The explanation of the readings(Saturday of Lazarus)

Today’s readings are focused on the definition of the nature of the Savior and Redeemer who is destined to take away the sins of the world. Therefore, the four prophecies come from: Genesis, Isaiah the prophet, Zephaniah the prophet, and Zechariah the prophet, to paint us the image and example of the savior of the world from sin, fear, death, and Satan.

Prophecies

Genesis (Gen. 49: 1-28)

(Note: this is the same prophecy which is said in the Greek church on the eve of Palm Sunday at the vespers service held on the evening of Lazarus Saturday][4]

The first prophecy comes from the book of Genesis chapter 49 and the blessing that our father Jacob, the father of fathers, gave to his children of the Twelve Tribes, in which two prophecies clearly come about the son of God, the savior of the world:

* The first part of the Genesis prophecy is the blessing to Judas:

 “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.”  (Genesis 49)

It is clear from this prophecy:

Who is the son of God, the Lion, coming out of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49: 8, Mark1: 3, Amos 3: 8, 5: 5)

And this is the One who binds His donkey and the donkey’s colt (Matthew 21: 2)

And at the same time His dress is soaked with blood (Isaiah 63: 1-3)

Engineer Fouad Naguib Youssef connects this prophecy with the salvation of the Lord by His death and resurrection:

 (When Jacob died, he prophesied to each of his children, so he gave Joseph the blessing, and gave his youngest son Ephraim the firstborn. However, he singled out Judas for a special spiritual blessing, and in his prophecy about him he spoke of Christ, about the cross “ “from a prey that you ascended, my son,” that is, on the cross, about His death, “he knelt down and crouched”, and about His resurrection, “He who rises”.

 

The ” vine and the choice vine” are the Jews and the Gentiles whom He bound together and united in His kingdom, as the king of peace riding on the “colt of the son of donkey”. And the” blood of the grapes ” with which we were washed from our sins is His shed blood of the New Testament.][5]

• The second part in this prophecy is the blessing to Joseph:

“Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.

But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

(Genesis 49)

This prophecy shows the suffering of the Savior, the consultation of the wicked against Him and the Lords of arrows, and at the same time the eternal blessings that exceed and transcend all the blessings of the Earth.

 [Note: the chapter on the symbols of salvation in the Old Testament can be consulted in the Pascha readings in this research for more details on how the talk about Judas and Joseph in this prophecy referred to Christ,glory be to Him).

That is, the savior according to the prophecy of Genesis is:

Great in His power èthe lion.

And simple in His meekness è the donkey and the colt.

And perfect  in His redemption è drenched in blood.

And victorious over His Resisters è the arms have dissolved.

He will shower mankind with the blessings of his salvation è the blessing of heaven from above, and the blessing of the Earth on it.

 

 (Isaiah 40:9)

” O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.

He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him?

With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding?”

The image of the Savior appears here in the following

VThe power of His coming,”Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand”

VThe kindness of His care and fatherhood,”He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm. And gently lead those who are with young”

VIn the  greatness of His economy,”Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him?

Therefore, he concludes the prophecy by referring to the power of the redeemed and faithful in the New Testament whom the son of God overflowed with the power of His salvation ” But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”  (Isaiah 40)

 

(Zephaniah 3:14)

“Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

V The son of God here removes injustices, gets rid of enemies, reigns in the center (with the cross), pours out His joy on humanity and renews it in His love.

V It is a call to rejoice in the salvation of the son of God for the Church of the New Testament, as St. Cyril of Alexandria says :

* (We are preoccupied with the deeper meaning of the phrase, it clearly commands Jerusalem to rejoice joyfully, to be especially happy, to rejoice wholeheartedly, as her sins are erased by Christ; The Holy spiritual Zion-that is, the church, the holy community of believers- who are justified in Christ, and in Him alone. By Him and through Him they are saved, escaping from the harm of invisible enemies, since we have the mediator who incarnated and took our form, the king of all, namely the word of God the Father. Thanks to Him, we no longer see evil, we are saved from the forces of evil.

• It is the” Word”, The Shield of Good Will, peace, the fortress and the giver of incorruptibility, the mediator of crowns, who nullifies the war of the incorporeal Assyrians, spoils the plans of demons] (St. Cyril of Alexandria) [6]

 

The book of Zechariah (Zechariah 9: 5-9)

This fourth prophecy is also said in the Greek church at the vespers service held on the evening of Lazarus Saturday.[7]

This is the prophecy referred to by St. Matthew the evangelist (Matthew 21: 4, 5) and it refers to the meekness of the Savior and the message of peace “meek and riding on the donkey”.

