The
commemoration of our late Patriarch Mar Shimun Bar Sabbai was celebrated in our
Church calendar last Friday. As we look to this great historical leader, let us
take a moment to reflect upon the great faith he upheld in his Lord as a leader
and shepherd of the persecuted flock of the Assyrian Church of the East during
the Persian reign of King Sapor II (339-379 A.D).
When the
Persian emperor began a war with the recently converted Christian Roman empire,
Sapor was influenced by the native Zoroastrian priests of his nation to
persecute the Christians of Persia; namely, the members of the Church of the
East.
Christians
were ordered to pay a double tax as a contribution to the cost of war and Mar
Shimun Bar Sabbai, the Catholicos Patriarch was ordered to collect this tax
from his people. Mar Shimun refused to collect the tax on the grounds that his
people were poor, and he was not a tax collector.
Mar Shimun
was immediately arrested and the destruction of our churches and church
property immediately followed. Mar Shimun was offered freedom for himself and
his people if he would worship the sun, the Emperor’s God only once.
Mar Shimun’s
response that led him to his timely destiny will forever be remembered in
history: “The sun went into mourning when its Lord and Creator died”.
The Emperor
begged the Patriarch in the name of their personal friendship to yield; but the
Catholicos Patriarch remained firm, and on the morning of Good Friday along
with five bishops and a hundred clergy, he sealed his testimony with his blood
in the year 339 A.D.
Mar Shimun
Bar Sabbai suffered for two noble causes, his faith in Christ and his duty to
his people. Let us make the persecutions that our forefathers endured for their
faith stand as a constant reminder for us to not take our faith in Christ, and
our freedom to worship Him for granted.
In the
moments when we are tempted to turn away from our God even just once through
the many distractions we face in the 21st century, let us be
encouraged by the strong, unswerving faith of Mar Shimun Bar Sabbai, who wilfully
accepted martyrdom instead of denying His God for even just one moment.
As we approach
the end of the fast for The Commemoration of the passing of the Blessed Virgin
Mary this Wednesday 15th August, let us be encouraged by the Blessed
Mother’s awe inspiring faith, strength, love and humility as we learn from her
life and see why the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ is honoured above all
saints in the Church.
The Blessed
Virgin Mary was a native to Palestine of the day. The daughter of Younakhan and
Khanna who were descendants of King David. Church history teaches that Saint
Mary was a very beautiful girl who loved the LORD God and was devoted to the
temple in Jerusalem as a girl by her parents to be faithfully brought up in the
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. When she had reached the age of betrothal,
she was betrothed to Joseph, a faithful man also from the linage of King David.
An account in Church history tells of how both Mary and Joseph had both agreed
to devote themselves to the LORD in chastity and though they were betrothed, they
would dedicate their lives to serving the LORD.
As the gospel of
Luke quotes:
“26 Now in the sixth month the angelGabriel was
sent from God to a city in Galilee calledNazareth,
27 toa virginengaged to a man whose name was Joseph,of thedescendants
of David; and the virgin’s name wasMary.28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings,favoured
one! The Lordis with you.”29 But shewas very perplexed atthisstatement,
and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you
have found favour with God.31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and youshall name Him Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son ofthe Most
High; and the Lord God will give Himthe throne of
His father David;33 and He will
reign over the house of Jacob forever,and His
kingdom will have no end.”34 Mary said to
the angel, “Howcan this be, since Iam a
virgin?”35 The angel
answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power ofthe Most
High will overshadow you; and for that reasontheholy Child
shall be calledthe Son of God.36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a
son in her old age; andshe who was called barren is now in her sixth month.37 Fornothing will be impossible with God.”38 And Mary said, “Behold, thebondslave of
the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:26-38
From the moment
that the Virgin Mary had conceived of the Holy Spirit upon the greeting of the
Archangel Gabriel, we witness her faith, humility and acceptance of God’s work
and will in her life. As a young virgin, she was naturally perplexed in her
understanding as to how she could conceive without knowing a husband and
enquired further as to how this would prevail. Her faithful and humble response
to the Lord’s calling (verse 38) is magnified when she accepts and believes the
seemingly impossible and wondrous prophesied miracle which will be fulfilled
through her as God’s chosen vessel. This is a great testament to her faith as
the first person to believe in Jesus the Messiah (Isho Msheekha).
The Church
teaches that Mary remained with Christ throughout His life and remained a
virgin. The first miracle that our Lord performed was at a wedding feast in
Cana and it was done at the request of His mother (John 2:1-12). We also see
how the Lord entrusts His mother to the care of the disciple John before He
completed His earthly mission on the Cross, knowing that the Holy Virgin had
dedicated her life to serving the Lord and was without husband and children to
care for her.
“But standing by the cross of Jesus wereHis mother,
and His mother’s sister, Mary thewifeof Clopas,
andMary Magdalene.26 When Jesus then saw His mother, andthe disciple
whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother,“Woman,
behold, your son!”27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”From that
hour the disciple took her intohis ownhousehold.” John 19:25-27
Of the many
non-apostolic churches which have grown over the centuries and wrongly interpreted
or maligned the word of God through one reformed teaching which opened the door
to another - apart from the Apostles teachings, we see many debating the
perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin and consequently taking away the
honour and respect that should be worthily bestowed to our Lord’s mother. These
misunderstandings however, can be easily clarified by looking to the word of
God through the teaching of the Apostles and Church Fathers.
