November: Day 23: Teaching 4: Saint Amphilochios, Bishop of Iconium

November: Day 23: Teaching 4:
Saint Amphilochios, Bishop of Iconium
 
(Jesus Christ is the True Son of God)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Amphilochios, whose memory is now celebrated, lived in the fourth century and was a contemporary and friend of Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. At first he held the office of lawyer in the Cappadocian city of Deocaesarea. In 373 he left the world and retired to the desert. But he did not remain in solitude for long; a year later the Iconium Christians wished to have him as bishop. Amphilochios at first refused, feeling himself unworthy of the holy rank; but since his friends insisted on his election and especially Basil the Great advised him to accept the episcopacy, Amphilochios yielded to the general desire. Amphilochios' activity for the benefit of the Church was truly tireless. In 381 he attended the Second Ecumenical Synod to establish the true faith against Macedonius, who taught impiously about the Holy Spirit. In 383 he traveled to Constantinople and asked Emperor Theodosius to forbid the Arians (who rejected the divine dignity of the Son of God) from holding public meetings. The emperor found this measure too strict and refused to fulfill the Saint’s request. Then Amphilochios acted very boldly. Arriving at the palace, he greeted Theodosius as he should, and carelessly patted his son Arcadius on the cheek, saying: “Good day, child.” Theodosius was very displeased and ordered Amphilochios to greet Arcadius as the emperor’s son, but Amphilochios replied that the honor shown to him was enough. The angry emperor ordered Amphilochios to leave the palace immediately. "You see, sir," said the Saint, "how it offends you that I have not rendered due honor to your son; believe me, then, that God will not tolerate those who humiliate His Only Begotten Son." Theodosius understood the lesson, asked Amphilochios for forgiveness, and then issued the decree that he desired.

II. Thus, brethren, the Venerable Amphilochios firmly confessed the dogma that our Savior Jesus Christ is the true Son of God. This will be our discourse.

a) Jesus Christ is the Son of God. When the Archangel announced to the Virgin Mary the supernatural conception, he then announced to Her that the Son Jesus born of Her would be called the Son of the Most High or the Son of God. “This one will be great,” He said, “and He will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). The Heavenly Father testified with His divine voice twice, first at the Jordan, then on Tabor: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17, 17:5). Jesus Christ Himself clearly says about Himself in the Gospel that He is the Son of God, and God is His Father. Thus He declares Himself the Son of God to the man blind from birth whom He healed (John 9:35), in lengthy conversations with the Jews (John chs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 10), at the trial in the house of the high priest (Matt. 26:63), and everywhere He calls God His Father. The Holy Apostles, even before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, confessed Him as the Son of God. Peter says to Christ: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), Nathanael: “You are the Son of God” (John 1:49), and all the disciples together: “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matt. 14:33). Thus they confessed and taught about Christ even after His resurrection and ascension into heaven. The Apostle John the Theologian writes: “This is the commandment of God, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ” (John 3:23); “whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God” (John 4:15). This is how the entire Orthodox Christian Church has taught and believed about Christ since the time of the Apostles and now consistently believes, confessing Him as the true Son of God.

b) Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God. The Holy Evangelist John the Theologian says: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16); "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14). And the Apostle Paul writes: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His only begotten Son, born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4). And although all believers in God and the Lord Jesus Christ receive the right to be called sons of God, as the Evangelist John says: "As many as received Him, He gave to them the power to become the children of God, even to those who believe on His name" (John 1:12); "Beloved, now are we the children of God" (John 3:2); however, they become such not by nature, but by grace. "For you are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26), says the Apostle Paul. By nature, the one true and only begotten Son of God the Father is Jesus Christ.

c) Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born before the ages of the Father. God the Father Himself says to His Son in the Psalm: "From the womb before the morning star have I begotten You" (Ps. 109:3), and again: "You are My Son, this day have I begotten You" (Ps. 2:7). The Holy Church also confesses the Son of God, Jesus Christ, when it sings: "O come, let us worship Him who was born before the ages of the Father, the Word of God, who was incarnate of the Virgin Mary" (verse 1 of the Great Vespers, tone 2). The Son of God did not come from the Creator as a creature, but as God from God, and was not born in time, but timelessly, like light from light, He shone forth from the Father. Therefore, Jesus Christ, according to His Divinity, is the Son without beginning with the Father, the Eternal from the Pre-Eternal, God from God. The Holy Evangelist John the Theologian speaks thus about the eternity of the Son of God Jesus Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1); and Jesus Christ Himself shows His pre-eternal existence with God the Father when in a prayerful conversation with His Father He says: “And now, Father, glorify Me with You with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5).

d) Jesus Christ is the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Born outside time from God the Father, the Son of God Jesus Christ has a single essence with God the Father, and, according to the unity of the divine essence, He and God the Father are one indivisible God. Jesus Christ Himself testified to the unity of His essence with God the Father: “I and the Father,” He says, “are one” (John 10:30). Thus, Jesus Christ is the true Son of God, the Only Begotten, born before the ages of time from the Father and consubstantial with God the Father.

III. Brethren! Believe that our Savior Jesus Christ is the true Son of God. Confess His Divinity, incomprehensible wisdom, infinite power and might. Ascribe to Him, together with God the Father, glory, honor and worship. “And we are in Him," the Heavenly Father, "who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). Amen.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.