| By his redemptive sacrifice Christ united heaven and earth, the eternal and the temporal, the Creator and the creation, God and the human person. He has overcome the gulf which since the dawn of human history has separated the first people from their Maker. When they violated the commandments that were given to them and disobeyed their Creator, sin and death came to reign in the world. “When the fulness of the time had come,” says the apostle Paul, “God sent his Son, born of a woman, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as children” (Gal. 4:4-5). Christ, being the Lamb of God “without defect or blemish takes away the sin of the world” (1 Pet 1:19; Jn 1:29). In being obedient to the heavenly Father “to the point of death– even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:8), he brings all of humankind to its Creator, reconciling it with him. Being the Son of God by his nature, he makes us sons and daughters of God by grace. The Lord opens up to us the way of moral transformation and spiritual ascension to life everlasting and blessed with God “in the unfading day of his kingdom” (The Paschal Canon). In freeing us from enslavement to sin, in casting down “the powers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), the Lord is raised up to heaven, where he sits in unapproachable glory at the right hand of the pre-eternal Father. At the same time, he does not abandon us here on earth and abides eternally with his disciples who together form his Body of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Her Head, Christ himself, guides this ark of salvation through the stormy waters of the sea of life to the tranquil haven of heaven where “God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). We, Christians, who comprise the Holy Church, are to continue his glorious mission in the world. Like the great multitude of brothers and sisters in the faith who came before us – the apostles, the myrrh-bearing women, the martyrs, the saintly bishops, the venerable monks and nuns and the righteous – we are called upon to “give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the people” (1 Chr. 1:8). We are called upon to preach the Son of God and the Son of Man, who in his ineffable love for us shed his most precious blood on the Cross. We are called upon in both word and deed and with our whole lives to bear witness to people of the One who “was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:5) and “was raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). |
| 24–29. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and My God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. Thomas … was not with the disciples, perhaps because he had not yet returned from where he was hiding after the disciples had scattered. Elsewhere, we learned that the Hebrew name “Cephas” means “Rock” (Πτρος, see Jn. 1:42); here we are told that “Thomas” means “Twin” (Δδυμος). The Evangelist provides the meaning of the name here to indicate that Thomas was prone to be of two minds—a doubter by nature. He doubted the news brought to him by the others, not because he thought they were liars, but because he considered it impossible for a man to rise from the dead. And his doubt made him excessively inquisitive. Gullibility is a sign of light-mindedness; but stubborn resistance to truth is a sure indication of thick-headedness. Thomas would not even trust his eyes, but demanded proof by touch, the least discriminating of the senses: except I shall … thrust my hand into His side. How did Thomas know there were wounds in Christ’s hands and side? Because the other disciples had told him. And why does the Lord wait eight days before appearing to him? To allow time for each of Thomas’ fellow disciples to tell him what they had witnessed. Hearing the same story from each one individually made him more willing to believe, and increased his desire to see the Lord. In order to show that He was invisibly present eight days earlier, when Thomas had expressed disbelief, the Lord does not wait for Thomas to speak. Instead, He straightway proposes exactly what Thomas desired, quoting his very words. |
| And does not there arise in us the question of why the Lord united these two elect of His here on earth, if not because it was by one heart and by one mind that they lived, although in different times and circumstances—the same work they fulfilled, living on earth so as to unite themselves in eternity and on earth in the memory of the people? Let us look closer at their lives and draw from the fountain of ever-present living water which grants immortality to the soul. The apostle John by his pure virgin soul so loved the Lord that no earthly attachments burdened him in life. He gave to God his heart, full of the aromas of pure and holy love for Him alone. While yet quite young he left his father’s, the fisherman Zebedee’s, house and answered to the preaching of the Forerunner of Christ, calling the people of God to prepare the way of the Lord: Make His paths straight (Mt. 3:3). Young John himself embarked on this path in anticipation of the One coming after the Baptist, Who shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire (Mt. 3:11). And here St. John the Forerunner points out One to his disciple and says to them: behold the lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world… (Jn. 1:29). And, obedient to the word of the virgin-teacher, the