New Testament – The Tao of Holy Orthodoxy

October 15, 2017October 16, 2017

17. The Holy Transfiguration

Transfiguration Theophanes Greek (15th_c,_Tretyakov_gallery)

Jesus Christ said to His Disciples, “I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9.27, NKJV). Eight days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John upon Mount Tabor to pray. As Jesus prayed, these Disciples saw His appearance change before their eyes. They saw His face radiating with Light like the sun and His clothes became white, shining with Light, like lightning. Suddenly, they found themselves witnessing a conversation between Christ and two ancient prophets, Moses and Elias, about Christ’s approaching death. As this happened, a cloud surrounded them and the Disciples heard a voice from the cloud say, “This is My beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” Peter, James, and John fell on their faces, but Jesus approached and touched them, saying, “Get up. Do not be afraid.” When they looked up again, they saw Jesus standing alone.

On the mountain, the Disciples Peter, James, and John, saw Christ’s body transfigured by His own Divine Glory. (This event is called the Holy Transfiguration.) The Glory did not suddenly appear in that moment, but Christ opened the hearts of His Disciples so that they could see the radiance always present, yet hidden from the sight of blind human hearts. As God, Christ is the Source of Divine Glory. His Divine Presence shined through His human body as metal in hot fire glows brightly with light. He gave Peter, James, and John the gift of seeing the Glory for a moment, at least as much as they were able to withstand.

Through His Transfiguration, Christ showed His disciples that His suffering and death would not be imposed upon Him against His will by others, as though He were powerless, but that He willfully approached suffering and death with humility and love for the benefit of our humanity.

On Mount Tabor, Christ demonstrated His Power to heal and transform the human being. He showed Peter, James, and John what a healed human being looks like and what it means to be like Christ, united with the Divine Presence of God. Being the Son of God, Jesus Christ radiated with the brightness of His own Divine Glory. We are healed and perfected by personally participating in His Glory, the Uncreated Energy of God.

Read: Luke 9.21-39; Matthew 17.1-9; 1 Peter 1.1-18

October 11, 2017October 16, 2017

16. Christ Heals the Sick

After his Holy Baptism, Jesus Christ began his public ministry on earth so that everyone would know His words were true: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14.6). Christ taught those who followed Him the Way of the kingdom of heaven, that is, the Way of Life that heals us from death. He healed the sick from illnesses ravaging the body. These physical healings pointed to the greater healing He came to accomplish: The destruction of death in soul and body.

Christ healed the paralyzed man to reveal His power to raise up souls paralyzed by sin and death. He gave sight to the blind to show that He, the Light of the World, is alone the Source of true spiritual Enlightenment. He anointed suffering soul with divine forgiveness and freed the possessed from their demonic tormentors. Christ even raised the dead to confirm His Life-Giving power over death in the soul and the body.

During His ministry on earth, Christ gathered together Twelve men to learn the Way as disciples and to carry the Way into the world as apostles. They witnessed what Christ said and did, announced the kingdom of heaven, healed the sick, and cast out demons. In addition to these Twelve, Christ also appointed Seventy apostles to share in this ministry.

By His teaching of the Way and His miraculous healings, Jesus Christ publicly demonstrated that He is the one Physician, being God and man, who can restore life to the whole human person, body and soul.

Read: Luke 4.14-30; 5.17-26; 6.12-16; 9.1-6; 10.1-18; Mark 5:21-43; John 5; John 9

October 11, 2017October 16, 2017

15. The Holy Theophany

In the wilderness, Jesus Christ fasted and prayed for forty days. He demonstrated the benefit of spiritual training for acquiring good health in the soul. After His time of preparation, He visited John the Baptist. This John is the prophet who prepared for Christ’s arrival by announcing, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose” (Mark 1.7, NKJV).

Jesus instructed John to baptize Him and so John did as the Master commanded. When Jesus rose up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven proclaimed, “You are my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased” (Luke 3.21-22). The baptism of Jesus Christ is called the Holy Theophany because through this event the true and living God revealed Himself clearly to humanity as the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God.

In His Baptism, the Creator Who covered the earth with water was submerged into His creation. Since the water of the earth had been affected by the condition of death, the Son of God renewed the water, restoring it to the pristine state of Paradise. God made the nature of water pure and holy by His Divine Presence so that water could be used a spiritual medicine for healing of the human soul.

Read: Luke 3.21-22; John 1.29-34; Matthew 3.13-17

October 2, 2017October 16, 2017

14. The Holy Incarnation

The Holy Gospel According to St. John, one of four Gospels in Holy Scripture recording the life of Jesus Christ, opens with the words “In the beginning,” echoing the story of the creation in the Book of Genesis:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1.1-5, NKJV)

The Word was with God because He is the Son of the Father. God created by His Word, that is, the Father created through His Son. The Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Son, but the Son of God has always existed with God the Father. With the Father, the Son created all things, gives order to all things, and sustains all things. The Word was God because the Father and the Son are One Essence, undivided, without beginning or end. In whatever way the Father is God, the Son is also the One God.

In Greek, the Eternal Word underlying all reality is called the Logos. In Chinese, the Eternal Word is called the Tao. Ancient Greek philosophers and Chinese sages spoke of this Mystery beyond human thought, but they only knew a little of this revelation. No one can know more about God than God Himself reveals about Himself.

The Apostle John spoke more of the great Mystery concerning the the Son of God, the true Logos and Tao:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1.14, NKJV)

As Creator and Lord of All, God fills all things and sustains all things. Yet, while being present everywhere as God, He made for Himself a human body and soul in the womb of a Virgin. The Uncreated One Who contains the universe within Himself became a creature on earth. From the moment of his miraculous conception, the Son of God existed as a perfect human being, while still reigning as King over all creation. He is one Person in two natures, both completely human like His mother and entirely God as His Father. He is Jesus Christ, the God-Man. For this reason, His Virgin Mother, Mary, is called the Mother of God and Theotokos, which means, the Birth-giver of God.

The birth of Jesus Christ is also described in two other Gospels, the The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke and The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew. In his account, St. Luke described how the Archangel Gabriel brought a divine message to a young virgin named Mary. The Archangel revealed to Mary that she would give birth to a son, whom she would name Jesus. By the power of God, she would conceive in her virginity and become the mother of the Holy One, the Son of God. St. Luke indicted that when Jesus Christ was born, he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, a humble feeding trough for animals. The Child received shepherds as visitors after heavenly angels appeared in the night to announce the birth their Lord and King, called the Christ.

In his description of events, St. Matthew adds mention of a centuries-old prophecy foretelling a Ruler who would be born in the small town of Bethlehem. This Child would have ancient origins, even as far back as before time (Isaiah 7.14; Micah 5.2, LXX). St. Matthew also wrote how pagan astrologers, called Magi, travelled from a foreign land to find a King whose birth had been revealed by an auspicious star. When they found Him, the Magi presented the Child with royal gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worshiped Him.

The Apostles Matthew and Luke recorded historical details regarding the birth of Jesus Christ, the God-Man. The Apostle John, who is often symbolized by a high-flying eagle, takes us straightway to the height of the Mystery. In these few simple words, he offers a profound explanation of the meaning of Christmas: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…..

God became human so that we might become like Him by participating in His Grace (2 Peter 1.4). Our Physician joined His Divine Nature to our human nature in order to heal and perfect our human nature. This Mystery, impossible to grasp, of God becoming a human being is called the Holy Incarnation.

Read: John 1.1-14; Luke 2.2-24; Matthew 1.18-2.12