Holy Week: Holy Tuesday & Wednesday Evenings

Holy Tuesday

I. Figures in Contrast:

"The Harlot drew near to Thee, O Thou who lovest mankind, and poured out on Thy feet the oil of myrrh with her tears; at Thy command she was delivered from the foul smell of her evil deeds. But the ungrateful disciple, though he breathed Thy grace, rejected it and defiled himself in filth, selling Thee from love of money" (Holy Tuesday Evening).

By Grace we come to our Lord.

The Harlot (Extreme sinner): pouring tears of repentance (See Mt. 26:6-13; Luke 7:36-50)

The Disciple (Extreme righteous): Rejecting grace—being in a state of apostasy leads to war against God.

The plotting of Judas. "Deceitful Judas in his love for money, pondered cunningly how he might betray you, O Lord, the treasure of Life. Therefore in drunken folly he hastened to the Jews and to the transgressors (???) What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you to be crucified?"


II. The Gospel Reading John 12:17-50

John 12: 17-20 The authority of Christ: Lazarus is alive—people come to see. The Pharisees reveal their jealousy: (Seeking the glory of men) "Look, the world has gone after him."

Verses 20-22 The Greeks (seekers of wisdom)

Verses 23-26 Teaching of true Discipleship

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any ones serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him."


III. Discipleship The Call: "Follow me."

Discipleship as a Mission:
"Where I am, there shall my servant be also" (See Mark 3:14-15). "The people called to become disciples par excellence, have as their first assignment to be with Jesus, to be with him wherever he goes or stays. This special aspect is frequently ignored when we discuss the various facts of mission according to the New Testament" (Bishop Traketellis Discipleship and Priesthood).

Discipleship as Service: "If any one serves me"
"The preoccupation with possessing the first place, the passion for high ranking positions are transformed into a willingness and a decision to be the last but to perform something absolutely needed, namely to serve other people. Subsequently, Christ calls them and explains to them, as in Mark 9:35, that discipleship is service, not a position of ruling power" (Bishop Trakatellis).

Discipleship as a knowledge of Christ:
"Through the motif of the misunderstanding or mental blindness of the disciples, the necessity for knowledge and perception regarding Christ’s person and revelation is persuasively advocated. Perception of the truth of Christ has to do with a disposition of the whole existence not only with intellectual capacity" (Bishop Trakatellis, p. 280).

Discipleship as a total offering of one’s self:
"He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." There is no real discipleship in Christ without a decision for a drastic disengagement from people and things extremely dear. The extent of offering implied in Mark 8:34-38 reaches the ultimate limit which is death&ldots;the Son of man also came, "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Verses 27-36 A revelation of His death to come

Verses 37-43 Judgement-hard hearts produced blindness.

"Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:9-10).

"If their blindness was natural, it would have been right for Christ to open their eyes; but because it was a voluntary and self-chosen blindness Christ said, ‘seeing they perceive not.’ By doing this Christ reveals that the blindness is a result of their own wickedness" (St. John Chrysostom).

Verses 44-50 The Words of God will judge us on the Last Day.


IV. Hymn by Kassiani the Nun

Key Terms:

  • Sin—To miss the mark
  • Transgression—Lawlessness
  • "Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness." Sin is lawlessness. ( 1 John 3:4).


HOLY WEDNESDAY EVENING

I. The Various Uses of Oil in the Bible

Oil in the ancient world.

  • Oil was primarily used as a medicine, (e.g. The Good Samaritan poured wine and oil upon the wounds (Luke 10:33).
  • Oil was a source of light or joy (Mat 6:17). "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou annointest my head with oil, my cup over flows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.") Psalm 23:5.
  • A symbol of reconciliation and peace, (e.g. The dove returning with an olive branch to Noah’s Ark. These natural uses of oil from the early times determined its eventual usage in the liturgical life of the Church.
  • Oil is above all the symbol of "LIFE" as fullness, joy, and participation in the Divine Life of Christ!

The Oil of gladness: Baptism The re-creation of humanity into wholeness of soul and body.

"O Master, who ever makes glad the souls and bodies of men, with the oil of your compassion, and preserve the faithful by oil. Show compassion also unto those who now draw near unto thee through the oil."

A tradition of seven priests: The tradition of more than one priest needed comes from a literal interpretation of James 5:14-16 (i.e. plural for "presbyters"). By the 13th C. a tradition formed of having seven priests present for the mystery. The number seven was chosen arbitrarily because it was a sacred number.

Physicians and medicine are God given gifts for healing:

"Honor the physician, for the Lord created him; for healing comes from the Most High. The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible man will not despise them, there is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians, for they too will pray to the Lord that he should grant them success in diagnosis and in healing for the sake of preserving life"(Sirach-38).

An Apostolic Commission of Healing:

"And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them" (James 5:14-16 and Mark 6:13).

Why is this service done in the middle of Holy Week?

There was an ancient practice of reconciling "penitents" before Pascha. Confession precedes the service and the Holy Anointing seals peace with God. Furthermore, it prepares us before Holy Thursday’s Reception of Holy Communion.

The Service: Unction comes from the Latin "to anoint."


II. The Seven Readings from Scripture

  • First Reading: James 5:10-16 Commission for calling of Presbyters; and Luke 10:25-37 The Good Samaritan: unconditional love
  • Second Reading: Romans 15:1-7 Bear the failing of the weak—unity in mind and spirit Luke 19:1-10 Desire—Zacchaeus
  • Third Reading: II Cor. 12:27-31; 13:1-8 Gifts of healing for the Body of Christ—love Mt. 10:1,5-8 Apostolic healing authority
  • Fourth Reading: IICor. 6:16-18:7:1 God’s people must be purified from the flesh Mt. 8:`14-23 Jesus heals Peter’s mother in law
  • Fifth Reading: IICor. 1:8-11 Illnesses break us and lead us to Jesus Mt. 25:1-13 The Parable of the Ten Virgins—watchfulness
  • Sixth Reading: Gal. 5:22-6:2 Bear one another’s burdens Mt. 15:21-28 The Canaanite Women of Great Faith—daughter healed
  • Seventh Reading: I Thes. 5-14-23 Unity—communal and personal wholeness Mt. 9:9-13 It is not the healthy who are in need of a physician

The underlying theme from these readings is one of Community. Mutuality of persons within a Church is expressed above all in times of crisis. One can infer from this that the ability to "heal" is related to the amount of love present between members of the community.

Theologically, this comes from our understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ. Jesus is the source of all healing. The community that manifests this presence of Christ also reveals his spiritual gifts in their fullness. Finally, the communal return brings with it the lost sheep who have the greatest need of healing.