But at the same time, His strength, salvation and power encompass the entire universe: “His power is from sea to sea … and you, by the blood of the Covenant, have released your prisoners from the pit”.

The prophecy also refers to what the son of God is going to do for the souls of the righteous in hell by His death on the cross, and today Lazarus will come out of hell, to declare His divine authority, and as an announcement of what He is going to do days later, after He completes our salvation “and you by the blood of the Covenant have released your captives from the waterless pit”.

 

The Matins psalm (Psalms 30:1-3)

” O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness”  

This statement is as if it were the voice of Lazarus after his death and existence in hell, and the Lord’s call to him to come out of hell and return to life again, and this is what the prophecy of Zechariah affirmed on this day: “You have released your captives from the prison”.

 

And if the Lord, when He incarnated and was physically present on Earth, commands Lazarus to get out of hell to come back to life again, you do not have to be surprised that with His Holy Cross He brought out all the righteous, launching them to paradise since the divine authority here was waiting for the completion of the cross to complete the economy, and it is not by possibility or capability, for it is God, manifest in the body.He is capable of everything, with His cross and without His cross.”. The difference here is that the soul of Lazarus can enter paradise only after the cross (after his death again), that is, after its redemption, but to return his soul from hell to the world does not need its redemption, so the Lord called him to return with His divine authority.

 

The Matins gospel (Luke 18:35-43)

“but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God” (Luke 18)

This is the call of mankind on Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday:

On Lazarus Saturday, humanity lying on the road asks for His divine mercy, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

On Palm Sunday, it cries out to Him for its salvation, “Hosanna, son of David”.

In both cases, it asks for its salvation from the Incarnate Word, the son of Man, who is like us in everything except sin, who before He came from the descendants of mankind to save them, and brings many children to glory.

And the need for sight, vision and inner enlightenment is the need of all of us to glorify and praise Him all the days of our lives.

 

What is wonderful is the coming of five divine gifts in the psalm which is matched by five human acts in the gospel, as if they were the way to God’s free gifts and the richness of His grace :

 

The divine gifts in the psalm are: You brought my soul up from the grave – You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit  – You have turned for me my mourning into dancing – You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.

 

And what we need to do to receive His gifts: he asked who this was – and he shouted – and he was getting louder – and he said to Him, O Lord, to see – and followed him glorifying God.

 

That is, God brings us from the hell of sin, saves us from the pit of despair accompanying sin, turns our sorrow into joy, put off our sackcloth, makes joy and pleasure our own cloth, that is, our life.

 

But we must look for the Head of our salvation, and we cry out in His request, and no one or anything stops us, but we continue to cry, asking Him to open the eyes of our hearts to His glory, and we follow Him, glorify and praise Him constantly.

 

Pauline Epistle ( 1Cor 2:1-8)

 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,”

The clear connection here in the cross is between weakness and strength and the simplicity of divine wisdom that surpasses the vanity and futility of worldly wisdom. The cross here is a “mystery” known not to the powerful of the world and its wise, but declared to His children and the humble who recognize their weakness and their strong need for His strength, love, and wisdom.

 

And the amazing thing is that this is also the life of the children of God and His servants, the evidence of the Spirit and power, coming out of the fragile pottery that realizes its weakness but at the same time realizes its treasure. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

And the reliance here in preaching and service is not on abilities and capabilities, but on the wisdom of the cross and its power.

 

Catholic Epistle (1 Peter 2)

” Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

The emphasis here is on the mystery of the cross, despised by people but it is God the Father’s choice and economy. It is the great living stone that has been cut and nullified all the stones of the world and the kingdoms of men (Daniel 2:44-45).

What is astonishing here is that this precious stone will make all those who believe in it living and precious stones. Just as He is the light of the world and the sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2, John 8:12), it has made His children a light, a radiance, and a glory for all the world (Matthew 5:14, Philippians 2:15).

 

Praxis (Acts 27:38,28:1-10)

“But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.”

 

We see here the end of the journey of the Apostle Paul in preparation for his martyrdom in Rome, and how the devil tried to approach him to kill him, and how he shook off the beast into the fire, and how the people’s reaction changed from believing him to be guilty to him being a god (not an ordinary man).

 

And in this example, it is the Son of God who came to save the barbarians (humanity), and the devil approached Him to take His soul, but the Son of God shocked him and returned him to the fire. And how the surrounding crowds witnessed His divinity on the cross (Mark 15:39, Luke 23:47).

