Chapter XXX.
Do not, in your judgment, equate or make the power of the Lord comparable to the tricks of magicians, either making it seem to be what it was not, as if he had eaten without teeth, broken bread without hands, walked without feet, spoken without a tongue, or shown his side without a body. And how, he says, did they not recognize him on the journey if he had the same body that he had before? For you are mistaken, and greatly mistaken, if you do not hear the Evangelist saying: Why were their eyes prevented from recognizing him; and shortly after: Their eyes were opened, he says, and they recognized him (Luke 24:16, 31). Do you foolishly think that he was someone else when he was recognized, and someone else when he was not recognized? And certainly he was one and the same. Therefore, it was the seeing eyes that both recognized and did not recognize, not the one who was seen, so that the prophecy of the holy Jeremiah might be fulfilled, where he says: 'Why will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither?' (Jeremiah 14:8). Finally, to make you understand, the deception that took place was not in the body of the Lord, but in the closed eyes: 'Their eyes were opened' (John 20:16), and immediately they recognized him. For Mary Magdalene, as long as she sought the living among the dead, did not recognize Jesus; but when she recognized him, she immediately confesses him as the Lord. And also, in the boat, with all the disciples gathered, Jesus stood on the shore (John 21:7); but the others did not recognize him. The first to recognize him was John, and he said: It is the Lord. It was fitting and quite appropriate that virginity should first recognize the virgin body. Therefore, he was the same and yet not the same, as seen by all.