What blessings shall the faithful who are righteous enjoy?

The Lord Christ opens His Sermon on the Mount with nine beatitudes (Matt. 5:2–11) and continues by encouragingly telling the faithful that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13–14) and highlighting the heavenly fatherhood of God (Matt. 7:11). When He speaks of kingdom, He says that it is “prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34); and when He speaks of the everlasting fire, He says that it is “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

Thus does the Lord of Glory deal with His faithful people; He emphasizes to us that which is positive and joyful and reassures us that He has cared for us since the foundation of the world. But the punishments are prepared for the devil and his angels. The apostle Paul adopts the same approach, for in his epistles, he begins by highlighting what is good about his readers, and only then does he go on to address the faults. As such, they experience his

appreciation of them, and his love and encouragement; for indeed, the Holy Spirit urges everyone to repent and receive the forgiveness of sins.

Most important among the blessings the faithful who are righteous receive are these:

First: The nine beatitudes with which the Lord opens His Sermon. The word “blessed” in Greek has no exact translation in other languages. It does not mean only “happy” or “joyful,” but suggests the blessed heavenly and angelic life. This blessing — eagerly anticipated by the righteous — is what fills them with heavenly, eternal, and indescribable joy. The word of God invites us to taste the promise of this blessing throughout our striving on earth and bestows divine grace upon us.

Abba Chæremon says, “It is indeed a sign of the utmost blessedness and of singular goodness both continually to learn and to teach that love by which we cling to the Lord, so that meditation on Him may, as the Psalmist says, occupy all the days and nights of our life (cf. Ps. 1:2), and may support our soul, which insatiably hungers and thirsts after righteousness, by continually chewing the cud of this heavenly food.”¹²⁵³

Mo’allim Daniel El-Salihi sees the beatitudes as gifts of the Holy Spirit granted to whosoever desires them. The term “blessed” is one of the titles of our Lord Christ, as St. Paul says: “He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15). Thus, the beatitudes are the work of the Spirit in us through our union with the Beatific and Blessed One — our Head, Jesus Christ. Some observe that the psalmist beatifies those who resist evil (Ps. 1) to reassure us that these blessings are granted as a free gift to whomsoever resists evil.

Therefore, St. Augustine explains that to the young person who resists evil thoughts, God will grant a greater crown than that granted to a small child who has never been attacked by evil feelings. The former receives the crown of striving and battling out of love, and experiences the purity of maturity; unlike a small child whose purity is due to impotence.

Second: The paradise of God with the Tree of Life in its midst (Rev. 2:7). This is the tree of which Adam and Eve were deprived as a consequence of their disobedience to the divine commandment. The Word of God was incarnate so that through His crucifixion we might enter the heavenly paradise that is named the holy city of God, descending from heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2). It is the tabernacle of God, bearing His glory, where the righteous dwell with God (Rev. 21:11). It contains no temple, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple (Rev. 21:22). It is the general assembly and the Church of the firstborn who are renewed in heaven (Heb. 12:23). It is an incorruptible inheritance that does not fade away but is reserved in the heavens (1 Pet. 1:4).

St. Ephrem the Syrian says:

1253 St. John Cassian, The Conferences 11.15 (NPNF II/11:422).

“The tree of life [the source of immortality] is the symbol of the Son of the Living One.”¹²⁵⁴

“The assembly of saints bears resemblance to Paradise: in it each day is plucked the fruit of Him who gives life to all.”¹²⁵⁵

“Blessed be the Merciful One, who saw the weapon by Paradise, that closed the way to the Tree of Life; and came and took a Body which could suffer, that with the Door, that was in His side, He might open the way into Paradise.”¹²⁵⁶

“Perhaps that blessed tree, the Tree of Life, is, by its rays, the sun of Paradise; its leaves glisten, and on them are impressed the spiritual graces of that Garden. In the breezes the other trees bow down as if in worship before that sovereign and leader of the trees.”¹²⁵⁷

Third: The indescribable radiance of the righteous. And the sublime beauty that amazes the inhabitants of heaven. The righteous will partake of that divine nature which they experienced during their earthly striving — albeit in a limited fashion — through the working of divine grace in them; and without the loss of their individual personality or human nature. Just as the Word of God united with human nature yet remained divine, so can we partake of the divine nature and yet remain human. We are not called to external virtues, but union with God and to becoming His image, so that the Lord’s love, holiness, patience, endurance, longsuffering, meekness, and simplicity may be ours. Thus, the apostle Peter says, “that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:4).

