The Jesus Prayer Part 10 - Mercy in the Old Testament

Psalm 25:10 (KJV)
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

In the Jesus prayer, we ask for God to "have mercy" on us. What is this mercy that we ask for? Mercy is a major theme in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the hymns, prayers, and worship services of Christians for the last 2,000 years. The definition given in Strong's Concordance for the hebrew and greek words for mercy are kindness and compassion, and can also be found translated as kindness, lovingkindness, and compassion. So when we ask the Lord to have mercy, we are asking Him to be kind, have compassion, and to be good to us.

In the Old Testament, mercy is used to describe the rescue of Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom, how Rahab was spared from the destruction of Jericho, and letting go of the man who showed the way into the city in Judges 1:22-26. It was mercy that Joseph was delivered from the Pharoah's prison. It was a mercy to be buried after dieing. Abraham's servant called it a mercy of God that he met Rebekah at the well. It was mercy that God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt as sung in the Song of Moses and Psalm 136, and anytime they were victorious over their adversaries in battle. It was the Lord's mercy that Israel was able to endure the Babylonian captivity, and a mercy that they were freed from it. It was God's great mercy that he promised to send a Messiah from the Seed of David to rule on His throne forever, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament scriptures tell us that it is the Lord's mercy that holds us up when our foot slips. It is the Lord's mercy that delivers us from our enemies that seek after our soul. It is mercy that we find pardon for our iniquity and our transgressions are blotted out and no longer remembered. It is God's mercy that our prayers and supplications are heard. It is in His mercy that our repentence is accepted and the Lord gives us good when we had evil coming to us. It is a mercy when we are corrected by a righteous man. And it is a mercy that we are granted salvation.

While we are told that God's mercy is everlasting and endures forever, our reception of that mercy is not unconditional. We are told that His mercy is as great as the height of heaven from earth  and is everlasting upon them that fear Him. The Lord shows mercy to those that love Him and keep His commandments. The proverbs tell us that mercy is to them that devise good and he that follows after mercy shall find life, righteousness, and honor. Upon finishing the Temple, Solomon acknowledged that God's mercy is on His servants who walk before Him with all their heart. We are told that we must show mercy and compassions every man to his brother. This is why the Lord said that He desires mercy and not sacrifice and that He has controversy with those who show no mercy. This is not a condemnation of following religious observances, only that they be made with the right heart, as Jesus would later tell his disciples to be reconciled to their brother before making their offering on the altar. The prophet Jonah said that they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But Psalm 147:11 says that the Lord takes pleasure in them that fear Him and hope in His mercy, so keeping that in mind, let us all strive to please the Lord in this way.

May God have mercy on me and according to His lovingkindness and according unto the multitude of His tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

The Jesus Prayer Part 9 - Son of God

Gen 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

John 1:1-3,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made 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.

Most people are familiar with the verse that says that God gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What does it mean for Jesus to be the only begotten Son of God, and what does that mean for Christians?

To be "begotten" means to come from, like a son takes his origin in his father. And while a "son" litereally means a "male child", scripturally speaking, it is the son who receives the inheritance from his father, and if there is more than one son, the firstborn receives twice as much of the inheritance as his brothers do. Men are not referred to in the Old Testament as being  sons of God. The only one referred to as being God's son is the nation of Israel. It is written in Exodus that "Israel is my son, even my firstborn" and by the prophet Hosea "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt". The verse in Hosea is referenced in Matthew as referring to Christ, and it could be understood that the references to Israel as God's son are talking about when God would send His own Son into the world. This is why the Psalms say "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." and "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.".

So what is the God's inheritance that He gives to His Son? In the old Testament it is first the people of Israel. Moses asked God to  "take us for thine inheritance", and then when God was going to destroy Israel for making the golden calf, Moses made his petition for Israel to not be destroyed "For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt". Samuel told Saul that the Lord had anointed Saul to be captain over His inheritance. Solomon ended his prayer at the dedication of the temple asking God to hear the prayers of the people and to forgive their sins "For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt". There are also references in the Psalms such as "Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance" and "Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed". There are also a couple of references to God inheriting the nations like "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." and "Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations." The inheritance that is given to God's poeple in the Old Testament is always the promised land that they were brought out of Egypt in order to inhabit.

