The Supremacy of Jesus' Name
That no name greater than Jesus has been named among those on earth, the Gospel testifies, where 'the angel' said to Mary, 'do not fear,' for 'you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. This one will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High' (Luke 1:30-32).
It is also clear from the prophecy of Zechariah, having prophesied long ago concerning this name, for he says, 'the Lord showed to me Jesus the great priest, standing before the face of an angel of the Lord, and the devil was standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the devil: the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you' (Zechariah 3:1). For when did he rebuke him? When he joined to himself by word the man loved by him. 'The one who has chosen,' he says, 'Jerusalem,' making it clear that this is our Jerusalem, concerning which the apostle says, 'but our Jerusalem is above; for this one serves with her children' (Galatians 4:26).
For just then in that same great Jerusalem, that is, in our church, having come, he rebuked the devil according to the prophecy, saying, 'Go behind me, Satan, for you are a stumbling block to me' (Matthew 16:23). This, therefore, is the great priest, whose type Jesus was saving.
For it was not possible for that one to be called a great priest, even though he had become glorious among all, without Moses being named great (for Moses was not yet great, since he was heard to be a servant of God and was named god of Pharaoh by him, that god). And if anyone thinks to say Jesus is great according to this, that he was worthy to lead the people into the holy land and did many other wonderful things, let him know also through this, that the greatness spoken of Jesus did not differ so much in the actual matter from the typical, but rather in the small matter of being about to lead his own people into this great Jerusalem later on.
Not only, therefore, does the apostle say that he is the firstborn of the 'new creation,' but also firstborn 'from the dead,' through no other means, it seems to me, but so that through the firstborn 'of the dead,' just as it is said, 'firstborn of all creation,' he might be able to be known. For our Lord Jesus Christ did not rise first from the dead; rather, he who rose through the prophet Elisha rose earlier, and Lazarus rose before his own resurrection, and in the time of the passion 'many bodies of those asleep' rose.
Now let us examine one explicit thing written by Asterius; for he said: 'For another is the Father, who begat from himself the only-begotten Word and firstborn of all creation.' Having joined both terms as only-begotten and firstborn, despite there being much opposition in these names, which is easy even for the very dull-witted to know. For it is clear that the only-begotten, if he truly be only-begotten, can no longer be firstborn, and the firstborn, as firstborn, cannot be only-begotten.
Therefore, if he is indeed the 'firstborn' of 'all creation,' and 'in him all things were created,' it is fitting for us to know that the apostle now remembers his economy according to the flesh.
Thus, he was named 'firstborn' of 'all creation' because of his birth according to the flesh, not because of the first creation, as they themselves think.
Greek
Fragmenta 1 Ὅτι οὐδὲν ὄνομα μεῖζον Ἰησοῦ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὀνομασθέντων γέγονεν, μαρτυρεῖ μὲν τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, ἔνθα "ὁ ἄγγελος" τῇ Μαριὰμ "μὴ φοβοῦ" ἔφη "εὗρες γὰρ χάριν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. οὗτος ἔσται μέγας, καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται"· δῆλον δέ ἐστιν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Ζαχαρίου προφητείας, πάλαι περὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου προφητευσάσης, "ἔδειξεν" γάρ "μοι" φησὶν "κύριος Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἱερέα τὸν μέγαν, ἑστῶτα πρὸ προσώπου ἀγγέλου κυρίου, καὶ ὁ διάβολος εἱστήκει ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀντικεῖσθαι αὐτῷ. καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς τὸν διάβολον· ἐπιτιμήσαι κύριος ἐν σοὶ ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ". πότε γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐπετίμησεν; ὅτε τὸν ἀγαπηθέντα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἄνθρωπον τῷ ἑαυτοῦ συνῆψεν λόγῳ. "ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος" φησὶν "τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ", δηλονότι ταύτην τὴν ἡμετέραν, περὶ ἧς ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγει "ἡ δὲ ἡμετέρα Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἄνω ἐστίν· αὕτη γὰρ δουλεύει μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς". τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ αὐτῇ Ἱερουσαλήμ, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ, γενόμενος ἐπετίμησεν τῷ διαβόλῳ κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν εἰπὼν "ἄπελθε ὀπίσω μου, σατανᾶ, ὅτι σκάνδαλον εἶ ἐμοί". οὗτος τοίνυν ἐστὶν ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας, οὗ τύπον ἔσῳζεν ὁ τηνικαῦτα Ἰησοῦς. οὐ γὰρ ἦν δυνατὸν ἐκεῖνον μέγαν κληθῆναι ἱερέα, καίτοι ἔνδοξον ἐν πᾶσιν γεγονότα, Μωσέως μὴ ὀνομασθέντος μεγάλου (οὔπω γὰρ μέγας ἦν Μωσῆς, ὅτι καὶ θεράπων ἤκουσεν θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς τοῦ Φαραὼ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ὠνομάσθη). εἰ δέ τις κατὰ τοῦτο μέγαν εἰρῆσθαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν νομίζοι, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἠξιώθη εἰσαγαγεῖν τὸν λαὸν εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν γῆν καὶ ἕτερα πολλὰ θαυμαστὰ ἐποίησεν, γνώτω καὶ διὰ τούτου, ὅτι οὐ τῷ τυπικῷ τοσοῦτον διέφερεν πράγματι τὸ λεχθὲν μέγεθος ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀλλὰ τῷ μικρὸν ὕστερον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαὸν εἰς τὴν μεγάλην ταύτην Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰσαγαγεῖν μέλλοντι. 2 οὐ μόνον τοίνυν τῆς "καινῆς κτίσεως" πρωτότοκον αὐτὸν ὁ ἀπόστολος εἶναι φησίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρωτότοκον "ἐκ νεκρῶν", δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ἀλλ' ἵνα διὰ τοῦ πρωτοτόκου "τῶν νεκρῶν", ὅπως καὶ "πρωτότοκος ἁπάσης κτίσεως" εἴρηται, γνωσθῆναι δυνηθῇ. οὐ γὰρ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνέστη πρῶτος ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν Ἱησοῦς Χριστός· ἀλλ' ὁ δι' Ἐλισσαίου τοῦ προφήτου ἀναστὰς ἀνέστη πρότερος, καὶ Λάζαρος δὲ πρὸ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀναστάσεως ἀνέστη, καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ πάθους "πολλὰ σώματα τῶν κεκοιμημένων" ἀνέστησαν. 3 νυνὶ δὲ ἐξετάσωμεν ἕν τι ῥητὸν τῶν ὑπὸ Ἀστερίου γραφέντων· ἔφη γὰρ οὗτος· ἄλλος μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ πατήρ, ὁ γεννήσας ἐξ αὑτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ λόγον καὶ πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως. ἀμφότερα συνάψας γέγραφεν μονογενῆ καὶ πρωτότοκον, πολλῆς ἐναντιότητος ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασιν οὔσης τούτοις, ὡς ἔστιν ῥᾴδιον καὶ τοῖς σφόδρα δυσμαθέσιν γνῶναι. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ὁ μονογενής, εἰ ὄντως μονογενὴς εἴη, οὐκέτι πρωτότοκος εἶναι δύναται, καὶ ὁ πρωτότοκος ᾗ πρωτότοκος οὐ δύναται μονογενὴς εἶναι. 4 οὐκοῦν εἰ "πρωτότοκος" μέν ἐστιν "ἁπάσης κτίσεως" αὐτός, "ἐν αὐτῷ" δὲ "ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα", προσήκει εἰδέναι ἡμᾶς, ὅτι περὶ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίας αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀπόστολος νυνὶ μέμνηται. 5 "πρωτότοκος" οὖν "ἁπάσης κτίσεως" διὰ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γένεσιν ὠνομάσθη, οὐ διὰ τὴν πρώτην, ὡς αὐτοὶ οἴονται, κτίσιν20. 6 οὐ τοίνυν οὗτος ὁ ἁγιώτατος λόγος πρὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως "πρωτότοκος ἁπάσης κτίσεως" ὠνόμαστο (πῶς γὰρ δυνατὸν τὸν ἀεὶ ὄντα πρωτότοκον εἶναί τινος;), ἀλλὰ τὸν πρῶτον "καινὸν ἄνθρωπον", εἰς ὃν "τὰ πάντα ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι" ἐβουλήθη ὁ θεός, τοῦτον αἱ θεῖαι γραφαὶ "πρωτότοκον πάσης" ὀνομάζουσιν "κτίσεως". 7 ἀκούεις ὅπως οὐ μόνον ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ προϋπάρχοντα "ἔν τε οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐν αὐτῷ" κατὰ τὴν καινὴν κτίσιν "ἐκτίσθαι" συμβαίνει. 8 καὶ μὴ τοῦτο ἀπίθανον εἶναι νομιζέτω Ἀστέριος, εἰ νεώτερον ὂν αὐτοῦ
About this text
Deposed in the East, cleared in Rome: fragments of the bishop who fought Arianism hardest.
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Khazarzar scan
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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