Commentary on Isaiah

Gregory of Neocaesarea (d. 270)

Therefore, when it is said that he was "troubled in spirit," that "he was sorrowful in soul," that "he was wounded in body," he places before us designations of susceptibilities proper to our constitution, in order to show that he was made man in the world and had his conversation with [people], yet without sin.

How could one say that the body of the Lord [Christ] is void of soul and understanding? For perturbation and grief and distress are not the properties either of a flesh void of a soul or of a soul void of understanding; nor are they the sign of the nature of immutable divinity or the index of a mere phantasm; nor do they mark the defect of human moral weakness. But the Word exhibited in himself the exercise of the affections and susceptibilities proper to us, having endued himself with our passibility, even as it is written, that "he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." For perturbation and grief and distress are disorders of soul; and toil, and sleep and the body's liability to wounding are infirmities of the flesh.

See also

• More works by Gregory of Neocaesarea

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