JOHNBEHR

ages, marking out two distinct eras, distinct not in content, but in
Lifting the Veil: terms of clarity: the revelation of what had been hidden.
Reading Scripture in the Orthodox Tradition The connection between the Scriptures, the gospel and Christ is
further illumined by Paul's words in 2 Cor. 3--4, where he describes
JOHNBEHR how Moses put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see
the end of the fading splendour as he descended from his encounter
with God upon the mountain. This same veil, he says, remains to this
This essay is offered in honour of Archimandrite Ephrem (Lash),
who, more than anyone, knew that the way to lift the veil of
day when they read the Scriptures, for that veil is only lifted by Christ
Scripture is through the letters of the text, studied in detail, rather himself, so that 'to this day, whenever Moses is read a veil lies over
than seeking something else, and communicated this infectiously. their minds'. But when we tum to the Lord, the veil is removed, and
we, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, we are
The gospel, the Apostle proclaims, is not of man, but of God: it has changed into his likeness, from one degree of glory to another. But
come 'through a revelation of Jesus Christ' (through an apocalypse of then, he continues, our gospel is also veiled: veiled from those who
Jesus Christ, Gal. 1:11-12). It is not a better way of doing things, are perishing, those whose minds have been blinded by the god of this
devised by human ingenuity here below, but a revelation from on world, such that they are not able to see 'the light of the gospel of the
high, through an apocalypse of Jesus Christ. We all know this; b~t glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God'.
what I would like to examine here is just how this is so, what does 1t For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,
mean, and what are its implications for us in our reading of Scripture, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who
as that was reflected upon by the early Church and practised thereafter said, 'Let light shine out of darkness', who has shone in our hearts to
in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ (2 Cor. 3:12--4:6).
The Gospel: Apocalypse of Cross through Scripture That the veil was removed by Christ means that it is only in
Paul uses similar language in the concluding lines of his Epistle to the Christ that the glory of God is revealed and that we can discern the
Romans: true meaning of Scripture, and that these two aspects are inseparable.
The identity between Moses the man and Moses the text, whose face
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and meaning were hidden by the same veil, is paralleled by the
and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the apocalypse of identity between Christ, in whose face is revealed the glory of God,
the mystery which was kept secret for long ages but is now made and the gospel which proclaims this. So, behind the veil is nothing
manifest and made known through the prophetic writings [Ka:r:a other than 'the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ', himself the
U7rOKUAU'lf01Y J..LU<HT]piou xp6vm~ airovim~ 0S<YlYT]J..LEvOU
cpavzpro8£vw~ os vi3v ota T£ ypacpcov npocpT]nKcov ... image of God, though this remains 'veiled' to those who reject the
yvropm8£vw~], according to the command of the eternal God, to all gospel. The revelation, the apocalypse, of God in Christ comes
the nations, to bring about the obedience of faith-to the only wise through the unveiling of the Scriptures, and the unveiling of our
God be glory for evermore. (Rom. 16:25-7) minds, blinded as they are, so that we can see the glory of God in
Christ. .,
The gospel is preached as a mystery, hidden throughout the ages in the There is, then, an intrinsic connection between the revelation, the
writings of Scripture, but now apocalyptically revealed. The revelation apocalypse, of God in Christ, and the prophetic writings, the
of this mystery, this apocalypse, is nothing less than the tum of the Scriptures. From the first, the gospel is proclaimed by reference to the
Scriptures, what we now call, somewhat misleadingly, the Old

