On Saturday, May 12th, Hal Smith, a parishioner at St Michael’s Orthodox Church in Mount Carmel, gave a talk at the church on the Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s resurrection. He began by saying that the Old Testament uses David as a poetic image of the Messiah, and that in the Psalms, David describes himself as being put to death and resurrecting. Smith used a photocopy of the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest physically surviving Old Testament text, to show that Psalm 22:16 suggests that the Messiah’s hands and feet would be pierced, like Christ’s limbs in the crucifixion.

Next, Mr. Smith described Isaiah 52-53 as a prediction of Christ because it talked about a Servant who suffers, bears others’ sins, is put to death, makes multitudes righteous, and resurrects. Smith distributed a photocopy from the Dead Sea Scroll to show that Isaiah 53:11 actually predicts that the Servant would “see light”, which in the Old Testament means life.

Then, Smith described similarities between the Old Testament Temple service and the Orthodox Church service. For example, on the Day of Atonement the high priest entered through gates in the Temple and placed ram’s blood on the Ark of the Covenant. Similarly, during the Liturgy, the Orthodox priest enters the Church’s gates and puts the bread and wine on a holy table. Another analogy is the Old Testament Passover sacrifice and Easter, or “Pascha,” in the New Testament.

Father Michael Evans, the rector of the parish, described how he prepares the Lamb during Proskomedia by cutting the bread and using the prayer from Isaiah 53. Father Claude Vinyard, formerly a pastor at St Michael’s, also attended, and invited Mr. Smith to give the talk at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in McAdoo. The discussion was followed by a Vespers service.

Attendees at the event received Easter eggs and tasted the type of bread used for Communion.