By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani
He is the first of the “major prophets.” The “most loud” and the so-called “fifth evangelist.”
The Prophet Isaiah was born around 770 BC, coming from a noble family. He lived in Jerusalem.
He was called by God to the prophetic office through a divine vision and his activity extends over a full fifty years with the power of his pen and his word.
Indeed, the Prophet Isaiah admonished the people and advised the rulers, stood as a consolation to the righteous and prophesied punishments for the impiety of the rulers and the people.
He lived during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Manasseh. The era was certainly extremely critical.
Furthermore, Isaiah became the bearer of very important divine revelations, which referred to the coming, the work and the salvation of mankind by the Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was a wonderful personality and the Book of Isaiah holds a prominent place in world literature, and he himself has been described as “one of the greatest orators of the world”.
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What distinguishes Isaiah above the other prophets is primarily his numerous and clear Christological prophecies.
In particular, he foretold the virgin birth of Christ, as well as the name Emmanuel.
Thus, Isaiah will say: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel” (Is. 17:14).
And this is to declare His divinity. This child would not be a simple, “small” man, but as Isaiah prophesies: “An angel of great council, wonderful counselor, mighty God, ruler, prince of peace, father of the age to come” (Isa. 9:6).
That is, apart from the name Emmanuel that the Prophet Isaiah mentioned for Christ, he also spoke of other names. Each of these names refers to the nature and authority of Christ, and all of this 800 years before His Divine Birth.
But the most eloquent Isaiah also prophesies the tender quality of the Good Shepherd. He presents Christ as the shepherd who comes and tames the wolf with the lambs which symbolically means the taming of people and nations.
He writes very vividly: “The wolf will feed with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat and the calf, and the bull and the lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them, and the ox and the bear will feed together” (Is. 11:6-7).
The Child, Christ, as the Good Shepherd, will say after His departure for His saving work the wonderful words: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
The Prophet Isaiah also sees Christ taking upon Himself and taking upon Himself “our sins.” Although we “have been wicked and have acted treacherously and have turned away from our God” (Isa. 59:13), yet He, the Son and Word of God, Christ, “He Himself bore our sins and was wounded for our transgressions” (Isa. 53:4).
He will prophesy with these words: “I gave my back to the whips, and my cheeks to blows, and my face did not turn away from the shame of reproach” (Isa. 50:6).
And then, “like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth” (Isa. 53:7) and “his life is taken from the earth, for the iniquities of my people he was brought to death” (Isa. 53:8).
This death on Golgotha on the Cross is the entire redemptive work of Christ for the human race.
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The vision that the Prophet Isaiah saw when God assigned him the sacred mission of being a prophet is extremely important. Specifically, the Prophet Isaiah sees and hears what is happening at the heavenly altar.
Of course, he feels deeply sinful and unworthy of glorifying and praising God, as the angels do, precisely because his lips are impure, due to his various sins.
However, the Prophet saw the Lord and God. He says specifically:
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: 'Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.' Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me'” (Isa. 6:6-9).
We clearly have here the Prophet's mission to preach repentance to the people, and at the same time, a prefiguration of the Theotokos is also revealed.
The tongs symbolize the Theotokos and the burning coal symbolizes the fire of the divinity of Christ. That is, the Theotokos is the mystical tongs that conceived in her womb the coal of the divinity, the Son and Word of God. In fact, the eighth Magalynarion (3rd tone) of the feast of the Dormition says it very aptly: “You Mariam are the mystical tongs, who has conceived in your womb Christ, the live coal.”
Another troparion of the fifth Ode of the feast of the Reception says very characteristically: “Isaiah was cleansed, having received the coal from the seraphim, and the Elder Symeon cried out to the Mother of God: You whose hands are like tongs, illuminate me, as one who brings forth the light without dawn, and the peace that reigns."
Another troparion of the fifth Ode of the feast of the Reception says very characteristically: “Isaiah was cleansed, having received the coal from the seraphim, and the Elder Symeon cried out to the Mother of God: You whose hands are like tongs, illuminate me, as one who brings forth the light without dawn, and the peace that reigns."