So if a son being begotten from his father means that the Father is the source from which the Son comes, then when we call Jesus the Son of God, we are saying that He comes from God, has everything pertaining to the divine nature, and receives the inheritance of His Father. The first chapter of John tells us that in the beginning the Word was with God and was God, and that Word became flesh and dwelt (literally "tabernacled") among us. When Mary asked how she would conceive at the annunciation, the angel told her "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.". This is why Jesus said that "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself" and that He proceeded forth from God. It is written in Colossions that "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." and that he is "the image of the invisible God". This is why Jesus said that he who see Him sees the Father and Paul writes that the knowledge of the glory of God is "in the face of Jesus Christ". God the Father testifies of this truth, both at Christ's baptism and at the transfiguration on the mountain, when He says "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". Even the demons recognize Jesus as being the Son of God when they meet Him in the gospels.

If God's inheritance in the Old Testament was His people, then the inheritance that Christ receives from His Father is the Church and all the people that would be reconciled to God through Him. This why He prays "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.".

As God's people in His Church, we are told that "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God". This is why we are told that we must be "born again" of "water and of the Spirit". This is done in baptism where we are "buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." and Peter writes that God has "begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". While Christ is begotten of the Father with the same divinity as the Father, we are told that "the  Word became flesh" and elsewhere that in all things He became like unto His brethren, so He shares in our human nature in all things but sin. By uniting Himself to us, it is through Him that we "receive the adoption of sons" and become "an heir of God through Christ". It is the "Spirit of adoption" received in and through Christ that allows to cry out to God "Abba, Father"

Our inheritance in Christ is that we shall be like Him and see Him as He is, inherit everlasting life, the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, incorruption, and redemption through His blood. To live as a son of God in union with the Son of God, we must be "led by the Spirit of God" and suffer together with Him in this life if we are to be glorified together with Him when He returns. We also must be willing to forsake houses, family, and lands for Christ. We must also continually maintain Peter's confession of faith that He is "the Christ, the son of the living God". We also must always keep the attitude that Peter confessed toward Christ when Peter said "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.". We must also constantly strive to purify ourselves because "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.".

May the Son of God, the Word made flesh, Who has the words of eternal life grant me the strength to endure suffering with Him and purify myself with hope in Him that, having received the Spirit of adoption, I may be glorified together with Him when He returns.

The Jesus Prayer Part 8 - Christ and King Cyrus

Ezra 1:1-2 (KJV)
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

John 2:19-22
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

This will be my third post on what it means to say that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The first mention of an anointed in the Old Testament was the priesthood of Aaron and the second is of the kings of Israel being anointed to rule over God's people. King Cyrus is a type of how the two roles are brought together and fulfilled in one person. Historically, he is the one who gave the decree allowing the Jews to return home from their exile and rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem.

The prophecy spoken by Jeremiah that is referenced in Ezra and 2 Chronicles is that of "Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof." Isaiah prophecies in chapter 44 that Jerusalem will be inhabited and the decayed places will be raised up. In Chapter 45, the Lord says through the prophet that Cyrus is His anointed and that "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.".

This theme of rebuilding God's city and temple, freeing His people from bondage, and gathering them together unto Himself is found throughout the Old Testament. In the Psalms we find statements about building up Zion and Jerusalem like "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.", "For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.", "When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.", and "The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel." Amos prophecies "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.", and Zechariah prophecies "And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.". Notice how Zechariah prophecies that the one who "shall sit and rule upon his throne" as king is the same person as the "priest upon his throne".

All of this is fulfilled in Jesus by His death and resurrection. It is the Temple of His Body that is crucified and then raised up. Jesus said that if He is raised up (on the cross), that He would draw all people unto Himself. It is also the basis for our worship, that is the worship that He established that is in Spirit and in truth.

It is said in Luke 1:74 "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear", the last enemy being destroyed of course is death, which was defeated in His crucifixion and resurrection in glory. The service that we have been freed to offer to God is the worship in Spirit and in truth that Jesus spoke of to the samaritan woman at the well. With circumcision being the sign of God's people, Paul writes that we as Christians are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and elsewhere that this circumcision is "made without hands" where we are "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.". We are to continue in being united with Him through the celebration of Holy Communion where we gather on sunday, the day of the week on which our Lord was raised from the dead, in order to proclaim the sacrifice of His death until He returns as often as we "eat of this bread" and "drink of this cup".

