Hope and Sacrifice

In this Passover and Passion week, I have been reminded many times of the power of hope and the value of sacrifice, as several areas of my life have converged.

I was teaching my grandchildren earlier this week about the Roman Empire and the Emperors from Nero through Diocletian. This was at the height of Roman power and expansion. It was also during the beginning of the development and growth of the Christian Church. Both Nero and Diocletian saw these early Christians as a threat because they refused to worship the emperor as a god. Consequently, Christians were martyred in huge numbers during this time, and yet they continued to have hope in God’s promise of salvation and a place with God in Heaven. This hope gave them strength during this time of tribulation. As a result, the Church continued to grow despite the persecution.

Then while researching for my new project, I learned about an icon commissioned on behalf of the Romanovs from the nuns at Novo-Tikhvinsky in Ekaterinburng, Siberia, who had a workshop where they painted icons for churches and individuals.

The Icon of Saint Marina (Margaret) of Antioch Defeating the Devil (pictured left) is a beautiful piece of religious artwork. Thought this one is a replica of the famous 1857 icon by Lazaros from Athens, preserved in the Byzantine Museum.

This particular icon tells the story of Marina who lived in the 4th-century during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (the first convergence). She was orphaned as a child and raised in the home of a pagan priest. Her nurse introduced her to Christianity. But when her father learned of it, he disowned her.

At the age of 15, she was arrested and subjected to brutal tortures for refusing to renounce her faith. Despite the tortures, she remained steadfast in her belief and prayed for divine help. It is said that she had a confrontation with the devil, who appeared to her in the form of serpent and later a demon. Through her prayers and the sign of the cross, Marina defeated the demon, physically subduing and striking him with a hammer. This dramatic victory over evil symbolizes her unshakable faith and divine strength. Ultimately, she was martyred by beheading after enduring severe torment for her faith and the hope of salvation.

This week is Passover during which Jews remember the final plague on Egypt and the Pharaoh during which God sent the Angel Gabriel to kill the first-born sons of the Egyptians to force them to release the Hebrew slaves. They were hoping for freedom from slavery.

The Hebrews were told to sacrifice a lamb without blemish and then paint the door frame of their home with the blood. When Gabriel saw the blood, he would then pass over their homes. Inside the house the Hebrews ate a meal of lamb and unleavened bread (bread without yeast). The lamb became the sacrifice for the atonement of their sins (failure to follow God’s law perfectly).

This week is know as the Passion week during which Jesus Christ suffered and died, culminating with Easter Sunday when Jesus arose from the dead. During Passover, Jesus conducted a last supper with his disciples (followers) to share the Passover meal. During this meal he used the bread as a symbol of his body and the wine as the symbol of his blood to show his disciples that he would become the last Passover sacrifice. He became the hope of humanities’ spiritual salvation. Christ became the atonement for all the sins of those who declare him to be their Lord and Savior.

Ironically, Jews who celebrate Passover today, do not eat lamb. Rather they include a lamb bone in their rituals. The temple was destroyed in A.D. (or C.E.) 70 following a Jewish uprising against the Romans. As a result, Jews no longer make sacrifices, represented by the lamb bone at Passover. Christians would say that sacrifices are no longer necessary because of Christ’s perfect sacrifice for all time.

As I write this new novel, which I am currently calling Two Marias and a Revolution, about the last days of the Romanov family and the nuns of Novo-Tikhvinsky convent who cared for them during the Bolshevik Revolution, I have been wrestling with reconciling the tragedy of the fate of the Romanovs and the hopeful ending I have in mind.

The Romanovs hoped for rescue from their imprisonment, but sadly this hope was not realized. Instead they were sacrificed for the Bolshevik cause, becoming martyrs for their faith, according to the Orthodox Church. And yet the hope of rescue and God's provision for them kept them going, giving them strength to endure the hardships placed upon them. Up to the end, they continued to practice their faith and hope, just as the early Christian martyrs did under Roman persecution.

What do your hope for? For what or for whom would you sacrifice your life for?

Happy Easter!