The leaders’ gifts as types: gladness in hope, the one yoke of Christ, and meekness
Cyril: …is the silver; the fine flour is a symbol of life, since bread, which keeps us in life, is made from it; and the oil is a symbol of gladness. So let us too, for our part, offer to God who is over all, through our hope in Christ, the gladness that belongs to a bright life. For it says: ‘Rejoicing in hope’ (Romans 12:12). And how could those who keep the commandments of our Savior, and have trained themselves thoroughly in a life and conduct of shining distinction, not be filled with the highest joy? For them a share in his glory is stored up with God, wholly and surely. For it says: ‘For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory’ (Colossians 3:3–4). So the fine flour is mixed with oil (Numbers 7:13). For in the life of the saints there is also the gladness that comes from the hope of glory, together, of course, with the brightness that belongs to holiness and righteousness. And the golden dish full of incense (Numbers 7:14) depicts the beauty of the saints: their fragrance in sanctification, held as in choice vessels, and then, as it were, a gift to God that is truly most fragrant. Or should we not think, Palladius, that the saints are bright and choice vessels?
Palladius: Certainly we should.
Cyril: Each leader also gave an ox, twelve in all. They carry the holy tent as their load, brought in pairs to a single wagon and under a single yoke, and they were assigned to the service of the Levites (Numbers 7:3–6). This would be a type of the two peoples, no longer divided by unlike doctrines and ways of life, but brought together and, as it were, running together under the one yoke of the Savior (Matthew 11:29), with endurance and courage. For it says: ‘Be courageous, and let your heart be strong, and wait for the Lord’ (Psalm 27:14). And the ox is an animal that endures hardship and is very strong. Such, surely, are those who have chosen godliness: they carry Christ upon themselves like a yoke, as the one prefigured in the holy tent. The divine Paul, too, called the Church his body (Colossians 1:24). And it was said to Ananias about him, I mean about Paul: ‘Go, for this man is a chosen vessel to me, to carry my name before the Gentiles’ (Acts 9:15). Besides these, a ram and a lamb were offered (Numbers 7:15). They hint at the coming to God of the older people and of the new, and at their dedication, so to speak, which is plainly a spiritual one. For just as endurance and courage were signified in the oxen, so in the same way, I think, the sheep clearly show the fruit borne in meekness by those who have been justified through faith in Christ. For the animal is gentle, and fruitful as well. Such are all who labor with exactness at the Gospel way of life, to whom Christ himself said: ‘Give to everyone who asks you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back; and to the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other also’ (Luke 6:30; Matthew 5:39). And Paul too writes: ‘The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle…
Greek
ὁ ἄργυρος, ζωῆς δὲ ἡ σεμίδαλις, ὡς ἄρτου γένεσις τοῦ συνέχοντος εἰς ζωὴν, ἱλαρότητος δὲ τὸ ἔλαιον. Προσαγέσθω δὴ οὖν καὶ πρός γε ἡμῶν αὐτῶν τῷ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεῷ τὸ ὡς ἐν λαμπρότητι ζωῆς ἱλαρὸν, ἐλπίδι τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ. «Τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι χαίροντες,» φησί. Πῶς δ' ἂν εἶεν οὐχὶ τῆς ἀνωτάτω θυμηδίας ἔμπλεῳ, τὸ ἐν ζωῇ τε καὶ πολιτείᾳ περιφανὲς ἐξησκηκότες εὖ μάλα τῶν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐνταλμάτων οἱ φύλακες; οἷς πάντη τε καὶ πάντως τὸ ἐν μεθέξει γενέσθαι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ τεθησαύρισται παρὰ Θεῷ. «Ἀπεθάνετε γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κέκρυπται σὺν τῷ Χριστῷ ἐν τῷ Θεῷ. Ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς φανερωθῇ, ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν, τότε καὶ ὑμεῖς σὺν αὐτῷ φανερωθήσεσθε ἐν δόξῃ.» Οὐκοῦν ἡ σεμίδαλις ἐλαιόδευτος. Ἔνεστι γὰρ τῇ τῶν ἁγίων ζωῇ καὶ τὸ ὡς ἐν ἐλπίδι δόξης ἱλαρὸν, μετὰ λαμπρότητος δηλονότι τῆς ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ. Χρυσῆ δὲ θυΐσκη θυμιάματος πλήρης, τὸ τῶν ἁγίων γράφουσα κάλλος, καὶ ὡς ἐν σκεύεσιν ἐκλεκτοῖς τὸ εὐῶδες ἐν ἁγιασμῷ, εἶτα δῶρον ὥσπερ τι Θεῷ τὸ εὐοσμότατον ἀληθῶς. Ἢ οὐχὶ σκεύη λαμπρὰ καὶ ἀπόλεκτα τοὺς ἁγίους ὑπάρχειν οἰησαίμεθα ἂν, ὦ Παλλάδιε;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Μάλιστά γε.
