Demonstrations 12.2–12.13

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

See, my beloved, the mysteries that the Most Holy established in the celebration of the Passover, when he taught them all his commandments, saying: "It shall be eaten in one house, and you shall carry none of it out of the house." Moses also commanded them this: "When you have entered the land the Lord has given you, you shall keep the Passover at its time. You may not sacrifice the Passover in any of your cities; but only in the place the Lord your God chooses for himself; you and your house shall rejoice in your feast." He also commanded them this: "A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat of the Passover; and a slave bought with money whom you own, when the flesh of his foreskin has been circumcised, shall eat of the Passover."

[3] Great and wonderful are those mysteries, my beloved. If, while Israel lived in its own land, it could not keep the Passover except in Jerusalem alone, today, scattered among all nations and tongues, they eat their bread in uncleanness among the nations, among the defiled and uncircumcised, as Ezekiel said of them when [the Lord] showed him a sign, that he should eat his bread in uncleanness; and he pleaded and said: "O Lord of lords! my soul is not defiled, nor has unclean flesh entered my mouth." And he said to Ezekiel: "This will be [for] a sign: so the children of Israel will eat their bread in defilement among the nations to which I will scatter them." So if, as I said above, while Israel was in its land it was not lawful for them to sacrifice the Passover anywhere, but only before the one altar in Jerusalem, how can they today celebrate the mystery of the Passover, when they are cast out among foreign nations? They have no means to do it; and indeed [God] testifies of them through the prophet: "The children of Israel will sit many days without sacrifices and without altar, without one to wear the ephod or offer incense." Again he said to Jerusalem: "I will make her joys cease, and her feasts, and new moon, and her sabbath." And of the ark of the testimony he says: "They will no longer say, The ark of the testimony of the Lord; they will not remember it, nor will it be made again." Since then he has said, "They will not remember it, nor will it be made, nor will it come to mind," why do they dare to restore it? Moses too foretold of them: "I will provoke them with a people that is no people, and with a foolish nation I will anger them." Now I ask you, wise debater of the people, who do not understand the words of the law: show me when this was fulfilled, when God provoked the people with a people that was no people, and when he angered them with a senseless nation? But if you are stirred to jealousy by the people of the nations, you yourself fulfil the word of Scripture that Moses set down for you long ago in his book. And if you, having become a sojourner, perform the Passover anywhere, you celebrate it against the commandment; for a bill of divorce has been written against you.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

And if you do not believe, hear Jeremiah the prophet saying: "I have left my house, I have abandoned my inheritance; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies, and a painted bird has become my inheritance." What is that painted bird? I ask you. The painted bird is the church of the nations. And see why he calls it painted: because it has been gathered from many tongues and brought together from distant peoples. If you still do not grant that the nations have become God's inheritance, hear again what Jeremiah says, calling the nations and rejecting Israel. For he says: "Stand on the roads, look, and ask about the paths of the world, and see which is the best way, and walk in it. And you said: We will not walk." Again he says: "I set watchmen over you, that you might hear the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hear." So since the children of Israel would not listen to him, he turned to the church of the nations. For he said: "Hear, O nations, and know, O congregation that is among them." David also said: "Remember your congregation, which you acquired from the beginning." And Isaiah: "Hear, peoples, what I have done, and know my might, you who are far off." He also speaks of the church that was to be among the nations, and says: "In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established on the top of the mountains, higher than the hills, and all the nations will look to it." Why did Isaiah say, "Hear, peoples, what I have done, and know my might, you who are far off; the sinners in Zion are terrified, and trembling has fallen on the wicked"? What does this mean, that he offers his works to be heard and shows his might to those who are far off, terrifies the sinners in Zion, and sends fear on the wicked? He calls the nations so as to provoke the people through them; he shows his might to those who are far off when he brings the wrath of him who will judge his people; he terrifies the sinners of Zion, which was called the city of the Holy One; he strikes fear into the wicked, who are the lying prophets, as he says of the prophets of Jerusalem: "From them wickedness has gone out into all the land."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

