Christ Envisioned and Seen

Christ Envisioned and Seen

Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Two Disciples of Christ, Luke and Cleopas are traveling

on this day from Jerusalem to Emmaus. While they are

walking the risen Christ approaches them as a companion

 on the way discussing with them the recent events

of His predicted Passion and Resurrection.

During their conversation with Him they see Him but can’t

recognize Him because the eyes of their souls were

 held from understanding with whom they are talking.

When they reached their house they asked Him to stay

the night with them, to which He accepted. “And it came

 to pass, as he sat at table with them, he took bread,

 and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them and

 their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he

vanished out of their sight.” (Luke 24: 30-31)

Throughout His earthly life many saw the Lord, but few

 however saw Him with open spiritual eyes and recognized

Him as Lord and God.

Simon the God Receiver and Anna the prophetess saw the

 Infant Christ with open spiritual eyes and with that they

prophesied. (Luke 2:23-38)

Many others saw the Divine Infant, but their eyes were held

from perceiving His divinity as the liberating Christ, but rather

 they saw Him as an ordinary infant like any other. Also at the

 temple of Solomon the teachers of the Mosaic Law saw Him

when He was twelve years old, but with their spiritual eyes being

 held from understanding with whom they were conversing,

they see but not perceive and to them He was an ordinary

twelve years old child.

At the age of thirty years old Christ met with St. John the Baptist

at the river Jordan and because the saint had open spiritual eyes

 he confessed Christ as the Lamb of God. (John 1:29 – 34)

However the rest of the multitude that was with

St. John saw Christ as

 a mere man because their spiritual eyes were closed.

The Sadducees and Caiaphas with Pilate and Herod also

saw Him,

 but their eyes were held from seeing His Divinity. However

 the centurion with open spiritual eyes confessed that

 “verily This Man is the Son of God” (Mark 15:39-40)        

After the Resurrection of Christ, Mary Magdalene and the

 other Mary saw the Lord and “fell down to touch His feet  to

 worship Him” (Math. 28:9-10)

While walking in the country two of Christ’s disciples saw

the Resurrected Lord appearing in a “different form”

(Mark 16:12-13)

He also appeared to the eleven disciples while they were at the

table and rebuked their lack of faith and hardheartedness as

 they didn’t believe those who saw Him Resurrected.

Mary Magdalene sees Him and thinks He is the gardener,

but when Christ called her by her name “she was surprised

to recognize Him as her spiritual eyes were opened she

turned and said to Him Rabboni” (John 20:16)

Thomas the apostle with open spiritual eyes confesses the

Resurrected Christ as “Lord and God” (John.20:24-29).

 at the lake of Tiberius His disciples convinced that they were

conversing with the Risen Lord, yet not daring to ask Him

“who are you” Knowing that it was the Lord (John 21:1-14)

It is noteworthy and right to wonder that while all see Him,

only a few recognize His divine origin. What do they

see those

who believed and what do they don’t see those who do

 not believe?

This mystery lies in the economy of the incarnation

of Jesus Christ.

 The Word of God put on flesh and became man and that is

why Christ as the God-man has two natures, the divine

and the human. All the people saw the human nature

of His face, however His Divine nature that is hidden

within His human not everyone saw except those who

have open spiritual eyes. For that the God-man Christ is

 seen as a common man and is envisioned and admired as

 Divine God. Therefore those that have their spiritual eyes

held can only see His human nature; however those with

open spiritual eyes can see His divine and ineffable view.

 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

 (Math. 5:8)

Christ through His incarnation and with His Holy Sacraments

 abides within us Christians and we become temples of the

living God. As God has said “I will dwell in them, and walk

 in them and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

(2Corn. 6:16) The Lord continues to dwell and walk in us

through the Holy Mysteries and showing Himself in the faces

 of our laboring devout Christian brothers!

Christ and His kingdom lie within us, therefore when He unites

 Himself with man we can envision Him as God in the face of

our Christian brother, and therefore through our fellow

Christian brothers we can see  Christ as the God-man.

Our brothers become sanctified people through the Grace

of God and also through the Grace they become the

children of God! (Rom. 8:14, Gal.3:26, Joh.1:12, 1Joh.3:2)

Even though all Christians through the Grace have the potential

 to become gods “I said, ye are gods” (John10:34), however

 the Divine sight is claimed only by the “pure in heart” (Math. 5:8)

The emptiness and hardening of the heart together with the

lack of faith are the reasons for our spiritual eyes to be blinded.

Therefore says the Lord “I speak to them in parables, because

seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they

 understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled,

which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this

people

 have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, lest they should

see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should

understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heel them.

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they

hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous

men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear

 what you hear, and did not hear it” (Math.13:13-17)

When our spiritual eyes are open, in awe we will see the Lord

looking and watching us through the eyes of our Christian brothers.

This divine sight will free us from our passions and sins that are

turned against our Christian brothers, and the vivid divine sight of

 Christ suppresses the sinful movements within us. Overwhelmed

 the man who is deserving of the divine vision becomes more

benevolent and loving towards his brother and starts to see him as

a holy person with a divine purpose.

He perceives Christ’s closeness through the loving coexistence

with his fellow brother and sister in Christ. For in the face of

every Christian Brother we can see Christ “in a different form”

(Mark 16:12)

May the Lord open the eyes of our souls, so that “having beheld

 the Resurrection of Christ, we may bow down and worship the

Holy Lord Jesus the only sinless One”.

  

Christodoulos Monk

Cantor at the Holy Church of the Nativity of our

Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem-Palestine

For all those who read this text please forward it to

your friends for their benefit and in their turn in the same way

spreading the word of God to as many of our Christian brothers.

Thank You!!

Email: xm24757@gmail.com

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