The Reception of the Lord (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

The Reception of the Lord 

(Luke 2:22-38)

By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

After the birth of Christ, the Theotokos, as a Jewess, was obliged for two reasons to go to the Temple: first, for her own sake, and second, for the sake of her firstborn Son.

Her obligation toward herself was her lawful purification, her “forty-day purification,” as we would say today. According to the Law, that is, every Jewish woman who had given birth, on the fortieth day after the birth of her male child, had to appear in the Temple in order to be purified. During this purification she was required — if she was poor — “to offer a sacrifice according to what was prescribed: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” This purification was not a bodily cleansing for reasons of hygiene, but a legal one. By it there was recalled, in general, the sinfulness of humanity, and more specifically the transmission of ancestral sin through birth. This is evident from the fact that if a Jewish woman gave birth to a daughter, she was considered unclean not for forty days but for eighty, in remembrance that Eve was the first cause of the fall of the first-created humans. The sacrifice of the offered turtledoves and pigeons, which did not cleanse but merely reminded one of impurity, indicated the need for the coming of a Redeemer, Christ.

Zacchaeus (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

The Lord, as He was walking toward Jerusalem, as we saw previously, arrived at Jericho. “Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector.” Tax collectors were those who collected tolls and taxes. Jericho was a center for the export of balsam, which was sold throughout the whole world, and a hub of communication between Judea, Perea, and Egypt. This Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector because he was the supervisor of those collectors. “And he was rich and sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd.” Because of the great press of people, walking along with the crowd for some time, Zacchaeus was unable to see Christ, “because he was small in stature.” He was short. “And running ahead,” that is, running forward, “he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was about to pass that way.” The sycamore was a tree with low branches extending parallel to the ground, having leaves like a mulberry and fruit like a fig. Therefore, it was easy to climb. He runs and climbs it, because Christ was going to pass near it.

The Ten Lepers (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

The Ten Lepers

Luke 17:12-19

By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

We have seen that Christ withdrew from Jerusalem after the raising of Lazarus, in order to avoid the envy of the Pharisees. He went to Ephraim, near Bethel. From there He proceeded farther north and came to the borders of Samaria and Galilee. From there He intended to return to Jerusalem by way of Perea. As Luke says: “It came to pass, as He went to Jerusalem, that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.”

Thus the Lord, intending to go up to Jerusalem to be crucified, found Himself on the borders of Samaria and Galilee.

There, “as Jesus entered a certain village, ten leprous men met Him, who stood afar off.” They remained at a distance, for such was required by the tradition. Since they were far away, “they lifted up their voices and cried out, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us'.”

As lepers, legally unclean, they lived outside the cities. Yet instead of crying out, as they were required, “Unclean, unclean,” they cried out asking to be cleansed from their leprosy and healed by Jesus.

The Beginning of the Preaching of Jesus in Galilee (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

February of the year 28 A.D. until the Passover of 28 A.D.

Matthew 4:12–25; 8:1–4, 14–17; 9:1–17; 13:54–58
Mark 1:14–2:22; 6:1–6
Luke 4:14–5:39
John 4:43–54

The Lord’s public activity in Judea, given that the Forerunner was still present, was semi-official. The Lord departed from the Jordan, where His disciples were baptizing, because His success aroused the envy of the Pharisees, according to the explicit testimony of the Evangelist John, as we have seen. Having departed from there, either then or shortly before His departure, He learned of the imprisonment of the Forerunner. At that point He decided to enter upon His public life in a fully official manner. As a suitable center He chose Galilee, and especially the western shore of the Lake of Gennesaret —Capernaum — far from the center of the Pharisees in Jerusalem, so that He might move more freely among the dense and mixed population there.

The Genealogy of Christ (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

The Genealogy of Christ

Matt. 1:1–17; Luke 3:23–38

By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

Observations

Comparing the genealogies of the two Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, we find the following differences:

1) Extent of the genealogy

Matthew traces Christ’s genealogy back to Abraham, whereas Luke goes back to Adam.

This is because Matthew, addressing the Jews, wishes to prove that Christ is the expected Messiah, descended from Abraham and David according to the prophets.

Luke, however, addressing all humanity, traces Christ back to Adam in order to present Him as the Redeemer of the entire human race, which descends from Adam.

Speech at the Consecration of the Temple of the Prophet Joel and Saint Irene (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

 

 

By John P. Bougas, Theologian

Father Joel Yiannakopoulos, well-known to the Orthodox world, was an enlightened ascetic, neo-patristic figure of the Orthodox Church. His life has been successfully outlined by the theologian G. D. Kouvelas in his book: Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos (1901-1966): An Enlightened Figure, 3rd Edition, Kalamata 2001.

Father Joel was the founder in 1962 of the women's Hesychasterion of the Prophet Joel, in Kalamata.

This article presents Father Joel's speech during the Consecration on May 31, 1964 of the Holy Temple of the Hesychasterion, named after the Prophet Joel.

This handwritten speech of Father Joel has remained unpublished until now (2016 - the 50th anniversary since his repose) and belongs to the archive of the Sacred Monastery of the Prophet Joel in Kalamata.

In this speech there is a personal confession of Father Joel, who describes his personal journey and his call to the Church of Christ. In general, this speech shows the philanthropic ethos of the Elder Joel, the simplicity of his words and his human speech, as he himself was full of humanity in life. He was honorable with human things, knowing from his own experience the problems, and all the experiences of human society as a full member of it, avoiding of course all sin. The simplicity of the Elder is demonstrated by his participation in gatherings and friendly meals as well as in excursions with his spiritual children.

The Parable of the Foolish Rich Man (Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos)

 

The Parable of the Foolish Rich Man

(Luke 12:13-21)

By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

At the moment when the Lord gives the above-mentioned advice to His disciples, then "one from the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.'" This complaining brother was obviously the youngest. He complained because his elder brother did not want to share the property with him and was exploiting it. This younger brother wants to take advantage of the moral influence of the Lord, so he begs to help him in the distribution of the paternal inheritance. The Lord declares that the purpose for which He came into the world was not to get involved in financial matters, so He says to him: "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" The Lord's address to the complaining brother as "man" shows His disapproval of him, because in the midst of so many spiritual words of the Lord, his mind was attached to material matters. Who appointed Me, says the Lord, a judge, to judge your dispute and differences, so that I can distribute the property between you? This is not My work, it is the work of the earthly authorities.