You have heard, my beloved, what I have set out for you about that Passover, whose mystery was given to the former people, while its truth is preached today among the nations. For the minds of simple and unlearned people are much troubled about the celebration and observance of that great day of the feast. But the true lamb is our Savior, [a lamb] a year old, without blemish, as the prophet says of him: "In him there is no iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth; yet the Lord willed to crush him and hand him over to suffering." And he calls him a year old because he was [like] an infant, [free] from sins, as he himself said to his disciples: "Unless you turn and become like these little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." And Isaiah says … [a child of a hundred] years will die, that he may be cursed.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

So our Savior ate the Passover with his disciples in the holy night of the fourteenth day; and with his disciples he fulfilled the sign of the Passover in truth. For after Judas had gone out from them, he took bread, blessed it, gave it to his disciples, and said to them: "This is my Body; take and eat of it, all of you." Over the wine too he blessed thus and said to them: "This is my Blood, the new covenant, which will be shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do likewise in memory of me when you gather." The Lord had not yet been arrested. And having said these things, he rose from the place where he had made the Passover and had given his Body as food and his Blood as drink, and went with his disciples to the place where he was arrested. But one who has eaten his body and drunk his blood is reckoned among the dead. The Lord with his own hands gave his Body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his Blood to be drunk. He was taken on the night of the fourteenth and was judged until the sixth hour, and at the time of the sixth hour they condemned him and raised him on the cross. While they judged him he said nothing, nor did he utter any word to those judging him. He certainly could have spoken and answered; but it was impossible for one who was reckoned among the dead to speak. From the sixth hour to the ninth there was darkness, and at the ninth hour he committed his spirit to the Father, and he was among the dead that night on which the fifteenth day dawned, the night of the sabbath, and all that day, with three hours of the day of preparation. And on the night on which the first day of the week dawned, at the same hour at which he had given his Body and Blood to his disciples, he rose from the dead.

[7] Now show us, wise one, what are these three days and three nights during which our Savior was among the dead? We see three hours on the day of preparation, the night on which the sabbath dawned, and the whole sabbath day; and on the night of the first day of the week he rose. So set out for me where these three days and three nights are. For he seems to have stayed there [only] a whole day and night; but in truth, as the Savior said, "As Jonah the son of Amittai was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth." For from the time he gave his Body as food and his Blood as drink, there are three days and three nights. For it was night when Judas went out from them, and the eleven disciples ate the Savior's Body and drank his Blood: see then one night, the one on which the day of preparation dawned. And until the sixth hour they judged him: see then one day and one night. And the three hours in which there was darkness, from the sixth hour to the ninth, and the three hours after the darkness, make two days and two nights. Finally, after the whole night on which the sabbath dawned and the whole sabbath day, the Lord's three days and three nights among the dead were completed; for on the night of the first day of the week he rose from the dead.

