23. Let us now turn to the Prophetic instructions we have mentioned. The Lord was crucified, you have testimonies to this. You see the place of Golgotha, and as one who agrees, you cry out with praise. See that you do not renounce this at any time during the persecution. Not only in times of peace, rejoice in the Cross, but also in times of persecution, have the same faith in Him. Do not be a friend of Jesus in time of peace, but His enemy in time of battle. You now receive the forgiveness of your sins and the royal rewards of the spiritual Gift. When war comes, fight bravely for your King, Jesus, being without sin, was crucified for you: will you not also be crucified for Him who was crucified for you? You do not give a gift, for you first received from Him, but you repay the gift, giving due to it. Who was crucified on Golgotha for you. Golgotha means the place of the skull. And did not someone prophetically call Golgotha the place where the true head Christ endured the Cross, as the Apostle says: "Who is the image of God invisible, and not much after: and He is the head of the body of the church" (Col. 1:15, 18)? In another place: Christ is the head of every man (1 Cor. 11:3); and again: "Who is the head of every principality and authority" (Col. 2:10). This head suffered on the forehead. What is the significance of this prophetic name? It seems that the very name convinces you to say: do not look upon the Crucified One as at a simple man; the crucified head is the head of all authority, the head that has the Father. For Christ is the head of man, and God is the head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3).

24. So Christ was crucified for us, having been judged in the night when it was cold, and therefore the burning wood was laid out. He was crucified at the third hour: from the sixth hour there was darkness until the ninth (Matt. 27:40), and from the ninth hour there was light again. Let us examine whether it is not written about this as well. Zechariah says to this: "And it shall be in the day, there shall be no light, but winter and scum: and the day shall be one" (Zech. 14:6). It was winter, so Peter was warming himself. And that day shall be known to the Lord (7). What then? Does He know no other days? Many days; but this day is the day of the Lord's suffering; the day that the Lord made. And we shall know that day of the Lord, and neither day nor night. What is the riddle that the Prophet offers: that day is neither day nor night? What shall we call it? He explains the Gospel by narrating this event. It was not a day: for the sun did not shine equally from rising to its setting, but from the sixth hour to the ninth hour there was darkness in the middle of the day. In the middle of the day it was dark; but God called darkness night. For this reason that day was neither day nor night: for there was not light all its duration, so that it could be called day; and there was not darkness in all the continuation, to be called night: but after the ninth hour the sun rose. And the Prophet foretold about this; For having said, "Neither day nor night," he added, "And in the evening there shall be light" (7)."You see the accuracy of the Prophets, you see the truth of what is written.

25. But do you want to know at what hour the sun darkened, at the fifth, or at the sixth, or at the ninth? Tell the stubborn Jews, O Prophet, when will the sun cease to shine? To this the Prophet Amos says: "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that the sun shall go down at noon" (Amos 8:90: for from the sixth hour there was darkness, and light shall be darkened upon the earth in the day) (Ibid.). What time is it, Prophet, and what day is it? And I will turn your feasts into pity (Amos 8:10). and during the celebration of Easter. Then he says: "And I will lay him down as the pity of the beloved, and I am with him as the day of sickness" (Ibid.). Then was the day of unleavened bread and the feast; while the Jewish women were grieving and weeping, and the Apostles who were in hiding were grieving. Verily, marvelous is this prophecy!

26. But someone will say, "Show me another sign as well." What better sign can there be regarding this event? Jesus is crucified: He had on Himself one lower garment and one outer garment: the soldiers divided the outer garment into four parts; but the lower one was not torn asunder, for if it had been torn asunder, it would have been good for nothing. That is why the warriors cast lots for her. That garment is divided, and lots are cast for this one. Is it not written about this also? Diligent church Psalmists know this; imitating the Angelic host and always glorifying God, they are vouchsafed to sing on Golgotha and say: "I have divided My garments for myself, and about My garments I cast lots" (Psalm 21:19): and this lot was the lot of soldiers.

27. When Jesus was also condemned before Pilate, he was clothed in scarlet; for there is His garment of scarlet chlamys (Matt. 27:28). Is it not written about this also? Isaiah says: "Who is this one that came from Edom, his garments are scarlet from Bozrah" (Isaiah 63:1)? Who is this clothed in scarlet garments as a sign of dishonor? For Bozrah means something like this among the Hebrews. Why are thy garments scarlet, and thy garments, as from the trampling of a winepress (Isaiah 63:2)? And he answers, and says, "I have stretched out my hands all day long to the people who are disobedient, and to those who speak contrary" (Isaiah 65:2).

