| Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice (Jn. 13:36-38). St. John Chrysostom also states quite clearly the magnificent transformation of Thomas, and his great courage: “Now they all feared the attacks of the Jews, but Thomas above the rest; wherefore also he said: Let us go, that we also may die with Him . Some say that he desired himself to die; but it is not so; the expression is rather one of cowardice. Yet he was not rebuked, for Christ as yet supported his weakness, but afterwards he became stronger than all, and invincible. For the wonderful thing is this; that we see one who was so weak before the Crucifixion, become after the Crucifixion, and after having believed in the Resurrection, more zealous than any. So great was the power of Christ. The very man who dared not go in company with Christ to Bethany, the same while not seeing Christ ran well nigh through the inhabited world, and dwelt in the midst of nations that were full of murder, and desirous to kill him” (St. John Chrysostom, sermon on St. John’s Gospel, verse 21:12). Question 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 ... Then saith he to Thomas ... and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God (Jn. 20:26-27 (parts), 20:28). What is the theological meaning of St. Thomas’s expression of worship? Answer An Old Believer Sermon, based mostly on the writings of St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Archbishop Theofylact of Bulgaria, among others, explains that the expression “My Lord and my God” indicates the dual nature of Christ. As a man, He is called Lord, as an earthly king might be, and also is God. |
| One of the main reasons for the crucifixion of Jesus was that those around Him could not accept that God could or would use a man to build a bridge to His creation. God could not be walking in their midst. To claim to be God, as Jesus did, was at best lunacy, at worst blasphemy. Indeed, it took Christians over 300 years to gradually develop a vocabulary to describe their experience of God’s revelation in Jesus. Then as now, Christians have begun with the reality of the three different persons, with the fact that men and women have experienced Jesus and known Jesus. With Peter and with Martha of Bethany, they have come to see Him as “the Christ, the Son of God” (Matt. 16:16, John 11:27). With the apostle Thomas they have come to an overwhelming realization that He is their Lord and their God (John 20:28). With John the Theologian, they have heard Jesus speak to Philip and say, “He who has seen Me has seen My Father” (John 14:9). They are aware that Jesus said, “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30). At the same time, they have heard Jesus pray to His Father and speak of the Spirit as totally other than Himself: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will but as You will…” (Matt. 26:39) “But when the Counselor comes, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness to Me” (John 15:26). At first, they weren’t sure how to describe all this in what we today call the language of theology. There were too many paradoxes; too many facts they could not deny yet which did not fit their view of reality. Indeed, as we continue to grow into our life in Christ, each of us goes through the same process of breakdowns in what we believe. We do believe that God is love and that it is the nature – not just the choice – of love to pour itself out on the other. For this reason we believe God must have others as part of His very being. While some might say that creation is the other, we believe that creation mirrors what already exists within God Himself, Trinity in Unity. This mirrors our view of human persons made in the image and likeness of God: the unity of humanity does not compromise the uniqueness and integrity of persons; true bridges do not violate boundaries. |
| In the Book of the Wisdom of Joshua, son of Sirach, it says, For it is an easy thing unto the Lord in the day of death to reward a man according to his ways. The affliction of an hour maketh a man forget pleasure: and in his end his deeds shall be discovered (Sirach 11:26-27). It is easy for God to stop this life; and then everything bad immediately comes to the fore, like residue boiling up to the surface. In this same Book we read, Before judgment examine thyself, and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy... Let nothing hinder thee to pay thy vow in due time, and defer not until death to be justified (Sirach 18:20, 22). Here is the mistake many people make: They put off the moment of repentance until death; although of course they do not know when their final hour will strike. They consider themselves healthy and strong and do not think much about the fact that both health and strength can vanish in an instant. In the early 1980s, Soviet times, I knew a man named Seraphim Ivanovich Marin. He spent over twenty years in prison and camps for preaching the Gospel. When I first met him I was sixteen years old. He told me a story about his brother Nicholai. In the 