[8] The Passover of the Jews [is kept] on this fourteenth day, night and day together; but ours is on the solemn day of the passion, which is the day of preparation, the fifteenth, night and day. After the Passover Israel eats unleavened bread for seven days, until the twenty-first of the month; we too keep the unleavened bread, the feast of our Savior. They eat unleavened bread with bitterness; but the Savior refused this cup of bitterness and took away all the bitterness of the nations, when he tasted and would not drink. The Jews make remembrance of their sins year by year; but we commemorate the crucifixion and the reproaches of our Savior. At the Passover they escaped the slavery of Pharaoh; on the day of the crucifixion we were redeemed from the captivity of Satan. They killed a lamb from the flock and by its blood were saved from the destroyer; we have been set free by the blood of the chosen Son from the works of corruption that we did. They had Moses as their leader; we have Jesus as our guide and Savior. For them Moses divided the sea and brought them across; our Savior opened Sheol and broke its gates, when he went into its depths and opened them, and trod the way before all who would believe in him. To them manna was given as food; to us the Lord has given his Body to eat. For them he brought water from the rock; for us the Savior made living waters flow from his belly. To them he promised the land of the Canaanites as an inheritance; he has promised to give us the land of life. For them Moses hung up a bronze serpent, so that whoever looked at it might be healed of the serpents' bite; for us Jesus fixed himself [to the cross], so that looking at him we might escape the bites of the serpent, who is Satan. For them Moses set up the tabernacle of the covenant, to which they brought sacrifices and offerings by which they were atoned for their sins; Jesus restored the tabernacle of David, which had fallen and was raised up. For he said to the Jews: "This temple that you see, when you destroy it, I will rebuild in three days." And his disciples understood that he spoke of his body, which, when they had destroyed it, he would raise after three days. In this tabernacle he has promised us life, and in it our sins are atoned for. He called their tabernacle a temporary dwelling, because it was of use for a short time; but ours [he called] the temple of the Holy Spirit, for ever.

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Now hear, my beloved, about that Passover lamb, how the Most Holy commanded that it be eaten in one house, not in many houses. That one house is the Church of God. Again he says: "Hired servants and sojourners shall not eat of it." Who are these hired servants and sojourners, if not [the followers] of devilish doctrines, who are not permitted to eat the Passover? Of them the Savior says: "The hired man, whose own the sheep are not, when he sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees." He then said: "You shall not eat any of it raw, nor boiled in water." It is well known that the sacrifice offered in the church of God is roasted with fire, not boiled in water nor offered raw. Again he said: "You shall eat it thus: you shall gird your loins, have shoes on your feet and staffs in your hands." These mysteries are very lofty. For whoever wishes to eat of the lamb of truth, Christ, let him gird his loins with faith, shoe his feet with the preparation of the Gospel, and take in his hand the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. He said further: "A bone shall not be broken in it." This was fulfilled on that day of the crucifixion, when they broke the legs of those who were crucified with him, but did not break [the legs] of him; and he adds: "That the word of Scripture might be fulfilled: A bone shall not be broken in it." He also said: "A slave bought with money, when the flesh of his foreskin has been circumcised, then shall eat of the Passover." The bought slave is the sinful man who has repented and been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and when he has circumcised his heart from evil works, then he goes on to baptism, the completion of the true circumcision; he is joined to the people of God and shares in the Body and Blood of Christ. And what he also said, "Eat it in haste," this too is observed in the Church of God. For they eat the lamb in haste, in fear and trembling, standing on their feet, because they hasten to eat life from the gift of the Spirit which …

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Israel was baptized in the midst of the sea on this night of the Passover, on the day of salvation; and our Savior also washed the feet of his disciples on the night of the Passover, which is the sacrament of baptism. Know, my beloved, that on that night the Savior gave the baptism of truth. For as long as he lived with the disciples, the baptism of the law with which the priests baptized was that baptism of which John said: "Repent of your sins." But on that night he revealed to them the sacrament of the baptism of the passion of his death, as the Apostle said: "You were buried with him by baptism into death, and you rose with him by the power of God." Know, then, my friend, that the baptism of John had no force for the forgiveness of sins, but [only] for repentance. The Acts of the twelve apostles proclaim this. When the disciples questioned those who had been called from the nations and from Israel and said to them, "Have you been baptized?", and they answered, "We have been baptized with the baptism of John," then they baptized them with the baptism of truth, the sacrament of the passion of our Savior. The Savior also bore witness to this when he said to his disciples: "John baptized with water; but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." And when the Savior took water and poured it into the basin of washing, took a towel and girded his loins, and began to wash the feet of his disciples, when he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him: "You, Lord, wash my feet? You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him: "Unless I wash you, you will have no part with me." Simon said to him: "Then, Lord, wash not only my feet, but [also my hands and my head." Jesus said to him: "He who has bathed] needs only to wash his feet." And when he had washed his disciples' feet, he took his garments and reclined, and said to them: "See, you call me Teacher and Lord. And so I am. If I, your Teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, how much more ought you to wash one another's feet! I have given you this example, so that as I have done, so you should do." And after he had washed their feet and reclined, he gave them his Body and Blood. It was otherwise with [the people of] Israel, who after eating the Passover were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, as the Apostle said: "Our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

