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Dialogue with Trypho

Justin Martyr

Chapter 89

About this work

A literary dialogue in which Justin recounts his conversion to Christianity and debates Scripture, covenant, messianic prophecy, law, and the identity of God’s people with a Jewish interlocutor.

Author: Justin Martyr
Date: Mid-2nd century
Origin: Rome
Genre: Dialogue

Chapter LXXXIX.—The cross alone is offensive to Trypho on account of the curse, yet it proves that Jesus is Christ.

Then Trypho remarked, “Be assured that all

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our

nation

waits

for

Christ

;

and

we

admit

that

all

the

Scriptures

which

you

have

quoted

refer

to

Him

.

Moreover

,

I

do

also

admit

that

the

name

of

Jesus

,

by

which

the

son

of

Nave

(

Nun

)

was

called

,

has

inclined

me

very

strongly

to

adopt

this

view

.

But

whether

Christ

should

be

so

shamefully

crucified

,

this

we

are

in

doubt

about

.

For

whosoever

is

crucified

is

said

in

the

law

to

be

accursed

,

so

that

I

am

exceedingly

incredulous

on

this

point

.

It

is

quite

clear

,

indeed

,

that

the

Scriptures

announce

that

Christ

had

to

suffer

;

but

we

wish

to

learn

if

you

can

prove

it

to

us

whether

it

was

by

the

suffering

cursed

in

the

law

.

”

I replied to him, “If Christ was not to suffer, and the prophets had not foretold that He would be led to death on account of the sins of the people, and be dishonoured and scourged, and reckoned among the transgressors, and as a sheep be led to the slaughter, whose generation, the prophet says, no man can declare, then you would have good cause to wonder. But if these are to be characteristic of Him and mark Him out to all, how is it possible for us to do anything else than believe in Him most confidently? And will not as many as have understood the writings of the prophets, whenever they hear merely that He was crucified, say that this is He and no other?”