Tractates on the Books of Holy Scripture (Tractatus Origenis) 19.1–20.3

"Let all flesh be silent before the face of the Lord, for he has risen from his holy clouds. And the Lord showed me Jesus the high priest standing before the face of the Lord, and the devil was standing at his right to oppose him," and so on. A great and divine mystery was shown here to the prophet in that typical prefiguration, who says that a high priest was revealed to him, and, so that there should be no doubt who this high priest was, he also expressed the name, saying "Jesus." Whom, then, do we say was shown in revelation to Zechariah as high priest named Jesus? The son of Jehozadak, who was already living then, or Christ, who had not yet come? For a revelation is never made of present things, but of things to come. And what reason was there for the son of Jehozadak to be revealed in figure, who was then present and seen daily in his office? Nor could the prophet call this Jesus, son of Jehozadak, the great priest, before whom there had been great and illustrious priests, such as Melchizedek, Aaron and Eleazar, Samuel and the rest. For no one can be called great and greater to whom someone is found not only equal but even better. He pronounced this Jesus, then, our Lord, great, because not only can no one be found greater or better than he, but not even like him. This, I say, is the great priest of whom it is written: "You are a great priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek," so as to show that this Jesus of ours is a priest not only great but eternal. "But he was standing," it says, "before the face of God." For he always ministers to the Father, dwelling in his sight, being obedient in all things, even to death, the death of the cross. As for the devil standing at his right, he resisted and opposed him when he deigned to come as man, as we read was fulfilled in the Gospel: sending against him first King Herod, to try to kill him among the infants; then by himself, when he attacked him in the desert with a threefold temptation; after this through the Jews, so that they persecuted him beyond belief; then through Judas the traitor, so that they hung him on a cross. And there is no counting how often, with what and how great snares, the devil opposed our God and Savior when he had put on man: but he was conquered and laid low as often as he set about tempting Jesus. Hence in this place too he received sentence from the Lord, when it is said to him: "May the Lord rebuke you, he who has chosen Jerusalem." He means that heavenly Jerusalem chosen by the Lord, of which the blessed apostle Paul says: "The heavenly Jerusalem," he says, "which is our mother"; which John too in the Apocalypse describes as built of gold and gems, to come down from the new heaven onto the new earth, so that there may be, he says, the dwelling of God with men. And so: "May the Lord rebuke you, devil, he who has chosen Jerusalem." The same Lord rebuked him in the Gospel too, when he said: "Get behind me, Satan; you shall not tempt the Lord your God"; and he will rebuke him again at the judgment, when he condemns him with all his own to eternal punishment in the lake of fire, which is Gehenna, as the Lord himself testified in the Gospel that he would say to the unbelievers: "Depart from me, you cursed; I do not know you; go into the eternal fire which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels." This is the rebuke from the Lord which the same Lord threatens against the devil for the future, saying: "May the Lord rebuke you, devil, he who has chosen Jerusalem."

"But Jesus," it says, "was clothed in filthy garments." First we must ask whether Jesus son of Jehozadak ever put on filthy garments, who was not allowed to put on any but clean ones, that is, priestly garments, in which to perform the priestly office. This Jesus, the Son of God, the supreme and true priest of the Father, was seen in filthy garments. We must now show what these filthy garments are. For he took on the flesh of man, liable to sins, like a garment. The prophet too had foretold this: "As I live, says the Lord, I will clothe myself with them all as with a garment." This flesh, then, he put on for our sake at his birth from the Virgin Mary, and put off at his passion, as the apostle says: "Stripping off the flesh, he openly triumphed over the powers through the cross." In bringing in filthy garments, he approved the human flesh which he put on: he called it filthy not because it committed sin in itself, but because he had put it on, by the lot of birth, soiled by the sentence on the first-formed and by the offense of transgression. And so he was seen, as I said, in the filthy garments of the flesh. And this is what the prophet says in this place: "And Jesus was clothed in filthy garments." The blessed apostle Paul too mentions this, saying: "Though he was not a sinner," he says, "he was made sin for us," certainly by putting on a body liable to sins. Hence at the beginning of the Gospel too he is seen wrapped in swaddling cloths and in the rents of the human race, while he takes them on himself, until the tunic of innocence was woven by the shuttle of the cross. That he is found laid in a manger signified that he was to be heavenly food for us, once sinners, as a net of eternal salvation. But hear what he adds: "Is not this," he says, "a brand plucked from the fire?" We must notice to whom this is said or proclaimed. Certainly he said to the devil: "May the Lord rebuke you, devil, he who has chosen Jerusalem." Is this too said to him: "Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" Many of the simpler sort think so, that he called the devil himself a brand plucked from the fire, though the devil has not only not been plucked out but has been condemned to eternal fire, as the Lord says: "Go into the eternal fire which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels." But a brand plucked from the fire is shown half-burned, not burned through. For the Lord put on this body of the human race, which had been scorched by the transgression of the first-formed and the flame of crimes, and freed it, like a half-burned brand, from the fire of Gehenna. As, then, the brand of flesh which the Lord had put on from fellowship with the human race did not have the appearance of a brand, and so the flesh which he freed from the fire of Gehenna, like a brand plucked from the fire ... might return,

