The Letters of S. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

by Bishop of Milan Saint Ambrose

4. First then your great sagacity perceives that what is said in the Gospel has reference to the times of the Gospel, when the Lord Jesus dwelt among men in human form; but now 2 Cor. v. 16. we know Christ according to the flesh no longer.Be it that He was so seen and known by them of old, now 2 Cor. v. 17. old things are passed away, all things are become new. But all things are from God, Who has reconciled us by Christ unto Himself; for we were dead, and therefore One was made Phil. ii. 7. a servant for all. Why do I say, a servant? He was made sin, a reproach, a curse. For the Apostle has said that 2 Cor. v. 21. He was made sin for us, that the Lord Jesus Gal. iii. 13. was made a curse for us. He has said, 1 Cor. xv. 28. when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall He also Himself be subject. Peter also said in the Acts of the Apostles, Acts iii. 6. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Then he said also, that God had Ib. 13. glorified His Servant Jesus, and no one brings any charge against him concerning the time. But in the Apocalypse He is called Rev. v. 12. a Lamb by John, in the Psalm He is called Ps. xxii. 6. a worm and no man. He was made all these things that 1 Cor. xv. 55. He might blunt the sting of our death, that He might take away our slavery, that He might abolish our curses, our sins, our reproaches.

5. These things and others and many more you have written me word that you answered to one who consulted you; and, seeing that they are contained in Holy Scripture, how should any one hesitate to utter what has been thus piously written, tending as they do to the glory of Christ, not to His disparagement? For if it is said of His gift, that is, of the manna,that Exod. xvi. 18. he that gathered little had no lack[225], he that gathered much had nothing over[226], could He Himself suffer diminution or increase? For in what respect was He diminished by Is. liii. 4. taking upon Him our bondage, our infirmities? He was humbled, Phil. ii. 7. He was in the form of a servant, but He was also Ib. 11. in the glory of God the Father. He was Ps. xxii. 7. a worm upon the Cross, S. Luke xxiii. 34. but He also forgave the sins of His persecutors. He was a reproach, but He is also the glory of the Lord, as it is written, Isa. xl. 5. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. What did He lose Who is wanting in nothing? He had indeed Ib. liii. 2. no form or comeliness, but He had the fulness of the Godhead. He was accounted weak, but He ceased not to be the Power of God. He was seen in human form, but there shone upon earth the Divine Majesty and the glory of the Father.

6. Well therefore has the Apostle repeated the sameword, saying of the Lord Jesus, Phil. ii. 6, 7. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant. What is the meaning of in the form of God but in the fulness of the Godhead, in the expression of the Divine perfection? Being therefore in the fulness of the Godhead, He emptied Himself of it, and received the fulness of human nature and perfection: as nothing was wanting to Him as God so neither was there any thing wanting to His completeness as Man, that in either form He might be perfect. Wherefore David also says, Ps. xlv. 2. Thou art fairer than the children of men.

7. The Apollinarian is confuted, he has no refuge to turn to, he is caught in his own net. For he himself had said, He took upon him the form of a servant, He was not chosen to be a servant. I ask again therefore, what is the meaning of in the form of God? He replies, In the nature of God. For there are those, says the Apostle, Gal. iv. 8. which by nature are no gods. I enquire, what is the meaning of Phil. ii. 7. took upon Him the form of a servant? Doubtless, as I have stated, the perfection of the nature and condition of man, that He might be in the likeness of man. And he has said well Ib. the likeness, not of the flesh, but of men, for He is in the same flesh. But since He alone was without sin, but all men are in sin, He was seen in the form of man.Wherefore the prophet also says, Jer. xvii. 9. He is a man yet who can know him[227]? Man according to the flesh, but beyond man according to the Divine operation. S. Matt. viii. 2, 3. When he touched the leper He was seen as man, but above man when He cleansed him. S. John xi. 33, 44. When He wept over Lazarus dead, He wept as man, but He was above men when He commanded the dead to come forth with bound feet. He was seen as man when He hung upon the cross, but above man S. Matt. xxvii. 52. when the graves were opened and He raised the dead.

