Thursday, December 16, 2004 Nativity Fast
The Holy Prophet Haggai
Kellia: Haggai 2:1-10 Epistle: Hebrews 7:1-6 Gospel: St. Luke 21:28-33
1-10 LXX, especially vs. 10: "For the glory of this house shall be great, the latter more than the former, saith
the Lord Almighty: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord Almighty, even peace of soul for a possession to every
one that builds, to raise up this temple." The present reading is especially appropriate for the Feast of the Prophet Haggai
and during this time of preparation for the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Canon at Orthros for today, in
celebration of Haggai, Theophanes the Hymnographer reveals that the new temple which the Prophet sublimely prophesied
is in fact the Incarnate Christ Jesus our Lord: "To Thy Prophet, O Christ, Thou didst show the animate temple...which came
forth from the Virgin."
The whole of Haggai's prophecy, received in this manner, opens up into a wonderful preparation for the Lord's Nativity in
the flesh, disclosing the gracious saving work of the Church, the eternal "animate temple" of the Lord's own body, which
began in time with His birth. However, when Haggai first delivered these words, they were received as encouragement for
the old exiles who had lived long enough to return from Babylon to Jerusalem (537 BC) and still could remember the
former glorious temple of Solomon. For them, the sight of the pitiful beginnings of a second, replacement temple, seemed
as "nothing before [their] eyes" (vs. 4).
Notice how the Prophet especially exhorted the two chief leaders of the community of returnees: Zerubbabel, their civic
leader, a living descendant in the royal line of King David through his father, She-alti-el, and Joshua, their high priest, from
the line of Aaron through his father Jehozadak (vs. 3). Still, Haggai's message was for all: "let all the people of the land
strengthen themselves, saith the Lord, and work" (vs. 5), then: "all the nations shall come: and I will fill this house with
glory" (vs. 8). Considering that second house, can we say that it exceeded the glory of Solomon's temple? The final
enlargement of it, built by the Herods, may have come close to the glory of the first temple, but it was quickly thereafter
utterly and finally destroyed by the Romans in the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.
One the other hand, the Church, the living Body of Christ, is the ineffable fulfillment of Haggai's prophesy. The Epistle of
Barnabas, a Christian epistle written around AD 100, for instance, notes that the "Jews, wandering in error, trusted not in
God Himself, but in the temple, as being the house of God. For almost after the manner of the Gentiles they worshiped
Him in the temple, that is, they worshiped the temple instead of Him." The Faithful, following the wise Apostles, know
Christ Jesus to be the true temple, having been shaken free from "all nations...the choice portions of all the nations...[to] fill
this house with glory" (vs. 8).
In whose midst, then, does the Spirit of God remain? (vs. 6). Using St. Basil the Great's words, let us ask ourselves: is not
the Church the most evident of all places where He, "Who is omnipresent, and exists together with God," is to be found?
Of course! And for this reason, the Church highly exalts "Him Who is in His nature divine, in His greatness infinite, in His
operations powerful, [and] in the blessings He confers, good."
The Holy Spirit is He Who gives "peace...even peace of soul for a possession to every one that builds, to raise up this
temple," the Body of Christ (vs. 10). Thus, as Theophanes the Hymnographer teaches: "truly great will be the glory of the
Church of the Incarnate Word Who hath shared the nature of men, surpassing that of the assembly of Israel of old." So
then, let us build well this animate temple into which our Lord has called us as "living stones" (1 Pet. 2:5). O Holy
Prophet Haggai, as thou didst prophesy the deliverance of all men by the Savior, beseech Him with thy supplications, that
He grant great mercy unto all.