74 75
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH JOHNBEHR

Testament. So important was this scriptural context, that, in one of the continues, it was said to Daniel the prophet, 'Shut up the words, and
earliest proclamations of the gospel that we have, the apostle Paul seal the book, until the time of the consummation, until many learn
appeals to it twice in one sentence: 'I d~live~ed .to you, as of fi~st and kn?wledge abounds. For, when the dispersion shall be
importance, what I also received, that Chnst died m accor~ance WI~h ~ccon:phshed, they shall know all these things' (Dan. 12:4, 7), and
the Scriptures, that he was buried and rose on ~he third day . m likewise by Jeremiah, 'In the last days they shall understand these
accordance with the Scriptures' (1 Cor. 15:3--4). This appeal remams things' (Jer. 23:20). So, Irenaeus concludes:
fundamental even in the creeds of later centuries; when the Creed of
Nicaea specifies that Christ 'rose in accordance with the Scripture', it Ever: p.rophecy, before. its fulfilment, is nothing but an enigma and
is to the same Scripture, the Old Testament, not the Gospels, that ambiguity to human bemgs; but when the time has arrived and the
reference is made. p;e~iction has come .to pass, then it has an exact e~position
The formula that Paul uses in 1 Cor. 15-'I delivered (tradition) ~c~l]YTICH<;]. And for this reason, when at this present time the Law
IS read ~y the Jews, it is like a myth, for they do not possess the
what I received'-is a technical formula, used only twice by the explanation [S~JlYl]at<;] of all things which pertain to the human
Apostle. The other occasion is a few chapters earlier, when ~e speaks advent of the Son of God; but when it is read by Christians it is a
about the celebration of the Lord's meal, and here he specifies that treasure, hid in a field, but brought to light by the cross of Christ.
what he traditions is what he received from the Lord himself (1 Cor.
11:23). Luke, the disciple of Paul, brings these together in his a.ccount When read in this apocalyptic fashion, with the veil being lifted at the
of the encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. It IS only end of times, he continues, Scripture glorifies the reader 'to such an
when Christ 'interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things extent, that others will not be able to behold his glorious countenance'
concerning himself, specifically that 'Moses and all the prophets' had (cf Exod. 34:30-33; 2 Cor. 3:7-18). The books are sealed, and what
spoken of how 'it was necessary that the Christ should suffer these they speak about, the treasure they contain-Christ himself-cannot
things and enter into his glory', that the disciples' hearts were set on ?e u~derstood un~il they are opened by the cross; if they are not read
fire, so that they were able to recognize him 'in the breaking of bread' m this apocalyptic manner, they will be read as nothing more than
(Luke 24:25-35). . myths and fables (even if they are historically true). What the books
I've been emphasizing this unveiling of the Scnptures as the contain cannot be understood until the last days, when the time of
means, as it were, of the revelation, the apocalypse, of the gospel of their accomplishment is present and the book unsealed. And now
Christ because it must indeed be emphasized; it has significant unveil~d, those who read the same Scriptures through a proper
impli;ations for our understanding ofScripture.a_nd how it is ~ead. T~e exegesis are themselves transfigured, to become like Moses in his
encounter with Christ, through the unveilmg of Scnpture IS descent from the mountain after his encounter with God themselves
fundamental. Irenaeus of Lyons, in the latter part of the second shining with the glory of God. '
century, makes this point for~efully. Christ, he says, is, .the. treasure That the Scriptures are unveiled by the cross has further
hidden in the field of the Scnptures (Matt. 13:38, 44), mdicated by significant im~lications for how we understand the Scriptures
means of types and parables, which could not be .underst~od by human them~elves. ~c~Ipture read in this way is, to use Irenaeus image, like a
beings prior to the consummation of th?~e thmg~ which had been mosmc dep1ctmg the face of the king, which the heretics have
predicted, that is, the advent of the Lord . For this reason, Irenaeus rearranged to .form the image of a dog or fox. 2 Scripture is a thesaurus,
a treasury of Images and words used to proclaim Christ in the gospel,

1 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies (=haer.) 4.26.1; translated in ANF 1,

2
modified. Haer.l.8.1.

