Wednesday, May 5, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Feast of Mid-Pentecost
1st of Vespers: Micah 4:2-3,5; 5:2-5,8 Apostle: Acts 14:6-18 Gospel: St. John 7:14-30
Micah 4:2-3,5; 5:2-5,8, especially vs. 4:2 LXX: "...out of Zion shall go forth a law, and the Word of the
Lord from Jerusalem." The Prophet Micah, in a mystic harmony with God's Prophet Isaiah (Is.2:3-4), proclaimed to
mankind an identical prophecy concerning the world-changing era in which many nations and peoples of the earth would
come to the House of God, learn His ways, receive His judgment, and find the way to peace among themselves. What a
wonder for a blighted planet! And we have seen the fulfillment of the Prophets' revelation.
Blessed Micah of Moresheth was a contemporary of Isaiah. Hence, the words of both Prophets were penned eight centuries
before the Incarnation of the Son of God. To the message that Micah shared with Isaiah, he added a unique prediction of
the Lord Jesus' Nativity: "and thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, art few in number to be reckoned among the
thousands of Judah; yet out of thee shall One come forth to Me, to be a ruler of Israel" (Mic. 5:2).
Indeed, Christ our God has come forth out of eternity, "a Governor of Nations, from the Virgin Maiden Incarnate...Who
shall govern His people, the new Israel. Let us, therefore, raise unto Him magnification!" This we sing at the Feast of the
Lord's Nativity. Now, at the Feast of Mid-Pentecost, let us meditate on the Prophet's word as we stand in the light of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord that our praise may be the greater and more joyous.
Christ is risen! And today many nations are singing exultantly, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
House of the God of Jacob" (vs. 4:2), for mankind's understanding of these words has been transformed by Christ's
Resurrection. Now we know that Mount Zion refers to the Church of God, as does the phrase "the house of the God of
Jacob;" now even the city of Jerusalem is perceived to have a similar double designation (vs. 4:2): "Shine, shine, O new
Jerusalem; for the glory of the Lord hath risen upon Thee. Rejoice and exult now, O Zion, and thou, O pure one,
Theotokos, rejoice at the Resurrection of Thy Son." Today, Christ Jesus judges among peoples on every continent across
the face of the earth. A new Gospel Law is revealed in and through the Church, and people who were hungry to learn the
truth, "walk in the Name of the Lord our God, for the age and beyond" (vs. 4:5), and they are being fed. Strong nations
have been rebuked and brought into His courts in praise. Militantly savage peoples have been formed anew by the healing
power of His truth.
The Prophet Micah's words addressed to Bethlehem confirm to the Faithful that the Holy Infant in the manger is He Who
came forth to God, to "be a ruler of Israel," for His going forth into His creation was "from the beginning, even from the
days of the age" (vs. 5:2). He is the Eternal Who humbled Himself for our salvation. Men under the Old Covenant waited
for His coming, as the Prophet directed: "till the time of her that travails," and, indeed, the Virgin gave birth, so that "the
remnant of their brethren" could "return to the children of Israel" (vs. 5:3).
Now, two thousand years later, the Lord stands as He ever has, and He beholds and feeds "His flock with power," as He has
through all time and shall forever. "They shall dwell in the glory of the Name of the Lord their God, for now shall they be
magnified to the ends of the earth" (vs. 5:4). Let us be assured that no foe or world power or ideology, not even the gates
of hell, shall prevail against His Church (Mt. 16:18). Against all such "Assyrians," the Lord, as He always has, shall raise
up faithful shepherds to thwart the "attacks of men" (vs. 5:6). Christ's Church, as the true Remnant of Jacob, remains to
this day "as a lion in the forest" (vs. 5:8).
In the midst of the Mosaic Feast, O Christ God, Master and Maker of all, Thou didst say, Come ye, and receive the water
of immortality. Wherefore we cry, Grant us Thy great mercy.
