7. Cf. 2 Cor 1.22. 8. Cf. Rom 4.25. (continued)
TRACTATE 8 183
(3) For the Word was the bridegroom, and human flesh was the bride; and both are the one Son of God and likewise the Son of Man. i hat womb of the Virgin Mary where he became the head of the Church was his bridal chamber; he came forth from there like the bridegroom from his bridal chamber, as
Scripture foretold: "And he, as a bridegroom coming forth from his bridal chamber, has rejoiced as a giant to run the way."'' He came forth from the bridal chamber like a bridegroom; and having been invited, he came to the wedding. 5. As an example of a definite mystery, the bridegroom seems not to acknowledge the mother from whom he came forth, and to say to her, "What is it to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come." What does this mean? Has he come to the wedding for the purpose of teaching the disparagement of mothers? To be sure, the man to whose wedding he had come was taking a wife so as to beget sons; and, of course, by those whom he was hoping to beget he desired to be honored. Had he, then, come to the wedding to dishonor [his] mother when marriages themselves are celebrated and wives are taken for the purpose of having children whom God orders to pay honor to their parents?
(2) Beyond doubt, brothers, something lies hidden here. For it is so important a matter that certain men whom the Apostle forewarned [us] to guard against, as we have related above, when he said, "I fear that, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so also your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity and chastity which is in Christ,"'^ [certain men]," disparaging the gospel and saying that Jesus was not born of the Virgin Mary, try to take a proof of their error from this verse, so that they say, "How was she his mother to whom he said, 'What is it to me and to you, woman?'" Therefore they must be answered, and the question of why the Lord said this must be discussed, so that these unsound men may not think they have found something against sound faith
9. Cf. Ps 18.6. 10. Cf. 2 Cor 1 1.3. 1 1 . The Manichaeans. Here he argues against their docetic teachings that Christ did not truly have a human body and that Mary was not his mother. See Berrouard, Homelies I-XVI, 893-895; and also, Widengren, 124.