Christ Beyond Time

Bishop Youannis of Gharbia reads the Old Testament as a witness to Christ before the Gospel narratives begin. The opening sermon asks how the apostles used the ancient Scriptures, how the Church understood herself as the new Israel and how prophecies concerning the Church point towards the work of the Redeemer. Christ is presented as present throughout the story, not introduced only at its end.

The wilderness sermons follow a chain of types: the Passover lamb, the Red Sea, the song of deliverance, Marah and Elim, manna, the rock, Amalek and the bronze serpent. Each image is considered as part of a larger Christian reading of salvation. The book then enters the tabernacle—the altar, laver, Holy Place, lampstand, veil, ark and coverings—as a heavenly pattern gathered around Christ.

Further sermons examine blood and sacrifice, burnt, grain, peace, sin and trespass offerings, responsibility, restoration and the Eucharistic meaning of sacrifice. The Jewish feasts—Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and Tabernacles—become another series of signs through which the book follows Christ’s fulfilment.

The final sermon remembers ministers, confessors, martyrs, apologists, Athanasius, Dioscorus, ascetics and devoted laypeople who bear witness in their own time. With its closing prayer, this work helps readers trace the unity of Scripture and recognise how Christian worship, suffering and hope gather around the living Christ who is beyond time.

Bishop Youannis (1923–1987), Bishop of Gharbia, was a Coptic Orthodox monk, teacher and pastor. This work belongs to his twentieth-century ministry of preaching and Christian formation.

Christ in the Old Testament: the wilderness journey, tabernacle, sacrifices and feasts, read through the faith of the Church.

Generative artificial intelligence assisted the English translation and preparation of this edition. This accessible edition does not replace primary texts, printed editions or surviving manuscripts. Scholars should verify quotations, textual readings and academic conclusions against those sources.