Our Christ is…. Everywhere

Our Christ is not only above time, but he is also present everywhere through:

His infinite divinity.

The Eucharist.

The written word.

The saints and angels.

His Infinite Divinity:

The Lord Jesus Christ was manifest in the flesh to the Jews who knew that He was born of the Virgin Mary, that His legal father was Joseph the carpenter, that He came from Bethlehem, and that He lived in Nazareth. However, He was also God in the human form and so, in His divinity, He was omnipresent. That is why the Lord Himself said, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven'’'’ (Jn. 3: 13).

This verse shows us the following truths:

He Ascended to heaven:

It is the Lord Jesus who ascended to heaven taking into consideration what would occur after His crucifixion, His death, and His glorious resurrection. The Lord knows His path for it is He who was incarnate through His economy or providence, that is, His own will, and it is He who was also crucified of His own free will, who rose from the dead in confirmation of His glorious divinity.

He was crucified and died, not because of a sentence passed by Pilate, but of His own free will to redeem us from the death of sin, to wash us of the stain of transgression, and to free us from the curse of the fall. That is why when Pilate said to the Lord during the judgment, “Do you not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?’ Christ answered, ‘You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above "(Jn. 19: 10,11).

When Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, Christ told him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How than could the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus?” (Mt. 26: 51 - 54).

During His crucifixion, Christ gave proof of His divinity in many ways, among which are:

The soldiers and Jews fell back and fell to their faces as soon as they asked about the Lord Jesus « Christ and He answered "1 am He" (Jn. 18: 5) for this expression. ‘‘I am He” bears the power of His divinity. ‘I am the Being... I am the origin of existence, I exist ". He grants life; He is the great Architect of the universe, He is Jehovah. When the Lord had thus given proof of His divinity through the falling back of the soldiers, the servants of the High Priests and the Pharisees, He hid the power of His divinity from them so that they could complete the redemption. When He asked them, “Whom are you seeking?” they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth”. Whereupon He told them, “7 have told you that I am He" (18: 3 - 9).

Christ healed the ear of the servant of the High Priest, Malachi, which Peter had cut off with his sword (Mt. 26: 51, Mk. 14: 47, Lk. 22: 50,51). Christ said, 'Permit even this,’ and he touched his ear and healed him” (Lk. 22: 51).

Pilate’s wife had a dream that caused her to send to her husband, 'Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him” (Mt. 27: 19).

There was darkness over the earth during His crucifixion. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land” (Mt. 27: 45).

The veil of the temple "was torn in two from the top to the bottom" (Mt. 27: 51) to show that the priesthood of Aaron was at an end and that of Melchizedek was beginning, that is that of Christ. It also showed that the door to paradise and the kingdom was now open to humans.

“The earth quaked and the rocks were split” (Mt. 27: 51).

The rocks were split, the graves opened, and many saints who had died rose, emerged form their graves, and entered the city and appeared to many after the resurrection of the Lord.

“The blood and water came out of His holy side "(Jn 19: 34).

The faith of the centurion (Lk. 23: 47).

The faith of the thief on His right (Lk. 23: 40 - 43).

The Lord also gave proof of His divinity in His Resurrection through:

He arose by Himself and not through any outside power or through the prayers of another person.

He arose with a glorious body of light and entered the locked upper room without the locks being an obstacle or a hindrance.

He arose and was alive and remains alive forever.

He raised others while he was still dead on the cross because His body died and His spirit left His body, but His divinity was not separated neither from His spirit or His body.

He released those who were dead and made them enter Paradise.

He granted his disciples mighty spiritual energy and faith so that they could witness to Him. He appeared to them many times (those that are recorded are 11) in different places (Jerusalem, Galilee, the mount of Olives, Tiberius) and to great numbers (the disciples and more than 500 brethren).

In His glorious ascension to heaven. He revealed His divinity:

He rent the heavens and ascended physically.

He sent two angels to console His disciples.

He then sent the Comforter and filled them with the Holy Spirit.

He promised He would have a glorious awesome Second Coming.

He who ascended to heaven is the same as He who descended from heaven:

He descended from heaven:

In His birth, the Lord proved that He had come from heaven:

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Lk. 1: 35).

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is translated ‘God with us”' (Mt. 1: 23).

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace "(Is. 9: 6).

A star appeared in the East to announce the birth of the Great King in fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy (Num. 24: 17).