28. He stretched out His hands on the Cross to embrace the ends of the world: for this Golgotha is the midst of the earth These are not my words, but the Prophet said, "I have made salvation in the midst of the earth" (Psalm 73:12). He stretched out His human hands, Who with His spiritual hands established the heavens. They were nailed so that while His humanity was nailed to the tree, having taken away human sins, while mankind ceases to live, sin would die together, and we would be resurrected in righteousness. For remember His words: "The province of the Imam shall lay down My soul, and the region of the Imam shall receive it" (John 10:18).

29. Yet he endured this, having come for the salvation of all: but the people repaid him with evil for it. Jesus says, "I thirst" (John 19:28). He who brought forth water for them from a solid stone asks for fruit from the grapes planted by him. But what is this vineyard, which by birth comes from the Holy Fathers, and by will from the Sodomites? For their grapes are of the vines of Sodom, and their rods of Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 32:32). Having drunk his lip and thrust it into the reed, he brings vinegar to the thirsty Lord: and the date is gall for My food, and for My thirst He has given Me to drink (Psalm 68:22). You see the clarity of the Prophetic prediction. What gall have they given to My mouth? They gave Him, as they say the Gospel, wine with myrrh (Mark 15:23); but myrrh is like gall and bitter. Do you repay this to the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:6)? Does this bring the grapes to the Lord? Isaiah justly weeps over you, saying: "The grapes were for the beloved in a rose, in the place of fat" (Isaiah 5:1). We will not all say: "Wait, let him make a cluster, I have thirsted for his wine, and he has made thorns" (2). Do you see the crown that is placed on Me? What judgment shall I pronounce after this? Let us sing like a cloud, if it does not rain on it (6). And the clouds, i.e. the prophets, were taken away from them; The prophets are now in the Church of Christ, as Paul says: "But let the two prophets speak, and let the friends reason" (1 Cor. 14:29); and in another place: God gave food in the church, for the sheep were the apostles, and the sheep were the prophets (Ephesians 4:11). Agabus, having bound his feet and hands, was a prophet.

30. Of the thieves who were crucified with Him, it is said: "And with the wicked they are reckoned" (Isaiah 53:12, Luke 23:32). Before this they were both lawless, and from this time on one is no longer a lawless man. For one remained a lawless man unto death, not accepting salvation. His hands were nailed, and his tongue struck with blasphemy. The passing Jews nodded their heads, cursing at the Crucified One. On them was fulfilled what was written: "Thou hast seen me, thou hast forsaken thy heads" (Psalm 108:23). And this thief blasphemed with them; but the other hushed the blasphemer, and the end of his life was for him the beginning of correction, the surrender of the soul to the receipt of salvation. Calming the first, then he says: "Remember me, O Lord" (Luke 23:42), to Thee I cry. I do not say, remember my deeds, for I am afraid of them. Every man is disposed to his companion; and I accompany Thee to death. Remember Thy companion; but I do not say, "Remember me now, but when thou comest in Thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42).

31. By what power have you been admonished, O thief? Who taught you to worship the despised One and the Crucified One with you? O eternal light, enlightening the darkened! wherefore he justly heard: "Hope, not because thy deeds give thee the right to hope, but because the gracious King is here." There should be a long-term petition; and grace is granted very soon. Amen I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me into paradise (Luke 23:43). (Psalm 74:8). I very soon pronounced a decree against Adam, very soon I forgive you. It was said to him: "In the next day ye shall bear it, ye shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). Thou hast now submitted to the faith, and now thou hast salvation. He fell, having eaten of the tree; and you are led into paradise by means of the tree. Do not be afraid of the serpent, for it will not vomit you up; for he fell from heaven. I do not say unto thee this day, thou shalt depart, but to-day shalt thou be with Me (Luke 23:43). Hope, you will not be cast out, do not be afraid of the flaming sword: he will be ashamed of the Lord. How great and ineffable is grace! Faithful Abraham has not yet entered where the thief enters. Moses and the prophets have not yet entered, but the wicked thief is entering. Paul was amazed at this even before you, saying: "Where sin abounded, grace abounded" (Romans 5:20). Those who endured the heat had not yet entered, but at the eleventh hour he who came entered. Let no one murmur against the Lord, for He says: "Friend, I will not offend thee" (Matt. 20:13). Do I not have the power to dispose of mine as I will? The robber wants to do good, but death warns. I not only expect works, but also accept faith. Having come to feed in the vineyards, I came to feed also in the caves (Song of Songs 6:1, 2). I have found the lost sheep (Luke 15:4, 5): I take him on my shoulders, for he believes as he himself said: "I have gone astray as a lost sheep; remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest in Thy kingdom. (Psalm 118:176, Luke 23:42).

