Christ Came for All He lifts up everyone’s spirits
Christ Came for All
He lifts up everyone’s spirits
I congratulate you, my brothers, on the glorious Feast of the Nativity and on the beginning of a new year, asking for you a happy and blessed life in it, steadfast in the love of God and in obedience to Him, and praying for our beloved country Egypt, that God may grant her prosperity and abundance, and maintain for her stability and calm…
And it pleases me, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord Christ, to speak to you about some of the good example He left for us, and how He always worked for the comfort of all people: He loved all, served all, lifted up the spirits of the weak, guided and taught…
He was a heart open to all, going about doing good (Acts 10:38),
So every person felt that he had a share in Christ.
He cared for the Gentiles as He cared for the Jews, and His compassion included the righteous and the sinners, the holy women and the fallen ones, the children and the adults, the free and the captives, the women and the men. And He extended His kindness to the poor and the needy and the hungry, the weary and the weak, and also to the sick and to those possessed by demons. And in His care He did not forget those mourning their dead. Indeed, He did not overlook even His opponents but had compassion on them…
And He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). And He also said that He came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those who are bound, and to comfort all who mourn (Isa. 61:2).
Yes, He came to release those who fell into the captivity of demons, or sin, or diseases, and all who were in weakness or inability.
As for the sick: He healed the sick man at Bethesda, who had remained lying in his illness for 38 years beside the pool, until the Lord Christ said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8). So he rose, took up his bed, and walked. And thus He healed all those who had despaired of their healing and whom medicine was unable to cure.
So they fled to Him as the hope of those who have no hope, and the helper of those who have no helper… And He healed all those oppressed by the devil.
As for raising the dead: He raised the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue (Luke 8:41, 55). And He raised the son of the widow of Nain, a young man, the only son of his mother who was weeping for him (Luke 7:11, 12). And among those He raised also was Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany (John 11).
And the Lord Christ was gentle toward sinners and led them to repentance. He did not consider them wicked as much as He considered them sick. And He said of them gently: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Mark 2:17). And thus He gave sinners a share in Him.
The Samaritans were also sinners, but His compassion and kindness included them. And His compassion also included the Gentiles—meaning the non-Jewish peoples.
They were greatly hated by the Jews, considering that they worshipped pagan gods, and that they were strangers to the household of Israel, without Law, without prophets, and without a covenant with God (Eph. 2:13). These, the Lord Christ drew to Himself and showed that they were acceptable before God.
In healing the servant of the Gentile centurion, He marveled at the faith of that centurion and said of him, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Matt. 8:10). He also healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman, who was from a people considered cursed by the Jews. And He said to that woman, “Great is your faith” (Matt. 15:28).
And after the Resurrection, He said to His disciples, “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And He commanded them, saying, “Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them all things that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28).
And later He said to His disciple Paul the Apostle, “I will send you far from here to the Gentiles” (Acts 22). And He said to him at another time, “As you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome” (Acts 23), which was the most famous Gentile city at that time.
Thus the Lord Christ was for all nations and all peoples.
Likewise, He lifted up the status of women and gave them a position they did not have in the Jewish world. He blessed the women and the service of women: “And many women followed Him from Galilee, ministering to Him from their possessions” (Luke 8:2–3; Matt. 27:55). And He praised the poor widow who gave into the treasury out of her poverty (Mark 12:44). And He held the Last Supper in the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark. This house later became a church (Acts 12:12), and likewise the house of Lydia, the seller of purple (Acts 16).
And just as He cared for the holy women, His kindness also included the fallen ones. He defended the sinful woman who was caught in the very act, and said to those who demanded her stoning, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7). When they departed, He said to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
And the Lord Christ also cared for children and lifted up their spirits, and He loved children and embraced them and blessed them (Mark 10:16).
He was a heart full of compassion for all, rejecting no one, even those who criticized Him! And He pitied the weak and the hungry and the sick.
And He said of those who do acts of kindness to them—even by visiting them—“Whatever you did to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:40). And in the miracle of feeding the multitudes with the five loaves, He said, “I cannot send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way” (Matt. 15:32).
And from His concern for the poor, He chose poor disciples—fishermen. Most of them were uneducated, yet He granted them wisdom and strength from Himself. And He had great popularity because of His care for all. And He taught people the deepest teachings, yet with a simplicity of style understood by all: the great and the small, the ignorant and the educated. And in His popularity, thousands followed Him, and many times they pressed upon Him…
He entered people’s homes, and entered the boats of fishermen. He met all and spoke to them: on the road, in the fields, on the mountain, in deserted places, and by the lakeshore… in every place. And He entered the synagogues of the Jews and taught the people in them (Luke 4:16–21)… He was for all, working for everyone…
And all who met Him received from Him a blessing or grace or guidance. And He never closed Himself off from anyone at all. And He opened the gates of salvation before everyone. And He did not limit His love to a particular group, or a specific class of people, or a single nation…
In conclusion, my brothers, this subject is long. So I confine myself to what I have mentioned, and I ask for peace for the whole world: in the Middle East, and in Sudan and Somalia, and in the Western countries, and in Palestine where the Lord Christ lived for about thirty years, and also Egypt where He remained for three and a half years.
Be well all of you, and may God bless this year, and bless our beloved country and its president Hosni Mubarak, and all who work in it.
-
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III published in Al-Ahram newspaper on 7-1-2007
For better translation support, please contact the center.