The coal is the Body and Blood of Christ, which hold two properties, the purifying and the sanctifying, namely the Holy Communion burns the impious and sanctifies the penitent.
In the Service Before Receiving Divine Communion, we read the following important verses: "Seeing the divine blood, have fear, O man, for it is coal that burns the unworthy. It is God’s body that deifies and nourishes me; it deifies the spirit and nourishes the nous mystically."
Then, the phrase, when the priests commune, is very characteristic: “This has touched my lips, and removed my iniquities and thoroughly cleansed me of my sins."
The priest then, as another seraphim, transmits to the faithful through the tongs the divine coal, Christ, the Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life. That is why the invitation is: “With the fear of God, faith and love.” The first phrase is “with the fear of God” and faith and love follow.
The Apostle Paul, in fact, will insist on the command “let a man examine himself.” That is, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
Holy Communion is coal, a burning coal. It is a “consuming fire.” It is fire. The Apostle to the Gentiles says again: “Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord... For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. For this reason many among you are weak and sick and are sleeping (=dead)” (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).
Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes this point: “But since I have mentioned this sacrifice, I want to say a few things to you initiates, few indeed in extent, but great in power and benefit; for these are not our words that will be spoken, but those of the divine Spirit. What then are these? Many partake of this sacrifice once a year, while others twice, and others many times. This word is addressed to all of us, not only to those who are here, but also to those who live in the desert; for they receive communion once a year, and many times, and every two years? What then? Whom shall we accept? Those who receive communion once? Those who receive many? Those who receive few? Neither those who receive once, nor those who receive many, nor those who receive few, but those who receive communion with a clear conscience, with a pure heart, and with an unblameable life. Let those who are such always come; while those who are not such, let them not come even once. Why? For they receive for themselves conviction and condemnation and hell and punishment."
In his Homily 17 on the Book of Hebrews, he concludes: “For this reason the priest then addresses and calls the saints, and with these words he rebukes everyone, so that no one may come unprepared. For, just as in a flock in which there are many healthy sheep and many covered with scabies, these must be separated from the healthy ones, so also in the Church, because other sheep are healthy and others suffer from some disease, with these words the priest separates them from the others, allowing this terrible cry to be heard everywhere, thus calling and attracting the faithful."
Without spiritual preparation and “examination” of the soul, that is, repentance and seeking God’s mercy, let us never approach the mystical coal, which burns the unworthy.
The Apostle writes: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? What fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial?” (2 Cor. 6:14-15). How will he approach the Holy and Most Holy One who is steeped in lawlessness? How will he mix the stench of his passions with the heavenly myrrh of the holy sacrifice?
Therefore, great care is needed in how we approach the Holy Communion. Neither abstain nor approach without proper preparation.
There are, in addition, other prophecies that again foreshadow the person of the Theotokos in the writings of the Prophet Isaiah, such as the throne of the divinity and his words about her virginity.
First, the prophet sees the throne of the divinity of the Lord and says: The Lord comes “sitting on a throne high and lifted up” (6:1) and sitting “on a swift cloud” (19:1).
And in these two prophecies we have a clear foreshadowing of the Theotokos. The high and lofty throne and the swift cloud, where Jesus Christ sits, are the Theotokos, who served the mystery of the divine incarnation. The hymns of the Church, moreover, are characteristic in this regard.
And in the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great is heard: “In You I rejoice, O Most Gracious One... for He made Your womb a throne and Your womb wider than the heavens.” This prophecy is also mentioned by the hymnographer of the Canon of the Akathist hymn, writing: “He who sits in glory on the throne of divinity, in a swift sky, came Jesus the Most High.”
Likewise, the hymnographer of the Canon of Christmas says: “I see a strange and paradoxical mystery: the cave has become Heaven, the Virgin a Cherubic throne."
