The heavenly reward, and the Church as the truer tent
Cyril: …And whoever has reached this height of renown is illustrious and worthy of admiration, and will be ranked among those who are most truly genuine, as Christ cries out and says, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord’ (Matthew 25:21). For he will enter, and very readily, into the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22), and will make his home in the dwelling places above (John 14:2), delighting in good things beyond mind and speech. The prophet Isaiah also says something of this kind: ‘Your eyes will see Jerusalem, rich cities, tents that shall not be shaken; the pegs of the tent shall not be moved, nor shall its cords ever be broken’ (Isaiah 33:20). For the form of this world is passing away, as the Scriptures say (1 Corinthians 7:31), but the hope of what is to come is founded most firmly and is wholly unshakeable. But since all these things are being dissolved, as the Savior’s disciple firmly declared, what sort of people must we be found to be (2 Peter 3:11, 14)? Holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4), honoring him as Savior and Redeemer with spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5), and practicing a holy and chosen way of life that agrees with the laws of the Gospel. In just this way the law, of course, sketched in shadow for the people of old this same life, so worthy of reverence and so well worth gaining, when it commanded them to slaughter sheep, to make their offerings by means of blood, to dedicate tithes and firstfruits to God, and thank offerings besides. Yet it laid down that these things must not be done outside the holy tent. And it set apart the tribe of Levi as chosen and dedicated to God (Numbers 3:12), making the thing a type given to us and pointing to ourselves. For we too are called in the divine Scriptures ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession’ (1 Peter 2:9). And we enter the truer tent, which the Lord pitched and not man (Hebrews 8:2), that is, the Church; not appeasing the Maker of all things with calves and goats (Hebrews 9:12), but excelling in a right and blameless faith, and giving off, in a spiritual way, a sweet fragrance through spiritual offerings of fruit. ‘For with such sacrifices God is well pleased’ (Hebrews 13:16), and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth, as the Savior said (John 4:24).
Palladius: You are right. And I would myself say that it befits us to win approval by sacrifices that surpass the law; I will agree to that. But tell me this: was not the old tent set up in the wilderness as a type, for us, of the Church gathered from the nations, showing, though still somewhat dimly, the beauty of the truer tent?
Cyril: Certainly. And I said just a moment ago that the fact that those of Levi’s blood had to be chosen with the greatest care for the sacred ministries would also be, in turn, a type of those who have been called in faith to a holy and blameless life, I mean the life in Christ.
Greek
ὁ νόμος. εὐκλείας γε μὴν εἰς τοῦτο κατηντηκὼς ἅπας τις οὖν, λαμπρός τε καὶ ἀξιάγαστος, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὅτι μάλιστα γνησίοις κατατετάξεται, Χριστοῦ βοῶντος καὶ λέγοντος, «Εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστὲ, ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστὸς, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ Κυρίου σου.» Εἰσελεύσεται γὰρ δὴ καὶ μάλα ἑτοίμως εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ταῖς ἄνω μοναῖς ἐνδιαιτήσεται, τοῖς ὑπὲρ νοῦν καὶ λόγον ἐντρυφῶν ἀγαθοῖς. Τοιουτονί τι καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας φησίν· «Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου ὄψονται, Ἱερουσαλὴμ, πόλεις πλουσίας, σκηνὰς, αἳ οὐ μὴ σεισθῶσιν, οὐδὲ μὴ κινηθῶσιν οἱ πάσσαλοι τῆς σκηνῆς, οὐδὲ τὰ σχοινία αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ διαῤῥαγῶσι.» Παράγει μὲν γὰρ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, κατὰ τὰς Γραφάς. Ἑδραιοτάτη δὲ σφόδρα καὶ ἀκράδαντος πάντως ἡ τῶν ἐσομένων ἐλπίς. Ἀλλὰ τούτων ἁπάντων λυομένων, καθὰ καὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος διισχυρίσατο μαθητὴς, ποταμοὺς δεῖ εὑρεθῆναι ἡμᾶς, ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατ' ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, πνευματικαῖς μὲν θυσίαις καταγεραίροντας ὡς Σωτῆρα καὶ Λυτρωτὴν, ἱερὰν δὲ καὶ ἀπόλεκτον, καὶ τοῖς εὐαγγελικοῖς συμβαίνουσαν νόμοις ἐπιτηδεύοντας πολιτείαν· καθάπερ ἀμέλει τοῖς ἀρχαιοτέροις ὁ νόμος τὴν οὕτω σεπτήν τε καὶ ἀξιόληπτον ἐσκιαγράφει ζωήν· μηλοσφαγεῖν ἐπιτάττων, καὶ τὰς δι' αἱμάτων ποιεῖσθαι προσαγωγὰς, δεκάτας τε καὶ ἀπαρχὰς ἀφιεροῦν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἔτι χαριστήρια. Πλὴν, οὐκ ἔξω ταυτὶ τῆς ἁγίας πράττεσθαι δεῖν ἐνομοθέτει σκηνῆς. Ἀπόλεκτον δὲ τὸ ἐκ Λευῒ γένος ἀνετίθει τῷ Θεῷ, τύπον ἡμῖν καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς τὸ χρῆμα τιθείς. Κεκλήμεθα γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς παρά γε ταῖς θείαις Γραφαῖς «γένος ἐκλεκτὸν, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον, λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν.» Εἰσελαύνομεν δὲ καὶ εἰς σκηνὴν τὴν ἀληθεστέραν, ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ Κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτ' ἔστι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, οὐ διὰ μόσχων καὶ τράγων ἐκμειλισσόμενοι τὸν τῶν ὅλων Δημιουργὸν, ἀλλ' ὡς ἐν ὀρθῇ τε καὶ ἀμωμήτῳ πίστει διαπρέποντες, καὶ πνευματικαῖς καρποφορίαις νοητῶς εὐωδιάζοντες. «Τοιαύταις γὰρ δὴ θυσίαις εὐαρεστεῖται Θεὸς,» καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν, ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνήν.
{ΠΑΛΛ.} Ὀρθῶς ἔφης. Καὶ θυσίαις μὲν ταῖς ὑπὲρ νόμον ὅτι προσῆκεν ἡμᾶς εὐδοκιμεῖν, φαίην ἂν ἔγωγε· συνθήσομαι γάρ. Πλὴν, ἐκεῖνο φράσον· ἆρ' οὐκ εἰς τύπον ἡμῖν τῆς ἐξ ἐθνῶν Ἐκκλησίας ἡ παλαιὰ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον διεπήγνυτο σκηνὴ, τῆς ἀληθεστέρας ἀμυδρόν πως ἔτι τὸ κάλλος ἐκφαίνουσα;
{ΚΥΡ.} Πάνυ μὲν οὖν. Ἔφην δὲ καὶ ἀρτίως, ὅτι καὶ τὸ ἄριστα δεῖν εἰλῆφθαι πρὸς ἱερὰς λειτουργίας τοὺς ἐξ αἵματος Λευῒ, καὶ κεκλημένων ἐν πίστει πρὸς ἱερὰν καὶ ἀμώμητον ζωὴν, φημὶ δὴ τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ, τύπος ἂν εἴη πάλιν.