Thursday, July 29, 2004
Martyrs Kallinikos of Gangra in Asia Minor and Theodota
Kellia: 1 Maccabees 3:25-41 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 14:6-19 Gospel: St. Matthew 20:17-28
1 Maccabees 3:25-41, especially vss. 34, 35: "As for the residents of Judea and
Jerusalem, Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of
Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place...." The annals of history are filled with the names of
those who have settled for a "final solution" to the threat they perceived in the People of God: Pharaoh, Antiochus IV
Epiphanes, Diocletian, Hitler, and Joseph Stalin. Still, God's People continue, while those who thought to "banish the
memory of them" (vs. 35) are the subjects of studies and histories, part of an immense testimony concerning the futility of
opposing the will of God.
Orthodox Christians who examine the policy of Antiochus outlined above, must think of the chief priests and Pharisees
weighing the reports that Jesus of Nazareth had raised Lazarus from the dead: "This Man works many signs. If we let Him
alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation" (Jn.
11:47,48). Their fears impelled them to a final solution: "it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and
not that the whole nation should perish" (Jn. 11:50).
Mankind's 'final solutions' inevitably involve power and force: chariots, great armies, governors, deportation, special
camps, and, always executions. Hovering behind each of these somber images is the specter of death. In reading the
present passage, we are impressed by the size of the army which Lysias gathered to carry out his king's orders,
"elephants....forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry" (vss. 34,39). But let us not forget that God the Life-Giver
also has His "final solution" to the mad efforts of the desperate and the specter of death. God's final solution raises the
banner of life, the icon of Resurrection, peace and blessing.
Beloved of the Lord, above all, let us remember the Apostolic admonition that "whatever things were written before were
written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4). Hence, let us be cautious and humble before God when we, like King Antiochus,
find our plans and solutions frustrated or opposed, for the hand of God is never absent from human activities and history,
whether on the grand scale of things or in the little routines of everyday life. Rather, let us recall that God is the Lord "and
we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand" (Ps. 94:7 LXX). When our will is crossed and frustrated, it is
our sin and the prompting of demons that arouses fear within us. See how "greatly angered" Antiochus was at the reports
of Judas' battles and victories (1 Mac. 3:26,27). Pride was aroused, and he plunged into frantic action. In the face of
frustration, when anger rises, let us heed St. John of the Ladder: "Pride is utter penury of soul, under the illusion of wealth,
imagining light in its darkness. The foul passion not only blocks our advance, but even hurls us down from the heights."
Beware of man's final solutions.
Clearly, the great king of the Seleucid empire, secure in his elephants and "all the forces of his kingdom" (vs. 27), failed to
see the finger of God in the disruption of his program to force false religion on God's People. At least the magicians of
Pharaoh's court saw God at work in the plagues, but no such caution was even spoken to Antiochus. Beloved, when
"things don't work out," it is time to seek the Lord and to hear from Him what Joshua was told, that there is sin in us and
that we have "transgressed My covenant which I commanded" (Jos. 7:11). May repentance and amendment of life keep us
far from becoming, like Pontius Pilate and Antiochus IV, a thread woven into the dark background of God's bright
redemption of mankind.
To Thee I come, O Christ, blinded in my soul's eyes, crying unto Thee in repentance, Thou art the light of transcendent
radiance to those who are in darkness.