Chapter XL.—He returns to the Mosaic laws, and proves that they were figures of the things which pertain to Christ.

“The mystery, then, of the lamb which God enjoined to be sacrificed as the passover, was a type of Christ; with whose blood, in proportion to their faith in Him, they anoint their houses, i.e., themselves, who believe on Him. For that the creation which God created—to wit, Adam—was a house for the spirit which proceeded from God, you all can understand. And that this injunction was temporary, I prove thus. God does not permit the lamb of the passover to be sacrificed in any other place than where His name was named; knowing that the days will come, after the suffering of Christ, when even the place in Jerusalem shall be given over to your enemies, and all the offerings, in short, shall cease; and that lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb,108    Some think this particularly refers to the paschal lamb, others to any lamb which is roasted. which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb. And the two goats which were ordered to be offered during the fast, of which one was sent away as the scape [goat], and the other sacrificed, were similarly declarative of the two appearances of Christ: the first, in which the elders of your people, and the priests, having laid hands on Him and put Him to death, sent Him away as the scape [goat]; and His second appearance, because in the same place in Jerusalem you shall recognise Him whom you have dishonoured, and who was an offering for all sinners willing to repent, and keeping the fast which Isaiah speaks of, loosening the terms109    Literally, “cords.” of the violent contracts, and keeping the other precepts, likewise enumerated by him, and which I have quoted,110    Chap. xv. which those believing in Jesus do. And further, you are aware that the offering of the two goats, which were enjoined to be sacrificed at the fast, was not permitted to take place similarly anywhere else, but only in Jerusalem.

[40] Τὸ μυστήριον οὖν τοῦ προβάτου, ὃ τὸ πάσχα θύειν ἐντέταλται ὁ θεός, τύπος ἦν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὗ τῷ αἵματι κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως χρίονται τοὺς οἴκους ἑαυτῶν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἑαυτούς, οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς αὐτόν: ὅτι γὰρ τὸ πλάσμα, ὃ ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν Ἀδάμ, οἶκος ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐμφυσήματος τοῦ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ πάντες νοεῖν δύνασθε. καὶ ὅτι πρόσκαιρος ἦν καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἐντολή, οὕτως ἀποδείκνυμι. οὐδαμοῦ θύεσθαι τὸ πρόβατον τοῦ πάσχα ὁ θεὸς συγχωρεῖ, εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ τόπῳ ᾧ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐλεύσονται ἡμέραι μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν τὸν Χριστόν, ὅτε καὶ ὁ τόπος τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὑμῶν παραδοθήσεται καὶ παύσονται ἅπασαι ἁπλῶς προσφοραὶ γινόμεναι. καὶ τὸ κελευσθὲν πρόβατον ἐκεῖνο ὀπτὸν ὅλον γίνεσθαι τοῦ πάθους τοῦ σταυροῦ, δι' οὗ πάσχειν ἔμελλεν ὁ Χριστός, σύμβολον ἦν. τὸ γὰρ ὀπτώμενον πρόβατον σχηματιζόμενον ὁμοίως τῷ σχήματι τοῦ σταυροῦ ὀπτᾶται: εἷς γὰρ ὄρθιος ὀβελίσκος διαπερονᾶται ἀπὸ τῶν κατωτάτω μερῶν μέχρι τῆς κεφαλῆς, καὶ εἷς πάλιν κατὰ τὸ μετάφρενον, ᾧ προσαρτῶνται καὶ αἱ χεῖρες τοῦ προβάτου. καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ νηστείᾳ δὲ τράγοι δύο ὅμοιοι κελευσθέντες γίνεσθαι, ὧν ὁ εἷς ἀποπομπαῖος ἐγίνετο, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος εἰς προσφοράν, τῶν δύο παρουσιῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καταγγελία ἦσαν: μιᾶς μέν, ἐν ᾗ ὡς ἀποπομπαῖον αὐτὸν παρεπέμψαντο οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ λαοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς, ἐπιβαλόντες αὐτῷ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ θανατώσαντες αὐτόν, καὶ τῆς δευτέρας δὲ αὐτοῦ παρουσίας, ὅτι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ τῶν Ἰεροσολύμων ἐπιγνωσθήσεσθε αὐτόν, τὸν ἀτιμωθέντα ὑφ' ὑμῶν, καὶ προσφορὰ ἦν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν μετανοεῖν βουλομένων ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ νηστευόντων ἣν καταλέγει Ἠσαίας νηστείαν, διασπῶντες στραγγαλιὰς βιαίων συναλλαγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁμοίως τὰ κατηριθμημένα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ἃ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀνιστόρησα, φυλάσσοντες, ἃ ποιοῦσιν οἱ τῷ Ἰησοῦ πιστεύοντες. καὶ ὅτι καὶ ἡ τῶν δύο τράγων τῶν νηστείᾳ κελευσθέντων προσφέρεσθαι προσφορὰ οὐδαμοῦ ὁμοίως συγκεχώρηται γίνεσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν Ἰεροσολύμοις, ἐπίστασθε.