Monday, September 13, 2004
Cornelius the Centurion and Martyr
2nd at Vespers, Elevation of Cross: Proverbs 3:11-18 Epistle: Galatians 4:28-5:10
Gospel: St. Mark 6:54-7:8
Proverbs 3:11-18 LXX, especially vs. 18: "She [wisdom] is a tree
of life to all that lay hold upon her; and she is a secure help to all that stay themselves on her, as
on the Lord." We have been taught that in Paradise of old "the Lord God made to grow every
tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food," and, more specifically, that there was also
"the tree of life...in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen.
2:9). There was one proviso we cannot forget: God commanded the man: "you may freely eat of
every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in
the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Gen. 2:16,17).
Let us also recall how sin and death came. Our mortal enemy dangled a lie before the woman's
mind: "You will not die" (Gen. 3:4). Then, as St. John Chrysostom has pointed out, when "she
not only failed to turn away" from Satan, she even revealed "the whole secret of the Lord's
direction, thus casting pearls before swine....She exposed to swine, to that evil beast, that is, to
the demon acting through it, the divine pearls" of God's mysteries. As a result, and exactly as the
Apostle teaches, since "evil company corrupts good habits" (1 Cor. 15:33), she also saw that
which she had not perceived before: "that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to
the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise" (Gen. 3:6), and she ate. Beloved
of God, consider: where was the wisdom of presuming to take fruit that was forbidden by the
Creator? Where was the wisdom of esteeming the advice of a serpent as having greater worth
than the command of God? And do not think that the man was any better. He took what he also
knew was forbidden, and he ate. Listen to the word of God: "Then the eyes of both were opened"
(Gen. 3:7). Who opened them? St. John Chrysostom answers this clearly: God "saw to it that
they would now experience their nakedness and the loss of the glory they enjoyed before
eating....From that event knowledge of sin then entered the scene, and shame as well...." and
death was not far behind; but they gained no wisdom from their disobedience!
Wisdom was only available from that other tree in Eden, as today's reading from Holy Scripture
informs us (Prov. 3:18). However, since we are excluded from the garden of Paradise, because
God placed guardian "cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way
to the tree of life" (Gen. 3:24), is true wisdom hopelessly beyond us? Are we then consigned
only to amass knowledge, but never to find wisdom? That is not what the text says! The word of
the Lord for us is this: "Blessed is the man who has found wisdom" (Prov. 3:13). How then do
we find wisdom? Heed the Apostle: "Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1
Cor. 1:24). God made His Wisdom Incarnate, that is, He made Himself tangibly available for
human beings; He became a man like ourselves. Thus, God's advice to us in Proverbs ought to be
coupled with this insight: we are to "traffic" for wisdom (Prov. 3:14). That word in the original
of the Septuagint means to "engage in trade." The Lord Jesus agrees explicitly: "Sell all that you
have...and come and follow Me" (Lk. 18:22). He is the pearl of great price; He is Wisdom; He is
greater than all knowledge that we may obtain anywhere.
Everything that is said about wisdom in this passage from Proverbs applies to Christ Who was
crucified on the Tree of the Cross for us (Prov. 3:14-18). He has made the Cross the tree of life!
Since we are excluded from Paradise, He has come into this weariness and vexation of spirit that
we call life, offering us wisdom: life and glory and righteousness and peace in Himself. O most
venerable Cross, surrounded in joy by the ranks of angels, raise ye up Christ God, exceeding in
goodness, and we shall fall down in faith before thee, His divine footstool.