By being united to Jesus through His Church, we become God's people, ransomed by His blood on the cross and freed from death by His glorious resurrection. Jesus gave His apostles the promise that through them and on Peter our Lord would build His Church over which the gates of hell would never prevail. Paul describes the Church as being "God's building" which the apostles all labor together to build up, trusting in God to give the increase. The Church is the Body of Christ, over which Christ Himself is the Head. There are many members, being all joined together, which no member can say to another "I don't need you", that all work together to form the Body. Being united to Christ, we are individually members of Him and the Body of His Church. Being "bought with a price", our bodies become temples of God and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. This is why we are taught to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God as our "reasonable service" (worship according to the Word spoken of in John 1:1-14).

Being united to Christ through His death and resurrection, may I learn to better glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God's, so that I may offer myself up to God as a living sacrifice, acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable service to Him.

The Jesus Prayer Part 7 - Christ the King

Zech 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Matt 21:7-9
And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

This post I'm going to talk a little bit about the Christ as King. The two kings that are found anointed in the Old Testament are first Saul and then David. They were anointed for the purpose of ruling over God's people, which at the time was the undivided kingdom of Israel. The promise was given that God gives great deliverance to His king and mercy to His anointed, and that it would be to David and to his seed forever more.

Throughout the Old Testament, even though Israel had a king to rule over them, it was always God who was their true King, and it was by God's authority that the king ruled. This is why even after David had been anointed as king and Saul was still alive, David would not rise up against Saul.  It was not until after Saul had died in battle that David took the throne. The Psalms are full of verses proclaiming that God is king over all the earth, His throne is forever, and that His dominion endures throughtout all generations.

Jesus, being the Seed of David as traced through Matthew's geneology, and being the Word made flesh who was with God in the beginning and was God, is heir to the kingdom and ruler over all. He fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah in His entrance into Jerusalem that we celebrate on Palm Sunday, and of all the accusations that were made against Him, It was only for being "King of the Jews" that was written on the cross as his reason for being crucified.

He is King over God's people and over all of creation. Psalm 2 says that He would receive the heathen for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, Psalm 22 says that He is Governor among all nations, and Zechariah says that He will be king over all the earth. This is fulfilled in Jesus being the name to which every knee shall bow, and also in the grafting of the gentiles into the Church as His kingdom. Ephesians says that it is in Him, through the cross, that we are fellow citizens with the saints and of the houshold of God. It is because of this all encompassing authority of God that we are commanded to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching to observe what we have been commanded to keep.

So how do we become citizens of God's kingdom? We become citizens of His kingdom here on earth by being baptized into Christ by the power of His death and resurrection identifying us as believers and disciples. Being given the promise of citizenship in His eternal kingdom, we are to persevere in faith in order to attain to the resurrection.

There are a number of instructions given as guidance on how to do this. Jesus says that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom but those who do the will of His Father. We are to humble ourselves as little children. We are to take care how we hear, to have our hearts be like the good soil into which the seed of the message of the Gospel takes root and grows producing much fruit in us. We are to trade in all that we have in order to receive it as the pearl of great price. We are to forgive others knowing the depths of which God's forgiveness has been extended to us. We are to receive the invitation given to us and to come prepared like in the parable of the wedding feast. We are to recognize and honor the image and likeness of God in human beings just as the sheep on christ's right hand. We are to cut off our hand and pluck out our eye, that means severing attachments to things of the world that come between us and God and to prefer God above all things. We are to wisely invest the talents given to us by God in order to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

And as Christ said that the violent take the kingdom by force, we must actively seek God and press toward Him and be conformed to Christ. This means we have to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, which requires every bit of effort that we are capable of putting forward in the struggle to walk by faith. There will come times when we will fail and fall in our struggles, but we are not to despair. We are to trust in God and, as Peter did when he started sinking in the water, reach our hand out and yell "save me" when we find ourselves placing our focus on the storm around us instead of on Christ in Whom we are saved.

May god give me the strength to walk according to His kingdom in which He reigns and is clothed with majesty.

The Jesus Prayer Part 6 - Christ as The Great High Priest

1sam 2:10 (KJV)
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Acts 17:3
Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Why do we call Jesus "Christ"? What does it mean to be the Christ? The word "Christ" means "anointed". In the Old Testament, there are only a handfull of people that are called "anointed". The first to be found is Aaron and his sons who were anointed to serve as high priest in the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Next, we find kings Saul and then David who were anointed to rule over God's people. Finally, a reference is made to Cyrus, the king of Persia who ended the captivity by allowing the Jews to return home and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, as being the Lord's anointed. Instead of one really long post covering how Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of these three types, I will break it down into sections covering each.