 

As we see here, there is confirmation of the previous meanings: the prisoner among the soldiers and officers is the reason for their salvation, and the people of the island honor them. Despite the raging of the devil and his attempt to harm the servants of God, the divine power and supreme ability are capable of extinguishing all the burning arrows of the wicked (Ephesians 6:16) and demolishing all the strongholds of evil (2 Corinthians 10:4).

 

The model here is clear in the combination of weakness with strength, as the weak prisoner is where the power of God is declared, and the rejected human has become a place of honor for everyone.

 

And the message and meaning here are clear, for whoever chooses to live in the weakness of Christ in the eyes of the world, and rejects the wisdom and pride of the world, but embraces the meekness, patience, and simplicity of Christ (Matthew 11:29), this is the one who will surely experience His divine power, be enlightened by His heavenly wisdom, and become a source of strength, wisdom, and joy everywhere and in every field where he exists.”

 

We see here Saint Paul performing miracles with the barbarians, but he speaks from the Torah and the prophets with the Jews (comparing the reading of Acts on the Sabbath of Lazarus and Palm Sunday).

 

In order for faith not to be limited to the necessity of signs and miracles (Luke 16:30) And that the power of the word of God is greater than signs and miracles (2 Corinthians 1:19)

 

As Saint John Chrysostom says: “Again, see how He silenced them, not with miracles but with the Law and the Prophets, and how He always does this. And yet perhaps He also performed signs, but they were not the subject of faith at that time. In fact, this itself is a great sign: His dialogue with them from the Law and the Prophets.” (Saint John Chrysostom)

 

Important note: This is the end of Saint Paul’s journey, preparing for his testimony in Rome. This is the second-to-last reading from the end of the Book of Acts (the final reading from the Book of Acts will be tomorrow on Palm Sunday). And it is a continuation to follow the reading of Saturdays and Sundays in the Great Fast, which started in the Saturday of the Refa’a with the farewell speech of St. Paul with the bishops and priests of Ephesus, about how they will not see his face again, and he knelt down with all of them and prayed (as the Lord did in Gethsemane), preparing for his journey to Jerusalem, knowing for certain that it is a journey to the cross. Then the reading continued in all Saturdays and Sundays until the end of the Acts of the Apostles in the Sabbath of Lazarus and Palm Sunday, declaring the arrival to the cross and the passover.

 

And it is a continuation of the reading of the Spot and Sundays in the Great Fast, which started in the Saturday of Refaah with Saint Paul’s farewell speech to the bishops and priests of Ephesus, stating that they will not see his face again, and he knelt with all of them and prayed (as the Lord did in Gethsemane), preparing for his journey to Jerusalem, knowing for certain that it is a journey to the cross. Then the reading continued in all Saturdays and Sundays until reaching the end of the Book of Acts on the Sabbath of Lazarus and Palm Sunday as a declaration of reaching the cross and passover.

 

“And as if the journey of fasting and pascha is a journey with Christ to the cross and resurrection, it is the journey of the children of God (Sunday before The Great Lent), the ones who gaze upon the heavens (Sunday of the Treasures), those who are led by the Spirit and triumph in Christ (one of the experiences), those who always enjoy the feast of salvation regardless of weakness (one of the lost sons).” And even for those who are outside the barn, they had an hour of salvation – the sixth hour – (the Samaritan), and their resurrection from sin (Sunday of the paralysed man), getting the power of the christ’s death and his resurrection in the baptism so as their eyes to be enlightened permanently by seeing Him.(Sunday of the man born blind).

 

 

The liturgy psalm (Psalms 129)

“The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord!” “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me.”

 

When the blessing comes in the name of the Lord, strength comes with it, and all human wars, no matter how many and powerful, stand helpless in front of it.

 

The Gospel of the liturgy (John 11: 1-45)

(Note: the chapter of this gospel is mentioned in all the Eastern rites of this day] [9]

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live…. Jesus wept….. Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

 

Here the divinity of the Son of God and also His humanity is announced, and the essence of the Word’s embodiment in His divine authority over death and Hades, and the recreation of mankind, and also His humanity and tears for the sake of humanity’s redemption due to disobedience  and His participation with every suffering person like Martha and Mary, there is no contradiction between His tears and His cry, and He is the Son of God saying, ‘Lazarus, come forth.”

 

The Holy Church begins the week of Pascha with this miracle in order to draw our attention to the fact that the son of God was not crucified for weakness, but for strength, as he said “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”  (John 10:18)

And the evangelist John, who was standing in front of the Tomb of Lazarus and saw the Lord’s call “Lazarus, come forth”, saw him bring the same Lazarus from hell and bring him back to earth again, perhaps he remembered this before the cross when he saw him in the midst of his holy passion. He says to the repentant right-hander, “truly I tell you that today you will be with Me in paradise, ” for at the same time he is sure who is crucified, in whose hand is the key to Hades and Death (Revelation 3:7)

Therefore, it is beautiful that the miracle of Lazarus comes on Saturday and the Holy Church begins its preparation for the sufferings of the Lamb of God in order to be sure and certain of His truth and divine authority.

And His presence today for raising Lazarus is an incentive for all of us to ask and cry before him for our resurrection and the resurrection of those around us, as St. Ambrosius said :

 

“Christ will come to your grave, finding Martha, the woman who provides a good service, and Mary, who cares with her heart for the word of God, like the Holy Church that has chosen the good share, weeping, yearning at your death sees the tears of many and says: “Where did you put him?” Meaning in which case of the crime is it.. In what rank among the penitents.. I want to see who you cry for, so that he can move  me with his tears. I will see if he really died in sin, I will treat him with forgiveness..

The people say to Him: “come and look.”

What is the meaning of”come?” May the forgiveness of sins come, May life come to the departed, and the resurrection from the dead, may your kingdom come to this sinner too] (Saint Ambrose) [10]

But also we cannot fail to marvel at the meanings of entry and exit at the end of the readings of the Lent  fast and the beginning of the readings of the Holy pascha :

 

While the Jews expel the blind born man outside the synagogue, “take him out “(Sunday  of the blind born man), the Lord gives His eternal promise to accept all comers, and that ”  the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ” (gospel of the mass of the seventh Wednesday of the week) and the Lord leaves the House of the Jews to ruin (gospel of the liturgy of the Friday of the end of Lent)

Then the Lord comes on Lazarus Saturday, to bring Lazarus out of the grave, death and hell with the power and authority of His divinity “Lazarus come out” (the Gospel of the Lazarus Saturday liturgy), whoever is thrown out by the world for his faith in the Lord Jesus discovers the son of God waiting for him, and whoever believes in the son of God receives the power to come out of death and hell to light and life.

This is also explained by engineer Fouad Najib Youssef:

(The Passover week, or the transit, begins on the morning of Lazarus Saturday with Christ crossing the Jordan River to pass Jericho..

The master crossed Jordan from Jericho when He raised Lazarus (John 11)

A few months later He crossed Jordan again from Jericho to raise all mankind from death by His death and resurrection. Therefore, the readings of this stage have a crossing of Jordan twice:

• In the readings of the early Sabbath of Lazarus،
• Early on Palm Sunday.

The Lord Christ; the new Joshua leads Israel to cross Jordan, and enter the Promised Land.

Jericho is the last stop on the journey out, representing the latent sin lurking in humanity, and its walls had to be smashed and then destroyed.

The readings of this stage follow the Great Lent, concluding the seventh week of fasting, and the goal of the exit is achieved by the triumphant entry into the Promised Land for rest and the king enters Jerusalem, the son enters the temple as high priest who should accompany the temple for a week before offering the sacrifice of the great day of atonement according to the Jewish rite] [11]

It also makes a beautiful comparison between this entry and exit with that which is stated in the Gospel of the Good Shepherd ( John 10: 1 – 9):

[”And he takes her out “we note that the entry happened first before the exit”and when he takes out his own sheep he goes in front of her and the sheep follow him”. The entrance was made by free choice, but the exit is the shepherd who brings out his own sheep and leads them.

Then He says, “if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find my pasture”. Whoever enters is saved. Freely entering through the door to the sheepfold, which is the church, the communion of the body of Christ, then comes out of the body of sin for the freedom and glory of the children of God by the communion of the Cross, death by baptism, and the communion of His resurrection.

“New King James” translates goes in and out and finds a pasture”Go on and out”, means going out into it and not out of it.

If someone enters through Me, he does not come back to come out of the same door, otherwise there would be no sense for him to enter and belong to the fold of Christ’s sheep, which is the church, so we will become in Christ Jesus.

As for the exodus that the book means, it is Christ who brings us to the freedom and glory of the children of God, and in Him and we go out to victory by the cross in the mystery of redemption .

As for the phrase that he finds pasture, it means that his exit is to green pastures, and this is a reference to the Holy Spirit working in the mystery of the church.

Thus, entering through the door and then going out to the green pastures is a sign of the incarnation, redemption, and the mystery of the church. These three sacraments are the mysteries of the Divine econmy of salvation and are the subject of the readings given by the church in the three chapters of the Coptic year] (Engineer Mr. Fouad Naguib Youssef) [12]