Justified by mercy; the vow paid, the hair burned, and Christ our forerunner
Cyril: …the measure of the stature that is in Christ (Ephesians 4:13); as in unleavened loaves, pure; as in wafers, sweet; yet as those who have received mercy through Christ. For we have been justified not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his great mercy (Titus 3:5). That is why the oil was rightly poured on the loaves. The priest again acts as mediator, and brings first the sin offering, then the whole burnt offering, and third, after these, the ram of the peace offering (Numbers 6:16–17). For with Christ mediating and bringing us to God the Father, we shall be accepted as we bring prayers for our own sins and ask forgiveness for our former offenses. We are also offered as whole burnt offerings in a spiritual sense, that is, entirely and completely, holy and consecrated, and we shall be dedicated to God as a fragrant aroma, not divided toward the things of the world; for the whole burnt offering was consumed entire by the fire. We shall also dedicate thank offerings for our own salvation and life, honoring God not with perishable and earthly things, but bringing him, as it were, a guest’s gift fit to be accepted: a life that is pure and unleavened, sweet and holy; for such, in some way, is the life of the saints. When the priest has brought the sacrifice according to the law, ‘Let the one who has vowed shave his head,’ it says, ‘at the doors of the tent of witness, and lay the hair on the fire’ (Numbers 6:18).
Palladius: And what do you say this means?
Cyril: The paying of the vow, and so to speak the fulfillment of what was promised. For we shall not take the manner of the shaving here to be like that of the one defiled by a dead body, who shaved off hair already most dishonored and profane. Rather, as one already made perfect in Christ, who has grown another head of hair after the eighth day, he dedicates to God, as in a type, what he promised. And the sign that God has accepted the offering is that the hair is consumed by fire; for the holy Scripture always clothes the divine nature in the form of fire. Indeed, the inspired Moses said: ‘Our God is a consuming fire’ (Deuteronomy 4:24), likening to fire, I think, the all-powerful might of the divine and pure nature. Notice how the shaving at the completion, that is, the end of all our righteousness and purification, takes place at the doors of the tent. For how could whatever purity and righteousness may come from us, on their own, bring us into the Holy of Holies, when they are not wholly free from blame and fault? ‘For no one is wholly clean from filth’ (Job 14:4). But Christ brings us in, setting us free without holding our wrongs against us, and releasing us from every sin. For he has entered as a forerunner on our behalf (Hebrews 6:20), not, surely, for himself, but for those outside the doors who have now come, in a way, to the very threshold of the holy tent, smoothing the way in for them.
Palladius: True.
Cyril: For he is said to have opened for us a new… (Hebrews 10:20)
Greek