The anointed high priest in the Old Testament was Aaron. He was anointed by first being washed in water and then anointed in oil. His purpose as high priest was to serve in the Tabernacle at the altars (one for offering incense and one for burnt offerings).

Just as the Lord ordered Aaron to be washed and anointed before serving as the high priest, Jesus also began his earthly ministry in the same way. He went John the Baptist to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness, and after he had come up out of the water, the Holy Spirit was seen descending on Him from above. This is such an important mark the beginning of His ministry, that the Gospel of Mark begins with this event and moves forward from there, and mentions nothing of what Jesus said or did before then.

After having been washed and anointed, Aaron was then dedicated to serving in the Tabernacle and offering the sacrafices on behalf of the people. The New Testament in general proclaims that Jesus offered Himself as the one offering on behalf of all the people as the Great High Priest, but nowhere is this so firmly stated as it is in the book of Hebrews. If I could, I would just copy and paste the entire book here because I can come nowhere close to getting the point across as Hebrews does, but that would make for too long of a post, so I do suggest reading it. We are taught how it behoved the eternal Word of God to become made like unto the brethren where in His Person He fully joined the human and divine natures. He did this both to be a merciful and faithful high priest and to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Being tempted as we are in all ways without sinning, he knows the pain and suffering that we endure on account of our sin and the sins of others. Being without sin Himself, He is holy, undefiled, and doesn't have to offer daily sacrifices for Himself. This makes Him able to offer up Himself once as the Sacrifice without spot or blemish, and this one single offering of Himself is able to be made for all of mankind. The offering that was made was the offering up of Himself on the cross in order to endure our death so that we could be raised up in His resurrection and receive His eternal life.

Seeing then that we have such a Great High Priest, let us hold fast our profession, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross in order to reconcile us to Himself.

September 11, 2001

Ps 112:6-7 (KJV)
Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

Prov 10:7 (KJV)
The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

On sept 11, 2001, two jets crashed into the twin towers in New York city, one into the Pentagon, and another was hijacked but failed to reach its inteded target, crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Many were killed in the plane crashes and the detruction of the buildings that were destroyed, and gave their lives in response to the tragedies that had occurred. Police, firmen, and paramedics scrambled to the scenes of the devastation while our nation's entire military was immediately put on high alert.

Just as Paul expressed in writing a prayer for the departed Onesiphorous, "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day", and the thief on the cross asked of Christ "Lord, remember me when thou comest ino thy kingdom", we Orthodox ask the Lord to remember those departed this life. We do this out of faith in the Lord and out of love for the departed. Here is the litany for the departed as found on the OCF* web site:


Priest: Have mercy upon us, O God, according to Thy great mercy, we beseech Thee: hear us, and have mercy.

People: Lord, have mercy. (three times)

Priest: Furthermore we pray for the repose of the soul(s) of the servant(s) of God (name-s of the deceased), departed from this life, and that Thou wilt pardon all his (or her or their) sins, both voluntary and involuntary.

People: Lord, have mercy. (three times)

Priest: That the Lord God will establish his (or her or their) soul(s) where the just repose.

People: Lord, have mercy. (three times)

Priest: The mercies of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the remission of his (or her or their) sins, we ask of Christ, or King Immortal and our God.

People: Grant this, O Lord.

Priest: Let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy. (one time)

Priest: O God of spirits, and of all flesh, Who hast trampled down death by death, and overthrown the Devil, and hast bestowed life upon Thy world: do Thou Thyself, O Lord, grant rest to the soul(s) of Thy departed servant(s), (name-s of the deceased), in a place of brightness, a place of verdure, a place of repose, whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled away. As the gracious God, Who lovest mankind, pardon every transgression which he (or she or they) has (or have) committed, whether by word, or deed, or thought. For Thou alone art without sin, and Thy righteousness is to all eternity, and Thy word is truth. For Thou art the Resurrection, and the Life, and the Repose of Thy departed servant(s) (name-s of the deceased). O Christ our God, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with Thy Father, Who is from everlasting, and Thine All-Holy, and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

People: Amen.


May the Lord God remember those who died in the attacks and in response to those attacks, and may their memory be eternal.

