DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
St. John 8:21-30 (5/23) CHRIST IS RISEN! Gospel for Friday, Week of
the Paralytic
The Issue:
1) You will die. This is an incontestable, universal
assertion about human existence. In
mentioning death, the Lord wants us to face His claim on our life, a claim that
can be addressed only while one is in this present existence, an existence to
which He gives great significance.
2) You commit sins and have done so all your
life. The word “sins”
as used here, refers to any thoughts, attitudes, or behaviors contrary to the
will of God. The Orthodox Christian
accepts without question the view of the Lord and His Apostles that “all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Therefore all people are, or have been,
“in their sins.”
3) “Dying in your sins” is a dread
condition, for after death there comes the judgment
for each one of us when we shall have to give account to God for every thought,
word, and deed. To live in sins is
to live deliberately in opposition to God as a matter of choice and
preference. We can freely repent -
state our yearning not to remain in our sins eternally. After death, as the Church teaches, one
enters a “...state of unchangeable things; no alterations whatever
happens then, only developments in the state chosen by free
personalities” (Alexandre Kalomiros).
4) It is possible to have your sins
“covered” or “forgiven” in this life (Ps. 31:1) so as
not to enter life-after-death “in your sins.” The Lord’s remark concerning
‘dying in sins’ is not absolute, but conditional: “You will
surely die in your sins...” unless you believe in Me
(vs. 24).
5) Jesus is God. This fact may not be immediately
apparent in many translations of this verse, for they render it: “...if
you do not believe that I Am ‘He.’” The “He” does not exist in
the original. Look at the
translation given above. In the
original Greek the Lord says, “ego eimi,” which may be translated either as “I
Am” or “I Am He.”
The burden of this whole passage points to Ex
3:14 and, therefore, favors “I AM.” Look at vss.
23, 28, 29, and later, vs. 58, all of which stress the Lord’s Divinity,
His unity of essence and will with God the Father.
6) You are free to believe in Jesus as God, or
not. The verb,
“believe” in this verse, includes assent to the idea that
the Lord Jesus is God. But more
important, “believe” in this instance carries the more significant
meaning of belief “in” Him, that is, in commitment to Him and
submission to Him - what we expect of those who are Baptized. “Belief in” Him includes
obeying, following, and looking to Him for direction in life. It certainly includes worship.
7) This is the Lord’s point: if we
believe in Him, we will NOT die in our sins. “...Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners...” (1 Tim. 1:15). However, if we believe in Him, let us
hasten to add, we are to assume the lifelong struggle, to manage our inner
life, to control the passions, to rebuff the appeals of Satan and of our fallen
flesh, to confess our sins, to repent, and to work at putting an end to sinful
habits - to live rightly, as He gives us strength (Jas. 2:14ff).
THE ISSUE: Hast thou renounced Satan? Dost Thou unite thyself unto
Christ? Hast thou united thyself
unto Christ? Dost thou believe in
Him as King and God?