For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
The Son loses nothing when he bestows upon all, just as he also loses nothing when the Father receives the kingdom, nor does the Father suffer loss when he gives what is his own to the Son. .
The prophet Isaiah said: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter” [Is :] and so on. Revelation [:] adds that he was slain from before the foundation of the world. And Deuteronomy [:] says: “You will see your life hanging before your eyes, yet you will not believe.” This is expressed in the future tense, to prevent the wicked from claiming that it does not apply to Christ. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
He made his life be an exchange for the life of all. One died for all, in order that we all might live to God sanctified and brought to life through his blood, justified as a gift by his grace.
The iniquity of sinners was not as great as the justice of the One who died for them. The sins we committed were not as great as the justice he embodied, when he laid down his life for us.
He was likewise preached by Paul: "For I delivered "he says, "unto you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."
How could Christ die for sinners if he were a sinner himself? If in fact he died for our sins, then it is clear that he himself must have been sinless. Therefore he did not die the death of sin but the death of the body. This is what the Scriptures everywhere proclaim.
Neither here does he say, I said unto you, nor, I taught you, but uses the same expression again, saying, I delivered unto you that which also I received: nor again here does he say, I was taught, but, I received: establishing these two things; first, that one ought to introduce nothing from one's self; next, that by demonstration from his deeds they were fully persuaded, not by bare words: and by degrees while he is rendering his argument credible, he refers the whole to Christ, and signifies that nothing was of man in these doctrines.
But what is this, For I delivered unto you first of all? for that is his word. In the beginning, not now. And thus saying he brings the time for a witness, and that it were the greatest disgrace for those who had so long time been persuaded now to change their minds: and not this only, but also that the doctrine is necessary. Wherefore also it was delivered among the first, and from the beginning straightway. And what did you so deliver? Tell me. Bu...
That is, in the secret inner recess which is hidden in the earth, and enclosed by the earth, and superimposed on the abysmal depths which lie still lower down. Now although Christ is God, yet, being also man, "He died according to the Scriptures".
Testifies that "He died according to the Scriptures".
For even the apostle, to his declaration-which he makes not without feeling the weight of it-that "Christ died "immediately adds, "according to the Scriptures".
For the Son, therefore, to die, amounted to His being forsaken by the Father. The Son, then, both dies and rises again, according to the Scriptures.