76 77
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH
JOHNBEHR

or, in the analogy used by Joel Marcus, drawing from E. Gasser, it is a

acts of ~he ap?stles and thei~ epistles. In this overarching narrative,
'paint-box' used by the evangelists in their depic~ion. of Chri~t. 3 one begm~ With God and h1s act of creation; the falling away of
human bemgs; ~nd then the long, slow, and patient work of God
Richard Hays comes to very much the same conclusiOn m reflectmg
on Paul's words in 2 Cor. 3:12--4.6, regarding the unveiling of Moses
throug~ the messmess of human history, in a gradually unfolding plan,
for those who tum to Lord to see the light of the gospel of the glory of
prepanng ~he _way for the advent of Christ, the Incarnation of the
Christ. In Hays' words, this means that 'Scripture becomes-in Paul's
Word: which IS understood as no more than, in Rowan William's
reading-a metaphor, a vast trope that signifies and illuminates the hauntmg phrase, 'an episode in the biography of the Word'. 6
gospel of Jesus Christ'. 4 The proclamation of the death and
J:Iowever, as J. Louis _Martyn points out, for the evangelist John,
the _1In1~ between the Scnptures and the gospel-so important that
resurrection of Christ is not straightforwardly derivable from
Scripture; rather, the death and resurrection of Christ acts as a catalyst:
Christ, m the Gospel of John, can affirm that, for instance, Isaiah saw
because God has acted in Christ in a definitive, and unexpected, the day of Jesus_and beheld his glory (John 8.56 and 12.41)-is not
manner, making everything new, Scripture itself must be read anew. understood as a lmear movement from the Scriptures to the gospel:
The 'word of the cross', the preaching of 'Christ crucified' may be a
scandal for the Jew~ and folly for the Gentiles, but it alone is the th~ fundamental arrow in the linlc joining Scripture and gospel
'power of God' making known 'the wisdom of God' (1 Cor. 1:18-25). pomts from the gospel story to Scripture and not from Scripture to
This preaching, the kerygma, provides what Hays describes as 'the the. gospel story. In a word, with Jesus' glorification, belief in
eschatological apokalypsis of the cross', a hermeneutical lens, through ~cnptur~ comes into being, by acquiring an indelible linlc to belief
which Scripture can now be refracted with 'a profound new symbolic m Jesus words and deeds .. _..we have simply to note in the Gospel
coherence'. 5 of !ohn t~e absence of a lmear sacred history that flows out of
Scnptur~ m~o the gospel story. Indeed the redemptive-historical
persp~ctiVe _Is more than absent; it is a perspective against which
John Is wagmg a battle. 7
From Gospel to Gospels
This is a very different way of reading Scripture than has become The_ cross constitutes the writings of Moses and the prophets as
customary over recent centuries, when theological reflection, both S~rzpture. Martyn makes a similar point for Paul: 'Paul did not make
scriptural exegesis and systematic exposition, has worked in a his w~y fror:z Isaiah's words about God destroying the discernment of
historical key, rather than within an apocalyptic framework, and when the disce11_1mg to the foolish word of the crucified Messiah. His
we begin with the narratives of the Gospels, rather than the prea~hing he~eneutic worked exactly the other way around, from the
of the gospel in accordance with the Scriptures. Today, the pnmary previOusly un1m~wn and !oolish gospel of the cross to the previously
horizon for Christian reading of Scripture is almost invariably that of lmown and previOusly misunderstood scripture'. 8 What brought Paul
Heilsgeschichte, a 'salvation history' that moves from the narratives to ~e a zealous apostle of the gospel was not his former studies of the
of the Old Testament to those of the New Testament, where the Scnpture, but rather when God revealed (or 'apocalypsed') his Son to
Gospels are primarily read as biographies of Jesus followed by the
6
3 Rowan Williams, Arius: Hc;resy and Tradition, 2ndedn (London: Dartman
Joel Marcus, The Way of the Lord: Christological Exegesis of the Old ~ongma? and Todd, 1987), 244. '
Testament in the Gospel of Mark (London: T &T Clark, 1992), 2.
4 . !· Loms Ma~yn, 'John _and Paul on the Subject of Gospel and Scripture', in
Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven and
Ibid., Theologzcallssues zn the Letters of Paul (Edinburgh: T & T Clark 1997)
London: Yale University Press, 1989), 149. 209-30,at216-17. ' '
5 8
Hays, Echoes, 169. Martyn, 'John and Paul', 221.
78
79
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH JOHNBEHR

