The living water in the earthen vessel: the Word made flesh
Cyril: …pure water must be poured into an earthen vessel, together with some of the earth that lies in the tent (Numbers 5:17). Then, when the words of the curse had been washed off into the water, he commanded the woman suspected of fornication to drink it (Numbers 5:23–24). And he says: ‘If she is guilty of the charge, her belly will swell and her thigh will fall away; but if she is clear of the accusation, and what was suspected of her is not true, she will conceive offspring.’ (Numbers 5:27–28)
Palladius: What, then, is the meaning? Or how would Christ be signified to us even through the things just named?
Cyril: By the living and pure water you will understand the life-giving Word of God, who is truly pure and has no share in sin at all, and who came to be in flesh as in an earthen vessel. For how, or on what ground, could anyone doubt that the flesh is dust and comes from the earth? By the earth from the tent you will understand him who was in death for our sake; for it was said to human nature: ‘You are earth, and to earth you shall return.’ (Genesis 3:19) And by the words of the curse you will understand very well him who became a curse for us by being hung on a tree (Galatians 3:13). For it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’ (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:23) So when Emmanuel, who is God by nature, reaches down into the depth of the human mind, he will convict and punish those who are guilty of sins; but those who are not caught in them he will show to be fruitful. For this, I think, is the meaning of ‘she will conceive offspring’: the bodily experience signifies the fruitfulness of the soul.
Palladius: Excellently said.
Cyril: Fornication, then, and the passions of the flesh debase a person and drive him out of his closeness to God; for ‘those who are in the flesh cannot please God.’ (Romans 8:8) By ‘flesh,’ as I take it, he means the mind set on the flesh (Romans 8:6–7); for that is how the text would rightly be understood. And besides this, a wicked disposition, a savage cast of character, and a drift into anything whatever of the most monstrous kind make us loathsome and unholy. For it befits us not only to master the passions of the flesh, but also to excel in gentleness of character, to show ourselves above all diligent in love toward the brothers, to be seen crowned with the glories of righteousness, and besides this to keep within ourselves a mind that is keen and well trained, that approaches the teachings about God without distortion, and that in searching into doctrines keeps what is blameless at every point. For such people are perfect, since in truth they lack none of the highest goods. The divine Paul also told us that the man of God must be complete (2 Timothy 3:17); and by ‘complete’ he means one who is equipped for every good work and well fitted to achieve virtue fully. Or is it not so?
Palladius: How could it not be?
Cyril: See, then, how the law, speaking in riddles,…
Greek
ρὸν εἰς ἀγγεῖον ὀστράκινον ἐνίεσθαι δεῖν, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τῆς οὔσης ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς. Εἶτα τῶν τῆς ἀρᾶς λόγων ἐναποπλυνθέντων ὕδατι, πίνειν ἐκέλευσε τὴν ἐν ὑποψίαις τοῦ πεπορνεῦσθαι γυναῖκα. Καὶ, «Εἰ μὲν ἔνοχος εἴη τῷ ἐγκλήματι, πρησθήσεται,» φησὶ, «κοιλίαν, καὶ πεσεῖται μηρός· εἰ δὲ τῆς αἰτίας ἀπήλλακται, καὶ οὐκ ἀληθὲς ἐπ' αὐτῇ τὸ ὑπειλημμένον, ἐκσπερματιεῖ σπέρμα.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Τίς οὖν ὁ λόγος; ἢ πῶς ἂν ἡμῖν καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀρτίως ὠνομασμένων, ὁ Χριστὸς σημαίνοιτο;
{ΚΥΡ.} Διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ καθαροῦ, τὸν ζωοποιὸν συνήσεις τὸν Θεοῦ Λόγον, τὸν ἀληθῶς καθαρὸν, καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἀμέτοχον παντελῶς, ὃς ἐν σαρκὶ γέγονε, καθάπερ ἐν ὀστρακίνῳ σκεύει. Χοῦς γὰρ ὅτι καὶ ἀπὸ γῆς ἡ σὰρξ, πῶς ἂν ἢ πόθεν ἀμφίβολον; Διὰ δέ γε τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς σκηνῆς γῆς, τὸν ἐν θανάτῳ νοήσεις δι' ἡμᾶς· εἴρηται γὰρ τῇ ἀνθρώπου φύσει· «Γῆ εἶ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ.» Διὰ δέ γε τῶν λόγων τῆς ἀρᾶς, τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν γεγονότα κατάραν, διὰ τὸ ἐπὶ ξύλου κρεμασθῆναι, συνήσεις εὖ μάλα. Γέγραπται γὰρ, ὅτι καὶ «Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου.» Ὅταν τοίνυν εἰς τὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης διανοίας καθίκοιτο βάθος, Θεὸς κατὰ φύσιν ὑπάρχων ὁ Ἐμμανουὴλ, ἐνόχους μὲν ὄντας πταίσμασιν, ἐλέγξει κολάζων· κατειλημμένους δὲ οὐκ ἐν τούτοις, καρποφόρους ἀποφανεῖ. Τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, ἐστὶ τὸ, ἐκσπερματιεῖ σπέρμα, τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ καρπογόνον, τοῦ σωματικοῦ σημαίνοντος πάθους.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἄριστα ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Πορνεία μὲν οὖν καὶ τὰ σαρκὸς πάθη κατακιβδηλεύει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἐξίστησιν οἰκειότητος· οἱ γὰρ ἐν σαρκὶ ὄντες, Θεῷ ἀρέσαι οὐ δύνανται. Σάρκα δὲ, καθάπερ ἐγᾦμαι, τὸ σαρκικὸν ὀνομάζει φρόνημα. Νοοῖτο γὰρ ἂν ὡδὶ τὸ γεγραμμένον ὀρθῶς. Τρόπος δὲ αὖ πρὸς τόδε φαυλότητος, καὶ μὴν καὶ ἠθῶν ῥυθμὸς ἀγριότητος, καὶ εἰς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν τῶν ἐκτοπωτάτων ἐξιτηλία, βδελυροὺς ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀνιέρους ἀποτελεῖ. Οὐ γάρ τοι προσήκει σαρκικῶν ἡμᾶς μόνων κατανδρίζεσθαι παθῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἠθῶν ἡμερότητι διαπρέπειν, καὶ ἀγάπης ὅτι μάλιστα τῆς εἰς ἀδελφοὺς ἐπιμελητὰς ἀναφαίνεσθαι, καὶ τοῖς τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐχήμασιν ὁρᾶσθαι κατεστεμμένους, καὶ πρός γε δὴ τούτοις, λεπτὸν καὶ ἐξησκημένον ἔν γε δὴ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἔχειν τὸν νοῦν, ταῖς περὶ Θεοῦ δόξαις ἀδιαστρόφως προσβάλλοντα, καὶ ἐν δογμάτων ἐρεύναις πανταχῆ σώζοντα τὸ ἀμωμήτως ἔχον· τέλειοι γὰρ οἱ τοιοίδε, κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς οὐδενὸς ὄντες τῶν ἀρίστων ἐπιδεεῖς· ἄρτιον γὰρ εἶναι δεῖν τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπον καὶ ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν ἔφη Παῦλος· «Ἄρτιον» δέ φησι τὸν εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐξηρτυμένον, καὶ ἐπιτηδείως ἔχοντα πρὸς τὸ κατορθοῦν εὖ μάλα δύνασθαι τὴν ἀρετήν. Ἢ οὐχ ὧδε ἔχει;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Πῶς γὰρ οὔ;
{ΚΥΡ.} Θέα δὴ οὖν ὅπως αἰνιγματωδῶς ὁ νόμος εἰς