105. Also, the crown of thorns attached to His head (Ibid., 29) serves to show nothing other than the gift of divine work, which sought the triumphant glory of God through the thorns of the world, like the thorns of the world, as it were. Nor are there any lack of whips, for he himself was whipped, so that we might not be whipped. For the man, being wounded and knowing how to endure weaknesses, sorrows for us (Isaiah 53:3-4), for us who previously fled from God, turning the whips of fugitives. So patient is the Lord that he would offer his own hands in the chains of fugitives and his own body in the whips of fugitives. Therefore, they reveal an honored outcome for the Jews despite their detestable state of mind; for although they crown the tormentors and adore the mockers, although they do not believe in their hearts, they confess the one they are killing. They lacked the desire for good deeds, but they did not lack honor before God: they are hailed as king, crowned as conqueror, worshiped as if they were God and Lord.
106. The reed is also included according to Matthew's account, when it is taken in his hand (Matt. 27:29); so that human weakness, no longer being moved like a reed by the wind, may be strengthened by the works of Christ and established, and the ancient sentence that was against us may cease with the crucifixion of the handwriting that was contrary to us; or according to Mark's account, when they strike his head (Mark 15:19), so that our condition, being fortified by the touch of divinity, cannot be shaken.
107. (Vers. 26.) But now let the victorious one raise his own trophy. The cross is placed upon the shoulders as a trophy, which either Simon or he himself carried; and Christ is in the man, and the man carried in Christ. The statements of the evangelists do not contradict when the mystery agrees: and the good order of our progress is this; that he himself would first raise the trophy of his cross, and then hand it over to be raised by the martyrs. It is not a Jew who carries the cross, but a foreigner and a stranger: he does not lead, but follows, as it is written: Take up your cross and follow me. For Christ ascended not his own cross, but ours. Nor was that death of his a divine death, but, as it were, human; whence also he himself saith: My God, my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew XXVII, 46)
108. Beautifully ascending, he laid aside the royal garments, so that you may know that he suffered as a man, not as a God-king: although Christ is both, he was affixed to the cross as a man, not as a God. But the soldiers, not being Jews, do not know the time or what kind of clothes are suitable for Christ. He stands in judgment as a conqueror: he comes to his passion as a defendant, humbly.
Now since we have already seen the trophy, let the triumphator ascend his chariot: not seeking spoils from the trunks of trees or from four-horse wagons obtained from a mortal enemy, but hanging the captured spoils from the triumphal gibbet. Here we do not see nations with their arms bound behind their backs, nor the images of sacked cities, nor the likenesses of captured towns, or the bowed necks of captured kings, as is customary in human triumphs; nor the boundaries of victory marked by the end of a region: but we see rejoicing peoples of nations, not sought out for punishment, but for reward, adoring kings with affection for their children, cities devoted to voluntary pursuits and reformed for the better, images of towns that have not been depicted by makeup, but have been colored by devotion to the faith: arms and the rights of victories flowing throughout the entire world, the captive prince of the world, and the spiritual wickednesses which are in the heavens, obedient to the command of the human voice, subject to the dominions of various virtues, shining forth not in silk, but in morals. Chastity shines, faith gleams, and devotion to fortitude rises now, having stripped off the robes of death. The triumph of God has made all men near to triumph, the cross of the Lord.
110. Therefore, it is worth considering how one ascends. I see it as naked: let such a one ascend who is prepared to overcome the world; so that they may not seek the help of the world. Adam was defeated when he sought clothing; he who discarded covering was victorious. And such ones ascend as we, created by God as their author, nature formed: such a one dwelt in paradise as the first man, such a one entered paradise as the second man. And in order to conquer not only for oneself but for all, he extended his hand, so that he might draw all things to himself; so that, having stripped off the bondage of death, suspended by the yoke of faith, he might unite heavenly things with earthly things that were previously terrestrial.
111. (Verse 38.) Also, a title is written: the victors are accustomed to lead the procession; but indeed, a good procession of the rising dead preceded the triumphal chariot of the Lord. Also, a title is accustomed to indicate the number of subjugated nations. In those triumphs, a pitiful order is arranged of the conquered, the contemptible captivity of nations perishing: here, the grace of the redeemed nations flourishes: fitting slaves for such a great triumph, that heaven, earth, seas, and the underworld are changed from corruption to grace.
112. However, a title is written and placed above the cross, not beneath the cross; for the beginning is on his shoulders. And what is the beginning, if not his eternal power and divinity? Therefore, when he was asked who he was, he replied: The beginning, who also speak to you. Let us read this title:
Jesus, he says, the Nazarene, king of the Jews.
113. The title is rightly placed above the cross; because the kingdom that Christ has is not of a human body, but of divine power. The title is rightly placed above the cross; for although the Lord Jesus was on the cross, he shone with the majesty of a king above the cross. A worm on the cross, a beetle on the cross: and a good worm that clung to the wood, a good beetle that cried out from the wood. What did he cry out? Lord, do not hold this sin against them. He cried out to the thief: Today you will be with me in paradise. He cried out like a scarab beetle: God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And the good scarab beetle, who with the tracks of his feet used to turn the shapeless and sluggish clay of our body; the good scarab beetle who raises the poor from the dung. He raised Paul, who was considered as dung; he also raised Job, who was sitting in dung. Therefore, not an insignificant title.