him, or rather, in him (Gal. 2: 16). It is, in fact, Paul's opponents in punished them and their murmuring tongues by inflicting a plague of
Galatia, the 'teachers', as Martyn styles them, who, as with John's serpents with equally poisonous tongues, and simultaneously provided
opponents, moved from the Law to the gospel (in the manner of our a remedy, the bronze serpent which, when lifted up upon a pole,
'salvation history') rather than from the gospel to the Scriptures in an enabled the people to regain life. The inter-play of imagery here also
apocalyptic unveiling of previously unlmown depths. 9 The gospel is recalls Paul's words to those in his Corinthian community who were
not simply the culminating point of a 'salvation history', as Martyn seduced by the wisdom of the world, that the folly of God (Christ
rightly argues, but neither is it a proclamation separable from lifted on the cross, as the bronze snake was lifted on the pole)
Scripture, as Martyn implies: it is always bound up with the overcomes the wisdom of the world, and, as such, Christ is the true
apocalyptic unveiling of Scripture to reveal 'the light of the gospel of power and wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:22-5).
the glory of Christ who is the likeness of God' (2 Cor. 4:4), with This imagery, moreover, harkens further back to that other snake
Scripture providing the words and images through which the gospel is, on the tree in the opening chapters of Genesis, promising life yet
from the first, proclaimed. 10 unable to deliver it, but who instead brings death upon those who
But there is more: the 'indelible link' between the Scriptures and tasted of its fruit (Gen. 3): Christ, upon the tree of the cross, is the true
the gospel story is not simply that of links between two sets of wisdom of God, contrasted with the wisdom of the world offered by
narratives, but much more fundamentally and profoundly arises from the snake upon the tree of the lmowledge of good and evil. This
the fact that the narratives in the Gospels are already proclaimed in interplay of imagery also comes to be depicted visually. The earliest
accordance with Scripture: Scripture provides the tiles of the mosaic, representations of the crucifixion, such as in the sixth-century Rabbula
in Irenaeus' image, it is the 'thesaurus' for expounding the mystery, or Gospels, depict Christ upright and with his eyes open, not because of
the 'paint-box' as Joel Marcus puts it, by which the image of Christ is any shame in depicting him dead, but because this is the Living One,
depicted by the Evangelists. It is this Christ, the crucified and exalted conquering death by his death. When, in the following centuries, the
Lord proclaimed in accordance with the Scriptures, who is fleshed out unity of this paschal Christ was refracted into separate images of a
by the evangelists in their Gospels, and theologians following them dead Christ upon the cross and that of the resurrected Christ, the dead
thereafter, by an apocalyptic reading of Scripture on the basis of the Christ is then depicted with his body in a slumped, serpentine, posture.
cross. Within the Gospels, this is sometimes done explicitly, and It is also, incidentally, striking how this image, at the heart of the
occasionally Christ himself is presented as using the words of gospel and its most distinctive proclamation, is in fact an image that
Scripture to explain who he is and what work he has come to fulfil. was widely and readily lmown in the ancient world, for it is none other
For instance, in the Gospel of John, Christ himself says: 'As Moses than the image of Asklepios, the god of medicine and healing; his
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be distinctive symbol, a snal<:e wound round a pole, continues even to the
lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life' (John present day in the red and white striped pole of modem barbers,
3: 14-15). The reference here is to the book of Numbers, where the whose forebears were the blood-letters, the doctors of times past.
Israelites were complaining to Moses that it was folly to remain in the As the evangelists fleshed out Christ in their Gospels, it is striking
desert: that is, the wisdom of the world was arguing that it is that they too kept the turning point of revelation of Christ hinged upon
preferable to go back to Egypt, where, even if they were slaves, at the cross. It is not only the Scriptures that are veiled-not
least they had food and shelter (Num. 21:4-9). In return, God understood-until their apocalyptic unveiling, but also the work of
Christ and even Christ himself. In the Gospels, the disciples
9
J. Louis Martyn, Galatians, The Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1997), continually fail to understand who he is and what he is doing. As John
117-26. says of Christ's entry into Jerusalem: 'His disciples did not understand
10
Marcus, Way of the Lord, 108. this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that
80 81
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH
JOHNBEHR

