Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Christ, Our Mercy Seat

The mercy seat was of gold leaf, situated on the ark; on either side it had the carvings of the cherubim.  From there God's benevolence was revealed to the high priest as he ministered.  The divine apostle, then, teaches that Christ the Lord is the true mercy seat: the old one had the function of a type of the latter.… Whereas the old mercy seat was without blood, insofar as it was lifeless, and drops of the blood of the victim fell on it, Christ the Lord is God and mercy seat, high priest and lamb, and with his own blood worked our salvation, requiring from us only faith.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Letter to the Romans"

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