I have written you these few words of exhortation as a defence against the Jews, because they keep the customary feast of the Passover outside the law and without permission, and restore the chest and the ark of the covenant without authority, not understanding the words of the prophet: "They will no longer say, The ark of the covenant of the Lord, nor will it come to mind, nor will they remember it or visit it, nor will it be made again." Since then he says, "It will not be made again, nor come to mind, nor be visited," know, my friend, that whoever restores it transgresses the commandment. Again Jeremiah says: "The children of Israel and the children of Judah have broken my covenant." And speaking of the covenant given to the people, he says thus: "I will complete with [the men of] the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant I gave their fathers on the day I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I too rejected them." There will be some who say that God promised Israel and Judah that he would give a new covenant; but he who called Israel rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah is the same who chose Abraham and gave him the promise when he blessed him, saying: "Your name will no longer be called Abram, but it will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations." Then he said to him: "In your seed all the peoples of the earth will be blessed."

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

Be instructed in this way, then, and in turn instruct the brothers, the children of your church, who are anxious about that time of the Passover; but those who are of sound mind do not care much to know these things. If the day of the Passover on which the Savior suffered falls for us on the first day of the week, we should keep the feast according to the law on the second day, observing that whole week in the passion of the Lord and in unleavened bread, since there are seven days of unleavened bread after the Passover, up to the twenty-first. But if the passion falls on any other day of the week, there is no need to be concerned about those [days]; for us the solemn day is the day of preparation. And according to the reckoning of the month, the day of the crucifixion on which the Savior suffered, and spent a night and day among the dead, from the sixth hour of the day of preparation to the dawn of the first day of the week, was the fifteenth day; and he rose on the first day of the week, the sixteenth day; for at the dawn of the fourteenth day he ate the Passover with his disciples according to the law of Israel, and on this day of preparation, the fourteenth day, he was judged until the sixth hour and was fixed to the cross for three hours; and he went down to the dead on the night on which the fifteenth day dawned; he spent the sabbath, which is the fifteenth day, among the dead; and on the night on which the first day of the week dawned, which is the sixteenth day, he rose, and appeared to Mary Magdalene and to two of the disciples walking on the road. Let one who raises controversy about these days understand from this that the Lord kept the Passover and ate and drank with his disciples at the dawn of the fourteenth day … [they] will pay attention [not to the fourteenth], but to the sabbath and the Lord's day … But from the hour the cock crowed he no longer ate or drank, because they arrested him and began to judge him; and as I showed you above, the fifteenth day, that is, the whole night and day, [he spent] among the dead …

Translated by Claude from Jean Parisot's Latin translation (1894) of the Syriac; neither is shown

But for the feast to be kept each year at its appointed time, these things are required of us: fasting with purity, prayer with faith, praise with diligence, and the singing of psalms as is fitting; the handing on of the sign, with baptism according to the rite; the blessings of consecration in their times; and all that is customarily performed. For the Lord suffered and rose again; therefore he no longer dies; death will no longer have dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Us too, who were dead, he has brought to life with himself. For if we were anxious about these things and cared only about the fourteenth day, and not about the custom … it would be fitting to observe the fourteenth day of every month and to mourn on the day of preparation of every week. Rather, we ought to spend each day of the week in doing what is right before the Lord our God. Be instructed, then, by what I have briefly written you; and you need not be troubled by laboured words; for they bring no profit, but a clean heart does, with which we keep the commandment and the feast of that day at its appointed time.

Here ends the Demonstration on the Passover.