It is a fact that the Fathers of the Church perfectly establish this connecting link between Christology and the person of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Referring to the Prophet Isaiah (26:18), Saint Gregory Palamas writes: “And if we also shall firmly hold on to other virtues and prayers, fervently and continually being in the church of God, we also shall obtain treasured for us purity of heart, containing and revealing God unto us (Matthew 5:8). Thus also Isaiah calls it (purity of heart) and the inclination of the soul toward God on its account, 'the spirit of salvation obtained within the womb,' addressing God (with the following words): 'We have conceived in the womb, O Lord, because of thy fear, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth: we shall not fall, but all that dwell upon the land shall fall' (Isaiah 26:18).” ("On the Nativity of the Theotokos").
And Saint Symeon the New Theologian writes in this regard, interpreting the above passage of the Prophet, namely, “We have conceived in the womb…”, that the Theotokos: “Having conceived in the divine Spirit the Word of the knowledge of God, she constantly works in our hearts the mystery of the renewal of human souls and the communion with the Divine Word and union" (Symeon the New Theologian).
A special point that we must pay attention to is the Prophet’s emphasis on the cause of the suffering and pain and at the same time the depression of the people. The Prophet says: “The earth is in mourning because of its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the law and changed the statutes, an everlasting covenant; therefore the earth is in mourning, because its inhabitants have sinned” (Isa. 24:5-6).
That is, the Prophet establishes that the generative cause of the sorrow of the people is moral decline.
Man wanted to go without God, without applying His commandments, without the divine law, with the Gospel closed. He does not respect God and constantly sins.
But God cares, disciplines, and despite suffering, He is still there and the “hope for the godly” (Isa. 24:16).
And we reach the last chapters of his book, where the Prophet Isaiah speaks of the love and justice of God, Who creates the “new Zion,” that is, the Church.
He will say: “Shine, shine, O New Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1). The all-bright glory of the Lord has risen joyfully. It shines and illuminates.
Christ gave the world victory over death, which is why the above verse is sung as a hymn on Pascha.
The darkness of impiety and error has now fled, and the light of salvation has come. And this light will come to the whole world.
The holy Church will come with the “planting of the Lord in glory” and then “you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of God” and they will "repair the desolations of many generations”. The beauty and glory of the “new Jerusalem” will come. The faithful, in the space of the Church, will have security and joy. “Behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Is. 65:18).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
In the Service Before Receiving Divine Communion, we read the following important verses: "Seeing the divine blood, have fear, O man, for it is coal that burns the unworthy. It is God’s body that deifies and nourishes me; it deifies the spirit and nourishes the nous mystically."
Then, the phrase, when the priests commune, is very characteristic: “This has touched my lips, and removed my iniquities and thoroughly cleansed me of my sins."
The priest then, as another seraphim, transmits to the faithful through the tongs the divine coal, Christ, the Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life. That is why the invitation is: “With the fear of God, faith and love.” The first phrase is “with the fear of God” and faith and love follow.
The Apostle Paul, in fact, will insist on the command “let a man examine himself.” That is, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
Holy Communion is coal, a burning coal. It is a “consuming fire.” It is fire. The Apostle to the Gentiles says again: “Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord... For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. For this reason many among you are weak and sick and are sleeping (=dead)” (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).
Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes this point: “But since I have mentioned this sacrifice, I want to say a few things to you initiates, few indeed in extent, but great in power and benefit; for these are not our words that will be spoken, but those of the divine Spirit. What then are these? Many partake of this sacrifice once a year, while others twice, and others many times. This word is addressed to all of us, not only to those who are here, but also to those who live in the desert; for they receive communion once a year, and many times, and every two years? What then? Whom shall we accept? Those who receive communion once? Those who receive many? Those who receive few? Neither those who receive once, nor those who receive many, nor those who receive few, but those who receive communion with a clear conscience, with a pure heart, and with an unblameable life. Let those who are such always come; while those who are not such, let them not come even once. Why? For they receive for themselves conviction and condemnation and hell and punishment."
In his Homily 17 on the Book of Hebrews, he concludes: “For this reason the priest then addresses and calls the saints, and with these words he rebukes everyone, so that no one may come unprepared. For, just as in a flock in which there are many healthy sheep and many covered with scabies, these must be separated from the healthy ones, so also in the Church, because other sheep are healthy and others suffer from some disease, with these words the priest separates them from the others, allowing this terrible cry to be heard everywhere, thus calling and attracting the faithful."
