After the Lord cries out that Lazarus arise we read, "Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go." And this too is representative of the general resurrection, when, being loosed from sin and the corruption of death, every one will be set free. For, falling into sin, we have wrapped the shame of... Continue Reading →
He shall give His angels charge over you- Our Temptation and Christ
Commenting on Satan's temptation to Christ, "Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their... Continue Reading →
The Life-Giving Blessing: Genesis and The Eucharist
We have already seen that the first chapters of Genesis have much to teach us. In extending our dialogue to the Eucharist we move to a consideration of food, Divine food. Following Genesis: The Book of The Promise we see what is revealed about the food which God once offered to us through the law... Continue Reading →
We too are rescued from slavery
Juxtaposing the ransom of humanity to the ransom of Israel from Egypt St. Cyril teaches: "He rescued us from the slavery of the devil as from clay and brick, he delivered from us the passions of the world and impurities of the flesh, he made us pass over as through a sea. For having outrun... Continue Reading →
Theophany – The Spirit Descended and Remained Upon Him
In the life of the Church we come to different festal seasons and our attention is directed to various elements and times in the life of the Lord and the life of the Church. After we celebrate the Nativity we soon come upon the liturgical commemoration of the feast of Theophany. For many of... Continue Reading →
The Son of Man Came as a Ransom
“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom [lutron] for... Continue Reading →
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“ I was not sent, he says, as the teacher Moses was, to condemn the world with the law or to introduce a command to convict people of sin. Nor do I do the ministry of a servant. Rather, I bring the love for humanity that befits the master. As Son and heir of the... Continue Reading →
And The World Did Not Know Him
“The theologian very quickly counters these things by saying, ‘The world did not know him.’ He does not say that he was at fault for being unknown. Let the world blame its own weakness. The Son enlightens, but the creature blunts the grace. The creature was loaned the sight to conceive of the one who... Continue Reading →
The Restoration of Humanity
"And how did the Son restore [humankind]? By slaying death through the death of his holy flesh, and raising up the human race to a mounting incorruption. For Christ was raised for our sake. Therefore, in order that we might learn that it is this one who was the creator of our nature in the... Continue Reading →
The Justice of God
Sometimes as we read the Scriptures, we may not realize that we have operative assumptions and thoughts which may guide our reading and interpretations. We are, presumably, well intentioned and therefore believe that we are approaching Scripture and reading it ‘the way it was meant to be read’. Even more so, we believe ourselves to... Continue Reading →
He Made Him, Who Knew No Sin, To Be Sin
“You say right: as therefore He made Him, Who knew not sin, sin for us, in order that WE might be made the righteousness of God in Him (for the nature of man has been justified in Him): so Him Who knows not death (for the Word is Life and life-giving) He caused to suffer... Continue Reading →
The Transfiguration
"For it was Moses who gave the Law and the Jews would therefore understand that he [The Lord Jesus Christ] had never neglected or scorned the Law as they suspected, and never broken it, but rather followed it and was opposed to all who set it aside. And Elijah was filled with zeal for the... Continue Reading →
An Ancient Faith For a Modern World 