Divine Anointing
The Word from God the Father would not reasonably decline His own things, for if considered in Himself, He is in need of no good, and the Holy Spirit is said to be His own. Since, as I said, He became flesh with His own Spirit, anointing His own temple, the Father works all things through the Son alone in Israel. The Spirit is said to be received economically, as a man, for it is said that Jesus from Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and power (Luke 4:18).
But as God, He gives the Spirit to those worthy to receive it, and indeed, He breathed on the holy apostles, saying 'Receive the Holy Spirit' (John 20:22). The divine Peter proclaimed to the Jewish crowds concerning the Spirit, saying that Jesus, having been exalted to the right hand of God, received the promise of the Spirit from the Father and poured it out (Acts 2:33). You hear in these words that He was exalted to the right hand of God, received and gave the Spirit; He was exalted, of course, when He humbled Himself. Just as He willingly humbled Himself for this purpose, so again He exalts Himself, being the hand of the Father by which all things are worked in a godly manner. He is exalted through Himself according to the will of the Father, when, having broken the bonds of death and having said to the spirits below 'Come out' (Luke 23:43), He sat at the right hand of the Father.
When Jesus said to his apostles, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God' (John 20:17), he clearly referred to his own Father as God, speaking from his human perspective. Through him, we have been called to adoption, and he has given us his Father as our own. Just as we, though called sons of the Father, are still human and have not forgotten the grace of the one who honored us, so too the natural Son and Lord, though he recognized God as his Father through his flesh and his likeness to us, did not cease to be what he is.
The Word of God, who became human through us, anoints his own temple with his own Spirit, not imparting a partial energy, nor in a hierarchical order as he gives to us, but rather filling it with sanctification and his own power and glory. For he said, 'I sanctify myself for their sake, so that they also may be' (John 17:19). We, on the other hand, have been anointed with the Holy Spirit, and by nature, we have been defined as being such, to the extent that the nature of divinity of all created things is understood. How then can it be said that he was anointed apart from those who share in him? Let us consider this question and try to provide an answer.
Greek
εἰκότως παραιτοῖτο τὰ αὐτῆς; οὐκοῦν εἰ μὲν νοοῖτο καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος, ἀπροσδεής ἐστι παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, καὶ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ φαμεν τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὡς ἔφην γέγονε σὰρξ αὐτὸς τῷ ἰδίῳ Πνεύματι τὸν αὐτοῦ καταχρίει ναόν· ἐνεργεῖ γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ἅπερ ἂν ἐργάζοιτο δι' οὐδενὸς ἑτέρου πλὴν διὰ μόνου τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐν Ἰσραήλ. οὐκοῦν λέγεται μὲν λαβεῖν τὸ Πνεῦμα οἰκονομικῶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος· "Ἰησοῦν "γὰρ τὸν ἀπὸ Ναζαρὲτ, φησὶν, ὡς ἔχρισεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς "Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ καὶ δυνάμει·" δίδωσι δὲ ὡς Θεὸς αὐτὸ τοῖς τοῦτο λαβεῖν ἀξίοις. καὶ γοῦν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστόλοις ἐνεφύσησε λέγων "Λάβετε Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον," προσεφώνει δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίων δήμοις ὁ θεσπέσιος Πέτρος περὶ αὐτοῦ "Τῇ δεξίᾳ οὖν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑψωθεὶς τήν τε ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐξέχεε τοῦτο ὃ ὑμεῖς "βλέπετε καὶ ἀκούετε." ἀκούεις ἐν τούτοις καὶ μάλα σαφῶς ὑψῶσθαί τε αὐτὸν τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, λαβεῖν τε ἅμα καὶ 380 δοῦναι τὸ Πνεῦμα, ὑψοῦται δὲ δηλονότι ὅτε τεταπείνωκεν ἑαυτόν· ὥσπερ γὰρ καθῆκεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τοῦτο ἑκὼν, οὕτω πάλιν ἑαυτὸν ὑψοῖ καὶ μετὰ σαρκὸς αὐτὸς ὢν ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ Πατρὸς, δι' ἧς τὰ πάντα θεοπρεπῶς ἐργάζεται. ὑψοῦται τοίνυν δι' ἑαυτοῦ κατὰ θέλησιν τοῦ Πατρὸς, ὅτε διαῤῥήξας τὰ τοῦ θανάτου δεσμὰ καὶ τοῖς κάτω πνεύμασιν εἰρηκώς "̓Εξέλθετε," κεκάθικεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Πατρός. Κέχρισται τοίνυν τῷ ἐλαίῳ τῆς ἀγαλλιάσεως ὁ κατὰ φύσιν Υἱὸς, ὅτε καὶ Θεὸς αὐτοῦ κεχρημάτικεν ὁ Πατὴρ καθ' ἡμᾶς γεγονότος. ἄτοπον δὲ τοῦτο λέγειν οὐδαμῶς· ἔφη γάρ που τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστόλοις "Πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα "μου καὶ Πατέρα ὑμῶν καὶ Θεόν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν." ἰδοὺ δὴ σαφῶς Θεὸν ἑαυτοῦ διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον τὸν ἴδιον ἔφη Πατέρα. ἐπειδὴ δὲ κεκλήμεθα δι' αὐτοῦ πρὸς υἱοθεσίαν, κεχρημάτικεν 8 ἀδελφὸς τοῖς κατὰ φύσιν οἰκέταις, δέδωκεν ἡμῖν Πατέρα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ. ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς εἰ καὶ υἱοὶ κεκλήμεθα τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἐσμὲν εἰ ἐσμὲν, ἄνθρωποι δηλονότι, καὶ τὴν τοῦ τετιμηκότος οὐκ ἠγνοήκαμεν χάριν· οὕτως ὁ κατὰ φύσιν Υἱὸς καὶ Κύριος, κἂν ἐπέγνω διὰ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ὁμοίωσιν Θεὸν ἑαυτοῦ τὸν Πατέρα, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔξω γέγονε τοῦ εἶναι ὅ ἐστιν, οὔτε μὴν τῇ μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίᾳ τοὺς πρέποντας λόγους ἡμεῖς ἀγνοήσομεν. πῶς δὲ ἄρα παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους αὐτοῦ κεχρίσθαι λέγεται, φέρε λέγωμεν ὡς ἔνι. ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ κεχρίσμεθα τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, διωρισμένων δὲ φυσικῶς τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς καὶ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον ἂν νοοῖτο θεότητος φύσις παντὸς γενητοῦ· ὁ δὲ δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος τῷ ἰδίῳ Πνεύματι καταχρίει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ναὸν, οὐ μερικὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐντιθεὶς, οὔτε μὴν ἐν ἀῤῥαβῶνος τάξει καθὰ καὶ ἡμῖν δωρούμενος, ἀναπιμπλὰς δὲ μᾶλλον ἁγιασμοῦ καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεώς τε καὶ δόξης. τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἔφασκεν "Ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐγὼ ἁγιάζω ἐμαυτὸν "ἵνα ὦσιν καὶ αὐτοὶ
About this text
Cyril of Alexandria, Fragmenta in epistulam ad Hebraeos (Greek).
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 74 (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.