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“Behold the Slave of the Lord”
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By Juliana ChrisanthusA very long time ago, a young girl was sent by her parents to be raised in a temple. The parents, making good on a promise they had made to God, delivered their four year old child up to be raised by what they only could imagine to be angels, since she was to be the only one in that temple. The little girl’s parents died while she was in the temple, and she did not learn of this until she left the temple some years later. So here the young woman, having been sheltered from the world during such formative years, is basically on her own. One day, she is asked to do something incomprehensible. With not another human being to help her, she makes a decision that defies all human logic and reasoning. She puts her trust in something of which she has no tangible proof; she is asked to have complete trust in the unknown. She decides to give herself, entirely, to this daunting task because she has an enormous faith and a great zeal in her heart for her God. She submitted to her task with her whole-heart, even referring to herself as a “slave”. She completely gave herself over to something she did not understand; mind, body and spirit, she conceded to what was asked of her.
If you didn’t guess yet, the young girl in the above situation was our Holy Mother, the Panagia. If we read that story as is, and apply it to the world today, what would be the response in the faithless and God-hating society in which we live today? Would people be crying out that Panagia’s parents abused her by leaving her in the temple with no (human) person to care for her? Would they claim she was “indoctrinated” since her most formative years were spent in isolation where she could not have learned to “think for herself?” Would they claim she was violated because a child was placed in her uterus without her first consenting to it? Would they call her crazy, and a “cult follower” because she gave herself so completely to something without knowing what it would really mean or involve? If the events of Panagia’s life happened in this age, one has to wonder what people would really be saying.
Recently, articles have been circulating on the Internet quoting a certain Greek Orthodox Metropolitan stating, “God doesn’t want slaves in His Kingdom…” Certain people who have an obvious disdain for Orthodox monasticism highlight this phrase. They use it as their Gospel to promote their anti-monastic agenda. This statement has become their argument that anyone who enters a monastery should be considered weak, indoctrinated, mislead, and a cult follower. I’ll admit that phrase is taken out of context, and the specific meaning and implications can only be said by the Metropolitan who made the statement, however; certain “activists” out there are defining it in their own way, taking the inference that anyone who enters a monastery (especially a monastery of Fr. Ephraim) is not wanted in the Kingdom of Heaven. Was this what the Metropolitan intended people to make of this statement? I don’t know, he has never elaborated on that statement to my knowledge. But the miso-monastics in this country have certainly taken that phrase and run with it.
I have to feel a great sadness at their use of this phrase for the purposes which they use it. The implication is that those young men and women who choose to enter a monastery and give their lives 100% to Christ are doing so in vain because, by their logic, that is not what God wants from us. However, if the people who use this statement to promote their agendas were to look to the scripture, they would see how flimsy their argument really is. In the Gospel of St. Luke we see why this is exactly what God wants, even requires from each of us, monastics and lay people. When Panagia -- who by apocryphal accounts was around the age of 14 when the Archangel appeared to her – was chosen to be His mother, the words with which she replied in accepting this awesome and unfathomable task were idou h doulh Kuriou or “Behold, the slave of the Lord.” The Greek word “doulos” means “slave,” plain and simple. Could she have said no? Of course. Our most beneficent Creator instilled a free will in all of us. But He saw in young Mariam a zeal to submit to Him entirely; He knew she was ready to become His slave, and this is why He chose her. Only someone who could completely give her will to Him could have taken her own Master inside her womb, realizing that she would be subject in all things to the One Who sprang forth from her and nursed at her breast. He needed someone who was able to have complete trust in Him: someone who would have the strength to endure the most heart-wrenching pains for Him; someone who would not question His actions and His words, even when they did not understand them; someone who would completely submit her whole self to Him and defer to Him as her Master in all things, just as a true slave would.
