Luke 13:10-17; Gal 3:23-4:5; 2 Samuel 6
This Sunday we consider the Great-Martyr Barbara, our father the Venerable John of Damascus, words from St. Paul about our participation in Christ, and the gospel story of the woman who was made straight by Jesus, liberated from the eighteen-year prison of her bent body. The two saints, along with the readings from Scripture, have one thing in common—they proclaim “the glorious liberty of the sons of God” (Romans 8:21).
Of course, the Old Testament also speaks occasionally of liberty—mostly it speaks of the literal manumission of slaves prescribed for the year of Jubilee, but it also uses the word occasionally to speak of the condition of one who is obedient to God. As the Psalmist rejoices, “I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45). Perhaps it may seem counter-intuitive to us to speak about the precepts of God being the condition for walking at liberty. After all, the Law was a source of restriction to Israel, given to her to keep her on the straight and narrow, directed towards God in a time when pagans were prone to worship other gods. But in comparison to the oppression that the pagan peoples experienced under idols, the Jewish people had a certain freedom, didn’t they? They were free from superstition, from thinking that they had to appease angry gods in order to have good crops, from the compulsion to offer up their sons and daughters on pagan idol altars, and so on. The pagans, in giving their loyalty to gods who were no gods, but actually demons, were cruelly imprisoned. In comparison, the Jewish people were royal, and priestly! Yet it is still the case that the Law was restrictive. As St. Paul explains in our reading for this tenth Sunday of Luke,
Brethren, before faith came, we were confined under the Law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the Law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; when we were children, we were slaves of the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Gal 3:23-4:5).
Consider what St. Paul is saying here. He recognizes that the Jewish people, of whom he was a member, were heirs of God’s glory—but it is as though they had been shut up for their own protection until the coming of Christ. As a more contemporary example of this, consider one of the episodes of The Crown, where Queen Elizabeth, on coming to her maturity, realizes that her education has been incomplete—she knows the rules of Constitution well, and the relationship between her position and that of the efficient government, but does not have an education completely adequate to her position among more well-rounded and mature leaders. She hires a tutor to make up the deficiency that she senses, though she also comes to realize the importance of what she HAS learned.
The parallel with the Jewish people is obvious, though not exact. Torah, so long as it was understood to help them focus upon God, his mercy and his justice, served the Jewish people well. Once Christ came, however, and defeated sin and death, the restrictive power of the Torah, with its many commandments, distinctions, and requirements, was no longer necessary. God’s education, God’s chosen tutor for the Hebrew people, the holy Torah, with its narratives of liberation and its commandments, had been exactly right, not deficient like the education of Elizabeth. But, as with the Queen, it was not sufficient: it was meant to lead to something, or rather, to SOMEONE else. At the right time, the Son came, and so gave the power to become children of god, heirs of his glory! The Rapunzel-like existence of God’s people—not only of the Jews who believed (like the apostles, and like St. Paul himself) was over, and they saw God in his glory—as did many Gentiles, who before the coming of Christ, had worshipped idols. Both the constricting power of the Law, and the oppressive power of false gods, were put aside when true liberty arrived. The nations that walked in darkness were enlightened. And the nation of God that had been given particular ceremonies to observe —circumcision, food laws, sacrifices, and Sabbath—now saw the real thing, the True Light to which their Torah had been pointing all along. No longer were God’s people governed by an external Law, but they able, through Christ, to receive the Holy Spirit, and able to understand words concerning true freedom: “Speak and act like as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty,” the apostle tells them (James 2:12).
We see a prefiguration of such liberty in the dancing of King David when the Ark of the Covenant, the portable throne of the LORD, was brought into the city of Bethlehem. The young King David was so filled with joy at the palpable sign of God’s presence that he risked even the scorn of his wife, and danced in a free, and most un-kinglike manner, before all of his people. So exuberant was he that he cared nothing for his own dignity—because what mattered at that moment was not his kingly presence, but the presence of the LORD himself, enthroned between the cherubim on the ark, yet not seen. In his very city, at this very moveable throne was the place where God had promised to meet with his people. And so, to his disapproving wife, he explains, “It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father [King Saul], and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD — and I will make merry before the LORD. (2 Samuel 6:21). David, of course, did not always act righteously, but he was a man “after God’s own heart” and he knew when it was appropriate to rejoice. That liberty moved his heart and his feet, for the LORD was with him! David had a man-made ark or throne of God to make him glad: how much more have we, who know that his mother the holy Theotokos brought the LORD to Bethlehem in the flesh for us, bearing him in her womb, a throne made more spacious than the heavens. She became the throne of the cherubim, the true ark, and so an even greater liberty was given not simply to one monarch, but to all of us who have been made God’s children.
