The Cross Is the Destruction
of the Enemy. Apringius
of Beja: In Greek letters, one thousand is designated with an “alpha.” In the
alpha we have the beginning, which is Christ; in the name [of Christ] we have
the cross, which is our victory and the destruction of the evil enemy.
Therefore, both by the cross of Christ and by the authority of the cross he
bound the enemy of the world who deceived those who dwell upon the earth. For
to that eternity no time is added, and the eternity of his time will be
enclosed by no end, nor will there ever be an end to the number of years. And
so by the sovereignty of the Lord through the power of the cross he bound him
in the abyss. Tractate on the Apocalypse 20:2. (Revelation, ed. William C. Weinrich [Ancient
Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP, 2005], 322-23)
