XX. A Prophetic Prediction Concerning Christ Jesus.

For even now, on the tenth day of the month Gorpiaeus, when they assemble together, they read the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in which it is said, "The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord was taken in their destructions;"¹ and Baruch, in whom it is written, "This is our God; no other shall be esteemed with Him. He found out every way of knowledge, and showed it to Jacob His son, and Israel His beloved. Afterwards He was seen upon earth, and conversed with men."² And when they read them, they lament and bewail, as themselves suppose, that desolation which happened by Nebuchadnezzar; but, as the truth shows, they unwillingly make a prelude to that lamentation which will overtake them. But after ten days from the ascension, which from the first Lord's day is the fiftieth day, do ye keep a great festival: for on that day, at the third hour, the Lord Jesus sent on us the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we were filled with His energy, and we "spake with new tongues, as that Spirit did suggest to us;"³ and we preached both to Jews and Gentiles, that He is the Christ of God, who is "determined by Him to be the Judge of quick and dead."⁴ To Him did Moses bear witness, and said: "The Lord received fire from the Lord, and rained it down."⁵ Him did Jacob see as a man, and said: "I have seen God face to face, and my soul is preserved."⁶ Him did Abraham entertain, and acknowledge to be the Judge, and his Lord.⁷ Him did Moses see in the bush;⁸ concerning Him did he speak in Deuteronomy: "A Prophet will the Lord your God raise up unto you out of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall be, that every soul that will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among his people."⁹ Him did Joshua the son of Nun see, as the captain of the Lord's host, in armour, for their assistance against Jericho; to whom he fell down, and worshipped, as a servant does to his master.¹⁰ Him Samuel knew as the "Anointed of God,"¹¹ and thence named the priests and the kings the anointed. Him David knew, and sung an hymn concerning Him, "A song concerning the Beloved;"¹² and adds in his person, and says, "Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Thou who art mighty in Thy beauty and renown: go on, and prosper, and reign, for the sake of truth, and meekness, and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall guide Thee after a wonderful manner. Thy darts are sharpened, O Thou that art mighty; the people shall fall under Thee in the heart of the king's enemies. Wherefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." Concerning Him also spake Solomon, as in His person: "The Lord created me the beginning of His ways, for His works: before the world He founded me, in the beginning before He made the earth, before the fountains of waters came, before the mountains were fastened; He begat me before all the hills."¹³ And again: "Wisdom built herself an house."¹⁴ Concerning Him also Isaiah said: "A Branch shall come out of the root of Jesse, and a Flower shall spring out of his root." And, "There shall be a root of Jesse; and He that is to rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust."¹⁵ And Zechariah says:¹⁶ "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, just, and having salvation; meek, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass."¹⁷ Him Daniel describes as "the Son of man coming to the Father,"¹⁸ and receiving all judgment and honour from Him; and as "the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and becoming a great mountain, and filling the whole earth,"¹⁹ dashing to pieces the many governments of the smaller countries, and the polytheism of gods, but preaching the one God, and ordaining the monarchy of the Romans. Concerning Him also did Jeremiah prophesy, saying: "The Spirit before His face, Christ the Lord, was taken in their snares: of whom we said, Under His shadow we shall live among the Gentiles."²⁰ Ezekiel also, and the following prophets, affirm everywhere that He is the Christ, the Lord, the King, the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Angel of the Father, the only-begotten God. Him therefore do we also preach to you, and declare Him to be God the Word, who ministered to His God and Father for the creation of the universe. By believing in Him you shall live, but by disbelieving you shall be punished. For "he that is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."²¹ Therefore, after you have kept the festival of Pentecost, keep one week more festival, and after that fast; for it is reasonable to rejoice for the gift of God, and to fast after that relaxation: for both Moses and Elijah fasted forty days, and Daniel for "three weeks of days did not eat desirable bread, and flesh and wine did not enter into his mouth."²² And blessed Hannah, when she asked for Samuel, said: "I have not drunk wine nor strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord."²³ And the Ninevites, when they fasted three days and three nights,²⁴ escaped the execution of wrath. And Esther, and Mordecai, and Judith,²⁵ by fasting, escaped the insurrection of the ungodly Holofernes and Haman. And David says: "My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh faileth for want of oil."²⁶ Do you therefore fast, and ask your petitions of God. We enjoin you to fast every fourth day of the week, and every day of the preparation, and the surplusage of your fast bestow upon the needy; every Sabbath-day excepting one, and every Lord's day, hold your solemn assemblies, and rejoice: for he will be guilty of sin who fasts on the Lord's day, being the day of the resurrection, or during the time of Pentecost, or, in general, who is sad on a festival day to the Lord. For on them we ought to rejoice, and not to mourn.