Our Venerable Father Eumenes, Bishop of Gortyna
Saturday after the Exaltation of the Cross
1 Corinthians 1:26-29; John 8:21-30
Read John 8:21-30
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Some of you may know the expression “every translator is a traitor.” People who are fluent in more than one language recognise very quickly that there are simply expressions which are difficult or impossible to render from one language to another. In speaking about the Hebrew scriptures, one Rabbi is reported to have stated that reading them in translation was like “kissing your wife through a tissue.”
In our lesson today, we have the question of authority levelled against Christ, and He responds with the statement rendered in English “I am he” (he does this at other times in this gospel as well). What simply does not come through from the Greek to the English, however, is that Christ is attributing the Holy Name of God, “I AM,” to Himself! If you take a look at a traditional Eastern icon of Christ, you will see a cross in His halo with the Greek letters stating this exact thing: I AM. Jesus is God. It is when He is “lifted up” on the Cross that the people will know His divinity, His authority from the Father, and His love for the world!