9. Let us, therefore, seek testimony to the suffering of Christ, for we have not gathered together to make a speculative exposition of the Scriptures, but rather to be convinced of what we already believe. Testimonies of the coming of Jesus thou hast heard before, as well as that He walked on the sea, for it is written, "In the sea are thy lows" (Psalm 76:20). And you heard the testimony of various healings at another time. So I begin with where the suffering began. Judas was His betrayer, and having come and stood against Him, spoke words of peace to Him, and prepared a hostile deed (Matt. 26:49). This is what the Psalmist says: "My friends and my sincere ones are right near to me and stand near to me" (Psalm 37:12). And in another place: "Their words are softened more than oil, and that is the essence of arrows" (Psalm 54:22). Rejoice, O Teacher! (Matt. 26:49), but betrayed the Teacher to death, was not ashamed of Him, Who, exhorting him, said to him: "Judas! whether thou didst betray the Son of Man with the kiss (Luke 22:48). It was as if He were saying to him: "Remember your name, Judas means confession, you have made a condition, you have taken the silver according to it, confess it without delay: O God! Thou shalt not be silent in my praises, for the mouth of a sinner and the mouth of a flatterer is opened against me, and hath spoken against me with a flattering tongue, and hateful words have made me common (Psalm 108:1-3). And that some of the bishops were present, and that He was bound before the gates of the city, you have heard before, if you only remember the explanation of the psalm, which speaks of the time and place when they returned to the evening (Psalm 58:7), and hungered like dogs, and went round the city (Psalm 58:15).

10. Hear also about the thirty pieces of silver: and the river to them: if there is any good before you, give me my reward, or renounce it, and so on. (Zech. 11:12). You must give Me a different payment for the healing of the blind and the lame, and yet I receive another. Do you see how the events are foretold in the Scriptures? And Thou hast given My reward thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12). What accuracy the prophets have! How great and infallible is the knowledge of the Holy Spirit! He did not say ten, lower than twenty, but exactly thirty, how many of them there were. Now tell me where this price is directed? Does the one who receives it possess it, or does he give it back? And if he did, where did it go? The prophet says: "And thou shalt receive thirty pieces of silver, and put them into the temple of the Lord in the furnace" (Zech. 11:13). Compare the Gospel with the prophecy; it says: Judas repented and cast down the pieces of silver in the Church, departed (Matt. 27:3, 5).

11. However, the doubt that presents itself to me here requires a precise solution. Those who reject the prophets say that the Prophet says: "And put them into the temple of the Lord in the furnace" (Zech. 11:13), and the Gospel: "And I gave them to the village of the poor" (Matt. 27:10). How can both be just, hear about this. These strict Jews, the bishops of that time, seeing that Judas repented, when he said, "Having sinned, having betrayed the blood of the innocent," said to him, "What shall we eat? thou shalt see (Matt. 27:4). Do you not care about those who crucify you? He who received the wages of murder and gave it back, will he see, but you will not see those who kill? Then they say among themselves: "It is not worthy to put them into corban, since there is a price for blood" (Matt. 27:6). Out of your mouth proceeds your condemnation. If the payment is unclean, so is the deed, and if you act justly in crucifying Christ, then why do you not accept the payment? But we need to prove that there is no disagreement when the Gospel says: the field is poor, and the prophet: the furnace. Not only goldsmiths have a furnace, and not only those who work copper have a furnace, but also poor workers have a poor furnace. For in order to cleanse the soft and fat, and necessary part of the earth from small stones, and to separate the useless dirt from it, they first pour water over the clay in the furnace in order to work the vessels without hindrance. What is there to be wondered at, if the Gospel says clearly: the field is poor, and the prophet prophesied divination, since the prophecy for the most part speaks divination?

12. They bound Jesus, and led him into the courtyard of the bishop. Do you want to know and see what is written about this? Isaiah says, "Woe to their souls! For the evil counsel was devised against ourselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous, for we have no need to eat (Isaiah 3:9-10). And truly, woe to their souls! Let's see why. Isaiah was sawn, but after that the people were healed. Jeremiah was cast into the mud pit, but the wound of the Jews was healed. For it was not so great, because their sin was against man. But now, since the Jews have sinned not against man, but against God incarnate, woe to their souls! let us bind the righteous. But could not, someone will say, loose Himself from the bonds of death of Lazarus for four days (John 11), and He who freed Peter from the iron bands of prison (Acts 12:7). The angels stand ready to stand, saying: "Let us loose their bonds" (Psalm 2:3), but they refrain from this, because the Lord wants to endure this. Then He was brought to the judgment seat before the elders. Thou hast already had a testimony to this: "The Lord Himself shall come to judgment from the elder of men, and from their princes" (Isaiah 3:14).