What an awesome thing. Panagia, in essence, believed in something for which she had no tangible proof. She gave herself, at a young age, to a task beyond comprehension. She was obedient to something that seems, by earthly standards, to be impossible, indeed, against all laws of nature. She did not waver in her resolve, trusting in her God even though she did not know what the long-term consequences would be. And this is what she needed to do. For if she had only submitted partially, or waveringly, how could she have followed through? She wouldn’t have been able to let the child she held in her womb, in her tender embrace, ascend the Cross for the sake of the very people who nailed Him to it. Had she not submitted entirely, she couldn’t have stood by as He was spat upon, tortured and murdered before her very eyes. But because she had decided, thirty-three years before, to be a “slave” to her Lord, she was able to watch these horrible things and trust that it was what needed to happen. Can we earthly parents even begin to imagine the unbearable pain her heart experienced as she stood by Him and watched her only Son endure such things? I know I would not be able to bear it. But she did. Although her grief was enormous, she did not try to stop what was happening; because as His slave, she knew that the Master knows better than His slaves. The moment she uttered the words: “Behold, the slave of the Lord,” they were inscribed indelibly in her heart forever, and she always held true to that promise.
Throughout her Son’s life, the Mother of God saw many amazing things happen. And though she was His mother, at no time did she act in such a manner that would convey that He should be subject to her (since this is what natural law would dictate anyway). At 12 years old, when He stayed behind in the temple, He did not make apologies when He was found after three days; He told his mother it was necessary for Him to be attending to the things of His Father. She did not question Him or punish Him, for to do this would indicate that she was not true to her original promise, “Behold, the slave of the Lord.” Several years later, at Cana of Galilee, she tells her Son, “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). His response to her is, “Woman, what is that to you and Me? Do you not know My hour has not yet come?” She did not question Him at this point, nor chasten Him; she did not feel He was showing her any disrespect as some western scholars ignorantly assert. She knew He was capable of this miracle, but did not press the issue, telling the servants to subject themselves to His word, remembering that as His slave, she was also subject to Him. She did not protest or question Him, staying true to her original promise, “Behold, the slave of the Lord.” Dutifully, He did perform the miracle. But she did not have to argue with Him or try to convince Him. He saw her submission, and honored it by performing that miracle, even though His time had not yet come. Some time later, she watched as He was condemned by His own creatures. She did not stand at the foot of the Cross wailing, pleading with Him that she could not endure the pain of watching Him suffer, asking Him to show her pity for the grief in her heart at what was unfolding before her eyes. She did not rise up against those who persecuted Him. She watched silently as He was spat upon, beaten, humiliated, and murdered before her very eyes. She could not have known He needed to endure all those things so He could save all mankind, yes, even the very people who nailed Him to the Cross. But she kept her promise, made all those years before, “Behold, the slave of the Lord.” She trusted that He knew better than she; she believed that He, as the Master of her, knew what was the best. As a true slave, she put aside her own will and subjected herself to Him in all things. This much we see in the Scriptures. We see her obedience to Him, her patient endurance, and her steadfast resolve to remain true to what she promised Him: “Behold, the slave of the Lord.”
But something else we see, beyond Holy Scriptures, is that how such loyalty to the promise she made Him, how He rewarded her utter submission, making her the boast of all generations of faithful men. He took that promise, inscribed in her heart, and glorified her in a manner unfathomable to man. Indeed, our Holy Orthodox faith bestows upon her an esteem unlike any other, “More honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim.” She is the “sweetness of the Angels,” the “Life giving Spring,” “Tender Mercy,” “Holy Protection,” “Joy of all that Sorrow,” “Searcher for the Lost,” thousands upon thousands of other accolades, and, yes, she is the Queen of all. How many Saints wrote hymns to her, their love for her pouring out in their words of praise? How many people, inspired by God, have painted her image in icons for the faithful to venerate? Mankind honors her and her faithfulness to her promise: “Behold the slave of the Lord.” How many Christians have been inspired to take her as their protectress in all things, asking that she intercede for them before her Son. Indeed faithful Christians cry out to her, “Most Holy Theotokos save us!” Not because we believe she saves us of herself, but rather that her Son takes a special pity on those whom she brings before Him. He honors her wishes for mercy on a faithless and godless people. He listens to her, because she fulfilled her promise to Him: “Behold the slave of the Lord.” He has fully honored and rewarded her complete enslavement to Him.
