First Sunday of Lent - (Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40)
This first epistle reading of Great Lent focuses on the faith of the saints and their perseverance in suffering.
Moses became great and powerful as the son of Pharoah’s daughter. He was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and the recipient of the highest offices of the state. Having become aware of his Hebrew origin and of the manner in which he was saved, Moses denied his adoption and relinquished all the glory and the honors and luxuries of Pharaoh's court. He preferred to be a co-bearer of the sufferings and the afflictions of the people of God than to enjoy the transient pleasures and enjoyments of sin. In looking forward to God’s future reward and glory, Moses counted the “reproach of Christ,” that is, co-suffering with the people of God, as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt which he abandoned. Moses understood from the blessings of the patriarchs upon their children and from other traditions, that the Messiah was to reign as a king after previous afflictions and persecutions. The reproach of Christ is the Cross and His Passion.
There follows numerous references to the great spiritual figures of Judaism who remain unnamed but whose identities can nevertheless be discerned: Gideon, Barak, Sampson, and Jephtha were Judges of Israel who by the power of their faith in God, delivered the Israelite nation from the bondage it endured as a result of its sins, and led them to the observance of the divine law. The statement “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness” refers to them. But only when the people of God repented and returned to the true and living God, were they liberated by the Judges who demonstrated faith and trust in the power of God. Samuel delivered the Jewish people from Philistine bondage and worked righteousness by judging the people in accordance with divine law. Samuel was also the great prophet who anointed David king, from whose seed would come the Christ in fulfillment of the promised eternal kingdom. David subdued all the kingdoms of surrounding nations and practiced righteousness by judging the people in accordance with the law of God. The prophet Daniel stopped the mouths of lions to which he was thrown because of his godliness. The three youths were thrown into the blazing furnace because they did not worship the image of the king, but the fire became for them refreshing dew and they emerged from the furnace unharmed. The Jewess Queen Esther would save the Jewish people from the mouth of the sword, i.e., genocidal destruction. The two women who received their dead through resurrection are the women who entertained the two great prophets, Elias and Elisha. The sons of these two women had died but through the prayers of the prophets they returned to life. They called upon the Lord, and he hearkened unto them; in a pillar of cloud He spoke unto them. For they kept His testimonies and His ordinances which he gave them” (Ps.98). At the beginning of Lent, it is beneficial for us to read and study these figures and keep them before us as models of faith and holiness.
Faith works miracles, but also bravely submits to suffering and endures bitter affliction in anticipation of eternal life. Other Old Testament models of faith and patient suffering refused to worship idols and willingly submitted to torture and death to obtain life eternal.
Many prophets who reproved the transgressions of the people were mocked, ridiculed and imprisoned. Others were stoned to death, sawn asunder(Prophet Isaiah), tortured and slain by the sword. Still others traveled from place to place wearing sheepskins and goatskins, deprived of the necessities of life, afflicted and abused, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground because the world did not provide for them adequate shelter. This ascetic life of the ancient prophets would be imitated by many of the early Christians and monastics.
From these examples, we must understand that faith in God is one and the same in all the faithful, whatever one’s position and circumstances. Every faithful Christian, according to the position and power he possesses, is called to bear witness to the truth.
All those who pleased God and were justified have not as yet received the promise of the resurrection from the dead and eternal glory, because God deemed it better to reward all after the salvation of all. “The wisdom of God deemed it better that they should not be perfected without us.” Having been sanctified by God, they are glorified and, during their lives and also after death through their holy relics, they do signs and wonders for those who call upon them. Those who struggle in the world have the assistance of the saints in heaven who pray to God. We pray to the saints that God may hear their prayers and help us to perfect ourselves after their example in the virtues of faith and good works.
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Second Sunday of Lent - (Hebrews 1:10-14; 2:1-3)
The magnificent heavens are the work of the hands of the Logos; they shall perish but their Creator remains. How are we to understand this? The Lord who laid the foundations of the earth and created the heavens is Christ Himself. These words refer not to the utter annihilation of the world, but to its transformation. “We look for a new heaven and a new earth” (Pet.8:13). “And I saw new heavens and a new earth” (Rev.21:1). For we know that all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. “Therefore, shall it also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”(Rom. 8). All creation shall be changed, including men, for we shall grow old and worn like a garment and afterwards we shall be made new again.
Having demonstrated the superiority of the Son of God to angels, St. Paul proceeds to demonstrate the superiority of the words of God spoken to us through the Son, according to which God will judge us. Regarding the Jews who clung to the Mosaic law and undervalued Christ’s teaching, St. Paul urges that they should take to heart the word spoken to us by God through His Son, for our judgment will be conducted, not according to the old but rather the new law, the Gospel Law of the incarnate Logos. His words are Spirit and Life. Therefore, the faithful ought to absorb and contemplate the words of the Son, that they may understand them in all their depth and obey them and thereby save themselves from delusion and condemnation. And this admonition carries for us contemporary Christians the same power and truth; as Christians we should pay greater heed to the Gospel law than the Jews paid to the Mosaic. We must take the greatest care so as not to deviate from the straight path, but rather walk in accordance with the words of Christ, for they are life. The Gospel Law does not promise earthly happiness as does the Mosaic, but rather life everlasting and heavenly bliss.