13. When the Bishop asks Him and hears the truth, he is indignant, and the evil servant strikes. And the face, shining like the sun, bore the blows of lawless hands, while others, having come, spit in the face of Him Who healed the blind man from birth with clay (Matt. 26:67). Is this what you repay to the Lord? what are the people of foolishness and foolishness (Deuteronomy 32:6)? The prophet, being amazed at this, said: "Lord! who believes in our hearing (Isaiah 53:1)? For it is an incredible thing – God alone, the Son of God, and the power of the Lord endures this. However, in order that those who are being saved may not have unbelief, the Holy Spirit first writes about this in the person of Christ, Who says, for the same One Who then spoke, afterwards appeared: "Splash My wounds upon the wounds" (Isaiah 50:6). For Pilate smote Him, and delivered Him up to be crucified (Mark 15:15). And ye shall not turn My face away from spitting (Isaiah 50:6); as if He were saying thus, foreseeing that I would be smited, I did not turn away My cheeks, for how would I have stirred up the disciples to death for the truth's sake, if I Myself had feared it? I said: "Thou shalt love thy soul, it shall destroy it" (John 12:23). If I valued My life, how would I teach this, without doing what I taught? For this reason He Himself, being God, first endured such sufferings from men, so that after that we would not be ashamed for Him to endure such sufferings from men. You see that the prophets have clearly written about this also. However, we leave many testimonies of Scripture because of the brevity of time, as I said before. For if anyone searches for everything with exactness, then not one of Christ's deeds remains without testimony.

14. Bound He went from Caiaphas to Pilate (John 18); Is it not written about this also? And having bound Him, He brought Him as a gift to King Jearim (Hos. 10:6). But some of the attentive listeners will object: Pilate was not a king; Therefore, leaving many searches, let us ask: How did those who bound Him give Him as a gift to King Jearim? But read what is written in the Gospel: when Pilate heard that He was from Galilee, He sent Him to Herod (Luke 23:7); and Herod was then king and was in Jerusalem. Take note of the Prophetic accuracy. Therefore He was sent as a gift; And Herod and Pilate were with them on that day, for they had enmity before. (Ibid., 12). For it was fitting for Him Who wants to reconcile heaven with earth, it was fitting for Him to be the first to reconcile those who condemned Him: moreover, the Lord Himself was present here, changing the hearts of the princes of the earth (Job 12:24). You see the accuracy of the prophets, and the truth of the testimony.

15. Marvel at the Lord who is judged; He endured when the soldiers led and drew Him. Pilate, who judged Him, sat, and He who sat at the right hand of the Father, endured, standing before Him. The people, freed by Him from the land of Egypt, and repeatedly freed from other countries, cried out against Him: "Take Him, take Him, crucify Him" (John 19:15)? Why, Jews? Is it because He healed your blind? Or because He healed the feet of your lame and did good deeds to others? So the Prophet, stricken with terror, also says of this: "Against whom do you open your mouth?" and against whom your tongue will be spoken" (Isaiah 57:4). And the Lord Himself said in the Prophets: "My inheritance shall be unto me, as a lion in an oak grove, and give His voice against me; for this reason thou hast hated it" (Jeremiah 12:8). It was not I who rejected them, but they themselves rejected Me. Therefore immediately say: "Leave my house" (Jeremiah 12:7).

16. When I was judged, I was silent, so that Pilate had compassion and said, "Do you not hear that these are not Thee who bear witness" (Matt. 26:62)? Not because he knew the man who was judged, but because he was frightened by his wife's announced dream. And Jesus was silent. For this reason the Psalmist says: "For he that hath not heard, and hath not in his mouth reproof" (Psalm 37:15). And again: "For thou hast not heard, and thou shalt not open thy mouth to him" (14). You have heard of this before, if you only remember.

17. The soldiers, having surrounded Him, laugh at Him; The Lord becomes an object of laughter for them; and the Lord endureth ridicule (Luke 23:36); when they saw me, they cast off their heads (Psalm 108:25): yet the image of royal power remains with Him: they laugh at Him, but bow their knees, and the soldiers crucify Him, having first clothed Him in purple and placed a crown on His head. What is the need of thorns? Every King is proclaimed a warrior: and Jesus was foremost to be crowned with soldiers. That is why the Holy Scriptures say in the Songs: "Come forth, and see the daughters of Jerusalem wearing a crown, who crowned her mother" (Song of Songs 3:11). And the mystery was the crown, for it brought freedom from sins and exemption from the punishment prescribed for them.

18. Adam accepted condemnation: "Cursed is the earth in your works; thorns and thistles shall grow for thee" (Gen. 3:17, 18). Jesus takes thorns in order to be freed from this condemnation; And in the ground he was buried so that the cursed land, instead of a curse, would receive a blessing. Then, when they sinned, they were covered with fig leaves: therefore Jesus also performed the last sign over the fig tree. For intending to go to suffering, He curses the fig tree (Matt. 21:19), not all the fig trees, but one known one, to depict the fig tree, saying: "Let no one eat of thy fruit" (Mk. 11:14). The condemnation passed, and since the First Parents were covered with fig leaves, He came at a time when there was no fruit on it. Who does not know that during winter the fig tree does not bear fruit, but is only covered with leaves? What did everyone know, did Jesus not know? However, knowing this, he went as if intending to seek fruit; He knew that He would not find them, but only wanted to imagine the image of the curse on the leaves.

