John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom (347-407) was a church father who was one of the four great eastern fathers, and so one of the eight doctors of the church.  Chrysostom means “Golden Mouth” because he was known for his rhetoric and for giving the best sermons. his Easter sermon is still commonly read in churches today.

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The Conversion of Paul

• Acts 9:1-18 tells Paul's conversion story from a third person, objective perspective, and is the most comprehensive account in the Bible:

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said,“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized.

• In Acts 22:6-16, Paul tells the story in his own words to the crowd in his defense after being arrested in Jerusalem:

“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

• Paul summarizes his story again to King Herod Agrippa in his defense in Acts 26:13-17:

At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you.

• Paul mentions his conversion in two of his letters to churches as well, in Galatians 1:15-16 and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, respectively:

[H]e who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles....

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

The Confession of St. Peter

Today we remember the confession of St. Peter. It is described in the three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27–30 and Luke 9:18–20. Specifically, Peter declares, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Later in the same passage, Jesus states: "Upon this rock I will build my church". While some churches interpret this as Peter being the rock the church is built on, others interpret the confession as the rock that the church is built on. While the Roman Catholics take this verse as the basis for having Popes, other denomination say that Peter was the rock or cornerstone the modern church was built on because of his faith and the that true church are those that have his faith. He was also instrumental in the early church after Jesus' death and ascension. The passage also goes on to explain that this was a revelation from God, not from man, emphasizing that faith comes from God, not a choice we make.

The Baptism of Our Lord

A common question is why Jesus was baptized since he was sinless and already had the holy spirit. To understand this, it is important to understand what Jesus really came to do and who he was and what baptism is. For this we must begin in the old testament.

After sprinkling blood over the tabernacle and its furnishings to cleanse and consecrate it, a goat was brought to Aaron. He laid his hands on its head and confessed all the sins of the people. Thus he was anointed to die for sins that were not his own. The goat was then led out to the wilderness and left to die, bearing the sins of the people. Thus it was called the scapegoat. 

This looks forward to Jesus work, but also his baptism. Holy Baptism washes away sins and actually gives you the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus was perfect and sinless and already had the Holy Spirit, he had no need. And yet he fulfilled all of the law, from circumcision, to baptism for us. Only by fulfilling all righteousness could he be the scapegoat. In our baptism, the water that washed away our sin, and became dirty with it, was used to baptize Jesus. Having no sins of His own, in his baptism, he was soaked with all the sins of the world. John anoints Jesus to die for our sins.  And like the type before Him, Jesus is led out into the wilderness. He is led out to be tempted by the devil, to be accused and slandered for your sin. But, having overcome the devil, Jesus is again cast out into the wilderness to die. And He does, bearing your sin.

At Jesus’ baptism the descent of the Spirit and the voice of the Father, the Christian sacrament of baptism is instituted, and it shows us the trinity in who's name we are to be baptized.  This also fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 42:1: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”, proving Jesus to be the messiah. Once Jesus is anointed to die and identified as the messiah, he begins his ministry.  The descent of the spirit also allowed him to use more of his divinity and perform miracles.

The Capadocian Fathers

The Cappodocian Fathers were three friends, pastors, and theologians from Cappadocia, who attended and influenced the Council in Constantinople in 381. They were very important figures in the early church who helped shape Christian doctrine and the language used to explain it. Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great were two of the four Great Eastern church fathers and Eight Doctors of the Church.  Gregory of Nyssa was Basil's brother.  He lacked Basil's administrative abilities and Gregory of Nazianzus' influence and rhetorical skills, but he was still a good theologian.

Gregory of Nyssa

Gregory of Nyssa (c.335 – after 394) was an Eastern church father. He participated in the Council of Constantinople.

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Gregory of Nazianzus

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-c.389) was one of the four great Eastern church fathers, and so one of the eight Doctors of the church.  He was a classically trained orator and philosopher, who defended the trinity. He was a key figure in the second ecumenical Council at Constantinople in 381.

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Epiphany

Yesterday ended the twelve days of Christmas, so now we turn to a new season. Since the Church year is based off of events in Jesus life, the next one is the epiphany.

What is important about this day is that it is really the manifestation of Christ, who is God, to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. Thus Jesus was "A light to lighten the gentiles" (Luke 2:32), fulfilling the prophecy of the messiah being for all people from Isaiah 42:6.


No one is sure when they came, but Jesus was older than eight days old because he had been named, but less than two years old, due to Herod killing children under two after this. Also, this happened while Jesus and his family were in a house, not the manger, as the Bible states. Who were these Magi though? From Wikipedia we read:

"The word magi is the plural of Latin magus, borrowed from Greek μάγος magos, as used in the original Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew ("μάγοι"). Greek magos itself is derived from Old Persian maguŝ from the Avestan magâunô, i.e., the religious caste into which Zoroaster was born. The term refers to the priestly caste of Zoroastrianism. As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars and gained an international reputation for astrology, which was at that time highly regarded as a science. Their religious practices and use of astrology caused derivatives of the term Magi to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term magic, although Zoroastrianism was in fact strongly opposed to sorcery. The King James Version translates the term as wise men, the same translation is applied to the wise men led by Daniel of earlier Hebrew Scriptures (Daniel 2:48). The same word is given as sorcerer and sorcery when describing "Elymas the sorcerer" in Acts 13:6–11, and Simon Magus, considered a heretic by the early Church, in Acts 8:9–13."

The western tradition has there being three wise men (each with their own early church names and legends). The idea that there were three comes from the fact that there were three gifts. However, powerful men, such as these probably would have traveled with an entourage. In the East, the tradition is that there are twelve of them. This is to symbolize the fullness of the gentiles to parallel the twelve tribes of Israel symbolizing the fullness of the Israelites.

All three gifts are ordinary offerings and gifts given to a king and/or a God. Myrrh being commonly used as an anointing oil, frankincense as a perfume, and gold as a valuable.
The three gifts also had spiritual meanings: gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death. This idea dates back to Origen in Contra Celsum: "gold, as to a king; myrrh, as to one who was mortal; and incense, as to a God."  There is precedents for this since the Syrian King Seleucus II Callinicus is recorded to have offered gold, frankincense and myrrh (among other items) to Apollo in his temple at Miletus in 243 BC.

These interpretations are alluded to in the verses of the popular carol "We Three Kings" in which the magi describe their gifts. The last verse includes a summary of the interpretation: "Glorious now behold Him arise/King and God and sacrifice." Funny enough, the first line of the famous hymn, "We Three kings of orient are..." has everything incorrect. There were not necessarily three, they were not kings, and they were not from the orient.  Sometimes the gifts are described more generally as gold symbolizing virtue, frankincense symbolizing prayer, and myrrh symbolizing suffering.

Basil of Caesarea (the Great)

Basil of Caesarea (a.k.a Basil the Great) (c.329-379) was one of the four great Eastern church fathers, and so one of the eight Doctors of the church. He supported the Nicene Creed. He was a key figure in the Council of Constantinople.

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