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Third Sunday of Lent - (Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:1-6)
St. Paul, after urging the brethren to acquire a thorough knowledge of the High Priest of our confession, our Lord Jesus Christ, and after proving to them that He is far superior to Moses, now urges them to adhere to the confession of faith in Him. A full and complete understanding of our High Priest and the great blessing we have obtained from Him ensures the salvation of our souls and strengthens our will to boldly confess Him before men.
In possessing a great High Priest, we partake of Him, become sanctified in Him and obtain salvation in Him. There are many physicians of the body but only one of the soul - Christ, the High Priest - for only the sacrifice of Christ is perfect and pure and acceptable to God and provides remission of sins. Only the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses the soul from every sin and heals it. Only Christ the High Priest saves souls from death and bestows upon them eternal life. But those who do not have Christ the High Priest possess a diseased soul without a physician; they have eternal death instead of eternal life.
By holding fast to the confession of Christ, our High Priest, we preserve this great and priceless blessing not only for ourselves but also for the salvation of our fellow men. We bear in mind St. Paul's statement, “for with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Since we possess an unshaken faith, we also possess corresponding strength to confess it.
Confessing our great High Priest, we are inevitably opposed and tempted by Satan, the tempter, as our Lord was tempted by him. Thankfully, we have a High Priest Who is like ourselves with respect to trial by temptation, who upon being tempted realized the weakness of our own flesh, concerning which he said: “For the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Therefore, He naturally sympathizes with us and forgives the sins into which we fall because of our weak nature. He knows by experience the power of temptations and the weakness of man. As St. Paul said previously: “For it befitted him, for whom…he partook of flesh and blood…it behooved him to be made all things like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb.2:18). Though being divine by nature, He partook of our weak nature and experienced all the temptations whereby we are tried, and after we have been overcome by them, He is quick to forgive us, provided we repent. “A broken and humble heart God will not despise.” We do not despair but take refuge in His humility and loving mercy.
The meaning of “throne of grace” is indicated by St. John the Theologian saying: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.” Therefore, the flesh of the Lord which is full of grace and truth is the “throne of His grace”; whereas the place of this throne is the altar table of the mystical supper. It is to this throne of grace that all the faithful who assemble at the Divine Liturgy are invited by the priest: “With fear of God, faith and love, approach.” To come frankly” means that we should attend Liturgy with a clean conscience in sincere love. Those who have the fear of God, who have faith in the truth of the mystical supper and love for God, approach the table with boldness, obtain His mercy and acquire the heavenly Spirit. We must approach the Communion cup boldly to partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord, for by means of this Communion we receive remission of sins and eternal life.
We must thoroughly comprehend the God-man Christ, who is truth and life, and our High Priest. The more we commune with Him, the more the soul passes from death into life. Conscious of the infirmity which He experiences as the God-man, He sympathizes with those who trespass and sin. Christ, the only High Priest, offers in sacrifice His own blameless self, together with prayers and supplications, accompanied by loud cries and tears. After tasting death, He was delivered from death through His resurrection. He learned obedience through His suffering, though He is the very Son of God. He became the cause of eternal salvation for all those who believed in and obeyed Him as he Himself had obeyed God and was proclaimed High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. As the God-man, He possesses the will of human nature which He renounced in order to obey the higher will of God. He renounces His own will in order to carry out God’s will; and this is the obedience which He learned through His sufferings and through which He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obeyed Him and was proclaimed by God to be High Priest after the order of Melchisedek. Every Christian is obligated to renounce his own will in order to do the will of Christ. Lent comes as a reminder of this truth.
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Fourth Sunday of Lent - (Hebrews 6:13-20)
St. Paul presents the Patriarch Abraham, to whom God promised the multiplication of his seed, as the first example of a man who believed in the word of God and who, through patience and faith, realized the promises of God. Abraham, having patience, witnessed the fulfillment of the divine promise and likewise, we too, if we possess faith and patience as Abraham did, shall witness the fulfillment of God’s promise to us with regard to the resurrection and the eternal kingdom.
Heirs of the promise of Abraham are considered those who, like Abraham, believe in the Word of God and patiently await the fulfillment of the promises. God made an oath as a confirmation of His promise so that we who hope in the eternal kingdom may have full assurance of God’s promises, for God is by nature true and never breaks His Word.
This hope in Christ anchors the soul and through it we enter the place within the veil, which is the heavenly holy of holies or God’s throne, where Jesus as a man entered as a forerunner for us. Whereas the high priest after the order of Aaron entered only once a year into the holy of holies on the earth, and no one else could do so, our High Priest, the Lord Jesus, being the first to enter the heavenly holy of holies, leads into it all those who follow Him.