One particular
verse in the Bible that is magnified in this argument is Matthew 1:25 – “but he
(Joseph) did not know her until she gave birth to a son” (N.B. when I looked
this verse up today, the current NIV version has changed this verse yet again
to give another misinterpreted message from the previous NIV Bible I have that
was printed in 1995. The word’s “did not know her”, were replaced by “did not
have union with her” and the latest translation states “did not consummate
their marriage until” This truly shows how in need we are to adhere and hold
on to our treasured Orthodox teachings).
St John
Chrysostom beautifully expounds on this verse and explains the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother
through various examples from scripture:
“And when he
had taken her, “he knew her not, till she had brought forth her first-born
Son.” He hath here used the word “till,” not that thou shouldest suspect that
afterwards he did know her, but to inform thee that before the birth the Virgin
was wholly untouched by man. But why then, it may be said, hath he used the
word, “till”? Because it is usual in Scripture often to do this, and to use
this expression without reference to limited times. For so with respect to the
ark likewise, it is said, “The raven returned not till the earth was dried up.”
And yet it did not return even after that time. And when discoursing also of
God, the Scripture saith, “From age until age Thou art,” not as fixing limits
in this case. And again when it is preaching the Gospel beforehand, and saying,
“In his days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace, till the
moon be taken away,”it doth not set a limit to this fair part of creation.
So then here
likewise, it uses the word “till,” to make certain what was before the birth,
but as to what follows, it leaves thee to make the inference. Thus, what it was
necessary for thee to learn of Him, this He Himself hath said; that the Virgin
was untouched by man until the birth; but that which both was seen to be a
consequence of the former statement, and was acknowledged, this in its turn he
leaves for thee to perceive; namely, that not even after this, she having so
become a mother, and having been counted worthy of a new sort of travail, and a
child-bearing so strange, could that righteous man ever have endured to know
her. For if he had known her, and had kept her in the place of a wife, how is
it that our Lord commits her, as unprotected, and having no one, to His
disciple (John), and commands him to take her to his own home?” (Chrysostom, Homily V)
Again, we read
in the Prophecy of Ezekiel:
“Then He brought me back
by the way of theouter gate of the sanctuary, which faces
the east; and it was shut.2 TheLordsaid to me, “This gate shall be shut; it
shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for theLordGod of Israel has entered by it; therefore
it shall be shut.”
(Ezekiel 44:1-2)
This
has always been interpreted by the Fathers of the Church to be a typological
reference to the Virgin Mary and the Incarnation. When we consider that God
took flesh from the Virgin's womb, it is not difficult to imagine that this
womb would remain virgin and no one would ever enter through the womb or vessel
of the LORD. The bottom line is this has been the consistent and universal view
of the Church from the time of the Apostles until today.
There are varied
historical accounts describing the passing of the Blessed Virgin Mary that are
too lengthy to mention for this short article. What we should always remember
about her passing is that until her last moment on this earth she was highly
esteemed, respected and honoured by the Lord’s Apostles and all followers of
Christ as the mother of our Lord and a faithful, humble, God-fearing servant of
the Most High. This very same honour and respect should be given to the Blessed
Virgin Mary by all of us today.
As women in the
Church today, we should look to the Blessed Mother and aim to emulate her faith
in the Lord, her acceptance of His ever-changing will for her life and
acceptance of the great struggles she endured and the subsequent eternal
blessings that followed. Let us give her the honour and respect that is due to
her and be encouraged that as a sympathizing woman and mother, she will beseech
the Lord with prayers of supplication on our behalf when we faithfully ask her
to.
May the fast of
the Blessed Virgin Mary bring you strength, increased faith and love and may
the prayers of the Blessed Virgin beseech the Lord on your behalf.
The Prayer of St Mary (as said in the
Assyrian Church of the East):
(Phonetic Modern Syriac translation):
Shlamalakh Maryam mleeta shapaqat,
Maran minakh
M’boorikhtehwat gaw bakhtateh
O’mboorkhe’le pira d’kasakh Isho.
Mart Maryam Yima d’Mshishka,
Saleh min geban akhnan khatayeh
Adia w’op b’saat d’motan
Amen
(English translation):
Peace be with you Mary full of grace
Our Lord is with you
Blessed are you amoung all women
Blessed is the fruit of your womb – Jesus
Saint Mary, Mother of Christ
Pray on behalf of us sinners
Now and until the time of our death
Amen
This week’s song: Qalet Mariam (the voice
of Mary) – Linda George
"And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun,
and His garments became as white as light.And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him." Matthew 17:2-3
As
the Church commemorates the feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration this Monday 6th
August, let us look to the deep significance this event holds to our faith and
understand why the Church sets this important feast day in her Calendar.
