24. That He was not to be overcome of death, nor should remain in Hades.

Cyprian

20. That the Jews would fasten Christ to the cross.

In Isaiah: “I have spread out my hands all day to a people disobedient and contradicting me, who walk in ways that are not good, but after their own sins.”^[4063] Also in Jeremiah: “Come, let us cast the tree into His bread, and let us blot out His life from the earth.”^[4064] Also in Deuteronomy: “And Thy life shall be hanging (in doubt) before Thine eyes; and Thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt not trust to Thy life.”^[4065] Also in the twenty-first Psalm: “They tore my hands and my feet;^[4066] they numbered all my bones. And they gazed upon me, and saw me, and divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast a lot. But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help far from me; attend unto my help. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the paw^[4067] of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare Thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise Thee.”^[4068] Also in the cxviiith Psalm: “Pierce my flesh with nails through fear of Thee.”^[4069] Also in the cxlth Psalm: “The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice.”^[4070] Of which sacrifice Sophonias said: “Fear from the presence of the Lord God, since His day is near, because the Lord hath prepared His sacrifice, He hath sanctified His elect.”^[4071] Also in Zechariah: “And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced.”^[4072] Also in the eighty-seventh Psalm: “I have called unto Thee, O Lord, the whole day; I have stretched out my hands unto Thee.”^[4073] Also in Numbers: “Not as a man is God suspended, nor as the son of man does He suffer threats.”^[4074] Whence in the Gospel the Lord says: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in the Son may have life eternal.”^[4075]

21. That in the passion and the sign of the cross is all virtue and power.

In Habakkuk: “His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise, and His splendour shall be as the light; there shall be horns in His hands. And there the virtue of His glory was established, and He founded His strong love. Before His face shall go the Word, and shall go forth unto the plains according to His steps.”^[4076] In Isaiah also: “Behold, unto us a child is born, and to us a Son is given, upon whose shoulders shall be government; and His name shall be called the Messenger of a mighty thought.”^[4077] By this sign of the cross also Amalek was conquered by Jesus through Moses. In Exodus Moses said to Jesus: “Choose thee out men, and go forth, and order yourselves with Amalek until the morrow. Behold, I will stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God in mine hand. And it came to pass, when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when Moses had let down his hands, Amalek waxed strong. But the hands of Moses were heavy; and they took a stone, and placed it under him, and he sat upon it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, on the one side and on the other side; and the hands of Moses were made steady even to the setting of the sun. And Jesus routed Amalek and all his people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this, that it may be a memorial in a book, and tell it unto the ears of Jesus, that I may utterly destroy the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”^[4078]

22. That in this sign of the Cross is salvation for all people who are marked on their foreheads.^[4079]

In Ezekiel the Lord says: “Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and thou shalt mark the sign upon the men’s foreheads, who groan and grieve for the iniquities which are done in the midst of them.”^[4080] Also in the same place: “Go and smite, and do not spare your eyes. Have no pity on the old man, and the youth, and the virgin, and slay little children and women, that they may be utterly destroyed. But ye shall not touch any one upon whom the sign is written, and begin with my holy places themselves.”^[4081] Also in Exodus God says to Moses: “And there shall be blood for a sign to you upon the houses wherein ye shall be; and I will look on the blood, and will protect you. And there shall not be in you the plague of wasting when I shall smite the land of Egypt.”^[4082] Also in the Apocalypse: “And I saw^[4083] a Lamb standing on Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand; and they had His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”^[4084] Also in the same place: “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have power over the tree of life.”^[4085]

23. That at mid-day in His passion there should be darkness.

In Amos: “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, the sun shall set at noonday, and the day of light shall be darkened; and I will turn your feast-days into grief, and all your songs into lamentation.”^[4086] Also in Jeremiah: “She is frightened that hath borne children, and her soul hath grown weary. Her sun hath gone down while as yet it was mid-day; she hath been confounded and accursed: I will give the rest of them to the sword in the sight of their enemies.”^[4087] Also in the Gospel: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth even to the ninth hour.”^[4088]