On Honoring the Passion of Christ, by St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk was a great hierarch and revered spiritual writer of 18th century Russia. The breadth and scope of his works are impressive, but more impressive is his ability to convey deep spiritual truths in simple terms, understandable to the simplest among us. His magnum opus, On True Christianity, is a multi-volume work written by the saint as a means of instructing his clergy—and by extension the Russian flock. 

Among his devoted followers we find later luminaries, themselves revered for the depths of their theological insights or spiritual wisdom. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov tells us, "Very useful for our time are the works of St. Tikhon of Voronezh... The grace of God inspired the saint to produce writings especially suited for our contemporary needs." Fr. George Florovsky calls the saints writing "living theology." Likewise, Fr. Seraphim Rose was a great devotee of St. Tikhon, calling him "a saint whose fervent spirit is needed very much today by Orthodox Christians. We should read him more and practice what he teaches."

Below, the reader will find an excerpt from the fifth volume of On True Christianity, translated and published by Old Paths Press. The chapter presented below, though not in full, is titled On Honoring the Passion of Christ. 

I chose this chapter for two reasons:

(1) it caused profound reflection for me personally and I return to it often.

(2) St. Tikhon, like St. Dimitry of Rostov, is often accused of having "Latin influence." This chapter, whose name may hint towards such an influence, proves the opposite. St. Tikhon was wholly, purely Orthodox, in his asceticism, theology, and pastoral witness.

If you enjoy the work below, I highly suggest purchasing On True Christianity by Old Paths Press.

Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. [Heb. 12:3]

§ 343. The entire life of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He began and completed on earth for our salvation, was a constant cross. He was born in a cave, and being wrapped in swaddling clothes, He was laid in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. [Luke 2:7] There was no room in the inn for Him, even though heaven and earth with all their fullness are His. This is how He deigned to humble Himself for us proud ones. Having just appeared in the world, and having barely begun His life on earth, He endured persecution from the lawless Herod. The Infant, Which knew nothing except swaddling clothes, mother's milk, crying, and tears, was sought for death. [Matt. 2:16] For as soon as piety appears, it immediately begins to endure persecution from ungodliness.

Then, as it is written, He was subject unto them, [Luke 2:51] that is unto His Mother and unto His supposed father. He Whom the angels obey with fear and trembling, and Whom all creation serves, obeyed men. It is for our sake, for me and for you, O sinner, that our Creator obeyed His creature. It is for us, I say, for we did not want to obey God, our Creator.

He was tempted of Satan, His adversary, so that Satan set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him: if Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down. And he took Him into a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him: all these things will give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. [Matt. 4:5-6, 8-9] The Lord and Creator of all endured such boldness and with a single motion of His hand. He endured it for us, O insolence from the evil spirit, whom He could have rebuked man, so that He may succour us that are tempted. [Heb. 2:18]

While sojourning on earth, and preaching His divine word, He was terribly blasphemed by the tongues of the Pharisees. They attributed His divine miracles to Beelzebub the prince of demons. [Matt. 9:34] They considered His holy and heavenly teaching to be blasphemy against God [Matt. 26:65] They spewed blasphemies against Him, as if shooting sharp arrows with their tongues: He has a devil, He is a Samaritan, [John 8:48, 52] He is beside Himself, [Mark 3:21. 22] a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. [Matt. 11:19, Luke 7:34] He, Who alone is blessed unto the ages, endured blasphemies and slanders, so that He might defend us from the devil's slander. He, Whose throne is heaven and Whose footstool is the earth, lived in poverty, so that He had not where to lay His head. [Matt. 8:20] Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich. [2 Cor. 8:9]

Also, He clearly foresaw His most cruel sufferings, unfathomable to the human mind, which were yet to take place and to come upon Him in their time. Therefore, He foretold these sufferings to the apostles: from that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. [Matt. 16:21] His cross also includes the constant labors which He undertook in going from place to place, from city to city, and from village to village, bringing and preaching the holy Gospel, which He brought to earth from the bosom of His heavenly Father, and so on. Thus, the Son of God labored and sweated for the sake of the wretched human soul, which Satan had seized and placed under his power.

