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After routing the kings and freeing Lot, Abram is met by Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, who brings out bread and wine and blesses him. Fr. Paul notes that in scripture blessing is given only by a senior to a junior, so this b
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures.
Readings: Genesis 14:14-20; Deuteronomy 10:14-21; John 20:11-18; Hebrews 13:7-16; John 17:1-13; 2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9; Luke 7:11-16.
After routing the kings and freeing Lot, Abram is met by Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, who brings out bread and wine and blesses him. Fr. Paul notes that in scripture blessing is given only by a senior to a junior, so this blessing marks Melchizedek as greater than Abram, who in turn gives him a tenth of everything. Melchizedek's name means "My King is [my] righteousness," and Salem reflects peace; together they anticipate the city later named "The Lord is our righteousness." Fr. Paul adds that this pairing of righteousness and peace recalls the prophets' vision of the new Zion, and that the author of Hebrews draws out the full meaning of "priest of the Most High God" as a figure of the peace that comes from righteousness.
Deuteronomy turns from the earth and heavens that belong to the Lord to the demand placed on Israel: "circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn." Fr. Paul reads this alongside the Lord's own character as the God who "is not partial and takes no bribe," who executes justice for the fatherless and widow and "loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Israel is told to love the sojourner because they themselves were sojourners in Egypt. This circumcision of the heart, not of flesh only, is what it means to serve the Lord with all the heart and soul, and failure to keep it later brings judgment in Jeremiah against those who oppress the alien, the fatherless, and the widow.
In John, Mary stands weeping and finds two angels "sitting," a position Fr. Paul connects to an earlier scene where Mary of Bethany had to rise from sitting to approach the Teacher. So here, recognizing Jesus only as "Teacher," Mary is commanded to go and tell the brothers the word of the ascension. Fr. Paul observes that John shows the church's members are "ultimately not the teachers of the gospel," only its bearers to others, and that Mary's obedient report, "I have seen the Lord," models that movement from the sorrow of not understanding into the joy of proclamation once instructed by the word.
Sources: Tarazi, Genesis: A Commentary, p. 140; Tarazi, Decoding Genesis 1–11, p. 163; Tarazi, Isaiah: A Commentary, p. 46; Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary, Genesis (vol. 1), part 1, at 2:57:56; Tarazi, Land and Covenant, p. 122; Tarazi, Land and Covenant, p. 186; Tarazi, Isaiah: A Commentary, p. 201; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 255; Tarazi, The New Testament: An Introduction, vol. 3, Johannine Writings, p. 255.
Opening music: Taksim Arbi, Bichi Slama, oud (Tunis, Archives de la Parole, 1930s), public domain. Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures.
Every day: the readings of the Orthodox lectionary read in full, a short note on them, and a root pair from the Consolation of Consonants, Hebrew and Arabic, chosen for the day’s readings. About five minutes a day, from OCABS on the Ephesus School Network. Read each note, with its citations, at ocabs.org.