For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel

 

 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

 For out of you shall come a Ruler 

Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

 

- Matthew 2:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb where the body of Christ had been laid, 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.  Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.   Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."  So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.

 

  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem . . . Today the lectionary turns us to readings in the Gospel of St. Matthew, following our readings in St. Mark's Gospel.  This king Herod was the king of Judea.  He ruled Judea from 37 - 4 BC.  My study Bible tells us that he was a great builder (he was also known as Herod the Builder), but a very cruel leader.  There existed an ancient prophecy of Jacob which indicated that the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  Herod was a non-Jews calling himself the king of Judea, the time of the Christ was surely at hand.  But these wise men, or magi, who come from the East (most likely Persia) where Gentiles, and they were the scholars of their time.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible notes, Balaam (Numbers 23; 24) was one of their predecessors; that is, a Gentile who anticipated the Messiah.  As such, these foreigners prefigure the Church, in which membership is determined by faith and not by ethnic lineage.

 

. . . saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."   The star proclaims the extraordinary birth of Christ.  My study Bible explains that to ancient pagans, a star signified a god, a deified king (Numbers 24:17).  Christ being born under this star is the fulfillment of prophecy found in the Septuagint version of Psalm 110:3:  "With You is the beginning in the day of Your power, in the brightness of Your saints; 'I have begotten You from the womb before the morning star.'"  My study Bible tells us that it shows all of creation participating in the Incarnation.  See also Psalms 19:1, 148:3.

 

 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"  My study Bible explains that Herod had to summon the Jewish leaders because he knew little about the Jewish Messiah and he was afraid of losing his throne to this newborn King.  The chief priests were the political and religious leaders of the Jews, and the scribes were high cabinet officers.  They quote from the prophecy of Micah.  My study Bible comments that they knew where the Messiah was to be born, but in spite of all the signs being in place, they had no idea that He had come (see Jesus' scathing reference to their lack of discernment at Matthew 16:3).

 

 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."  When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.   My study Bible comments on the text telling us that the wise men went into the house where the young Child was with Mary His mother.  It notes that whereas, according to St. Luke, the Jewish shepherds worshiped the Savior in the cave on the day He was born (Luke 2:8-20), the Gentile magi came to worship Him some time later.  By then, Joseph and Mary had found a house in which to stay.  It says that this is an indication that Christ first came to the Jews and then afterward was worshiped by the Gentiles.  The significance of the Magi's gifts is told in an Orthodox hymn sung at Compline of the Nativity:  "Gold is for the King of ages.  Frankincense is for the God of all.  Myrrh is offered to the Immortal One, who shall be three days dead."

 

 The poetry of the Gospels is always remarkable in how, when the lectionary switches from one Gospel to another, there are echoes of one in the either.  It doesn't matter that we take up one Gospel thinking of it as the beginning of Christ's life, while the previous one finished at the "end," or really, if we think about it, at the beginning of the story of the Church and the Christian era in which we presently live as we await Christ's return to the world.  As we ended St. Mark's Gospel, we read that He was buried by Joseph of Arimathea, in a tomb hewn from rock.  In other words, in a type of cave.  In this beginning of St. Luke's Gospel, Christ is born in a cave (used even today in the Middle East as a barn for animals).  The poetic sense of Christ's birth and death has never been lost in the tradition of the Church.  The three wise men, or magi, bring gifts to Christ of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  My study Bible quotes from the Orthodox hymn naming myrrh as the gift for the immortal One, even as we just finished reading of the myrrh-bearing women attending to Christ's body for burial, myrrh being a kind of beautifully scented preservative used for anointing.   At Christ's death on the Cross, we read in St. Mark's Gospel that there was darkness at noon covering the whole earth.  In today's reading, the three wise men follow the star that tells them of the birth of Christ, and leads them to the Child and His mother.  My study Bible commented on the understanding that the whole of creation -- signifying the power of Incarnation -- is participating in the Incarnational life of Christ, including even His human death.  For, after all, it is Jesus who tells us that the bread of heaven is His flesh, "which I will give for the life of the world" (see John 6:33, 51).  That word translated as world is κοσμος/cosmos, indicating the whole of creation, not just our world and the people in it.  The Incarnation is central to the whole of Christian faith, both in His life and in His human death, and central to the Resurrection which redeems us all through to His Ascension -- even divinized human flesh entering heaven.  Let us be grateful for such a powerful and complete redemption in which the whole of creation participates, for a new heaven and a new earth.  Let us also work the work of faith  in Him so that God's kingdom is present in our world.  Like the wise men, let us honor the Child and His mother, Christ born for us all.  Let us also rejoice, and worship Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hail, King of the Jews!

