Overthrow of the chiefest terror

 

Death itself, which once was man’s chiefest terror, has been overthrown, and now that which was once the object of hate and loathing is preferred to life.  These are the achievements of Christ’s presence:  these are the tokens of His power.  For it was not one people that He saved, as when through Moses He divided the sea and delivered Israel out of Egypt and the bondage of Pharaoh (cf Exodus 14:16); no, rather He rescued all mankind from the corruption of death and the bitter tyranny of sin:  not leading them by force to virtue, not overwhelming them with earth or burning them with fire, or ordering the sinners to be stoned, but persuading men by gentleness and long-suffering to choose virtue and vie with one another and find pleasure in the struggle to attain it.