The themes of being shut up for one’s own protection in youth (the theme we saw in the epistle reading) and of David’s joyful dancing remind me of our beloved martyr Barbara. Her story relates that her pagan father had her shut up in a kind of Rapunzel-like tower through to her teen-age years, which she illumined by having three windows constructed in its side, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. The light from those windows brought her hope of liberty, though her father was displeased by her Christian faith, to the point of pursuing her, and eventually having her tortured and killed. In the hymn by which we celebrate her faith, we speak about her final liberation as a martyr, rejoicing among the wise virgins who greeted the Bridegroom:
When sweet death had been decreed for thee,
thou with jubilation didst urgently haste to finish thy course,
O Great Martyr Barbara, most august and ven’rable;
and then thou by the wicked hands of thy godless father
wast both slain and offered unto God as sacrifice.
Wherefore, as thou verily dancest
in great joy with all the wise virgins,
thou beholdest Christ thy Bridegroom’s shining light.
The coming of the time of faith, and of the faithful one, Jesus, moved the faithful followers of Jesus into a new era—and era in which they would no longer be called servants, but named friends of God. It was an era of maturity and remarkable liberty. As St. Paul says elsewhere in Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free”(5:1); “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another” (5:13). St. Barbara shows the way to this perfect liberty, for she, through love, gave her life as an offering to Christ, and as an example to us. The liberty she has in God’s presence goes far beyond even what we have now in Christ—she sees the Light, and dances in it, being transformed from glory to glory “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17). This, too, is our hope, and the life begins now.
The story of the gospel for this tenth Sunday of Luke (Luke 13:10-17) can serve as an illustration of our hope for perfect freedom. The woman had been bent, literally turned in upon herself for eighteen long years, the work of the adversary, who seeks to destroy and disfigure God’s good creation. Jesus spoke a word of healing, and laid his hand on her, and she was immediately healed, both in body and in spirit—she turned outward, and praised God! When Jesus was criticized for healing on the Sabbath, he simply responded that it was wholly appropriate to “loose the woman from this bond on the Sabbath day.” Here he teaches again about true freedom and about God’s purpose in giving the Law—the Law was given for the benefit of God’s people, and not to hamper them, but to lead them to Him. Its restrictive power was meant to give way to the true, the living Word, who now had come in their midst. The Lord who had created humankind on the sixth day had every right, and a heart of compassion, to restore to health and to perfect the creatures whom he loved—even on his chosen day of rest!
Let us in this time of little Lent consider the disciplines which we have taken to ourselves as opportunities to learn more about liberty—the freedom to not give in to our passions, and to learn more about what really matters. We know that Christ has come to make us free, and that such freedom comes by means of following him. Paradoxically, we gain freedom, the freedom of the children of God, as we serve! We know that God’s plan is for us to mature in the faith, and to take on more and more of the characteristics of Christ himself, living for others. Any restrictions of this life can be astonishingly used for our benefit, as we grow in knowledge and in love. Around us as we worship there is a household of those who have gone before, and who now see the LORD with unveiled faces: by them we catch a glimpse of true liberty.
That great host cheers us on, even as we still are hampered by our limitations, but experience, from time to time, the freedom that is in Christ. We are brothers and sisters of those who dance and sing before the great King of the Universe, and from whom we can learn the celestial music. Among those is St. Barbara, who gladly gave her life. Among those is also the poignant poet St. John of Damascus, from whose pen we have the wonderful hymn “Shine, shine, New Jerusalem, the glory of the Lord has shone upon you!” And, it is because of that same saint’s wisdom, in defending the holy icons, that we have the freedom to meditate upon these holy saints who surround us as we worship:
What shall we now call thee, O Saint of God?
Holy John the Theologian, hymnwright David sweet of song?
Wondrous harp moved by the Spirit, or a shepherd’s tuneful pipe?
For thou dost sweeten both the hearing and the mind;
thou makest glad the blest assemblies of the Church;
and thy mellifluous words adorn with their magnificence all the earth.
Do thou entreat Christ the Savior that our souls be saved.
