[scrierile] St. Ireneus of Lyons (August 23rd) - The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
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- Date: 23 Aug 2006 04:53:06 -0700
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http://www.ccel.org/ccel/irenaeus/demonstr.txt
THE DEMONSTRATION OF THE
APOSTOLIC PREACHING
80. And again David says:
They looked upon me: they parted my garments among them, and upon
any
vesture they cast lots.
For at His crucifixion the soldiers parted His garments as they were
wont;
and the garments they parted by tearing; but for the vesture,
because it was
woven from the top and was not sewn, they cast lots, that to
whomsoever it
should fall he should take it.
And again Jeremiah the prophet says:
And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was
sold,
whom they bought from the children of Israel; and they gave them for
the
potter's field, as the Lord commanded me.
(Zech. xi. 13) For Judas, being one of Christ's disciples, agreed
with the
Jews and covenanted with them, when he saw they desired to kill Him,
because
he had been reproved by Him: and he took the thirty
staters [261] of the province, and betrayed Christ unto them: and
then,
repenting of what he had done, he gave the silver back again to the
rulers
of the Jews, and hanged himself. But they, thinking it not right to
cast it
into their treasury, because it was the price of blood, bought with
it the
ground that was a certain potter's for the burial of strangers.
82. And at His crucifixion, when He asked a drink,
they gave Him to drink vinegar mingled with gall. (Cf. Joh. xix. 29)
And
this was declared through David.
They gave gall to my meat, and in any thirst they gave me vinegar to
drink.
[262]
83. And that, being raised from the dead, He was to ascend into
heaven, (Ps.
lxviii 17) David says thus:
The chariot of God (is) ten-thousandfold, thousands are the drivers:
[263]
the Lord (is) among then in Sinai in (his) sanctuary.
He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive: he received, he
gave gifts
to men. And by captivity he means the destruction of the rule of the
apostate angels. [264] He declares also the place where He was to
ascend
into heaven from the earth. For the Lord, he says, from Sion
ascended up on
high. [265] For over against Jerusalem, on the mount which is called
(the
Mount) of Olives, after He was risen from the dead, He assembled His
disciples, and expounded to them the things concerning the kingdom
of
heaven; and they saw that He ascended, and they saw how the heavens
were
opened and received Him.
84. And the same says David again:
Lift up your gates, ye rulers; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
gates, and
the King of glory shall come in.
For the everlasting gates are the heavens. But because the Word
descended
invisible to created things, He was not made known in His descent to
them.
Because the Word was made flesh, He was visible in His ascension;
and, when
the powers saw Him, the angels below cried out to those who were on
the
firmament: Lift up your gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
gates, that
the King of glory may come in. And when they marvelled and said:
Who is this? those who had already seen Him testified a second time:
The
Lord strong and mighty, he is the King of glory. [266]
85. And being raised from the dead and exalted at the Father's
right hand,
He awaits the time appointed by the Father for the judgment, when
all
enemies shall be put under Him. Now the enemies are all those who
were found
in apostasy, angels and archangels and powers and thrones, who
despised the
truth. And the prophet David himself says thus:
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine
enemies
thy footstool.
And that He ascended thither, whence He had come down, David says:
From the end of heaven is his going forth, and his cessation even at
the end
of heaven. Then he signifies his judgment: And there is none that
shall be
hid from his heat. [267]
86. If then the prophets prophesied that the Son of God was to
appear upon
the earth, and prophesied also where on the earth and how and in
what manner
He should make known His appearance, and all these prophecies the
Lord took
upon Himself; our faith in Him was well-founded, and the tradition
of the
preaching (is) true: that is to say, the testimony of the apostles,
who
being sent forth by the Lord preached in all the world the Son of
God, who
came to suffer, and endured to the destruction of death and the
quickening
of the flesh: that by the putting away of the enmity towards God,
which is
unrighteousness, we should obtain peace with Him, doing that which
is
pleasing to Him. And this was declared by the prophets in the words:
How beautiful are the feet of them that bring tidings of peace, and
of them
that. bring tidings of good things.
[268] (Isa. lii. 7) And that these were to go forth from Judæa and
from
Jerusalem, to declare to us the word of God, which is the law [269]
for us,
Isaiah says thus:
For from Sion shall come forth the law, and the word of the Lord
from
Jerusalem. And that in all the earth they were to preach, David
says:
Into all the earth went forth their speech, and their words to the
ends of
the world.
And that not by the much speaking of the law, but by the brevity of
faith
and love, men were to be saved, Isaiah says thus:
A word brief and short in righteousness: for a short word will God
make in
the whole world.
(Cf. Isa. x. 23) And therefore the apostle Paul says:
Love is the fulfilling of the law: for he who loves God has
fulfilled the
law. Moreover the Lord, when He was asked which is the first
commandment,
said:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
strength. [270]
And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. On
these two commandments, He says, all the hangeth and the prophets.
So then
by our faith in Him He has made our love to God and our neighbour to
grow,
making us godly and righteous and good. And therefore a short word
has God
made on the earth in the world.
88. And that after His ascension He was to be exalted above all, and
that
there shall be none to be compared and equalled unto Him, Isaiah
says thus:
[271]
Who is he that entereth into judgment (with me)? Let him stand up
against
(me). And who is he who is justified? Let him draw near to the
Lord's Son.
Woe unto you, for ye shall grow old as a garment, and the moth shall
devour
you. And all flesh shall be humbled and abased, and the Lord alone
shall be
exalted in the highest. And that in the end by His name they should
be saved
who served God, Isaiah says:
And on those who serve me a new name shall be called, which shall be
blessed
upon the earth: and they shall bless the true God. And that this
blessing He
Himself should bring about, and Himself should redeem us by His own
blood,
Isaiah declared, saying:
No mediator, no angel, but the Lord himself saved them; because he
loved
them and spared them: he himself redeemed them. [272]
89. That He would not send back the redeemed to the legislation of
Moses-for
the law was fulfilled in Christ-but would have them live [273] in
newness by
the Word, through faith in the Son of God and love, Isaiah declared,
saying:
Remember not the former things, nor bring to mind the things that
were in
the beginning. Behold I make new (things), which shall now spring
up, and ye
shall know (them). And I will make in the wilderness a way, and in
the
waterless place streams, to give drink to my chosen race, and to my
people
whom I have purchased to declare my virtues. [274] Now a wilderness
and a
waterless place was at first the calling of the Gentiles: for the
Word had
not passed through them, [275] nor given them the Holy Spirit to
drink;
[276] who fashioned the new way of godliness and righteousness, and
made
copious streams to spring forth, disseminating over the earth the
Holy
Spirit; even as it had been promised through the prophets, that in
the end
of the days He should pour out the Spirit upon the face of the earth.
.
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