Cleansing is not enough: the Sabbath rest and the priests' sacred work
Cyril: …Isaiah, who says: ‘The Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion, and will cleanse the blood from their midst by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.’ (Isaiah 4:4) So then, Palladius, would we fully carry out the way of the righteousness understood in Christ simply by being scoured clean and by rubbing away our old defilements? Tell me, would that be enough for the glory that befits the saints, and would it crown us with the highest honors? Or rather, will our condition in some way be better, and shall we rightly adorn our own heads with the highest praise, when we bring to God, as a kind of spiritual gift and a truly sacred offering, the life lived in sanctification and holiness, and carry out spiritual worship thoroughly?
Palladius: That is what I say.
Cyril: Indeed this agrees with the sacred laws, is pleasing to God, and is among the things most approved. He commanded rest from all work on the Sabbath, and allowed no one to do anything at all, saying this in Exodus: ‘Remember the day of the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days you shall work and do all your works; but the seventh day is the Sabbath, a rest to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it.’ (Exodus 20:8–10) The type plainly points to the Sabbath rest kept in spirit, when through Christ himself we have been called to cease and rest from every work of the flesh and from wicked pursuits, shaking off the burden of sin, loving to turn away from wickedness and to rest from whatever lies outside the law. For such a Sabbath rest remained out of reach for those of Israel; for they never entered Christ’s rest at all, as blessed Paul says (Hebrews 4:6–9). But Christ has given us rest, and has persuaded us to keep the Sabbath in a spiritual way, giving ourselves freely to virtue and practicing a good idleness from offenses.
Palladius: You have spoken excellently.
Cyril: Now God did indeed lay down long ago that all must rest from work on the Sabbath. Yet those crowned with the divine ministry and appointed to wait on the holy tent still performed the sacred rites; and though they profaned the Sabbath, as the Savior says, they were blameless (Matthew 12:5), and did not face the charge of having broken the law. So we too, in Christ, shall cease from earthly pursuits, fulfilling the inward Sabbath rest; but we shall not hold back from the sacred works — I mean, from our duty to bring God spiritual sacrifices and inward gifts (1 Peter 2:5). Following, as it is written, in the footsteps of Christ (1 Peter 2:21), we shall offer ourselves in sacrifice, honoring the God of all not with slaughtered sheep and the blood of calves, but rather dedicating ourselves to him as a fragrant aroma. For we shall please him more than a young calf that puts forth horns and hoofs, as the Psalmist says (Psalm 69:31).
Palladius: You think rightly. But come now, go on once more: from the…
Greek
Ἡσαΐας λέγων, ὅτι «Ἐκπλυνεῖ Κύριος τὸν ῥύπον τῶν υἱῶν καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων Σιὼν, καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἐκκαθαριεῖ ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν ἐν πνεύματι κρίσεως, καὶ ἐν πνεύματι καύσεως.» Ἆρ' οὖν, ὦ Παλλάδιε, τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ νοουμένης δικαιοσύνης ὁ τρόπος διαπεραίνοιτο ἂν πρὸς ἡμῶν, ὡς ἔν γε δὴ μόνῳ τῷ διασμήχεσθαι δεῖν; καὶ τὸ ἀρχαίους ἡμᾶς ἀποτρίψασθαι μολυσμούς; ἀρκέσειεν ἂν, εἰπέ μοι, πρὸς δόξαν ἡμῖν ἁγιοπρεπῆ, καὶ ταῖς ἀνωτάτω στεφανώσει τιμαῖς; ἤγουν, ἔσται πως τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἐν ἀμείνοσι, καὶ τοῖς εἰς ἄκρον ἐπαίνοις κατασεμνυνοῦμεν εἰκότως τὰς ἑαυτῶν κεφαλὰς, οἷάπερ τινὰ δωροφορίαν πνευματικὴν, καὶ ἱερὸν ἀληθῶς ἀνάθημα προσκομίζοντες τῷ Θεῷ, τὴν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ ὁσιότητι ζωὴν, καὶ πνευματικὴν λατρείαν εὖ μάλα διαπεραίνοντες;
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Οὕτω φημί.
