Daily Journey Through the Great Fast With the Early ChurchНамуна

When we speak of confession, we first think of admitting wrongdoing; however, a confession can be a declaration of faith or admission. In order for a confession to be a true confession: 1) you must believe in your heart that what you are saying is true, 2) you have to be willing to openly commit and let others know and 3) you must state and acknowledge your confession.

Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the “Son of the Living God” [Matthew 16:16]. Nathanael (aka Bartholomew) confessed in John 1:49 “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, confessed in John 11:27, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God”, Thomas confessed Jesus to be Lord and God - “My Lord and my God!” - in John 20:28 and in Acts 8:37 the Ethiopian eunuch confessed saying, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

The confession I most remember is of Thomas because people remember him as “doubting Thomas” - I think we should remember not that he doubted, since as we spoke yesterday, how can we be witnesses of Him unless we have personal first hand experience? How could St. Thomas confess “the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” [1 Timothy 6:12] that He has seen Christ risen from the dead unless He witnessed first hand? Rather, we should remember his theologically rich confession of acknowledging Jesus not only as Lord but also as God.

Let us follow the example of the Ethiopian eunuch who, after confessing, went back to his land and is said to have been the first evangelist to the land of Ethiopia about the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us follow the example of St. Photini (Samaritan woman at the well) who confessed to the people and when they heard Him for themselves confessed saying, “this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” [John 4:42] but we can only do so if we believe in our hearts and declare with our lips.

We may not see the risen Lord with our physical eyes until the age to come, that is in the next life, so in the meantime let us hold firm to our faith and confess Jesus as Lord and God so that we may “receive the end of our faith - the salvation of our souls” [1 Peter 1:9]. For “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” [John 20:29]

“He not only requires faith which is of the mind, but confession which is by the mouth, that He may exalt us higher, and raise us to a more open utterance, and a larger measure of love.” [St. John Chrysostom, the 4th century Archbishop of Constantinople and a “doctor of the Church”]

“for that which He asked for was something concealed, to which the faith of believers ought to extend itself. We must hold that form of confession, that we so mention the Son of God as not to forget the Son of Man, for the one without the other offers us no hope of salvation; and therefore He said emphatically, Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?” [St. Hilary of Poitiers, 4th century Bishop of Poitiers]