Isaiah 66:10-24 (6th Hour)
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11 That you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; on her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, and His indignation to His enemies.
15 For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17 “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together,” says the Lord.
18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
19 “I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.
20 “Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
21 “And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “so shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
24 “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Genesis 49:33-50:26 (Vespers, 1st reading)
33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,
5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’”
6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place.
14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”
16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying,
17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20 “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
21 “Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Hieromartyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum and Disciple of Saint John the Theologian
The Hieromartyr Antipas, a disciple of the holy Apostle John the Theologian (September 26), was bishop of the Church of Pergamum during the reign of the emperor Nero (54-68).
During these times, everyone who would not offer sacrifice to the idols lived under threat of either exile or execution by order of the emperor. On the island of Patmos (in the Aegean Sea) the holy Apostle John the Theologian was imprisoned, he to whom the Lord revealed the future judgment of the world and of Holy Church.
“And to the angel of the Church of Pergamum write: the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know where you live, where the throne of Satan is, and you cleave unto My Name, and have not renounced My faith, even in those days when Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells” (Rev 2:12-13).
By his personal example, firm faith and constant preaching about Christ, Saint Antipas began to turn the people of Pergamum from offering sacrifice to idols. The pagan priests reproached the bishop for leading the people away from their ancestral gods, and they demanded that he stop preaching about Christ and offer sacrifice to the idols instead.
Saint Antipas calmly answered that he was not about to serve the demons that fled from him, a mere mortal. He said he worshiped the Lord Almighty, and he would continue to worship the Creator of all, with His Only-Begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. The pagan priests retorted that their gods existed from of old, whereas Christ was not from of old but was crucified under Pontius Pilate as a criminal. The saint replied that the pagan gods were the work of human hands and that everything said about them was filled with iniquities and vices. He steadfastly confessed his faith in the Son of God, incarnate of the Most Holy Virgin.
The enraged pagan priests dragged the Hieromartyr Antipas to the temple of Artemis and threw him into a red-hot copper bull, where usually they put the sacrifices to the idols. In the red-hot furnace the martyr prayed loudly to God, imploring Him to receive his soul and to strengthen the faith of the Christians. He went to the Lord peacefully, as if he were going to sleep (+ ca. 68).
At night Christians took the body of the Hieromartyr Antipas, which was untouched by the fire. They buried him at Pergamum. The tomb of the hieromartyr became a font of miracles and of healings from various sicknesses.
We pray to the Hieromartyr Antipas for relief from toothache, and diseases of the teeth.
On the Holy Feast of the Palms
‘Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they made a meal for him’. Martha was serving and Lazarus ate. This was a sign of Lazarus’ real resurrection: that many days later, he was alive and eating. It’s clear, then, that the meal took place in the home of Martha. They welcomed Jesus because they were friends and were loved by Him. […]
‘When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead’. And when they saw the miracle they all believed. Not satisfied with their own wickedness, however, the leaders also attempted to have Lazarus killed. As it says: ‘So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus’. Be that as it may, they wanted to put Christ to death because He’d broken the Sabbath, He’d made Himself equal to God and, according to them, also because of the Romans, so that they wouldn’t do away with the land, the nation and with them. But what was the charge against Lazarus, that they should want to kill him, other than the crime that something good had happened to him? You see how their whole intention was murderous? Now, He’d worked many signs, but none of them made them so furious as this, not the paralytic nor the blind man. Because this in itself was more miraculous. It had taken place after many others and it was absolutely extraordinary to see a man four days dead yet walking around and talking. What stupidity on the part of the supposed high priests. All they achieved was to involve murders with the celebrations for their feast. There [in the case of Christ] they believed He was abolishing the Sabbath and leading the multitudes astray by deceit, but here, since they had nothing to lie about, they simply directed their attack against the person who’d been cured. Here they couldn’t even say that He opposed the Father, because the command [the authoritative ‘Lazarus, come forth’] silenced them
Since what they always accused Him of was groundless and this miracle was particularly outstanding, they resorted to murder. Which they would have done in the case of the blind man, as well, had they not had the excuse of the Sabbath. In any case, the blind man was unimportant and they simply expelled him from the temple, but [Lazarus] was of better standing, as is obvious from the numbers who came to comfort his sisters. So the miracle took place before the eyes of many people and in the strangest manner, which is why crowds flocked to see Him. This is what annoyed them: that, though the feast was continuing, people were leaving everything and making their way to Bethany. So they decided to do away with Him and didn’t think it wickedness on their part. That’s how murderous they were. This is why the first of the laws begins: ‘Do not kill’. And the prophet condemns this saying: ‘For your hands are covered in blood’ [Isaiah 1, 15]
‘The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”’. How was it then, that though He didn’t walk boldly through Judea and withdrew into the desert, He now came boldly to Jerusalem? Because their anger had abated with His withdrawal and now that it had passed He came. Besides, the crowds which preceded and followed Him were of sufficient size to worry the leaders. Because no miracle disturbed them so much as that of Lazarus. Another Evangelist [the Synoptic Gospels] writes that they spread their garments at His feet and that the whole city shook from the honour accorded to His entry.