{ΚΥΡ.} Καὶ γάρ τοι τὸ χρῆμά ἐστι τοῖς ἱεροῖς συμβαῖνον νόμοις, καὶ Θεῷ κεχαρισμένον, καὶ τῶν ὅτι μάλιστα δεδοκιμασμένων· καταλήγειν μὲν ἔργου παντὸς προστέταχεν ἐν Σαββάτῳ, δρᾷν δὲ δὴ ὅλως ἠφίει τινὰς οὐδ' ὅπως τι οὖν, οὕτω λέγων ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ· «Μνήσθητι τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν Σαββάτων ἁγιάζειν αὐτήν. Ἓξ ἡμέρας ἐργᾶ, καὶ ποιήσεις πάντα τὰ ἔργα σου· τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ, Σάββατα, ἀνάπαυσις Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ σου, οὐ ποιήσεις ἐν αὐτῇ πᾶν ἔργον.» Τὸν ἐν πνεύματι δηλονότι Σαββατισμὸν τοῦ τύπου κατασημαίνοντος, ὅτε καὶ εἰς κατάληξιν καὶ ἀνακωχὴν παντὸς ἔργου σαρκικοῦ, καὶ μοχθηρῶν σπουδασμάτων, δι' αὐτοῦ κεκλήμεθα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἄχθος ἀποσεισάμενοι, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς φαυλότητος ἀγαπῶντες ἀπόστασιν, καὶ τῶν ἔξω νόμου τὴν ἀργίαν· ἀπελείπετο μὲν γὰρ ὁ τοιόσδε Σαββατισμὸς τοῖς ἐξ Ἰσραήλ. Εἰσβεβήκασι γὰρ οὐδαμῶς εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου φωνήν. Ἡμᾶς δὲ κατέπαυσεν ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ Σαββατίζειν ἀνέπεισε νοητῶς, ἀνιεμένους εἰς ἀρετὴν, καὶ καλὴν πλημμελημάτων ἀργίαν ἐπιτηδεύοντας.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἄριστα ἔφης.
{ΚΥΡ.} Ἀλλ' ἐθεσμοθέτει μὲν καὶ πάλαι Θεὸς, τὸ δεῖν ἅπαντας ἀργεῖν ἐν Σαββάτῳ. Πλὴν οἱ τῇ θείᾳ λειτουργίᾳ κατεστεμμένοι, καὶ τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ προσεδρεύειν ἐπιτεταγμένοι, πάλιν ἐτέλουν τὰ ἱερά· καὶ βεβηλοῦντες τὸ Σάββατον, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνὴν, ἦσαν ἀναίτιοι, τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ λελύσθαι τὸν νόμον οὐχ ὑπομένοντες γραφήν. Οὐκοῦν ἐπιγείων μὲν σπουδασμάτων καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ καταλήξομεν ἐν Χριστῷ, τὸν νοητὸν πληροῦντες Σαββατισμὸν, ἀφεξόμεθα δὲ οὐχὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἔργων, τοῦ χρῆναι, φημὶ, προσκομίζειν Θεῷ θυσίας πνευματικὰς καὶ νοητὰς δωροφορίας. Ἑπόμενοι δὲ ὥσπερ τοῖς ἴχνεσι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἑαυτοὺς ἱερεύσομεν, οὐ μηλοσφαγίαις καὶ μόσχων αἵμασι τὸν τῶν ὅλων τιμῶντες Θεὸν, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ μᾶλλον εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἀνατιθέντες αὐτῷ. Ἀρέσομεν γὰρ ὑπὲρ μόσχον νέον, κέρατα ἐκφέροντα καὶ ὁπλὰς, κατά γε τὴν τοῦ Ψάλλοντος φωνήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὀρθῶς διανοῇ· πλὴν ἴθι δὴ πάλιν, καὶ ἐξ