For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother

 

 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  

 

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

 

- Matthew 12:43–50 

 

On Monday, we read that, after an exorcism in which a mute and deaf man was healed, Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of the ruler of the demons.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His reply to them.  He told them, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.   For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 

  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."   My study Bible remarks that when the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they did not repent of their impure ways, and an unclean spirit took up residence in their hearts (Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalm 106:34-39).  So therefore, we guard our hearts.  Unless there is full repentance, my study Bible concludes, and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, an expelled demon will return with others and reoccupy its abode.

 

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."  My study Bible explains that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  He points here to a spiritual family which is based on obedience to the will of My Father.   It's important to know that in the tradition of Jewish usage, brother here can be used to indicate any number of relations.  Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  Still today, across the Middle East, use of the word "brother" can mean various relations.  My study Bible further elaborates that Christ Himself had no blood brothers, for Mary had only one Son:  Jesus.  The brothers mentioned here, it notes, were either stepbrothers (sons of Joseph by a previous marriage), or cousins.  We must note that Christ committed His mother to the care of St. John at the Cross (John 19:25-27), which would have been unthinkable if Mary had had other children to care for her.

 

 In a secular world, we might find it a bit stark, even shocking, that Jesus speaks in such categorical terms regarding the spiritual world of good and evil, of demons and the Holy Spirit.  But we should not confuse these spiritual terms and realities with the way, say, political parties work.  This is not a choice between human beings as candidates for office, nor even as candidates for friendship.  Jesus is speaking of how and why the spiritual world works, and its role in our hearts -- what we admit, or rather, what we choose to participate in, or not.  If we think in terms of energies, it might be a bit more clear that we can choose to participate in "negative" or positive energies, that which acts for evil or acts for good, on behalf of one spiritual force or another.  What influence do we want in our lives?  For when we open ourselves, or become vulnerable to, a power or influence that acts against Christ, we are participating in what energies that brings to us.  When we seek to nurture and strengthen the work and presence of the Holy Spirit within us, we are choosing to participate in that which embraces and teaches us about Christ (John 14:26).  When speaking in terms of how the spiritual world works, we must remember we're not talking about the secular, every day world of human beings who have all kinds of complicated problems and influences competing with one another -- and often at the same time!  This world of the demonic involves fallen angels, with an entirely different nature than human beings have, and a different intelligence that operates in different ways.  In this picture of spiritual realities, human beings, and our world, become battlegrounds competing for hearts and minds and souls, and this is an ongoing struggle, an unceasing battle.  We may not find it possible to even conceive of how to function within such a struggle, but that's why we have help.  This is why Christ has come into our world to help us and guide us, and to leave us with a Helper, the Holy Spirit.  We don't need to understand it all; we don't have the intelligence of beings created as angels.  We are meant to pursue a life through time, learning gradually, coming to a repentance, and making our way as best we can, including lots of mistakes and combating imperfection and partial understanding and knowledge.  This is why we're not the judges, but we seek to follow He who will judge.  Thus, Jesus' teaching in today's reading about unclean spirits and the importance of our own vigilance in our faith and choices, and guarding our hearts for the influences we want and don't want.  Moreover, so important is this to Christ's mission, that He speaks to us of His family as "whoever does the will of My Father in heaven." We become "sons" or "children" of God by adoption through grace and -- importantly for Christ in the context of this teaching -- by truly living our faith, and thus part of Christ's family.  Let us remember once again that Jesus is speaking to men who know the Scriptures perhaps better than any others in His community, among the Jews of Christ's time, and spent their time debating and studying them.  But they cannot see nor know Him for the envy of their positions in the society takes the place of a heart open to the influence of God, the reality He brings into the world.  Jesus will elaborate far more on the problems of the Pharisees and scribes in chapter 23 of St. Matthew's Gospel.  Let us heed His words for ourselves, and the choices we seek to make in our lives, the living of our faith in this world and whose will we seek to please.  Our spiritual journey in life is to move toward Christ.  Let us bear that in mind as we read through the Gospel.

