Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Lenten Fast
Tarasios, Archbishop of Constantinople
6th Hour: Isaiah 2:3-11 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:24-2:3 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 2:1-22
Isaiah 2:3-11, especially vs. 5, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord." While today's reading is a prophecy for the ancient people of God and
for Jerusalem, their capital, it also concerns the Church, as St. Nikolai of Zica has noted: "This
prophecy refers to Christ's Church. Although it must have been shrouded in mystery for the Jews
before Christ, it is limpidly clear for us today. The mountain, or heights, of the Lord's house is
indeed established in the top of the mountains - in the heights of heaven - for the Church of
Christ is primarily not of the earth but of heaven, and one part of the members of the Church (and
that now the greater part) is in heaven, while the others are here on earth."
The prophecy divides into four parts: first, the Lord unveils our eyes to envision the completed,
glorious Church which shall be in the age to come (vss. 2-4). Second, God makes His appeal -
that we come to the House of God and learn from Him (vs. 3), bringing peace to all (vs. 4). The
Church in this present world should not wait for the fulfillment history in a passive manner, but
actively walk now in that Divine Light which shall be (vs. 5).
Third, God moves from appeal to warning (vss. 6-9). Ancient Israel chose not to heed the appeal
"to walk in the light of the Lord," and, thereby, drew down upon herself terrible yet inevitable
results: God forsook the majority of the ancient people, to form from an Apostolic remnant a new
People from all nations. In His warning, God states why He rejected the majority: "because their
land [was] filled with idols...what their own fingers...made" (vs. 8).
Fourth, the Lord warns the Church and all mankind: should any embrace such sins, those
members had best "enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and
from the glory of His majesty" (vs. 10). Let all mankind take heed, including members of the
Church, for "the haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall be
humbled and the Lord alone will be exalted..." (vs. 11). Let us "walk in the light of the Lord."
How shall we understand this expression, "to walk in the light of God?" The Lord Jesus teaches
us in words similar to those of the prophecy: "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and
he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Mt. 23:12). As St. Nikolai of Zica said, "The new
world, the new creation, the new man: all began with obedience and humility."
To exercise true obedience and genuine humility, as Theodoret said, we may "no longer...sit by
the dim lamp-light of the Law, but fill [our] souls with the brilliant rays of the true Light," with
Him Who is the Light. He invites us to walk His personal path, in the Way He defined with His
own humanity by His Incarnate life: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of
no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:5-7). We have His appeal to
walk in Him as Light. Listen to the Paschal invitation: "Come take light from the Light which
can never be overtaken by night. Come glorify Christ, risen from the dead."
By approaching this prophecy as a word for the Church - concerning the Church-as-She-shall-be
(vss. 2-4) - the All-merciful encourages us, while we are in the midst of this world, in this "land
...filled with idols" (vs. 8), always to struggle toward what we know shall be at the end. St. John
of Kronstadt captures the point: "that our union with God in the future world will indeed come
about, and that it will be for us the source of light, peace, joy and bliss; this we partly recognize
by experience even in the present life. During prayer, when our soul is wholly turned toward
God...I would say, we experience an inexpressible well-being. It is good to be here."
O Thou Who didst cause Thy Light to shine on Thine Apostles, lighten our souls.