There
are several elements we can learn from the Transfiguration of the Lord that are
important to understand and are central to our faith as Christians:
1.Jesus is God
When Jesus was up on the mountain, His body was
transfigured before His disciples. His face shone like the sun, and His
clothes became as white as the light (Matthew 17:2). This light is one of
the many ways in which Christ shows His divinity. God is light (1 John 1:5).
2.Christ is the fulfilment
of the Law and the Prophets
Moses represents the Law and all who have
died, while Elijah represents the Prophets and all those who are alive
as he did not die but was taken out of this world (2 Kings 2:11-12). Their
presence on the mountain communing with Christ shows us that the law and the
prophets of the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ - in His life, death and resurrection (Matthew5:17) and that “the dead will be raised by His voice, and the living who are
left are renewed to immortality.” 1(Mar Isho Dad of Merv)
Mar Isho’Dad explains further: “Again, He chose one from the Dead,
and another from the Living, to teach that the Living and the Dead are brought
to Him as to the judge of the quick and the dead.” 2
Throughout the Old Testament, we see the Prophet’s
God inspired words clearly pointing forward to Christ as the Messiah and the fulfiller
of the Law. And we see these culminate in Christ throughout the pages of the
New Testament. Mar Aphrahat elaborates: “Again
it is proper for us to argue that this Jesus was early promised from ancient
times by means of the prophets and was called the Son of God. David has said,
“You are my son, today I have begotten you” (Ps. 2:7). Again he has said, “In
the glories of holiness from the womb I have begotten you (as) a child from of
old” (Ps. 110:3). And Isaiah has said, “For to us a child is born, to us a son
is given and his government will be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called
wonder and counselor, the mighty God of ages and the prince of peace. And to
the increase of his government and to his peace here is no end” (Isa. 9:5-6).”3
Clearly,
our Lord Jesus Christ’s mission on earth was to fulfil in Himself what the Law
could not. Christ states in the gospel of Matthew, “I did not come to
abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). “He was
first baptized to form a pattern to us, as He did also in all His acts. Again,
He calls Baptism the end and fulfilment of all legal righteousness, which was
completed by the mediation of servants; and by this He shewed humility, which
is the foundation and door of all virtues, because I have fulfilled all the
laws of Nature and of Scripture as no other man has…” (Mar Isho’Dad of Merv) 4
3.The saints are alive and
in communion with us
The fact that Moses and Elijah were visible and recognizable
to Christ of course, but especially to His disciples, confirms to us that the
saints are indeed alive and are in communion with Christ and available to us
(Hebrews 12:1). This is important for us to understand that when we pray to the
saints, we are calling to them to beseech the Lord on our behalf. (Revelation 8:3-4).
4.The Holy Trinity is
manifested
We see Christ the Son is transfigured,
(Matthew 17:2), God the Father speaks from heaven testifying that Jesus
is His divine Son and makes His presence known through the cloud; just as God’s
presence was made known to the Israelites through the cloud that lead them out
of Egypt (Exodus 13:21-22) and lastly we see the HolySpirit is
present in the form of the awesome, glorious light that is surrounding Christ’s
physical body which is shining on the mountain for all who are present to see.
Saint Peter recalls his eye-witness account of Christ’s majestic glory before
him on the mountain (2 Peter 1:16-18).
5.Christ calls us to
transfigure ourselves to His likeness for God’s glory
We should look to Christ’s physical
transfiguration as he shone the magnificent glory of God as a great example of
how we are to live our lives in light of understanding who Christ is, what divine purpose He came to fulfil and how
He fulfilled them and respond to these faithfully and thankfully (Romans 13:11-14).
We ourselves have also been transfigured into
the image and likeness of Christ through baptism. We are buried into His death
and brought to new life (Romans 6:4) with the promise of resurrection from the
dead where our nature is seated in the heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6). He commands this re-birth from
all who believe in Him (John 3:5), who believe in His mission to save us
through His atoning death for our sins, who believe in His glorious
resurrection from the dead and in His purpose to reconcile us to God the Father
(Ephesians 1:7).
In Christ, we have redemption and renewal.
Therefore we are taught to also renew our hearts and minds so that we no longer
conform to the ways and pattern of this world, but as renewed Children of God, offer
our bodies as living sacrifices in thanksgiving to Him (Romans 12:1-2).
Today, it is becoming increasingly challenging
to consistently live our lives in accordance to the example that Christ and His
faithful saints demonstrated to us. This is the very reason that the Church has
been instated by Christ through His Apostles to administer the Holy Sacraments
which sanctify and renew us to abide in God’s grace and to continue to live in
Him when we faithfully partake in them.
Let us look to Christ’s mighty transfiguration,
thank Him that He is God almighty who came to save and renew us and work to
transfigure our lives daily to shine God’s light in this dark world for His
glory.
This
week’s song: Majesty – Michael Janz
1.Commentaries of Isho'Dad of Merv,
by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, pp 68. Cambridge at the University Press, 1911.
2.Commentaries of Isho'Dad of Merv,
by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, pp 68. Cambridge at the University Press, 1911.
3.Demonstration XVII on the Messiah,
by Mar Aphrahat
4.Commentaries
of Isho'Dad of Merv, by Margaret Dunlop Gibson, pp 26.
Cambridge at the University Press, 1911.