Chapter XCVII.—Other predictions of the cross of Christ.
“For it was not without design that the prophet Moses, when Hur and Aaron upheld
his hands, remained in this form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon the tree
almost until evening, and they buried Him at eventide; then on the third day He rose again.
This was declared by David thus: ‘With my voice I cried to the Lord, and He heard me out
of His holy hill. I laid me down, and slept; I awaked, for the Lord sustained me.’556 And
Isaiah likewise mentions concerning Him the manner in which He would die, thus: ‘I have
spread out My hands unto a people disobedient, and gainsaying, that walk in a way which
is not good.’557 And that He would rise again, Isaiah himself said: ‘His burial has been taken
away from the midst, and I will give the rich for His death.’558 And again, in other words,
David in the twenty-first559 Psalm thus refers to the suffering and to the cross in a parable
of mystery: ‘They pierced my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. They considered
and gazed on me; they parted my garments among themselves, and cast lots upon my vesture.’
For when they crucified Him, driving in the nails, they pierced His hands and feet; and those
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who crucified Him parted His garments among themselves, each casting lots for what he
chose to have, and receiving according to the decision of the lot. And this very Psalm you
maintain does not refer to Christ; for you are in all respects blind, and do not understand
that no one in your nation who has been called King or Christ has ever had his hands or
feet pierced while alive, or has died in this mysterious fashion—to wit, by the cross—save
this Jesus alone.
556 Ps. iii. 4, 5.
557 Isa. lxv. 2; comp. also Rom. x. 21.
558 Isa. liii. 9.
559 That is, Ps. xxii. 16–18.
Chapter XCVII.—Other predictions of the cross of Christ.
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Chapter XCVII.—Other predictions of the cross of Christ.