| ... for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted to her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints (Rev.19:7–8). “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev.21:9). The third type of love is friendship – phila. This also should exist between man and God. Man has no greater friend than God, and God Himself wants to be man’s friend. According to the scriptures, the very purpose of the coming of Christ was to dispel all enmity between God and man, and to establish the co-working of Creator and creature in the fellowship of friendship. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend ( Ex.33:11 ). Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants [or slaves], for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you ( Jn.15:13–15 ). So it is that love as goodness, love as union, love as friendship are all to be found in God and man, between God and man, and between human beings. There is no form of true love which lays outside the realm of the spiritual life. Love of God The first and greatest commandment of God is that His creatures should love Him. Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength ( Mk.12:29–30 ; Mt.22:37 ; Lk.10:27 ; Deut.6:4–5 ). This is the great and first commandment ( Mt.22:38 ). To love the Lord God with all one’s heart means to desire nothing but Him and His holy will. The heart is the center of man according to the scriptures and the teachings of the saints. It is the “deepest part” of man, the foundation and guide of his life. What is in a man’s heart, and what his heart desires, is what determines the whole life and activity of the person. |
| Lazarus Saturday is a paschal celebration. It is the only time in the entire Church Year that the resurrectional service of Sunday is celebrated on another day. At the liturgy of Lazarus Saturday, the Church glorifies Christ as “the Resurrection and the Life” who, by raising Lazarus, has confirmed the universal resurrection of mankind even before His own suffering and death. By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God! Like the children with the branches of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of Death: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord! (Troparion). Christ – the Joy, the Truth and the Light of All, the Life of the world and its Resurrection – has appeared in his goodness to those on earth. He has become the Image of our Resurrection, granting divine forgiveness to all (Kontakion). At the Divine Liturgy of Lazarus Saturday the baptismal verse from Galatians: As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ ( Gal.3:27 ) replaces the Thrice-holy Hymn thus indicating the resurrectional character of the celebration, and the fact that Lazarus Saturday was once among the few great baptismal days in the Orthodox Church Year. Because of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, Christ was hailed by the masses as the long-expected Messiah-King of Israel. Thus, in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, He entered Jerusalem, the City of the King, riding on the colt of an ass (Zech.9:9; Jn.12:12 ). The crowds greeted Him with branches in their hands and called out to Him with shouts of praise: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The Son of David! The King of Israel! Because of this glorification by the people, the priests and scribes were finally driven “to destroy Him, to put Him to death” ( Lk.19:47 ; Jn.11:53, 12:10 ). The feast of Christ’s triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, is one of the twelve major feasts of the Church. The services of this Sunday follow directly from those of Lazarus Saturday. The church building continues to be vested in resurrectional splendor, filled with hymns which continually repeat the Hosanna offered to Christ as the Messiah-King who comes in the name of God the Father for the salvation of the world. |
| Then He will answer them, ““Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. ( Mt.25:31–46 , Gospel reading for Meatfare Sunday) It is Christ who will judge, not God the Father. Christ has received the power of judgment “because He is the Son of Man” ( Jn.5:27 ). Thus, man and the world are not judged by God “sitting on a cloud,” as it were, but by One who is truly a man, the One who has suffered every temptation of this world and has emerged victorious. The world is judged by Him who was Himself hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, in prison, wounded, and yet the salvation of all. As the Crucified One, Christ has justly achieved the authority to make judgment for He alone has been the perfectly obedient servant of the Father who knows the depths of human tragedy by His own experience. For He will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil ... but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good ... for God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified ( Rom.2 :6ff). Kingdom of God And of His kingdom there will be no end ... Jesus is the royal Son of David, of whom it was prophesied by the angel at His birth: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end ( Lk.1:32–33 ). Through His sufferings as the Christ, Jesus achieved everlasting kingship and lordship over all creation. He has become “King of kings and Lord of lords,” sharing this title with God the Father Himself ( Deut.10:17 ; Dan.2:47 ; Rev.19:16). As a man, Jesus Christ is King of the Kingdom of God. |
| Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct ... Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them (Rom.1:24–32). That those who “do such things deserve to die” was taken literally in the law of Moses; thus adulterers, homosexuals, incestuous people and those committing sexual acts with beasts were ordered to be “put to death” ( Lev.20:10–16 ). In following this teaching, while hoping on the mercy of God and the forgiveness of Christ for all sinners, the New Testament scriptures are even more strict in their demands regarding sexual purity. Jesus, who forgave the woman taken in adultery ( Jn.8:7–11 ) and the repentant harlot who washed His feet with her hair ( Lk.7:36–50 ), gave the following teaching in His sermon on the mount: You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Mt.5:27–32, see also 19–3–9; Rom.7:3). |
| “Sin spread to all men because all men sinned” ( Rom.5:12 ); and in sinning man brought death to the children who partake of this mortal nature and life. In a sin-bound world, no person escapes, even those who are personally guiltless and innocent, for all are caught up in the sins of the world. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me ( Ps.51:5 ). Dormition of the Theotokos Even the all-pure Virgin Mary who gave birth to Christ in the flesh could not escape the snares of death. For all her innocence and spiritual perfection, she too needed salvation from death by her Son, and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior (cf. Lk.1:47 ). According to the Orthodox Christian faith, Jesus Christ alone, of all men, as the incarnate Son and Word of God, need not have died. His death alone of all human deaths was perfectly voluntary. He came in order to die, and by His death to liberate all who were held captive by death’s power. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again; this charge I have received from My Father ( Jn.10:17–18 ). Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour?” No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Now is the judgment of the world, now shall the prince of the world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. He said this to show by what death He was to die [i.e. crucifixion]. The crowd answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ [i.e. Messiah] remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer ...” ( Jn.12:27–35 ; cf. Mt.16:21–23, 17:9–13 ). Jesus came “for us men and for our salvation” in order to die (Nicene Creed). He came that through His death and resurrection all men might be raised from the dead for eternal life in the Kingdom of God. This is the Christian faith. |
| «O Daniel, servant of the living God!» (Dan.6, 20). Servant – слуга, служитель, прислуга (Мюллер В. К. Англо-Русский Словарь. М., 1971. С. 687) «Daniel, du Diener des lebendigen Gottes» (Dan. 6. 21). Diener – слуга, служитель (Langenscheidts Grosswoerterbuch. Deutsch-Russisch. Band 1. Berlin – Muenchen, 1997. S. 408) «Danielu, slugo zyjacego Boga!» (Dn. 6, 21). Sluga –(книжн.) слуга. Sluga Bozy – раб Божий (Гессен Д., Стыпула Р. Большой польско-русский словарь. Москва – Варшава, 1967. С. 978 «Иаков, раб Бога и Господа Иисуса Христа» (Иак. 1, 1). «James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ» (Jas. 1, 1). «Jakobus, Knecht Gottes und Jesu Christi, des Herrn» (Jak. 1, 1). Knecht – слуга, работник. Knecht Gottes -раб Божий, слуга Божий (Langenscheidts Grosswoerterbuch. Указ. соч. С. 1009) «Jakub, sluga Boga i Pana Jezusa Chrystusa» (Jk. 1, 1) «Павел раб Божий, Апостол же Иисуса Христа» (Тит. 1, 1). «Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ» (Tit. 1, 1). «Paulus, Knecht Gottes und Apostel Jesu Christi» ( Tit. 1, 1). «Pawel, sluga Boga I apostol Jezusa Chrystusa» (Tt. 1, 1). Или известный стих из Благовещения Девы Марии: «Тогда Мария сказала: се раба Господня» (Лк. 1б 38). «And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord» (Lk. 1, 38). Handmaid – (уст.) служанка (Мюллер В. К. Указ. соч. С. 352). «Da sagte Maria: Ich bin die Magd des Herrn» (Lk. 1, 38). Na to rzekla Maryja: « Oto ja sluzebnica Panska» (Lk. 1, 38). Sluzebnica – прислуга, служанка. (Гессен Д., Стыпула Р. Указ. соч. С. 978) Библия, книги Священного Писания Ветхого и Нового Завета. Брюссель, 1989. С. 1286, 1801, 1694,1575. The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testament. (King James version). New York, б. г. Р. 2166, ( New Test.) 631, 586, 162. Die Bibel. Einheitsuebersetzung der Heiligen Schrift. Stuttgart, 1999. S. 1004, 1142, 1352, 1334. Pismo Swiete Starego i Nowego Testamentu. Poznan – Warszawa, 1987. S. 1041, 1372, 1356, 1181. Отметим, что в Большом Конкордансе к Библии Лютера слово Sklave (раб) употребляется около 60 раз, Skavin (рабыня) – около 10 раз, между тем, как Knecht (слуга) – выступает в разных значениях и формах единств. и множеств. числа – около 500 раз, а Magd (служанка) – около 150 раз (Grosse Konkordanz zur Lutherbibel. Stuttgart, 1979. S. 841-844; 975-976; 1301). |