{ΚΥΡ.} Μόσχος δὲ ἦν παρ' ἑκάστου, καὶ δυοκαίδεκα μὲν οἱ πάντες. Ἀχθοφοροῦσί γε μὴν τὴν ἁγίαν σκηνὴν, κατὰ δύο προσενηνεγμένοι πρὸς ἅμαξαν μίαν, καὶ ὑπὸ ζυγὸν ἕνα, ἐκνενέμηνται δὲ ταῖς τῶν Λευιτῶν ὑπουργίαις· καὶ τύπος ἂν εἴη τὸ χρῆμα τῶν δύο λαῶν, οὐκέτι μεμερισμένων εἰς ἀνομοιότητα δογμάτων καὶ ζωῆς, συνενηνεγμένοιν δὲ ὥσπερ καὶ συνδεδραμηκότοιν ὑπό γε τὸν ἕνα τοῦ Σωτῆρος ζυγὸν τληπαθῶς καὶ ἀνδρείως. «Ἀνδρίζου γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ κραταιούσθω ἡ καρδία σου, καὶ ὑπόμεινον τὸν Κύριον.» Τληπαθὲς δὲ ζῶον ὁ μόσχος καὶ κραταιότατον. Τοιοίδε πάντως οἱ θεοσεβείας ᾑρημένοι, ζυγὸν ὥσπερ ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς ἐπέχοντες τὸν Χριστὸν, ὡς ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ προανατυπούμενον. Σῶμα δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν ὠνόμαζε Παῦλος. Ἐλέγετο δὲ καὶ πρὸς Ἀνανίαν περὶ αὐτοῦ, φημὶ δὴ τοῦ Παύλου· «Πορεύου, ὅτι σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς ἐστί μοι οὗτος, τοῦ βαστάσαι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐναντίον τῶν ἐθνῶν.» Κριὸς δὲ πρὸς τούτοις, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀμνὸς τὰ προσενηνεγμένα, τοῦ τε πρεσβυτέρου προσενηνεγμένου καὶ τοῦ νέου λαοῦ τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἄφιξιν καὶ τὴν οἱονείπως ἀνάθεσιν, δῆλον δὲ ὅτι τὴν πνευματικὴν, ὑπεμφαίνοντες. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ τληπαθὲς καὶ ἀνδρεῖον ὡς ἔν γε τοῖς μόσχοις κατεσημαίνετο, κατὰ τὸν ἴσον, οἶμαι, τουτονὶ τρόπον καὶ ἐν τοῖς προβάτοις ἡ ὡς ἐν πραότητι καρποφορία τῶν διὰ πίστεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ δεδικαιωμένων διαδείκνυται σαφῶς. Πρᾶον γὰρ δὴ τὸ ζῶον, καὶ μὴν ἔγκαρπον. Τοιοῦτοι δὲ πάντες οἱ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας ἀκριβεῖς ἐργάται, οἷς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπεφώνησεν ὁ Χριστός· «Παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντί σε δίδου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντος τὰ σὰ, μὴ ἀπαίτει, καὶ τῷ παίοντί σε εἰς τὴν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην.» Γράφει δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος· «Δοῦλον δὲ Κυρίου οὐ δεῖ μάχεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἤπιον εἶναι