this had been written of him and had been done to him' (John 12.16; Corinthians, but now realized that he could not do so again. He
Zech. 9.9). The disciples did not simply remember more clearly 'what appeals to the new creation, but, as Martyn points out, 'he is careful
really happened'. Rather, it is a passage from Zechariah that the~ ... to imply that the opposite of the old-age way oflmowing is not that
remembered and that clarified for them what he had done; their
of the new age-this point must be emphasized-but rather the way of
memory is scripturally mediated, as it were, after the Passion. knowing which is granted at the juncture of the ages'. 11 He does not
That Christ is only lmown in this way is shown in reverse by the speak of seeing the face of God, nor of knowing by the Spirit, for he,
one exception-the exception which proves the rule-when one of the as everyone else, does not yet live in the new age. As Martyn puts it,
disciples makes a confession of faith before the Passion: when Peter 'the implied opposite of knowing by the norm of the flesh is not
makes his confession in Matthew 16, he is told by Christ that this was
knowing by the norm of the Spirit, but rather knowing kata stauron
not revealed ('apocalypsed' again) by flesh and blood, but by the 12
('by the cross')' . Until we are, in actuality, raised with Christ in the
Father-it is not known by physical perception of the physical new age,
properties of Jesus Christ-what can be seen with the eyes of flesh;
but then when Christ reveals that he must go to Jerusalem to suffer, knowing by the Spirit can occur only in the form of knowing by the
Peter's response, that this should not happen, gets the sharpest rebuke power of the cross. For until the parousia, the cross is and remains
possible: 'Get behind me Satan' (Matt. 16:13-23). The only disciple the epistemological crisis, and thus the norm by which one knows
to make a confession of faith before the Cross is the only one to be that the Spirit is none other than the Spirit of the crucified Christ.
called Satan-by Christ himself! Satan is the one who stands between ... The cross is the epistemological crisis for the simple reason that
Christ and the cross. Yet, when Christ is on the cross, the disciples run while it is in one sense followed by the resurrection, it is not
replaced by the resurrection. 13
in fear (in John it is different, and we will return to that scene later);
when they see the empty tomb, they don't understand (an empty tomb
The old has indeed passed away, and the new has indeed come, but
is after all ambiguous: has someone stolen the body?); and when they
this is only seen through the faith, the new eyes, of those standing at
see the risen Christ, they don't initially recognize him. It is, in a real
the juncture of the ages. A new community is being formed, not by
sense, not about 'seeing' at all-what we see is ambiguous. It is,
knowledge but by active love, as the body of Christ. 'Christ defines
rather, only when the Scriptures are opened and the bread br?ken that
the difference between the two ways of 1mowing, doing that precisely
they recognize the risen Lord Christ, and he simultaneously disappears in his cross' . 14
from their sight.

Origen
The Epistemology of Cross .
The Gospels, then, are always the gospel, in each and every part. The
There is one further epistemological point to be drawn from this
first person to examine what is in fact meant by the term 'gospel' was
relationship between the cross and Scripture. When Paul says that we
Origen, and he concludes that a gospel is not primarily 'the narrative
no longer know Christ, as we once did, 'according to the flesh' (2 <?or.
of the deeds, suffering and words of Jesus', but rather all the writings
15: 16-17), that is, knowing Christ on the basis of sense perceptiOn,
the contrast to this is not a 'spiritual perception', as might be supposed 11
from his earlier words (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6-16). As Martyn points out, it is J. Louis Martyn, 'Episte1no1ogy at the Tum of the Ages', in Theological
his opponents, the spiritual enthusiasts in Corinth who were claiming Issues, 89-110, at 107.
12
Martyn, 'Epistemology', 108.
a 'spiritual perception' by which they have seen God, perhaps even 13
Martyn, 'Epistemology', 108-9.
face to face. Paul had resorted to such an appeal in his first letter to the 14
Martyn, 'Epistemology', 110.
82 83
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH JOHNBEHR