 

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. 

 

 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!'  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

 

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of  the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

 

- Mark 15:12-21 

 

Yesterday we read that, immediately, in the morning following the illegal night trial in which Jesus was condemned for blasphemy, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.  Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."  And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.  Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  See how many things they testify against You!"  But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.  Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.  

 

Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  Perhaps partially because of his wife's admonition (see Matthew 27:19) Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent (see yesterday's reading, in which we're told that Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy), and so makes an effort to save Him by repeatedly questioning the crowds regarding Jesus. But eventually he seeks to gratify the crowd.   Here my study Bible comments that Pilate's sin was less than that of the Jewish leaders who delivered Christ to him (John 19;11), for the Jews had the Law and the prophets to instruct them, and Pilate did not.  Pilate was not without sin in that, because of his desire to gratify the crowd, he knowingly sent an innocent Man to death. 

 

  Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!'  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.  My study Bible notes here that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention here is to mock and ridicule, it remains prophetic that Jesus is crowned and hailed as King by soldiers of the governor.  For a similar example of unwitting prophecy, see John 11:49-51, where Caiaphas prophecies, despite his intention, of Christ's redemptive work.  The mockery here in today's reading portrays Jesus as despised and rejected by human beings, who bears the iniquity of all of us (see Isaiah 53:3-9).  Christ is clothed in a royal purple; the Greek word for this color is πορφύρα/porphyra, a color which appeared as a deep maroon red.  My study Bible comments that it represents both Christ's royalty and the sins of humanity which He has taken upon Himself.  

 

 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of  the country and passing by, to bear His cross.  My study Bible notes the mention of Simon as the father of Alexander and Rufus, and comments that St. Mark likely asserts this here as they were still living and possibly known to contemporary hearers of the time.  It comments that there is a spiritual message here, in that we, like Simon (whose name means "obedience"), are not simply called to carry the cross which Christ sets upon us, but seeing Christ in others, we are also called to bear one another's burdens as well (Galatians 6:2). 

 

In recent readings, we have commented on the "upside down" nature of many of the events surrounding Christ's Crucifixion -- particularly in the efforts to have Him put to death and be rid of Him and His ministry.  Today's reading is no exception that series of observations.  Christ will be put to death quite literally and officially by the Romans and by sentence of Pilate, and yet it is Pilate who knows He is innocent, and even seeks to save Him.  Jesus is here called "the King of the Jews" and yet it is the Jewish religious leaders who seek to be rid of Him, to put Him to death and thus vanquish Him from among their midst.  Even Pilate asks specifically, "Why, what evil has He done?" when the people shout, "Crucify Him!"   But they don't answer, goaded on ("stirred up") by the high priests.  They simply demand, "Crucify Him!" crying out all the more.  Of course, the irony and "upside-down" nature of the treatment of Jesus by the soldiers cries out itself with great obviousness to us.  He is draped in the royal purple of the time, crowned with an improvised crown of thorns to spike and harm Him the more -- mimicking for ridicule the treatment of a worldly king.  He is struck with a reed; a reed is a weak image of a king's scepter, meant for use as a symbol of power, and here reduced to weakness in order to further humiliate Christ.  They even bowed the knee and worshiped Him.  This is again in mocking imitation of the courtly attire and treatment of a worldly king, but little do they know that it is only God who should be worshiped -- and that it is God who stands before them, and whom they treat with such contempt and debased behavior, even spitting on Him to degrade Him as much as possible.  The One who deserves our worship is the One who is silently receiving the hatred of people who don't know Him, and perhaps more importantly, whom He will forgive from the Cross, if they but accept the salvation only He can offer to the world.  What looks to worldly eyes like destruction and vanquishing is in fact the victory of Christ, and will be turned into the deepest victory possible via the power of God from the Cross, in which even death and evil will be defeated.  Human beings can mock and defeat their enemies all they want to, but spiritual reality has its own power and authority, and it will be upheld by God after all things are said and done.  Christ, we mustn't forget, is also the ultimate and first Witness -- the Faithful and True Witness, as it says in Revelation 3:14, and so ultimately is both Witness and Judge.  When we think we see a great defeat and humiliation in the world, we should remember this scene, and know that we may watch lies unfold before us, manipulated by those who hate truth, and seek to destroy the work of God for their own purposes.  We must remember that the "worldly" outlook is capable of great deception, telling us that what is priceless is actually worthless -- and upholding worthless behavior as somehow just and deserved by its victims.  Let us remember this scene and Christ as Witness, for nothing we do is missed by God, nothing is exempt from the awareness of Christ who now has experience as incarnate human being of all that we do and live through, even the effects of evil and lying in our lives, the abuses of power, the cruelty that is useless except to cause harm without meaning.  Christ is witness to it all, and He is truly King above it all, and it is to that truth we must cling, no matter what we think we see, for we also must witness in His name as well. 

