“The light of Christ illumines all”; this expression that we say in the liturgy of the presanctified gifts fills the beginning of the passage that Paul starts with. He is definitely referring to the Lord’s light that appeared to him on the road to Damascus when he was going to arrest Christians. He became able to shine from the darkness that he was in and become a light that illumines us on Christ’s face. After the divine incarnation, we started seeing God’s light on the face of Jesus who is the only way to reach him.
Although the Apostle could see the greatness of God’s glory, he still saw human weakness, so he said: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us”. “Every complete gift comes from the father of lights”. This clay nature makes us “hard pressed on every side”, but because of the grace, we are not crushed. The grace liberates us from our clay nature and our damage. We are all confused between what is for God and what is not; however, we are not “in despair”, and “we are persecuted, but not abandoned”. Persecution is the situation that awaits us as Jesus said. Why persecution? Because the sons of darkness cannot accept light, and because evil people were naturally reproved by good people without talking. “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus”. His passions are drawn on our body and souls through persecution. And if we endured death, Jesus’ life shall appear in us. These things that happened to the Lord, death and resurrection, will take shape in our existence. If we suffered, we shall gain peace, and if we died, through the death of sin, we shall repent.
Then, he confirms this idea another time: “we are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body”. Paul always has this duality between dying for Christ and life in Christ. This is faith. Here, Paul mentions what has been said in the Psalms: “I believed, therefore I have spoken”. Testimony happens through the Word, and preaching is the fruit of faith. If we testified and spoke, Jesus would have planted his life in us because we speak through it. Finally, the Father will raise us from the dead as he did to his Christ. We rise for your sake. This is the communion of saints. We rise together in order to live together in the Kingdom of God. While waiting for this, the grace that prepares our rising is spread. The grace is spread through the thanksgiving of many. And the peak of thanksgiving is in the Divine Liturgy where grace is spread for the Love of God.
Paul always heads towards God through Christ’s light and the power of grace. This has always cost us persecutions, daily annoyances and a lot of fatigue. There is no Resurrection without crucifixion. But you can accept the cross with satisfaction and share the passions of the Lord in order to gain God’s love and distribute it to the brothers through love and take off their difficulties through guiding them towards patience and enduring discomforts.
In the midst of difficulties, you see Christ’s light on their faces. We, the people that believe in Jesus, are statures of light. If we really were for him, we should have nothing in us but light. Dust will fall off us. Difficulties will fade as consolation will take their place. Every harm, discomfort and sorrow will eventually lead us to Jesus Christ, to his tenderness, softness, and warmth so that nothing will stay in us but him; we will become him and he will become us through the love that he pours over us.
Translated by Mark Najjar
Original Text: “نور المسيح” –Raiati 39- 25.09.2011
