Sunday, May 23, 2004
(Tone 6) The Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council
3rd Vespers of Holy Fathers: Deuteronomy 10:14-21 Apostle: Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 Gospel: St. John 17:1-13
Deuteronomy 10:14-21, especially vs. 17: "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords...."
In the fourth century AD, when the heretic Arius of Alexandria taught that our Lord Jesus was the Word, born before time
and perfect,"beyond all other creatures, though still a creature," he precipitated a major crisis in the Church. Arius
formed his beliefs from syllogistic logic and by fixating on the absolute singleness of God's Person. To gain popular
support for his views, Arius set his doctrines to song. Worst of all, his teaching was not easily countered from Scripture,
for he explained all Biblical language with his own concepts.
A raging debate was loosed on the Church despite the condemnation of his views by several councils of Bishops, including
the council of Arius' own Bishop in Alexandria. Under the auspices of the God-loving Emperor of the Romans,
Constantine, the Bishops of the Church convened in the City of Nicaea after the 20th of May in 325 to address Arius'
teaching.
His popularity aside, Arius outraged the vast majority of the Bishops and the Faithful of the Church with his heresy. The
saintly Archbishop Nicholas of Myra, having suffered imprisonment by the pagan Emperor Diocletian for affirming that
Christ is God, was so offended at Arius that during the Council he struck him with his hand. For that action the other
Bishops removed Nicholas from the Council and from his position as a Bishop. However, seeing a vision of the Lord and
the Theotokos praising Nicholas, several of the leading hierarchs obtained the godly Bishop's forgiveness by the Council
and granted his complete episcopal restoration.
The Holy Spirit Who led the Bishops at Nicaea to repudiate Arius' teaching later impressed the Church to appoint the
present passage from Deuteronomy for celebrations of that first great Council. Like the Holy Fathers, Moses also
prophetically affirmed the absolute Deity of Christ Jesus as the Divine Son of God, teaching us that the Lord Jesus "is God
of gods and Lord of lords" (vs. 17) to Whom "belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it" (vs.
14), that He is a loving God Who "set His heart in love upon...[us] above all peoples" (vs. 15), and that He also is a just
God Who "executes justice" for the humble of the earth (vs. 18), truly our "praise...Who has done...great and terrible things
for us (vs. 21).
The Church reads and applies Moses' words to the Lord Jesus because Christ revealed Himself to His Apostles as God the
Word, Who was "in the beginning with God" and "without [Whom] nothing was made that was made" (Jn. 1:2,3). Of
course "the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it" (Deut. 10:14) alike belong to Him, for He is "the brightness of
[God's] glory and the express image of His Person" (Heb. 1:3).
Further, the Lord Jesus, early in His ministry, revealed to Nicodemos that God loves the world and "did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (Jn. 3:16,17). Let us remember that
the Lord Jesus, as God, before He took flesh from the Virgin, had "set His heart in love upon [the] fathers [Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob] and chose their descendants after them, [including us] above all peoples" (Deut. 10:15), for now all peoples of
the world are "called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles" (Rom. 9:24).
How compassionate and just is Christ our God Who manifested His great love and justice for the defenseless (Deut. 10:18)
by raising a widow's son from the dead (Lk. 7:13,14)! Truly we are called to serve Jesus as Lord, Who is our "praise" and
our "God, Who has done for [us]....great and terrible things" (Deut. 10:21) by His Death and Resurrection for our salvation.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, O Lord, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty; O Lord, the Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Spirit.