*http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/liturgy/liturgy.html

The Jesus Prayer Part 5 - Jesus

Matt 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Is 43:11
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

Jesus is the name above every name to which every knee shall bow. What exactly is in a name? Well, in ancient times and especially in scripture, everything. For example, Adam means man (as in mankind, not male) because he is the single human from which our entire race originates, and means "red earth" because he was formed from the earth. "Jesus" is rooted in the name "Joshua" and comes from a combination of "Lord" and "to save".

That word for "save" in the Old Testament is usually translated as "save" but can also be found translated as "defend" and "victory". In most places it is used, it generally refers to some sort of military victory. The watchword given in 2 Maccabee 13:15 was "Victory is of God", which in hebrew would have been where we get the name "Jesus" from. The wars found in the Old Testament were not wars between people, but between the true God and other gods. The struggles of God's people against other gods and their victory coming from God and as a result of their faithfulness to Him are types to be fulfilled in Christ's victory over sin and death and our participation in that victory by being faithful to Him. It can also be found used in the Old testament in reference to saving the poor and needy from those that oppress them.

In the New testament, the word used in Matthew 1:21 to say that Jesus will "save" people from their sins literally means "to be made whole" and can be found translated as "save", "heal", and "make whole". The wide application of this word is used to describe both, the range of the effects of sin (which I hope to go into more detail in a later post in this series of posts on the Jesus prayer), and the complete undoing of sin accomplished by Christ crucified and raised from the dead. It is used to describe the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, the expelling of demons, the healing of leprosy, the raising of the dead, the giving of sight to the blind, when Peter and John healed the man in the temple, pulling Peter out of the water, and the forgiveness of sins. It is even used when Jesus is mocked on the cross being told to "Save thyself, and come down from the cross.".

The salvation that Christ offers "from their sins" is accomplished by the power of His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead and is ultimately fulfilled in the general resurrection when Christ shall return. It is a gift of God offered to us because we are not capable of saving ourselves and God does not desire the destruction of His creation. Paul begins the 15th chapter of 2 Corinthians (dealing with the resurrection) by saying that we are saved if we keep in memory that which he preached. It is written in Romans 6 that we are united in Christ's death and raised to newness of life through our baptism into Christ. This is why it is written elsewhere that we are saved "by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" and Peter writes that "baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ".

Baptism is our entrance into our life in Christ, but not the end. That is why we are instructed to "run with patience the race that is set before us" and "he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.". This is why in the face of adversity and knowledge of our failures we must "call on the name of the Lord" to be saved. We must also continually hold fast to our confession of the Lord Jesus and and the belief in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead. We are told to "save" ourselves (1 Timothy 4:16) by following Christ, and that by drawing others closer to Christ, we can "save" them and "hide a multitude of sins" (1 Corinthians 7:16, 9:22, James 5:20, Jude 1:23) by bringing them closer to Christ, Who is the only salvation.

May God give me the endurance to run the race set before me and to hold fast to the confession of the Lord Jesus and that Victory is of God.

The Jesus Prayer Part 4 - Lord

Ps 98:2
The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

1Cor 8:6
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

What do we mean when we call Jesus "Lord"? Who is the Lord? What does it mean for Him to be "Lord"? These are things we must think about when we dare to say that Jesus is Lord and to call on Him as such.

When Moses encountered the Lord in the burning bush on Mt Sainai, he aske the Lord what His name was. The response given to Moses was simply "I AM THAT I AM", or in some translations "I Am The Existing One" or "The One Who Is". Everywhere the word "LORD" (spelled in all caps at least in the KJV) is found in the Old Testament in reference to God, it is used as a substitute for the name which God spoke to Moses because the name itself was too holy to be spoken among the Jews. In the Old Testament, it was "the Lord God" Who "made the earth and the heavens" and "formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." and that there is none else beside Him. In the Psalms He is the One Who forgives iniquities, heals diseases, and redeems your life from destruction, but He is also the One Who "shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.".

In the New Testament, Jesus is revealed as the Lord of both the living and the dead and blesses the apostle Thomas for proclaiming Him to be "my Lord and my God".

What does this mean to us? We are to repent towards God and put our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We must confess alongside Thomas that Jesus is our Lord and our God. We are to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. It is only proper that we should worship and bow down as we kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God and we are the people if His pasture. We are to do everything that we do heartily as to the Lord and not men. We are also commanded to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,and with all thy mind". Because mankind is made in the image and likeness of God, we are to "love thy neighbour as thyself" as a reflection of our love for God in Whose image our neighbor is made. It is also in loving that we find fulfillment in being made in the image of our God Who is Himself love.

May the Lord Jesus Christ forgive me for all my failures to love God, love neighbor, and to serve Him in fear and rejoice in Him with trembling.

The Jesus Prayer Part 3 - The Publican and the Pharisee

Luke 18:9-14
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The second half of the Jesus prayer is the prayer of the publican in which we ask the Lord Jesus, who we confess to be "the Christ, the Son of the Living God", to "be merciful to me a sinner". This petition is held in contrast to that of the pharisee in which he thanks God that he is "not as other men are" and goes on to list the faults of other people while refusing to admit his own. He then gives a list of what he does "right" that makes him better than everyone.

The problem with this is that the Law doesn't justify anyone, with the exception of Jesus Christ. Mankind is made in the image and likeness of God. God is our standard for living and being, also the standard for what is holy and righteous. The Law proclaims the glory of God and sets His standard for how we are to show our love for Him and for our neighbor. This is the love on which Christ taught that the all the Law and the prophets hinged. Paul writes that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Christ taught that if someone breaks one law, they break them all. This is because a failure to keep any part of the law is to fall short of that which God calls us to do and to be. Every law calls us to show the same love to God and neighbor, so no matter which part we fail to keep, we fail to keep the one objective they all have in common. By not using the Law to find where his faults were in order to seek God to forgive his failures, he refused to seek God for his justification. This is why Christ said that this man did not leave justified.

The publican, on the other hand, was a tax collector for the Roman government. Many tax collectors made their money by collecting more than what was owed and keeping the difference for themselves. In addition to being a symbol of foreign occupation and oppression, they were also known for using the threat of military force to extort money from their fellow countrymen. He knew he was a sinner in need of the mercy of God and there was no way around it. The publican was so ashamed of his actions before God that he would not even dare to look up towards heaven. The publican knew that God was holy and that he had failed to live to God's holy standard.

Not only did he recognize his failure, but also recognized God's mercy and willingness to forgive the sins for which he repented. He knew that he did not deserve any mercy and that nothing was "owed" to him by God, but asked in faith knowing that God does not desire the death of a sinner but that he should repent and live. It was in this spirit that God accepted the repentence of Zachaeus and commissioned the tax collector Levi to become known as the apostle Matthew. It was from acknowledging his failures before God and seeking forgiveness from Him that Christ said he went down justified.

May I learn to better imitate the publican, and while humbling myself before God, to cry out for Him to be merciful to me a sinner.

The Jesus Prayer Part 2 - Peter's Confession of Faith

Matt 16:13-17
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

The Jesus prayer begins with first making Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This confession of faith is what sets Christians apart from the world. Just as Christ asked his disciples "Who do men say that I am?", we are still faced with this same question 2,000 years later. There are many "Jesus's" that the world proclaims. Some that He was a prophet, but nothing more. Some say that He was just a good rabbi and wise teacher. Some say He traveled to India and studied Buddhism for a number of years before beginning His ministry. Some claim that he was just another Jewish zealot who lead a revolt against the Romans. Some even say that He might have been an alien. Others question His very existence as a real person.

Christians don't say any of the above, or even accept the possibility. Just as Christ asked His disciples "who do you say that I am?", this confession of faith is essential being one of Christ's disciples. What do we confess? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He is the Messiah that came in fulfillment of the entire Old Testament prophecied to the Jews who were chosen as God's people to bring His Son into the world. Christ's Father is God, and with God as His Father, he is of the same divinity of his Father and Lord over all of creation. As Christians, we acknowledge Christ's Lordship and worship and glorify Him accordingly. We are to dedicate our lives and very existence to living in accordance under His authority.

The contrast between this confession and any other is made clear. Jesus asked "who do men say that I am?", implying that any other confession is of men and not of God. These answers have their origin in human imagination. When Jesus asked "who do you say that I am?", He was identifying the answer to what one must believe in order to be His disciple. The question was asked to all of His disciples, and when Peter spoke, he gave the one answer that was on everyone's mind. Giving this answer to this question is part of what identifies one as being a disciple of Christ. One can not give any other answer or deny this statement of faith in proclaiming who Jesus is and still remotely claim to be a Christian.

Christ also told Peter that this was not revealed by flesh and blood, that is that it does not originate in the mind of man, but is revealed by His Father and has it's origin in the revelation of God. This contrast between the doctrines of men and of God is found in the apostolic preaching in the New Testament. Paul expressed the divine nature of the message of the Gospel and proclamation of faith in his first letter to the Thessalonians when he said "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." in reference to the message as recorded in Acts "that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ."