 

 

 

 

 

For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother

 

 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

 

- Matthew 12:43-50 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued responding to the Pharisees' charge that He cast out demons by the power of demons, which He called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  He said, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 

  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  My study Bible comments that when the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they did not repent of their impure ways, and hence an unclean spirit took up residence in their hearts (Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalm 106:34-39).  So, therefore we guard our hearts, and keep this as an important practice.  It continues, "Unless there is full repentance and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, an expelled demon will return with others and reoccupy its abode."  

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."  My study Bible comments that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  He points here to a spiritual family, which is based on obedience to the will of My Father.  We should also keep in mind that the term brothers in this passage can indicate any number of relations, if we go by the way it is used in Scripture.  Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" in Genesis 14:14; Boaz referred to his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa his "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  It says that Christ Himself had no blood brothers; Mary had only one Son, Jesus.  The brothers which are mentioned here are either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage), or cousins.  The truth of this becomes apparent when we observe that Jesus committed His mother to the care of John (the "beloved disciple") at the Cross (John 19:25-27).  This would have been unthinkable if Mary had other children to care for her.

In some sense, we can see Jesus in today's reading as pleading with these religious leaders.  It might not sound like it, but He is Savior, and as such all that He does is an attempt to save.  While these men to whom He speaks might not even be capable of "hearing" Him spiritually, there are still others who are listening, and His ministry and words will remain for posterity.  In the first verses of today's reading, Jesus is explaining to them the fullness of the risks of refusal for repentance.  Often we think of repentance in modern terms as requiring sackcloth and ashes, a dismal face, a grim disposition.  But we should not think of it this way.  That is because, above all, repentance is simply a willingness to reconsider, to listen again, and open one's heart and mind, and to change one's mind.  (This is literally the meaning of the Greek word for repent, metanoia/μετανοια, to change one's mind.)   Jesus gives an extremely unsettling warning to these men in the form of a teaching of unclean spirits -- the things we may be healed from through exorcism (such as Jesus performs).  But without a continual vigilance in terms of taking in and actually practicing the things we've learned, such spirits return with a vengeance.  While not everyone in a modern context will understand the terms unclean spirit as a type of being, I think we can all observe the reality of how concepts and ideas work in our minds, what we hold dear to our hearts and souls, and what we are willing to change -- and make a commitment to that change.  Anyone who has ever practiced a Twelve Step program would be familiar with this; vigilance is necessary for continued benefits to one's life of the change to sobriety.  Nothing is a one-minute fix, no matter how good our resolutions are.  In this case, Jesus is warning the Pharisees about their own choices here, and that they are sliding more deeply in spiritual trouble by fixing their minds and refusing what He offers.  He teaches a similar principle in His great summing up of criticisms against this religious establishment which He will make in chapter 23.  Jesus tells them, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  This is another example of what it is to continue traveling down the same mistaken road, for this is the way that ideas and concepts work within us.  Unless we put in a correction in our thinking, we do not stand still.  We will continue down a mistaken road, and so our "disciples" will be "twice the sons of hell" that we are.  This example of the demonic returning to a clean and swept place is an illustration of that principle and how it works within a single person, or perhaps even a group of people.  If we don't take correction seriously -- and as part of the love of God to heal us -- then we're just going to continue down a wrong road, further along toward a false and mistaken destination.  The contrast to that direction -- the correction, the remedy, the antidote --  is "the will of My Father in heaven."  This is the road we need to be on.  As part of His love, Jesus gives us this truth.   The question remains for us whether or not we can accept it.

 

 

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first

 

 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."  

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." 

 

- Matthew 12:43-50 

 

On Saturday, we read Jesus' remarks to the Pharisees who had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, whom they called the ruler of the demons.  Jesus said, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."  But He answered and said to them, "An evil an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.  The queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."

 

  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.  Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'  And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.  So shall it also be with this wicked generation."   My study Bible comments that when the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they did not repent of their impure ways, and an unclean spirit took up residence in their hearts (Deuteronomy 31:20; Psalm 106:34-39).  So, therefore, we are to guard our hearts.  Unless there is full repentance and the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, my study Bible explains, an expelled demon will return with others and re-occupy its above.  

