Psalm XXI, 17). And again he says: "My heart is melted like wax in my inward parts, and my bones are scattered" (Psalm XXI, 15). And again he says: "Deliver me from the sword, and nail my flesh, for the host of the wicked has come out against me" (Psalm XXI, 21:17). In these words he clearly points to His crucifixion. Likewise, Moses also speaks to the people in the following way: "And your life will hang before your eyes, and you will tremble day and night, and you will not be sure of your life" (Deuteronomy XVIII:66).
80. Again David says: "They looked at me, they divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my garments" (Ps. XXI, 19). For at His crucifixion the soldiers divided His garments, as was their custom, and tore His garments, and thus divided Him. But as for the tunic, since it was woven from above and not sewn together, they cast lots so that the one on whom it fell would receive it (cf. John XIX, 23 ff.).
81. And again the prophet Jeremiah says: "And they took thirty pieces of silver, the value of the priced which they had valued from the children of Israel, and gave them for the potter's land, as the Lord had commanded me" (Jeremiah XXII, 6ff.; cf. Matt. XXVII, 9-10). For Judas, who was one of Christ's disciples, made a promise to the Jews, and made an agreement with them, when he saw that they wanted to put him to death, and because he had been instructed by him (cf. John XII, 4ff., Matt. XXMI, 8-16), he then took thirty pieces of silver, the local coin, and delivered Christ to them, but then he repented of what he had done, and returned the silver to the leaders of the Jews, and hanged himself. But they did not think it proper to put them into the treasury, because it was the price of blood, and they bought with them a field that belonged to the potter for the burial of strangers (Matt. XXVI, 14 ff., XXXVII, 3 ff.).
82. And after he had been crucified, when he asked for drink, he was given vinegar and gall to drink (cf. Matt. 34), and this name was said by David: "And they gave me gall to eat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Ps. XVIII, 22).
83. And that He, having risen from the dead, will ascend to heaven, David says of this: "The chariots of God are a thousand to them, thousands who drive them, among them is the Lord, on Sinai, in the sanctuary. He ascended on high, took captivity captive; He received, gave people gifts" (Ps. LXVII, 18 — 19). By captives he means the destruction of the dominion of the rebellious angels. He also indicates the place where He is to ascend from earth to heaven. For he said, "The Lord has ascended from Zion." For after His resurrection from the dead, He gathered His disciples on the Mount of Olives opposite Jerusalem, and confirmed to them the things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven; and here they saw Him ascend into heaven and how the heavens were opened and received Him (cf. Diary I:4-12).
84. David says the same thing again: "Lift up your gates, O princes; Be lifted up, O everlasting gates, that the King of glory may enter" (Ps. XIII, 7). For the eternal gate is heaven. But since the Word came down in a way invisible to creation, they knew nothing about it. Now the Word has become flesh and has visibly ascended into heaven. And when the powers saw Him, the angels below cried out to those who were in the firmament: "Lift up our gates; Be lifted up, O everlasting gates, that the King of glory may enter." And when they were amazed and asked, "Who is this?" those who had seen Him, and now for the second time, testified, "The Lord is mighty and mighty, He is the King of glory" (Ps. XXIIІ, 8-10).
85. Thus resurrected and ascended, He remains at the right hand of the Father, until all enemies are subject to Him at the time appointed by the Father. And the enemies are all those who have risen up, angels and archangels, and powers and thrones that have rejected the truth. And about this the Prophet David says thus: "Thus saith the Lord unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet" (Psalm CIV, 1). And that He ascended to the place from whence He came, Davnd says: "From the end of heaven is his departure, and his return to the (other) end of heaven" (Ps. XVIII, 7). Then he points to His judgment with these words: "And nothing remains hidden from his heat" (Ps. XVIII, 7).
86. If the prophets prophesied about the Son of God. that He will appear on earth, they also proclaimed where on earth and how and in what form He will appear, and the Lord took upon Himself all these prophecies, then our faith in Him is firmly founded and the tradition of preaching is true, that is, the testimony of the apostles, who were sent throughout the world to preach the Son of God, how He, having come to suffer, suffered for the abolition of death and for the quickening of the flesh, that we may put aside enmity against God, which is criminal, and come to peace with Him, doing what is pleasing to God before Him. And this was proclaimed by the prophets: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace and good tidings" (Isa. LІІ, 7). And that they must come out of Judea and out of Jerusalem to proclaim to us the word of God, which is also a law to us, Isaiah says of this: "Out of Zion shall come forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem (Isa. II, 3). And that they will preach in all the world, David says: "Their proclamation goes out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Ps. XVII, 5).
87. And that people will not live in the verbosity of the law, but in the brevity (simplicity) of faith and love, Isaiah says of this: "A short and precise word in righteousness; for God will make a short word in all the earth" (Isa. X, 22:23). And that is why the Apostle Paul says: "Love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. XIIІ, 10);. for whoever loves God has fulfilled the law. Likewise, the Lord, when asked what the main commandment was, answered: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy might; and the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Mk. XII, 30 ff., Matt. XXII, 37 ff.). Through faith in Him, He develops our love for God and neighbor, as a result of which we become pious and righteous and good; and therefore (it is said): "He made a short word on earth, in the universe."