Again, who among those attested in Scripture had his hands and feet pierced, or was hung on a tree at all, and met his end on a Cross for the salvation of all? Abraham died at the end of his life on a bed; Isaac and Jacob likewise died on a bed. Moses and Aaron died on the mountain, and David in his house, without being the target of any plot by the people. Though Saul sought him, he was preserved unharmed. Isaiah was sawn apart, but he was not hung on a tree. Jeremiah was mistreated, but he did not die under condemnation. Ezekiel suffered, but not on behalf of the people; rather, he signified what was going to happen to them.
Moreover, even when these men suffered, they were human beings like everyone else in their common nature. But the one whom the Scriptures indicate as suffering on behalf of all is called not simply a human being, but the Life of all, although by nature He was like other human beings. For it says, “You shall see your Life hanging before your eyes,” and, “Who shall declare His generation?” We can learn and recount the lineage of all the saints from the beginning—who each one was and where he came from—but the divine Scriptures indicate that the generation of Him who is the Life cannot be declared.
Who, then, is the one about whom the divine Scriptures say these things? Who is so great that the prophets foretold so much about Him? No one else is found in the Scriptures except the common Savior of all, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. He came forth from a virgin and appeared as a human being on earth, and His generation according to the flesh cannot be recounted. No one can name His father according to the flesh, because His body came not from a man but from a virgin alone.
We can trace the fathers of David and Moses and of all the patriarchs, but no one can trace the Savior’s generation according to the flesh to a man. It was He Himself who caused the star to announce the birth of His body. For it was fitting that the Word, coming down from heaven, should also have His sign from heaven, and that the King of creation, when He came forth, should be openly recognized by the whole world.
He was born in Judea, yet people from Persia came to worship Him. He is the one who, even before His bodily appearance, gained victory over the opposing demons and won triumphs over idolatry. All people from the nations everywhere now renounce their ancestral customs and the godlessness of idols, place their hope in Christ, and enroll themselves under Him, as anyone can see with their own eyes.
For the godlessness of the Egyptians ceased at no other time than when the Lord of all, riding as upon a cloud, came down there in the body, abolished the deception of idols, and brought everyone to Himself and, through Himself, to the Father.
He is the one who was crucified with the sun, creation, and those who put Him to death as witnesses. By His death salvation has come to all, and all creation has been redeemed. He is the Life of all, the one who, like a sheep, gave His own body to death as a substitute for the lives of all, for their salvation, even though the Jews do not believe.