114. But the very place of the cross, either in the middle, as visible to all, or above Adam, as the Hebrews argue, for burial. For it was fitting that there our first-fruits of life should be placed, where the beginnings of death had been.
115. The garments are divided, each is carried away by a different fate; for the spirit of God is not grasped by human opinion, but rather it glides in like an unexpected event. And perhaps these soldiers had the type of the four Evangelists who wrote the title that we all read. I read the title of the king of the Jews, when I read: My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). I read the cause of Christ written above his head, when I read: And the Word was God (John 1:1); for the head of Christ is God.
116. Therefore they were keeping Jesus and today they keep him, so that he may not happen to stumble, so that he may not descend from passion, which the Jewish people sought. To me it is clear that Christ dies in passion, so that he may rise after the passion. He did not want to descend for himself, so that he may die for me. Therefore Christ is already kept for us: for us his garments are divided. Individuals cannot possess everything, and therefore the lot is cast over the tunic; because the division of the Holy Spirit is not made according to human will. For there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
117. Look now at the divided garments of Christ. Where shall I find them? Look in Matthew, you will find the scarlet cloak alone with Him (Matt. 27:28); with John, the purple robe (John 19:2); with Mark, only the purple (Mark 15:17); with Luke, the white garment (Luke 23:11), for this one He was content with as His portion. How many soldiers, then, did Christ clothe with His garment? But I believe not just four, but He clothed all the soldiers and abundantly provided for all. But let us return to the evangelists.
118. Therefore, these mystical parts, not parts of garments, but qualities, seem to me to be virtues. For one has written more sublimely about the kingdom, another more extensively about the training of the individual, Luke has chosen the brilliance of priestly garments for himself, but Mark did not desire the text of words, finally John wove certain sentences with which he clothes our faith. Does not that which is woven seem to you: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: this was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through it (John 1:1-3)? But Marcus, content with the brilliance of purple, without any embellishment of words, says: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1).
Therefore, the garments of Christ are divided either by action or by grace; for the tunic could not be divided, namely, faith, because it is not for the portion of individuals, but for the common right of all; for what is not divided remains whole for each.
And the cloths from above are good; for the faith of Christ is covered in such a way that it descends from the divine to the human; because he who was born from God before the ages, took on the assumption of flesh in the later times. Therefore, it is signified to us that faith should not be torn apart but should remain solid.
(Vers. 43.)
(Verse 43.) Amen, amen I say to you: Today you will be with me in paradise.
121. The most beautiful example of a desired conversion, which is so quickly granted to a thief, and grace is more abundant than prayer; for the Lord always gives more than is requested. He asked the Lord to remember him when He came into His kingdom, and the Lord said to him: Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise (Matthew 27:44). For to be with Christ is life; therefore, where Christ is, there is life, there is the kingdom. Therefore, the Lord quickly forgives (Mark 15:32), because he quickly turns back.
122. (Verse 39.) And hence it seems that this is resolved, because others bring in two accusing thieves, but this one accuses one, and one asks. Perhaps this one was accused first, but suddenly he was converted. It is not surprising if he forgave the fault when he turned against those insulting him, he who granted pardon to the insulters. He could also speak in the plural about one, as in this case: The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Anointed (Psalm 2:2); for only Herod the king and Pontius Pilate the governor are said to have conspired against Christ by the voice of Peter in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 4:27). Thus, you have it in Hebrews, they walked about in goat skins, they were sawed in two, and they were stuffed into the mouths of lions (Heb. XI, 37); while only Elijah is said to have had a hairy mantle, Isaiah is said to have been sawed in two (IV Kings I, 8), and Daniel is shown to have remained unharmed by the lions (Dan. VI, 22).
123. (Verse 40) How execrable is the injustice of the Jews in the act of crucifying the Redeemer as if he were a thief! However, the good thief is mystically cunning, who deceived the devil in order to take away his vessels. But mystically, the two thieves represent two groups of sinners to be crucified with Christ through baptism: their disagreement signifies the diversity of believers. Finally, one was on the left, the other on the right (John 19:30). The reproof also reveals the future scandal of the cross even among believers.
124. And the Jews offered vinegar (Matthew 27:48). Indeed, corruption of sincerity is drawn from all things that are consumed, so that all things that were tainted would be fixed to the cross. Therefore vinegar is drank, wine with gall is not drank (ibid., 34), not because of the gall, but because the bitterness mixed with the wine is rejected. For the bitterness of our life has been taken on for the sake of the condition of the body. Finally, he himself says: They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:22). But bitterness should not be mixed with sincerity, so that the future immortality of those who rise may be shown without bitterness: and since immortality had formed in the human vessel, it is separated in Christ. Therefore vinegar is drunk, that is, the vice of corrupted immortality by Adam is erased on the cross, so that it may be absorbed from the human body. We also should pour our vices, which have concreted through the carelessness of mind and body, into Christ: pour them through baptism, so that we may be crucified in Christ: pour them through repentance, so that from Him the pure sincerity of heavenly wine and blood may be restored to us.
Finally, when he had tasted the vinegar, he said, 'It is finished' (John 19:30); because the fullness of assumed mortality had fulfilled every mystery, and with all vices exhausted, only the joy of immortality remained. And for this reason he said:
(Vers. 46.)