‘Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter Zion. Behold, your king is coming to you, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”’ He did this in order to fulfil one prophecy and to prefigure another. The same event completed one and began another. ‘Do not be afraid, daughter Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, meek and sitting on a donkey’s colt’ [Zech. 9,9] was certainly the prophecy being fulfilled. By sitting on the colt of a donkey He indicated that the unclean race of the Gentiles would submit to Him.
How is it that the other Evangelists say that He sent His disciples to untie the donkey and the colt whereas [John] merely says ‘Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it’? Well, it was natural for both to happen: the disciples returned with the colt, and He sat on it. Again, the branches of palms and olives and the clothes they placed on the ground demonstrate that they thought of Him more highly than of a prophet and they cried to Him: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. You can see that this choked the high priests and scribes more than anything, because people believed that He wasn’t anti-God. It was this above all else that divided people: that He said He came from the Father. The prophet said ‘Do not be afraid, daughter Zion, but rejoice greatly’ because most of their kings had been unjust and grasping and had delivered them to their enemies. They perverted the people and made them subservient to their foes. ‘Take courage’, he says, ‘this one is not like them. He’s meek and merciful’. This is apparent from the donkey, since He didn’t make His entry at the head of a body of troops, but only with a donkey.
‘His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him’. Do you see, they mostly acted in ignorance. But after He’d risen from the dead, ‘then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him’. He didn’t reveal them. Indeed, when He said, ‘Tear down this temple and I’ll rebuild it in three days’, the disciples didn’t understand this, either. Another Evangelist says that the message was hidden from them and they didn’t realize that He would have to rise from the dead. It’s easy to understand why this was hidden, because another Evangelist says that, when the disciples heard on a daily basis about the passion, they were worried and sad. This was because they didn’t understand the message of the resurrection. This was justifiably concealed from them because it was beyond their spiritual powers, but why was the meaning of the donkey hidden from them? Because this, too was a great thing. And look at the thinking of the Evangelist. He wasn’t ashamed to proclaim their previous ignorance because, of course they knew what had been written, but not that it had been written about Him. It might have shocked them if a king were to undergo such things. Besides, they wouldn’t have been able to absorb immediately the knowledge of the kingdom they were talking about. In fact, another Evangelist writes that they thought they were speaking of this [earthly] kingdom.
‘So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him’. Because so many people wouldn’t have changed their mind so quickly if they hadn’t heard of the miracle. ‘The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, people have gone after him!’ [‘people’ is translated in some versions as ‘world’, because the Greek word kosmos means both]. I believe that these words were spoken by those who were, of course, healthy, in spiritual terms, but lacked the courage to declare their opinion boldly. Saint Paul also gives this as a reason when he talks about the resurrection. What defence will those people have who don’t believe in the resurrection?
Leaving this subject, then, so as not to keep you unnecessarily with a labyrinthine homily, let me just say this. Take care to listen to the reading of the divine Scriptures and don’t quarrel over anything useless, to the detriment of those who listen to you. This is also what Saint Paul advised Timothy to do, even though, of course, he was full of great wisdom and had the power to work miracles. So let us show obedience to him, and avoiding idle talk, let’s engage in works, instead. By that I mean loving others, being hospitable, and showing interest in charity, so that we may attain to the good things which God has promised to us, through the grace and love of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit to the ages of ages. Amen
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 4/7: Lenten Matins 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday 4/8: no services or events
Wednesday 4/9: Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 pm (potluck meal to follow)
Thursday 4/10: Lenten Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 4/11: no matins; Vespers of Lazarus Saturday 7 p.m.
Saturday 4/12: Lazarus Saturday Liturgy 9:15 a.m.; Vigil for Palm Sunday 6 p.m.
Sunday 4/13: Divine Liturgy 9:15am
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Christ the Savior Orthodox Church is located in Southbury, Connecticut, and is part of the New England Diocese of the Orthodox Church of America.
Mailing address: Christ the Savior Church, 1070 Roxbury Road, Southbury, CT 06488
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Fr. Moses Locke can be reached at frmoseslocke@gmail.com