out, who did also take upon Him flesh, and was anointed by the Spirit from the Father—was
made Jesus Christ, as Esaias also says, “There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse,
and a flower shall rise from his root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him: the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and
piety, and the spirit of the fear of God, shall fill Him. He shall not judge according to glory,740
nor reprove after the manner of speech; but He shall dispense judgment to the humble man,
and reprove the haughty ones of the earth.”741 And again Esaias, pointing out beforehand
His unction, and the reason why he was anointed, does himself say, “The Spirit of God is
upon Me, because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to preach the Gospel to the lowly,
to heal the broken up in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and sight to the blind; to
announce the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance; to comfort all that
mourn.”742 For inasmuch as the Word of God was man from the root of Jesse, and son of
Abraham, in this respect did the Spirit of God rest upon Him, and anoint Him to preach
the Gospel to the lowly. But inasmuch as He was God, He did not judge according to glory,
nor reprove after the manner of speech. For “He needed not that any should testify to Him
of man,743 for He Himself knew what was in man.”744 For He called all men that mourn;
and granting forgiveness to those who had been led into captivity by their sins, He loosed
them from their chains, of whom Solomon says, “Every one shall be holden with the cords
of his own sins.”745 Therefore did the Spirit of God descend upon Him, [the Spirit] of Him
who had promised by the prophets that He would anoint Him, so that we, receiving from
the abundance of His unction, might be saved. Such, then, [is the witness] of Matthew.
740 This is after the version of the Septuagint, οὐ κατὰ τὴν δόξαν: but the word δόξα may have the meaning
opinio as well as gloria. If this be admitted here, the passage would bear much the same sense as it does in the
authorized version, “He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes.”
741 Isa. xi. 1, etc.
742 Isa. lxi. 1.
743 This is according to the Syriac Peschito version.
744 John ii. 25.
745 Prov. v. 22.
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Chapter IX.—One and the same God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is He…