The term “spirituality”
has no equivalent in Greek. Just because you can invent a term does not mean
there is a Greek equivalent to it. That is the same as saying conclusions
without the arguments lead to an ambiguous answer. So things like the incarnation,
resurrection etc have reached ambiguous conclusions in our modern society
simply because people begin the argument with the conclusion. You have to first
start with the person of Christ. You do not start with abstract concepts like
the incarnation. With that in mind we can talk about prayer, fasting, use of
icons, the relationship with faith and reason etc. Those aspects are all related
to the person Christ. So to reach a conclusion about abstract theories in the
Church, we must first get to know the person of Christ even before we begin to
talk about the incarnation or the Trinity.
Studying theology is equivalent to
studying yourself and looking at your own history. “We only ever understand
backwards but we must live forwards”. We only understand backwards when we look
back and think of what God has done in our lives. But we live in the forward.
This is how our modern life is, in that we think of the backwards of life. When
St. Paul said that we do not live by sight, rather by faith, this is what it
means to say; that we only understand backwards but we must live in the forwards.
We have to trust in the grace of God working in us. The truth of where I am now
is not revealed or made clear; it will be revealed later on. So when we die,
how will we be remembered? The truth of where we are now is hidden for the
sense of the real truth will be revealed living in the forward. Our salvation
then is still being worked out walking by faith and not by sight. With that
being said, we can come to a conclusion that speaking about the incarnation can
lead to great confusions within the church. If the early church fathers had to
have councils over these issues what makes us today any different? If we cannot
get to know the person of Christ then our faith is incomplete.
Our faith does not depend on the empty
tomb or seeing Him because the disciples both saw and spoke to Christ and they
did not understand Him or the reason for the empty tomb. On the road to Emmaus
the disciples saw him and did not know him. They were worried about the events
that had just occurred three days prior. The women reported the empty tomb to
the disciples but they did not believe them. How then did the disciples know
him? By breaking of bread and opening the scriptures. The following scripture
passage demonstrates this:
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
And He said to them, “What things?”
So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Luke 24:13-35
Why is that important? Because this is
how we remember and know Christ today. By opening Scripture and breaking bread.
When we are in church the scriptures are being opened. The opening of scripture
is the matrix and breaking of bread is the nourishment of our life. This is
important because there is no historical difference between us and the
apostles. If they did not know Christ by seeing him, that makes no difference
to us living 2000 years after the event. The same way they encountered Him is
the same way we encounter Him in the liturgical life of the church. Going to
church is not comprised of being a good Christian and reading your one chapter
every night because you have to check off your list to God. Anyone can go to
church and put on a good show. However, it is encountering the risen Lord on
the road to Emmaus that makes it important to understanding the mystery of
Christ.
One crucial aspect from the passage
found in St. Luke’s gospel is that Jesus tells them that Moses told them about
the death and coming of the Christ. For the first 4 centuries Pasha was
celebrated as one single event. We do this also on Paschal Sunday (resurrection
Sunday) but we take it for granted all the time. “Christ is risen from death, trampling death by death”. It was not
that Christ died because he was human. That is one fact all humans cannot
escape; that we will all die one day. But because he was God and could escape
his own death by death. As the hymn says, “he conquered death by death”. For
example, a pure white light goes through a prism and it reflects many lights.
But we have to remember how it is held together; by His death conquering death.
This is why we still call it Paschal Sunday. Christ shows us how it is to be
God in the way he dies as a human being. This is all made possible by his death
conquering death. He voluntarily went to his death because death had no claim
on Him. We start by knowing his passion in order to come to know the mystery of
Christ. He is stronger than death. By his death he destroys death. Why is this
important for us?
The one thing we are guaranteed is
death. We are all going to die. In knowing that we are going to die, one
question we must ask is how are we going to die? According to St. Maximus the
Confessor, Christ changed the use of death, meaning that we can use death in
life. How does one become a Christian? Through Baptism. What is Baptism? Death
in Christ voluntarily. We live not according to the passions of this world, but
rather, we use our life in service of God and to live for others. Christ
changed the use of death so that we can enter into life. We can use our death
to be born into a life which we never had before. The starting point is the
passion of the church which means death and resurrection which is understood by
the opening of scripture and the breaking of bread. This enables us to look at
the one who died on the cross and have the last public image on him dying on the
cross. This is why the cross is a major symbol in Christianity. Jesus is our
Lord and savior. In our death the identity of ours will be revealed. “We only
ever understand backwards but we must live forwards”. One thing I can be absolutely
sure of is death and second is if my heart is attached to things of this world,
then death will be painful because we are then separated from what we love.
This is why we cry at funerals and are pained by death. We cannot take anything
with us into the afterlife so we naturally mourn for people who die. Society
has taught us this concept of morning at death and in doing so we have turned
death into something that is bad. But if we learn to detach ourselves and we
learn not to live for our ego and passions and we detach ourselves then during
our physical death we can turn to God and say “into thy hand I commend my
spirit” (Luke 23:46) because we are going to the one we loved through our
death. Here is how St. Ignatius described his experience on his way to his
martyrdom:
“It is
better for me to die in Christ Jesus than to be king over the ends of the
earth. I seek him who died for our sake. I desire him who rose for us. The
pains of birth are upon me. Suffer me, my brethren; hinder me not from living,
do not wish me to die. Do not give to the world one who desires to belong to
God, nor deceive him with material things. Suffer me to receive the pure light;
when I shall have arrived there, I shall become a human being [anthrdpos
(man)]. Suffer me to follow the example of the passion of my God”. (St. Ignatius
Letter to Romans 6).
The
climax then arrives at the cross when Christ said it is
finished. What is finished? We got the beginning with man (Genesis) and Pilate
says to the people referring to Christ “behold the man”. The beginning was the
man (creation) the finishing is man which is Christ on the cross. That work is
continued through our own death through baptism and the service and we become “real”
human beings in Christ. Everything recounted in Genesis was spoken into being
but for God’s own (humanity) work it was created in the image and likeness of God.
If we refer to Genesis everything was spoken into creation while humans are a
project and made in the image and likeness of God. The only work in Genesis is
the man. Man was the beginning and the ending was man (Christ on the cross).
Through this understanding and decrement we can come to understand the mystery
of Christ the passion and resurrection narrative. If we come to die for Christ
then death will become our new and restored life in Him.