1930s, Seraphim was already a Christian believer; he prayed and read the Gospels. But his brother remained indifferent to religion. One day Seraphim Ivanovich, moved by some inner inspiration, went up to his brother and said, “You should pray and read God’s Word.” Nicholai answered, “When I reach our parents’ age I’ll go to church, pray, and read the Scriptures. But now I’m young. I want to buy a good gramophone, listen to music, date girls… There’s a time for everything.” At that moment, as he himself testified to me, Seraphim felt something moving him. He said, as if not with his own lips, “Nicholai, see that you are not too late!” Only a few days passed. Seraphim, on duty as a fireman, received a call from the hospital. “Your brother was in an accident. His spine has multiple fractures, and he is lying on the operating table.” Seraphim asked for time off, went to the hospital, and saw the doctor as he was leaving the operating room. |
| Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He saith, «Not every one that saith to me. Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that worketh righteousness.» 20 Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious. By such works let us confess Him, 21 and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear men, but rather God. For this reason, if we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord hath said, «Even though ye were gathered together to 22 me in my very bosom, yet if ye were not to keep my commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart from me; I know you not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity.» 23 Chapter v. This world should be despised Wherefore, brethren, leaving [willingly] our sojourn in this present world, let us do the will of Him that called us, and not fear to depart out of this world. For the Lord saith, «Ye shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves.» 24 And Peter answered and said unto Him, 25 «What, then, if the wolves shall tear in pieces the lambs?» Jesus said unto Peter, «The lambs have no cause after they are dead to fear 26 the wolves; and in like manner, fear not ye them that kill you, and can do nothing more unto you; but fear Him who, after you are dead, has power over both soul and body to cast them into hell-fire.» 27 And consider, 28 brethren, that the sojourning in the flesh in this world is but brief and transient, but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, even the rest of the kingdom to come, and of life everlasting. 29 By what course of conduct, then, shall we attain these things, but by leading a holy and righteous life, and by deeming these worldly things as not belonging to us, and not fixing our desires upon them? For if we desire to possess them, we fall away from the path of righteousness. Chapter vi. The present and future worlds are enemies to each other |
| It’s sad to me in retrospect that the question of why it mattered that Jesus was raised from the dead was not completely clear in my mind by that point. But I think it’s a good example of how explicitly we need to connect the dots for kids. We can’t assume they will automatically deduce why the resurrection matters just because they learn the resurrection happened . So why does it matter? Let’s start here: Jesus repeatedly predicted his resurrection. Anyone could predict their own death if they were causing a political uproar. But the Gospels each point out at least once that Jesus predicted he would rise after death. For example, Matthew 16:21 says, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (See also Matthew 12:40, 16:21, 17:9, 20:18-19, 26:32, 27:62-64; Mark 9:9-10, 31; 8:31, 10:32-34, 14:28, 58; Luke 9:22; John 2:22.) If Jesus predicted his resurrection but did not come back to life, he would either have been mistaken or have been an outright liar. In either case, that would mean he wasn’t perfect and wasn’t God. And if Jesus was not God, he had no power to die on the cross for our sins. Nor would we have any reason to care what he taught—he would have just been another human like us. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” But if he predicted his resurrection and did come back to life, it validated his claims to being God (only God could do that!). That’s an extremely significant point that appears to have been lost in some churches—like the one I attended. 2. Why should we believe a resurrection miracle is possible ? Last Easter, Scientific American magazine featured an article by atheist Michael Shermer entitled, “ What Would It Take to Prove the Resurrection? ” It was subtitled, “How to think about claims, even the Resurrection.” This article featured extraordinarily bad logic, which I fully outlined in a blog post at the time . It basically boiled down to a popular magazine stating that the way to think about a claim like the resurrection is to: |
