The Greatest Born of Woman

 There are three people whom the Holy Orthodox Church remembers on three occasions each during the Liturgical year.  Those occasions are their conception, their nativity, and their death.  These three are first our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (conception on 25Mar, birth on 25Dec, and death on Holy Friday), the Theotokos (conception on 09Dec, birth on 08Sep, and death or Dormition on 15Aug), and Saint John the Forerunner (conception on 23Sep, birth on 24Jun, and death on 29Aug).

Within these three, the time from conception to birth varies, with that of our Lord being the “perfect” nine months, that of the Theotokos being nine months less one day, and that of the Forerunner being nine months plus one day.  Holy Tradition holds that this indicates the humanity of both mother and Forerunner, and the divinity of the Lord. 

As we commemorate this Feast, we remember that Saint John is described as both prophet and Forerunner, with the later usually capitalized, indicating something indeed very special about the mission of this man.  While John indeed filled the mission of being a prophet, foretelling all that would come in our Lord’s ministry, in doing this, and in preparing the nation of Israel for repentance through his baptism of water, his purpose was to prepare the way of our Lord, to soften the hearts of the people to be receptive to the Lord’s message of repentance, but more than this, one of forgiveness, one of love, one of God with us!

We tend to think of Pentecost as the day upon which the Holy Spirit appeared in the world, but within the Gospel of Saint Luke is recorded the conversation of the angel with Zachariah, the father of John, foretelling that John would be “filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

In the Gospel of Saint Matthew (11:11), our Lord says of Saint John, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.”  Our Lord’s praise of His servant is not just related to the number of people whom John turned from their wicked ways by his preaching, or by his baptisms.  It is also related to the prayers offered by Saint John for the people who came to him in repentance, prayers for the life of the world and of the faithful who would come to follow Christ.  And it is related to his being so filled with the Holy Spirit .  There are those who question whether, when John sent his own disciples to our Lord as he was imprisoned to ask Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”, (Mat 11:3), he did so doubting that Jesus was the Messiah.  But the Holy Fathers teach that this is not the case.  Rather, John sent his disciples to Jesus with this question so that they might hear from the Lord’s own mouth His mighty works.  In so doing, Jesus teaches lovingly the disciples of John that they need to break from their master and follow Him.  In Saint John’s words, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Immediately before this, John bears bold witness to those who try to sew dissent by saying, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but rather, ‘I have been sent before Him.’  He who has the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom , who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.” (John 3:27-29)

In the life of Saint John, the joy of the Church is fulfilled, for he truly is the greatest born of woman.

Learning to Forget

 My personal library is filled with books.  Most of them I’ve read cover to cover.  Some of them are used as reference books to look up writings of those superior to me in wisdom, in spirit, and in general people (saints) who are beacons, lighting the way when I allow myself to get bogged down in the world around me.

Of all the books I’ve read, I remember so very little about what was written.

Take for example the writings of Saint Herman.  All of us remember his words depicted on his icon:  Let us make a vow to ourselves, that from this day, from this hour, from this very moment, we shall strive above all else to love God and to fulfill His Holy Will!  Easy, right?

We have no trouble remembering things that “click” in our minds.  Something that grabs our attention and holds on, won’t let go.  But others are all too easily forgotten.

In today’s Gospel, our Lord is directing us not to remember, but to forget!  Jesus today gifts to us the parable of the man who owed ten thousand talents.  Within the parable we find the Master calling for the man to “pay up”!  And the man pleads with the Master, not to forgive the debt, but to be patient, to give him time, and if the Master will do so he promises I will pay you all.

The Master is infinitely wise.  He knows such a repayment is not possible.  But the Master is full of compassion, and so he does not extend the clock, he instead forgives the entire debt!

There is certainly more to the parable in terms of spiritually profitable content.  But I ask the reader to pause here, and to ponder this issue of such a massive debt being forgiven.

We all understand that the Master in the parable is God.  Buried in the teaching offered by our Lord is the message that when God forgives a debt, He no longer remembers it.

Now let’s merge the two natures of the word ‘debt’ and come to understand what Jesus is really teaching us.

We say the Lord’s Prayer multiple times each day.  In our use locally, we say forgive us our trespasses.  The more technically correct wording is forgive us our debts, for a ‘trespass’ is indicative of sin, and a sin is a debt to God.

And so God is shown in the parable to be forgiving of our debts, our sins.  And like the great debt of 10,000 talents which He forgave, He ‘forgot’, He in like manner forgets our sins – when we are faithful to confess them.

We started with a focus on reading, noting how easy it is to forget the content of something we’ve just read.  And we noted that our memory is ‘keyed’ to things that “click” in our minds.  One such thing is when someone does something to harm us.  Forgiving becomes difficult, doesn’t it?  Why?  Because we’re not willing to truly forgive, which means that we must truly forget! 

Jesus ends today’s parable with a stern warning.  So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.  Understand that in the parable, do to you points back to the Master being angry, and His delivering the servant to the torturers.

Let us all learn to forgive – and to forget!!!

Trust but Verify

 In the Gospel for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Mat 14:22-34), we find the twelve being obedient to their Master.  They’ve just witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, an event which our Lord made certain that they (the Apostles) were active participants in its completion.  It was the Apostles who carried the multiplied food from the hand of Jesus to the hands of the throngs.

But Jesus sends them away.  “Get into the boat and go to the other side,” He instructs them.

We can only imagine the discussions amongst the twelve as they travel across the sea, given the magnitude of the miracle witnessed by them.

But the world (as it is wont to do) interrupts the spiritual high.  First it’s darkness.  Then it’s waves.  Finally, it’s winds carrying them off course (for the wind was contrary).  I suppose we should add to this the factor of fatigue, for the Apostles had labored all day (getting TO the place where the 5000 were fed), and now they’re laboring into the wee hours of the morning, for it was the fourth watch of the night, which in English means somewhere between 3 and 6AM!!!

It is in this physically spent state fed by the spiritual high that they find a figure moving near the storm-tossed boat.

And we must ask ourselves, “How would I react?”

These men know the Lord, but the world has dulled their physical senses.  They should recognize Him spiritually, but they’re not looking with spiritual eyes.  They’re depending on the physical.  The result is Peter’s “test.”  Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. 

Trust – but verify.

The Lord’s response is one word.  Come.  Again, in obedience, Peter climbs over the boat’s rail, places one foot on the water, and then the other.  All accomplished as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  St. Matthew records, And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

But now, the world interferes – again!

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’

We must ask ourselves, “What changed?  Did the water become ‘less firm’?  Did the wind increase in ferocity?  Were the waves higher?”  We can believe that none of these were the case. 

What changed is Peter’s belief.  The Lord’s command made him bold with respect to the world. But the world shortly made his humanity come to the fore, and he became timid with respect to the Lord, a condition which causes Jesus to chide him, saying, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Peter thought he was testing Jesus by asking Him to call him onto the water.  In the end, it is Jesus Who is testing Peter – and the other eleven – to give them an opportunity to display faith in all they had been party to in the past day.

We too are tested.  Let us ever trust in the Lord to be near to us, as He promised.

Let us never feel the need to verify His faithfulness to us.

It is never a bad prayer to call on the Lord to say, “Save me!”