3. But we, who know the economy, adore His mercy, because He hath come to save and not to judge the world.  Wherefore John, the forerunner of the Lord, who before knew not this mystery, on learning that He is Lord in truth, cried out, and spake to those who came to be baptized of him, “O generation of vipers,”17    Matt. iii. 7. why look ye so earnestly at me? “I am not the Christ;”18    John i. 20. I am the servant, and not the lord; I am the subject, and not the king; I am the sheep, and not the shepherd; I am a man, and not God. By my birth I loosed the barrenness of my mother; I did not make virginity barren.19    οὐ παρθενίαν ἐστείρωσα.  So Gregory Thaumaturgus, Sancta Theophania, p. 106, edit. Vossii: “Thou, when born of the Virgin Mary,…didst not loose her virginity; but didst preserve it, and gifted her with the name of mother.” I was brought up from beneath; I did not come down from above. I bound the tongue of my father;20    Luke i. 20. I did not unfold divine grace. I was known by my mother, and I was not announced by a star.21    Matt. ii. 9. I am worthless, and the least; but “after me there comes One who is before me”22    John i. 27.—after me, indeed, in time, but before me by reason of the inaccessible and unutterable light of divinity. “There comes One mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”23    Matt. iii. 11. I am subject to authority, but He has authority in Himself. I am bound by sins, but He is the Remover of sins. I apply24    παράπτω. the law, but He bringeth grace to light. I teach as a slave, but He judgeth as the Master. I have the earth as my couch, but He possesses heaven. I baptize with the baptism of repentance, but He confers the gift of adoption: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” Why give ye attention to me? I am not the Christ.

[3] νῦν δὲ γνόντες τὴν οἰκονομίαν προσκυνοῦμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν, ὅτι παραγέγονε σῶσαι καὶ οὐ κρῖναι τὴν οἰκουμένην. ὅθεν Ἰωάννης ὁ τοῦ κυρίου πρόδρομος ἀγνοήσας τοῦτο τὸ μυστήριον καὶ μαθὼν ὅτι ἀληθῶς ὁ κύριός ἐστιν, ἐβόα λέγων τοῖς ἀπερχομένοις ὑπ' αὐτοῦ βαπτισθῆναι „γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν„, τί μοι σφοδρῶς ἀτενίζετε; ”οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός”: ὑπηρέτης εἰμὶ καὶ οὐκ αὐθέντης: ἰδιώτης εἰμί, οὐ βασιλεύς: πρόβατόν εἰμι, οὐ ποιμήν: ἄνθρωπός εἰμι, οὐ θεός: στείρωσιν ἔλυσα μητρὸς γεννηθείς, οὐ παρθενίαν ἐστείρωσα: ἐκ τῶν κάτωθεν ἀνεδόθην, ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν οὐ κατῆλθον: πατρικὴν ἔδησα γλῶσσαν, οὐ θεϊκὴν ἥπλωσα χάριν: ὑπὸ μητρὸς ἐγνώσθην, ὑπὸ ἀστέρος δὲ οὐκ ἐμηνύθην: ἐγὼ εὐτελὴς καὶ ἐλάχιστος, „ἔρχεται δὲ ὀπίσω μου ὃς ἔμπροσθέν μου ἐστίν„, ὀπίσω διὰ τὸν χρόνον, ἔμπροσθεν διὰ τὸ ἀπρόσιτον καὶ ἀνέκφραστον τῆς θεότητος φῶς. ”ἔρχεται ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς τὰ ὑποδήματα βαστάσαι, αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί”. ἐγὼ ὑπεξούσιος, αὐτὸς δὲ αὐτεξούσιος: ἐγὼ ἁμαρτιῶν ἔνοχος, αὐτὸς δὲ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀφαιρετής: ἐγὼ τὸν νόμον παράπτω, αὐτὸς δὲ τὴν χάριν φωταγωγεῖ: ἐγὼ ὡς δοῦλος κατηχῶν, αὐτὸς δὲ ὡς δεσπότης κρίνων: ἐγὼ τὸ ἔδαφος κλίνην ἔχω, αὐτὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔχει: ἐγὼ μετανοίας βαπτίζω βάπτισμα, αὐτὸς δὲ υἱοθεσίας δωρεῖται χάρισμα. „αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί„. τί ἐμοὶ προσανέχετε; ”οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὁ Χριστός”.