Jesus – Page 2 – Faith Unto Ages

The Dormition & Assumption of the Holy Theotokos: Is It Biblical?

Today is the 21st day of the month of Tir. In the Tewahedo and Coptic Orthodox Churches, we celebrate the feast of St. Mary’s Dormition (Latin: dormitio; viz., a falling asleep).

The Orthodox Church teaches that at the very end of St. Mary’s life, and after many years of praying before the empty tomb of her beloved Son and God Jesus Christ, she was promised a glorious death. This eventually took place in the presence of Our Lord, His Angels, and the Apostles in her 60th year with the exception of St. Thomas who was preaching in India. The apostles who were present buried her body in Gethsemane, per the command of what they heard from the Holy Spirit. By the Divine intervention, St. Thomas was transported on a cloud before her deceased body in Gethsemane. He later saw the angels of God carrying St. Mary’s Body into heaven; placing her under the Tree of Life in the Eternal Garden of Paradise (c.f. Rev 22:1-5) that it may be united with her soul that was clothed in a veil of light by her Son. When he revealed what he saw to the rest of the apostles, they opened her tomb to not find her body; but to only smell a sweet fragrance. They rejoiced in this as this confirmed their faith in the Christ’s Resurrection by which we will all share in per the promise of our Lord. This is what the Apostles prayed for, hoped in, and preached to the world; despite the persecutions which came with it as they took comfort in what is to come.

But where is this event of the Assumption in the Holy Bible? Some hold to the opinion that perhaps the four gospels and the epistles were completed prior to this event. I happen to agree with this theory, especially given the Church’s Tradition which references the deaths of certain apostles — who were resurrected following their martyrdoms just to be present with the Theotokos for this moment.

On the Rejection of Divine Order and the Rise of Chaos

In the very beginning, Christ the Eternal Word created order. He created the law of physics, assigned all of the celestial bodies to their proper places, divided the waters, made land appear, etc. (See Genesis 1).

He likewise created mankind, who was made in His very image and likeness. Thus, man was granted a gift to have a share in expressing the mind of God in a limited degree, which is why Man has rationality and therefore free will. Hence, man was granted a gift in assisting God in keeping order (not that God needed an assistant, but willfully shared limited authority with Man out of His Love, as, again, they were made in His image):

“Then the Lord God took the man He formed and put him in the garden to tend and keep it.”

– Genesis 2:15.

Divine Inspiration tells us that this gift was abused, and that order was rebelled against, as in the case of our first parents who ate of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). Thus, God’s original plan and intention for us to never die was ruined by the fault of man; who dethroned God and His will from their hearts and enthroned themselves and their own will.

And what was the offspring of it, save: corruption, sin, and death? And from what sprouted from this poisonous plant but war, destruction, enmities, famines, and the like? If dethroning God from one’s heart individually brings forth spiritual, mental, and even physical mayhem and internal bitter poison; how much more the world?

Why Christ Entered the Waters: A Doctrinal Study of Revelation and Fulfillment

When our Lord traveled from Galilee to the River Jordan , His cousin St. John the Baptist was preaching the necessity of repentance. Those that accepted the message of St. John would be baptized in water while also publicly confessing their sins (Mt 3:5-6). The rite of immersion in water was something which was shared with a certain Jewish sect known as the Essenes. Though debated, some scholars believe that St. John the Baptist may have been an Essene himself with his own following, or at least influenced by them; given not only their commonality in using water, but the use of apocalyptic language.

Now, with these words in mind: the baptism by which the forerunner was administering was very limited, as it was incapable of regenerating the soul, lacking the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Hence, it was not the Christian Sacrament of Holy Baptism.

To cite the Baptist directly:

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

– Matthew 3:11

As we know from Divine Inspiration, Jesus was not in need of repentance, as He was without Sin (c.f. 1 Peter 2:22). This explains the objection of the Baptist: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” (Matthew 3:14). These words alone demonstrate the sinlessness of the Lord. Yet, the Lord, in His humility, willfully condescended to the form of a sinner.

Or, to cite St. Gregory of Thaumaturgus:

“He approached him as one of the multitude, and humbled Himself among the captives though He was the Redeemer, and ranged Himself with those under judgment though He was the Judge, and joined Himself with the lost sheep though He was the Good Shepherd who on account of the straying sheep came down from heaven, and yet did not forsake His heavens, and was mingled with the tares though He was that heavenly grain that springs unsown.”

– On the Holy Theophany, or on Christ’s Baptism, Homily IV.