19. Touching upon the events that took place in Paradise, I am justly amazed at the truth of the Foreshadowings, in Paradise falling away, in the Garden and salvation; from the tree is sin, and in the tree is salvation (Gen. 3:8). In the afternoon the Ancestors hid themselves from the Lord, and in the afternoon the thief is led by the Lord into paradise (Luke 23:43). But someone will say to me, 'You are inventing; present me the testimony of the Prophet concerning the tree of the Cross; if you do not cite Prophecies about it from the Prophet, then I will not believe. Hearken therefore to Jeremiah, and be convinced: For thou art not a lamb that is not malicious, led to the slaughter, do you not understand (Jeremiah 11:19)? Read inquiringly, as I said. For does he not know who says, "Know, that the Passover shall be two days long, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up on the nponium" (Matt. 26:2)? As a lamb that is not malicious, led to the slaughter, do you not understand (Jeremiah 11:19)? What agnya? John the Baptist will explain, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). An evil thought hath thought unto me, saying" (Jeremiah 11:19): "Did he who knoweth the thoughts not know what was to happen?" What did they say? Come, and let us put a tree in His bread. (Ibid.). If the Lord vouchsafes you, then later you will learn that His body, according to the Gospel, was an image of bread: come and let us put wood into His bread, and we will destroy Him from the land of the living. (Ibid.). Life is not destroyed, why do you labor in vain? Let not His name be remembered: your counsel is vain; for His name dwelleth before the sun (Psalm 71:17) in the Church. Likewise, about the fact that life hung on a tree, Moses says with weeping: "And Thy life shall hang before Thy eyes, and thou shalt fear in days and nights, and shalt not believe in Thy life" (Deuteronomy 28:66). And the recently read Scripture says: Lord! who believes in our hearing (Isaiah 53:1)?

20. This image was presented by Moses in a crucified serpent, so that he who was wounded by a living serpent, looking at the brazen serpent, would be healed by faith (Num. 21:9). So, if the crucified brazen serpent saved, then will not the incarnate Son of God crucified save? Life is always given through the tree. For in the time of Noah life was preserved by means of a wooden ark; but in the time of Moses, the sea, when it saw the image of the rod, feared him that struck it. is the Cross of the Saviour powerless? For the sake of brevity, I leave many premonitions. The tree in the time of Moses sweetened the water, and water flowed out of the side of Jesus on the tree.

21. The beginning of the signs of Moses, blood and water, and the same was the end of all the signs of Jesus. First of all, Moses turned the river into blood (Exodus 7:17); and Jesus after all gave out water with blood from his rib for two voices, perhaps: the voice of the Judge and the voice of those crying; or for believers and unbelievers (John 19:34). For Pilate said: "I am innocent" (Matt. 27:24), and washed his hands with water; and those who cried said, "His blood be upon us" (23). Thus two substances flowed from the rib: the judge may be water, and the crying one may be blood. And it can be understood in another way: for the Jews it is blood, and for Christians it is water, for to them, as to evildoers, the condemnation is from blood: but to thee who now believe, through water, salvation is through water. For nothing was done by accident. The interpreters of the Scriptures, our Fathers, presented another reason for this event. Since, according to the Gospel, salvific Baptism has a twofold power: one is granted to those who are enlightened by means of water, and the other is communicated to the holy Martyrs through their own blood in persecution; then blood and water flowed from the saving rib, which affirm grace when they confess Christ during enlightenment and martyrdom. There is another explanation concerning the rib: the author of sin was the woman created from the rib: why Jesus, who came to grant forgiveness of sins equally to men and women, was pierced in the rib for women in order to destroy sin.

22. If anyone searches, he will find other explanations, but what has been said is sufficient, both because time is short, and so as not to bore the hearers; although one should never be burdened by those who hear about the crowned Lord, and especially those who hear about this all-holy Golgotha. For others only hear, and we both see and touch; let no one be burdened. Arm yourself against your enemies with the Cross itself. As a sign of victory against those who reproach, place faith in the Cross. For when you begin to contend with the unbelievers about the Cross of Christ, then make the sign of the Cross of Christ with your hand beforehand, and he who rebukes will be dumb. Do not be ashamed to confess the Cross: for the angels make it their praise to say: "We know whom ye seek, Jesus crucified" (Matt. 28:5). Could not the angel say, "I know whom ye seek, my Lord?" But I, he says frankly, know the Crucified One. For the Cross is a crown, and not a dishonor.