Through true slavery, she obtained the highest honor that will ever be bestowed upon a human being. She gave everything to Him, and it was not in vain. Though the sacrifice was great, the reward was much greater. She chose slavery to Christ, and through that slavery found true freedom with Him.
So if the Lord required this of His Mother, how then, does he not require it of His children? How can we expect to come to Him if we cannot at least TRY to do what she did? Christ provided her as both a model and an example: a model of what he expected from His Creation, and an example of the grace and blessings which are rewarded to those who say with conviction: “Behold the slave of the Lord.” We see that throughout history, as many people have followed her in their complete submission to Him. His own Apostles left their nets at only His call. Sts. Paul, Peter, James and John refer to themselves as His slaves in their epistles. They took His mother as their example, seeing her steadfast promise to her Son: “Behold the slave of the Lord.” People left homes and families to follow Him. Did they know what they were doing at the time? They became His slaves; they devoted themselves out of love for Him. They followed His word in all things. Men and women were even willing to shed their blood rather than deny Him. These people did not question Him. They knew when they said with steadfast resolve “Behold the slave of the Lord” that they could trust that He would protect them in all things, and that He would provide the best way, the only way for them to be saved and find true freedom. Did they have a choice? Of course they did. He never forced them to do anything. They did it out of complete servitude to Him; they freely enslaved themselves out of their great love and devotion to Him. They also had the knowledge that once they allowed Him to truly be their Master, He would free them from the bonds of death and sin, and that anyone who submitted so entirely to Him would receive their due reward in His Kingdom.
The problem in today’s society is the world’s teaching that complete submission to anything is a sign of weakness. We are taught that we should have complete and utter confidence in our own abilities to make the best decisions for our own lives. If we do not, if we rely on something higher, we are seen as lacking the ability to think for ourselves. We are taught to question authority in all matters, and to reject anyone having any power over us at all. Indeed this is seen in the state of the Church today. The anti-monastic movement is so busy spewing vitriol; never ones to keep silent their disdain of the monasteries, they publish libelous articles that accuse people who enter monasteries of being unable to think for themselves. They assert that the grounds where young men and women (of legal age) go to give their lives completely over to Christ are nothing more than cults who prey on the weaknesses of their members. They use their agenda on a faithless and godless nation of people, easily seduced by the world’s wiles, and susceptible to the indoctrination of uprising against the Church and it’s traditions. We also see in the Church a movement of Orthodox activists who wish to wipe out the hierarchy, which has been handed down from the Apostles. These people want to be the ones to run Christ’s Church! They want the freedom to change 2000-year-old traditions in order to better suit their own agendas. They feel they should have the right to remove priests from parishes because they are bringing in too many converts, or preaching “too traditionally,” or dressing in a manner not consistent with the “western” world we live in. Again, these teachings of the activists are very tempting to people living in today’s societies. The simple fact is that these activist groups are taking advantage of a world deceived easily by human logic. They can promote their agenda by incensing people to feel anger at the thought of having to answer to another person. They have taken their platform, even joining forces for their common goal, and sought to take those who would be seduced by the world’s wiles to join with them in their assault upon Holy Tradition, which was handed down by Christ and carried out by His true slaves for the last 2000 years.
This attack on tradition is nothing new. It started even before Christ walked this Earth. It continued as His own people rose up against His teachings and delivered Him up to death. It continued as His Apostles endured imprisonment and persecution for His sake, having enslaved themselves to Him forever. It continued as countless men and women shed their blood rather than deny Him or even compromise one iota of His truth. It continued as saints like the great Mark of Ephesus refused to budge, being the only Orthodox bishop willing to uphold the true Faith, completely in its pure, unaltered original form. The examples throughout history are too many to list. But in the end, if we look at Holy Orthodoxy, we see it has remained in its pure form, as Christ intended. If you look at Western religions you can see, beyond the original schism, how many times it has split since then. Beginning with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, the western mentality has always nurtured the type of knowledge and free thinking which invariably leads to a faction of people deciding they aren’t happy with the status quo, so they go and start a religion that suits their own needs. It is not surprising, then, that we see this small uprising of people here in the West seeking to do the same thing to our Holy Orthodox Church. They do not realize, however, how many people have tried this and failed at it over the last 2000 years. Holy Orthodoxy is Christ’s bride, and -- as Orthodox Christians-- our role is to preserve His bride, unblemished, unaltered, unaffected by the world’s teachings. His Providence will ensure that His true slaves will always be true to that role, that they would even give their lives rather than allow it to be changed in any way.
