Gods ascending; John in prison doubts the descent
Then I want to say something else from the Scripture itself.
Samuel comes up, and what does the woman say to Saul she has seen? She does not say she has seen a human; she shrank before this one she saw. Whom does she see? “I have seen gods,” she says, “gods coming up from the earth.” And perhaps Samuel has not come up alone then also to prophesy to Saul; but likely—just as here “with a holy one you will be made holy, and with a blameless man you will be blameless, and with a chosen one you will be chosen,” and there are here sojourns of holy ones with holy ones, not of holy ones with sinners, and if ever, the holy ones’ sojourn with sinners is for saving the sinners too—so perhaps as Samuel came up there also came up with him either other prophets’ holy souls or angels who had come up with the spirits. Perhaps you will ask whether angels were upon their spirits? The prophet says: “the angel who speaks in me”; and everything is filled with those who need salvation, and “all are ministering spirits sent for service because of those about to inherit salvation.”
Why fear to say that every place needs Jesus Christ? The one who needs Christ needs the prophets; for he does not need Christ while not needing those who prepare Christ’s presence and sojourn. And John—than whom no one greater among those born of women, according to our Savior’s witness saying, “Among those born of women none is greater than John the Baptist”—do not fear to say that he has gone down into Hades proclaiming my Lord beforehand, so that he may foretell him as about to come down. For this reason, when he was in prison and knew the departure lying upon him, sending two of his disciples he inquired—not “Are you the one who is coming?” (for he knew)—but “Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect another?” He saw his glory; he spoke many things about his wonder; he first bore him witness: “He who comes after me has come to be before me”; he saw his glory, glory as of an only-begotten from a father, full of grace and truth. Having seen such things about Christ he hesitates to believe, doubts, and does not say: “Tell him, ‘You are the Christ.’” For now some, not understanding what was said, say: “John so great did not know Christ, but the Holy Spirit stood away from him.” And he knew this one to whom he bore witness before birth and over whom he leaped when Mary also came to him, as his mother bore him witness saying: “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came into my ears, the baby leaped in exultation in my womb.”
This John, then, who leaped before birth, who said, “This is he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has come to be before me,’” and “He who sent me said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit coming down and remaining, this is the Son of God’”—this one, they say, no longer knew Jesus Christ? For in the womb he knew him. But through excess of glory he has done something like Peter. What like? This one knew something great about Christ. “Who am I? Whom do people say I am?” And he: such and such. And you? “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”—for which he is also blessed, because “flesh and blood did not reveal” it to him, “but the Father in the heavens.”
Since therefore he heard great things about Christ and supposed great things and did not accept the divine word toward him—“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and it will be finished,” and “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the chief priests and elders, and be killed, and on the third day rise”—he says, “Mercy to you, Lord.” He knew great things about Christ; he did not want to accept the more humble thing about him. Think of John as some such person for me. He was in prison knowing great things about Christ; he saw heavens opened; he saw the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven upon the Savior and remaining on him; seeing such glory he doubted and perhaps disbelieved whether the one so glorious would also go down as far as Hades and as far as the abyss; for this reason he said: “Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect another?”
Greek
Εἶτα καὶ ἄλλο τι θέλω εἰπεῖν ἀπ’ αὐτῆς τῆς γραφῆς.
