Divine Promise and Human Nature
As the world unfolds in the necessary world, the wonder of Christ's name becomes apparent, and it is worth considering the theory presented in the psalm that has been placed before us.
The prophet David knew that according to the true and divine promise, Christ would be born from the fruit of his loins, and God, existing by nature, would sit among us in due time, speaking in the eighth psalm and making words to him as to a human and also to God, recognizing the one God from both.
He says, 'Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth, for your magnificence has been lifted up above the heavens' (Psalm 8:1).
For where or among whom is Christ not wondered at, or how has his magnificence not been lifted up above the heavens?
If it is true that in the name of Jesus Christ every knee bends and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11), then it is clear that Christ's name is indeed wonderful and his magnificence has been lifted up above the heavens.
When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, all were amazed, and as he sat on a donkey, children waved palm branches and cried out 'Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' (Matthew 21:9).
The others rebuked them, but Christ said, 'Have you not read that I will perfect praise from the mouth of infants and sucklings?' (Matthew 21:16).
This event shows that even though Christ is God by nature, he humbled himself to such an extent that he allowed himself to be led by the crowd, and Paul declares that he has been stripped of the former glory, saying he has been stripped of it.
The blessed David saw the reason for this emptying and understood that it was so that Christ might rescue us from corruption and sin and the tyrannical hands of the devil.
The mystery of the economy with flesh is worthy of all wonder.
He says, 'Lord, what is man that you remember him, or the son of man that you visit him?' (Psalm 8:4).
For what is human nature in relation to God, and what is this that I say, what is human genus?
What portion is assigned to them on earth in relation to the orders of holy angels?
Even if man is nothing by nature and number, the Creator did not despise us, for he remembered us and deemed us worthy of visitation, as if we were perishing.
In the beginning, God brought us into existence, lowering us briefly below the angels, but then crowning us with honor and glory, setting us over the works of his hands, and subjecting all things under our feet.
The divine Paul skillfully sets forth the things concerning us, which have been renewed through Christ, and the scope of the whole song is in these things, appearing in the necessary world as it unfolds.
The things in Christ are a new creation, and the old things have passed away, and all things have become new.
The Holy Spirit says through one of the prophets, 'Take courage, Zion, do not let your hands weaken; the Lord your God is in you, to save you and renew you in his love' (Isaiah 41:10).
Paul declares us to be stripped of the former glory, and therefore, he says, 'Now we do not yet see all things subjected to him' (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Greek
ἐν κόσμῳ τῷ δέοντι προϊοῦσα φαίνοιτο, φέρε καὶ πρό γε τῶν ἄλλων τῆς ἐν τῷ παροισθέντων ψαλμῷ θεωρίας ἁψώμεθα. ᾔδει ὡς προφήτης ὁ θεσπέσιος ∆αυεὶδ ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ἀψευδῆ τε καὶ θείαν ὑπόσχεσιν "ἐκ καρποῦ τῆς ὀσφύος αὐτοῦ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα" γενήσεται, πλὴν οὐκ ἠγνόηκεν ὅτι Θεὸς κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχων ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἑαυτὸν καθήσει κατὰ καιρόν. διαλέγεται τοίνυν ἐν τῷ ὀγδόῳ ψαλμῷ καὶ τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ποιεῖται λόγους ὡς πρὸς ἄνθρωπον ἅμα καὶ Θεὸν ἕνα τὸν ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ἐπιγινώσκων Θεόν. ταύτῃτοί φησι "Κύριε ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν, ὡς "θαυμαστὸν τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ, ὅτι ἐπήρθη ἡ "μεγαλοπρέπειά σου ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν·" ποῦ γὰρ ὅλως ἢ παρὰ τίσι Χριστὸς οὐ τεθαύμαστο; ἢ πῶς οὐκ ἐπήρθη καὶ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν ἡ μεγαλοπρέπεια αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ τῆς δόξης περιφανές; εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἀληθὲς ὅτι "ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι "̓Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ πᾶν γονὺ κάμπτει ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπι"γείων καὶ καταχθονίων καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται "ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ Πατρός." Ὅτι γὰρ ἐν ἀνθρωπείᾳ μορφῇ πεφηνότι τῷ Λόγῳ καὶ ἑνωθέντι σαρκὶ τὰ τοιαῦτά φησιν ὁ θεσπέσιος μελῳδὸς 388 ἐκδείξειεν ἂν εὐκόλως τὰ ἐφεξῆς· ἔφη γὰρ ὅτι "ἐκ στόματος "νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρτίσω αἶνον." ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὸν Λάζαρον ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, τεθαύμασται μὲν παρὰ πάντων, "εὑρὼν δὲ ὀνάριον ἐκάθισεν ἐπ' αὐτῷ," ὅτε καὶ παῖδες λαβόντες "τὰ βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων" ταῖς καθηκούσαις αὐτὸν καταγεραίροντες εὐφημίαις ἔφασκον "Ὡσαννὰ τῷ υἱῷ "∆αυεὶδ, εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου." ἐπιτιμώντων δὲ αὐτοῖς τῶν ἄλλων, ἔφασκεν ὁ Χριστός "Οὐκ "ἀνέγνωτε ὅτι ἐκ στόματος νηπίων καὶ θηλαζόντων κατηρ"τίσω αἶνον;" ἐνηνθρωπηκότα δὴ οὖν τὸν Υἱὸν μονονουχὶ καὶ ἐποχούμενον τῷ πώλῳ βλέπων κατατέθηπεν εἰκότως ἐκεῖνο διενθυμούμενος ὅτι πρὸς τοσοῦτο σμικροπρεπείας ἑαυτὸν ὁρᾶται καθεὶς καίτοι κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχων Θεὸς, εἶτα τοῦ κεκενῶσθαι τὴν ἀφορμὴν οὐχ ἑτέραν ὁρῶν ὁ μακάριος ∆αυεὶδ, πλὴν ὅτι μόνους ἡμᾶς οὓς ἦν ἀναγκαῖον καὶ φθορᾶς ἐξελέσθαι καὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ τυραννικῶν ἁρπάσαι χειρῶν, τῶν τοῦ διαβόλου φημὶ, τοῦ παντὸς ἀξιοῖ θαύματος τῆς μετὰ σαρκὸς οἰκονομίας τὸ μυστήριον. ταύτῃτοί φησι "Κύριε "τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ὅτι μιμνήσκῃ αὐτοῦ ἢ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου "ὅτι ἐπισκέπτῃ αὐτόν;" τίς γὰρ ἡ ἀνθρώπου φύσις ὡς πρὸς Θεόν; καὶ τί τοῦτο λέγω; τί τὸ γένος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον; μοῖρά τε ὅση καταλογισθεῖεν ἂν οἱ ἐπὶ γῆς ὡς πρός γε φημὶ τὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων τάγματα; ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ὅλως ὁ ἄνθρωπος φύσει τε καὶ ἀριθμῷ, οὐχ ὑπερεῖδεν ἡμᾶς ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς, ἐμνήσθη γὰρ καὶ ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπισκοπῆς ἠξίωσεν, ὡς διολωλότων· ὁ καὶ ἐν ἀρχαῖς τοῦ παραγαγεῖν εἰς ὕπαρξιν, βραχὺ μὲν ἡμᾶς ἐλαττώσας παρὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους, στεφανώσας δὲ τιμῇ τε καὶ δόξῃ καὶ καταστήσας μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, πάντα δὲ ὑποτάξας ὑπὸ πόδας ἡμῶν. Καὶ τῆς μὲν ὅλης ᾠδῆς ὁ σκόπος ἐν τούτοις, φιλοσοφεῖ 38 δὲ λίαν ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος καὶ περιίστησιν εὐτέχνως νενοσηκότα τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς εἰς καινότητα διὰ Χριστοῦ· καινὴ γὰρ κτίσις τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθε, γέγονε δὲ πάντα καινά· τοῦτό φησι καὶ δι' ἑνὸς τῶν προφητῶν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον "Θάρσει Σιὼν, μὴ παρείσθωσαν αἱ "χεῖρές σου· Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου ἐν σοὶ δυνατῶς σῶσαί σε "καὶ ἀνακαινιεῖ σε ἐν τῇ ἀγαπήσει αὐτοῦ." Ἀποφαίνει τοίνυν ὁ Παῦλος γυμνοὺς ἡμᾶς τῆς δόξης τῆς πάλαι δεδωρημένης· διὰ τοῦτό φησι "Νῦν δὲ οὔπω ὁρῶμεν "αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ὑποτεταγμένα." καὶ οὐ δήπου φρονοῦμεν, ὀρθὰ φρονεῖν ᾑρημένοι περὶ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου τὰ τοιάδε λέγειν αὐτὸν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐν ἑνὶ προσώπῳ τὸν καθόλου σημαίνων ἄνθρωπον, σεσυλῆσθαί φησιν 12 αὐτὸν τῆς πάλαι δοθείσης εὐκλείας τὴν μέθεξιν. καὶ ποία τις ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ παντὸς λόγου κατασκευὴ, τί δὲ τὸ τῆς εὐτεχνίας συμπέρασμα διειπεῖν ἀναγκαῖον. ἀποφαίνει γὰρ τῆς