The priestly blessing fulfilled in Christ: mercy and peace
Cyril: ‘…his face shine upon you, and have mercy on you; the Lord lift up his face upon you, and give you peace’ (Numbers 6:25–26). The blessing, then, keeps us, for it undoes the curse and refashions what had sinned, so that in Christ it may be found worthy of praise. Paul is witness to this, for he wrote: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Christ to himself’ (Ephesians 1:3–5).
You see that rejection came about through sin, and that man is accepted for adoption when he is blessed in Christ by sharing in the Spirit, whom he also poured out on us richly (Titus 3:6); he does not give the Spirit to the saints in part, but places him in them as from his own fullness. And the shining of God’s face would at once bring us mercy, if indeed it is true that our share in eternal life comes in through knowing God. For so the Savior said to his Father and God in heaven: ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent’ (John 17:3).
That the Son, who has also shone upon us, is the face of God the Father, no one, I think, could doubt in the least. For he is his exact imprint (Hebrews 1:3), his likeness and his image (Colossians 1:15), and through him and with him we know the Father; and with such knowledge our receiving mercy necessarily comes in as well. For we have been justified by faith, and not by works of righteousness that we ourselves did, but according to his great mercy (Titus 3:5). We have laid down the burden of corruption and have been changed into newness of life in Christ (Romans 6:4), because God has taken pity on us.
In another way too, if we turn the force of the passage toward the Jews, they truly received mercy when the Only-begotten shone upon them. For the law lay on them like a burden hard to bear and fit only to be cast off, the law that condemns and punishes sinners without pity (Hebrews 10:28). But they received mercy, gaining through Christ, late and with difficulty, the grace that justifies. Longing to see his coming, they had cried out to the God of all: ‘O God of hosts, bring us back, and make your face shine, and we shall be saved’ (Psalm 80:7). So we have all received mercy in the shining forth of Christ.
And further, the lifting up of God’s face brings peace. Christ is the giver of that peace and the one who awards it, for he sets it before those who believe in him and bestows it on them as his own good. ‘My peace,’ he says, ‘I give to you; my peace I leave with you’ (John 14:27). For when the Father set the Son, as it were, on high, granting him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9) and saying, ‘Sit at my right hand’ (Psalm 110:1), then, yes then, we put an end to the enmity that divided us and were joined together in peace, by choosing to set our minds on what is his and to walk in the Spirit…
Greek
φάναι Κύριος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ ἐλεήσαι σε, ἐπάραι Κύριος τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σὲ, καὶ δώῃ σοι εἰρήνην.» Φυλάττει μὲν οὖν ἡ εὐλογία παραλύουσα τὴν ἀρὰν, καὶ ἀναπλάττουσα τὸ ἡμαρτηκὸς, εἰς τὸ ἐπαινεῖσθαι δεῖν ἐν Χριστῷ· καὶ τούτου μάρτυς ὁ Παῦλος ὡδὶ γεγραφώς· «Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ, ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ, καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατ' ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ· ἐν ἀγάπῃ προορίσας ἡμᾶς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς αὐτόν.» Ὁρᾷς ὅτι τὸ ἀπόβλητον διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἔφυ, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος δεκτὸς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν εὐλογούμενος ἐν Χριστῷ διὰ μετοχῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος, ὃ καὶ ἐξέχεεν εἰς ἡμᾶς πλουσίως, ὁ μὴ ἐκ μέρους αὐτὸ τοῖς ἁγίοις δωρούμενος, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐξ ἰδίου πληρώματος ἐντιθείς. Ἐπιφάνεια δὲ προσώπου Θεοῦ προξενήσειεν ἂν αὐτίκα τὸ ἐλεῖσθαι δεῖν, εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἀληθὲς, ὡς ἔν γε τῷ γνῶναι Θεὸν τὸ χρῆναι μεταλαχεῖν τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς εἰσβήσεται. Οὕτω γὰρ ἔφασκεν ὁ Σωτὴρ πρὸς τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς Πατέρα καὶ Θεόν· «Αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ, ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.» Ὅτι δὲπρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς, ὃς καὶ ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν, ἐνδοιάσαι τις ἂν ἥκιστά γε, καθάπερ ἐγᾦμαι· χαρακτὴρ γάρ ἐστι καὶ ὁμοίωσις καὶ εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ, γινώσκομεν δὲ δι' αὐτοῦ τε καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὸν Πατέρα, συνεισθέοντος δὲ ἀναγκαίως τῇ τοιᾷδε γνώσει καὶ τοῦ ἐλεεῖσθαι δεῖν· Δεδικαιώμεθα γὰρ ἐν πίστει, καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων τῶν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος, ἀπεφορτισάμεθά τε τὴν φθορὰν, καὶ εἰς καινότητα ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ μετεστοιχίσμεθα, κατοικτείροντος Θεοῦ. Καὶ καθ' ἕτερον δὲ τρόπον, εἰ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους τοῦ λόγου τὴν δύναμιν παρατρέποιμεν, ἠλέηνται κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς, ἐπιλάμψαντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ Μονογενοῦς. Ἐπέκειτο μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς δύσοιστον ὥσπερ τι καὶ ἀπόβλητον ἄχθος, ὁ κατακρίνων νόμος, καὶ οἰκτιρμοῦ δίχα κολάζων τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας. Ἠλέηνται δὲ, τὴν δικαιοῦσαν χάριν ὀψὲ καὶ μόλις διὰ Χριστοῦ κερδαίνοντες, οὗ καὶ τὴν ἄφιξιν ἰδεῖν γλιχόμενοι, πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ἐκεκράγεισαν, «Ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων, ἐπίστρεψον ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου, καὶ σωθησόμεθα.» Ἠλεήμεθα δὴ οὖν οἱ πάντες ἐν ἐπιφανείᾳ Χριστοῦ. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ ἔπαρσις τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόξενος εἰρήνης, ἧς ἐστι δοτὴρ καὶ βραβευτὴς ὁ Χριστὸς, ὡς ἴδιον ἀγαθὸν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ προθεὶς καὶ δωρούμενος. «Εἰρήνην» γὰρ, φησὶν, «τὴν ἐμὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, εἰρήνην τὴν ἐμὴν ἀφίημι ὑμῖν.» Ὅτε γὰρ οἱονεί πως ὑψοῦ τέθεικε τὸν Υἱὸν ὁ Πατὴρ, χαρισάμενος αὐτῷ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, «Κάθου τε ἐκ δεξιῶν μου,» λέγων, τότε δὴ, τότε τὴν διιστᾶσαν ἡμᾶς καταλύσαντες ἔχθραν, συνήφθημεν εἰς εἰρήνην, διὰ τοῦ φρονεῖν ἑλέσθαι τὰ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν Πνεύματι περιπα