XIII.  Thus then and for this cause the written Law came in, gathering us into Christ; and this is the account of the Sacrifices as I account for them.  And that you may not be ignorant of the depth of His Wisdom and the riches of His unsearchable judgments, Rom. xi. 33. He did not leave even these unhallowed altogether, or useless, or with nothing in them but mere blood. The Jewish Sacrifices had a deep inner meaning and mystery.  In a limited sense they may be called Sacraments of the future Atonement, which they prefigured and appealed to.  But only in a limited sense can they be so called, because they did not convey grace to the soul, but only appealed to the grace to come; and so the Sin-offerings of the Law are only said to cover, not to take away sin.  They removed the spiritual disqualification for worship; but they did not restore full Spiritual Communion with God.  Still they were not altogether unhallowed or useless like those of the heathen, inasmuch as they did point forward and plead the merits of the One true Sacrifice.  But that great, and if I may say so, in Its first nature unsacrificeable Victim, was intermingled with the Sacrifices of the Law, and was a purification, not for a part of the world, nor for a short time, but for the whole world and for all time.  For this reason a Lamb was chosen for its innocence, and its clothing of the original nakedness.  For such is the Victim, That was offered for us, Who is both in Name and fact the Garment of incorruption.  And He was a perfect Victim not only on account of His Godhead, than which nothing is more perfect; but also on account of that which He assumed having been anointed with Deity, and having become one with That which anointed It, and I am bold to say, made equal with God.  A Male, because offered for Adam; or rather the Stronger for the strong, when the first Man had fallen under sin; and chiefly because there is in Him nothing feminine, nothing unmanly; but He burst from the bonds of the Virgin-Mother’s womb with much power, and a Male was brought forth by the Prophetess, Isa. xiii. 3. as Isaiah declares the good tidings.  And of a year old, because He is the Sun of Righteousness Mal. iv. 2. setting out from heaven, and circumscribed by His visible Nature, and returning unto Himself. The Greek here is very obscure.  The meaning seems to be that which Nicetas suggests, viz.:—that our Lord in coming to earth and becoming Incarnate did not in His Divine Nature leave Heaven, but was, while still here on earth in His own words, “The Son of Man Which is in Heaven.”  And “The blessed crown of Goodness,”—being on every side equal to Himself and alike; and not only this, but also as giving life to all the circle of the virtues, gently commingled and intermixed with each other, according to the Law of Love and Order. Christ is “a blessed crown of goodness” according to the saying of David, Thou shalt bless the crown of the year with Thy goodness (Ps. lxv. 11).  The idea of a year is taken from the Sun; that of the crown from the year (for the year is a circle guarded with four seasons), and from the circle again equality.  Therefore the crown is Christ, as adorning and beautifying the minds of believers.  But the year of Goodness was that time when Christ moved by goodness was declaring the Gospel, as Isaiah saith of Him, “He hath sent Me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Isa. lxi. 1, 2).  Thus the Crown is on every side equal.  For if one draw a line from the upper side to the lower, and the same in a transverse direction, all the intervals will be equal.  And the Crown is like itself, because its figure is seen alike on every side, for on every side it is seen as a round.  Therefore Christ as to His Humanity is called a Crown of Righteousness, as composed of all the virtues, and having no end of His goodness and righteousness; and of that righteousness one quality is equality, that is, it allows neither excess nor defect.  For excess and defect do not arise from virtue and righteousness, but from fault and unrighteousness (Nicetas).  And Immaculate and guileless, as being the Healer of faults, and of the defects and taints that come from sin.  For though He both took on Him our sins and bare our diseases, Isa. liii. 4. yet He did not Himself suffer aught that needed healing.  For He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. Heb. iv. 15.  For he that persecuted the Light that shineth in darkness could not overtake Him.