| Vol. 2. P. 313-327; Bassler J. M. The Galileans: A Neglected Factor in Johannine Community Research//CBQ. 1981. Vol. 43. N 2. P. 243-257; Carson D. A. Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel: After Dodd, What?//Gospel Perspectives/Ed. R. T. France, D. Wenham. Sheffield, 1981. Vol. 2: Studies of History and Tradition in the Four Gospels. P. 83-145; idem. The Gospel According to John. Leicester; Grand Rapids, 1991; Kimelman R. Birkat Ha-Minim and the Lack of Evidence for an Anti-Christian Jewish Prayer in Late Antiquity//Jewish and Christian Self-Definition/Ed. E. P. Sanders e. a. Phil., 1981. Vol. 2: Aspects of Judaism in the Greco-Roman Period. P. 226-244; McReynolds P. R. John 1:18 in Textual Variation and Translation//New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis: Essays in Honour of B. M. Metzger/Ed. E. J. Epp, G. D. Fee. Oxf., 1981. P. 105-118; Schiffman L. H. At the Crossroads: Tannaitic Perspectives on the Jewish-Christian Schism//Jewish and Christian Self-Definition. Phil., 1981. Vol. 2. P. 115-156; Minear P. S. The Original Function of John 21//JBL. 1983. Vol. 102. N 1. P. 85-98; Dauer A. Johannes und Lukas: Untersuch. zu den johanneisch-lukanischen Parallelperikopen Joh 4. 46-54/Lk 7. 1-10 - Joh 12. 1-8/Lk 7. 36-50; 10. 38-42 - Joh 20. 19-29/Lk 24. 36-49. Würzburg, 1984; Heekerens H.-P. Die Zeichen-Quelle der johanneischen Redaktion. Stuttg., 1984; Katz S. T. Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 C.E.: A Reconsideration//JBL. 1984. Vol. 103. N 1. P. 43-76; Fennema D. A. John 1:18: «God the Only Son»//NTS. 1985. Vol. 31. N 1. P. 124-135; Glasswell M. E. The Relationship between John and Mark//JSNT. 1985. Vol. 23. P. 99-115; Grundmann W. Der Zeuge der Wahrheit: Grundzüge der Christologie des Johannesevangeliums. B., 1985; Meeks W. A. Breaking Away: Three NT Pictures of Christianity " s Separation from the Jewish Communities//«To See Ourselves as Others See Us»: Christians, Jews, «Others» in Late Antiquity/Ed. J. Neusner, E. |
| 46-54/Lk 7. 1-10 - Joh 12. 1-8/Lk 7. 36-50; 10. 38-42 - Joh 20. 19-29/Lk 24. 36-49. Würzburg, 1984; Heekerens H.-P. Die Zeichen-Quelle der johanneischen Redaktion. Stuttg., 1984; Robinson J. A. T. The Priority of John. L., 1985; Beasley-Murray G. R. John. Waco, 1987; Kloppenborg J. S. The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections. Phil., 1987; Bauer D. R. The Structure of Matthew " s Gospel. Sheffield, 1988; Goulder M. D. Luke: A New Paradigm. Sheffield, 1989. 2 vol. (JSNT; 20); Hengel M. The Johannine Question. L.; Phil., 1989; Kingsbury J. D. Matthew: Structure, Christology, Kingdom. Minneapolis, 19892; Sanders E. P., Davies M. Studying the Synoptic Gospels. L.; Phil., 1989; Wahlde U., von. The Earliest Version of John " s Gospel: Recovering the Gospel of Signs. Wilmington (Del.), 1989; Boismard M.- É . Theorie des niveaux multiples//The Interrelations of the Gospels/Ed. D. L. Dungan. Leuven, 1990. P. 231-243. (BETL; 95); Marguerat D. La «Source des Signes» existe-t-elle?//La communauté Johannique et son histoire/Ed. J.-D. Kaestli, J.-M. Poffet, J. Zumstein. Gen., 1990. P. 69-93; Carson D. A. The Gospel according to John. Leicester; Grand Rapids (Mich.), 1991; Linnemann E. Is there a Synoptic Problem: Rethinking the Literary Dependence of the First Three Gospels. Grand Rapids, 1992; Schnelle U. Antidocetic Christology in the Gospel of John. Minneapolis, 1992; Wenham J. Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem. Downers Grove (Ill.), 1992; Brodie Th. L. The Gospel According to John: A Literary and Theological Commentary. N. Y.; Oxf., 1993; Painter J. The Quest for the Messiah: The History, Literature, and Theology of the Johannine Community. Nashville, 19932; Strecker G., ed. Minor Agreements: Symp. Göttingen, 1991. Gött., 1993; Belle G., van. The Signs Source in the Fourth Gospel. Leuven, 1994. (BETL; 116); Ennulat A. Die «Minor Agreements»: Untersuchungen zu einer offenen Frage des synoptischen Problems. Tüb., 1994; Shellard B. |