| The healing of the man blind from birth is a different matter: here the Jews’ malice has already ripened for killing the Savior. Not only did their malice not relent at witnessing an obvious miracle unheard of since the world began (John 9:32), but rather it became extremely fierce and mingled with craftiness and hypocrisy. The latter shows in that fact that Christ’s enemies decided to put up an act of formal justice with the hearing of witnesses. They summoned the parents of the youth who had recovered his sight and subjected them all to formal questioning. They asked the youth how he had recovered his sight. His answer was: A Man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sigh t (John 9:11). Then some of the Pharisees said: This Man is not of God, because He keepeth not the sabbath day . Others said: How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them (John 9:16). The Pharisees asked the parents of the man who had regained his sight, but they answered evasively, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man confess that He was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue (John 9:22). Hence it is clear that the man born blind was the only one who did not know his Healer, whereas the people surrounding him had already guessed it was Jesus Christ. And so, in malicious bewilderment, they again called the man that was blind, and said to him, Give God the praise: we know that this Man is a sinner. . . Then said they to him again, What did He to thee? how opened He thy eyes ? (John 9:24, 26) They wanted to hear with certainty something about Christ violating the Sabbath. The healed man had already perceived their ill-will towards the Healer, and from the one being questioned he turned into a prosecutor himself, answering them: I have told you already and ye did not hear: wherefore would hear it again? will you also be His disciples? (John 9:27). |
| Соборное богослужение Великого Четверга в Константинополе в IX-XII вв. отражено в Типиконе Великой церкви В Великий Четверг с утра и до полудня совершалось поклонение св. копью - тому самому, по преданию, которым было пронзено ребро Спасителя (Ин 19. 34); этот чин совершался лишь в К-поле, что естественно связано с уникальностью реликвии (ныне св. копье находится в Риме). Утреня имела обычный порядок; из песнопений Типикон указывает тропарь на Пс 50 (4-го плагального (т. е. 8-го) гласа: " Semeron ho basileus tes dzoes " (греч.) - Днесь црарь жизни). По окончании утрени Патриарх совершал поклонение св. копию при пении тропаря 2-го гласа: " Proskunoumen ten logchen " (греч.) (Покланяемся копию). Тот же тропарь пели и на антифонах тритекти (третье-шестой час - дневная служба будних дней Великого поста), когда поклонение св. копию завершалось (на др. день - в Великую пятницу - поклонение копью совершалось еще раз). После входа тритекти на амвоне пели тропарь 3-го гласа: " Ho rapistheis huper genous anthropon kai me orgistheis " (греч.) (Заушенный за род человеческий, и не прогневавыйся) и читали паремию (Иер 11. 18 - 12. 15, с прокимнами: из Пс 82 до нее и из Пс 75 - после). После отпуста тритекти совершался чин омовения св. престола. Вечером служили вечерню, в конце которой был чин умовения ног: Патриарх омывал ноги 3 иподиаконам, 3 диаконам, 3 пресвитерам, 2 митрополитам и 1 архиепископу при чтении Ин 13. 3-11 (в Евхологиях чин представлен полностью - см. ст. Умовение ног). После чина совершался вход с Евангелием, и сразу с чтений (без Трисвятого и проч.) начиналась Божественная литургия. Чтения Литургии: Исх 19. 10-19, прокимен из Пс 139, Иов 38. 1-21, прокимен из Пс 58, Ис 50. 4-11, прокимен из Пс 2, 1 Кор 11. 23-32, аллилуиарий, составное Евангелие (за основу взято повествование евангелиста Матфея, с 2 вставками: Мф 26. 2-20, Ин 13. 3-17, Мф 26. 21-39, Лк 22. 43-44, Мф 26. 40-27. 2). В Литургию включен чин освящения мира; вместо херувимской песни и причастна поется тропарь 4-го среднего гласа " Tou deipnou sou " (греч.) (Вечери твоея) (Mateos. Typicon. T. 2. P. 72-77). |
| This rich passage gives us a snapshot of what sort of character traits one must have in order to properly fight the good fight, and receive the crowns which are laid up for us (cf. 2 Tim. 4:7-8). It describes perfectly the attitude demonstrated by Christ on the night He was betrayed, and during His entire ordeal the following day, culminating in the most extreme icon of His humility—His lowly, quiet, inconspicuous burial in the new, personal tomb of St. Joseph of Arimathea (Mt. 27:60). The “ground” which once received His lifeless yet immortal body has “given substance and life” back to all of creation, having become “fertile” by accepting within itself One who was tortured and murdered by the very people He fashioned with His own hands. As we read on the bottom of the crucifix, “The Place of The Skull Has Become Paradise,” the translation of the cryptic letters M.L.R.B., from Church Slavonic (mjesto lobnoje rai byst). There is no more wonderful and powerful way in which this terrible but life-giving truth can be made known… the gates of Hell have been transformed into the gates of Paradise, the Tree of Death has become the Tree of Life, the utter and complete defeat of one Man has been turned into His utter