Commentary on the Daily Lectionary of the Orthodox Church
Author: Fr. Basil
Now retired, the Very Rev. Archpriest Basil Ross Aden has served as a parish priest, parish pastor, diocesan mission director, writer, and college teacher of New Testament and Religious Studies. He has a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Chicago and has published daily devotional and stewardship materials as well as a college textbook on Religious Studies. He also has published papers and/or lectured on the Orthodox perspective on Luther and the Reformation. religious freedom, current issues of religion and society, and St. John Chrysostom. He is married to Sandra and has two sons and three grandchildren. He is still active as a priest as well as a writer of articles and materials on Orthodoxy and topics of faith and life today.
The word of the day is “confidence.” In times of trial, what do we need to endure? Our reading of Hebrews 10:35-11:17 answers, “Therefore, do not cast away your confidence which has a great reward” (vs. 35). The Greek word that is translated as “confidence” is derived from the term for outspoken speech. From this, we get the thought of “boldness” (Strong’s #3954, 194). Such assurance will see us through the ordeals that we face until we receive the reward of our determination. Do Not Cast Away Our Shield By all means, the apostle teaches that we must never “cast away” our confidence. The author may have been thinking of the shield that soldiers in Greece and Rome carried into…
The word of the day is “sacrifice.” In today’s reading of Hebrews 10:1-18, the apostle announces the end of sacrifices for sin. He writes, “For by one offering He [Christ] has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (vs. 14). Therefore, there is no longer any need for more offerings for sin. All that is necessary for our redemption has been fulfilled. A One-Time Offering The apostle argues at length that the sacrifices of the Old Testament were ineffective because they had to be repeated again and again (vs. 11).  But Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was “once and for all” (10).  The proof of its efficacy was that Christ “sat down at the right hand of God” after He…
The word of the day is “mediator.” In our reading from Hebrews 9:8-10; 15-23, the apostle explains how Jesus Christ established the new covenant that promises our eternal inheritance. Paul writes, “He is the Mediator of the new covenant by means of death…. That those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (vs. 15). St. John Chrysostom explains, “A mediator is not lord of the thing of which he is mediator, but the thing belongs to one person, and the mediator is another: for instance, the mediator of a marriage is not the bridegroom, but one who aids him who is about to be married” (NpFp1: 13). But what are the parties to the mediation of…
Christ is born! Glorify Him! The word of the day is “know.” In our reading of Hebrews 8:7-15, the apostle refers to the new covenant that makes the old covenant between God and His Chosen People obsolete.   The people had broken the laws of the old covenant, which was written on stone. But the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34)   had promised that God would make a new covenant (vs. 9) that would be written on the heart (vs. 10).  In that new relationship with God, no one would need to be taught to know the Lord. All would know him, from the youngest to the oldest (vs. 11).  And in knowing Him, everyone would know His will and ways. His laws…
Christ is born! Glorify Him! The word of the day is “revelation.” In our reading of Galatians 1:11-19, St. Paul insists that the Gospel that he preaches did not come from any human source. He writes, “I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation  of Jesus Christ (vs. 12). Paul declares that “His” Gospel was not “according to man” (vs. 11 OSB). The Greek term for “according” means “to come down in place or time” (Strong’s  #2596, 128). Thus, the Gospel did not come from any human being, nor was he taught it. Accordingly, the Oxford Annotated Bible translates that “it is not of human origin” (vs. 11 OAB). Revealed in…
Christ is born! Glorify Him! The word of the day is “God.”  In our reading of 1 Timothy 6:11-16, St. Paul offers a doxology of praise to the Lord of lords and King of kings who is immortal, and invisible, and in glory hidden from human eyes. Pau’s hymn of glorifying God is appropriate for this day after the Feast of the Nativity. On this second day of the Feast,  all that we have said and done now blend together in a song of honor, adoration, and worship of the “ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, and incomprehensive” God (“Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom,”  St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1984). Lord of Lords, King of Kings The passage may have been a doxology…
Christ is born! Glorify Him! The word of the day is “sent.” On this glorious day, we hear Paul’s concise summary of the gospel in our reading of Galatians  4:4-7. He writes, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons” (vs. 4-5). How long did it take for the time to be filled up with hours, days and years and decades (Strong’s #4136, 204)? How much suffering did the Chosen People endure as the centuries heaped up one on top of the others? How much perseverance did it take for the People…
Christ is born! Glorify Him! The word of the day is “kingdom.” On the eve of the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, we hear of the identity of the child to be born and the significance of His birth. As our reading of Hebrews 1:1-12 begins, the apostle argues that the angels may be magnificent. But the divine Son of God is greater than the most stupendous angel.  Through Him, the worlds were made. He was His Reign is Forever the agent of the Creator who laid the foundations of the earth. In Him, the brightness of God’s glory shines.  With Him, there is no change or alteration. On Him, God has poured the anointing oil of kingship,…
The word of the day is “solid.” Today, our reading of Hebrews 5:11-6:8 emphasizes the necessity that everyone should continue to grow in faith and the knowledge of the faith. The apostle writes, “Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation…” (vs. 6:1). As this passage begins, the apostle notes that there is much more to say about the High Priest Melchizedek. Yet, he gives up trying to explain it because he complains that his readers have become “dull of hearing” (vs. 11). The  Greek word that the apostle uses means sluggish (Strong’s #3576, 174). They have become slothful in their comprehension of the teachings of the…
The word of the is day is “rest.”  In our reading of Hebrews 4:1-13, we hear that the doors of God’s offer of “heavenly rest” remain open to us. Therefore, we should not pass by the opportunity. But we should mix the hearing of the Gospel of hope with faith in its promise lest we lose that heavenly calling. Think what our Heavenly Father offers us in the proclamation of the apostle. It is the rest of divine help in trial and temptation now and the greater rest of glory and relief from our labors in the age to come.  It is the precious  “heavenly calling” (vs. 3:1) that as the Creator rested from his works on the first Sabbath,…