Christ is risen! And welcome to the Daily Orthodox Scriptures, 2021. I’m Fr. Alexis, and we are reading through the Scriptures each day of the year, using the Orthodox Study Bible. Today is Day 160 of our readings, and it’s June 9, the Leave-taking or the Apodosis of Pascha. So today we will be reading from Ecclesiastes 8; Psalms 127, 128; Proverbs 28:6-11; and John 18:1-27.

We’ve been reading in Ecclesiastes for a few days now. It’s worthwhile to remind you who the author is: King Solomon, son of King David. King Solomon had everything. He had power, he had wealth, he had intelligence and wisdom. Nothing was off limits to him. The most beautiful women in the land were available to him, and it seems that he tried everything. He was not always led by his faith, and the book of Ecclesiastes is the result of all this. Here is the man who has had it all and tried it all, telling you what it was like. And he says that it is vanity. He’s so smart—he knows just about everything—and he’s trying to figure out God, but God is beyond figuring out. He can’t fit into our conceptions. And he’s expressing all this in this book and coming to some understanding which we will see today and as we finish in the next few days.

Before I begin reading, I want to share something I read in another book, Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo, one of my favorites. There’s this bishop in the story who was portrayed as a person who lives the Gospel, and I loved this description of him that I want to share with you.

He thought of the grandeur and presence of God, of the future eternity, that strange mystery; of the eternity past, a mystery still more strange; of all the infinities which pierced their way into all his senses. Beneath his eyes, and without seeking to comprehend the incomprehensible, he gazed upon it. He did not study God; he was dazzled by him.

And that’s what we’re doing here, as we’re reading, and what Solomon is coming to understand. It’s not what we know about God that matters; it’s knowing God that matters. Now to the readings; let’s begin.

Who knows the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
and a man shameless in face will be hated.

Keep the king’s commandment and spare no effort for the sake of your oath to God. You will go out from his presence, but do not stand with an evil thing, for the king will do whatever he pleases.

Insofar as a king has authority, he speaks,
And who will say to him,
“Why will you do this?”
He who keeps his commandment will not know an evil thing,
And a wise man’s heart knows the time of judgment.
For to every matter there is a time and a judgment,
Because the knowledge of a man lies heavily upon him.
For there is no one who knows what is going to be;
For who will tell him how it shall be?
No one has the authority over his spirit to withhold his spirit,
And no one has authority in the day of his death.
There is no discharge in that war,
And ungodliness will not save those given to it.

I saw all this and gave my heart to every work done under the sun wherein one man has authority over another man to injure him.

Then I saw the ungodly buried in their tombs and brought from their holy place and praised in the city for what they had done. But this also is vanity. For no controversy comes quickly against those who do evil; therefore, the heart of the sons of men is fully determined within them to do evil. Whoever sins does evil from that time on and for a long time afterwards; nevertheless, I know that it shall be well for those who fear God so long as they have fear before him. But it shall not be well with the ungodly man; he will not prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not have fear before God.

There is a vanity that is done on earth: there are the righteous as when the work of the ungodly overtakes them, and there are the ungodly as when the work of the righteous overtakes them. I said that this also is vanity. So I praised merriment, because a man has nothing better to do under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will be present with him in his labor all the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

For this reason I committed my heart to know wisdom and to see the distractions done on earth; nevertheless, he receives no sleep, day or night. Then I saw all the works of God, that a man cannot discover how he does his work under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it out. And no matter how much a wise man may speak of knowing it, he will not be able to find it out.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
Who walk in His ways.
You shall eat the fruits of your labor;
You are blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a vine, prospering on the sides of your house;
Your children like newly planted olive trees
Around your table.
Behold, so shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the good things of Jerusalem
All the days of your life;
May you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel.

“Many times they warred against me from my youth,”
Let Israel now say;
“Many times they warred against me from my youth,
Yet they did not overcome me.
The sinners schemed behind my back;
They prolonged their lawlessness.”
The righteous Lord cut in pieces the necks of sinners.
Let all who hate Zion
Be shamed and turned back.
Let them become like grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it is plucked up;
Like grass with which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor the gatherer of sheaves, his bosom;
Neither do those who pass by say to them,
“The Lord’s blessing be upon you;
In the Lord’s name, we bless you.”

A poor man walking in the truth is better than a rich liar.
A wise son keeps the law,
But he who cherishes luxury dishonors his father.
He who increases his wealth with usury and unjust gains
Gathers it for him who shows mercy to the poor.
He who turns away his ear so as not to hear the law,
He also makes his prayer repulsive.
He who leads upright men astray in an evil way,
He shall fall into destruction;
And lawless men shall pass by good things,
But they shall not enter into them.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with his disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. Now when he said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Then he asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let these go their way,” that the saying might be fulfilled which he spoke, “Of those whom you gave me I have lost none.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given me?”

Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. And they led him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

The high priest then asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said nothing. ” Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” And when he had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, “Do you answer the high priest like that?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

As I mentioned at the beginning, today is the Leave-taking of Pascha, or the Apodosis of Pascha. It is the day that we say good-bye to the feast. We celebrate the great feast of the Resurrection for 40 days, and then we move towards the Ascension and look forward to Pentecost. So on this day, the last day of the Feast, I thought I would sing the Paschal doxasticon, saying good-bye to the feast with this beautiful hymn. And although today is the end of the feast, it is not like we stop celebrating the resurrection. Every Sunday is a resurrection day, and truly every day the risen Christ lives and acts within us.

This arrangement of the Paschal doxasticon was written by Bishop Basil (Essey).

[Byzantine chant] Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

It is the day of resurrection! Be illumined for the feast, and embrace one another. Let us speak, brothers, even unto those who hate us, and forgive all for the sake of the resurrection. And so together let us cry out: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs, bestowing life!

Christ is risen! I am Fr. Alexis, and remember: Christ is in our midst!