 

 

 

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"

 

 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  

 

But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

 

- Matthew 28:1-10 

 

Yesterday we read that, at the time of Christ's death on the Cross, many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.  When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.  On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'  Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'  So the last deception will be worse than the first."  Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how."  So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

 

  Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.   My study Bible comments that this earthquake is a sign of Christ's great victory over death, and that it foreshadows the general resurrection of all humanity.  It asks us to note that the angel does not roll back the stone to let the Lord out, for in His glory, Christ could pass through solid rock (see John 20:19).  It rather allows the witnesses to see that He has already risen.  

But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  My study Bible tells us that these women are the first witnesses of the supreme event in all history:  the Resurrection of Christ and the destruction of death.  It notes that the angel refers to Christ as the One who was crucified, teaching us that we should not shy away from Christ's death, but to glory in the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 6:14), the weapon which Christ used to destroy death and the trophy of His victory.  In the liturgical services of Pascha/Easter in the Orthodox Church, this hymn is sung hundreds of times:  "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life."  St. Paul declares, "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17).  

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."  This greeting, literally translated as "Rejoice!" is the same one given to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-28).  It remains a common formal greeting in the Greek language.

 

 Here is an interesting thing, that as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come to see the tomb, behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  Well, just upon Christ's death on the Cross, we witness some similar-sounding things.  In Wednesday's reading, immediately upon being told that Christ yielded up His spirit, then, behold, the text says, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  In today's reading, we get a similar kind of of event in which the elements of the earth respond, there is a great earthquake.  This corresponds to the angel of the Lord descending from heaven, rolling back the stone, and sitting upon it.  There are other startling earthly elements in this description of the angel, his countenance is like lightning, his clothing as white as snow.  These elements of flashing light (like lightning) and bright white clothing have been given to us also at the Transfiguration, in which we were given a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven as we're told that Jesus was transfigured before the disciples, that His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:1-2).  Here is the annunciation of the great news of Christ's victory over death, but -- if we can even imagine it, it is so much more than that.  For this victory over death is a victory given to us.  This ushering in of the manifestation of the Kingdom, is one in which we're invited to share in this glory, giving us a glimpse of what now becomes possible for humankind in terms of that victory over death.  The news is shared that Christ is risen.  These two women run out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy; and they ran to bring His disciples word.  Here is another startling anomaly; the women are given to both fear and great joy side by side.   We might pause to wonder how both of these things can exist in people at the same time, but with Christ -- and in this realm of the Kingdom -- all bets are off; the normal limitations of earthly life don't apply anymore, and paradox may abound, for it is in paradox where we find the divine, where we can approach works of the Lord which inspire both fear and great joy.  As they run to tell the disciples this great news, Christ Himself greets them:  "Rejoice!"  But here, Jesus casts out their fear.  He echoes the angel's message, and as He has said repeatedly to the disciples, tells them, "Do not be afraid" (Matthew 14:27; 17:7).  These women, now participating in the reality of the Kingdom, are elevated with a new mission:  "Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."  Because of this mission of being sent to the "brethren" with the good news of Christ's Resurrection and His appearance to them, Mary Magdalene is known as the "apostle to the apostles" in the Church, and is also known by the title "equal to the apostles."  Simply being a witness, and touching the Christ, has elevated her to this position, and so we may also see it as a portent of what is to come when all those who join the Resurrection may come to embrace the Christ the Bridegroom.  In a homily on this passage, St. John Chrysostom speaks eloquently to us all:  "Some among you may desire to be like these faithful women. You too may wish to take hold of the feet of Jesus. You can, even now. You can embrace not only his feet but also his hands and even his sacred head. You too can today receive these awesome mysteries with a pure conscience. You can embrace him not only in this life but also even more fully on that day when you shall see him coming with unspeakable glory, with a multitude of the angels. If you are so disposed, along with him, to be compassionate, you shall hear not only these words, 'All hail!' [Rejoice!] but also those others: 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world'."