I realize how unpopular these last few paragraphs are to the “activist Orthodox.” They will say that I am unrealistic, living in a fantasy world, ignorant, uneducated, and indoctrinated. That is okay by me. These people have their agenda, and are actively trying to rally masses of people to revolt and reject true slavery to Christ. The truly sad thing is that by acting in that manner, they are enslaving themselves to the world and its ways. If we look beyond the garment of their activist teachings we see that their true agenda is neither anti-monastic, nor is it anti-hierarchy. Rather, it is anti-tradition. It is for the advancement of their political causes, which are contrary to the Church’s teachings. It is their way of interjecting the ways of the world into a 2000-year-old tradition that does not need it. It is the promotion of congregationalism, to incite numbers to revolt and “buck the system.” Christ did not incite His Apostles to revolt against the Jews. He even chastened the Apostle Peter for smiting the slave of the High Priest who sought to kill Him. Christ called on His slaves in the world to be like sheep following contently after their Shepherd. He reiterated this in the parable of the Last Judgment, “separating the sheep from the goats.” No matter what argument these “activist Orthodox” give, no matter what they may say to the contrary, their activism is a front for their efforts to change the Church, and it is entirely inconsistent with any approach which Christ has provided for us.
In the western society in which we live, we always want an answer. We want an equation, an algorithm, a postulate or a theory. We want an explanation. We want to know why bad things happen to good people. We want to know why God allows things like war. We want to understand the senseless violent acts that happen to children and innocent people. But if we only were to take as an example our Sweet Holy Mother, we would see that in order to be true slaves, we cannot even concern ourselves with such questions. We can recognize that such an approach can only be detrimental to being a slave, because it is indicative of an inability to submit oneself entirely. She did not ask Him “why” as they beat Her Son and spat upon His innocent face. How could she have prepared herself to see the face that she caressed with her tender touch for so many years be slapped and scourged? He did not offer her any explanation of the injustice she beheld as each nail was pounded into His flesh, and in effect, her heart. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she stayed true to her word: “Behold the slave of the Lord.”
This is why we must turn to her! This is why we must take her as our example in a world so filled with hatred and disgust. This is why, if we wish to find freedom and salvation, we must follow her example! And what an example! Would that we could all follow her example! Would that we could all use her as the perfect example for us that Christ intended for her to be! Would that we could utter those words with conviction: “Behold the slave of the Lord,” and inscribe them indelibly in our own hearts for all eternity! As I cradle my baby sons in my arms tonight, I will think of the great sacrifice she made. She held and cradled her own Son, never trying to assert her will or wishes over Him. He, as a helpless infant was completely entrusted to her care, but she did not allow that to later dissuade her from her original promise to be His slave in all things: in spite of the pain her heart felt watching those things; in spite of trusting in something she didn’t understand; in spite of a world that was completely contrary to the embodiment of obedience and purity that she has always represented. And in the end, the ways of the world, its ungodly teachings, none of it matters. Because we have as an example our sweet and Holy Mother, who was unwavering in her promise to Him: “Behold the slave of the Lord.” I only pray that she may help me have a firm resolve and dedication to be her Son’s slave. Since I cannot provide a good example for my children, I also pray that she can direct my children that the ONLY way for them to find freedom and salvation is to say firmly and waveringly: “Behold the slave of the Lord.” May this be granted by her most merciful prayers for each of us.
Juliana Chrisanthus, a resident of Pennsylvania, is a pediatric nurse by profession and currently a stay-at-home mom.