Яко человѣкъ… и яко Богъ
The Two Natures of Christ in His Earthly Life
From the incarnation to the triumphal entry, Christ's every action reveals both his full humanity and his full divinity.
As one of the Trinity in two natures—divinity and humanity—fully human through the incarnation, not merely in appearance, but fully God in divinity, not just a man, he showed on earth both what is divine and what is human:1 For as a man he grew in his mother's womb, and as God he came forth without harming her virginity; As a man he received his mother's milk, and as God he set angels with the shepherds to sing: "Glory to God in the highest"; As a man he was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and as God he led the Magi by a star. As a man he lay in the manger, and as God he received gifts and worship from the Magi;✦✦ As a man, he fled into Egypt, and as God, the handmade idols of Egypt bowed down before him;✦✦ As a man he came for baptism, and as God the Jordan, struck with fear, turned back;✦ As a man, he stripped and went into the water, and as God he received the Father's witness: "This is my beloved Son"; As a man he fasted forty days and grew hungry, and as God he defeated the one who was tempting him; As a man, He went to the wedding at Cana in Galilee, and as God, He turned the water into wine. As a man he slept in the boat, and as God he rebuked the winds and the sea, and they obeyed him; As a man, he wept for Lazarus, and as God, he raised him from the dead. As a man He sat on a donkey, and as God they cried out to Him: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” ;2
The Two Natures of Christ in His Passion and Resurrection
In his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, Christ's human suffering and divine power are inseparably displayed.
As a man he was crucified, and as God, by his own power, he admitted the one crucified with him into paradise;✦ As a man, he tasted the vinegar and gave up his spirit; as God, he darkened the sun and shook the earth.✦✦ As a man, he was laid in the tomb; as God, he destroyed Hades and set the souls free.✦✦ They sealed him in the tomb as a man, and as God he came out, leaving the seals intact. As a man, the Jews tried to hide the resurrection by bribing the guards; but as God, he was made known and recognized by all the ends of the earth.
The Greatness of God Our Savior
The chapter concludes with a doxological exclamation and a theological reflection on how Christ's bitter suffering undid Adam's sweet transgression.
Truly, "Who is a great God like our God"! He is "God who works wonders"; He accomplished "salvation in the midst of the earth" by the cross and by suffering at the place of the skull, having tasted vinegar and gall, so that by the tasting of bitterness He might drive out Adam's sweet tasting—the transgression and sin from the tree.3
Read the original Church Slavonic
Един сыи от Троицѣ въ двѣ естьствѣ: Божество и человѣчьство, исполнь человѣкъ по въчеловѣчению, а не привидѣниемь, нъ исполнь Богъ по божеству, а не простъ человѣкъ показавыи на земли божьскаа и человѣчьскаа:
яко человѣкъ бо утробу матерьню растяше, и яко Богъ изиде, дѣвьства не врѣждь;
яко человѣкъ матерьне млѣко приатъ, и яко Богъ пристави ангелы съ пастухы пѣти: «Слава въ вышниихъ Богу»;
яко человѣкъ повиться въ пелены, и яко Богъ вълхвы звѣздою ведяаше;
яко человѣкъ възлеже въ яслехъ, и яко Богъ от волхвъ дары и поклонение приатъ;
яко человѣкъ бѣжааше въ Египетъ, и яко Богу рукотворениа египетъскаа поклонишася;
яко человѣкъ прииде на крещение, и ако Бога Иорданъ устрашився, възвратися;
яко человѣкъ, обнажився, вълѣзе въ воду, и ако Богъ от Отца послушьство приатъ: «Се есть Сынъ мои възлюбленыи»;
яко человѣкъ постися 40 днии и възалка, и яко Богъ побѣди искушающаго;
яко человѣкъ иде на бракъ Кана Галилѣи, и ако Богъ воду въ вино приложи;
яко человѣкъ въ корабли съпааше, и ако Богъ запрѣти вѣтромъ и морю, и послушашя его;
яко человѣкъ по Лазари прослезися, и ако Богъ въскрѣси и́ от мертвыихъ;
яко человѣкъ на осля въсѣде, и ако Богу звааху: «Благословленъ Грядыи въ имя Господне!» ;
яко человѣкъ распятъ бысть, и ако Богъ своею властию съпропятааго съ нимъ въпусти въ раи;
яко человѣкъ оцьта въкушь, испусти духъ, и ако Богъ солнце помрачи и землею потрясе;
яко человѣкъ въ гробѣ положенъ бысть, и ако Богъ ада раздруши и душѣ свободи;
яко человѣка печатлѣша въ гробѣ, и ако Богъ изиде, печати цѣлы съхрань;
яко человѣка тъщаахуся иудеи утаити въскресение, мьздяще стражи, нъ яко Богъ увѣдѣся и познанъ бысть всѣми конци земля.
По истинѣ, «кто Богъ велии яко Богъ нашь»! Тъ есть «Богъ творяи чюдеса», съдѣла «спасение посредѣ земля» крестом и мукою на мѣстѣ лобнѣмь, въкусивъ оцта и зълчи, да сластнааго въкушениа Адамова еже от дрѣва прѣступление и грѣх въкушениемь горести проженеть.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.2.7 — And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
- ↩Matt.2.11 — And entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they worshiped him, and opening their treasures they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.
- ↩Matt.2.13-Matt.2.15 — Now after they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him." Matt.2.14 — So when Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother by night and withdrew to Egypt, Matt.2.15 — And he remained there until the death of Herod, in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'
- ↩Isa.19.1 — An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble before him, and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.
- ↩Matt.3.13-Matt.3.17;Mark.1.9-Mark.1.11;Luke.3.21-Luke.3.22 — Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. Matt.3.14 — But John tried to prevent him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' Matt.3.15 — But Jesus answered him, "Permit it now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him. Matt.3.16 — And when Jesus had been baptized, he immediately went up from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. Matt.3.17 — And behold, a voice from the heavens said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Mark.1.9 — And it came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. Mark.1.10 — And immediately, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending to him. Mark.1.11 — And a voice came from the heavens: "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Luke.3.21 — Now when all the people had been baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, Luke.3.22 — and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, the Beloved; in you I am well pleased."
- ↩Luke.23.39-Luke.23.43 — One of the criminals who were hanged there kept heaping insults on him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luke.23.40 — But the other one answered, rebuking him: 'Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment?' Luke.23.41 — And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we have earned; but this man has done nothing wrong. Luke.23.42 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
- ↩John.19.29-John.19.30;Matt.27.48-Matt.27.50 — A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and held it to his mouth. John.19.30 — When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. Matt.27.48 — And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. Matt.27.49 — But the others said, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah comes to save him.' But another, taking a spear, pierced his side, and out came water and blood. Matt.27.50 — Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
- ↩Matt.27.45;Luke.23.44-Luke.23.45 — Now from the sixth hour darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. Luke.23.44 — And it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. Luke.23.45 — the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
- ↩Matt.27.59-Matt.27.60;Mark.15.46;Luke.23.53;John.19.41-John.19.42 — And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. Matt.27.60 — and he laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock; and having rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, he departed. Mark.15.46 — And Joseph bought a linen cloth, took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Luke.23.53 — And he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had yet been laid. John.19.41 — Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. John.19.42 — There therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation—since the tomb was nearby—they laid Jesus.
- ↩1Pet.3.18-1Pet.3.19;Acts.2.24 — For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God — put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. 1Pet.3.19 — in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, Acts.2.24 — God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, since it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Notes
- 1 ↩«привидѣниемь» rejects a Docetic reading: the humanity is real, not a phantom or semblance. «простъ человѣкъ» means a mere/ordinary man, not God-man.
- 2 ↩Source unit is only a semicolon (;), almost certainly a section-split artifact with no independent clause to translate.
- 3 ↩The source sets a deliberate contrast: Christ tastes bitterness (vinegar and gall) in order to expel Adam's sweet tasting of the forbidden tree. 'Place of the skull' renders мѣсто лобьное (Golgotha).
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