virgin-disciple leaves John the Forerunner to follow the Greatest Virgin and Teacher and our Savior. John followed Christ, having left everything for His sake: his home, his father, his mother, and the quiet, peaceful life of a fisherman, and went out on the turbulent temporal sea of the hitherto unknown path to the unknown promised land—to the Kingdom of Heaven. So did John’s heart ignite in the first century in the presence of Christ. But did not the heart of young Vasily Belavin, in a land far from Israel, cold Russia, twenty centuries having past since the time of the podvigs of the Savior and the labors of John the Theologian, burn just the same? Thirteen-year-old Vasily left his father’s house for the sake of his studies in seminary, for already in his parent’s home the youth’s heart was wounded by love for Christ, for His commandments, and for His Church. And the playfully respectful nickname " Bishop, " given to him by the seminarians, prophetically beheld the life path of this righteous one from the very beginning. |
| In his epistle, St. James speaks directly to those who would seek to sever the acceptance of certain doctrinal propositions from their way of life. The Jewish people had one central dogma, the profession of the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh, your God, Yahweh is one” (Deut 6:4). Immediately following the statement of this doctrinal truth is the commandment, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (6:5). Christ himself cites both this truth, and the resultant commandment, in summary of the entirety of the Old Testament scriptures (Mk 12:29). St. James, however, points out, “You believe that God is one? You do well. But even the demons believe, and shudder” (Jam 2:19). The demons not only believe, but know, that God is the Holy Trinity. They know that Jesus Christ is the second divine person of the Holy Trinity who took upon himself human nature for our salvation. The devil himself knows from bitter experience that Christ died on the cross and rose again on the third day. They doubt none of these things. What they refuse is to live, to exercise their being, in conformity with the truth of the Triune God and his creation. The rebellion of the devil and his angels, therefore, is not one of doubt. It is not a refusal to accept certain truths. Their rebellion is a metaphysical rebellion. It is a rebellion against what is, what exists, and what is true. This is why moral rebellion always brings about destruction. And since the beginning, the devil and his followers have sought to persuade humans to join in their rebellion. Not to reject certain principles, but to reject their consequences in how we should then live. Because he rebels against truth, the devil is a liar from the beginning. Because this rebellion brings about destruction, he is a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44). When he approaches Eve in Eden, he does not engage in a discussion about who God is, but rather in what that means regarding how humanity ought to live in God’s creation (Gen 3:1-5). Belief without life, faith without works, is worse than just a dead corpse. The man who knows the truths of God in Christ and does not live by them, and encourages others to do the same, is self-condemned. |
| Of course, our passing from earthly life is always a great mystery. We do not choose when to be born into this world or when to depart it. Any believer understands that this earthly life is temporal and quite short. We honor as heroes couples who celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, while very few live to celebrate their diamond (seventy-fifth) anniversary and other similar jubilees. Well, they have celebrated the silver, golden wedding anniversaries (raised a son, built a house, planted a tree)… and what next? Our family life on Earth is only a preparation for the everlasting one. In a Christian family we gather for salvation and love. The task of family as “the little church” is the same as that of the universal Church—to enter into the Kingdom of God the Father together. It is not without reason that the apostle Paul says: Charity never faileth (1 Cor. 13:8). An attribute of true love is that it lasts forever. And if people have lived a long life through affection, joy and grief, if both of them have believed in God and labored for the salvation of their souls, then, undoubtedly, they desire to meet each other in the Heavenly Kingdom, even if they depart this life at different times. Saints Peter and Febronia of Murom. Painting by Alexander Trostev. A wedding, a church wedding ceremony is always a happy event—not only for the groom and the bride but also for everyone present. A wedding guest shares the joy of the newlyweds and this makes him feel happy as well. As the Gospel of John reads: He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice (Jn. 3:29). But the happiest and most moving church wedding I’ve seen, that touched me to tears, was not the wedding of a young couple but that of a very old couple. During that sacrament I came in contact with eternity, with that very eternal love that “faileth not”. I was invited to give Communion to an old man who was dying of cancer. He was in his final days, very weak, unable to walk, and could only lie and sit a little. His wife was also so feeble that she could not leave the flat. I confessed her and gave her Communion as well. During the confession the woman shared her sorrow with me: It grieved her that she had not had time to be married to her husband in church; and then, she thought, it was too late because her husband was dying. “Better late than never,” I thought about it and took the liberty of performing this sacrament over them right in their home. |
