12. Now we have two signs, but we want to know the third one. Tell us, what does the Lord who has come do? Another prophet says: "Behold our God" (Isaiah 35:4); and then: "He shall come and save us" (Isaiah 35:5). Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the deaf will hear. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the deaf shall be clear (Isaiah 35:6). May another testimony be presented to us. You, O prophet, speaking of the Lord to come, represent Him doing such signs as have never happened. What other sign will you show us? The Lord Himself will come to judgment from the elder of men, and from their princes (Isaiah 3:14). The Lord is subjected to the judgment of the slaves of the elders, and suffers.

13. The Jews do not hear this when they read, for they have shut the ears of their hearts so that they may not hear. But let us believe in Jesus Christ in the flesh who came and became man, since otherwise we cannot comprehend Him. Since we could not look upon Him and enjoy Him in His state in which He was, He became the same as we are, so that we might be counted worthy to enjoy Him. If we cannot see the sun created on the fourth day in its entirety, then how can we see God, its Creator? In fire the Lord descended on Mount Sinai; the people did not bear this, but said to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we shall hear, and let not God speak to us, lest we die" (Exodus 20:19). If hearing the voice of God speaking is the cause of death, then how can the vision of God Himself not cause death? And why should we be surprised? Moses himself said: "I am afraid, and trembling" (Heb. 12:21).

14. And so, what would you want, that He who came for salvation should become the author of destruction, since men cannot bear His appearances, or that He should communicate His grace to us? Daniel could not bear the vision of the Angel, and can you behold the Lord of the Angels? Gabriel appeared, and Daniel fell. And what was the one who appeared, and in what form? His face was like the sight of lightning (Dan. 10:6), and not like the sun, and his eyes were like things of fire, and not like a furnace of fire; but the voice of his words is like the voice of the people, and not like the voice of twelve angelic hosts. And yet the prophet fell. The angel came up to him and said: "Do not be afraid, Daniel" (Dan. 10:12), arise, be of good courage, your words have been heard (Dan. 10:12). Daniel says: "The east trembles" (Dan. 10:11). But he did not begin to answer until something like a human hand touched him. When the one who appeared was changed into the form of a man (Dan. 10:18), then Daniel began to speak. And what does he say? O Lord, in Thy vision my womb shall be turned in me (Dan. 10:16): strength and breath shall not remain in me (Dan. 10:17). If the appearance of the angel deprived the prophet of his voice and power, then will the appearance of God leave you breathing? Until, says the Scriptures, "touch me as the sight of man" (Dan. 10:18), Daniel did not come to his senses. And so, when the experience of our weakness was shown. The Lord took upon Himself what man had need of. Since man could only hear from a person like him, the Savior took upon Himself a similar nature in order to teach people more conveniently.

15. Listen to another reason. Christ came to be baptized and sanctify baptism; He came to work miracles, walking on the waters of the sea. Since before His appearance in the flesh the sea saw and fled, the Jordan turned back (Psalm 113:3), the Lord took on a body, so that the sea, seeing this, would stop, and the Jordan would receive Him without fear. This is one reason. There is another one. Through the Virgin Eve came death, and through the Virgin, or rather from the Virgin, life also had to appear, so that as the serpent deceived her, so did Gabriel proclaim the good news. People, having abandoned God, made idols in human form. Thus, since the idol in human form was falsely worshipped as God, God truly became man in order to destroy falsehood. The devil used our flesh as a weapon against us, and Paul, knowing this, says: "I see the law in my mind, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me, and so on." (Romans 7:23). Thus, with what weapon the devil defeated us, by the same we are saved. The Lord took our likeness from us in order to save humanity; He took on our likeness, in order to grant greater grace to those in need, so that sinful humanity would be in communion with God. For where sin abounded, grace abounded (Romans 5:20). The Lord had to suffer for us, but the devil would not have dared to approach if he had known this. For if they understood, they did not crucify the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). And so the body became the poison of death, so that the dragon, when it hoped to devour, would vomit out those whom it had devoured. Thou hast devoured death, and thou hast swallowed up: God hath taken away every tear from every face (Isaiah 25:8).

16. Did Christ become incarnate in vain? Is it possible that our teaching is the invention and wisdom of men? Is not the Divine Scripture our salvation? Aren't they prophetic predictions? Therefore, keep this pledge faithfully, so that no one will shake you. Believe in God, Who was made man. That it was possible for Him to become incarnate has already been proved. But if the Jews do not yet believe, let us ask them: What strange things do we proclaim, when we say that God became man, when you say that Abraham entertained the Lord? What strange things do we proclaim to you, when Jacob said: "For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is saved" (Gen. 32:30)? The same Lord who ate food from Abraham also ate from us. And so, what strange things do we proclaim? We will also present two witnesses who stood before the Lord on Mount Sinai. Moses was in the cleft of the stone, and Elijah was once also in the cleft of the stone. They were on Mount Tabor together with the transfigured Lord, and in the presence of His disciples spoke of His exodus, and He wished to die in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). That it was therefore possible for Him to become man, this has been proved, as I have said before. The rest of the evidence is provided to those who wish.

