Page 58 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
The Worship of Jesus Christ
and the Holy Spirit
If the early Christians lived between the Resurrection and the
expectation of the Lord’s return, a natural question arose:
Where is Christ now?
The answer given by the Church was that, through His
Ascension, Christ is seated “at the right hand of the Father,”
where He intercedes for humanity as the eternal High Priest.
By applying to Him the words of the Psalm—“Sit at my right
hand” (Psalm 110)—the early Christians confessed Him as
Lord (Kyrios), recognizing in Him the very presence of God.
Together with the Father, He receives worship and prayer, and
as the Head of the new humanity, He offers the prayers of all
before the Father.
This understanding shaped Christian spirituality in a deci-
sive way. Prayer was no longer simply human speech directed
toward God. It became participation in the prayer of Christ
Himself. To pray was to pray in Him, through Him, and as
members of His Body. Only insofar as one is incorporated into
Christ can one stand before the Father and be heard.
For this reason, Christians were taught to pray “in the name
of Christ,” not as individuals, but as one Body. The prayer par
excellence was the one given by Christ Himself: “Our Father.”
In it, believers were granted the astonishing privilege of shar-
ing in Christ’s own relationship with the Father, calling God
Abba. This prayer found its fullest expression in the Eucharis-
tic assembly, where the one Christ and the many members of
His Body are united in a single act of prayer and offering.
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