May God help me to better confess Jesus as the Christ Who is the Son of the Living God so that I may grow in Him and become a better disciple of Him.

The Jesus Prayer - Part 1

Matt 16:15-16
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Luke 18:13-14
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Yeah, that's right, I said part one. Out of all the prayers that can be found, this one is probably the shortest prayer that says the most. That being said, there are a lot of things that can be said about this prayer. Being a combination of Peter's confession of faith and the publican's prayer of repentence, one could talk about the context of those two things as they are found in scripture. One could talk about the meaning of the words themselves as we pray them. One could also talk about the historical development of repeating short prayers. I will probably attempt to cover a little bit of all of these things in a number of posts.

The Servant of God, Patrick

Psalm 145:10-12 (KJV)
All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

1 Cor 11:1
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

The Confession of St Patrick
I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.


I said in my first post that I would probably start this blog out by writing about the title and url of this blog and the screen name by which I write this blog. So far I have commented on the title and url of this blog. The reason the title and url are different is actually pretty simple, I came up with the title first and the url had already been taken. I had to find a different url but wanted to keep the title, so this is the result. Following through with my initial idea, this post will be dedicated to my screen name.

While being received into the Orthodox Church, I had to find a patron saint. For those who might be reading this and do not come from a faith tradition which has patron saints, just think of them as a big brother or sister in Christ in which you can first and foremost recognize Christ and the Holy Spirit in their life having persevered until the end, personally identify with, and look to for guidance in how to live a life in service to and drawing near to God. Most people usually pick someone with the the same name as them, unfortunately I'm not aware of any Orthodox saints sharing my first or middle name. I used to be into music and had a couple of bands a while back, so for a while I thought of St Romanos the Melodist, who was a deacon that had no musical talent (which I also have no talent yet played anyway) but loved to sing in the choir. One night he had a dream and woke up singing what would become the kontakion (a type of hymn) for the Nativity (Today the virgin gives birth to the transcendent one...) and would go on to compose many other hymns including the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos (sung every year in the Orthodox Church during great lent). Another possibility was to choose the saint commemorated on my birthday, St Patrick. I found a chaplet to St Patrick on a Catholic web site that had nothing contradictory to the Orthodox faith, and after praying about it for a time, ended up with the saint whose feast day I've celebrated with some regularity throughout my life as my patron saint. Because St Patrick is my patron saint, when receiving Communion in my church, I am referred to as "The servant of God, Patrick".

St Patrick was born in Britain in the year 373. He was kidnapped, taken to Ireland, and sold into slavery at the age of 16. After watching over sheep as a slave for 6 years he ran away from his master and returned back to his homeland. After spending some time in Europe, Patrick was ordained as a bishop and returned to Ireland as a missionary following the example of the apostles in their missionary journeys. He traveled throughout the island turning the people from their pagan druid religion and converting them to Christ, establishing churches where he went. At one point during Patrick's mission, a British king named Coroticus ordered a raid in which people were taken as slaves on an Irish settlement under Patrick's pastoral care. The same Patrick who had been kidnapped and forced into slavery as a youth, was now writing a letter to a king threatening excommunication and condemnation in defense of and in order to set free the same nation of people who had once held Patrick in bondage. On march 17th in the year 493 (the year of hs death is questioned today, but this date is more consistent with more ancient accounts of him), at the age of 120 years, after spending a lifetime in Ireland converting people and kings, performing mighty acts, healing the sick, raising the dead, establishing churches ordaining bishops and priests, lighting the fire of faith in Christ in Ireland that was prophesied to never die out, St Patrick left the body in order to be present with the Lord Jesus. He defended his flock during his lifetime, helps us now through his prayers at the feet of Christ Himself, and was promised by Christ in a vision to stand as judge alongside the apostles at the resurrection.

While thou didst live on earth, O blessed father Patrick, thou didst bind to thyself the strong name of the Holy Trinity, and faith in the undivided Trinity Who created the universe. Now that thou standest before the throne of the Holy Trinity, entreat Christ our God to save our souls!