μέτρον ἡλικίας ἐλάσαντες, τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ· καὶ ὡς ἐν ἄρτοις μὲν τοῖς ἀζύμοις, καθαροί· ἡδεῖς δὲ ὡς ἐν λαγάνοις, πλὴν ἠλεημένοι διὰ Χριστοῦ. Δεδικαιώμεθα γὰρ, οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοσύνης, ἃ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ πολὺ αὐτοῦ ἔλεος. Ἐπεχεῖτο δὴ οὖν ταύτῃτοι καλῶς τοῖς ἄρτοις τὸ ἔλαιον. Μεσιτεύει δὲ πάλιν ὁ ἱερεὺς, καὶ προσκομίζει μὲν πρῶτον τὸ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, εἶτα τὸ ὁλοκαύτωμα, καὶ τρίτον ἐπὶ τῷδε τοῦ σωτηρίου τὸν κριόν. Μεσιτεύοντος γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ προσάγοντος ἡμᾶς τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, δεκτοὶ μὲν ἐσόμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων προσκομίζοντες λιτὰς, καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων αἰτιαμάτων ἐξαιτοῦντες τὴν ἄφεσιν. Ὁλοκαυτούμεθα δὲ νοητῶς, τουτέστιν, εἰσάπαν καὶ ὁλοκλήρως, ἅγιοί τε καὶ ἱεροὶ, καὶ εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ἀνακεισόμεθα τῷ Θεῷ, πρὸς τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ μὴ μεμερισμένοι· ὅλον γὰρ ἐδαπανᾶτο τῷ πυρὶ τὸ ὁλοκαυτούμενον. Ἀναθήσομεν δὲ καὶ τὰ χαριστήρια, τὰ ὑπέρ γε τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας καὶ ζωῆς, οὐ φθαρτοῖς καὶ γηΐνοις τιμῶντες Θεόν· ξένιον καὶ ὥσπερ αὐτῷ προσάγοντες ἀξιόληπτον τὴν καθαράν τε καὶ ἄζυμον, καὶ ἡδεῖαν ζωὴν καὶ ἁγίαν· τοιουτοσὶ γάρ πως ὁ τῶν ἁγίων βίος. Προσκεκομικότος δὲ τοῦ ἱερέως τὴν θυσίαν κατὰ τὸν νόμον, «Ψιλούσθω, φησὶ, τὴν κεφαλὴν ὁ εὐξάμενος, παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ ἐπιτιθέτω τὰς τρίχας ἐπὶ τὸ πῦρ.»
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Καὶ τί δὴ τοῦτο εἶναι φής;
{ΚΥΡ.} Εὐχῆς ἀπόδοσιν, καὶ οἱονεὶ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων τὸ πέρας· οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ ὁ μιανθεὶς ἐπὶ νεκρῷ τὴν ἀτιμοτάτην ἤδη καὶ βέβηλον κατεξυρᾶτο τρίχα· οὕτω κἀνθάδε τὸν τῆς ξυρήσεως ἐκδεξόμεθα τρόπον. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἤδη τετελειωμένος ἐν Χριστῷ, καὶ κόμην ἑτέραν τετροφὼς μετὰ τὴν ὀγδόην ἀνατίθησι τῷ Θεῷ καθάπερ ἐν τύπῳ τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα. Σημεῖον δὲ τοῦ δεδέχθαι παρὰ Θεοῦ τὴν δωροφορίαν, τὸ δαπανᾶσθαι πυρὶ τὴν τρίχα· εἶδος γὰρ τοῦ πυρὸς ἀεὶ τῇ θείᾳ περιτίθησι φύσει τὸ Γράμμα τὸ ἱερόν. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος ἔφη Μωσῆς· «Ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν πῦρ καταναλίσκον ἐστί·» τὸ παναλκὲς, οἶμαί του, τῆς θείας καὶ ἀκηράτου φύσεως παρεικάζων πυρί. Ἄθρει δὲ ὅπως παρὰ τὰς τῆς σκηνῆς θύρας, ἡ ἐν τελειώσει ξύρησις, τουτέστιν, ἁπάσης ἡμῶν δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἁγνισμοῦ πέρας. Μόναι γὰρ ἡμᾶς, αἵπερ ἂν γένοιντο πρὸς ἡμῶν ἁγνεία τε καὶ δικαιοσύνη, πῶς ἂν εἰσοίσειαν εἰς τὰ Ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων, τὸ ἀκαταιτίατόν τε καὶ ἀπλημμελὲς οὐκ ἔχουσαι παντελῶς; «Καθαρὸς γὰρ ἀπὸ ῥύπου παντελῶς οὐδείς·» εἰσκομίζει δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀμνησικάκως ἐλευθερῶν, καὶ πάσης ἡμᾶς ἀνιεὶς ἁμαρτίας. Πρόδρομος γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσελήλακεν, οὐχ ἑαυτῷ που πάντως, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔξω θυρῶν, καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ πως ἤδη γεγονόσιν οὐδῷ τῆς ἁγίας σκηνῆς, καταλεαίνων τὴν εἰσδρομήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ἀληθές.
{ΚΥΡ.} Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐγκαινίσαι λέγεται πρόσφα