Reading Scripture Daily
Like many Orthodox Christians—and Christians of many other denominations for that matter—I try to spend some time every day reading scripture. (It’s great spiritual food!)
The lectionary of the Orthodox Church makes this easy to do. Every day there’s a specified epistle and gospel reading.
You can get the readings from an Orthodox calendar, or from an Orthodox Bible reading app (yep, they have those), or you can buy a one-volume book that has all the daily readings paired with patristic commentary.
But, this morning, as I looked up my daily readings for the first day of Lent, I found that the epistle and the gospel readings had disappeared!
The Gospel Disappeared!
Instead of the normal New Testament readings, the lectionary replaced them with readings from the Old Testament: Genesis, Isaiah, and Proverbs.
Why is this? Why during the period of Lent, would we stop reading about Jesus and start reading the Old Testament?
First of all, we’re still reading about Jesus. We’ve just backed up a bit to see why the world needed a savior and how God prepared the world for that savior.
In other words, the Lenten readings explain why we live in a fallen world and what God has done to set things right again.
A Summary of the Lenten Readings
In Genesis, we see how how the world was created through the pre-enfleshed (aka, the pre-incarnate) Word. We see how our rebellion against God drives us out of paradise and into a world filled with death. And, we see how God promises (i.e., the covenant) to set things right and bring us back into paradise.
Isaiah starts off by explaining why the Kingdom of Israel gets exiled into Babylon. To put it another way, Isaiah explains why the nation of Israel also gets “cast out of paradise and into the world.” But, Isaiah also shows us how the “suffering servant,” the anointed one, will come and set things right.
And, in Proverbs, we see how the wisdom of God—often a metaphor for Jesus—keeps us on track. If only we had followed God’s wisdom, we wouldn’t have been cast out of paradise. But now, enlightened by the Scripture, we again have the chance to heed God’s words.
An Exile and Return
Do, you see a theme in these readings? You should. In each reading, we learn about humanity’s rebellion against God (hint: it has to do with greed and pride) and how that leads to our exile from paradise.
Lent, if you think about it, is also a time of exile. It’s a time of reflection where we see that we no longer live in paradise, we’re now in the desert.
Our world is broken and death reigns. Like Adam and Eve we’ve been cast out of the garden. Like Israel, we’ve been overrun by the enemy and live in a new sort of “Babylon.”
During this time, we ponder what we’ve done wrong, and we seek to make amends. We repent and offer forgiveness to others.
And, as we make our confession, we seek to live by faith, like Daniel who survived the lions’ den, and like the Three Youths, who survived the fiery furnace—all who lived in the time of the exile to Babylon.
Turning To God and Looking Forward
During this time of Lent, as we read from Genesis, Isaiah, and Proverbs, we are molded into the image of God. We are graced with faith because, in the desert, who have no one to turn to but God.
And, as we read from the Old Testament, we are directed to look forward to the Resurrection of Christ, the very event where we see death trampled down by death, where we see life bestowed on all in the graves.
Always wondered why and still did this week when I went to read the listed Scripture during my morning prayers.
Liturgies are also forbidden during the Lenten period (with a few exceptions) because when one communes you break the fast, and, so, it would be inappropriate to hold liturgies during a fasting period. And, if liturgies are forbidden, which is the primary service that the gospels are read, then there’s no reason to have gospel readings.