Then after this: "Take off his filthy garments, and clothe him in a long robe." The priest used this kind of garment long ago. Fittingly and rightly, then, he took on the priestly garment through the resurrection, because he is the high priest who offered himself to God as a sacrifice for us: having abolished the offenses of the human race, he alone, worthily clothed with immortality, ascended into heaven, so that, ceasing now to be in our filth, now joyful and strong, he shines in the priestly robe, death subdued, clothed, that is, with the glory and honor of the second coming, as the apostle says: "And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know him so no longer." This priest, then, always offers acceptable sacrifice to God the Father, offering him his own obedience as an outstanding victim. Indeed we know and believe that all the sacrifices of the fathers which God deigned to regard were always offered through this priest: through this priest, then, God looked on the gifts of Abel; through him he received and smelled the fragrance of Noah's sacrifices; through him he approved Abraham's victim; through him Isaac sacrificed acceptably; he stood by Jacob's sacrifices; without him Moses could not offer; he commended Aaron's sacrifices, he Samuel's. He, not to be long, approved the offerings of all the other priests: hence we cannot estimate what and how great this priest is, without whom the priests themselves could not offer their sacrifices. This supreme and great priest of God the Father, I say, exercises his priesthood not in some one place but in the whole world. Indeed, since not even the world can contain him, he exercises his priesthood in heaven, so that he is priest not only of men but of angels, as the apostle says: "Who made peace through the blood of his cross, both for things in heaven and things on earth." This priest of ours, I say, proves by his very deeds and powers what and how great he is. He touches lepers and is not defiled. For leprosy, which, if it remained, could have polluted the one who touched it, could not defile when it fled. And while the other priests were polluted if they had handled the bodies of the dead, this priest touches the dead and is clean. For how could death defile him, when whatever he touches at once lives? He handles the eyes of the blind, and they see: for he is light. He touches the mouths of the dumb, and at once they speak: for he is the Word. He touches the ears of the deaf, and they hear without delay: for he is the voice. Likewise he strokes the lame with his hand, and they run: for he is the way. Indeed he touches and cures every kind of illness: for he is health. He absolves the guilty: for he is innocence. He sets free from the slavery of offenses: for he is freedom. He brings back from the underworld: for he is resurrection. He carries up to heaven: for he is king. He raises the dead: for he is life. And, to put it briefly, he is himself whatever he does, nor does he fail in the work, since before the work he is about to do he himself already was in the power of his substance. This priest of ours, I say, for the salvation not of some one man or race but of the whole world, offered not some fat animal, as the old priests did, but gave himself in sacrifice, being led like a lamb without malice to be sacrificed in Jeremiah, or snatched like a sheep to the slaughter to be sacrificed in Isaiah, or slain like the calf in the Gospel for the son who returned, so that joy might be provided. Hence we can now judge whether he offered an acceptable sacrifice, when he who offered was himself offered. But since we have now spoken briefly and in haste of his majesties and powers, let us make an end of this matter.

"In those times, when the days of Pentecost were being completed, all the apostles were together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a rushing, mighty wind." Moses, the renowned prophet, lawgiver and messenger of truth, asked the Lord to be excused from carrying out an embassy to the people, pleading the slowness of a stumbling tongue, that his uncertain voice gave a doubtful and imperfect sound, and that words reported uncertainly and heard less than fully would not be believed, since, with the joints of syllables frustrated and the proper sound of letters scattered, his speech was dragged out haltingly in the effort of an uncertain mouth. For so he says: "Provide, O Lord, another whom you may send. For I am of thin voice and slow of tongue." Yet he could not excuse himself from what the Lord commanded. So I too, most holy brothers, since I am unskilled in words and can say nothing adequate about the greatness of such matters in rustic and countrified speech, ought to ask your charity to excuse me, so that I might pass over this reading in silence, lest our empty words, bursting from a very slender spring of knowledge, overcome by the greatness of the matter as by the mass of an outpoured sea, be unable to proclaim things so great and lofty. But I will do it, dearest brothers, since both my office and my love for your charity do not let me keep silent, because it is necessary that by constant preaching some increase of faith and knowledge be given you through the Lord. This reading, then, which has been read, suggests that the gift of the Holy Spirit, which the Lord long ago promised to believers through his prophets, was afterwards made present under the apostles on the day of Pentecost. For so it is written: "And when the days of Pentecost were being completed, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues distributed as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in various tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter." But individuals, not knowing what it was that they were speaking in tongues, said: "These men are full of new wine." Hence the blessed apostle Peter says: "Men of Judea, and you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day. But this is what the prophet had said: And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh, and their sons and daughters will prophesy, and the young men will see visions, and the old men will dream dreams." To receive this Spirit, then, let us offer all our senses and a capacious soul. For so the Lord says in the Gospel: "For the Father does not give the Spirit by measure," but grants him abundantly and generously. For just as, if anyone wishes to draw water from a great and immense river, he will draw as much as the vessel he has brought holds, so too the mind of man will receive as much of the Spirit as it is willing, according to its disposition and faith, to hold and draw. This Holy Spirit, then, who came like tongued fire and filled the hearts of all believers with the power of his majesty, is not new in the Gospel, but, renewed in Christ, has been given to all, as the Lord himself said that new wine must be put into new wineskins. This, I say, is he whom he now calls the Paraclete, now names the Spirit of truth, who both in the prophets accused the people of the Jews and in the apostles provided advocacy for the Gentiles.

