St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - weekly talks

Luke 24:39-49

Today we continue in Luke 24, with Luke’s final resurrection appearance. Last week, we reflected on how the risen Lord interacts with humanity. He appears to the fearful, the unbelieving, the sad and disillusioned on Emmaus Road. Emmaus road can be understood as a metaphor for humanity going the wrong way. These two disciples attended the first Holy week, witnessed the crucifixion and heard the testimony of the women that Christ had risen. They knew the facts but didn’t get the meaning of it all, the visible realm was obvious, but the invisible realm was closed.

There are two ways of seeing, perceiving. The first way is familiar to all. Though born blind to true reality, we come into this world seeing the surface of things.

Genesis 3:7 says, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” Like us all, these two on Emmaus Road were familiar with this way of seeing. It’s all humanity knows until the risen Lord reverses this limited way of seeing passed down from Genesis 3:7. Their eyes were opened to what? That they were naked, that they were ashamed, that they were afraid.

Luke 24:31 is the reversal to Genesis 3:7:

Verse 30 says, “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Verse 31, “And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.”

As they processed this encounter, they asked each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

The Scriptures become a sacramental portal into the mystery of Christ, the pattern of life, participating in his death and resurrection.

3rd Sunday of Eastertide - The Road to Emmaus

14. Genesis Class - Chapter 6 - Bill Baldwin 4.23.23 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

13. Genesis 4:17 - 5:32 Bill Baldwin 4.16.23 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Behind Our Barricades, Jesus Appears - 2nd Sunday Of Easter - Fr. Michael Flowers 4.16.23 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Having Loved His Own Who Were in the World, He Loved Them to the End

The whole visible world proclaims the goodness of God, but nothing proclaims it so clearly as his coming among us, by which he whose state was divine assumed the condition of a slave. This was not a lowering of his dignity, but rather a manifesting of his love for us. The awesome mystery which takes place today brings us to the consequence of his action. For what is it that takes place today? The Savior washes the feet of his disciples. Although he took upon himself everything pertaining to our condition as slaves, he took a slave’s position in a way specially suited to our own arrangements when he rose from the table.

He who feeds everything beneath the heavens was reclining among the apostles, the master among slaves, the fountain of wisdom among the ignorant, the Word among those untrained in the use of words, the source of wisdom among the unlettered. He who nourishes all was reclining and eating with his disciples. He who sustains the whole world was himself receiving sustenance.

Moreover, he was not satisfied with the great favor he showed his servants by sharing a meal with them. Peter, Matthew, and Philip, men of the earth, reclined with him, while Michael, Gabriel, and the whole army of angels stood by. Oh, the wonder of it! The angels stood by in dread, while the disciples reclined with him with the utmost familiarity!

And even this marvel did not content him. He rose from the table, as Scripture says. He who is clothed in light as in a robe was clad in a cloak; he who wraps the heavens in cloudswrapped round himself a towel; he who pours the water into the rivers and pools tipped some water into a basin. And he before whom every knee bends in heaven and on earth and under the earth, knelt to wash the feet of his disciples.

The Lord of all creation washed his disciples’ feet! This was not an affront to his dignity, but a demonstration of his boundless love for us. Yet however great his love was, Peter was well aware of his majesty. Always impetuous and quick to profess his faith, he was quick also to recognize the truth. The other disciples had let the Lord wash their feet, not with indifference, but with fear and trembling. They dared not oppose the Master. Out of reverence, however, Peter would not permit it. He said: Lord, are you going to wash my feet? You shall never wash my feet!

Peter was adamant. He had the right feelings, but not understanding the full meaning of the incarnation, he first refused in a spirit of faith, and afterward gratefully obeyed. This is how religious people ought to behave. They should not be obdurate in their decisions, but should surrender to the will of God. For although Peter reasoned in human fashion, he changed his mind out of love for God.

Severian (late 4th century)

The Precious and Life-giving Cross of Christ

Theodore the Studite (759-826)

How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.

This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the Lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in his hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree.

What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom’s pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.

The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God’s command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God’s own people? Aaron’s rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?

By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven.

Amen.

Theodore the Studite (also known as Theodorus Studita, St. Theodore of Stoudios, and St. Theodore of Studium; 759–826) was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios monastery in Constantinople, founded in 462 or 463 by the consul Studios (Studius), a Roman who had settled in Constantinople, and was dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

Theodore's letter, containing suggested monastery reform rules, is the first recorded stand against slavery. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium.

He is known as a zealous opponent of iconoclasm, one of several conflicts that set him at odds with both emperor and patriarch. After his death the Studios monastery continued to be a vital center for Byzantine hymnography and hagiography, as well as for the copying of manuscripts.

Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople ~ 400 AD

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense. If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day!

You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He that was taken by death has annihilated it!

He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: "Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions".

It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, but crumbled before what cannot be seen! O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept.

To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Seated On The Empire's Stone -1st Sunday Of Easter Fr. Michael Flowers 04.09.23 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

Palm Sunday - Fr. Derek Metcalf 04.03.23 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC