Against Celsus 2.25
Summary: Origen explains that in Gethsemane Jesus spoke as a man, showing both the weakness of the flesh and the eagerness of the spirit, and that his real suffering is an example to believers.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:154–155
Ἐλέγομεν δὴ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ὅτι αἱ μέν τινες εἰσὶ φωναὶ τοῦ ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ πρωτοτόκου „πάσης κτίσεως“ ὡς ἡ· „ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωὴ“ καὶ αἱ τούτοις παραπλήσιαι, αἱ δὲ τοῦ κατʼ αὐτὸν νοουμένου ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἡ τοῦ· „νῦν δέ με ζητεῖτε ἀποκτεῖναι, ἄνθρωπον, ὃς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑμῖν λελάληκα. ἣν ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός.“ καὶ ἐνθάδε τοίνυν διαγράφει ἐν τῷ ἀνθρωπίνῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης σαρκὸς ἀσθενὲς καὶ τὸ τοῦ πνεύματος πρόθυμον. τὸ μὲν ἀσθενὲς ἐν τῷ „πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι, παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο.“ τὸ δὲ πρόθυμον τοῦ πνεύματος ἐν τῷ „πλὴν οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω, ἀλλʼ ὡς σύ.“ εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν τάξιν τῶν λελεγμένων τηρῆσαι δεῖ. πρόσχες ὅτι πρότερον μὲν εἴρηται τὸ. ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, κατὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ἓν τυγχάνον. ὕστερον δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὴν προθυμίαν τοῦ πνεύματος ὄντα πλείονα. ἓν μὲν γὰρ τὸ „πάτερ. εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι. παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ πλείονα δὲ τό τε „οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω, ἀλλʼ ὡς σὺ“ καὶ τὸ „πάτερ μου, εἰ οὐ δύναται τοῦτο παρελθεῖν, ἐὰν μὴ αὐτὸ πίω, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου.“ τηρητέον δὲ καὶ τὸ μὴ εἰρῆσθαι μέν· „ἀπελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ λελέχθαι δὲ εὐσεβῶς καὶ μεθʼ ὑποτιμήσεως ὅλον τοῦτο· „πάτερ, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι. παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο.“ οἶδα δέ τινα καὶ τοιαύτην εἰς τὸν τόπον διήγησιν, ὅτι ὁρῶν ὁ σωτὴρ οἷα ὁ λαὸς καὶ Ἱερουσαλὴμ πείσεται ἐπὶ τῇ ἐκδικήσει τῶν κατʼ αὐτοῦ τετολμημένων ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων, οὐ διʼ ἄλλο τι ἢ διὰ τὸ πρὸς ἐκείνους φιλάνθρωπον θέλων μὴ παθεῖν τὸν λαὸν ἃ ἔμελλε πάσχειν φησὶ τὸ „πάτερ. εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι. παρελθέτω ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο“· ὡς εἰ ἔλεγεν· ἐπεὶ ἐκ τοῦ με πιεῖν τουτὶ τὸ τῆς κολάσεως ποτήριον ὅλον ἔθνος ὑπὸ σοῦ ἐγκαταλειφθήσεται, εὔχομαι. εἰ δυνατόν ἐστι, παρελθεῖν „ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο, “ ἵνα μὴ ἡ μερίς σου τολμήσασα κατʼ ἐμοῦ πάντῃ ὑπὸ σοῦ ἐγκαταλειφθῇ. ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰ, ὥς φησιν ὁ Κέλσος. μήτʼ ἀλγεινόν τι μήτʼ ἀνιαρὸν τῷ Ἰησοῦ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐγίνετο, πῶς ἂν οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα παραδείγματι τοῦ ὑπομένειν τὰ διʼ εὐσέβειαν ἐπίπονα ἐδύναντο χρήσασθαι Ἰησοῦ. μὴ παθόντι μὲν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα μόνον δὲ δόξαντι πεπονθέναι;
English · Claude translation
We said above too that some sayings are those of the firstborn “of all creation” in Jesus, such as “I am the way and the truth and the life” and others like it, while others are those of the man understood to be in him, such as “But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from the Father.” Here, then, in his human nature he portrays both the weakness of human flesh and the eagerness of the spirit: the weakness in “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,” and the eagerness of the spirit in “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” And if one must also observe the order of what was said, notice that first is said what belongs to the weakness of the flesh, being, so to speak, one thing, and afterward what belongs to the eagerness of the spirit, which is more. For there is one saying, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,” but more: both “not as I will, but as you will” and “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” It must also be observed that he did not say, “Let this cup go away from me,” but said this whole sentence reverently and with reserve: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” I also know of an interpretation of the passage like this: the Savior, seeing what the people and Jerusalem would suffer in punishment for what the Jews had dared against him, for no other reason than his love for them, wished that the people should not suffer what they were going to suffer, and said, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me”; as if he were saying: “Since, because I drink this cup of punishment, a whole nation will be forsaken by you, I pray, if it is possible, that this cup may pass from me, so that your portion, which has dared this against me, may not be wholly forsaken by you.” But if, as Celsus says, nothing painful or grievous happened to Jesus at that time, how could those who came afterward use Jesus as an example of enduring hardships for the sake of piety, if he had not suffered human things but only seemed to have suffered?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Col 1:15, John 14:6, John 8:40, Matt 26:39, and Matt 26:42; “the weakness of the flesh” and “the eagerness of the spirit” echo Matt 26:41. Origen reports without adopting it an interpretation that Jesus prayed for the Jewish people.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 2.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/25/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 2.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/2/25/).
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