Angels came down from heaven to announce the marvelous birth (Lk. 1: 13).

The virgin birth from the Virgin Mary (Mt. 1: 25).

The angel sang, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord "(Lk. 2: 10,11).

The prophet Micah foretold, "But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel' (Mic. 5: 2, Mt. 2: 6).

Herod and all of Jerusalem were troubled (Mt. 2: 2).

The Magi brought symbolic gifts; the gold symbolized His kingdom, the frankincense His priesthood, and the myrrh His glorious redemption (Mt. 2: 11).

Angels appeared to Mary, to Joseph, and to the shepherds and God guided the Magi through a dream and the star (See Lk. 1: 26, Lk. 2: 8, Mt. 1: 20, Mt. 2: 13, Mt. 2: 19, Mt. 2: 9 - 12).

He who ascended to heaven had come down from heaven...

He is in heaven:

In His humanity, He was manifest to all people in a tangible body, but in His divinity, He was everywhere, in heaven and on earth. The broadcast television waves are an illustration of this; they are everywhere in the world and take the shape of an image and a sound that emanates from a television set. But this image on the set does not conflict with the fact of the waves in the air. This is naturally a simple material example with the difference that these waves are material and finite, whereas God is Infinite Spirit.

That is why we must not imagine that when the Lord appeared in the flesh He “left” heaven so that it was devoid of His divinity, for His divinity is unlimited and God is infinite and omnipresent.

Since the Lord Jesus proved the power of His divinity through His incarnation, He is present among people in the flesh on earth and in heaven and everywhere through His infinite divinity.

The Lord proved His omnipresence through;

The Eucharist.

The Lord gave us His body and His blood in continuity of the work of the cross and the power of His holy sacrifice. The Eucharist is not a mental or symbolic remembrance, but is an actual remembrance. The body and the blood do not remind us of the body and blood of Christ, but are the body and blood of Christ.

They are exactly like the manna which was preserved in the manna jar. It was the same manna that had come down from heaven when the children of Israel were in the wilderness.

The Eucharist in Coptic and Christian belief is:

To be rooted in Christ: This means to be completely close to the Lord, to be fixed in Him (Jn. 6: 56, Mt. 26: 26). When we are united with Christ, we take His image and become partakers of His divine nature (2Pet. 1: 4).

The Eucharist is the summit of the Liturgy, through it we offer the sacrifice if praise to God (Heb. 13: 15).

The Eucharist is piety ant> purity: “Through this sacrament you are preserved from enemies and the powers of darkness overcome whomever takes it lightly”.

The Lord prepared this awesome table for us as the Psalms say (23: 5, 43: 5).

We are granted forgiveness of our sins through this sacrament. For sin is only forgiven through the blood of Christ. The sacrament of the Eucharist is a continuation of the sacrifice of the cross that was for the redemption of all the sins of the world. The Eucharist is the purity that was bestowed on Isaiah when his lips were touched with a hot coal from the altar (Is. 6).

The Eucharist is life and resurrection: (Jn. 6: 48 - 58).

From these words, we can infer the following:

Christ is the source of life (Jn. 14: 6, Jn. 11: 25).

The manna the children of Israel ate in the wilderness was a symbol of the incarnation of the Lord. The manna could not satisfy the hunger of the body but the divine mass is food for the soul.

The Eucharist is fruitfulness witnessing: (Jn. 15: 4, 5).

Our fallen nature cannot bear fruit to the glory of God and our efforts to improve ourselves are futile unless we unite with Christ, just as the a bad tree cannot bear good fruit unless it is grafted onto a good tree.

If the life of Christ bears fruit in us, we bear witness to the virtues of the One who called us out of the darkness into His marvelous light, and our lives and behavior speak of His wonders as we witness to His death and acknowledge His resurrection.

The Eucharist is fellowship and joy: How beautiful are the feelings of joy of the one who partakes of this Holy sacrament. How marvelous is the humility of the Lord and His love for us, for it was not enough that He died for us, but He was pleased to give us His body and blood to feed us (Ps. 23: 5, Ps. 116: 12, Zech. 9: 17).

The Eucharist is unity of the body: Through it we become living members of the body of Christ, united to the rest of the members of the body whether they are saints in heaven or believers on earth. St. Paul said, “ The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread "(ICor. 10: 16,17).

The Eucharist is eternal life: The Lord Himself said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (Jn. 6: 54). That is why the faithful take Holy Communion as way to immortality.

How wonderful it is that the church grants us the experience of fellowship with the members of the one body when it adopts unified rituals such as readings, fasts, feasts, praise, and when it has the same ecclesiastical practices in every Coptic church on the face of the earth so that we all feel members of one body and that our Christ is everywhere.

If anyone inquires as to how he can become a part of the body of a perfect whole Christ, we can tell him, “look at your face in the mirror and you will see it, but break the mirror in two or four or ten, and you will see your face repeated in every piece of the mirror”. This is only a simple analogy. Our Christ is everywhere; He is in every church, every mass, and every particle of the Holy body we partake of.

The Lord Jesus is everywhere through:

The Written Word:

There is no doubt that the Lord Jesus is everywhere through the Holy Bible which has become widespread this century in more than 2000 languages and in innumerable dialects. Through this divine written word the whole Bible, or the new Testaments, the gospels, or parts of them are now available to hundreds of millions.

The written word has exactly the same impact as the spoken word or the visible word, and in our computer age, through the electronic word.

We need to exert a greater effort in making God’s word known to all at the different stages of life: childhood, youth, adulthood, and maturity though various channels:

Short booklets: that explain the books of the Holy Bible.

Explanatory books: that are patristic in nature and that explain the books of the Holy Bible, such as the books authored by Father Tadros Yacoub.

Training ministers: who love God’s word to teach it to others of various ages?.

Youth meetings that focus on Bible study: in groups, especially open meetings, retreats, and conferences held during vacations.

Video films: that explain the Bible and others that show us the lives of different personalities.

Competitions: held regularly to encourage children and young men and women in Bible study.

Specialized study: in church readings. Our Coptic church has absorbed the word of God and offers it to us in various ‘Katmarises’ throughout the year, for the different fasts, for Lent, and during the Paskha.

The lives of Saints: who were affected by the word of God, such as Anba Antonius, who obeyed the commandment of God as soon as he heard it in church and sold all he had, distributed it among the poor, and chose the monastic life? Or like St. Augustine, who upon hearing about St. Anthonius, was grieved for his sins. He used to carry his Bible and when told by a little girl, “Open and read,” he felt that this was the voice of God. So he opened his Bible and read Romans 13, ‘‘The hour has come for out to wake up rom your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed... So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light "(Rom. 13: 11 - 14). Or St. Dionysius, a Sabine, who when he read a few sheets of the epistles of St. Paul asked for the whole Bible, was converted and became a monk. He was one of the pillars of the School of Alexandria and subsequently became one of the patriarchs of the Coptic Church.

Biblical Computer Programs: for the various ages that attract our young boys and girls.

CDs: offer us different versions, guides, and indices for the Bible, to be used as study aids for ministers and specialists.

The Lord said through St. Paul, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ "(Rom. 10: 17). He also said, “How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Rom. 10: 14).

There is no doubt that we pay special attention to the Bible, for of old it was said, “there is the greatest hope for the greatest sinner who reads the bible, and there is the greatest danger to the greatest saint who neglects it”. But why should we search far when we have the teachings of the great St. Anthony:

"Exert yourself in reading for it saves you from impurity”.

“Let there be a witness from the Holy Books for every work you do”.

"St. Siusious said, “I read the Old and then go on to the New”.

Our Church and the Holy Bible:

Our Coptic Orthodox Church is primarily an evangelical church and gives priority to the word of God, as many rituals attest:

Always placing the gospel on the altar.

Carrying it above the heads and kissing it.

Lighting the icon bearer when the gospel is read.

There are two lighted candles on both sides of the gospel, symbolizing the angels who surround the Lord.

Standing in awe and reverence to listen to the gospel reading.

Special prayers for the gospel so that we hear it and act in accordance with its teachings.

Numerous readings during mass, nine in number: a psalm and gospel reading for vespers, a psalm and gospel reading for matins, a passage from the epistles of St. Paul, a passage from the Catholicum, the Acts of the Apostles, followed by the psalm and gospel reading of the liturgy.

Innumerable reading for the seven sacraments and their rituals: Baptism, Mayroun or Holy Chrism, Repentance and Confession, the Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, and the Priesthood.

There is also the ritual of the prayer for the dead.

The daily hymns of praise are taken from the Holy Bible.

In the hymns of Kyahk and the Paskha prayers, whole chapters are read; the four gospels, the books of Job and Revelations, in addition to a great number of psalms.

If you study the liturgy, you find a great number of Bible verses as the margins of the missal show.

The Rank of 'Agnostus':

One strong piece of evidence of the importance given to the Bible by the Coptic Church is assigning the special rank of Agnostus among the deacons. He is responsible for the care of the Bible in addition to serving the altar and sacrifice.

After an individual is nominated for this position, the bishop says four prayers over him and instructs him:

In the first prayer, he enjoins him to serve the altar and the sacrifice.

In the second prayer, he urges him to recite God’s sayings.

In the third prayer, he encourages him to read the Bible and to offer it to others.

In the fourth prayer, he asks him that his behavior be blameless; he then confirms this in his final prayer.

We can study the Holy Bible in several ways:

Quick reading: to get the stories in the Bible, the lives of the personalities in it, the events, the topics, the promises, the commandments and experiences that are important for our lives.

Contemplative reading: When I pray in the words of the Bible asking for healing from my sins when I read the healing of the leper, when I ask Him to free me from the bondage of sin upon reading the story of the Samaritan woman, or from the love of money on reading the story of Zachariah, and so on.

Analytic study: when I use reliable patristic reference works in the study of the books of the Bible in order to plumb the depths of the Bible, its events and personalities, so that 1 can reach the springs that slake my thirst and the food that fills me.

Suggestions for the year 2000:

My suggestion to the reader for the year 2000 is to study all the Holy Bible in the three previous ways. This is possible if:

We read a chapter from the New Testament in the contemplative method, that is, to chose a verse, a miracle, or a number of promises, and then speak to the Lord about them, asking for the blessing of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit.

We read 3 chapters from the Old Testament in the evening using the quick method, to get to know the stories, the meanings and the topics.

We then study a book every month, using reliable references such as His Holiness’ books orthose of Fr. Tadros Yacoub.

If we do the above we will make the year 2000 the Year of the Bible and will fill ourselves with the word of God and will have our minds enlightened by the light of the gospel.

But the Lord is also present everywhere through:

The Saints:

The Lord Jesus is the head of the church and the savior of the body, so He certainly dwells within His saints, whether they have victoriously completed their struggles and attained paradise, or are still striving on earth in expectation of everlasting life.

Saints are finite but God is infinite. However, the Infinite accepted in His humility to unite with us with His talents and the work of His Holy Spirit, thus transforming us into icons that bear His image, His love, and His word into the world.

The Head and the Body; the Bridegroom and the Bride:

When the Bible wished to explain the relationship between Christ and the church, it gave us two analogies:

The union of the head with the body.

The union of the bride with the bridegroom.

The first analogy explains the strong relationship between Christ and the church. The believers are in the Lord who lives in them and so they become members of His body. Some are in heaven, the victorious saints, and some are on earth, the struggling repentant.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body... As it is, there are many parts, but one body "(ICor. 12: 11,12,20).

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it "(ICor. 12: 27).

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others "(Rom. 12: 4,5).

“Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior "(Eph. 5: 23).

The second analogy of the bridegroom is mentioned many times in the Holy Bible:

“I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him "(2Cor. 2: 11).

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend (John the Baptist) who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete "(Jn. 3: 29).

“You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain "(Song 4: 12).

“My love is mine and I am his "(Song 2: 16).

“I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me "(Song 7: 10).

Just as the smallest member of the body is attached to the head through the nervous system, so is the smallest member of the church attached to its head, the Lord Jesus who feels our pains just as the head feels the pain of the smallest toe. “In al! their distress he too was distressed "(Is. 63: 9).

Also, just as the smallest member of the body has its own work and function, so every believer in Christ has his role to play in the sendee of the body and the church. Just as the members feel for each other, complement each other, and do not separate, so also the sons of Christ should not separate but should unite and contribute to the building of the body and of man in every place and in every age.

“Through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing "(2Cor. 2: 14,15).

In addition to comparing us to a pleasing aroma, the Lord also compared us to:

Light that is spread everywhere (Mt. 5: 14).

Salt that dissolves without being lost (ML 5: 12).

Yeast that spreads through the whole dough (Mt 12: 23).

An ambassador who carries the image of Christ to all those around him (2Cor. 5: 20).

A letter known and read by all (2Cor. 3: 3).

Thus, Christianity spread everywhere through holy human examples who were attached to heaven and who walked along the way of salvation and immortality through the beloved Savior.