Day 1 (Monday)
Daniel 2:17-45
Last time we began the book of Daniel, and saw Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach, & Abed-Nego) taken into captivity in Babylon, where they were trained to become members of the bureaucracy of Nebuchadnezzar's empire. We saw them hold themselves faithful to the Torah, not eating the meat that had been sacrificed to idols, and eating only vegetables, and being blessed and sustained by the Lord in that. We saw, too, how they became officials in Babylon, and prospered and gained the respect of all. And then we saw the king have a dream which troubled him deeply, so that he demanded his wise men, these four young men included, should tell him not just the interpretation to the dream, but to tell him the dream itself first, as a way of proving that they did indeed have the inside track to the revelation that had been given to him by "the gods." Daniel heard of this, and told the king that he would fulfill the king's demand. What he did next, we will see this week.
God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
17 Then Daniel went to his home and informed his companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions with the rest of the wise men of Babylon might not perish. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel said:
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
for wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons,
deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
for you have revealed to us what the king ordered.”
Daniel Interprets the Dream
24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will give the king the interpretation.”
25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who can tell the king the interpretation.” 26 The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at the end of days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed were these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed, came thoughts of what would be hereafter, and the revealer of mysteries disclosed to you what is to be. 30 But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me because of any wisdom that I have more than any other living being, but in order that the interpretation may be known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
31 “You were looking, O king, and lo! there was a great statue. This statue was huge, its brilliance extraordinary; it was standing before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32 The head of that statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you looked on, a stone was cut out, not by human hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, the king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory, 38 into whose hand he has given human beings, wherever they live, the wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as ruler over them all—you are the head of gold. 39 After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything, it shall crush and shatter all these.
41 As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with the clay. 42 As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever; 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy.”
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that this reading, in which Daniel recounts the dream and gives the interpretation, is one of the readings assigned for the Christmas Eve Great Vespers service, because it describes how the Lord in His coming overthrows and transforms all the kingdoms of the world, in establishing the Church to be the only source of life and identity and being for us, and for all human beings.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Hymns from the Feast of the Lord’s Circumcision
Every year, on January 1st, the 8th day after the Nativity of the Lord, we celebrate the Circumcision in the Flesh of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this feast, we see our Creator and God, human and present in our midst, submitting Himself to the Law that He Himself had given, accepting circumcision, precisely as did Abraham and all His descendants. The point, of course, is that our Lord is Himself the long-awaited Child of Promise, in anticipation of Whom all the coming generations from Abraham had been dedicated to God as His own people. In keeping with the commandments of God, it was also on this 8th Day that He received the name the Angel had commanded for Him, and was called Jesus.
2nd Hymn of the Vespers Kekragaria
THE supremely good God was not ashamed to be circumcised in the flesh; but for our salvation He offered Himself as a type and example unto all. For the Author of the Law fulfills the precepts of the Law and the things that the Prophets preached of Him. O You Who holds all things in Your grasp, and were wrapped in swaddling bands, O Lord, glory be to You.
The Reading is from the Book of Proverbs
(8:22-30)
THE Lord made me the beginning of His ways for His works. Before time was, He established me, in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before He made the depths, before the fountains of the waters came forth, before the mountains were made, and before all the hills, He begat me. The Lord made lands and uninhabited places, and the uttermost inhabited parts under heaven.
When He prepared the heaven, I was present with Him; and when He appointed His own throne upon the winds; when He strengthened the clouds above, and when He secured the fountains of the waters that are under heaven; when He gave the sea its bound that the waters should not go beyond His word, and He made strong the foundations of the earth, I was with Him, working in harmony with Him. I it was in whom He took delight, and daily I rejoiced in His presence continually.
Both Now Hymn of the 1st Orthros Kathismata
THE Master of the world, the Creator of all things, * Who dwells in the heights with the Father and Spirit, * is circumcised on the earth as an infant but eight days old. * Truly are Your works divine and wondrous, O Master! * You are circumcised for us, since You are the perfect * fulfilment of all the Law.
Troparia from the 3rd Ode of the Canon of the Feast
WHEN the Word, the Transcendent in Essence, became flesh, He was circumcised unto the cessation of the Law; and He gave us the first-fruits of divine grace and of uncorrupted life.
CHRIST incarnate was shown to be a fulfiller of the Law, and not an adversary of God, and He deigned of His own will to be circumcised on the eighth day.
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out here how the hymns and readings assigned for this day reflect on a dual marvel; that the Lord submits to the Law which He Himself had given, and that the Maker of all things is circumcised as a newborn son of the Covenant Which He had Himself made for the saving of His own Creation. The passage from Proverbs is particularly important, as in it, we see Wisdom, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, the Logos and Son of God, speaking of His presence and participation in the Creation together with the Father…yet it is Him that we see born in the flesh in the Feast of the Nativity, and whose circumcision we celebrate on January 1st.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?
Day 3 (Friday)
John 7:10-24 (Jesus at the Festival of Booths/Tabernacles)
Last week, we saw the Lord finish speaking about Himself as the Bread from Heaven, Whose Body and Blood are food and drink indeed, and of Whom all of us must partake, or else we have no life. We saw many of His disciples leave, and saw the Twelve remain, because, as Peter said "Where shall we go? You have the words of life." We saw the Lord's "brothers" ask Him to go to the pilgrimage festival in Jerusalem, urging Him to proclaim Himself publicly if He were truly from God, showing that even they did not believe His preaching and His miracles. He told them that His time had not yet come, and tehrefore that He would not be going with them, but this time, we will see Him go nonetheless, but "in secret," at least to begin.
Jesus at the Festival of Booths
10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” 13 Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.
14 About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?” 16 Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.
19 “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Discussion questions:
1) What did you notice in today’s reading? What surprised you or what was memorable to you? (The Leader should point out that the Festival of Booths/Tabernacles/Sukkot is the 3rd Pilgrimage Festival (the others are Pascha and Pentecost, Pesach and Shavuot. One can check the basic internet, such as Wikipedia, for more information, but the Festival of Booths is basically the time that the people of God were commanded to remember the wandering in the wilderness, and that God cared for them, and thus a time to remember that their identity and well-being and wholeness come from their relationship with God, and not from the things that they possess. The issue between Him and the religious leaders of the day about the Sabbath Day, and with the Law in general, all comes more into focus when we look at it through the lens of this particular Feast. We all need to be careful not to mix up God Himself with His gifts and guidance to us.)
2) Where do we see Christ in this text; what is He saying or doing here?
3) Do we see ourselves and the Church in this text; what does it say about us?
4) What do you find difficult about this reading? Is there anything confusing about it, or anything that you dislike? (This is an open question, as always. )
5) Does this reading make you think that you need to change anything in your life?