which 'present the sojourn [srctbllflia] of Christ and prepare for his in speaking abo~t the 'ex?dus' he is to accomplish in Jerusalem (cf
coming [napoucria] and produce it in the souls of those who are Luke 9:31). Agam accordmg to Origen (though he is followed in this
willing to receive the Word of God who stands at the door and knocks by many others including Maximus the Confessor) when the disciples
and wishes to enter their souls' .15 The gospel thus is an 'exhortatory saw the Son of God on the mountain speaking with Moses and then
address' presenting the Word of God to the hearers in such a way that
' . 16
~nd~rstood that it was he who said 'A man shall not see m; face and
they receive the Word, who then dwells m them. hve (Exod. 33:20), they were unable to endure the radiance of the
And, moreover, if this is what a gospel is, it is a definition that Word, and so fell on their faces, humbling themselves under the hand
can also be applied to the writings of the Law and the Prophets, but of God. However, he continues,
only retrospectively. As Origen put it:
after the touch of the Word, lifting up their eyes they saw Jesus
Before the sojourn of Christ, the Law and the Prophets did not only and, no other., Moses, the Law, and Elijah, the prophetic
contain the proclamation which belongs to the definition of the element [T) npO<pT)Tsux], became one only with the gospel of Jesus·
gospel, since he who explained the mysteries in them had not yet and they did not remain three as they formerly were, but the thre~
come. But since the Saviour has come and ha~ caused the g~~pel to became one. 19
be embodied, he has by the gospel made all thmgs as gospel.
Not only are the Law and the Prophets seen by the disciples as nothing
He qualifies this a little later, saying that when Christ explained the other than the gospel of Jesus, but this very vision is what it is to
mysteries hidden in the writings of the Law and the Prophe_ts, he behold the transfigured Jesus himself
revealed the spiritual sense of Scripture, and as the true meanmg of The Scripture, the Law and the Prophets, are not made redundant
their words this is, according to Origen, the meaning truly intended by ?Ythe proclamation of the gospel, nor is the gospel arbitrarily
those who wrote the Scriptures. So, Origen claims, they already Imposed as the true meaning of Scripture. The Law and the Prophets
'spoke or wrote about God as Father in secret and not in a mann~r are_ th~ '_ba~ic elements' (motxc:icom~), without the knowledge of
intelligible to all, so that they might not anticipate the grace that IS which It IS Impossible to understand the gospel. Yet, when exegeted
poured out to all the world through Jesus, who call~ all people to properly and understood fully, they lead 'to the perfect comprehension
adoption so that he may declare the name of God to his brothers and of the gospel and all the meaning [vouv] of the words and acts of Jesus
Christ_' . ~ Origen continues his analysis of the transfiguration account
2
praise the Father in the midst of the assembly in accordance with what
has been written.' 18 That is, if Moses and the Prophets already knew b~ po_I~tmg o~t that Jesus commanded his disciples not to speak of
God as Father, this knowledge is nevertheless dependent upon the this VIS~on until ~he Son_ o~ M~n is raised from the dead (Matt. 17:9).
grace granted only through Jesus. Accordmg to Ongen, this md1eates that Christ's glorified state in the
One of the great loci for examining the relation between gospel resurrection is akin (cruyyc:vt~) to that of the transfiguration, in which
and Scripture is the transfiguration on Mount Tabor, when Jesus Jesus beca~e one with his gospel. 21 Though anticipated in the
appears between Moses (Law) and Elijah (the prophets) transfigured transfigu_ratwn, the full revelation of the gospel is nevertheless only
accomplished through the Passion, the Cross. By pivoting theological
15 Origen, Commentary on John(= ComJn), 1.20, 26; trans. R. E. Heine, Fathers

of the Church, 80, 89 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press,

19 0. c
1989, 93). AN;rf~~' ommentmy on Matthew (= ComMatt) 12.43; partial Eng. trans. in
16
ComJn 1.18
17
ComJn 1.33
2
21
°ComMatt 10.1 0.
18
ComJn 19.28 ComMatt 12.43.