17. In my word I promised you to reveal both the time and the place of the appearance of the Savior. And we must not go out with a reproach of deception, and even more so we must let those who have recently entered the Church go confirmed. And so, let us examine the time in which the Lord came, inasmuch as this coming happened recently and is subject to reproach, and since Christ Jesus is yesterday and today, the same also forever (Heb. 13:8). To this the prophet Moses says: "The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brethren, as I am" (Deuteronomy 18:15). Let us leave this word for the time being, for it will be examined in its proper place. But when will this expected prophet come? Turn, he says, to my Scriptures, examine the prophecy of Jacob, which was said to Judas: "Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee" (Gen. 49:8), and so on. Let us not all say: "The prince shall not fail of Judah, nor the ruler of his loins, until he comes, whom it is laid aside: [1] and this is not the hope of the Jews, but of the tongues" (Gen. 49:10). Thus, he set the cessation of power among the Jews as a sign of the coming of Christ. If they are not under the rule of the Romans, then Christ has not yet come. If they have a prince from the tribe of Judah and David, then the Expected One has not yet come. I am ashamed to speak of the new establishment of the so-called current Patriarchs among them. What is their kind, and who is their mother, I leave this to those who know. But this Coming One, the Expectation of the tongues, what other sign does He have? James says further: "Bind thy lot to the vine" (Gen. 49:11). This is the lot that the 3achariah clearly announced!

18. But you are still looking for another testimony of time. The Lord said unto Me: Thou art My Son, Thou hast begotten Thee today (Psalm 2:7), and a little afterwards: Thou shalt shepherd me with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:9). And before I said that the Roman kingdom is clearly called the rod of iron, and what remains to be said about it, let us remember from the prophecy of Daniel. In announcing and explaining to Nebuchadnezzar the image of the statue, he speaks of the whole vision that pertained to it, and of the stone cut off from the mountain without hands, which was not made by human art, and which shall possess the whole universe. He also says very clearly: "And in the days of those kings God will raise up the kingdom of heaven, lest it be scattered forever: and His kingdom shall not remain frost among men" (Dan. 2:44).

19. But we demand an even clearer proof concerning the time of coming. A person, being distrustful, if he does not know the exact calculation and the years themselves, does not believe what is said. And so, how long and how old is it when, after the termination of the Kings from the tribe of Judah, the foreigner Herod began to reign? The angel, conversing with Daniel, said to him: (note what he says) and weigh and understand, from the departure of the word, to declare, and to protect Jerusalem, even to Christ the elder, seven seven, and sixty-two sevens (Dan. 9:25). Sixty-nine weeks of years make four hundred and eighty-three years. Thus, the words of the Angel mean that after the creation of Jerusalem four hundred and eighty-three years, and after the cessation of the princes, a certain foreigner will be king, under whom Christ will be born. Darius Midus completed the building of Jerusalem in the sixth year of his reign, and according to the Greeks, in the first sixty-sixth Olympiad. The Greeks call the Olympics solemn games performed after four years, on the day which, according to the four-year solar flow, is composed of the hours remaining from each year, three hours. And Herod began to reign in the one hundred and eighty-sixth Olympiad, in the fourth year thereof. Therefore, between the sixty-sixth and one hundred and eighty-sixth Olympiads, there will be a little over one hundred and twenty Olympiads. Four hundred and eighty years are made up of one hundred and twenty Olympiads. And the remaining three years are probably included in the time between the first and fourth year. Now you have a proof, based on the Scriptures, which says: From the exodus of the word, and thou shalt testify, and thou shalt keep the Jerusalem of Christ, to the elder, seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. And so, here is an explanation of the times, although there are other different interpretations of the weeks of the years predicted by Daniel.

20. Now listen to the words of Micah about the place of promise: "And you, Bethlehem, the house of the Euphrates, have little food, if you are in the thousands of Judah? For from thee shall come forth unto me an Elder, if thou shalt be a prince in Israel, and proceed from the beginning from the days of the world (Micah 5:2). Being a Jerusalemite, in reasoning the passages in advance, you already know what is written in the one hundred and thirty-first Psalm: "Behold, I have heard in the Euphrates, I have found in the fields of the oak grove" (Psalm 131:6). For in recent years this place was wooded. Thou hast also heard Habakkuk saying unto the Lord, Whenever thou hast drawn nigh in the summer, thou shalt be known; when the time is revealed" (Hab. 3:2). What is the sign of the coming Lord, prophet? He goes on to say: "In the midst of the two beasts shalt thou be known" (Hab. 3:2), clearly saying through this to the Lord that Thou shalt come in the flesh and live and die, and having risen from the dead, shalt live again. From which side of Jerusalem will He come? From the East, or from the West, or from the North, or from the South? Tell us definitely. He answers very clearly, and says: God will come from Teman (Hab. 3:3) (and Teman, according to the explanation, means the South), and the Holy One from Mount Pharan is overshadowed by the thicket. In agreement with this, the Psalmist also said: "I have found in the fields of oak groves" (Psalm 131:6).