Open Thou My Lips

Psalm 51:15 (KJV)
O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

This Psalm is numbered 51 in the Masoretic Text (the text most Protestant bibles are translated from) and 50 in the greek Septuagint and latin Vulgate (the texts that most Orthodox and Roman Catholic bibles are translated from respectively). The immediate context of this Psalm is that it is King David's prayer of repentence after being confronted by the prophet Nathan concerning the murder and adultery that David had committed. King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and, in an attempt to cover up his sin when she became pregnant, ordered her husband into a battle where the soldier was sure to die. David then took her to be his own wife after she had mourned the loss of her husband.

The immediate context of this verse can be found in the verse before it. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. These words seem to imply that David is incapable of properly offering God the praise and worship that is due to God because of the gravity of this sin. It is only through seeking God with a broken and contrite heart, that healing and reconciliation can be obtained. Only then, after finding salvation in the Lord from the oppression of sin, can David be truly free to sing of God's righteousness and be able to please Him with offerings as a sacrifice of righteousness.

Liturgically speaking, this Psalm is probably the most used of all the Psalms in the Orthodox Church and other churches that worship according to the eastern rite. It is included in matins (morning prayer service), the third hour prayers, and in compline (late evening prayer service). The priest recites it while censing the church in preparation for the liturgy (the main worship service including Holy Communion), and then again when censing during the liturgy. After the preparation for the liturgy, this verse in particular is the last words to come out of a priest's mouth before giving the opening benediction to begin the liturgy. This Psalm is also typically included in the daily prayers that you will find in an Orthodox prayer book. This Psalm (although a different verse) is also quoted in the beginning of most traditional Roman Catholic and Western Rite Orthodox masses.

May we all cry out in imitation of King David, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." and "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." with the hope of hearing those glorious words that were told to him from the prohet Nathan, "The LORD also hath put away thy sin" so that we may sing aloud of God's righteousness and in good conscience offer a "sacrifice of righteousness".

Made Perfect in Weakness

2 Cor 12:9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

In His sermon on the mount, our Lord said "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." and His mother said "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away." in her Magnificat. It is in God that we live, move and have our being and without Him we can do nothing. Part of the Christian life is recognizing God as our source of life and strength and turning to Him as such, especially when we recognize trial and tribulation in our lives. It is ungodly pride that says "I can beat this myself" when adversity comes, and ungodly despair becomes the result when we fail to overcome that adversity on our own and on our own terms.

Christ Himself said that in this world we would have tribulation. Paul preached that we must endure much tribulation in order to enter into the kingdom God. This is for our benefit, for Peter writes that those who suffer according to the will of God are to commit the keeping of their souls to Him, and Paul writes that this is because tribulation works patience, patience works experience, experience works hope, and our hope in Christ makes us not ashamed. It is through our trials that we are given the opportunity to recognize our true need of God for everything including our own very existence. We are given the opportunity to cry out "save me" just as Peter did when he got out of the boat (don't be surprised if this becomes a recurring theme, I often have a tendency to think of things in terms of Peter getting out of the boat) and recognize the hand of God himself working in our lives to pull us closer to Him.

In the same sentence that Christ said that we would have tribulation in this world, He said to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. Actually He didn't say to be of good cheer, the text literally says to have courage (look it up in the greek) because He has overcome the world. Our victory has already been acheived. It is by dieing to ourselves through our suffering in this world that we grow in living for God and bearing the fruit of the Spirit, of which we will reap if sown.

There is one catch to our victory, it's not always what we want, but what God wants for us. The immediate context of the verse from which the title of this post (and this blog) comes from is the thorn in the flesh which Paul asked the Lord three times to remove, to which our Lord simply answered, "My grace is sufficient for thee".

May God grant me to learn to glory in my infirmities that His power might be found in me. (I have a long way to go.)

The First!... Of Many?

Hello everyone. I'm not sure what to do for my first post, so I will
just do a small introduction. The idea to do this came from a friend
of mine a few weeks ago. I've been doing some reading about religion
the last couple of years and expect this blog to deal with things
mostly from a religious perspective. Along my journey of looking at
religion and seeking to find truth, I was received into the Orthodox
Church in October of '10. I would hopefully expect my posts to be
from a perspective representing my faith in Christ. I apologize in
advance if I should happen to miss the mark in the sharing of my
thoughts.

I'm not sure exactly what the future holds for the inspiration of my
posts. I sometimes have a tendency to meditate the nature of
discussions I have with others and my personal struggles among other
things. My next few posts will most likely discuss my screen name and
the title and url of this blog. We'll see where it goes from here.