JESUS CHRIST – THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER

JESUS CHRIST – THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER

Fr Luke A Veronis

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings.” We hear these words in today’s Epistle Reading.

The Church offers us this word today because we live in a world that is anything but stable. Our culture shifts constantly. Ideas come and go. What was once considered right is now called wrong. What was once called wrong is now celebrated. The world is full of voices that claim to know what is true, what is good, and what will make us happy.

In the midst of all this noise and confusion, however, the Church lifts up one clear and unchanging reality: Jesus Christ does not change. He is the same yesterday as when He walked the dusty roads of Galilee. He is the same today as He is present with us in His Church. And He will remain the same forever, the eternal Son of God who is our Way, our Truth, and our Life.

Truth is not something that evolves with our contemporary society. Truth is a Person. To remain in the truth is to remain in communion with Christ.

That is why Saint Paul warns us: “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings.” When we lose our anchor in Christ, we are easily carried away by the currents of the world.

And this brings us to the saint we remember and honor today - St. Athanasios the Great of Alexandria. There is a saying, “Athanasius against the world.”

In the 4th century, he stood up against the world, even when much of the Christian world, including many bishops and priests, fell into the heresy, the error about who Jesus is. The heresy of Arianism denied that Jesus Christ was truly God. Yet, St. Athanasios stood firm. He stood on the rock of truth and wouldn’t budge. And for His insistence on truth, he was slandered. He was persecuted. He was attacked. And as a bishop, he was exiled from Alexandria five times. Yet, he refused to compromise the truth about Christ.

Why? Because he understood that if Jesus is not fully God, then we are not saved. If Christ is not the eternal Son and Word of God, then our Christian faith collapses.

St. Athanasios did not follow what was popular but stood with what was true. He remembered and believed that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even when the whole world seemed to believe otherwise.

His life reminds us that faithfulness often requires courage. To hold fast to Christ’s truth is not always easy and it may put us up “against the world,” but never against Christ.

I’m thinking of someone else we remember tomorrow who stood “against the world” of his time. The Rev Martin Luther King Jr. was not an Orthodox saint, but he was certainly an American prophet who spoke up during difficult and challenges times. In the face of injustice, hatred and deep racism, he stood up and proclaimed the truth about the dignity of every human being created in the image of God. He reminded America, including many who believed themselves to be faithful Christians, that the Gospel does not allow us to divide humanity into “us” versus “them,” into some who are better than others.

Racism is the belief that one race or ethnic group is inherently superior or inferior to another. It is not only about hatred that often leads to violence but racism also promotes prejudice, exclusion, unequal treatment, and the assumption we carry in our hearts that “my people are better than your people.”

MLK beautifully challenged the racism of 1960s America in his “I Have a Dream” speech - “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

From an Orthodox Christian perspective, racism is first and foremost a spiritual illness because it takes root from our ego and pride, when we place ourselves or our group above others. Racism often develops out of an ignorance of failing to see the image of God in every human being and out of fear when we see the “other” not as a blessing but as a threat.

No one race is closer to God than another. No ethnicity is more valuable in God’s eyes than another. The Church, the family of God, is open to all people everywhere, and everyone who is baptized into Christ puts on Christ and becomes one with Him. As we read in Revelation, “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, will stand before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes.” How dare we think “our people” are the special race who are better than others.

Standing up to the Truth of God in a world that is quite confused and lost demands us to stand up for the truth that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and deserves our respect and love. We live in a time when our society attacks “the other” – whether immigrants, strangers, or those who appear different from us or who are marginalized from the society in which we live.

Remember, whether one is legal or illegal according to worldly laws means nothing in the eyes of God. He sees all people as His children, and He expects us who follow Him to treat others as we would treat Christ Himself, to see His very image and likeness in every human being!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever and never divides the world into “us” versus “them.”

Let me conclude with a beautiful story I read yesterday about the Greek island of Zakynthos during World War 2. It was September 1943 and the Nazis had just taken control of the small island after Mussolini’s fall. One of the German commanders first orders was for the Mayor, Loukas Karrer, to hand over the names of all the Jews who lived on the island. The Mayor went to Metropolitan Chrysostomos for guidance and the Metropolitan understood that this was a death warrant for the 275 Jews who lived on Zakynthos. The Nazi Final Solution of murdering the Jewish population throughout Europe was in full swing.

So, what happened? Metropolitan Chrysostomos told the Mayor to burn the list of Jewish names. He then approached the German commander and implored him not to deport the Jews, who were Greek citizens. When the German insisted on receiving the list of all local Jews, Metropolitan Chrysostomos took a piece of paper, wrote his own name on it and handed it over. “Here is the list of Jews you require.” The Metropolitan didn’t only do that, but then he sent word around the island that night to help all Jews find hiding, offering them refuge and giving them whatever support they needed.

As a result of this courageous stand against the world at this time, and against the law of the German occupiers, all 275 Jews on the island survived the war and were saved.

Metropolitan Chrysostomos noted that he followed the example of Archbishop Damaskinos of Greece, who after the first deportation trains left Thessaloniki for Auschwitz, published an outspoken condemnation of the deportation of Greece’s Jews. The Archbishop proclaimed, “I have taken up my cross. I spoke to the Lord and made up my mind to save as many Jewish souls as possible.”

Metropolitan Chrysostomos against the world. Martin Luther King against the world. Saint Athanasios against the world. Each one of us against the world.

Remember, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is Divine Truth that does not change. He is Divine Truth that teaches how all humanity is created in His image and likeness. From a Christian perspective, we don’t label people as legal or illegal, good or bad, us or them. Christ calls us to treat all, including the least of our brothers and sisters as we would treat Him. Thus, we reject any lie that some people are better than others simply because of their race, ethnicity, politics, or even belief system make them better.When we root our lives in the Eternal Truth of Christ, we will not be swept away by the world’s confusion. We will not allow our ego and pride to deceive us. We will not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. Instead, we will always courageously and boldly stand with Jesus Christ and His teachings, the same yesterday, today, and forever.