8. Nor has the Apollinarian venom any cause for complaining becauseit is thus it written, Phil. ii. 8. And being found in fashion[228] as a man, for Jesus is not hereby denied to be man, for in another place Paul himself calls Him, 1 Tim. ii. 5. The Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, butrather His manhood is established. For it is the custom and manner of Scripture so to express itself, and we read also in the Gospel, S. John i. 14. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father. In the same way therefore that He is called as the only-begotten, yet it is not denied that He is truly the only-begotten Son of God, so He is said to be as man, yet it is not denied that the perfection of manhood existed in Him.

9. While, then, He was Phil. ii. 7. in the form of a servant, humbled even unto death, He yet remained in the glory of God. What injury then was His state of subjection to Him? We read that He was made a servant, because we read that Gal. iv. 4. He was made of a Virgin and created in the flesh, for every creature is a servant, as the Prophet says; Ps. cxix. 91. For all things serve Thee. Wherefore also God the Father says, Ib. lxxxix. 20, 26, 27. I have found David My servant, with My holy oil have I anointed him. He shall call Me, Thou art my Father, my God, and my strong salvation; and I will make him My first-born; and in another Psalm, Ib. lxxxvi. 2. Preserve Thou my soul for I am holy: save Thy servant, and afterwards in the same Psalm, Give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and help the son of Thy handmaid. Thus I have collected the words of the Father and of the Son, that I may answer not with human arguments but by the Divine oracles.

10. In another passage He says, Ps. xxxi. 5. Into Thy hands I commend My spirit, and, Ib. 8. Thou hast set My feet in a large room, and, Ib. 11. I became a reproof among all Mine enemies. And in the same Psalm, Ib. 16. Shew Thy servant the light of Thy countenance. By the mouth of Isaiah too the Son of God Himself says, Isa. xlix. 1–3. From my mother’s womb the Lord hath called My name, and He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid Me; and said unto Me, Thou art My servant, O Israel. For the Son of God is also called Israel, as in another place, Ib. xli. 8. But thou, Israel, My Servant Jacob, whom I have chosen. For He alone hath truly not only seen but also S. John i. 18. declared God the Father.

11. And it goes on, Isa. xlix. 3, 4, 5. In whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength fornought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him and Israel. Who hath gathered the people of God but Christ? Who is glorified before the Lord? Who is the Power of God?He to Whom the Father hath said, Isa. xlix. 6. It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant[229], and He to Whom He says Ib. xlii. 6. xlix. 6. Behold, I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, that Thou mightest be My Salvation unto the end of the earth. Of Him He has also spoken by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, saying, Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My Servant David, He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My Servant David a Prince among them. Now king David was already dead, and therefore the true David, the truly humble, the truly meek, the true Son of God, strong of hand, is announced by this name; he also is intended in the book of the prophet Zechariah, where God the Father says, Zech. iii. 8. BeholdI will send my servant, the Orient[230] is His name. Did then His being Ib. iii. 3. clothed in filthy garments deprive the Sun of righteousness of the brightness of His Godhead?

12. And why need I say more? Shall we deem servitude to be a state of greater weakness than that of being made sin, of being a curse, a reproach, than the infirmities which He bore for our sakes that we might be saved from them? For He was made all of these that He might relieve the world from them. But they will not admit that He was made a servant, a reproach, a curse, because they affirm that the Word and the flesh are of one substance, and say, Because He redeemed us He is called a servant, and ought to be called sin. And they do not perceive this to be the glory of Christ, that in His Incarnation He took upon Him the state of a servant that Hemight restore liberty to all; He bore our sins, that He might take away the sin of the world.

13. He was made a servant, He was made sin and a curse, that thou mightest cease to be a servant of sin, and that He might absolve thee from the curse of the Divine judgment. He therefore took upon Him thy curse, for Gal. iii. 13. Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. He was made a curse upon the cross, that thou mightest be blessed in the kingdom of God. He was disgraced, He was vilified and set at nought. He said, Is. xlix. 4. I have laboured in vain, through Whom Paul was enabled to say, Phil. ii. 16. I have not laboured in vain. This He did that He might confer on His servants the fruit of good works and the glory of the preaching of the Gospel, whereby the world might be released from the burthen of its toil.