410 Divers animals sigm/ij Christ, each iviperfeclly.
Job 39,am a worm, and no man. And as it is said by the Prophet
^^ 2
" ^^^ ^^'^ Septuagint, A beetle cried outfrom the wood. Since
11. then lie is typified by the mention of such vile and abject
things, what is said offensively of Him, of Whom it is
admitted that nothing is said appropriately ? For He is
called a lamb, but it is for His innocence. He is called a
lion, but it is for His might. He is also sometimes compared
to a serpent, but it is for His death, or for His wisdom. And
He can therefore be spoken of figuratively by all these,
because none of all these can be essentially believed of Him.
For were He to be really one of these essentially, He could
no longer be termed another. For were He properly called
a lamb. He could no longer be called a lion.
'
If He were
properly called a lion, He would not be signified by a
serpent. But we say all these things of Him in figure,
with the greater latitude, the further removed they are from
His essence. The wild ass can therefore designate the
Incarnate Lord. For the wild ass is an animal of the fields.
And because the Incarnate Lord profited the Gentiles more
1 corpus than the Jews, when, assuming a living body ^, He went, as
*it were, not into the house, but rather into the field. Of
Ps. 50, which field of the Gentiles it is said by the Psalmist ; The
^^' beauty of thefield is ivith Me. The Incarnate Lord there-
fore, Who in the form of God is equal to the Father, is in
the form of a servant less than the Father, in which He is
also less than Himself. Let it be said therefore by the
Father of the Son in the forui of a servant ; Who hath se?ii
out the wild assfree, and who hath loosed his bands ? For
every one wdio sins is the servant of sin. And because the
Incarnate Lord was made partaker of our nature, not of our
sin, He is said to have been sent forth free, because He is
not held under the dominion of sin. OfWhom it is written
Ps.88,5.elsewhere; Free among the dead. He is said to have been
sent forth free, because taking our nature. He is not at all
held by the yoke of iniquity. And though the stain of our
guilt touched Him not, yet the suffering of our mortality
bound Him. Whence also after He is said to have been
sent forth free, it is rightly added ofHim;
Atid who hath loosed His bands ?
xxii. 67. For His bands were then in truth loosened, when the