Welcome to the Daily Orthodox Scriptures, and to Day 114 into our journey through the Bible. We are reading through the Scriptures in one year using the Orthodox Study Bible. I am Fr. Alexis, and today is April 24. Today is Pascha, the new Passover, the passover from death to life, the Feast of the Resurrection. We’ve made it through the period of Great Lent and Holy Week and arrived at the Feast of feasts of the Church year. Another accomplishment is that we’ve been reading through the Scriptures for almost four months. Each day we’ve been reading and thinking about the Scriptures, allowing ourselves to grow into the journey, because, for a lot of us, this is a new thing. Our faith is great journey: always learning, always growing, always healing. It’s a marathon, not a spring. Reading the Scriptures is a lot like that, too. Today our readings will be from 2 Kingdoms 20-21; Psalm 94; Proverbs 20:16-20; Luke 17:20-37.

David is again ruling a united people, but the unity is quite fragile. There are tensions between the northern kingdom, which is known as Israel, and the southern kingdom, known as Judah. And the southern kingdom, Judah, is made up of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. Now David is from the tribe of Judah, and Saul was from Benjamin, so these two tribes within the southern kingdom, are also struggling with each other, since loyalties are split between the two royal families. So that’s where we are now; let’s begin.

There happened to be there a rebel whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet and said, “We have no share in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to your tents, O Israel!” So every man of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, clung to their king. Now David entered his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them under guard and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

And the king said to Amasa, “Within three days, call the men of Judah for me, and be present here yourself.” So Amasa went to call for the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the time set by David, who appointed him. And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants with you and pursue him so that he does not fortify cities for himself and escape from our sight.” So Joab’s men with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men went out after him. They went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they reached the large stone in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor, and on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips. Then the sword came out and fell to the ground. Then Joab said to Amasa, “Are you healthy, brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground. He did not strike him again, and he died.

Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. Meanwhile one of Joab’s servants stood near him and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David—follow Joab!” But Amasa was soaked in his blood in the middle of the road. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa from the path onto the field. He threw a garment over him because he saw that everyone halted who came upon him. And when he was removed from the road, all the people followed after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maachah, and all the Charrites. So they joined together and went after Sheba. They then came and besieged Sheba in Abel and Beth Maachah. And they raised a siege mound against the city and stood by the rampart. And all the people with Joab considered pulling down the wall.

Then a wise woman cried out from the wall, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come near, and I will speak with him.” When he came near to her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your handmaid.” And he replied, “I am listening.” So she spoke, saying, “In former times they used to say, ‘They asked at Abel and in Dan whether the things established by the faithful of Israel failed, and they will ask in Abel whether they failed.’ I am among the peaceable and loyal in Israel. You seek to put a city and a capital in Israel to death. Why are you going to swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?” And Joab answered and said, “Far be it from me, far be it from me to swallow it up or destroy it! That is not so. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, raised his hand against King David. Deliver him only to me, and I will depart from the city.” So the woman said to Joab, “Watch, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” Then the woman in her wisdom went to the people and spoke to all the city. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they scattered from the city, every man to his tent. So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

And Joab was over all the army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; Adoram was in charge of revenue; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; Sheva was scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; and Ira the Jairite was a priest of David.

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year, and David inquired before the Lord. And the Lord said, “In Saul and his unrighteous house there is wrongdoing, because of his bloodthirsty killings when he killed the Gibeonites.” So King David called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not sons of Israel, but belonged to the remnant of the Amorites. The sons of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah. And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement so that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?” And the Gibeonites said to him, “We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us.”

So he said, “What do you want me to do for you?” Then they answered the king, “As for the man who consumed us and pursued us, who deceived us to destroy us, let us blot him out from remaining in any of the territories of Israel. Let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them in broad daylight before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord chose.”

And the king said, “I will give them.” But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord’s oath between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she bore for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the hill before the Lord. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock from the beginning of barley harvest until the rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. And they were faint, and Dan, son of Joah from the offspring of the giants, overtook them. Then David went and took Saul’s bones and the bones of Jonathan his son. He took them from the men of Jabesh Gilead, who stole them from the square of Beth Shan where the Philistines put them, on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged. And they buried Saul’s bones and the bones of Jonathan his son and the bones of those who were hanged in the country of Benjamin, in Zelah beside the tomb of Kish his father. So they did everything the king commanded. And after that God heeded the prayer for the land.

Now the Philistines were still at war with Israel, and David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. Then Ishbi thought he could kill David. This Ishbi was one of the descendants of the giants, and the weight of his spear was the weight of three hundred bronze shekels, and he was girded with a club. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, that you do not quench the lamp of Israel.”