| There are many reasons why I am Orthodox, but the Church " s uncompromising loyalty to the ancient Christian faith is a major one. I am thankful that it has been preserved over the centuries in order to provide an alternative to today " s empty relativism and the worship of modernity. Pontius Pilate asked, " what is truth? " (John 18:38), and the Church teaches that Jesus Christ is " the way the truth and the life " (John 14:6) who " is the same yesterday, today and forever " (Hebrews 13:8). Orthodoxy is not about being Greek, or being old-fashioned, or being stubborn. At the heart of Orthodoxy is its great love for Christ, which means that its teachings and values can never be changed. And if you believe that " Christ is Risen " , then that is a very good thing. neoskosmos.com 9 ноября 2015 г. Рейтинг: 5.6 Голосов: 7 Оценка: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Подпишитесь на рассылку Православие.Ru Рассылка выходит два раза в неделю: Комментарии metadel 29 января 2017, 00:00 that is why I am orthodox too thank you so much GOD BLESS YOU Judith Irene Matta MTh 13 ноября 2015, 19:00 Any person who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Scriptures which declare His coming - will find a Home in the Holy Orthodox Christian Church; the Divine services are replete with the Word of God, with the glorification of Christ " s Passion, Death and Resurrection, and with asking His Holy Mother and ours (along with all the saints) to intercede that we be filled with His Light - body and soul!! Glory to God in His Holy Spirit Who is faithful to " lead us into all the Truth " as Christ promised! (Jn 15:26) Nadja 12 ноября 2015, 05:00 Very, very true. I am sure I am not the only one who left Christianity because I was unable to reconcile scripture with the focus of the modern churches. I was a Lutheran, and decided it was untenable when women were ordained, then homosexuals, and eventually a " union " was set up with the Episcopalians. When I made the mistake of asking up the hierarchy about the issues between the Lutheran belief in Sacramental Union (real presence) and the apparent Episcopalian belief in symbolic communion, I was told that it " won " t matter to the man in the pew. " It might not matter to the " man in the pew " - but it was the final straw for this " woman in the pew. " If the most central observation of Christianity, the recollection of the death on the cross, and it " s celebration are unimportant to a church, then the church is truly no longer Christian. I guess Christianity may have left me. And the fate of the Lutheran Church? A lesbian Swedish bishop has just removed the crucifix and other Christian symbols from churches in order to make them " more comfortable " for Muslims. |
| The Lord was pleased to send this Prophet so that he could prepare His way, make His paths straight and prepare people’s hearts for accepting Christ as God and Saviour. Among the people of Israel were those who did not accept the Saviour and those few who followed Him. At least some of them were the people who used to come to the Jordan to see John the Baptist and came to believe his preaching. We remember the words for the Gospel’s story when the Lord was asked, ‘By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?’ and He replied, ‘I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me’ (Mk. 11:29-30). Having heard these words, scribes and Pharisees reasoned among themselves saying, ‘If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed’ (Mk. 11:31-32). Those who did not believe what John the Baptist preached, who did not know how to answer the question: was it the baptism from God or men, did not believe the Lord Jesus Christ either and achieved only His crucifixion at the order of the Roman procurator, while those who believed John the Baptist followed the Lord Jesus Christ just as well, among them some disciples of John the Precursor. This is what we also hear from the Gospel of John. When John the Baptist pointed at Jesus and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’, his two disciples immediately separated themselves and followed Jesus, and when He turned around and saw them following they asked Him, ‘Rabbi (which is to say, Master,) where dwellest thou?’ (Jn. 1:38). They asked that not because they wanted to find out where He lived, but because they wanted to know who He was and what He had come for, and why John the Baptist honoured by them as a prophet pointed precisely at Him as the Lamb of God. |
