Then Moses and the Children of Israel Sang This Song to the Lord: Exodus 15:1-21

Exodus 15:1-21: "1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: 'I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! 2 The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. 3 The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. 4 Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. 7 And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble. 8 And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them." 10 You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12 You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them. 13 You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. 14 The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. 15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away. 16 Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm they will be as still as a stone, till Your people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over whom You have purchased. 17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. 18 "The LORD shall reign forever and ever." 19 For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.' 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them: 'Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!'"

Parts of this pericope make up what is known as the canticle "Cantemus Domino," which is translated, "I will sing unto the Lord." This canticle is traditionally the canticle that is sung on Thursday at Matins, in place of the "Te Deum," which, strictly speaking, is the canticle for Sunday, except during the penitential seasons. The Cantemus Domino is derived from verses 1-2, 6, 11, 13, and 17-18 of Exodus 15, although it is often listed as being Exodus 15:1-18. Traditionally it is chanted to the eighth Gregorian psalm tone. Shown below:

The two notes before the double barline indicates the intonation. The reciting note is the B flat written as a double whole note. The flex, which is sometimes used on long sections of recitation, or on the "-ning" of beginning in the the Gloria Patri, indicates a drop to that note (in this case G), it is usually either a drop of a whole step or a minor third depending on what the reciting note is.

The mediation comes next. This is where the canticle verse is divided in two, usually by a colon, or semicolon, or by and asterisk. In the example above it is the two notes before the double barline marked with an asterisks above. In the eighth psalm tone, and some others as well (2nd, 4th, and 5th), sometimes the final note of the mediation is dropped. This is the case if the final syllable of a poly-syllable word is accented, or if the word is a mono-syllable. This is what is known anciently as the "monosyllabic mediation." After the mediation, the reciting note is again taken up until the termination.

The termination in the eighth psalm tone is the four quarter notes listed above. In the eighth psalm tone, besides the normal termination, there are two other "differentiae" or "variations." Also, the termination in the example above does not include what are known as "hollow notes." In Gregorian chant, these were notes that were that were not filled in, hence, they were "hollow." These notes indicated the note to be sung when two syllables were to be sung to the same note. The syllables that are sung to hollow notes are typically the "short" syllables that follow an accented syllable. They are, typically, one or two letter syllables. The note they are sung to depends on the following note, whether it is a less than two steps, or a third step or more. If less than two steps, the short syllable is sung on the same note as the accented syllable. If the next note is a third step or more, the short syllable is sung to the following note.

This canticle is the song of the people of God, who having been rescued from the perils of sin and death, praise God for His abundant mercy. Therefore let us sing this canticle and give praise to God.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Now They Were on the Road, Going Up to Jerusalem, and Jesus Was Going Before Them: St. Mark 10:32-52

St. Mark 10:32-52: "32 Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.' 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, 'Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.' 36 And He said to them, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' 37 They said to Him, 'Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.' 38 But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' 39 They said to Him, 'We are able.' So Jesus said to them, 'You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; 40 but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.' 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, 'You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.' 46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, 'Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.' 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' The blind man said to Him, 'Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.' 52 Then Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your faith has made you well.' And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road."

Again, we are told that our dear Lord Jesus is on the road going up to Jerusalem. This is more then just the Evangelist St. Mark telling us were Jesus is headed geographically. This is an indirect statement about our Lord's purpose. He is going up to Jerusalem, the place where He will be scourged, beaten, spit upon, mocked, and crucified by the Gentiles. The Evangelist St. Mark is preparing us for the Passion of our Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ also prepares His disciples for His suffering and death by telling them what will happen to them when they reach Jerusalem. Although there is a light at the end of the tunnel. On the third day He will rise again from the dead.

We are told over and over again in the Gospels that the disciples didn't understand what He was talking about whenever He tells them about His work. And this lack of understanding continues until after His resurrection, and then they finally understand. However, here in this pericope, we get an example of two of the disciples' lack of understanding; St. John and St. James the Elder, two of our Lord's chief disciples. Here they ask our dear Lord Jesus to take their places on the left and right of Him in His glory.

The Sons of Zebedee, St. John and St. James the Elder, understood this to be His earthly glory. That is, they believed that He would establish an earthly throne, and rule. They were simply asking to be His right hand men. There are others today, who say that this glory is a reference to the throne that our Lord Jesus sits on in Heaven. Besides the obvious dilemma that our Lord Jesus sits on the right hand of the Father, and that one of the disciples would be sitting where the Father is sitting, this understanding of the text fails to take into consideration what our Lord Jesus tells St. James the Elder and St. John next.

The Lord starts talking about His cup and His baptism. Obviously we can see allusions to the two Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but more than that we see a glimpse of what our Lord considers to be His glory. It is the cross. His crucifixion is His glory. This ties in nicely with what our Lord Jesus says about being servant of all. He is the greatest, because He became our servant and suffered and died in our place, fulfilling the Law. Our Lord's glory is not sitting on a throne judging people, even though He does that too. But, our Lord's glory is His Passion.

This too, is our glory. For it is His cross which we bear. We bear this cross through our Holy Baptism, where we were crucified and buried with Him in the waters of Holy Baptism, so that we too might rise again to new life. Indeed St. John and St. James the Elder were baptized with Christ's baptism, this takes place during the washing of the disciples feet on the night when He instituted the Lord's Supper. But, more than that, they both were baptized in blood. St. James the Elder became the first disciple to be martyred, and St. John, although not a martyr in the flesh, was a martyr in spirit, and his life was constantly in jeopardy, including being poisoned, which he survived. This is why his symbol is a cup with a coiled snake coming out of it.

