The Suckling Lamb, a Type of Christ
Book One.
“And Samuel took one suckling lamb” (1 Samuel 7:9). Do you see how he took Christ as his mediator and, at the same time, as the one who presides over salvation? And how the mystery concerning him, set like an unbreakable weapon against the attacks of the Philistines, saved Israel? For he sacrificed a suckling lamb as a type of Christ, who also cried out long ago through the voice of the prophets: “But I, like an innocent lamb led to the slaughter, did not know” (Jeremiah 11:19).
Observe, too, how the power of the sacrifice made the Father all the readier to help those who were in distress. For he thundered something great and extraordinary against their enemies (1 Samuel 7:10), and to those who offered the sacrifice he gave salvation as their reward, as a type of the mystery of Christ.
“And now appoint a king over us” (1 Samuel 8:5).
Greek
ΒΙΒΛΟΣ Αʹ. ‹69.680› Καὶ ἔλαβε Σαμουὴλ ἄρνα γαλαθηνὸν ἔνα. Κυρίλλου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Ἀλεξανδρείας. Ὁρᾷς ὅπως μεσίτην ὁμοῦ καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας πρύτανιν ἐποιεῖτο Χριστόν; καὶ τὸ ἐπ' αὐτῷ μυστήριον, ὅπλον οἷάπερ ἀῤῥαγὲς, ταῖς τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐφόδοις ἀντανιστὰς σέσωκε τὸν Ἰσραήλ; Ἄρνα γὰρ γαλαθηνὸν ἔθυσεν εἰς τύπον Χριστοῦ, καὶ πάλαι βοῶντος διὰ φωνῆς προφητῶν· Ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς ἀρνίον ἄκακον ἀγόμενον τοῦ θύεσθαι, οὐκ ἔγνων. Ἐπιτήρει δὲ ὅπως τῆς θυσίας ἡ δύναμις ἑτοιμότερον πρὸς τὴν ἐπικουρίαν τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς κάμνουσιν ἀποτετέλεκεν τὸν Πατέρα. Κατεβρόντησεν γὰρ τῶν δι' ἐναντίας μέγα τι καὶ ἐξαίσιον· καὶ τοῖς προσάγουσι τὴν θυσίαν μισθὸν ἐδίδου τὴν σωτηρίαν εἰς τύπον μυστηρίου τοῦ κατὰ Χριστόν. Καὶ νῦν κατάστησον ἐφ' ἡμᾶς βασιλέα.