| Paul also appeals to this concatenation of images, when he points out to those in his Corinthian community who were seduced by wisdom, that the folly of God (Christ lifted on the Cross, as the bronze snake lifted on the pole) overcomes the wisdom of the world, and, as such, Christ is the true wisdom and power of God. In another vein, but using the same scriptural, literary or inter-textual technique, Matthew describes Christ as a new Moses, going up a mountain to deliver the law, while Paul describes Christ as the new Adam, correcting the mistakes of the first Adam, whom Paul explicitly describes as being “a type of the One to come” (Rom 5:14). This is not to imply that the Gospel itself is, as Ricoeur claimed, simply “a rereading of an ancient Scripture”. The proclamation of the death and resurrection of Christ is not straightforwardly derivable from Scripture. Rather, the death and resurrection of Christ acts as a catalyst, which then enables a subsequent rereading of the Scriptures (the Old Testament), providing the terms and images, the context, within which the apostles made sense of what happened, and with which they explained it and preached it, so justifying the claim that Christ died and rose “according to the Scriptures”. And this is indeed what we find in the Gospels, where, in the Evangelists’ descriptions of Christ and His activity, there is constant allusion to scriptural imagery, most explicitly in John, when Christ states: “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me” (Jn 5:46). Alternatively, in Matthew the same intertextuality is found in terms of prophecy-fulfilment structuring the narrative, while in Luke it appears as the hermeneutic, the principle of interpretation, taught by the risen Christ, enlightening his disciples: “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk 24:27, cf. Lk 24:44-49). This literary enlightening of the disciples is paralleled in John when Christ breathes on his disciples the Holy Spirit, the one he had promised, who would remind them of all things concerning Christ, leading them into all truth (cf. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Miracles VERA SHEVZOV Orthodox thinkers from Late Antiquity to modern times have understood miracles as actions or events that manifest or point to the presence of God. Orthodox Christians have associated miracles not only with individual experiences, but also with experiences of entire communities and even nations. Miracles are associated with healings, historical events, visions, dreams, and foresight, and with such phenomena as inexplicable displays of myrrh or tears on icons. Throughout history, Orthodox pastors and spiritual guides have drawn on accounts of miracles for pedagogical purposes. Such accounts provided lessons concerning vices and virtues along with lessons concerning “right faith.” In addition to the realm of lived Orthodoxy, where accounts of miracles have often resulted in the special veneration of certain icons and the veneration of saints and their relics, miracles have also figured in the Orthodox theological and philosophical considerations of history, science and nature, and anthropology. Reports of miracles have also periodically begged the question of authority in the church (who in the church is it that finds and declares them miraculous?). Although miracles may be integral to its worldview, Orthodox Christianity nevertheless is deeply nuanced in its approach to them. In part, the Orthodox understanding of miracles is rooted in the complex view of miracles reflected in the New Testament. On the one hand, patristic authors such as Origen of Alexandria (d. 254) and St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) maintained that Jesus’ miracles played a significant role in the establishment of the Christian faith. Signs, acts of power, and works testified to the power of God manifested in and through Christ. Accordingly, Orthodox writers maintained, miracles accompanied his words in order to confirm his identity for those who were unable to recognize his power and authority through his words alone. In this sense, miracles were a form of divine condescension. Following the death of Jesus, in this view, the apostles performed numerous miracles in Jesus’ name as a way further to cultivate the Christian faith. As Origen wrote in his mid- 3rd century treatise Against Celsus 1.46, had it not been for miracles, people would not have been persuaded to accept the new teachings. On the other hand, patristic authors also pointed to the more negative aspects of miracles in the gospel texts. Particularly objectionable was the pursuit of, and demand for, miracles as a condition for faith ( Mt. 16.4 ; Jn. 6.30–31 ) or as a curious spectacle ( Lk. 23.8 ). Even the Devil tempted Jesus to perform a miracle ( Mt. 4.1–11 ; Lk. 4.1–13 ). Finally, according to Jesus’ testimony, not every “wondrous sign” was from God ( Mt. 24.24–25 ; Acts 8.9–13); they could even be detrimental to believers by distracting or turning them from the path to salvation. |
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