On November 21 in the Holy Orthodox Church the feast day of the Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple is celebrated. The epistle reading assigned for this feast is Hebrews 9:1-7, which speaks of the regulations for worship under the first covenant and describes the two parts of the tabernacle, called the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. In that text, the author of Hebrews emphasizes that the tabernacle had to be prepared before sacrifices could be offered. On this feast day, that preparation is applied to Mary, the Theotokos. When we speak of her being prepared, we don’t want to understand that this somehow qualified her to be the mother of Jesus. Mary is depicted in the Gospels as highly favored and full of grace. If her preparation somehow makes her worthy, that diminishes the grace and her election becomes a reward, something owed to her. The preparation is for Mary’s benefit, not God’s.

Notes:
Hebrews 9:1-7
Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28
κατασκευάζω (kataskeuazó) - to prepare thoroughly
πρόθεσις (prosthesis) - presence, presentation

“Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book” performed by Dead Can Dance.

This episode looks at the remembrance in the Orthodox Church of Archangel Michael, the Chief Commander of the Bodiless Powers, in light of the reading at Vespers from Joshua Chapter 5. The victory granted to Joshua and the children of Israel is based on their adherence to the commandments of the Lord. The sword drawn in the hand of the supreme commander of the army of the Lord is not merely an instrument of war, but something more dreadful. Scripturally speaking, it is the Lord’s judgment.

Notes:
Joshua 5:13-15
Exodus 3:1-5
Genesis 3:24
Ephesians 6:11-17

“Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book” performed by Dead Can Dance.
“Koran” performed by Delirium.

In the previous passage, verses 21-28, the direction of movement was out. Here, it is in - from the synagogue (representing Judaism of the diaspora) to the “house” of Simon (representing the temple, thus the Judaism of Jerusalem). And in that house, Jesus does exactly what he had done to the demon-possessed man - he brings healing through the gospel. This parallel is meant to show that the Jews in Jerusalem are in no different a position than those in diaspora: both need the gospel.

Join me in a discussion of Mark 1:28-34.

Notes:
1 Samuel 7:5-7
Galatians 1:1, 15-16; 2:9
εὐθὺς (evthys) - immediately
οἶκος (oikos) - house
στῦλοι (styli) - pillars
δοκέo (dokeio) - to seem, to appear so
πενθερὰ (penthera) - mother-in-law

https://www.ocabspress.org/new-testament-products/vol-41-mark-part-1
“Rumeta” performed by 3rd Eye Girl.
Photo by Tim Mossholder: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-white-concrete-building-3690734/

In the Antiochian Orthodox Church, St. Raphael of Brooklyn is commemorated on the first Saturday in November. At Divine Liturgy, the assigned readings are from the gospel of John and from the epistle to Hebrews. In Chapter 10 of John, Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd, the one whose voice the sheep hear when he calls them by name and leads them out. The emphasis on his leading them out reflects a scriptural motif. God takes his people out of Egypt to lead them into Canaan; in between the two is a 40-year period of instruction and testing in the wilderness. It is through obedience to that instruction, to the words that proceed out of the mouth of God, that the people are promised life.

Our understanding of the text in John chapter 10:3 in which the Shepherd first leads his sheep out hinges on the meaning of the Greek term αὐλή, which is translated as “sheepfold.” Later in John chapter 18, the same word is translated as “courtyard,” and is thus associated with the temple. Jesus leads his sheep out of the earthly Jerusalem, represented by the temple, into a place of pasture. And along with others which are not of this fold, he leads them to the temple in the Jerusalem above. In her commemoration of hierarchs, such as St. Raphael, the Church applies this aspect of shepherding to them.

Notes:
Ezekiel 34:23-24
John 10:1-3; 9-16; 18:15
Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2
αὐλή aulé - sheepfold, courtyard
Icon by the hand of Diana Voyajalou.
Troparion and Kontakion are performed by *Ncense.

Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets.