| Venerating the miracle of the Divine Incarnation in its humble greatness and magnifying the Saviour Who came into the world, we at the same time cannot but be troubled by the ongoing hostilities overshadowing the holy Christmas festivities, for, as St. Paul notes, whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it (1 Cor 12:26). In the midst of all the hardships that have befallen the peoples of the historical Rus’ it is of utmost importance for us to demonstrate in deeds our dedication to our Christian vocation and show love for one another. Sometimes it may seem that good is weak and helpless and that the little we do cannot make a difference. But it is not true. There is an indisputable principle of spiritual life: love is multiplied when we devote ourselves to others, offering our time, financial help or just attention. Thus not only do we transform the world around us, but also find something precious within ourselves. In this simple but effective principle there lies a secret of genuine peace and real happiness that every person strives to achieve. This happiness is not to be found in far-distant lands, as some people think, chasing after illusions of material welfare and a life without sorrows. The true happiness is in sharing love and joy with those around and by good works glorifying God Who became incarnate that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly (cf. Jn 10:10). When we let Christ in and allow Him to act in us, the blessed peace and rest come to reign in our soul (cf. Mt 11:29), and we become partakers of the kingdom of God which is within us (cf. Lk 17:21). Do we want to embrace the Born Lord? If so, let us embrace the afflicted and comfort the suffering. Do we want to touch Christ and be like the wise men from the East bringing the gifts pleasing unto the Divine Infant? If so, let us give our love and care to our fellow human beings, show mercy and help the needy and support those who have lost heart. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Mt 25:40), the Saviour says. |
| —Why don’t we commemorate the departed in Bright Week? —Paschal joy cannot be overshadowed by memorial sorrow. We remember the departed in these festal days only in light of the joy of the victory over death, sin, and the devil. Strength in the gift of the Spirit —It is well known that Christ resurrected nearly 2,000 years ago. How were simple fishermen, His disciples, able to spread this Good News throughout the whole world? —This great miracle was foretold already in the Old Testament: Their sound hath gone forth unto all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Ps. 18:4). The strength of the apostolic preaching was in the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who filled the hearts and mouths of Christ’s disciples. The early Christian Church was abundantly full of special gifts of the Spirit, which opened people’s hearts, and laid within them the Good News of the Resurrection of Christ and man’s salvation. Also, the strength of apostolic preaching was in the experiential knowledge of that which they preached and taught. Almost all of the apostles testified to the truth of their preaching with a martyric death. They taught us to correctly believe in God. —And why does faith have special significance in the work of our salvation? —The apostle Paul says that without faith it’s impossible to please God (cf. Heb. 11:6). Our faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). It is the highest manifestation of free will. Faith discloses the inner essence of a man, determining his choice between good and evil. Faith teaches us to direct our freedom towards fulfilling the Commandments of God, and not to succumb to the influence of the passions. Sometimes a man can wind up under the influence of undisputable facts which define his faith, as it was, for example, at the apostle Thomas’ meeting with the risen Christ. The Lord Himself then testified to him: Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (Jn. 20:29). |
| 2. Recovering the place of betrothal in New Testament theology Betrothal is the assumed means of entry into marriage in the Bible, and in Greek and Roman custom. It is also assumed in the marital imagery of the New Testament. St Paul compares the Corinthian church to a bride betrothed but not yet presented to Christ her ‘true and only husband’. (2 Cor.11.2-3) It is likely that the lengthy story of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman (Jn.4.1-42) is to be understood as a betrothal story because it relies on the literary conventions found in the betrothals of Rebecca, Rachel and Zipporah. John the Baptist explains he is the ‘forerunner’ of Jesus and compares his relationship to Jesus as one of ‘best man’ to bridegroom. But who is the bride? The betrothal conventions include 1. The hero travels to a foreign land far away. 2. The hero stops at a well. 3. A maiden comes to the well. 4. Hero does something for the maiden, showing superhuman strength or ability. 5. The maiden hurries home and reports what has occurred. 6. The stranger is invited into the household of the maiden. 7. Hero marries maiden-at-the-well. (He will eventually take her back to his native land.)’ Jesus too, travels to a foreign land, Samaria. He too stops at a well, Jacob’s well. A woman comes to the well. Unlike Rebecca and Rachel whose striking physical and virginal attributes are remarked on by male gazers and authors, the Samaritan woman has had 5 husbands and a live-in lover. Jesus, like Abraham’s servant, asks her for a drink. Abraham’s servant gives gifts to Rebecca (Gen.24.22) and her family (24.53). Jesus has ‘living water’ to offer the woman (Jn.4.10). Just as Rebecca ‘ran to her mother’s house’ (Gen.24.28), Rachel ‘ran and told her father (Gen.29.12), and the 7 daughters of Reuel returned to him (Ex.2.18), so the Samaritan woman ‘left her water-jar and went off to the town, where she said to the people, “Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”’ (Jn.4.29) |
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