This episode looks at the remembrance in the Orthodox Church of Archangel Michael, the Chief Commander of the Bodiless Powers, in light of the reading at Vespers from Joshua Chapter 5. The victory granted to Joshua and the children of Israel is based on their adherence to the commandments of the Lord. The sword drawn in the hand of the supreme commander of the army of the Lord is not merely an instrument of war, but something more dreadful. Scripturally speaking, it is the Lord’s judgment.

Notes:
Joshua 5:13-15
Exodus 3:1-5
Genesis 3:24
Ephesians 6:11-17

“Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book” performed by Dead Can Dance.
“Koran” performed by Delirium.

In the previous passage, verses 21-28, the direction of movement was out. Here, it is in - from the synagogue (representing Judaism of the diaspora) to the “house” of Simon (representing the temple, thus the Judaism of Jerusalem). And in that house, Jesus does exactly what he had done to the demon-possessed man - he brings healing through the gospel. This parallel is meant to show that the Jews in Jerusalem are in no different a position than those in diaspora: both need the gospel.

Join me in a discussion of Mark 1:28-34.

Notes:
1 Samuel 7:5-7
Galatians 1:1, 15-16; 2:9
εὐθὺς (evthys) - immediately
οἶκος (oikos) - house
στῦλοι (styli) - pillars
δοκέo (dokeio) - to seem, to appear so
πενθερὰ (penthera) - mother-in-law

https://www.ocabspress.org/new-testament-products/vol-41-mark-part-1
“Rumeta” performed by 3rd Eye Girl.
Photo by Tim Mossholder: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-and-white-concrete-building-3690734/

In the Antiochian Orthodox Church, St. Raphael of Brooklyn is commemorated on the first Saturday in November. At Divine Liturgy, the assigned readings are from the gospel of John and from the epistle to Hebrews. In Chapter 10 of John, Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd, the one whose voice the sheep hear when he calls them by name and leads them out. The emphasis on his leading them out reflects a scriptural motif. God takes his people out of Egypt to lead them into Canaan; in between the two is a 40-year period of instruction and testing in the wilderness. It is through obedience to that instruction, to the words that proceed out of the mouth of God, that the people are promised life.

Our understanding of the text in John chapter 10:3 in which the Shepherd first leads his sheep out hinges on the meaning of the Greek term αὐλή, which is translated as “sheepfold.” Later in John chapter 18, the same word is translated as “courtyard,” and is thus associated with the temple. Jesus leads his sheep out of the earthly Jerusalem, represented by the temple, into a place of pasture. And along with others which are not of this fold, he leads them to the temple in the Jerusalem above. In her commemoration of hierarchs, such as St. Raphael, the Church applies this aspect of shepherding to them.

Notes:
Ezekiel 34:23-24
John 10:1-3; 9-16; 18:15
Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2
αὐλή aulé - sheepfold, courtyard
Icon by the hand of Diana Voyajalou.
Troparion and Kontakion are performed by *Ncense.