21. We also want to know from whom and how He will come. Of this Isaiah tells us: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). The Jews contradict this (for they have been accustomed of ancient times to viciously oppose the truth) and say, "It is written, not a virgin, but a young woman" (neaniV). Admitting this, I still find the truth. It is necessary to ask them: the virgin, having been raped, when she cries out, calling for help to herself, is it after corruption or before corruption? And when the Scripture somewhere says, "Cry out to the maiden" (neaniV), and do not help her (Deuteronomy 22:27), does it not speak here of the virgin? But in order that you may know more clearly that in the Divine Scriptures the virgin is also called a young woman (neaniV), then listen to the words in the Book of Kings about Abishag the Sumanites: "And the maiden (neaniV) is good (3 Kings 1:4). And it is known that she, after her election, was brought to David as a virgin.

22. But again the Jews say that this prophecy was spoken to Ahaz about Hezekiah. Let us read the words of the Scriptures: "Ask unto thee a sign from the Lord thy God, in the depths or in the heights" (Isaiah 7:11). This sign had to be extraordinary. For the signs were the outflow of water from the stone, the parting of the sea, the return of the sun, and the like. But what will be said is the clearest rebuke against the Jews. I know that I speak at length, and the hearers are weary; nevertheless, listen patiently to my lengthy word, since for Christ this is offered, and is not a matter of little importance. Isaiah spoke this prophecy in the reign of Ahaz, and Ahaz reigned only sixteen years. And since in these years a prophecy was spoken to him, the reproach of the Jews is denounced by the successor of the kingdom of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, who reigned twenty-five years. For the prophecy refers to sixteen years, and Hezekiah was born of Ahaz nine years before the prophecy. What need was there to prophesy about him who was already born before the reign of Ahaz his father? For the prophet did not say that she had conceived, but that the Virgin would receive, declaring it according to foreknowledge.

23. That the Lord will be born of the Virgin, we have clearly seen. And of what kind the Virgin was, it must be shown: the Lord swears to David the truth, and it will not be denied; of the fruit of thy womb I will sit on thy throne (Psalm 131:11). And in another place: I will put His seed for ever and ever, and His throne as the days of heaven (Psalm 88:30), and then, "With one swear for my holy one, if I lie to David" (Psalm 88:36), His seed shall endure for ever, and His throne as the sun is before Me, and as the moon is perfect for ever (Psalm 88:38). You see that we are talking about Christ, and not about Solomon, for this throne did not remain like the sun. And if anyone contradicts because Christ did not sit on the material throne of David, then let us quote these words: "On the seat of Moses is the gray of the scribe and the Pharisee" (Matt. 23:2), where it is not the material seat that is meant, but the power of teaching. In the same way, under the throne of David, do not understand the material throne, but the Kingdom itself. Let the young men be witnesses unto thee, saying, Hosanna unto the Son of David, Blessed be the King of Israel (Matt. 21:9). and the blind say, Son of David! have mercy on us" (Matt. 9:27); and Gabriel clearly testifies, saying to Mary: "And the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father" (Luke 1:32); and Paul says: "Remember Jesus Christ rising from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my gospel" (2 Tim. 2:8); and at the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans he says: "He was of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Romans 1:3). Therefore, consider Him to be born of David, believing the prophecy that says: "And in that day there shall be the root of Jesse, and thou shalt have knowledge of tongues, in him shall the tongues trust" (Isaiah 11:10).

24. But the Jews stubbornly argue against this. Isaiah also foresaw this, saying: "And they shall desire, that they may be burned with fire" (Isaiah 9:5). For the Son was born unto us (Isaiah 9:6), and not unto them, and was given unto us. And by this He shows that He was first the Son of God, then He was given to us, and a little later He says: "And His peace has no end" (Isaiah 9:7). The Roman kingdom has limits, but the kingdom of the Son of God has no limits. The Persians and the Medes have limits, but the Son of God has no limits. Then follow the words: On the throne of David and on his kingdom, correct it.

25. The Most Pure and Teacher of purity had to come from pure palaces. For if the good priest of Jesus abstains from his wife, then how could Jesus Himself come from husband and wife? For thou art ecus, He says in the Psalm, "I have stories from my womb" (Psalm 21:10). Carefully consider this saying: "Snatch me out of the womb," which shows that He was born, being without a man, plucked out of the womb and the flesh of a virgin. For in a different way they are born of a marital union.