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Dialogue with Trypho
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Chapter 78: He Demonstrates that this Prophecy Aligns Only with Christ, Based on the Following Writings.
AT THE TIME WHEN KING HEROD WAS VISITED BY THE MAGI FROM ARABIA: they told him they had seen a star in the sky indicating that a King had been born in his country, and they had come to worship Him. Herod learned from the elders of his people that it was written about Bethlehem in the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come the leader who will shepherd my people.’ The Magi from Arabia went to Bethlehem, worshipped the Child, and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However, they did not return to Herod because they were warned in a revelation after worshipping the Child in Bethlehem.
Joseph, the husband of Mary, initially wanted to break off his engagement to Mary, thinking she became pregnant through relations with a man, i.e., through fornication. But in a vision, he was instructed not to leave his wife. The angel who appeared to him told him that what was in her womb was of the Holy Ghost. So, he was afraid and did not leave her. During the first census in Judea, under Cyrenius, Joseph went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, which was his ancestral home, to be registered, as his family belonged to the tribe of Judah, which was settled in that area. Then, along with Mary, he was instructed to go to Egypt with the Child and stay there until another revelation told them to return to Judea.
But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, because Joseph could not find lodging in the village, he stayed in a cave near the village. While they were there, Mary gave birth to the Christ and laid Him in a manger, and this was where the Magi from Arabia found Him. I have shared with you,” I continued, “what Isaiah foretold about the sign foreshadowing the cave; but for the benefit of those accompanying us today, I will remind you of the passage.” Then I repeated the passage from Isaiah I have already written, adding that the words stirred those who presided over the mysteries of Mithras, incited by the devil, to claim that they were initiated by him in a place they called a cave.
When the Magi from Arabia did not return to Herod as he had asked, but instead went back to their own country by another path, following the command given to them; and when Joseph, Mary, and the Child had gone into Egypt as revealed to them; since Herod did not know which Child the Magi had visited to worship, he simply ordered all the children in Bethlehem to be killed. Jeremiah prophesied this, speaking by the Holy Ghost: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and much wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because they are not.’ Therefore, because of the voice to be heard from Ramah, i.e., from Arabia (there is presently a place called Ramah in Arabia), wailing would fall upon the place where Rachel, the wife of Jacob called Israel, the holy patriarch, has been buried, i.e., upon Bethlehem; while the women mourn for their own slaughtered children and find no consolation because of what has happened to them.
Isaiah's expression, ‘He shall take the power of Damascus and spoils of Samaria,’ predicted that the power of the evil demon residing in Damascus would be overcome by Christ as soon as He was born, and this has been shown to have occurred. For the Magi, who were ensnared into committing evil deeds through the power of that demon, showed their revolt from that dominion by coming to worship Christ, a dominion Scripture has identified as residing in Damascus. Moreover, that unjust and sinful power is rightly called Samaria in parable. None of you can deny that Damascus was, and is, in the region of Arabia, though now it belongs to the area called Syrophoenicia.
Thus, it would be proper for you, sirs, to learn what you have yet to perceive from those who have received grace from God—namely, from us Christians—and not insist on upholding your own doctrines that dishonor those of God. This is why this grace has been given to us, as Isaiah says, speaking in this manner: ‘This people draws near to Me with their mouth and honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; they worship Me in vain, teaching the commands and doctrines of men. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, and I shall remove them; and I shall take away the wisdom of their wise men and bring their understanding to nothing.’ ”