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.
215
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,291 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 terms292 of the violent contracts, and keeping the other precepts, likewise
enumerated by him, and which I have quoted,293 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.
291 Some think this particularly refers to the paschal lamb, others to any lamb which is roasted.
292 Literally, “cords.”
293 Chap. xv.
Chapter XL.—He returns to the Mosaic laws, and proves that they were figures of the things which pertain to Christ.
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Chapter XL.—He returns to the Mosaic laws, and proves that they were figures…