Thus says the Lord: “As the grape shall be found in a cluster, and they shall say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing from the Lord in it,’ so shall I do for the sake of Him who serves Me. For His sake I will not destroy them all. I will bring forth the seed of Jacob and the seed of Judah, and they shall inherit My Holy Mountain. My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. There shall be in the forest a fold of flocks, and the valley of tribulation shall become the resting place for the flock of My people who sought Me.”
“But those of you who forsook Me, and forget My Holy Mountain, and prepare a table for the devil, and raise your drink to ‘Good Fortune’—I will deliver you to the sword, and all of you shall fall in the slaughter; because I called you, but you did not obey; I spoke, but you refused to listen. You did evil in My sight and did not choose the things I willed.” Therefore, thus says the Lord: “Behold My servants shall eat, but you shall hunger. Behold My servants shall drink, but you shall thirst. Behold My servants shall be glad, but you shall be ashamed. Behold My servants shall rejoice with exceeding joy, but you shall cry out because of the pain in your heart; and you shall wail from the crushing of your spirit. For only your name shall be left, as an example of excess to My elect!” and so the Lord shall destroy you.
But those who serve Him shall be called by a New Name, which shall be blessed upon the earth. For they shall bless the true God, and those who swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget their former tribulation, and it shall no longer come into their heart.
Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory be forever!
In today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah, we are told that: “The Lord will call his servants by a New Name.” In Holy Baptism we were all given this New Name – the Name of Christ – “Christian,” as St. Cyril of Jerusalem explains: “With the ungrudging generosity of His Divinity, Christ has granted to all of us to bear His Name. For whereas human rulers have some special title of sovereignty to keep themselves exclusive from other people, Jesus Christ, as the very Son of God, has graciously bestowed on us the title of ‘Christians’…” (Catechetical Lectures)
We were also given a new identity; for a name, in the classical sense, reveals what something is at its very core or essence. Perhaps better stated – in this new identity it was revealed to us what each of us truly always was – [created in the image of] the Image of God Who is Christ (cf. Colossians 1:15-20). Recall St. Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
As we draw towards the end of the Great Fast and prepare for Great and Holy Week and the Paschal Vigil, when our catechumens (in the Church throughout the world) will be Baptized, Chrismasted, and receive the most Holy Eucharist, we would do well to reflect on this newness of life that we all receive in the Church. This life is truly different from the life lived before being incorporated into Church and ought to manifest itself as such in the way we live our daily lives. As Blessed Theodoret reminds us (about the early Church), “…those who believed were called Christians. They bore this in place of all approving words. When one wished to praise, they were accustomed to adding after many kind words, “He is a true Christian.” And when on another occasion exhorting someone, they were accustomed to say, “Act as a Christian,” or, “do what befits a Christian.” Because this Name is full of eulogy and blessing.” (Commentary on Isaiah)
Great Lent itself is a kind of microcosm of the Christian life itself. We do not live differently from the life we lived outside of Great Lent, but we live the Christian life more intensely. If we have been struggling to keep the fast well, we have this last week as an opportunity to begin anew, to repent more deeply and to give ourselves to the struggle as best as we can – knowing that the One Who IS our Life, for Whom we are named, is the One Who calls all, and rewards even those who work only from the eleventh hour as well as those who have borne the “heat of the day.” (cf. Matthew 20:1-16 and the Paschal homily of St. John Chrysostom)
[adapted from Royal Doors]