September 27 The Gospel and Epistle Readings at the Liturgy on the Feast of the Exaltation of thePrecious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

1:18-24 Christ: The Power and Wisdom of God 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

(Isaiah 29:14) 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen. (New King James Version, 1982) Mosaic, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, Russia, ca. 1858.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT JOHN 19:6-11 Before Pilate 6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate[1] said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." 7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 And went again into the Praetorium[2], and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" 11 Jesus[3] answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

1. Jesus – from the Hebrew, the Saviour. 2. Pilate – , Roman official, Procurator of . 3. Praetorium – palace of the , the high judge.

- 19:13 20 [4] Pilate’s Judgment, the Way to Calvary and the Crucifixion of Christ 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement[5], but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover[6], and about the sixth hour[7]. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. 17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull[8], which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha[9], 18 Where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and .

4. Calvary – from the Latin, "place of [the] skull - Calvariae Locus. The hill immediately outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. 5. The Pavement – a paved open area in front of the Praetorium. 6. Passover – a Jewish festival commemorating their escape from Egypt. 7. Sixth hour – noon. 8. Place of a Skull – Calvary. 9. Golgotha – in Hebrew, a skull.

- 19:25 28 Care for His Mother 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary[10] the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene[11]. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst! "

10. Mary – from the Egyptian, the beloved. 11. Mary Magdalene – Mary from the city of Magdala, a city on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee

- 19:30 35 A Roman Soldier Pierces Jesus’ Side 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. 31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

* In the Gospel reading cited above, the words of Christ are in boldface. (New King James Version, 1982)

The Exaltation of the Cross of our Lord is one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church. It was established by the Holy Church to commemorate the discovery near Jerusalem of the Cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified and its elevation not far from where Our Lord was crucified. According to Church tradition, this took place in 326 during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. Two centuries earlier, the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138) tried to completely eradicate or destroy) from human memory the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ had suffered and arose from the dead. He gave orders to cover with earth the area where the Calvary and the Sepulchre of our Lord were and to build a pagan temple on this site. The pious and God-fearing Empress Helen (Elena), mother of St. Constantine the Great, traveled to Jerusalem to fulfill her desire to find the Precious Cross. There she gave orders to destroy the pagan temple built by Hadrian and to begin excavations on this site. Soon the Tomb of the Lord was uncovered and not far from it three crosses, a board with the inscription ordered by Pilate, and the nails, which had pierced Christ’s Body. To determine on which of the three crosses the Saviour was crucified, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Macarius suggested that each of them be put upon a dead man. When the Cross of the Lord touched the body of the dead man, he returned to life. Having witnessed this, everyone present became convinced that the true Life-giving Cross had been found. The Precious Cross was then elevated so that all the gathered people could see and venerate it. On this same day the Holy Church also commemorates the return of the Precious Cross to Jerusalem after its fourteen years of captivity in Persia. Having defeated the Greeks, the Persian King Khosrau II plundered Jerusalem and took the Life-giving Cross to Persia. It remained there for the next fourteen years and only under the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, in 629, was it returned to the Christians of Jerusalem. There once again it was elevated in order for the gathered people to see and venerate it.

Published with the blessing of His Eminence Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America. ASK 2020