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Much of Christ’s early ministry takes place around the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberius or the lake of Gennesaret. There were a number of towns around the shore of the lake, and the shore was often the setting for Christ’s preaching. John only tells us specifically of seven of Christ’s miracles, chosen to suit his purpose. He does tell us, in verse 2 of today’s reading and at the end of his Gospel, that Christ performed many miracles, which John calls signs. As he tells us of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, John clearly connects this with Jesus’ presentation of himself as the bread of life, which follows shortly in this chapter of the Bible [ … ]

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 253) was a prolific early Christian scholar and theologian whose works shaped Christian thought. His method of biblical interpretation often sought deeper, spiritual meanings beyond the literal text, emphasizing typology—the idea that events and figures in the Old Testament prefigure their fulfilment in the New Testament. His homily on the high priest’s atonement exemplifies this approach, presenting Christ as the ultimate realization of the Levitical priesthood [ … ]

Christian Art | Boy At Prayer With Jesus Office Of Readings | Eastertide Week 3, Friday | A Reading From The Sermons Of Saint Ephraem | Jesus Christ’s Cross | Salvation Of The Human Race ‘Christ’s cross, the salvation of the human race.’ Death Swallowed By Life | Triumph Through Paradox Saint Ephraem’s homily on the Cross is shaped by the paradox at the heart of the Paschal mystery: that death is undone by death. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, takes on flesh so that he might enter into death, not as a victim, but as a conqueror. Ephraem does not reason this out philosophically, nor does he dwell on emotional pathos. Instead, he draws out the inner structure of salvation as something enacted by God in the flesh, and received by us in faith. Christ’s Body As The Instrument Of Victory Ephraem insists that death could only be defeated from within. Jesus Christ assumes a mortal body so that he may be subject to death. This is not a concession but a strategy. The Incarnation is already an act of warfare—a descent, a confrontation. Death can only touch the human. So the divine Word becomes human in order that death might take him. But in taking him, death overreaches. It consumes the flesh but encounters the divine life within it. The imagery is rich, but the argument is precise: the very body that death uses to kill Christ becomes the weapon Christ uses to destroy death. ‘Death slew him by means of the body which he had assumed,’ Ephraem says, ‘but that same body proved to be the weapon with which he conquered death.’ This is Chalcedonian Christology preached with Paschal faith. It holds together the full humanity and full divinity of Christ in the single action of salvation. The Descent And The Harrowing Of Hell Ephraem’s reflection is also an early and vivid witness to the doctrine of the Harrowing of Hell. Jesus Christ enters death not to remain there, but to liberate those held within it. He breaks into the ‘fortress’ of death and ‘scatters its treasure’. He descends to summon the dead. This is not mere metaphor: for Ephraem, Christ’s real descent to the dead is a necessary part of our redemption. The Resurrection begins not simply with Christ leaving the tomb, but with his descent into the place of death to lead others out with him. Eve And Mary | The Reversal Of History A patristic hallmark appears here as well: the Eve–Mary typology. Eve, the ‘mother of the living’, becomes through her disobedience the cause of death; Mary, in whose womb Christ takes flesh, becomes the bearer of Life itself. This is not a peripheral contrast. It is essential to Ephraem’s sense of how God saves: not by abandoning history, but by entering it and reversing its wounds. The damage is undone from within. The vine is replanted. The same human race that fell is the one restored. The Cross As The Tree Of Life Ephraem develops the image of the Cross as the Tree of Life. Just as the Fall came through a tree, so does redemption. But unlike the tree in Eden, which brought death when touched unlawfully, the Cross is the tree that brings life when embraced in faith. Here we are reminded that for Ephraem and the Fathers, salvation is not a new system imposed from without. It is the healing of creation from within its own history, its own wounds. God does not cast away what is broken; he enters it, redeems it, and makes it the means of grace. Resurrection And Eucharistic Seed Toward the end of the homily, Ephraem turns to the image of sowing: Christ’s body, buried in the earth, rises as the first fruits of a new humanity. He compares the dead body of Christ to a grain sown in the ground, echoing John 12:24. What is buried in apparent defeat becomes the beginning of a harvest. The Resurrection is not simply Christ’s triumph; it is the beginning of the general resurrection, and of the Church itself. What is sown in weakness is raised in power. The Church is the field in which this seed now grows. Response And Imitation The homily ends not with an argument, but with a summons. If Christ has offered his cross for the enrichment of all, then the proper response is to offer ourselves—’the great and all-embracing sacrifice of our love’. Doctrine leads to worship. Soteriology leads to doxology. In the liturgical life of the Church, we do not merely remember these mysteries; we enter them. We stand beneath the Cross and follow the One who walked into death to bring us out. A Reading From The Sermons Of Saint Ephraem | Jesus Christ’s Cross | Salvation Of The Human Race Death trampled our Lord underfoot, but he in his turn treated death as a highroad for his own feet. He submitted to it, enduring it willingly, because by this means he would be able to destroy death in spite of itself. Death had its own way when our Lord went out from Jerusalem carrying his cross; but when by a loud cry from that cross he summoned the dead from the underworld, death was powerless to prevent it. Death slew him by means of the body which he had assumed, but that same body proved to be the weapon with which he conquered death. Concealed beneath the cloak of his manhood, his godhead engaged death in combat; but in slaying our Lord, death itself was slain. It was able to kill natural human life, but was itself killed by the life that is above the nature of man. Death could not devour our Lord unless he possessed a body, neither could hell swallow him up unless he bore our flesh; and so he came in search of a chariot in which to ride to the underworld. This chariot was the body which he received from the […]