Our Lord Jesus Christ communicates through the Prophets, at times using His own voice and at others speaking on our behalf, uniting Himself with us—indeed, as it is written, the two shall become one flesh. Therefore, the Lord proclaims in the Gospel that concerning marriage, they are no longer two, but one flesh, symbolizing the reality of our mortality as He took on human form. He does not embody only divinity; He is the Creator, while we are His creation. Thus, everything our Lord expresses through the humanity He embraced pertains to both that Head which has ascended to Heaven and those members still journeying on Earth. Let us listen closely to the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ in the prophetic messages. The psalms were sung long before the Lord’s incarnation through Mary, yet He was already the Lord, for from eternity He has been the Creator of all. In time, He became one with His creation. We must have faith in this divine nature and, to the best of our ability, comprehend Him as equal to the Father. Yet, this divine nature, equal to the Father, became one with our mortal existence—not from His essence, but from ours—so that we might become participants in His divine nature, not from our essence, but from His.
“Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.” Psalm 138:1. Let the Lord Jesus Christ proclaim this; let Him speak to the Father: “Lord.” The Father is not merely His Lord, except in His desire to be born in the flesh. He is the Father of God, the Lord of Humanity. Know, to whom does He claim fatherhood? To His equal Son. The apostle asserts, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Philippians 2:6-7. For this expression, God is the Father; the Form that is equal to Himself, the only begotten Son, generated from His own Essence. For us, that we might be refashioned and share in His divine nature, He partook of our mortal nature. What does the Apostle declare regarding Him? “But He emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man.” He existed in the Form of God, equal to the Father; He took on the form of a servant that He might be perceived as lesser than the Father.
“Thou knowest my sitting down and my rising up.” Psalm 138:2. What does it mean to sit or to rise? The one who sits humbles himself. Therefore, the Lord sat during His Passion and rose in His Resurrection. You, He insists, knew it; that is, You willed it, You approved it; by Your will it was fulfilled. If we accept the words of the Head as spoken through the Body, a man sits when he humbles himself in repentance, and rises when his sins are absolved, being lifted to the hope of eternal life. Do not elevate yourselves before you’ve first humbled yourselves; many aspire to rise before they sit down, eager to appear righteous before confessing their sins.
“You have understood my thoughts from afar; You have marked out my path and my limit.” Psalm 138:3; “And all my ways you have seen before.” Psalm 138:4. What does “afar off” signify? While I still wander on my pilgrimage, before I arrive at my true homeland, You comprehend my thoughts. The younger son ventured to a distant land; through labor, suffering, sorrow, and want, he remembered his father and sought to return, saying, “I will arise and go to my father.” He declared, “I will arise,” for he would rise before sitting down. Here we can perceive him stating: “You knew my sitting down and my rising up.” I sat in need; I arose yearning for Your sustenance. You understood my thoughts from afar. I have traveled far indeed; but where is it that I am not observed by the One I have abandoned? Thus, the Lord indicates in the Gospel that his father met him on his way, for He comprehended his thoughts from a distance. “My path,” he asks; what else but a way of wickedness, the road he took when he left his father? What is my path? That through which I have wandered. What is my limit? My achievements. You have traced my journey and my limitations. This limit of mine, regardless of its distance, was not beyond Your sight. I traveled far, yet You were still present. You foresaw all my paths; He did not merely say “saw,” but “saw in advance.” Before I ventured along them, before I entered their confines, You perceived them beforehand; and You allowed me to explore in toil so that, should I choose not to labor, I might return to Your ways. For there is no deceit upon my tongue. What does he mean by this? Behold, I confess to You, I have strayed from Your presence; I have distanced myself from You, who was good for me, and my situation without You is detrimental.
“Behold, O Lord, you know all my works, past and present.” Psalm 138:5. You knew my recent actions while I tended to the swine; You were aware of my former misdeeds when I asked You for my share of the inheritance. Those earlier actions initiated my current plight: the sin that led to the fall and the punishment as I entered this burdensome mortal state. And if this was the last for us, it may also be so if we wish to return now. For there remains a final judgment for certain wicked individuals, to whom it shall be said, “Depart into everlasting fire.” Matthew 25:41. You have fashioned me, and Your hand is upon me. Formed me where? In this mortality, now destined for the labor we are all called to undertake. No man is born unless created by God in his mother’s womb; He is the maker of every being. Yet, You have crafted me in this burden, and imposed upon me Your avenging hand, Your corrective hand, for You bring down the proud in such a way that He may uplift the humble.
