#david friel

“Do you see the marvelous victory? Do you see the feat accomplished on the cross? And shall I tell you something even more marvelous? Learn the manner of the victory, and then you will be more astounded. For through the same means by which the devil conquered, Christ in turn prevailed, and, having taken the devil’s own weapons, he subdued them. And have you heard how? “A virgin and wood and death were the symbols of our defeat. The virgin was Eve, for she had not yet known man. The wood was the tree, and death was the punishment of Adam. But behold, once again, a virgin and wood and death: these were the symbols of defeat, and they became the symbols of victory. For in place of Eve is Mary, in place of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the wood of the cross, and in place of the death of Adam is the death of Christ. “Do you see that the devil is defeated through the same means by which he had conquered? By the tree, the devil subverted Adam, while by the cross, Christ vanquished the devil. As a tree had dispatched us into Hades, so a tree raised up those who had fallen there. Again, while a tree hid the naked prisoner, so a tree exposed the naked victor lifted high for all to see. While the death of Adam condemned those who followed after him, the death of Christ raised up all who had preceded him. ‘Who will tell the mighty deeds of the Lord’ (Ps 105:2)? “Out of death, we have been made immortals. These are the feats accomplished on the cross. “Have you learned the victory? Have you learned the manner of the battle array, in which we neither received wounds nor witnessed the war, and yet have taken the victory? The struggle was the Lord’s, yet the crown is ours. Since, therefore, the victory is ours, let us all sing today the victory song, just like soldiers, and speak the praises of the Lord. ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O Hades, is your sting’ (Hos 13:14; 1 Cor 15:54–55)?”