Edith M. Humphrey 
Are Jewish Christians free from Torah? Jesus himself says that the smallest stroke of the Torah will outlast heaven and earth, that whoever relaxes the least of the Torah’s commands will be called least in the kingdom of the heavens, and that the righteousness of Jesus’ (Jewish) disciples must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (presumably, as regards Torah; Matthew 5:17-20). He also commands his disciples to listen to and obey the scribes and Pharisees because they sit on Moses’ seat, while ignoring their corrupt example, which entails ongoing involvement in halakhic education and practice (Matthew 23:1-3).
The apostolic church in Jerusalem is depicted as Torah-observant. It’s of notable interest that Peter does not interpret his vision of unclean animals descending from heaven as a justification for abandoning kashrut, but as a symbol that the Gentiles are acceptable to God as Gentiles (Acts 10:34-43; 11:1-18). The Jerusalem Council clearly delineates the obligations (as regards Torah) of Gentiles from those of Jews, forbidding idolatry, porneia, blood, and things strangled (i.e., those laws that were expected of foreigners living in Israel’s midst in Leviticus 17-18; Acts 15:19-29). But no similar pronouncement is made at the Council freeing Jews from Torah observance.
St. Paul himself is presented as Torah-observant in the Book of Acts, and there are some hints to his Torah-keeping in his letters. In Acts 21:17-26, Paul arrives in Jerusalem after his final missionary journey, and comes to report to St. James and the Jerusalem Elders concerning his mission. The Jerusalem leadership praises God for Paul, but points out to him that there are a great number of Jewish Christians in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost who are “greatly zealous for the Law” (21:20), and who have heard rumors that Paul teaches Jews to abandon Moses and not to circumcise their children. The solution proposed is for Paul to take four nazirites up to the Temple and sponsor their release from their vow, demonstrating his fidelity to Torah (Paul himself had taken the nazirite vow at some point; 18:18). Paul’s obligation to prove Torah fidelity is immediately contrasted with the expectations laid on Gentiles (21:25); then Paul, who is no respecter of persons as regards the apostolic pillars when it comes to activity that seems to undermine the truth of the gospel (e.g., Galatians 2:11-14), does as he is told (21:26). Paul himself indicates that he and his apostolic entourage uphold the Torah (Romans 3:31). Moreover, as Mark Nanos has pointed out, Paul’s rhetoric against Galatian circumcision–that if the Galatians are circumcised they will have to keep the whole Torah (Galatians 5:3)–bears little force if Paul himself is not Torah-observant (as a circumcised person).
So, my question: is our freedom in Christ “from the Torah,” or from “the curse of the Law” (Galatians 3:13; i.e., the curse associated with disobeying the Torah in Deuteronomy 28:15-68)? If it is from the Torah itself, how does this other material–which assumes Torah observance for Jewish Christians even after the ascension of Christ and even among Paul and his associates–constellate in such a way that makes sense? If it is from the latter, then how do we, as Orthodox Christians, make room for the reemergence of an authentically Jewish segment of the Church to embrace the Torah fidelity the New Testament expects of them?
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Dear David:
Thanks for these probing questions. I will take your lengthy and important comment by paragraphs.
First, the passage that you cite from the preface of the Sermon on the Mount must be read in its context: “17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all has come to be. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never come into the reign of God.”
And THEN, we have the teaching that radicalizes the Law: not simply, don’t murder, but don’t be angry, not simply don’t commit adultery but don’t lust, and so on. The question is what Jesus means by “heaven and earth pass away” here: this is apocalyptic language, it would seem, suggesting the revolutionary change that the Incarnation/Crucifixion/Resurrection/Ascension and Pentecost bring to the world—already we are in a new creation, and these teachings Jesus gives to us are for that new creation. Your glossing of righteousness to “presumably, as regards Torah” misses the point of Jesus’ radicalization: the righteousness that we are to have is the very righteousness of God, that righteousness that will make us able to participate in God’s rule. This is surely what St. Paul would say, as in 2 Cor 5:21, he speaks about the great exchange that we participate in with Christ, and then in chapter six goes on to talk about our working together with God. Jesus tells them to listen to the scribes and Pharisees as they focus on Scripture, but throughout the gospels, we are told that a greater than Moses is here. This is the burden, too, of 2 Cor 3 and the book of Hebrews.
