Death turned to glory; the first ram and Christ's holy life
Cyril: …would in no way end in dishonor, but would issue in bright and most evident glory. For the divine nature is thought of under the form of fire, and in this way it came down upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18). To destroy the power of death (Hebrews 2:14), Christ underwent death in keeping with the plan of salvation, so that he might be glorified by us as God. His death, then, passes on into a glory fit for God, having as its end a glorious return to life; and the lowliness of his suffering, overcome by the highest honors, vanishes into nothing. And this, I think, is what is meant in a veiled way by the dead calf being consumed by fire. And when he adds, ‘for it is a sin offering’ (Exodus 29:14), he has made known that the suffering of Christ took place for the cleansing away of sin; and the matter is not obscure.
Palladius: Indeed it is not.
Cyril: Next the first ram is taken and slaughtered in the same way as the calf. Its blood again was poured out at the altar, and it was cut up limb by limb and offered up together with its head and feet, after its inward parts had been washed with water, because it is an offering of incense (Exodus 29:15–18). By these things again Christ is portrayed for us: he who is perfect, pictured in the perfect ram, and whose life is holy. The pouring of the blood at the altar shows this, I think, for blood is a type of life; and it shows him dedicated to God the Father as a fragrant aroma, on behalf of all together and of each one. The ram’s being offered up on the altar both whole and limb by limb is again a type of this. Now we are members of Christ individually, and all of us are understood to be one body (1 Corinthians 12:27; Romans 12:5). That he is holy and sacred through and through, and has no spot of uncleanness, the washing of the inward parts makes very plain. The head and the feet are offered up together, showing that the Savior’s life was fragrant in holiness from the beginning to the very end. For in every animal the head is the beginning, while the feet are the end, where the whole body, as it were, comes to its close. Or perhaps it is better to take the head as a type of the mind, and the feet as a type of the course of active, practical life. In Christ all is fragrant, and both his thoughts and his deeds reached the height of purity; for he committed no sin (1 Peter 2:22). That is why it calls the dedication of the ram whole burnt offerings and a sacrifice (Exodus 29:18): he is not holy or sacred only in part. For it would in no way befit him, but rather us, to be weak at times and to be caught stumbling; for no one is pure from sins, and we all stumble in many ways, as it is written (James 3:2).
Palladius: And how might one suppose that the very life of Christ was also for our sake?
Cyril: You will see it quite easily if you consider that we became sharers in the transgression that took place in Adam, and all but paid the penalty for his offences ourselves, since the curse ran through to all (Romans 5:12), and the wrath was in some way spread over the race descended from him. So the Only-begotten came down to become man and dwelt among us (John 1:14), and…
Greek
