Called by name: Aaron as a type of Christ the High Priest
Cyril: …from among the sons of Israel, to serve me as priests: Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu, and Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron.’ (Exodus 28:1) So the chosen men were called by name to the sacred ministry. For ‘no one takes the honor for himself, but the one who is called by God’ (Hebrews 5:4), as it is written. Let no one, then, go of his own accord into serving God as a priest; let him wait for a call. Otherwise, if he tries to seize what he does not hold by decree from above, he will suffer the punishment of Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16:31–33). And do not be surprised that self-appointment is out of place and unseemly among us, when Paul writes even about Christ himself: ‘He did not glorify himself to become high priest, but the one who said to him, “You are a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedek”’ (Hebrews 5:5–6; Psalm 110:4). So what was wisely said to Moses would again be an image of the call spoken of in Christ’s case: ‘And you, bring near to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons’ (Exodus 28:1). For what else does ‘bring near’ mean than ‘make him your own and call him to you’? Now Christ has been called, as it were, to be high priest through the counsel of the Father. And in a certain way the inspired disciples were also called together with him and made fellow workers for the sacred ministry. That is why they said plainly, ‘For we are God’s fellow workers’ (1 Corinthians 3:9); and they went about the whole world under the sun, serving the Gospel of Christ as priests among the nations (Romans 15:16). They were indeed called to apostleship through Christ, and the statement is true. But this too was surely willed by the Father; for there is one decision over all that is done, since the Son is the counsel and wisdom and will of the Father. So Aaron would be a type of Christ, and, as it were, a showing in advance of the priesthood understood in spirit and truth, as still in the dimmer shadows. Notice that Moses is commanded to bring Aaron near to himself; for the law is in some way weak and incomplete if it is separated from Christ. ‘For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins’ (Hebrews 10:4). But Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sinners, has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:12, 14). Let those, then, who are still friends of the shadow and the letter, and who have been counted worthy of the commandments of Moses, know this: unless they bring near to themselves the high priest and apostle of our confession, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1), their zeal for the worship in type will come to nothing. For what would the boasts of life under the law amount to before God, who loves virtue? That is why our most wise Paul says that, because of the surpassing excellence of the knowledge of Christ, he counts the things in the world as refuse (Philippians 3:8), and has chosen spiritual things instead. And this, understood spiritually, is to bring Aaron himself near to oneself.
Palladius: I understand what you say; the point is clear.
Cyril: ‘Bring near to yourself,’ then, he says,
Greek
τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἱερατεύειν μοι, Ἀαρὼν καὶ Ναδὰβ καὶ Ἀβιοὺδ, καὶ Ἐλεάζαρ, καὶ Ἰθάμαρ υἱοὺς Ἀρών.» Ὀνομαστὶ μὲν οὖν οἱ ἀπόλεκτοι κέκληνται πρὸς ἱερουργίαν. «Οὐ γὰρ ἑαυτῷ τις λαμβάνει τὴν τιμὴν, ἀλλ' ὁ καλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ,» κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Ἴτω δὴ οὖν αὐτόμολος μὲν μηδεὶς εἰς τὸ ἱερατεύειν τῷ Θεῷ, περιμενέτω δὲ κλῆσιν, ἤγουν, ἁρπάζειν ἐπιχειρῶν, ὃ μὴ ταῖς ἄνωθεν ἔχει ψήφοις, τὴν Δαθάν τε καὶ Ἀβειρὼν ὑφέξει δίκην. Καὶ μήτοι θαυμάσῃς εἰ τὸ αὐτόμολον ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἔκτοπόν τε καὶ ἀκαλλὲς, ὅτε καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γράφει Παῦλος, «Οὐχ ἑαυτὸν ἐδόξασε γενηθῆναι ἀρχιερέα, ἀλλ' ὁ λαλήσας πρὸς αὐτὸν, Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ.» Κλήσεως οὖν ἄρα τῆς ἐπὶ Χριστῷ λεγομένης εἰκὼν ἂν εἴη πάλιν τὸ πρὸς Μωσέα σοφῶς εἰρημένον, «Καὶ σὺ προσαγάγου πρὸς ἑαυτὸν τόν τε Ἀαρὼν τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ.» Τὸ γὰρ «προσαγάγου,» τί ἕτερον ἢ τὸ, οἰκείωσαί τε καὶ προσκάλει, δηλοῖ; Κέκληται δὲ ὥσπερ εἰς ἀρχιερέα Χριστὸς διὰ βουλῆς τοῦ Πατρός. Συγκέκληνται δὲ τρόπον τινὰ αὐτῷ καὶ συνεργοὶ τέθεινται πρὸς ἱερουργίαν καὶ οἱ θεσπέσιοι μαθηταί. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ διαῤῥήδην ἔφασκον, «Θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί·» περιεφοίτων δὲ αὖ καὶ τὴν ὑφ' ἥλιον πᾶσαν, ἱερουργοῦντες εἰς τὰ ἔθνη τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον Χριστοῦ. Κέκληνται μὲν γὰρ εἰς ἀποστολὴν διὰ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος. Ἀλλ' ἦν που πάντως τὸ χρῆμα καὶ αὐτὸ θελητὸν τῷ Πατρί· μία γὰρ ἐφ' ἅπασι τοῖς δρωμένοις ἡ ψῆφος, ὅτι καὶ βουλὴ καὶ σοφία καὶ θέλησις τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Υἱός. Οὐκοῦν ὁ Ἀαρὼν τύπος ἂν εἴη Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἐν πνεύματί τε καὶ ἀληθείᾳ νοουμένης ἱερωσύνης, οἱονεὶ προανάδειξις, ὡς ἐν σκιαῖς ἔτι ταῖς ἀμυδροτέραις. Σύνες δὲ ὅτι προστάττεται Μωσῆς προσαγαγέσθαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν τόν τε Ἀαρών· ἀσθενὴς γάρ πως καὶ ἀτελὴς ὁ νόμος, εἰ καὶ ἀπονοσφίζοιτο τοῦ Χριστοῦ. «Ἀδύνατον γὰρ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων ἀφαιρεῖν ἁμαρτίας.» Χριστὸς δὲ μίαν ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτωλῶν προσενέγκας θυσίαν, τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τοὺς ἁγιαζομένους, Ἴστωσαν δὴ οὖν οἱ σκιᾶς ἔτι καὶ γράμματος φίλοι, καὶ Μωσαϊκῶν ἐνταλμάτων κατηξιωμένοι, ὡς εἰ μὴ προσαγάγοιντο πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς τὸν ἀρχιερέα καὶ ἀπόστολον τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν, εἰς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς τῆς ἐν τύπῳ λατρείας καταλήξει τὸ σπούδασμα. Ποῖα γὰρ ἂν εἶεν παρά γε τῷ φιλαρέτῳ Θεῷ τῆς ἐν νόμῳ ζωῆς τὰ αὐχήματα; Τοιγάρτοι καὶ Παῦλος ἡμῖν ὁ σοφώτατος, διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως τῆς Χριστοῦ, σκύβαλα μὲν ἡγεῖσθαι τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ φησὶν, ἀνθελέσθαι δὲ τὰ πνευματικά· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι νοητῶς, τὸ προσάγεσθαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν αὐτὸν τὸν Ἀαρών.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Συνίημι ὃ φῄς· σαφὴς γὰρ ὁ λόγος.
{ΚΥΡ.} Προσαγάγου τοίνυν, φησὶ, πρὸς ἑαυτὸν