84 85
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH
JOHNBEHR

reflection around this turning point, Origen secures two fundamental of the l~~er, so_ th~t ~ndeed the letter is seen as flesh but the spiritual
points. First, that it is the humanity of the Saviour which creates the sense h1dmg w1thm 1s perceived as divinity. 23
very possibility for the Word of God to be made lmown. Second, that
it is this crux which ensures the eternal, unchanging, identity of the The Word of God is 'incarnate' in the writings of the Law and the
Word of God: 'Jesus is proved to be the Son of God both before and Prophets. Alt?ough the words of Scripture veil the Word of God, yet
after his incamation'. 22 at the same time they alone provide the means by which the Word is
lmow~ .. And so, only through the words of Scripture can we arrive at
the ~pm~al sens~ it contain~; in his scriptural exegesis, Origen always
The Presence of Christ be?~ns With the literal or lexical sense ('ro pryr6v), before exploring its
The preaching of the gospel of Christ in accordance with the ~p~ntua! sense. And, as we have seen, the veiled content of Scripture
Scriptures in this apocalyptic (rather than historical or IS Identical to the truth taught by Christ, which is Christ himself.
heilsgeschichtliche) manner, as a mystery hidden from all eternity I~ is important, therefore, that our reading of Scripture should not
(though known to the prophets) and revealed at the end gives a much remam at the level of the letter, or our theological reflection (if one
greater scope to the presence of Christ to Moses and the Prophets, can separate that from the reading of Scripture) should also not remain
sojourning in them and teaching them about God: Moses wrote of me, at the level of the fl~sh. As Origen just pointed out, it is not enough to
says Christ in John, and so too Isaiah saw my day. Yet, just as it is see the flesh of Christ to see his divinity; all one would see is Jesus of
only possible to see the Law and the Prophets as referring to Christ Nazareth, the son of the carpenter. Or as Origen puts it in his Homilies
once they have been expounded by Christ himself in his bodily on Luke:
sojourn, so also the spiritual sojourn of Christ amongst the righteous
of old is a consequence of the . universal import of his bodily The apostles themselves saw the Word, not because they had
incarnation. It is important to maintain this order, so preserving both beheld the body ~four Lord and Saviour, but because they had seen
the distinctiveness of Christ's incarnation and its paradigmatic t~e Word. If seemg Jesus' body meant seeing God's Word, then
function. It is in this way that Origen describes the sojourn of the Pll~te, who condenmed Jesus, saw God's Word; so did Judas the
trmtor, and all those who cried out, 'crucifY him, crucifY him,
Word of God with Moses and the prophets on the basis of the
remove such a one from the earth'. But far be it that any unbeliever
incarnation of the Word from Mary: should see God's Word. Seeing God's Word means what the
Saviour says, 'He who has seen me has also seen the Father who
As in 'the last days', the Word of God, which was clothed with the sent me'. 24
flesh from Mary, proceeded into this world, and what was seen in
him was one thing, and what was understood was another-for the Origen is concerned that the Word of God should not be reduced to
sight of his flesh was open for all to see, but the knowledge of his
divinity was given to the few, to the elect-so also, when the Word the .flesh which he ass~med to make himself lmown, through his
of God was brought to humans through the Prophets and the salvific death, nor that his presence should be restricted in this way to
Lawgiver, it was not brought without proper clothing. For just as
the past.
there it was covered with the veil of the flesh, so here with the veil

Ori?en, Homilies. on ~eviticus, 1.1; trans. Gary Wayne Barkley, FC 83

23

22 ~;vas_hmgton: c.a~hohc Uruversity of America, 1990).

Origen, Against Celsus 3.14; trans. Henry Chadwick (Cambridge: Cambridge
Ong_en, H_omzl:es on Luke, 1.4; trans. Joseph T. Lienhard FC 94 (Washington:
University Press, 1953). Cathohc Umvers1ty of America, 1996).
86
87
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH JOHNBEHR