νατος οὐ πρὸς ἀδοξίαν ἔσται ποθὲν, ἀλλ' εἰς λαμπρὰν καὶ ἐμφανεστάτην ἐκτελευτήσει δόξαν. Ἐν εἴδει γὰρ δὴ τῷ πυρὸς νοεῖται τὸ θεῖον· καταβέβηκε δὲ οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τὸ Σινᾶ. Καταλύσων δὲ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ κράτος, ὑπέδυ τὸν θάνατον οἰκονομικῶς ὁ Χριστὸς, ἵν' ὡς Θεὸς δοξάζηται πρὸς ἡμῶν. Ἕρπει δὴ οὖν εἰς θεοπρεπῆ δόξαν ὁ θάνατος, τὸ τέλος ἔχων τὸ ἀναβιῶναι λαμπρὸν, καὶ τὸ ἔν γε τῷ παθεῖν μικροπρεπὲς, εὐκλείαις ταῖς ἀνωτάτω νικώμενον, οἴχεται πρὸς τὸ μηδέν· καὶ τοῦτο, οἶμαι ἔστιν αἰνιγματωδῶς, τὸ δαπανᾶσθαι πυρὶ τὸ νεκρὸν μοσχάριον. Ἐπειπὼν δὲ, ὅτι ἁμαρτία γάρ ἐστιν, εἰς ἀποκάθαρσιν ἁμαρτίας τὸ Χριστοῦ γενέσθαι διαμεμήνυκε πάθος, καὶ τὸ χρῆμά ἐστιν οὐκ ἀσυμφανές.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὐ γὰρ οὖν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Εἶτα κριὸς ὁ πρῶτος λαμβάνεται καὶ σφάζεται μὲν ἐν ἴσῳ τῷ μόσχῳ· προσεχεῖτο δὲ αὖ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ μελειστὶ τεμνόμενος ἀνεφέρετο, τῶν ἐντοσθίων ἐκπεπλυσμένων ὕδατι, κεφαλῇ τε ἅμα καὶ ποσὶν, ὅτι θυμίαμά ἐστι· γράφεται δὲ πάλιν ἡμῖν καὶ διὰ τούτων ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ ἐν κριῷ τῷ τελείῳ τέλειος, ἁγίαν ἔχων ζωήν. Δηλοῖ γὰρ, οἶμαί που ὅτι, τὸ προσχεῖσθαι τὸ αἷμα τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ· ζωῆς γὰρ τύπος τὸ αἷμα, καὶ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἀνακείμενος τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, ὡς ὑπὲρ πάντων τε ἅμα καὶ ὑπὲρ ἑκάστου· τύπος δὲ τοῦτο πάλιν, τὸ ἀναφέρεσθαι τὸν κριὸν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ὡς ἐν παντί τε καὶ κατὰ μέλος. Μέλη δὲ ἡμεῖς ἀνὰ μέρος Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἓν πάντες νοούμεθα σῶμα· ἅγιος δὲ ὅτι καὶ ἱερὸς ὅλος καὶ σπίλον ἀκαθαρσίας οὐκ ἔχων, ἡ τῶν ἐντοσθίων ἔκπλυσις εὖ μάλα παραδηλοῖ. Συναναφέρεται δὲ κεφαλὴ καὶ πόδες, τὸ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς καὶ μέχρι παντὸς εὐῶδες ἐν ἁγιασμῷ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ζωῆς ὑποφαίνοντες. Παντὸς γὰρ ζώου κεφαλὴ μὲν ἀρχὴ, κατάληξις δὲ ὥσπερ καὶ τοῦ παντὸς σώματος οἱ πόδες τὸ τέλος. Ἢ καὶ τάχα που νοεῖν ἄμεινον εἰς τύπον μὲν νοῦ κεφαλὴ, πορείας γε μὴν τῆς κατ' ἐνέργειαν πρακτικῆς τοὺς πόδας. Εὐώδη δὲ πάντα ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ εἰς ἄκρον ἥκοντα καθαρότητος καὶ νοήματα καὶ πράξεις· οὐ γὰρ ἐποίησεν ἁμαρτίαν· ταύτῃ τοι καὶ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίασμά φησι τὴν καθιέρωσιν τοῦ κριοῦ. οὐ γὰρ ἐκ μέρους ἅγιος ἢ ἱερός. Πρέποι γὰρ ἂν οὐκ ἐκείνῳ ποθὲν, ἡμῖν δὲ μᾶλλον, τὸ καὶ ἀσθενεῖν ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ ἐναλῶναι πταίσμασι· καθαρὸς γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐξ ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ πολλὰ πταίομεν ἅπαντες, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ πῶς ἄν τις οἴοιτο τυχὸν, καὶ αὐτὴν γενέσθαι τὴν Χριστοῦ ζωὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν;
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ μὴν εἴσῃ τοι καὶ μάλα ῥᾳδίως, ἐννοήσας ὅτι τῆς ἐν Ἀδὰμ παραβάσεως γεγόναμεν κοινωνοὶ, μόνον δὲ οὐχὶ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνῳ πεπλημμελημένων ἐκτετίκαμεν δίκας, διαδραμούσης εἰς ἅπαντας τῆς ἀρᾶς, καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου γένος κατανεμηθείσης τρόπον τινὰ τῆς ὀργῆς. Καθίκετο τοίνυν εἰς ἐνανθρωπότητα, καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν ὁ Μονογενὴς, καὶ