Thus Our Church Honors Both

Continued 👆🏽 Thus, our Church honors both the seventh day and the first day: the Saturday for its memory of the Old Creation, and the Sunday for the New Creation begun in Christ’s Resurrection. On these days, we do not simply cease from physical labor; rather, we are called to greater spiritual labor to prayer, to worship, to deeds of mercy, and to joy in the Lord. 3. To Prove the Union of Flesh and Divinity By entering through closed doors without destroying the integrity of the walls, Christ showed that His risen body was not mere spirit, nor was it an illusion. He was, and remains, perfect God and perfect Man, the Word made flesh, the Incarnate One, whose divinity is inseparably united to His humanity. Thus, the second appearance was not a repetition of a miracle, but the manifestation of the mystery that the Divine Logos has truly risen bodily, death having no more dominion over Him. Blessed indeed are those who have not seen and yet have believed! (John 20:29) The Doors Were Shut — Yet Christ Entered How wondrous and how terrifying is this event: the doors were shut, and yet Christ came in! For is He not El Shaddai, the Almighty One, who opened the barren womb of Sarah? (Genesis 17:1) Did He not grant a child to Hannah and to Elizabeth, though their bodies were closed to life? (Luke 1:37) Is He not the Lord who opens prison doors and breaks the bonds of death? Thus, when salvation’s doors are shut, when men's hearts are imprisoned by sin, when the gates of Paradise seemed forever barred  the Lord enters. Even today, when souls are imprisoned by sickness, by despair, by the deceptions of the evil one, Christ comes. He delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh's grasp when the sea stood before them and the army behind them (Exodus 14). He rescued Susanna from the false accusations of the wicked (Susanna 1:1-23). He saved the three youths from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:17). He raised Lazarus from death itself (John 11:1-48). Thus, beloved, let no heart despair. For the doors that seem shut to us are no barrier to Him who fills all things. He who opens and none can shut, and shuts and none can open (Revelation 3:7), is our God and our Savior. As it is written: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart." (Psalm 24:3-4) Let us, therefore, with faith unshaken, with hope undimmed, and with love aflame, worship the Risen Lord, who brings peace to those who tremble, belief to those who doubt, and life to those who were dead. May the name of the Holy God be praised forever and ever in every tongue that He has created, today and always. May the blessings of God's mother, the virgin, and the cross be upon us. Amen. © John's Repentance Reach out to us on our social media platforms and share it with your friends: https://linktr.ee/johnsrepentance