In the quote, he refers to the humanity of Christ as the “bait” by which he hooks in the devil into swallowing him, then by the power of his divinity he is able to poison the devil and destroy him from within.
This way of understanding and explaining the atonement is known in theology as the Christus Victor theory. Most of us in the Western world are used to hearing the Satisfaction/Substitution theory - by His death on the cross Jesus died in our place and pays the price for our sins, thereby “redeeming” us or buying us back from the power of the devil.
Both of these views need not be mutually exclusive. They can both be found in the Church Fathers and Saints of the Church. As with most things in theology there are often multipole layers or nuance of meaning. When understood properly they can enrich our understanding of the mysteries of salvation and increase our faith. Just as St Maximus himself says at the end of the quote in the Office of Readings :
Faith alone grasps these mysteries. Faith alone is truly the substance and foundation of all that exceeds knowledge and understanding.
Faith is always something personal and foundational as outlined in the Catechism paragraph #150. Faith is a response , but it is also an acceptance of truth - divine truth. So faith and salvation are linked, because what we believe needs to be in accordance with God’s revelation, it needs to be accepted and adhered to, and it also needs to change our behaviour. So faith should ultimately always be transformative. This is what salvation is all about - transforming us into a new way of being, new life.
So with St Maximus’ analogy of bait being the poison that destroys death from within. This can be a powerful image to help up reflect on what we actually believe about our salvation. Does being saved just mean I am now a “good person”? Or does it mean that my entire existence is in a process of transformation and configuration to the image of Christ and the Will of God?
Through Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God, by believing Satan instead of trusting in God, death then entered the world. Death destroys and corrupts - just like a poison. The poison of hatred, selfishness, pride and greed all destroy and kill us from within. But Jesus through his birth and death, inverts all this. By entering into the belly of death and being “swallowed up” by death, he then is able to bring Life and Light to destroy death from within (1 Corinthians 15:54).
In the same way that the divinity of Christ was “hidden” in his humanity through kenosis, and it was then able to destroy death and the power of Satan from within. So too, in the Eucharist, the Resurrected Christ is hidden under the appearance of bread and wine, and when we partake of Holy Communion, we receive life and grace that transforms is from within. This transformation from within helps to break the strongholds of the devil in our life, detaching us from sin and purifying us. It also gives us a forestaste of eternal life.
The Church Fathers often made the connection between the fruit of disobedience bringing death. So the Eucharist is then the fruit from the Tree of Life - the Cross, that brings us eternal life. None of this would be possible without the birth of Jesus, taking on our humanity to make us share in His divinity.
Whether the process of salvation is referred to as sanctification in the West or Theosis/divinisation in the East, the focus is always about transformation in Christ. Participating in the sacraments of the Church is where this program of transformation takes place - specifically in Baptism, Confession and Holy Communion. The humanity of Jesus extended in the Church and prolonged in the sacraments is the medicine to heal us and bring us to fullness of life with Him.
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