Leftover sacrifices and the end of the law in Christ
Cyril: …But if he does eat any of the flesh on the third day, it shall not be accepted for the one who offers it; it shall not be credited to him; it is a defilement; and the soul that eats of it shall be defiled and shall bear the sin’ (Leviticus 7:18). So the sacrifice of the third day is rejected; and that yesterday’s is refused as well, he made plain by saying: ‘If you sacrifice to the Lord a sacrifice, a vow of rejoicing, you shall sacrifice it so that it is acceptable for you. On that same day it shall be eaten; none of the flesh shall be left until morning; I am the Lord’ (Leviticus 22:29–30); ‘he shall bear the sin’ (Leviticus 19:8).
Palladius: Then what might be the meaning of these as well?
Cyril: The law has shown us many times already in what came before that divine Scripture is accustomed to divide the whole of time sometimes into two: the time when the law was in force, and the time when Christ shone forth; and sometimes again into three, inserting and placing between them the time when the choir of the holy prophets shone forth; except that in the time of Moses and in that of the holy prophets the manner of worship was the same, since it was still in the shadows of the law. But when morning has come, that is, when the third season has at last been revealed in turn, and the spiritual light, that is, Christ, shines all around the world beneath the sun, and the ancient mist has at last been dispersed, the manner of worship of that former time is no longer acceptable. Whether the fat or the sacrifice is yesterday’s or the third day’s, it is no longer acceptable, but loathsome and rejected before God, and counted as a defilement for those who choose to bring it out of season. Or would you not say it is true that, now that Christ illumines the souls of the saints with the teachings of the Gospel and initiates them so well into spiritual worship, the things in the law have somehow become superfluous and useless?
Palladius: I would. For I will call to mind the inspired Paul, who called the law’s grounds for boasting refuse and loss because of the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ (Philippians 3:7–8). And I hear him writing to some: ‘I tell you that if you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing’ (Galatians 5:2).
Cyril: You are right. So it is sin and defilement, now that Christ has been revealed and the time of the law and the prophets has gone by, to cling to worship as in shadows, and to attempt to bring to God a sheep, or fat, or frankincense, even though the Son says plainly to God the Father: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you took no pleasure. Then I said: See, I have come, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book, to do your will, O God’ (Hebrews 10:5–7; Psalm 40:6–8). For the Son, offering himself up for us as a spotless victim (Hebrews 9:14), put a stop to the things of the law, which could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:11); for Christ is the end of the law and the prophets (Romans 10:4).
Palladius: Well said.
Greek
Ἐὰν δὲ φαγὼν φάγῃ ἀπὸ τῶν κρεῶν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ, οὐ δεχθήσεται αὐτῷ τῷ προσφέροντι αὐτὸ, οὐ λογισθήσεται αὐτῷ, μίασμά ἐστιν· ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ ἤτις ἂν φάγῃ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, μιανθήσεται, καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λήψεται.» Τριταῖον μὲν οὖν ἀποπέμπεται θῦμα, παραιτεῖται δὲ ὅτι καὶ τὸ χθιζὸν, διεσάφει λέγων. «Ἐὰν δὲ θύσῃς θυσίαν εὐχὴν χαρμοσύνης τῷ Κυρίῳ, εἰς δεκτὸν ὑμῖν θύσετε αὐτό. Αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ βρωθήσεται, οὐ καταλείψεται ἀπὸ τῶν κρεῶν εἰς τὸ πρωΐ· ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος· τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λήψεται.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εἶτα τίς ἂν γένοιτο καὶ τῶνδε ὁ νοῦς;
{ΚΥΡ.} Προαποδέδειχεν ἡμῖν ὁ νόμος ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω πλειστάκις, ὅτι τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον κατατέμνειν ἔθος τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, ποτὲ μὲν εἰς δύο, καθ' ὃν ἦν ὁ νόμος, καὶ καθ' ὃν ἐπέλαμψεν ὁ Χριστός· ποτὲ δὲ αὖ, εἰς τρεῖς παρεισκρινομένου τε καὶ τὰ τάττοντος μεταξὺ, καὶ καθ' ὃν ὁ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν ἀνέλαμψε χορὸς, πλὴν ὅτι καὶ ἐν χρόνῳ τῷ κατὰ Μωσέα, καὶ ἐν τῷ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν λατρείας ἦν τρόπος ὁ αὐτὸς, ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς ἔτι ταῖς κατὰ νόμον. Πρωΐας δὲ γενομένης, ἤτοι τοῦ τρίτου λοιπὸν πάλιν ἀναδειχθέντος καιροῦ, καὶ τοῦ νοητοῦ φωτὸς, τοῦτ' ἔστι, Χριστοῦ, τὴν ὑφ' ἥλιον περιαστράπτοντος, λελυμένης δὲ λοιπὸν τῆς παλαιᾶς ἀχλύος, οὐκέτι δεκτὸς τῆς τὸ τηνικάδε λατρείας ὁ τρόπος, ἀλλ' εἴτε χθιζὸν, εἴτ' οὖν εἴη τὸ τριταῖον στέαρ, ἢ θύμα, δεκτὸν μὲν οὐκέτι, βδελυρὸν δὲ καὶ ἀπόβλητον παρὰ Θεῷ, καὶ ἐν μιάσματος τάξει λελογισμένον τοῖς οὐκ ἐν καιρῷ προσκομίζειν ᾑρημένοις. Ἢ οὐκ εἶναι φὴς ἀληθὲς, ὅτι Χριστοῦ καταλάμποντος τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς παιδεύμασι τὰς τῶν ἁγίων ψυχὰς καὶ εἰς λατρείαν τὴν πνευματικὴν μυσταγωγοῦντος εὖ μάλα, περιττά πως ἤδη καὶ ἀνωφελῆ τὰ ἐν νόμῳ;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Φημί. Μεμνήσομαι γὰρ τοῦ θεσπεσίου Παύλου, σκύβαλα καὶ ζημίαν ἀποκεκληκότος τὰ κατὰ νόμον αὐχήματα, διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἀκούω δὲ γεγραφότος τισί· «Λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν περιτέμνησθε, Χριστὸς οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς ὠφελήσει.»
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὀρθῶς ἔφης. Οὐκοῦν ἁμαρτία καὶ μολυσμὸς, ἀναδειχθέντος Χριστοῦ, καὶ παρελάσαντος τοῦ καιροῦ, καθ' ὃν ἦν ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται, τῆς ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς λατρείας ἀντέχεσθαι· καὶ Θεῷ προσάγειν ἐπιχειρεῖν ὄϊν, ἢ στέαρ, ἢ λιβανωτόν· καίτοι λέγοντος ἐναργῶς τοῦ Υἱοῦ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρί· «Θυσίαν καὶ προσφορὰν οὐκ ἠθέλησας, σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι. Ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ ηὐδόκησας, τότε εἶπον, Ἰδοὺ ἥκω· ἐν κεφαλίδι βιβλίου γέγραπται περὶ ἐμοῦ, τοῦ ποιῆσαι, ὁ Θεὸς, τὸ θέλημά σου.» Ἄμωμον γὰρ ὥσπερ ἱερεῖον ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀναθεὶς ὁ Υἱὸς, ἔστησε τὰ ἐν νόμῳ, περιελεῖν ἁμαρτίας οὐ δυνάμενα· τέλος γὰρ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν ὁ Χριστός.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Εὖ ἔφης.