The cup also represents blood, and it also is a symbol of the martyrdom of these two disciples. This cup that our Lord Jesus speaks about is the cup of His Passion. And from His Passion, our Lord gives His Blessed Apostles the cup that would be the life blood of the Church. It is this cup which we drink everytime we receive our Lord's Body and Blood, in bread and wine. This Body and Blood, is what He offered once and for all on the tree of the cross, and He gives it to us; to His holy Christian Church, as heavenly food for us to eat and drink. And this heavenly meal keep us in the one true faith unto life everlasting, by the in-working of the Holy Ghost.

Therefore, our Lord Jesus must go up to Jerusalem, in order to win for us forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation on the cross. And along the way, He opens the eyes of the blind man Bartimaeus. It is interesting that after our Lord Jesus tells His disciples what He must do, St. John and St. James the Elder reveal the spiritual blindness and misunderstanding of all the disciples, but on the road to Jerusalem, in the city of Jericho, the town which the Israelites first encountered after they crossed over the Jordan, a man who is physically blind, can see clearly spiritually. The blind man Bartimaeus represents all those who upon hearing of the cross of Jesus Christ, become enlightened, and believe on our Lord Jesus, the Son of David, and the Son of Man, that is, the True Messiah. Having received their spiritual sight, they follow our Lord Jesus on the road to Jerusalem.

Therefore as we prepare for Lent, and the journey to the cross and Passion of our dear Lord Jesus, we rejoice in our Holy Baptism, and we receive the cup of Salvation, and rejoice that our sins our forgiven, and that our eyes have been opened, so that we can see clearly our Lord's glory, and our glory. For our glory is His glory, and His glory is the cross. This too is our glory, for it is the means whereby we have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Do Not Be Afraid. Stand Still, and See the Salvation of the Lord: Exodus 14:1-31

Exodus 14:1-31: "1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, "They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in." 4 Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.' And they did so. 5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, 'Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon. 10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, "Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?" For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.' 13 And Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.' 15 And the LORD said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.' 19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, 'Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.' 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.' 27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. 29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses."

This is a rather well known pericope. The narrative of the destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the depths of the Red Sea. In this reading we see the pride of Pharaoh, and we see that the old saying is true, "After pride, cometh a fall." We also begin to see in this reading from the Book of Moses, commonly called Exodus, the trouble that our Lord God is going to have with the Israelites. Pharaoh also is a picture of what the Israelites will be like after they have begun living in Canaan.

Throughout the ten plagues, Pharaoh has moments of remorse; moments where he plans on letting the people of Israel go, however, he eventually reneges on remorse. He is no exception, for after the death of the firstborn has sunk in, Pharaoh, and we are told all of Egypt with him, wonders why he let the Israelites go. His pride gets the best of him, therefore, he gathers his army to chase after the Israelites to either bring them back into Egypt by force, or worse, to slaughter them all in the wilderness, taking vengeance upon them for the death of the firstborn sons.

The same thing is true of the Israelites after they enter the land of Canaan, for they also have moments where they have great faith in the Lord God, and call upon Him, and trust in Him, but then as their lives get easier, and they don't need Him as much, they forget about Him. Therefore, the Lord God sends them oppressors, in the form of other lands enacting some kind of force upon them, until they cry out once more to God. This cycle continues throughout the Old Testament, until at last God finally has enough of them, and leads them into exile.

We can see this already in this pericope, for the Israelites, who were slaves in Egypt, and as much as they object at the present time about being led out into the wilderness to die, they did not like it in Egypt. But yet, they still claim they would have been better off staying in Egypt. Yeah, right! But God has already planned their salvation, and the destruction of Pharaoh. For this is where Pharaoh's pride has led him, to his own destruction.

This whole reading is a picture of Holy Baptism. Pharaoh and his army, represent the devil and world, all those things which lead us away from God, and into sin. The Israelites, represent the Church, that is, the people of God, who have been baptized in the holy waters of Baptism. And the Red Sea represents the waters of Holy Baptism itself. The Israelites pass through the waters of the Red Sea with the waters walled up on their left and their right, and they pass through those waters, through seeming death, to life on the other side. Pharaoh and his army, however, are drowned and killed in the Red Sea, so that they can no longer harm the Israelites forever.

This is precisely what takes place in Holy Baptism, all that is evil and sinful within us that we have inherited from Adam, and have added thereto ourselves is drowned and killed in the waters of Holy Baptism. And we emerge out of the waters alive and cleansed, and the powers of hell and death can no longer bother us forever.

Seeing the result of what the Lord God did through the waters of the Red Sea, the people of Israel believed the Lord, and His servant Moses. In other words, it produced faith. This is just like Holy Baptism, for through it the Holy Ghost creates faith in those who cling to their Holy Baptism. And those in whom faith has been created, believe and trust in God, always seeking after Him, and hearing His Word.

However, like the Israelites who would always stray from God, and would need to be led back through oppression and persecution, we too, when times are easy forget about the great gift that is placed upon us. However, through the trial and tribulation placed upon us by our sinful flesh and the world, we are again led back to the Lord God, we are reminded of our Holy Baptism, and that He has redeemed us by the precious Blood of His Only Son Jesus Christ. And having heard once again the message, we again have faith and trust in Him. Although, if we are kept steadfast in His Word, our faith is never shaken, although it may be tested and tried. For through our constant hearing of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are always reminded of what He has done for us, and continues to do for us.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas