DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint John 10:9-16 (11/13-11/26) Saint John Chrysostom: Archbishop
of Constantinople
Saved by Christ: Saint John 10:9-16, especially vs. 9: “I am the door.
If anyone enters by Me, he will be
saved....” Metropolitan of Nafpaktos
Hierotheos describes the salvation that Orthodox
Christians share: each person’s “...union with Christ is seen in
many patristic writings. Saint Ignatios the Godbearer writes:
‘Perfect faith is Jesus Christ.’ Saint Maximos
teaches: ‘We say that Christ is faith personified.’ Our oneness with Christ is confirmed by
the virtues, which are fruits of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, union with Christ is stated three
times as a personal affirmation at the Baptism of each Orthodox Christian as
each one confirms three times.
Union with Christ is thoroughgoing, and so Metropolitan Hierotheos adds that “...the person
who is...united with Christ, belongs to His real Body, which is the
Church....” Body, soul, and
heart are united to Christ as members of His tangible Body. Notice that Christ our God asserts this
truth in the images of the present passage when He declares that He is
“...the door” (vs. 9) through which we pass into His
“...fold....” (vs. 16) to be members of His
“...flock...” (vs. 16). Thus, the Metropolitan concludes,
“Christ, then is inseparable from the Church, whose head He is, and the
Church is inseparable from Christ, whose Body it
is....This means we remain in the Church to attain our salvation....but we
struggle to be saved as we remain in the Church.”
Take care, Metropolitan Hierotheos
reminds us, not to consider union with Christ “...apart from the Holy
Trinity, since Christ is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity and is united by
nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit.” Notice that the Lord Jesus also makes
this point in the reading when He says, “As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father...” (vs.
15).
Union with Christ is significant for salvation as no union
with any one else can be. In the declarations of our Lord in this
passage this significance is partially disclosed when He says, “...I have
come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the
sheep” (vss. 10,11). The Apostle Paul opens up these words in
two statements: 1) “...as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into His death....Therefore....if we have been united together in
the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection...” (Rom. 6: 3-5).
2) “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Col.
3:1). Christ’s salvation
expands this present life “...abundantly” (vs. 10), for eternal
life is attainable if we seek ‘the things which are above,’ in this
present life.
Salvation has to do with life and death; but both life and
death in Orthodox Christian terms are not limited to the material creation, but
to the uncreated life of the risen Christ.
Union with Him above all is ‘knowing Christ’ and
‘being known by Him’ (vs. 14), which are far more than a
‘knowledge about’ the Lord, but ‘knowing’ the Son of
God in the heart by the lively work of the All-Holy Spirit. Saint Mark the Ascetic writes,
“...it is necessary in the first place to have the grace of the Holy
Spirit energizing the heart and so...to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Never forget that when we were Baptized and Chrismated we only began, were initiated, only started the
life in Christ. If we want His Life
abundantly, then we must ‘...hear...’ His voice
(vs. 16). Then we must work
on union with Christ to grow “...the hidden person of the heart, with the
incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in
the sight of God” (1 Pt. 3:4).
The ascetic life that the Orthodox Church teaches has the power to help us grow and
attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Fear losing salvation, ignoring Christ,
leaving the Church, or forsaking prayer and the ascesis
of self denial.
May we complete the remaining time of our life in peace and
repentance, O Lord.
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