Fourth: The faithful become kings and queens sitting at the right hand of the King of kings. The righteous reign eternally and they will no longer suffer from fear nor hunger, nor wrestle with the forces of darkness and with sin. Instead, concord, harmony, and unity will prevail between the soul and the body, as well as between all the righteous inheritors of eternal glory, and between them and the ranks of heaven.

Fifth: The righteous enjoy a sublime unity. The Lord Christ beseeched the Father before His crucifixion saying, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will

1254 St. Isaac the Syrian, Hymns on the Church 49.16, quoted in PP 10:61.

1255 St. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise 6.8 (PP 10:111).

1256 St. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Nativity 6.4 (NPNF II/13:238).

1257 St. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise 3.2 (PP 10:91).

believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:20–21).

Sixth: They see God as He is. St. John the Beloved says, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Seeing Him will instill in us great joy, as it did for the disciples at the Transfiguration when Peter said, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here” (Mark 9:5). The apostle Paul says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). And the Lord says, “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43). Unending is the thirst of the true believer to see God by all means, to meet his heavenly Beloved face-to-face. This vision does not belong only to the life to come — it is the extension of the lived daily experience of the believer.

The apostle Paul states: “who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1Tim. 6:16). This raises many questions, such as:

• a. Is this vision vouchsafed only for eternal life? Or can it begin here, experienced in the depths of the soul?

• b. When the angelic inhabitants of heaven behold God, do they see his essence?

• c. Do the faithful in heaven enjoy the vision of the essence of God?

Only the true Word and the only begotten Son can see the Father, for He is one with Him in that essence. No being, whether of earth or heaven, is like Him. There is no possibility of comparison between Him and Abraham, the father of the patriarchs, or Moses who received the Law, or any other prophet; or even between Him and any of the ranks of heaven.

St. Theophilus of Antioch says, “Hear, O man. The appearance of God is ineffable and indescribable, and cannot be seen by eyes of flesh. For in glory He is incomprehensible, in greatness unfathomable, in height inconceivable, in power incomparable, in wisdom unrivalled, in goodness inimitable, in kindness unutterable. For if I say He is Light, I name but His own work; if I call Him Word, I name but His sovereignty; if I call Him Mind, I speak but of His wisdom; if I say He is Spirit, I speak of His breath; … if Providence, I but mention His goodness; if I call Him Kingdom, I but mention His glory; if I call Him Lord, I mention His being judge; if I call Him Judge, I speak of Him as being just; if I call Him Father, I speak of all things as being from Him; if I call Him Fire, I but mention His anger.”¹²⁵⁸

“When you shall have put off the mortal, and put on incorruption, then shall you see God worthily. For God will raise your flesh immortal with your soul; and then, having become

1258 St. Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 1.3 (ANF 2:89–90).

immortal, you shall see the Immortal, if now you believe on Him; and then you shall know that you have spoken unjustly against Him.”¹²⁵⁹

We will revel in the vision of the Holy Trinity and grow in knowledge of divine mysteries, in St. Irenaeus’ view, “not only in the present world, but also in that which is to come, so that God should for ever teach, and man should for ever learn the things taught him by God.”¹²⁶⁰ The vision will differ from one person to another, according to the words of the Lord: “In My Father's house are many mansions” (John 14:2).¹²⁶¹

And St. Clement of Alexandria says, “Receive Christ, receive sight, receive your light, ‘In order that you may know well both God and man.’¹²⁶² ‘Sweet is the Word that gives us light, precious above gold and gems; it is to be desired above honey and the honey-comb’ (Ps. 19:10).”¹²⁶³