وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





The Lord Jesus Christ also said of His strong relation with the Father, in His soliloquy with Him: "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine" (Jn. 17: 10), and also in chapter 16, verse 15: "All things that the Father has are Mine. " This declaration can never come from a human being because it means entire equality with God the Father. That was the reason for which the Jews wanted to stone Him, because He made Himself equal with God (Jn. 5:18). St. Paul the Apostle says that Christ, "being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God' (Phil. 2:6), which means that He acted as equal with the Father, not considering it robbery, because He is so.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





The Lord Jesus Christ also said that He does the works of the Father, He said to the Jews: "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me, but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him" (Jn. 10:37,38); "Therefore they sought again to seize Him" (Jn. 10:39). The fact that Christ does the works of the Father proves His Divinity. That was why the Jews wanted to kill Him. When Christ said: "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working" (Jn. 5:17), the Jews considered His words a declaration that He is equal with the Father. That is why, immediately after this verse, it was said: "Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him" (Jn. 5:18). The Lord explained this point in detail when He said: "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will" (Jn.5:21)

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





The Lord also said: "That all should honour the Son just as they honour the Father" (Jn. 5:23). No human being can dare say these words. The fact that Christ makes Himself equal in honour with the Father is proof of His Divinity.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





The Lord also said: "You believe in God, believe also in Me" (Jn. 14: 1). The fact that people should believe in Christ as they believe in the Father indicates that He is equal with the Father, and thus is proof of His Divinity.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





The Lord said: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9). He reproached Philip for saying: "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us" (Jn. 14:8), by replying: "Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father, so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" (Jn. 14:8-10) And the Lord said to His disciples: "If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (Jn. 14:7). Indeed we see the Father in the Person of His Son because He is the express image of the Person of the Father and the brightness of His glory (Heb. 1:3).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





There is another relation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Father which proves His Divinity, that is, His sitting down at the right hand of the Father on high.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






Christ's sitting down at the right hand of the Father on high




The Divine Inspiration recorded this truth in many situations, such as:
(a) The words of the Lord to the Sanhedrin during His trial: "Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64).
(b) The words of St. Stephen at his martyrdom: "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" (Acts. 7:56)
(c) The words of St. Mark the Evangelist about the Ascension: "So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God' (Mk. 16:19).
(d) The words of St. Paul the Apostle about the Lord Jesus Christ: "When He had by Himsetf purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3).
(e) The words of St. Paul when he explained how Christ was greater than the angels: "But to which of the angels has He ever said: 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool'?" (Heb. 1: 13) St. Paul took these words from Psalm 110, verse 1, which says: "The Lord said to My Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.' "

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III







What can be understood from Christ's sitting at the right hand of the Father?
The Father has no right and has no left because He is Infinite and He fills all things. There is no vacuum at His right side for another to sit there. So what is the meaning of sitting at His right side? The word 'right' is a symbol of power and of righteousness and of majesty. This symbolism is similar to the Lord's expressions 'your right eye' and 'your right hand' in (Matt. 5:29,30), The right hand of the Father means the power of the Father, the righteousness of the Father and the majesty of the Father. That is why it was once said that the Son sat at the right hand of the Power and at another that He sat at the right hand of the Majesty. The word 'sat' here means remained.
This means that the Son who, in emptying Himself, appeared weak in front of you; was slapped on the face, scourged and crucified, by His ascension entered into His power and you will not see Him any more in weakness. And at His Second Coming, He will come on the clouds in His glory, surrounded by all the holy angels (Matt. 25:31), because at His Second Coming He will come with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30).
Also, the Son who stood in front of you as a sinner and criminal, and who stood before the Father carrying all the sins of the world, will sit at the right hand of His Father, that is, in His righteousness, and nobody can dare condemn Him any more.
The expression "sitting at the right hand of the Power" means that the stage of emptying Himself has ended and that the Son entered into His glory. That is why it is said that at His Second Coming, He will come,, in His own glory, and His Father's (Lk. 9:26), and it is also said: "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels" (Matt. 16:27). This glory is the sitting at the right hand of the Father

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






The Lord Jesus Christ said to the Jews: "Before Abraham was, I am" (Jn. 8:58). This means that He WAS and existed thousands of years before His birth in the flesh. The Jews understood that He was implying His Divinity. That is why they "took up stones to throw at Him" (Jn. 8:59).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III






Although Christ is a descendant of David genealogically, yet He said in the Book of Revelation: "I am the Root and the Offspring of David' (Rev. 22:16). The term 'Offspring of David' is clear and understood because He is a descendant of David, but the term 'Root' means that He existed before David. One of the priests around the Divine throne testified to this fact and said to John the Visionary: "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the
Root of David, has prevailed' (Rev. 5:5).