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.’23202320 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.’23212321 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.’23222322 And
again, in other words, David in the twenty-first23232323 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 who crucified Him parted
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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.