Finally, He was sold and betrayed by His disciple, abandoned by the other disciples, judged and condemned, buffeted, spat upon, mocked, wounded, crowned with thorns, stripped naked like an evildoer, and hanged on the tree in the sight of all as accursed, [Gal. 3:13] being the blessed One. Those who passed by mocked and reviled Him Who was hanged, and cast lots for His garments. In His thirst, they gave Him vinegar and gall to drink. Thus, the tormented and mocked Son of God finished His life on the tree of the cross. Yet even after His saving death, He was pierced in His side. [John 19:34] He was called a deceiver. [Matt. 27:63] They strove to conceal His resurrection, and they filled the hands of the guards with bribes, so that the guards would not speak of what they saw. [Matt. 28:12-15] Thus, Christ endured for the sake of us sinners throughout His whole life, at death, and after death.

§ 344. Let us say some man fell into an exceptional misfortune, for example: he was taken prisoner by the enemy, or he was stricken with a deadly sickness, or he committed a capital offense, for which he had to die according to the law. However, some kind person was found, who delivered him from that misfortune by his own efforts. The one who was delivered would certainly keep that exceptional work of his deliverance in constant remembrance, and he would fervently honor his deliverer. Otherwise, he would be extremely ungrateful and insensible. O Orthodox Christian, we saw into what misery we had fallen for our sins, and how we were delivered from it, and by Whom: we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. [1 Pet. 1:18-19] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, and the rest. [Gal. 3:13-14] Then discern how we must honor this great work of our deliverance, and our Deliverer Himself,

§ 345. The property of faith is to appropriate for itself the benefactions and merits of Christ, which were done for the whole world.

Therefore, every believer, both you and I, must confess from the heart, together with the faithful Paul: I believe that for the sake of all, and I believe in Christ the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me. [Gal. 2:20] I believe that for the sake of all, and also for me the useless one, He was born of a Virgin, lived on earth in the flesh, and endured blasphemies, dishonor, suffering, the crucifixion, and the death of the cross. Thus, for everyone and also for me the unworthy one, He earned from God mercy, the remission of sins, grace, blessing, adoption, and the inheritance of eternal life and blessedness, which I could not and cannot earn or obtain by my own power. He humbled Himself, in order to exalt me the humbled one. He became poor, in order to enrich me the poor one. He endured blasphemies and slanders, in order to defend me from the devil's slander. He was bound, in order to deliver me from eternal bonds. He was judged and condemned, in order to free me from condemnation. He received wounds and blows, in order to heal me the wounded one. He endured mockery and dishonor, in order to honor me, after I had been mocked by Satan. He died, in order to revive me the dead one. Thus, He became the Redeemer, Savior, Advocate, and Cause of eternal blessedness for all who believe in His name, and for me also. Since every believer must draw to himself this great work of the Son of God, and appropriate it for himself, he must also honor this work as if it had been performed for him alone. Therefore, the holy Chrysostom says: "Each individual justly owes as great a debt of gratitude to Christ, as if He had come for his sake alone, for He would not have grudged this His condescension thou but for one, so that the measure of His love to each is as great as to the whole world." Christ came into the world for you and for me. Therefore, you and I must receive Him and honor Him as our own great Benefactor, with grateful, humble, loving, obedient, and patient hearts.

Hence you see, O Christian: (1) One who has such a faith, which every Christian must have, will not want to sin against his conscience. (2) Such a man has love for Christ, and strives to fulfill His commandments. (3) The vice-filled and fruitless life of Christians is proof of their unbelief, even though they have faith on their lips. Our conscience persuades us to love a human benefactor, who did some temporal good for us. Then how much more will faith, if we have it, persuade us to love Christ, Who obtained eternal blessedness for us, unfathomable to our mind, and Who obtained it by nothing other than His own voluntary suffering and death. And where there is love for Christ, obedience to Christ is inseparably there. Where there is obedience, there is the thorough fulfillment of His commandments. Where there is the fulfillment of His commandments, there is the doing of good works, for His commandments teach us to do good works. And thus you see that true faith is the mother of good works, even as unbelief is the root of evil works.

You can purchase On True Christianity direct from Old Paths Press, or from other reputable Orthodox bookstores, such as Holy Trinity Church Supplies, or St. Demetrius Monastery.

Read also