Saturday, February 7, 2004
Fast Free Week
Parthenios, Bishop of Lampsakos
Kellia: 1 Kings 13:19-14:15 Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:1-9 Gospel: St. Luke 20:45-21:4
1 Kings 13:19-14:15 LXX (1 Sam. 13:19-14:14
MT), especially vs. 12, "And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and
said, 'Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.' And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer,
'Come up after me; for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.'" In the opening chapter
of Unseen Warfare, a manual prepared for Christians who desire with all their heart "to come
near to God and dwell in union with Him," St. Theophan the Recluse teaches that "to reach your
desired aim, it is first of all necessary to stifle your own wills and finally to extinguish and kill
them altogether. And in order to succeed in this, you must constantly oppose all evil in yourself
and urge your self toward the good. In other words you must ceaselessly fight against yourself
and against everything that panders to your own wills, that incites and supports them." To this
end he admonishes us, "prepare yourself for this struggle and this warfare and know that the
crown....is given to none except to the valiant among warriors and wrestlers."
In the example of Jonathan, the son of King Saul, we have a type or foreshadowing from today's
Old Testament reading of each true Christian as 'a warrior invincible,' to speak using a phrase
from the Chrismation Mystery. In the imagery of the soldiery of the ancient People of God, in the
actions of Jonathan and his armor-bearer, the Lord supplies us with a portrait of what we must do
to become His invincible warriors. We must venture "to fulfill those things which are well
pleasing" to Him. We must seek to be "filled with the faith, hope, and love which are in the
Lord." We must depend solely upon the Lord's "trenchant might speedily to crush down Satan
under our feet" and so give us victory over the evil one.
Look at these two warriors, "Jonathan the son of Saul [and] the young man who bore his armor"
(vs. 1). Outward circumstances had caused the majority of their contemporaries to seek safe
havens from the predatory attacks of the raiders who "came out of the camp of the Philistines in
three companies" (1 Kngs. 13:17), moving to the north, the west and the east, plundering and
destroying as they went, a mighty force "like the sand on the seashore in multitude" (1 Kngs.
13:5). "There was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and
Jonathan" (1 Kngs. 13:22). Still, this pair of invincible and godly warriors, ventured "over to the
Philistine garrison on yonder side" (vs. 14:1), even as we must face into the clamoring of our
wills for pleasure, comfort and ease through this life, and must overcome the constant
temptations to avoid taking up our cross and following after the Lord (Mt. 16:24).
See how Jonathan and the young man went filled with faith, hope, and love. They had faith that
"nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few" (vs. 6). They hoped that "it may
be that the Lord will work for us" (vs. 6); and they loved each other as the Septuagint puts it: "I
am with thee, my heart is as thy heart" (vs. 7 LXX). We must without hesitation in our warfare
follow the Lord Jesus' admonition to "love one another" (Jn. 13:34).
Behold, the wonder of God! By His trenchant might, speedily He brought "panic in the camp, in
the field, and among all the people, the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked;
and it became a very great panic" (1 Kngs. 14:15). Two soldiers, invincible warriors, dared to
face their enemies in faith, hope, and love. Beloved of the Lord, examine the evidence: God is
ready to fight for us, to deliver us "from the bondage of the enemy," that He may receive us into
His heavenly kingdom, delivered "from every snare of the adversary."
O Lord, our God, confirm us in the Orthodox faith; deliver us from the Evil One, and from the
machinations of the same; and preserve our souls through the saving fear of Thee.
