Mediator between God and Man
“There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.” … in this passage that very name ‘mediator’ stands indicative both of Godhead and of manhood. He is called a mediator because He does not exist as God alone; for how, if He had had nothing of our nature could He have mediated between us and God? But since as God He is joined with God as having the same substance, and as man with us, because from us He took the form of a servant, He is properly termed a mediator, uniting in Himself distinct qualities by the unity of natures of Godhead, and of manhood.
[Moses was] called a mediator, though only a man. He was a type of the reality: but the type has not all the qualities of the reality. Wherefore though Moses was not by nature God, yet, to fulfil the type, he was called a god. For He says “See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh.” And then directly afterwards he assigns him also a Prophet as though to God, for “Aaron thy brother,” He says, “shall be thy Prophet.” But the reality is by nature God, and by nature man.
Image and Archetype
“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace; without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the son of God; abideth a priest continually.”
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The image has not all the properties of the archetype. … The divine Apostle calls the Son the image of the Father; for he says “Who is the image of the invisible God”. [The Son] has not all the qualities of the Father. He is not Father. He is not uncaused. He is not unbegotten.
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Thus to the Saviour these qualities are proper both by nature and in reality; … of Melchisedec it records neither the father nor the mother, nor does it teach that he traced his descent from any one of Noah’s sons, to the end that he may be a type of Him who is in reality without father, and without mother … So far as what belongs to God and is really divine is concerned, Melchisedec is a type of the Lord Christ; but as far as the priesthood is concerned, which belongs rather to man than to God, the Lord Christ was made a priest after the order of Melchisedec.
References:
- Theodoret. Dialogues II. NPNF 2/3:187-189. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf203/npnf203.iv.ix.iii.html. Accessed February 12, 2023