Melchisedec was a contemporary of Abraham who combined in himself the office of kingship with that of priesthood, for he was the king of the city of Salem and also priest of God the highest. The name Melchisedek is interpreted king of righteousness, whereas the name Salem is interpreted peace; and so Melchisedek is the king of righteousness and peace, pre-imaging Christ the King, concerning whom it is written: “In His days shall righteousness rise and an abundance of peace”(Ps.72:7).
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Fifth Sunday of Lent - (Hebrews 9: 11-14)
The liturgy of the high priest in the tabernacle of the testimony, which took place once a year and provided the blessings of this life, pretypified the liturgy of Christ, the true High Priest, which took place in the great tabernacle of God once and for all eternity and provided the future and eternal blessings. The high priest of the Temple on the day of propitiation, after sacrificing the calf, entered the holy of holies and propitiated God by sprinkling the mercy seat seven times with the blood of the victim. Likewise, the High Priest of the greater and divinely-made tabernacle, our Lord Jesus Christ, after being led like a sheep to the slaughter on the day of His propitiatory liturgy, after shedding His precious Blood upon the Cross, submitting to death, descending to Hades, and rising from the dead, passed through the heavens and entered once and for all the Holy of Holies in Heaven, delivering from eternal death all those who believe in Him. He was raised and entered into the Holy of Holies, the heavenly tabernacle, through the veil, the Flesh of Christ Himself, into the very presence of God the Father. There He intercedes and mediates on behalf of all sinners, through his own Blood, securing thereby our eternal redemption, no longer in an earthly sanctuary but in the temple of the coming age. The blood of bulls and goats could not do this.
The priestly sacrifice of the Levitical priesthood, its whole sacrificial system of blood and goats and lambs and sacrifices and offerings of all kinds, could not do this.
The superior priesthood of Christ introduces a superior sacrifice with superior results to those who are sanctified by it, compared with the sacrifice of the Jewish Temple. Disregarding the natural will of His own flesh and obeying the better will of the eternal Spirit of God, the God-man presented Himself blameless to God in His perfect human nature. The blood of Christ cleanses the conscience of those who drink it and empowers them to worship the living God and to fulfill His commandments.
For Christians, all the sacrificial offerings of the Old testament are in the one offering of Christ on the Cross, once and for all, never to be repeated. We participate in this sacrifice in every liturgy but we do not repeat it; He is Himself the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, the sacrificial victim, the High Priest, who both offers and is the offering that is made. Every Divine Liturgy we enter into that sacrifice of Jesus offering himself to the Father on behalf of all and for all, in order that we could be forgiven and healed and purified and cleansed, and raised from the dead.
St. Paul is making the point here that all those who obtain deliverance through the once performed liturgy of Christ the High Priest derive no benefit from the yearly liturgy in the Temple which has become entirely useless and unprofitable.
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Sixth Sunday of Lent - (Phillipians 4:4-9)
As Christians, we must always rejoice in the Lord, considering ourselves saved through the grace of the Lord. We must contemplate the boundless outpouring of the Lord’s mercy and love. We must be conscious that we share in His divine nature and do His will. He who rejoices in the Lord fears no evil and is truly blessed. Three times St. Paul commands the faithful to “rejoice in the Lord always,” for joy in the Lord makes the rejoicing heart blessed. This is a fundamental feature of the psalms: “For Thou hast gladdened me, O Lord, by Thy deeds, and in the works of Thy hands will I rejoice” (Ps.91) “Come let us rejoice in the Lord, let us shout with jubilation unto God our Savior. Let us come before His countenance with thanksgiving, and with psalms let us shout in jubilation unto Him” (Ps.94). “Shout with jubilation unto God, all the earth; serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with rejoicing.(Ps. 99).
He who rejoices in the Lord is always meek and forbearing as is the Lord to all men and especially to those who, out of ignorance, hate and persecute us. Furthermore, by means of patience and meekness, the Gospel is spread toward the salvation of those who accept it.
Since the Lord is near us, He shelters and protects us and relieves us of worry about our own safety. We should at all times and in all things make known to God all our wants and needs through prayer and supplication and thank Him for His abundant blessings.
Justified through faith, we have peace with God, a peace which no mind can comprehend. Upon making peace with God, we obtain His almighty power as a keeper and guard of our hearts and our thoughts in Christ.
While rejoicing in the Lord always, we should also consider whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, every virtue and worthwhile deed. All these virtues we find in the words and works of our Lord Jesus, Who possesses all virtue. But all these are also the possessions of the saints, whom we should imitate in every virtue.
Rejoicing in the Lord always and contemplating His words and works, we do the will of Him Whom we love. By means of holy works and holy thoughts and holy feelings we are united with God, find peace in Him and obtain every blessing and security.
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