What Do We Want from Christ?
The Faith of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women
After Jesus feeds the 5,000 with the five barley loaves and two fish, He says to the multitude following Him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, You seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled." Why do we follow Jesus? Is it because we hope to receive something from His hand? Some food or nourishment? Perhaps it is time for us to take an honest look at ourselves and the reasons why we follow the Way.
There are those who preach that following Christ will bring earthly, material success, however this plainly contradicts the words of Christ who tells us that we will be hated if we follow Him. Or there's the psychological view, that following Christ is good for our mental health, and He will bring us peace, happiness, and comfort. This is, of course, true, but it still requires taking up our cross and following Christ. Finally, there is the societal perspective, that if everyone would just keep the commandments, we will save society and the West and defeat our political and cultural opponents. This view forgets that it was the martyrs and monastics who built Christian society, precisely by not resisting evil and dying to themselves.
Is it possible to have an entirely pure faith, to love Christ with no ulterior motives? Perfect faith is supremely exemplified by the Holy Myrrhbearing women who came to Christ's tomb to anoint His injured body early Sunday morning. The Lord was not multiplying and loaves or fish that day. He was not raising any paralytics or opening the eyes of the blind. He was laying dead in the tomb. And yet, these women did not care about any of that. They went to Christ on Resurrection Sunday with no hope of receiving something from Him. On the contrary, they were prepared to lose everything for His sake! Their faith and love for Christ compelled them to disregard human reasoning, logic, and desire and go to His tomb anyway, not knowing what they would find when they got there. They wanted to be beside Him for no other reason than loving Him purely, selflessly, and entirely.And this is why they were the first to know. This is why the Lord rewarded their pure faith by granting them the honor of becoming the first people in human history to hear of His resurrection.
May the Holy Myrrhbearing Women intercede with the Lord on our behalf, that we might share a fraction of their supremely pure faith.
FR. MARK SULTANI holds his MDiv from St. Vladimir's Seminary and is the Assistant Pastor of St. George Cathedral in Wichita, KS.
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