Our Venerable Father Spiridon the Wonderworker, Bishop of Tremithus (337-61)
Nativity Fast.
Read
1 Timothy 6:17-21; Luke 18:31-34
Today’s gospel is the third prediction of the passion in Luke’s gospel. The first prediction takes place after Peter’s confession that Jesus is Messiah (Luke 9:22), and the second comes after the Transfiguration and Jesus’ healing of an epileptic child (Luke 9:44-45). Both times, the prediction is contrasted with a dramatic and positive event. It’s as if Jesus is timing the announcements of his passion carefully, so His disciples don’t lose sight of the fact that His death as Messiah is part of God’s eternal plan; despite appearances, God is still in control.
In today’s prediction, there is less drama, but the disciples are once again given something to contrast with the disturbing image of Jesus’ suffering and death: today, Jesus makes clearly states that what everything He will endure has already been foretold by the prophets. This may have prepared the disciples, however remotely, for another conversation with Jesus – His journey to Emmaus on the first Easter Sunday with Luke and Cleopas, where He explains how everything that He had suffered had been foretold in “Moses and all the prophets.”
We’re less than two weeks from Christmas, a feast filled with Old Testament themes, but which also points us clearly to the Passion and Resurrection. Pay attention to the carols (especially the older ones), attend the Royal Hours and Vespers, and you’ll see how the Old Testament creates a map for understanding the Incarnation. From the beginning of the Gospels, and from the beginning of time, God becoming human means that God will give His life for the world.