Origen extends the paradigm of the Incarnation not only backwards their accounts of Jesus, in order to present the spiritual tmth where it
but forwards, so that there is a third aspect to the sojourn of the Word. :vas not possible to speak the tmth both materially and spiritually. 27 It
These three dimensions are brought together in a striking passage ~s thu~ ne,c~ssary to 'adapt the events of the narrative account [Ta Tfjc;
from his Homilies on Jeremiah: t<Hoptac;] , If we are to preserve 'the good things given once for all to
the saints' (Jude 3) and so maintain 'the harmony of the exposition
According to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as narratively
[Tf]v 28
GU!lcpcoviav Tfjc; OtTjyijm:coc;] of the Scriptures from beginning to
told [KO.Ta J-LSV Tijv imopODJ-LSVT]V no.pouaio.v ], his sojourn
[£mbt]J-Lio.] was bodily and something universal, illumining the end'. So, just as the humanity of Christ and his human story needs to
whole world, for 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' be interpreted (through the unveiling of Scripture) to see in it (not
[Jolm 1:14]. 'He was the true light that enlightens every man who elsewhere) the divinity of the Word of God, so also it is necessary to
comes into the world. He was in the world and the world was made interpret the words of the Gospels.
through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own, and It is certainly necessary to begin with the humanity of Christ as
his own received him not' [John 1:9-ll]. However, it is also recorded in the letters of the Gospels, for it is in and through this that
necessary to know that he was also sojourning prior to this, though
his divinity is revealed. But we cannot remain at the level of the flesh
not bodily, in each of the holy ones, and that after this visible
sojoum of his, he again sojourns in us .... It is necessary for us to otherwise we will never contemplate his divinity nor will our readin~
know these things, because there is a sojoum of the Word with produce the sojourn of the Word in the believer, an effect which, as
each, especially for those who would benefit from it. For what we have seen, lies at the heart of the definition of the 'gospel'. The
benefit is it to me, if the Word has sojourned in the world and I do veiling and unveiling of Scripture is thus intimately tied up with the
not have him? 25 veiling and unveiling of Christ himself. This understanding of
Incarnation of the Word, in Scripture and in Jesus Christ, veiled in
The coming of Jesus Christ, his apocalyptic manifestation to us letters and the flesh, opens out to a much broader understanding of
through his Passion, thus extends to the sojourn of the Word in the Incarnation and reading of Scripture than we usually think. Theology
righteous of old and is continued now in those who now tum to the begins and ends with Jesus, who, as crucified and risen, is the Word of
Word. God, for he reveals the mysteries contained in Scripture, explaining
To see the sojourning ofthe Word in such universal terms clearly how they refer to himself and so clothing himself with its words an
takes us beyond the flesh of Christ himself, the Incarnate Word, just as investiture or enfleshing which continues in the apostolic depictio~ of
it takes us beyond the literal or lexical ('ro PTJT6v) sense of the four Christ.
Gospels. But, Origen points out, there are so many discrepancies in Beginning with the flesh that Christ assumes in Scripture to make
the accounts presented by the Gospels, that one must admit that their himself known, we are led to the point where we can see in the flesh
tmth does not lie in their literal sense. 26 The four evangelists, of the literal sense, rather than elsewhere, the eternal Word of God.
according to Origen, even allowed a certain degree of distortion in Christ is thus present throughout Scripture, and continues to be
present in those who devote themselves to the Word and follow him.
25 This is the 'eternal gospel' or the 'spiritual gospel', 29 found most
Origen, Honder 9.1; trans. John Clark Smith, FC 97 (Washington, DC:
clearly in the loftiest of the four Gospels, that of John:
Catholic University of America Press, 1998).
26
Cf ComJn 10.14. In On First Principles 4.2.9 Origen suggests in Scripture
27
there are certain 'stumbling-blocks', placed there providentially by the Word of ComJn 10.18-20: 'The spiritual truth is often preserved in the material
God, to make it clear that they possess a deeper meaning beyond the literal falsehood, so to speak'.
28
sense, and that the Spirit dealt in like manner with the gospels and writings of Condn 10.290.
29
the apostles. Rev. 14:6; cf ComJn 1.40.
88 89
 IN MEMORIAM: ARCHIMANDRITE EPHREM LASH

We might dare say, then, that the Gospels are the first-fruits of all
Scriptures, but that the first-fruits of the Gosp.els is that according
to John, whose meaning no one can understand who has not leaned
on Jesus' breast nor received Mary from Jesus to be his mother
also. But he who would be another John must also become such as
John, to be shown to be Jesus, so to speak. For if Mary had no son
except Jesus, in accordance with those who hold a sound opinion of
her, and Jesus says to his mother, 'Behold your son', and not,
'Behold, this man also is your son', he has said equally, 'Behold,
this is Jesus whom you bore'. For indeed everyone who has been
perfected 'no longer lives, but Christ lives in him', and since
'Christ lives' in him, it is said of him to Mary, 'Behold your son',
the Christ. 30

The veiling and unveiling of Scripture, understood this way, extends

the presence of Jesus Christ to all those who are devoted to the Word.
This is ultimately not concluded until the eschaton, when those
devoted to the Word will have reached the stature of Christ (cf. Eph.
4:13), and so will no longer see the Father through the mediation of
the Son, but 'will see the Father and the things with the Father as the
Son sees them', when the Son delivers the kingdom to the Father, so
that 'God becomes all in all' .31

Fr Matthew Jeremy Baker

1977-2015
3
°Com.Jn 1.23; cf. John 19:26-27; Gal. 2:20.
31
Com.Jn 20.47-8; 1 Cor. 15:28.

90