Now after this there was another battle with the Philistines at Gath. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. And there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft like a weaver’s beam. Yet again there was a battle at Gath, where there was a man of strife who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number. He also was born to the giant. And he defied Israel, and Jonathan the son of Shimea, brother of David, killed him. These four were born as offspring of the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Come, let us greatly rejoice in the Lord;
Let us shout aloud to God our savior;
Let us come before his face with thanksgiving,
And let us shout aloud to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,
A great King over all the gods;
For in his hand are the ends of the earth,
And the heights of the mountains are his;
For the sea is his, and he made it,
And his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and fall down before him,
And let us weep before the Lord who made us;
For he is our God,
And we are the people of his pasture
And the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as in the Rebellion,
During the day of testing in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
They tested me, and saw my works.
For forty years I was treated with contempt by that generation,
And I said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they do not know my ways’;
So I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”

Do not love to speak ill,
That you may not be taken away;
Open your eyes,
And you will be filled with bread.
A double standard is an abomination to the Lord,
And a deceitful scale is not good before him.
Steps are made straight for a man by the Lord,
But how can a mortal man understand his ways?
It is a snare for a man to quickly sanctify something of his own things as holy,
Then after making this vow, to come to a change of heart.

Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; “nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Then he said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. “And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” And they answered and said to him, “Where, Lord?” So he said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you.” The phrase here, “the kingdom of God is within you,” can also be translated “the kingdom of God is among you,” or “the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Fr. Thomas Hopko said:

The kingdom of heaven is already in the midst of those who live the spiritual life.” What the spiritual person knows in the Holy Spirit, in Christ and the Church, will come with power and glory for all men to behold at the end of the ages.

So there is this sense that the kingdom is here, but not in its fullest sense, in a way that everyone can perceive it. Fr. John Breck furthers this notion when he says:

There’s an ongoing tension between what has been accomplished and what is still to be done, between the already and the not-yet. The end time is already present. The kingdom is in our midst in the Person and work of the Son of God, yet its fulfillment lies in the future, when the Lord’s reign will summon all people to a final judgment.

What this means is that, presently, there are two things that we know: firstly, that God’s kingdom is here and present, and that, secondly, our struggle will continue until the second coming or the natural end of our life, whichever comes first.

So the fact that Jesus and the kingdom are present and in our midst doesn’t mean that there are no difficulties or that our troubles are all over, or if we’re experiencing the trials of life that we’re doing something wrong. If we are believers, we are living in the heavenly kingdom in a fallen world. But because we know that the fullness of the kingdom is coming, that Jesus’ death and resurrection has already defeated the devil and given us life, then we have hope and even joy in the midst of our struggles. How powerful is this time just after celebrating the resurrection!

So when we heard in the fifth chapter of Matthew, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,” there’s a sense of the present joy and the coming fulfillment and resolution of all our struggles. Our faith in Christ today allows us to experience the kingdom today and gives us the strength to get through today’s trying moments.

And tomorrow, we will continue our reading together. Christ is risen! I am Fr. Alexis, and remember: Christ is in our midst!

Today as we continue our readings on this Pascha day, I’d like to do something a little different than our usual daily commentary. Every year on the Feast of the Resurrection, we offer the sermon of St. John Chrysostom, who died around the year 407 after having been Patriarch of Constantinople. So here is St. John’s sermon as I read it on Pascha in 2015. And we will come back tomorrow in the radiance of this feast to continue this spectacular journey through the Scriptures. I’m Fr. Alexis, and although our greeting at this time of the year is “Christ is risen!” remember that he is also in our midst.

Christ is risen! [Truly he is risen!] Christos anesti! [Alithos anesti!] Al-Masīḥ qām! [Ḥaqqan qām!] Khristos voskrese! [Voistinu voskrese!] Hristos a înviat! [Adevărat a înviat!] Kristos Tenestwal! Bergit Tenestwal!] Kristo Amefufukka! Kirsthu ujirthu! [Unmaiyagave ujirthu!] Krishti u ngjall! Kriste agsdga! Christos tensiou! [Bahake tensiou!] Le Christ est ressuscité! [En verité il est ressuscité!] ¡Cristo ha resucitado! [¡En verdad ha resucitado!] Cristo è risorto! [È veramente risorto!]

As is traditional on Pascha, we present the beautiful homily of St. John Chrysostom. He wrote this some 1600 years ago, and it’s still very powerful.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning, by the way. [Laughter]

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a wise servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord. If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him keep the feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings, for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of his delay.

For the Master is gracious and receives the last, even as the first; he gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention. Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward.

O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden; feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted; let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness. Let no one lament his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn his transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free.

He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He has descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted his flesh! And, anticipating this, Isaiah, exclaimed, “Hades was embittered [Embittered!] when it encountered thee in the lower regions.” It was embittered [Embittered!], for it was abolished! It was embittered [Embittered!], for it was mocked! It was embittered [Embittered!], for it was purged! It was embittered [Embittered!], for it was despoiled! It was embittered [Embittered!], for it was bound in chains! It took a body and, face to face, met God! It took earth and encountered heaven! It took what it saw but crumbled before what it had not seen!

“O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?” Christ is risen [Truly he is risen!], and you are overthrown! Christ is risen [Truly he is risen!], and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen [Truly he is risen!], and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen [Truly he is risen!], and life reigns! Christ is risen [Truly he is risen!], and not one dead remains in the tombs! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the First-fruits of them that slept. To him be glory and might unto the ages of ages! Amen.

Christ is risen! [Truly he is risen!]