On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when He had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

John 20:19-23

Jesus chose twelve men to be His Disciples. For three years, they followed Him around, learned His message and understood why it needed to be spread throughout the world. Jesus had also told them before His Passion, that He was going to go away from them, and that He would send to them the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you.” (John 14:17)

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Disciples behind locked doors. He said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23) This was the first “ordination,” in that Jesus imparted the Holy Spirit unto the Disciples, in this case breathing on them. As we will see in the next reflection, the physical gesture at an ordination became the laying on of hands. In both this first “ordination” and continuing to this day, the central act is the receiving of the Holy Spirit. The modern ordination, an elaborate rite that includes a procession, prayers and petitions, has one line as the main focal, this is the actual “moment” that one is ordained. The ordaining Bishop will say “The Divine Grace that always heals that which is infirm and completes what is lacking, ordains (the name of the person), the most devout (whatever rank they hold) to be a (whatever rank they are being ordained to). Therefore, let us pray that the grace of the Holy Spirit may come down upon him.” (From the sacrament of ordination)

In the church today, it is the Holy Spirit that effects all of our sacraments. In the sacrament of Holy Communion, we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, but this is made possible only through the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Gifts of bread and wine. The Holy Spirit brings us to Christ, and Christ brings us to the Father.

Immediately after “ordaining” the Disciples, Jesus told them that one of their most important roles would be that of “confessor,” tell them that “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:23) This is the foundation verse for the sacrament of confession, which is one of the most important parts of ministry that is done by the clergy. Not all of the clergy are confessors. Deacons do not hear confessions. And priests must be given a blessing (offikion) to hear confessions. The sacrament of confession is both a gift and an awesome responsibility for those who hear them. It is a great gift to be able to offer to people who are beset by guilt and shame that they no longer need to carry that around. It is a great gift to receive when you come for confession, that you are absolved of guilt and shame. It is also a great burden to listen to the pains of people and try, with the help of the Holy Spirit thankfully, to find words of comfort, encouragement, and sometimes correction.

This first ordination also established what we today call Apostolic Succession. Jesus ordained the disciples to be the first “bishops,” meaning the shepherds of the church. Jesus revealed Himself as the “Good Shepherd,” (John 10) and He was not imparting that same responsibility to the disciples. Later, they disciples would ordain other shepherds (bishops) who continue to ordain bishops to this day. Something that is important in Orthodoxy is this concept of Apostolic Succession, that our bishops can trace their lineage to the time of the Apostles, who received their authority directly from Christ. No one can proclaim himself a priest or a bishop. One must be ordained by a canonical bishop who is in the line of Apostolic Succession.

After the first “ordination,” that took place on the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus remained with His disciples for forty days. After forty days, He commissioned them to be Apostles, before ascending into heaven. In Matthew 28: 19-20, Jesus commissioned them, by commanding them “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to do all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” In other words, the primary role of the Apostles, the bishops and indeed the whole church, is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. The Great Commission is read over everyone who is baptized, it is the Gospel passage at the sacrament of Baptism. And whether one is ordained a priest or not, each of us has received this commission, to fulfill in our own way.

To conclude each of the remaining seven reflections of this short unit, we will touch on the vestments of the priest. There are seven of them. When a priest vests, he offers a prayer as he puts on each vestment. These prayers all come from the Old Testament, and the place from where they are taken will be the prayer for each of the following reflections. Only a few verses are quoted for the priestly prayer, but for the sake of these reflections, additional verses will be added.

The first vestment of the priest is the sticharion, a long robe with long sleeves that is usually light colored and represents the white sheet in which we were wrapped at baptism.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings for its shoots, and a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Isaiah 61:10-11

Remember that each of us received the Great Commission, and are to do our part to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in some way in our lifetimes.