As for the apostolic church in Jerusalem, we learn that it meets in Solomon’s Portico, and that when Paul arrives he is asked, in order not to offend, to circumcise Gentiles so that they can worship in the Temple. We have no other information about how they kept Torah, do we, except for the fuss with “those from James” mentioned in Galatians. Yes, Peter’s vision is interpreted to refer to the Gentiles, but the actual picture of the vision, its order about eating, is poignant. Further, Peter GOES into the Cornelius’ house and eats with them (presumably in defiance of Torah, or if not, in defiance of rabbinic traditions concerning Torah: after all, he is brought up on the carpet and there is a discussion of his actions in the next chapter!) It is interesting that before Peter has gone into the Gentile house, the angel has gone in before him, signaling God’s approval. The Jerusalem Council’s decision is a compromise, of course, so that those who continue to keep kashrut and Gentiles may live together under Christ. There may be no similar pronouncement issued in our narrative in Acts, but it is dangerous to argue from a negative. Certainly the gospel of Mark reflects upon this issue, so far as JEWS (not merely Gentiles) were concerned, in Mark 7. There, Jesus is in conflict with the Pharisees concerning handwashing, but the evangelist—or perhaps the apostles before him, to whom the evangelist is indebted—extends Jesus’ teaching to food: “Thus he declared all foods clean.” The context is in Israel, and universally applied here! One cannot interpret one part of Scripture so that it is repugnant to another part. I suspect you will not find a single Church father who interprets Acts 15 as you suggest, limiting change in kashrut only to Gentiles.
You say that “there are some hints to his Torah-keeping in his letters.” Where? He says in Galatians that he eats with Gentiles (and so did Peter), and elsewhere he speaks about being “all things to all people.” His sponsoring of the Nazarites in no way conflicts with his teaching regarding food as not being a matter for debate, and the fulfillment of Torah in Christ.: it is a strategic move that doesn’t involve compromising his principles, but not an indication that he kept the whole Torah (as the rabbis did) himself. The passage in Acts 21 certainly shows that there were those in Jerusalem who kept much of Torah, especially circumcision, and that there was still debate concerning what diaspora Jews who had become Christians should do—the “customs” referred to by the apostles is very broad though, and we have no idea how much of Torah, beyond circumcision and Sabbath, they expected their fellow Jewish Christians to follow. At any rate, we are not as Christians expected to replicate everything from the early years of the Church: they were in the process of being led into all truth, and we know that there were debates about this in those times! As for Paul’s words in Romans 3:31, about upholding Torah, this must be read in light of all the letter, and of Galatians, in which he says many other things about Torah, including the fact that its restrictive force is now lifted for JEWS (“we”) who are in Christ. Mark Nonos’s argument is absurd, because Paul is speaking to those who deliberately take on circumcision, not someone who was circumcised and now recognizes that Jesus is the fulfillment of Torah. Paul has indicated throughout Galatians that he is not compelled in this way, because Christ has put him in a new position—and there is the Law of Christ.
Consider these passages from Galatians, and how they would make no sense if we continue to think about there being two kinds of Christians, some who must keep the minute commandments of the Law, and others who must not:
*For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God (Gal 2:19)
*Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law (Rom 13:8)
*But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. (Gal 5:18 )
*…in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom 8:4 )
*Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary.m Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one.(Gal 3:19-20)
*Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian” (Gal 3:23-25
So, then to your final question: is our freedom in Christ “from the Torah,” or from “the curse of the Law”?
Both, according to St. Paul, despite what you have said. He died to the restrictions of the Law, and says that the Law is fulfilled in Christ. Of course, there is a continuity between Torah and gospel, and we must recognize that—particularly celebrating the narrative passages, where God delivers the Hebrews, and where he promises that Abraham’s See would be a blessing to the whole world. But there are not two classes of Christian. There is no Jew or Gentile in those who have been baptized. This does not make us anti-nomian (Anti-Torah), but leads us to fill up the Torah as Jesus said, giving even more weight to the ten commandments, for example, and understanding the GREATER righteousness that comes from God. We certainly may make room for Jewish Christians who keep food customs and circumcision, so long as they do not insist that this is a better route, or necessary for all Jewish believers to be faithful. We are not to dispute about these things, but make room for each other, as Paul declares. But where such practice is being ideologically imposed, we need to speak the truth, just as he did to the Galatians. The Torah-fidelity expected of all Christians in the NT is to see the continuity of the two covenants, see how the Torah prefigures Christ, and understand that Abraham is the father of all who believe.
The bottom line, it seems to me, is in Mark 7: “Thus Jesus declared all foods clean.” The entire cosmos has been sanctified by the Incarnation, when God plunged deep into the elements of this world. We must not be disputing, then, about these, but use them, however we are called, to the glory of God.
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