32. In the songs of the vineyard I myself foretold to my bride, and these words I said to her, "I have entered into the vineyard, my sister, a bride" (Song of Songs 5:1). And where the gate was crucified (John 19:41). What do you find here? Embrace my myrrh (Song of Songs 5:1), when I drank wine and vinegar mixed with myrrh. Having received this, He said: "It is finished" (John 19:30). For the mystery was fulfilled, what was written was fulfilled, sin was destroyed: for Christ came as the Archbishop of the good things to come, with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not sowing creatures, nor with the blood of a goat, lower than a calf, but with His own blood alone entering into the Holy One. For if the blood of a goat, and of a calf, and the ashes of a young man, which sprinkles defiled, sanctifies to purity, how much more is the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:11-14)? And in another place: "Having boldness, 6pamie, enter into the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ, by a new and living way, which He hath renewed unto us with a veil, that is, with His flesh" (Heb. 10:19, 20). And because his veil is that the flesh is dishonored; then the veil of the Church, which prefigures it, was torn asunder, as it is written: "And behold, the veil of the Church was torn in two, from the upper end to the lower one" (Matt. 27:51). And since the Lord said, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Matt. 23:38), the house also was destroyed.

33. The Saviour endured this, making peace (Col. 1:20) with the blood of the Cross in heaven and on earth. For we were enemies because of sin; and God ordained death for the sinner. Which of the two was to be: was it necessary to kill by justice, or by love of mankind to violate the decree? But note the wisdom of God: He has preserved both the truth of the decree and the power of love for mankind. Christ bore the sins on the body on the tree, that by His death we might live in righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). Not insignificant was the one who died for us; the Lamb was not sensual; he was not an ordinary man; He was not only an angel, but God incarnate. The iniquity of sinners was not so important as the righteousness of him who died for them. We have not so much sinned as He who laid down His life for us has done righteousness; He who put it when he willed, and again when he who received it willed. And do you want to know that He did not end His life by force, and that He did not betray the Spirit against His will? He cried out to the Father, saying: Father, forgive them! in Thy hands I commend My Spirit (Luke 23:46). I give you to receive it; and these rivers, give up the spirit (Matt. 27:50); but not for a long time, for soon he rose again from the dead.

34. The sun was darkened for the sake of the sun of righteousness: the stones were broken up for the sake of the Spiritual stone; the tombs were opened, and the dead were raised for His sake, Who is free in the dead (Psalm 87:6). He sent His prisoners out of the pit, having no water (Zech. 9:11). Therefore, do not be ashamed of the Crucified One, but say with boldness: "This beareth our sins, and grieveth for us, and by His wound we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4, 5). Let us not be ungrateful to the Benefactor. And again, "For the iniquities of my people I am led to death: and I will give the wicked instead of burying Him, and the rich instead of His death" (8:9). For this reason Paul clearly says: "For Christ died for our sin, according to the Scriptures, and as He was buried, and as He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4).

35. Do we want to know exactly where he is buried? Was His tomb made with His hands? Is it higher than the earth, following the example of the royal sepulchers? Is the monument made of stones? And what is entrusted to him? Tell us definitely, Prophets! and about the tomb, where He is laid, and where shall we seek Him? They say: "Look at the hard stone, which is made of severity" (Isaiah 51:1), look and be ashamed. Thou hearest in the Gospel: "In the grave he was hewn, which was hewn out of the stone" (Luke 23:53, Mark 15:46). And what further? What is the door of the coffin? And to this another Prophet says: "Thou hast laid my life in the pit, and hath laid a stone upon me" (Lamentations 3:53). I, the cornerstone, the chosen one, the honest one, lie within the stone, not for a long time; a stumbling block for the Jews, and a saving stone for believers. Therefore the tree of life was planted on the earth so that the cursed earth might be blessed, and that the dead might be set free.

36. Therefore, let us not be ashamed to confess the Crucified One; with boldness let us make the sign of the Cross with our hands on our foreheads and on everything: on the bread that we eat; on the cups from which we drink; let us depict Him at the entrances, at the exits, when we go to bed and get up, when we are on the road and resting. He is a great protection, given to the poor as a gift, and to the weak without difficulty. For this is the grace of God; Banners for the faithful, and fear for evil spirits. Because by means of it He overcame them, bringing them to shame with boldness (Col. 2:15). When they see the Cross, they remember the Crucified One. They are afraid of the dragon that crushed the head. Do not despise this sign, for the reason that it has been given to you freely; but for this all the more revere the Benefactor.