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.  Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You."  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?"  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."  My study Bible comments that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  He points to a spiritual family which is based on obedience to the will of My Father.  My study Bible adds that in Jewish usage, brother can indicate any number of relations.  It cites Abram who called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz who spoke of his cousin Elimemlech as his "brother" in Ruth 4:3; and Joab who referred to his cousin Amasa as "brother" (see 2 Samuel 20:9).  My study Bible adds that Christ Himself had no blood brothers, as Mary had only one Son:  Jesus.  The brothers who are mentioned here were either stepbrothers, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, or cousins.  At the Cross, Jesus commits His mother to the care of His disciple John (John 19:25-27).  This would have been unthinkable if Mary had had other children to care for her.  

We might find Jesus' words strange, in the early part of today's reading.  He speaks of a person as a kind of a house, in which an unclean spirit once dwelt.  But the spirit goes out into the world and finds only "dry places," and finds no rest.  The spirit returns to the house to find it cleaned up, swept, and in order.  And so the unclean spirit gathers "seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."   We should remember that He is speaking to the Pharisees (and scribes) who have accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons; even by the power of "Beelzebub" whom they call the ruler of the demons.  This is a warning to them about the importance of spiritual consistency.  That is, it is not enough to be "cleaned and swept," to follow all the rules that declare holiness or cleanliness.  But it is essential to be more than that, to be consistent and persistent in our faith, so that we are actively involved with prayer and the love of God in what we do, and seeking God's way for us in our lives.  As He will remind them in the words of Isaiah, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8). Recently I heard a sermon on the passage of the woman with the twelve year flow of blood (or hemorrhage) as told in this reading.  The priest giving the sermon pointed out that what was necessary in her case was that she took the initiative -- she reached out to Christ with faith.  She touched the hem of His garment in hope of being healed.  It seems that Christ's preaching to the Pharisees in today's reading backs up that understanding of the passage.  It's not enough that we simply take care that we are doing no wrong.  Instead, our seemingly passionate, "jealous" and loving God wants us to take the initiative, and be as involved as we can be with God's healing embrace, and especially calling upon the energies and power of Christ, as did that woman with the twelve year flow of blood.  We are to be engaged with our faith, active in it, even if that means we devote time to prayer, we participate in our sacraments and services, we call upon God for help, we engage as actively as we can so that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  For everything we read in the Gospels affirms the notion that we need to be actively engaged in pursuit of God, like that woman.  We need to affirm our commitments and grow in our faith, and if that is difficult, then we need at least to be asking, seeking, and knocking (Matthew 7:7).  In the second part of today's reading, we understand that those whom He will consider to be close to Him, His family, are those who seek the will of the Father and to do it -- and this is yet another affirmation that we need to be actively engaged in seeking our faith.  For the Lord wants those who will return His love.  As Jesus, He came into the world seeking His own, with a mission to save, to endure the Cross and human death in order to make it possible for all of us to dwell with Him.  That kind of love does not want those who are lukewarm, but those who can return that love.  A few readings earlier, we read that Jesus taught, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12, in this reading).  One way of interpreting that passage is to understand the ardent zeal with which those who would belong to this Kingdom are pressing into it, desiring to be a part of it, and use of the word "violence" is meant in this sense.  Let us consider, in the world which we might often find simply "lukewarm" to our faith, what it means to passionately pursue Christ, as we would pursue One who is beloved and dear to us.  Let us make our own pursuit of faith as much an ardent priority as He did His pursuit of us and our salvation to be with Him. 

 

 

You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen!

