The Works of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Volume 1

CATECHESIS XII

CATECHESIS XII On the Incarnation IIAgain the Lord spoke to Achaz: Ask for a sign from the Lord . .. the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel."l (1) Children of purity and disciples of chastity, let us celebrate the praises of the Virgin-born God with lips allpure . Being counted worthy to partake of the flesh of the spiritual Lamb, let us take the head with the feet,2 understanding the head as the Divinity, and the feet as the Humanity . We who listen to the Holy Gospels should give heed to John the divine; for he who said: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God/'3 thereafter added: "And the Word was made flesh."4 For it is neither holy to worship the mere man, nor pious to speak of Him as God only, apart from His manhood. For if Christ is God, as He truly is, but did not assume manhood, then we are strangers to salvation. Let us, therefore, adore Him as God, but believe that He became man also; for it is neither profitable to speak of Him as man without the God· head, nor salutary to fail to confess the manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of the King and Physician. For Jesus the King, when about to become our Physician, girded Himself with the linen towel of humanity , and cared for that which was sick. The perfect lIsa. 7.10. 14. 2 Exod. 12.9. 3 John 1.1. 4 Ibid. 14. 227 228 ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM Teacher of children became Himself a child among children, that He might instruct the unwise. The Bread of heaven came down to earth to feed the hungry. (2) But the Jews, while they reject Him who has come, and look for him who is to come in wickedness, have repudiated the True Christ, and being deceived themselves, await the deceiver. And so the Savior is again proved true, who said: "I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me. If another come in his own name, him you will receive."5 Here is a good question for the Jews: "Is the Prophet Isaia, when he says that Emmanuel will be born of a virgin, true or false?" If they accuse him as false, it is not surprising; for it is their custom not only to accuse their prophets as liars, but even to stone them. But if the Prophet is true, point out Emmanuel. Further, is he who is to come, whom you await, to be born of a virgin or not? For if he is not to be born of a virgin, you charge the Prophet with falsehood; but if you expect this in him who is to come, why do you reject that which has already come to pass? (3) Now let the Jews, since they so will, be led astray; but let the Church of God be glorified. For we receive God the Word made Man in truth, not of the will of man and woman, as heretics say, but according to the Gospel, of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit, made Man, not in appearance, but in reality. That He became man of a virgin will be taught in good time, and you will receive the proofs; for the error of the heretics is manifold.6 Some have denied altogether that He was born of a virgin; others assert that He was born, not of a virgin, but of a woman dwelling with a husband. Others assert that Christ is not God made man, but a man made God; for they have dared to say that it was not the 5 John 5.43. 6 Cyril seems to have in mind three types of heretics, those who denied that Christ was born at all (or admitted he was a man but not born of men); secondly, those who maintain that Christ was born as other men, i.e., not from a virgin; thirdly, those who asserted that Christ was deified from mere man. CATECHESIS XII 229 pre-existing Word that became man, but that a certain man was crowned by advancement. (4) But remember the things that were said yesterday regarding His Godhead. Believe that the very same Onlybegotten Son of God...