Having mentioned justification, and
connected sacrifice to works, Cyril presents an example of proper piety by
citing the “Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee” (Lk 18:9-14). While the Pharisee
proclaimed his own righteousness, pointing to his works as evidence, the
publican threw himself at God’s mercy in repentance. In the same way, Israel
should “make confession, and keep remembrance without fail.” (PG 70.913) Cyril
quotes Psalm 5:31 (“I know my iniquity and my sin are always before me”) as
well as Proverbs 18:17 (“The righteous person is the first to accuse himself”)
and Sirach 4:26 (“Do not be ashamed to confess your sins”) as further proof of
the necessity of repentance.
Justification comes to the publican “after
confessing his sins, and his intention is not hiding the stain of the
abomination affecting him that he might be purified.” (PG 70.913) Herein, Cyril
has adroitly crystallized the whole of Pauline theology and applied it to the
cessation of Temple worship and initiation into the New Covenant through repentance
that leads to purification by God. (Joseph Lucas, Jewish and Christian
Sacrifice in Cyril of Alexandria [2023], 146)
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