“Your art has marvelously manifested itself in me; it has become strong; I cannot comprehend it.” Psalm 138:6. Listen now, and understand something truly profound yet gratifying. Moses, the holy servant of God, communicated with God through the cloud, for—humanly speaking—He needed to engage with His servant through some work of His hands. He longed to witness the essence of God’s presence, addressing God with great familiarity, saying, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, show me Your glory.” Exodus 33:13. When he ardently desired this, God responded, revealing: “You cannot see My face; for no man can see My face and live.” Exodus 33:20. “However, I will place you in the cleft of the rock and cover you as I pass by; then you will see My back.” From these words arises another mystery, an obscure representation of the truth. “As I pass by,” God says, “you will see My back,” as if suggesting He possesses a face on one side and a back on the other. Such thoughts of this Majesty are beyond our comprehension! For whoever harbors such notions of God, what advantage is it to them to find the temples closed? They end up crafting idols in their own hearts. Great mysteries are contained within these words. Those who had encountered the Lord whom they beheld now seek counsel on their salvation, and it is proclaimed to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ, and your sins shall be remitted to you.” Acts 2:38. Behold, they saw His back, whom they could not regard face-to-face. For He did not permanently cover their eyes; His hand was upon them only while He passed through. Afterwards, when He withdrew His hand, they asked the disciples: “What shall we do?” Initially, their hearts were harsh, but they became loving; first enraged, then fearful; initially unyielding, now accepting; first blind, then enlightened.
“Where can I escape from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?” Psalm 138:7. Where can a fugitive in a distant region find solace from the gaze of the One they evade? Is that what he means to communicate? Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Wisdom 1:7. This Spirit permeates all the world. Where can I flee from Your sight? He seeks refuge from the wrath of God. What refuge is available for God’s fugitive? Those who shelter such individuals inquire to whom they have fled; discovering one who is enslaved to a master less powerful than themselves, they assist him without fear, reasoning that he lacks a master to pursue him. But upon hearing of a mighty dominion, they either refrain from offering sanctuary or do so with great trepidation, aware that even a powerful individual can be misled. Where is there an absence of God? Who can deceive Him? Who is not seen by Him? Whom does God not hold accountable for their escape? Where can this fugitive hide from the gaze of God? They twist and turn, searching for an escape.
“If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” Psalm 138:8. Ultimately, you poor fugitive, you’ve realized there is no departure from Him whom you strive to evade. Behold, He is everywhere; and you, where can you go? He has found wisdom, and that wisdom is inspired by Him who remembers it. If, having sinned, I sink into the depths of wickedness and refuse to confess, claiming, “Who sees me?” (for in Hades who confesses to You?) — You are there to chastise. Where can I escape from Your presence, that is, where can I avoid finding You in anger? Such a strategy I have devised: I will escape from Your face. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the farthest parts of the sea. Psalm 138:9. So may I flee from Your countenance. If one were to run to the uttermost shore of the sea in a bid to evade the presence of God, would not the One from whom they flee accompany them? For what is the end of the sea but the end of the world? Therefore, let us run with hope and longing on the wings of divine love; let us find rest only in the remotest reaches of the sea. For if we seek solace in any other realm, we shall be cast headlong into the depths. Let us venture to the ends of the sea and soar on the wings of fervent love, while we simultaneously seek God in hope, meditating on the other side of the sea.
Now listen to the One who can guide us there, the very One from whose wrath we wish to escape. “And there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me fast.” Psalm 138:10. Consider this, beloved brethren; let this be our hope, our comfort. Let us once more take to heart the wings we lost to earthly desires. For desires can cage our wings, dragging us down from the freedom afforded by the Spirit of God. As we descend, we lose our wings, so to speak, being ensnared by the fowler; yet He redeemed us through His blood, from whom we fled to avoid capture. He provides us with wings in the form of His commandments; we must now lift them, liberated from desires. We must have wings, and He is necessary to lead us, for He is our Helper. We possess free will; yet what can we achieve with this free will unless He, who commands, provides aid?
THEOSIS