Matthew 1:1-17 gives the genealogy of our Lord through the birth record of Joseph the Betrothed. This birth record was promised to Abraham directly. "I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen 12:3)
Among the patriarchs, the promise was continued in Isaac. "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year." (Gen 17:21) And it continued still in Jacob. "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
The first and the last of these prophecies share a common thread that is important to us. "All the families of the earth shall be blessed." All the families!
As Christians, we tend to think of ourselves as segregated, and especially as Orthodox Christians it seems that sometimes we "wall ourselves off" from the people around us. Perhaps this is because we truly think of ourselves as "in this world but not of it." Regardless of the reason, we miss the importance of these prophetic promises when we do this.
That guy and his wife across the street who never have seen the inside of any church? They're blessed by the coming of our Lord. That terrorist who wants to steal from us our peaceful existence? He's blessed by the coming of our Lord. The people who work in the abortion clinic? They're blessed by the coming of our Lord.
You see, there is no place in all of creation that the coming of the Savior in the flesh has not changed, and in that change, it is blessed by His touching His own creation from the human fleshly state.
When we bless things in the church, we do so by transferal. We sprinkle Holy Water onto things, and we declare them to be blessed. When the antidoron is blessed at Liturgy, it is done by touching one piece of the bread to the chalice and diskos, and by transferal, all the other pieces in the bread bowl are also blessed.
God's feet have walked this planet. His Body was immersed in the River Jordan. The rain washed His face, ran to the ground, and entered another cloud, thereby sanctifying every portion of the entire globe - eventually.
Truly, ALL families are blessed by the coming of the Lord. Our world is not the place that it had been before His coming. We, who dare to touch Him by taking His Body and Blood within us through the Holy Eucharist are even more intimately connected to Him, being thereby sanctified, made holy, made different from other things around us.
And like that small piece of bread, we are not to sequester ourselves in a corner of a bowl and not ever touch any others who surround us. Instead, we are to reach out and touch all who surround us, bringing the sanctification we have received to them as well.
Because EVERY family of the earth is blessed by His coming!
No comments:
Post a Comment