The heavy yoke of the law and the light burden of Christ; the last made first
Palladius: What does this mean, then?
Cyril: This, my friend, I would say: the law is burdensome, a load hard to bear. And a clear sign of this would be that the extra things are not carried on the shoulders, because those under the yoke are weak. That is why the inspired disciples said to those who, after coming to faith, were turning to the worship of the law: ‘Now therefore why are you putting God to the test, by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither you nor your fathers were able to bear?’ (Acts 15:10) But the Kohathites set on their own shoulders the things by which Christ is signified, and make of them a light load, easy to carry. Is this not plainly what Christ himself said: ‘My yoke is easy, and my burden is light’? (Matthew 11:30)
Palladius: So it seems.
Cyril: I would add this as well to what has been said, for it will help not a little toward full conviction. In the first census of the Levites, those of Gershon were placed at the head, then Kohath in the middle, and last Merari; these are the Levitical clans (Numbers 3:17). But in the second census, the one counted from twenty-five years of age, Kohath is set before the others and named first (Numbers 4:2–3). After him, and last, come Gershon and Merari, whose service is the extra things of the tent (Numbers 4:22–33). Each of these two clans has only two families, while Kohath extends to as many as four (Numbers 3:18–20). Do you grasp the riddle, then?
Palladius: Not in the least.
Cyril: Israel was called among the first; but when the flock of the Gentiles ran in between, Israel was ranked after it. And so the last have become first, as the Savior said, and the first last (Matthew 20:16).
Palladius: True.
Cyril: And it is plain that the Jewish people are few in number, while the countless multitude from the Gentiles far exceeds them.
Palladius: Of course.
Cyril: That is why God says to Moses, the revealer of sacred things: ‘Now let me alone, and in my anger I will consume this congregation, and I will make of you a great nation, and much greater than this one.’ (Exodus 32:10; Deuteronomy 9:14) With services such as these, then, the whole body of the Levites was honored; and the limit set to their sacred service was to be subject to the one who held first place and to act under the hand of Aaron. But to aim higher than this, and to seek something better than what had been allotted to it and fixed by God, was shown by the event itself to bring punishment and ruin. For it is written again in Numbers: ‘Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, spoke, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, son of Reuben; and they rose up before Moses, together with two hundred and fifty men of the sons of Israel, leaders of the congregation, members of the council, men of renown (Numbers 16:1–2). They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them: “Enough from you! For… (Numbers 16:3)
Greek
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τί οὖν τοῦτό γε;
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὅτι, ὦ ἑταῖρε, φαίην ἂν, φορτικὸς ὁ νόμος, καὶ δύσοιστον ἄχθος· γένοιτο δ' ἂν τοῦ τοιοῦδε μήνυσις ἐναργὴς, τὸ μὴ εἰς ὤμους φέρεσθαι τὰ περισσὰ, διά τοι τὸ ἀσθενεῖν τοὺς ὑπεζευγμένους. Τοιγάρτοι καὶ ἔφασκον οἱ θεσπέσιοι μαθηταὶ, τοῖς μετὰ τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ νομικὴν ἰοῦσι λατρείαν· «Καὶ νῦν τί πειράζετε τὸν Θεὸν, ἐπιθεῖναι ζυγὸν ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλον τῶν μαθητῶν, ὃν οὔτε ὑμεῖς, οὔτε οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἴσχυσαν βαστάσαι;» Κααθῖται δὲ, τὰ δι' ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς σημαίνεται, τοῖς σφῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιθέντες ὤμοις, ἐλαφρὸν καὶ εὐπαρακόμιστον ποιοῦνται φορτίον. Ἆρ' οὖν οὐχὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐναργῶς, ὅπερ αὐτὸς ἔφη Χριστός· «Ὁ ζυγός μου χρηστός ἐστι, καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἔοικεν.
{ΚΥΡ.} Προσθείην δ' ἂν ἔτι τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ τόδε. Εἴη γὰρ ἂν οὐκ ἀσυντελὲς εἰς πληροφορίαν· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν Λευϊτῶν ἀπογραφῇ, τετάχατο μὲν οἱ ἀπὸ Γεδσὼν ἐν ἀρχαῖς, εἶτα μέσος ὁ Καὰθ, καὶ τελευταῖος, ὁ Μεραρὶ (δῆμοι δὲ οὗτοι Λευιτικοί)· ἐν δὲ τῇ δευτέρᾳ, τῇ ἀπὸ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν, προστέθειται τῶν ἄλλων ὁ Καὰθ, καὶ πρῶτος ὠνόμασται. Τελευταῖος δὲ μετ' αὐτὸν, Γεδσών τε καὶ Μεραρὶ, λειτουργίαν ἔχοντες τὰ περισσὰ τῆς σκηνῆς. Καὶ ἑκάτερον μὲν τοῖν δυοῖν τουτωνὶ δήμοιν, ἀνὰ δύο μόνας ἔχουσι πατριὰς, ὁ δὲ προήκει μὲν καὶ μέχρι τεσσάρων. Συνίης οὖν ἄρα τὸ αἴνιγμα;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἥκιστά γε.
{ΚΥΡ.} Κέκληται μὲν γὰρ ἐν πρώτοις ὁ Ἰσραήλ· παρεισδραμούσης δὲ μεταξὺ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀγέλης, τέτακται μετὰ ταύτην· καὶ οἱ μὲν ἔσχατοι γεγόνασι πρῶτοι, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνὴν, οἱ δὲ πρῶτοι ἔσχατοι.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθές.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ὅτι δὲ βραχὺς ἐν ἀριθμῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὁ δῆμος, ὑπερκειμένης παρὰ πολὺ τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀμετρήτου πληθύος, δῆλον.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
{ΚΥΡ.} Τοιγάρτοι Θεὸς πρὸς ἱεροφάντην Μωσέα φησί· «Καὶ νῦν ἔασόν με, καὶ θυμωθεὶς ἐξαναλώσω τὴν συναγωγὴν ταύτην, καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα, καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦτο.» Λειτουργίαις μὲν οὖν ταῖς τοιαῖσδε τὸ Λευϊτικὸν ἅπαν ἐκτετίμηται στῖφος· καὶ ὅρος αὐτοῖς τῆς ἱερουργίας ὑπεζεῦχθαι τῷ προὔχοντι, καὶ ὑπὸ χεῖρα πράττειν τὴν Ἀαρών. Τό γε μὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦτο φρονεῖν καὶ τἀμείνω ζητεῖν, τῶν ἐκνεμηθέντων αὐτῷ καὶ διωρισμένων παρὰ Θεοῦ, ποινῆς καὶ ὀλέθρου πρόξενον, καὶ διὰ πείρας αὐτῆς ἀνεδείκνυτο. Γέγραπται δὲ πάλιν ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς· «Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κορὲ υἱὸς Ἰσαὰρ, υἱοῦ Καὰθ, υἱοῦ Λευῒ, καὶ Δαθὰν, καὶ Ἀβειρὼν, υἱοὶ Ἐλιὰβ, καὶ Ἄϋν, υἱὸς Φαλὲθ, υἱοῦ Ῥουβὴν, καὶ ἀνέστησαν ἔναντι Μωσῆ, καὶ ἄνδρες τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ πεντήκοντα καὶ διακόσιοι, ἀρχηγοὶ συναγωγῆς σύγκλητοι βουλῆς, καὶ ἄνδρες ὀνομαστοὶ συνέστησαν ἐπὶ Μωσῆν καὶ Ἀαρὼν, καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἐχέτω ὑμῖν ὅτι