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."

88. And that after His ascension He will be exalted above all, and that no one can compare with Him, Isaiah says: "Who is he who is judged? Let him get started! And who is justified? Let him draw near to the Son of God. Woe to you, for all of you are as a garment that is worn out, and moths will eat you, and all flesh will be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted among all the exalted" (Isa. L, 8 and II, 11:17). And that in the end those who serve God will be saved in His name, Isaiah says: "And by them. who serve Me will be given a new name, which is blessed on earth; and they will glorify the true God" (Isa. LXV, 15 ff.). And that He Himself will perform this blessing and save us with His blood, Isaiah announced in the following words: "Not an intercessor, nor an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them; out of His love for them and condescension He redeemed them" (Isa. LXIII, 9).

89. That he does not want to bring the redeemed back to the law of Moses, for the law is fulfilled by Christ, but that he must live by faith and love from (?) the Son of God according to the new essence of the word, Isaiah declares as follows: "Do not remember the past, nor think about what once happened. Truly I am doing something new that is already appearing, and you will know it. And I will make rivers in the wilderness and in the waterless wilderness, to give water to my chosen people, a people whom I have won for myself, that they may proclaim my glory" (Isa. XLIIІ, 19-21). And the calling of the Gentiles was formerly a wilderness and a wall, for neither did the Word pass through it, nor did the Holy Spirit give it water, Who paved a new way of godliness and righteousness, and poured forth abundant streams, that is, spread the Holy Spirit on earth, as He had promised through the prophets in the last days to pour out the Spirit upon all the earth.

90. Thus our calling is through the renewing of the spirit, and not in our old (being), as Jeremiah prophesied: "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will fulfill for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt; for they did not abide firmly in the covenant, and I despised them, saith the Lord. But the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days will be this: I will put my law in their minds, and I will write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. From now on they will not teach one another, or brother to brother, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will forgive them their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah XXXI, 31-34).

91. And that these promises must be inherited by the calling of the Gentiles, among whom the new covenant was revealed, Isaiah thus says: "Thus saith the God of Israel: In that day man shall turn his eyes to the Maker, and his eyes shall be fixed on the Holy One of Israel; and they will not look upon the temple of idols, nor upon the work of their hands, which their fingers have made" (Isa. XVII, 7:8). These words are evidently spoken of those who have left idols and through the Holy One of Israel have come to believe in God, our Lord. But the Holy One of Israel is Christ, and to Him, Who has become visible to men, and not to the temples of idols or to the work of our hands, we turn our eyes.

92. And that He will become visible among us, since the Son of God was made the Son of Man, and will be known by us who had no knowledge (of Him) before, the very Word in Isaiah says: "I have revealed myself not to those who inquire about Me. Those who did not seek Me found Me. I said, 'Here am I, to a people who have not called on my name' (Isa. LXV, 1).

93. And that this people will be holy, it is read in the Book of the Prophets of the Days thus: "And I will say not to my people, 'You are my people, and she who is not beloved will be loved.' And in the place where they said of them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called sons of the living God" (Hos. II, 23; I, 10). The same is said by John the Baptist: "God is able to raise up children for Abraham out of these stones" (Matt. II, 9). For after our hearts have been plucked out and freed from the service of stone, we behold God by faith and become children of Abraham, who is justified by faith. And so God says through the prophet Ezekiel: "And I will give them another heart, and I will put a new spirit in them; and I will pluck out of their flesh a heart of stone, and will take it away, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my commandments, and keep my justifications, and do them. And thus they will be my people, and I will be their God" (Ezek. XІ, 19:20).

94. Thus was accomplished the change of hearts among the nations by a new calling through the Word of God, when He became flesh and dwelt among men, as His disciple John also says: "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John I, 14). That is why the church is so fruitful in the saved. For neither Moses nor the prophet Elijah are any longer intercessors, but the Lord Himself has saved us, having given many children of the church, to the assembly of the firstborn, as Isaiah proclaimed in these words: "Rejoice, barren, who does not give birth." And the barren church is the church, which never in former times allowed the children of God to be revealed. "Cry out and cry out to her who is not in childbirth, for she who is forsaken has more sons than she who has a husband" (Isa. LIV, 1). The first assembly (i.e., the church) had the law as its husband.