Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Synaxis of the Seventy Holy Apostles: Forefeast of Theophany
1st Royal Hour Theophany: Isaiah35:1-10 Epistle: Act 19:1-8 Gospel: St. Matthew 21:23-37
St. Matthew 21:23-37, especially vss. 24, 25: "Jesus answered....'The baptism of John -- where was it from?
From heaven or from men?' And they reasoned among themselves...." Observe the response of "the chief priests and
elders of the people"(vs. 23) when faced with the Lord Jesus' question concerning the baptism of John: "they reasoned
among themselves" (vs. 25). In many respects, the Lord's question is closely akin to the bowing prayers which are offered
in every service of the Church. Take for example the bowing prayer in the Divine Liturgy. It is placed at the end of the
great prayer of the Anaphora after the offering of the Lord's Prayer and after the Priest has blessed the Faithful with Peace
in the Lord. He then bids those present: "Bow your heads unto the Lord." The prayer that is then offered is noteworthy:
"Do Thou Thyself, O Master, look down from heaven upon those who have bowed their heads unto Thee; for they have not
bowed down unto flesh and blood, but unto Thee, the fearful God."
What have the Lord's question and the bowing prayer in common? Both address the identical issue of commitment and
submission. Initially, Christ's question seems to raise the issue of the source of John's Baptisms, in effect asking whether,
in calling People to a baptism for repentance, the Prophet was obeying a prompting or revelation from God or was putting
into practice his own ideas for expressing repentance for sins humbly and honestly? At stake was whether John was
committed to God's will or his own; and this is exactly what faces every one who hears the bidding to "Bow your heads
unto the Lord." If you bow your head and heart, you are expressing commitment and submission to God. If you hear the
bidding and ignore it or resist it, you are not committed and submitted to God. Likewise, we can say with assurance that
the Forerunner was himself submitted to God and was calling others also to commit their whole lives to God, repenting for
their past lack of submission to Him. There is the connection.
Trace the Orthodox bowing prayers back to where they begin for each member of the Church - in the examination prior to
Baptism. After a candidate for the Baptismal Mystery is closely examined to see whether he renounces Satan and whether
instead he unites himself to Christ, he is then invited to assert the substance of his commitment to God by reciting the
Nicene Creed. Finally, he is challenged to "Bow down also before Him." And what does the committing Christian say? "I
bow down before the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Trinity, one in Essence and undivided." Every bowing
prayer in every service subsequently is rooted in that initial affirmation and cannot be considered apart from it.
Understanding what the Lord's question is about, and seeing that it confronts each of us, we need next consider the
response of the chief priests and elders of the people: "they reasoned among themselves" (vs. 25). They understood what
Christ Jesus was asking and how it applied to them: to have answered the Lord, "From heaven," would have made them
liable to His asking them, "Why then did you not believe him?" (vs. 25). It would have exposed their disbelief in John's
call for Baptism and repentance. It would have exposed their unwillingness to submit to God themselves. On the other
hand, because of fear of public exposure, they would not suggest that John was not a Prophet of God. They were unable to
hear God in the appeal of St. John.
The reasoning of these men actually exposed their secularism, like so many around us today who reason away the challenge
to submit and commit to God in faith. One reasons in the mind because he is not in touch with the cry of his heart and soul.
It is the way of the world.
O Lord, we Thy servants bow our heads and submissively incline our necks awaiting not succor from men but entreating
Thy mercy and looking confidently for Thy salvation.