White Angel at Tomb (believed to be Archangel Gabriel) - 13th century, Fresco. Mileseva Monastery, Serbia

 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 

- Mark 16:1-8

On Friday, we were given two readings from John's Gospel:   Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down My life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."   * * *  After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission.  So he came and took the body of Jesus.  And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.  Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.  Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.  So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.   (John 13:36-38, John 19:38-42)

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  My study bible says that because Christ died so close in time to the Sabbath, the burial customs of the Jews could not be completed.  Therefore, these faithful women went as soon as they could to the tomb, in order to complete the rites of burial.  Mary the mother of James has been widely considered throughout tradition to be a reference to the Virgin Mary, as she is stepmother to James called "the Lord's brother" (Matthew 13:55, compare also to Mark 15:40, 47).  Some teach that this Mary is the wife of Alphaeus, and thus this James was one of the Twelve (Luke 6:15).   Many teach that Salome was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John.

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him."  My study bible comments that the stone had been rolled away not in order to accommodate Christ's exit from the tomb -- for in His resurrected body, He needs no such accommodation (see John 20:19).   Instead, this stone was rolled away in order to allow the witnesses -- and we who hear via the Gospel -- to look in and see that the tomb was empty.

"But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  My study bible comments that the specific mention of Peter reveals a special care for the one who had denied Christ.  Theophylact comments that Peter himself would have considered himself unworthy to continue as disciple.  The angel's command is a promise that Peter is forgiven. 

So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.   That they said nothing to anyone, my study bible says, doesn't mean the women never said anything.  Rather, it means that they kept silent until Jesus' appearance to them (see verses 9-11 which follow).

For much of the Orthodox Church, this is now Holy Week, and the "Empty Tomb" figures prominently in many of the services for this week.  Throughout Holy Week (regardless of whether or not Easter is celebrated on the same day as the West, such as in the Armenian Apostolic Church), Orthodox tradition has what are called "Bridegroom" services.  That is, it is in preparation for Easter that we are meant to contemplate this empty tomb, as we await our Bridegroom who is Christ.  Like the Ten Virgins in the parable found in Matthew (Matthew 25:1-13), we all, as faithful Christians, continue to await our Bridegroom.  We can consider our state as like the women at this empty tomb, in which the angel announces to them that "He is risen!  He is not here."   We know that He is risen.  And we await our Bridegroom, and His return to us.   In a sense, we are all in this place where we miss Him and we await Him, and we hear the good news of the Archangel that He is risen!   In our sometimes lonely and empty-seeming world, we have our hope.  He is risen!  We live in this state of paradox as faithful believers, knowing at once that He is risen, and yet how we long for Him to be always present, in as much fullness as possible.  We are not the early disciples who lived with Him, who ate and slept with Him, who kept Him company, and were taught by Jesus in the flesh.  But nevertheless our longing and our faith also keep us close to Him.  We know Him through our prayers, and through mystical understandings that we can't quite consciously perceive.  He draws us forth in the heart, with longing in our souls.  Recently I read a quotation by C. S. Lewis, from his book, The Problem of Pain.  Lewis writes, "But God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand."  Yes, we long for Him because our Creator is our first love.  Like the disciples, we know this love, only we don't quite know how we know it.  I have seen people of avowedly no faith, or of faiths other than Christianity, turn to Christ in sure certainty that He is the One who loves and understands -- that He is the One in whom they can trust.  How do we know this?  It is that longing in the empty tomb that gives us a hint, that we know He was here for us, and that He will return.  We know what He did for us, that He died for us.  We are sure of His love, and even of His forgiveness, for He is the One who is true, who sought not His own glory but the glory of the One by whom He was sent:  "He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him" (John 7:18).  If there is One upon whom we can count, it is Christ in whom there is no unrighteousness.  When we feel abandoned and alone, when the world doesn't offer much in the way of real comfort, when we seem to be in that empty tomb, there is this One to whom we turn, whom we know is true and righteous, even when all else fails.  Somehow like these women who seek Him, we know that about Him, too.  Our souls know.  Our spirits call for the water He offers, because we need those waters of life to revive us again when we're weary.  We know He is life somehow, although we are in an empty tomb and we long for what we feel we have lost.  Let us consider today our places with these women, and hear this news:  He is risen!  For He is risen for all of us -- yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  We have but begun to contemplate what that really means for us, and for all those who long for the One in whom they can put their trust, the One who is righteous and true.