Σαμουὴλ ἀναβαίνει, καὶ τί τῷ Σαοὺλ λέγει ἑωρακέναι ἡ γυνή; οὐ λέγει ἑωρακέναι ἄνθρωπον· ἔπτηξεν τοῦτον ὃν εἰδεν. τίνα ὁρᾷ; θεοὺς ἐγὠ« φησιν «εἶδον, θεοὺς ἀναβαίνοντας ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς. καὶ τάχα Σαμουὴλ οὐ μόνος ἀναβέβηκεν καὶ τότε προφητεύσων τῷ Σαούλ· ἀλλ’ εἰκός, ὥσπερ ἐνταῦθα μετὰ ὁσίου ὁσιωθήσῃ, καὶ μετὰ ἀνδρὸς ἀθῴου ἀθῷος ἔσῃ, καὶ μετὰ ἐκλεκτοῦ ἐκλεκτὸς ἔσῃ«, καὶ εἰσὶν ἐνταῦθα διατριβαὶ ἁγίων μετὰ ἁγίων, οὐχὶ δὲ ἁγίων μετὰ ἁματρτωλῶν, καὶ εἰ ἄρα ποτέ, ἐστὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἡ διατριβὴ μετὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, οὕτω τάχα καὶ ἀναβαίνοντι τῷ Σαμουὴλ συναναβεβήκασιν ἤτοι ἅγιαι ψυχαὶ ἄλλων προφητῶν ἢ ἄγγελοι ἦσαν μετὰ τῶν πνευμάτων συναναβεβηκότες. τάχα ζητήσεις εἰ ἄγγελοι ἦσαν ἐπὶ τῶν πνευμάτων αὐτῶν; ὁ προφήτης λέγει· «ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ λαλῶν ἐν ἐμοί«· καὶ πάντα πληροῦται τῶν δεομένων σωτηρίας καὶ «πάντες εἰσὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα διὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας κληρονομεῖν σωτηρίαν. τί φοβῇ εἰπεῖν ὅτι πᾶς τόπος χρῄζει Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ; χρῄζει τῶν προ- φητῶν ὁ χρῄζων Χριστοῦ· οὐδὲ γὰρ Χριστοῦ μὲν χρῄζει, τῶν δὲ εὐτρεπιζόντων Χριστοῦ παρουσίαν καὶ ἐπιδημίαν οὐ χρῄζει. καὶ Ἰωάννης, οὗ μείζων ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν οὐδεὶς ἠν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μαρτυρίαν λέγοντος· «μείζων ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ οὐδείς ἐστιν‘, μὴ φοβοῦ λέγειν ὅτι εἰς ᾅδου καταβέβηκε προκηρύσσων μου τὸν κύριον, ἴνα προείπῃ αὐτὸν κατελευσόμενον. διὰ τοῦτο, ὅτε ἦν ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ καὶ ᾔδει τὴν ἔξοδον τὴν ἐπικειμένην αὐτῷ, πέμψας δύο τῶν μαθητῶν ἐπυνθάνετο, οὐχί· «σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος;« ᾔδει γάρ), ἀλλά· «σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ἢ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν;« εἶδεν αὐτοῦ τὴν δόξαν, ἐλάλησεν πολλὰ περὶ τῆς θαυμασιότητος αὐτοῦ, ἐμαρτύρησεν αὐτῷ πρῶτος· «ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν«, εἶδεν αὐτοῦ τὴν δόξαν, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρὸς πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας. τηλικαῦτα ἰδὼν περὶ Χριστοῦ ὀκνεῖ πιστεῦσαι, ἀμφιβάλλει καὶ οὐ λέγει· εἴπατε αὐτῷ· σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστός; νῦν μὴ νοήσαντες γάρ τινες τὰ εἰρημένα λέγουσιν· Ἰωάννης ὁ τηλικοῦτος οὐκ ᾔδει Χριστόν, ἀλλ’ ἀπέστη ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. καὶ ᾔδει τοῦτον, ᾡ ἐμαρτύρησεν πρὸ γενέσεως καὶ ἐφ’ ᾡ ἐσκίρτησεν, ἡνίκα ἠλθεν καὶ ἡ Μαρία πρὸς αὐτόν, ὡς ἐμαρτύρησεν αὐτῶ | | ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ λέγουσα· «ἰδοὺ γάρ, ὡς ἐγένετο ἡ φωνὴ τοῦ ἀσπασμοῦ σου εἰς τὰ ὦτά μου, ἐσκίρτησεν ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει τὸ βρέφος ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ μου. οὑτος οὐν ὁ σκιρτήσας πρὸ γενέσεως Ἰωάννης, ὁ εἰπών· «οὗτός ἐστι περὶ οὑ ἐγὼ εἶπον· ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν« καί· «ὁ πέμψας με εἶπέ μοι· ἐφ’ ὃν ἂν ἴδῃς τὸ πνεῦμα καταβαῖνον καὶ μένον, οὑτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ«, οὑτος, φασίν, οὐκέτι ᾔδει Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν; ἐν κοιλίᾳ ᾔδει γὰρ αὐτόν. ἀλλὰ δι’ ὑπερβολὴν δόξης ὅμοιόν τι τῷ Πέτρῳ πεποίηκεν. τί ὅμοιον; οὑτος μέγα τι ᾔδει περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. τίς εἰμι; «τίνα με λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἶναι«; ὁ δέ· τόδε καὶ τόδε. σὺ δὲ τί; «σὺ εἶ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος«· ἐφ’ ᾡ καὶ μακαρίζεται, ὅτι «σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψεν« αὐτῷ, «ἀλλ’ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
ἐπεὶ οὖν μεγάλα ἤκουσεν περὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ μεγάλα ὑπελάμβανεν καὶ οὐ παρεδέξατο τὴν Ε; θείαν τὴν πρὸς αὐτόν· «ἰδοὺ ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ τελειωθήσεται« καί· «δεῖ τὸν υὁὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πολλὰ παθεῖν καὶ ἀποδοκιμασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων, καὶ ἀποκταν- θῆναι, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστῆναι«, φησίν· «ἵλεώς σοι, κύριε. μεγάλα ᾔδει περὶ Χριστοῦ, οὐκ ἠθέλησεν παραδέξασθαι τὸ ταπεινότερον περὶ αὐτοῦ. τοιοῦτόν τινά μοι νόει καὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην. έν φυλακῇ ἦν μεγάλα εἰδὼς περὶ Χριστοῦ, εἶδεν οὐρανοὺς ἀνεῳγότας, εἶδεν πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατερχόμενον ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ μένον ἐπ’ αὐτόν· ἰδὼν τὴν τηλικαύτην δόξαν ἀμφέβαλλεν καὶ τάχα ἠπίστει, εἰ ὁ οὕτως ἔνδοξος καὶ μέχρις ᾅδου καὶ μέχρι τῆς ἀβύσσου κατελεύσεται· διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν· «σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ἢ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν;«
About this text
Origen, Homily on 1 Samuel 28 (the medium). Original English Translation from the Greek (Klostermann).
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.