In Chapter 3 of Galatians, St. Paul teaches an understanding of Christ that begins with the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), via the story of Abraham, and goes ⅔ the way through the last scroll of the Latter Prophets, via Habakkuk. He literally “begins with Moses and all the Prophets” to explain all the things in Scripture concerning Jesus Christ. At the conclusion of the Gospel of Luke (24:26), Jesus does precisely the same for his disciples.

Notes:
Luke 24:25-26, 35, 39, 44-47, 52
Galatians 2:16; 3:11

Insight into the significance of “Emmaus” in Scripture is courtesy of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi’s Introduction to the New Testament Vol. 2: Luke and Acts (SVS Press, 2000).

Original music composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.

You Don’t Find God. He Finds You.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus enters Capernaum, a place whose name means “village of grace.” Scripturally, Jesus is bringing the news of the gospel to the people in that city as a gift. He goes into the synagogue, the place where the Jews of the diaspora gather to be taught, on the Sabbath, the day for that purpose. It is there that Jesus cleanses a man with an unclean spirit with a word of command. When it says he “entered” the synagogue, the stress is on the fact that grace is coming to them from outside. The gospel does not come from them, but it is unto them. This parallels the movement in Exodus where the children of Israel receive the Torah as a gift and are commanded to follow the voice of the Lord by keeping his statutes, in the wilderness. In Scripture, we don’t find God in a temple; rather, he leaves his abode in the heavens and comes to us through the word he puts into the mouth of his prophet.

Join me as we continue our reading through the Gospel of Mark.

Notes:
John 16:27, 28, 30
εἰσέρχομαι eiserchomai - to come into, to enter in, or go through
ἐξέρχομαι exerchomai - to go out of
יצא yatsa’ - to go out of
εὐθὺς evthys - immediately
ἐξουσίαν exousian - authority
ὑπακούω hupakouó - to obey
ὁρίζω horizó - to declare

Photo by hanabi dae.
“Hallucination Rain” and “The Exodus Has Begun” courtesy of NPG Vandals.

The Seed Of Instruction.

In this episode we look at passages about the Apostle Phillip the Deacon from Acts chapter 8. The Apostle with a Greek name (same as the father of Alexander of Macedon) preaches to and baptizes Samaritans; and he takes the Gospel to the farthest regions where there was little or no chance for life. The Biblical emphasis is on progeny through instruction, which it presents as parallel with biological reproduction - see the Parable of the Sower from Mark 4, Luke 8, and Matthew 13. This emphasis is underscored in the passage of Phillip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. He is someone with no chance for progeny, and he happens to be reading Isaiah 53, a text in which the servant of the Lord is said to offer up himself and in doing so “see his seed,” and “prolong his days.”

See my companion article on Substack.
Hear the related sermon on Luke’s Parable of the Sower on YouTube.

Notes
Isaiah 53:10
Luke 8:5-15
Acts 6:1-6; 17

Original music composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photograph-of-a-man-reading-a-bible-7218329/

In this passage we hear about Jesus passing by the Sea of Galilee and calling two sets of brothers. First, we encounter “Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon.” It is said that they were “casting a net” for they were fishermen. Mark’s use of the verb ἀμφιβάλλοντας is important to note here. Ballo by itself means to throw; the prefix amphi adds the sense of “around” or “on both sides.” Although there is no direct object, English translators supply “their nets” since that’s the implication. But hearing it in Greek, it sounds like they were “casting” or “throwing back and forth,” as in “vacillating,” “tergiversating.” Join me in a discussion of Mark 1:16-20.

Notes:
βάλλω ballo - to throw, cast, put, place
Joshua 7:1
Mark 8:33; 14:29
John 10:12-13
Galatians 2:9; 11; 12-13; 4:26

Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/out-of-use-information-on-petrol-dispenser-11058870/
“Thirteen and 1/4” and “Ten and 1/2” performed by Madhouse.