and complete triumph over sin, death, and the power of the devil. The silence in which He stood before His unjust accusers (cf. Mt. 26:53, Is. 53:7) has become the “Word of The Cross” (1 Cor. 1:18), which now echoes throughout the world and from earth to Heaven. It is vitally important that we make the connection between the humility of Jesus Christ in the face of slander and unspeakable suffering, and His resultant victory over His enemies, because this is the model that is given to us by the Holy Orthodox Church for living our own lives and facing our own enemies. There is no other way for us to enter into the joy of Christ’s third-day Resurrection than to pass through His Golgotha and die on His Cross: “If any one serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be also” (Jn. 12:26). God knows how hard this is for us, and He has certainly done everything He possibly could to help us, but we need to make the commitment to follow the Lord wherever He will lead us, knowing that He has already gone before us to prepare a place for us in His Heavenly Kingdom (cf. Jn. 14:2-3). Whatever difficulties and trials face us each day, there is absolutely nothing that can happen to any one of us that is outside the all-seeing providence of God and beyond our power to endure, in Christ who strengthens us. |
| - the expulsion of the devil, - the drawing of people to salvation, - the remission of sins, - the sending down of the Spirit Comforter, and - the preparation of heavenly abodes. During the Last Supper, Jesus Christ established the Sacrament of Communion and based the cleansing power of this Sacrament on His impending suffering. First, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said: " Take, eat; this is My body which is given for you. " Afterwards, pointing to the cup with wine, He said: " Drink from it all of you. For this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins " (Matt. 26:27-28; Lk. 22:19). After Communion the Lord explained to the disciples in very convincing words that His suffering on the Cross was necessary for believers to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit : " Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you " (Jn. 16:7). The Lord further explained that He was to take upon Himself the atoning sacrifice because of His great love for mankind. Referring to the parable about the lost sheep, the Savior said to them that He is the Good Shepherd: " The good shepherd gives His life … Therefore, My Father loves Me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again … Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one's life for His friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you " (Jn. 10:11, 15:13-14). And, although the suffering on the Cross was to sadden greatly all of Christ's disciples, they were to be comforted by the forthcoming spiritual birth: " A woman when she is in labor has sorrow, because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world " (Jn. 16:21). |
| Wherefore before the raising of the dead He teacheth heavenly wisdom by words. But if He is " the Resurrection, " and " the Life, " He is not confined by place, but, present everywhere, knoweth how to heal. If therefore they had said, as did the centurion, " Speak the word, and my servant shall be healed " (Matt. viii. 8), He would have done so; but since they summoned Him to them, and begged Him to come, He condescendeth in order to raise them from the humble opinion they had formed of Him, and cometh to the place. Still while condescending, He showed that even when absent He had power to heal. On this account also He delayed, for the mercy would not have been appar ent as soon as it was given, had there not been first an ill savor (from the corpse). But how did the woman know that there was to be a Resurrection? They(1) had heard Christ say many things about the Resurrection, yet still she now desired to see Him. And observe how she still lingers below; for after hearing, " I am the Resurrection and the Life, " not even so did she say, " Raise him, " but, Ver. 27. " I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. " What is Christ's reply? " He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, " (2) (here speaking of this death which is common to all.(3)) " And whosoever liveth and believeth on Me, shall never die " (ver. 26), signifying that other death. " Since then I am the Resurrection and the Life, be not thou troubled, though thy brother be already dead, but believe, for this is not death. " For a while He comforted her on what had happened; and gave her glimpses of hope, by saying, " He shall rise again, " and, " I am the Resurrection " ; and that having risen(4) again, though he should again die, he shall suffer no harm, so that it needs not to fear this death. What He saith is of this kind: " Neither is this man dead, nor shall ye die. " " Believest thou this? " She saith, " I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. " " Which should come into the world. |
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