Without spiritual preparation and “examination” of the soul, that is, repentance and seeking God’s mercy, let us never approach the mystical coal, which burns the unworthy.
The Apostle writes: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? What fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial?” (2 Cor. 6:14-15). How will he approach the Holy and Most Holy One who is steeped in lawlessness? How will he mix the stench of his passions with the heavenly myrrh of the holy sacrifice?
Therefore, great care is needed in how we approach the Holy Communion. Neither abstain nor approach without proper preparation.
There are, in addition, other prophecies that again foreshadow the person of the Theotokos in the writings of the Prophet Isaiah, such as the throne of the divinity and his words about her virginity.
First, the prophet sees the throne of the divinity of the Lord and says: The Lord comes “sitting on a throne high and lifted up” (6:1) and sitting “on a swift cloud” (19:1).
And in these two prophecies we have a clear foreshadowing of the Theotokos. The high and lofty throne and the swift cloud, where Jesus Christ sits, are the Theotokos, who served the mystery of the divine incarnation. The hymns of the Church, moreover, are characteristic in this regard.
And in the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great is heard: “In You I rejoice, O Most Gracious One... for He made Your womb a throne and Your womb wider than the heavens.” This prophecy is also mentioned by the hymnographer of the Canon of the Akathist hymn, writing: “He who sits in glory on the throne of divinity, in a swift sky, came Jesus the Most High.”
Likewise, the hymnographer of the Canon of Christmas says: “I see a strange and paradoxical mystery: the cave has become Heaven, the Virgin a Cherubic throne."
It is a fact that the Fathers of the Church perfectly establish this connecting link between Christology and the person of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Referring to the Prophet Isaiah (26:18), Saint Gregory Palamas writes: “And if we also shall firmly hold on to other virtues and prayers, fervently and continually being in the church of God, we also shall obtain treasured for us purity of heart, containing and revealing God unto us (Matthew 5:8). Thus also Isaiah calls it (purity of heart) and the inclination of the soul toward God on its account, 'the spirit of salvation obtained within the womb,' addressing God (with the following words): 'We have conceived in the womb, O Lord, because of thy fear, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of thy salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth: we shall not fall, but all that dwell upon the land shall fall' (Isaiah 26:18).” ("On the Nativity of the Theotokos").
And Saint Symeon the New Theologian writes in this regard, interpreting the above passage of the Prophet, namely, “We have conceived in the womb…”, that the Theotokos: “Having conceived in the divine Spirit the Word of the knowledge of God, she constantly works in our hearts the mystery of the renewal of human souls and the communion with the Divine Word and union" (Symeon the New Theologian).
A special point that we must pay attention to is the Prophet’s emphasis on the cause of the suffering and pain and at the same time the depression of the people. The Prophet says: “The earth is in mourning because of its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the law and changed the statutes, an everlasting covenant; therefore the earth is in mourning, because its inhabitants have sinned” (Isa. 24:5-6).
That is, the Prophet establishes that the generative cause of the sorrow of the people is moral decline.
Man wanted to go without God, without applying His commandments, without the divine law, with the Gospel closed. He does not respect God and constantly sins.
But God cares, disciplines, and despite suffering, He is still there and the “hope for the godly” (Isa. 24:16).
And we reach the last chapters of his book, where the Prophet Isaiah speaks of the love and justice of God, Who creates the “new Zion,” that is, the Church.
He will say: “Shine, shine, O New Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1). The all-bright glory of the Lord has risen joyfully. It shines and illuminates.
Christ gave the world victory over death, which is why the above verse is sung as a hymn on Pascha.
The darkness of impiety and error has now fled, and the light of salvation has come. And this light will come to the whole world.
The holy Church will come with the “planting of the Lord in glory” and then “you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of God” and they will "repair the desolations of many generations”. The beauty and glory of the “new Jerusalem” will come. The faithful, in the space of the Church, will have security and joy. “Behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Is. 65:18).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