But perhaps someone may say: "If the Spirit of God came down upon the virgin and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, as it is written, 'The Spirit of God will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,' why did he come again upon the Lord in the likeness of a dove?" Hear the reason, brothers, so that you may lay aside from your mind every scruple about this question. The Son of God first came to the virgin in order to form for himself a man from it in the virgin's womb. Just as he had formed the first Adam from the mud of the earth, so too he formed this second Adam from a virgin mother as from untilled earth, so that what the first Adam had lost might be restored in Christ, and as death had come through the first Adam, so through this second Adam life might be given back to all, as the apostle says: "The first man from the earth, earthly; the second man from heaven, heavenly," and "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." It was therefore necessary that the Holy Spirit should first come to that man whom the Word of God had put on, and so through him, as from a fountain of powers, the grace of the same Holy Spirit might overflow, distributed, to us too; because so great a power of the Paraclete Spirit could not dwell in a human body unless he had first grown accustomed, resting in the flesh of the Son of God: so that, while he grew accustomed to come to the Son of God, he might from then on remain in man and spread through all flesh baptized in Christ. And so the whole fullness of the Holy Spirit came upon Christ, because he is the entire body of the whole Church. In us, however, who are counted as members, the several gifts of graces of the same Spirit have been distributed, so that the good things of the same Spirit might be brought to us, as a kind of first taste of graces, with the rest following, as from the fountain of Christ's gifts and works. This, I say, is the Spirit who works from water a second birth by a kind of seed of divine lineage and the consecration of a heavenly birth, who makes us the temple of God and makes us a holy house, who intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings, fulfilling the office of advocacy and providing the services of defense; he has been given as an indweller to our bodies, made a witness of holiness, working in us to lead our bodies to divinity and to the immortality of resurrection, while he accustoms them to be joined with the heavenly power of the mystery and with the spirit of divine eternity. This, I say, is the Spirit who desires against the flesh, because the flesh fights against him. He restrains insatiable desires and breaks immoderate lusts, extinguishes unlawful ardors and conquers burning impulses, casts out drunkenness, checks avarice, flees the revels of luxury, binds love, ties affections, repels sects, seeks the rule of truth, refutes heretics, drives out the wicked, guards the things of the Gospel. Of this Spirit the apostle says: "For we have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God." Of him he exults and says: "I think that I too have the Spirit of God." Of this Spirit he says plainly that in the last days some will depart from the faith, giving heed to spiritual teachings of demons in hypocrisy, speaking lies, having their conscience seared. No one set in this Spirit denies that Christ is true God and the true only-begotten Son of God, born of the unbegotten; no one repudiates God the creator; no one utters any words of his own against Scripture; no one establishes other and sacrilegious decrees; no one writes different laws; no one betrays the faith; because whoever blasphemes against this Spirit has no forgiveness either in this age or in the age to come. For this Spirit bears witness to Christ in the apostles, shows the faith of religion arousing in the martyrs, encloses in virgins the admirable constancy of sealed flesh, guards in the rest these uncorrupted and undefiled laws of the Lord's teaching, destroys heretics, corrects the perverse, convicts unbelievers, exposes pretenders, restrains all the wicked, guards the uncorrupted, immaculate, perpetual virginity of the Church. This, I say, is the Spirit who on this day, that is, Pentecost, was sent by God to the Church, who does not distinguish ages, does not separate the sexes, does not respect persons, but offers and gives himself to each according to the merit of faith, choosing not age or person but a soul into which he gladly brings himself. For one and the same Spirit works all things in all. For this reason, then, the Lord said: "When I go away, I will ask my Father, and I will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. When that Advocate comes whom I will send you from my Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from my Father, and he will receive of mine, and he will teach you all things."

To receive this Spirit, then, dearest brothers, we must prepare our soul and minds in all holiness and righteousness. For he is delicate and clean, and does not dwell, as it is written, in a body subject to sins. He always seeks for himself a house pure and without any pretense, in which, when he has begun to dwell, he will make that body a temple of God. Strengthened by this Spirit, the apostles feared neither prison nor chains for the name of Christ our God, having in themselves the gifts which this same Spirit distributed and arranged for the Church, the bride of Christ, as a kind of ornaments. He set prophets in the Church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, works powers of healing, performs wonderful works, contributes governments, suggests counsels, and arranges whatever other gifts there are, so that in all things the Church of God may be preserved perfect by the protection of this Spirit.