Weeks of the Prophet’s Fast
December 15, 2020
The three weeks before the birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the prophets fast are called are called Sermon, Light, and Nolawi. These weeks reflect on three different ways in which the prophets expressed their longing for God’s salvation in this world and how our Lord responded to them.
1. Sermon (December 16- 22)
Sermon means teaching. This week, the fact that all the prophets, beginning with Moses, preaching’s that the Messiah would come, is a reflection of our Lord taught them that He was coming. But in the end, Moses prophesied saying, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” He told the people of Israel, When God the Son appeared in the flesh of Mary, He revealed Himself to be the Messiah spoken of by those prophets. “Moses and all the prophets speak of me,” he said. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah.” Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote Lord Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:41-45)
The apostles and other disciples were quoting the teachings and prophecies of the prophets who taught the Israelites, especially those who knew all the prophecies about our Lord’s death and resurrection; He taught Saint Peter in the temple: “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” (Acts 3:17-18)
In his second letter he wrote: “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of [a]us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts.” (2 Peter 3:1-3)
Saint Paul says in the introduction to his letter to the Hebrews: “God, who [a]at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrew 1:1-2)
2. Light (December 23- 27)
One of the ways in which the prophets waited and revealed God’s salvation was through light. They described their time as “darkness” because they lived in the days of the flesh, the sufferings of the soul, the sufferings of the soul and the alienation from God, the light of the world. “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your [a]tabernacle.” (Psalm 43:3)
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
In the first part of his gospel, Saint John speaks of the incarnation of our Lord, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5)
Saint Paul also said that our Lord appeared in the form of a shining light; “at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.” (Acts 26:13)
3. Nolawi (December 28- January 5)
Nolawi means shepherd; The prophets pleaded for themselves and for the people of Israel and for the world to be gathered and fed as their lost sheep and their wandering sheep; “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; you who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!” (Psalm 80:1)
And our Lord said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
May God embrace us with peace, unity and love upon this fast; Amen!
