In the hand of the Living Christ on almost all icons is a scroll of Scripture: the Lord, the Lord of history, the Lamb slain, crucified and risen - He is the only one who can open all seals, because He is in us and we are in Him. In the light of Easter, our reading of life should be more and more illuminated by the reading of Scripture. The Lord wants to “open our mind to the understanding” of events, to give us the ability to see His living presence in all our deaths, because death is defeated by Him. “Fear not, I was dead, but behold, I am alive forever and ever” (Rev. 1:17-18).
The book of Nehemiah tells that after the return of God's chosen people from the 70-year Babylonian captivity, the priest Ezra reads the Scriptures that had been forgotten during the years of exile. And everyone from sunrise to noon listens to him with tears, in which the joy of finding the Law of God is mixed with sadness for their infidelity, which was the cause of this captivity after a long period of divisions, betrayals and useless compromises with ambitious paganism.
Oh, that today our people, after their no less long and no less terrible captivity, could return to listening to the word of life! However, everything is being done to deprive him of this opportunity not only physically, but most importantly, to make him incapable of perceiving the highest truth. And we, Christians, have been given, by the grace of God, to stand in churches and listen, as if for everyone, to the gospel of the Gospel. We listen to this word with humility and gratitude to the One who speaks personally to each of us. Truly we must listen to the Gospel as if the Lord Himself were present here and speaking to us. Let no one say: blessed are those who could see Him. Because many of those who saw Him participated in His crucifixion, and many of those who did not believe in Him. The same words that came from the mouth of the Lord are recorded in writing to be preserved for us.
Is it possible to love someone without knowing him? To devote every day, at least a little time, to reading the Gospel with prayer means to begin to gradually know and see Christ, just as the apostles saw Him. He Himself is in these words, filled with wisdom, compassion for the misfortune of sinners, holy anger and firmness towards religious businessmen, patient care for disciples who often do not understand the meaning of His words. It is difficult to love the Lord, to truly know Him, without listening to the Word of God, without reading the Holy Gospel - at least for a few minutes every day.
Before beginning the reading of the Gospel during the service, the priest or deacon says: “And we pray that we may be worthy to hear the Holy Gospel of the Lord God.” And what prayer does the priest pray before this: “Shine in our hearts, Lover of Mankind, the imperishable light of Your God-understanding.” And further: “Wisdom, forgive me. Let's hear the Holy Gospel. Peace to all ". And the reading ends, as it begins, with our answer: “Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee.” How do we give glory and praise to the Lord? Words and deeds, our lives? Or do we immediately forget about this word, making it fruitless? What exile from the presence of God will follow this for us? - Worse than Babylon. And in our Fatherland, we, our entire people, may find ourselves in captivity worse than Babylon. The great enemy of God in the world is ignorance of the most important thing; spiritual ignorance is the cause and root of all troubles and evils that poison nations and confuse human souls. Ignorance, aggravated by the powerful organized influence of television and the media, supposedly objectively, without God, covering what is happening in life. How many people who call themselves Orthodox Christians suffer spiritual defeat, becoming easy prey for the enemy, only due to the lack of a firm knowledge of their faith. Ignorance is followed by delusion, the void is filled with blackness. What could be sadder than when ignorance of the word of God makes the world unable to accept the salvation of Christ offered to it!
Saturday of the 33rd week after Pentecost
(1 Thess. 5:14-23; Luke 17:3-10)
Gospel of the Holy Apostle Luke, chapter 17, verses 3-10:
3 Watch yourself. If your brother sins against you, reprimand him; and if he repents, forgive him;
4 and if he sins against you seven times a day and turns around seven times a day and says, “I repent,” forgive him.
5 And the Apostles said to the Lord: increase our faith.
6 The Lord said, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed and said to this fig tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” then it would listen to you.
7 Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending, when he returns from the field, will say to him: Go quickly and sit down at the table?
8 On the contrary, will he not say to him: Prepare my supper, and, having girded yourself, serve me while I eat and drink, and then eat and drink yourself?
9 Will he thank this servant for carrying out the order? Don't think.
10 So you too, when you have done all that was commanded you, say: We are worthless servants, because we have done what we had to do.
1st Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 14 - 23:
14
We also beseech you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient with everyone.
15
See to it that no one repays evil for evil; but always seek the good of each other and everyone.
16
Always be happy.
17
Pray without ceasing.
18
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19
Don't quench the spirit.
20
Do not disparage prophecies.
21
Try everything, hold on to the good.
22
Refrain from all kinds of evil.
23
May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved without blemish at the coming
24
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Theophylact of Bulgaria. Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke
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(OK. 17:3-10)
Luke 17:3. Watch yourself.
The Lord warns the disciples: “Watch yourself.” “Here,” he says, “I tell you first that evil will come, do not be responsible.” For evil must come, but there is no need for you to perish if you are careful and armed. The wolf must come, but if the shepherd is awake, there is no need for the sheep to perish, and the wolf must leave with an empty mouth. The Lord said this about seducers and those who harm the sermon, that is, they interfere. Because there is a great difference between them, for some are incurable like the Pharisees, while others are curable as the brothers of the Lord in relation to the Lord Himself, for they also did not believe in Him (John 7:5).
If your brother sins against you, reprimand him; and if he repents, forgive him;
So, since there is a great difference between those who hinder the preaching, for among them there could be some who are of the same faith, the Lord says: “if... your brother... sins against you,” you “rebuke him” in private, and “if he listens to you, you... have acquired” him, “if he does not listen, take one or two more with you,” and so on, which the Evangelist Matthew (Matthew 18:15-17) depicted in greater detail, but the Evangelist Luke passed on in silence, as has already been said Evangelist Matthew. Whoever listens to the reprimand is worthy of forgiveness; and whoever does not listen, “let him be as a pagan and a tax collector,” that is, he is abominable and unworthy to be called a brother.
Luke 17:4. and if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day he turns back and says, “I repent,” forgive him.
Then, as if someone said: so be it, Lord! You discerned this well; but what to do with someone who has received forgiveness many times and again harms? The Lord says: if he repents again, forgive him. And again: “if... he turns back seven times a day,... forgive him.” And the word “seven times a day” is placed here instead of the word “many times,” similar to the expression: “even a barren woman gives birth seven times” (1 Samuel 2:5). So, no matter how many times he repents, so many times should he be forgiven. And do not think that the Lord sets a number for how many times to forgive, but, as I said before, understand “seven times a day” instead of “many times” and countlessly. We say in ordinary conversation: in such and such a city there are darkness (ten thousand) inhabitants, but we say not because it actually has ten thousand inhabitants, for there may be more of them in it, but instead of naming the city very populous, we say it has ten thousand inhabitants. And that “seven times a day” is used in this meaning is clear from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 18:21-22). For there, when Peter said: Lord, must I forgive him (my brother) seven times? The Lord said; not “up to seven, but up to seventy times seven,” meaning through this countless times.
Luke 17:5. And the Apostles said to the Lord: increase our faith.
The apostles believed in the Lord, however, having come to the consciousness of their weakness, realizing that the Lord had spoken about something great, and having heard about the danger from temptations, they asked that the power of faith increase in them, so that through it they could fulfill what they wanted. what He said, that is, regarding non-covetousness. For nothing strengthens non-covetousness more than faith in God and firm trust in Him, just as nothing encourages the accumulation of treasures more than disbelief that God is a great treasurer (treasurer), and His goodness is an inexhaustible treasury; Moreover, with faith they can resist temptations. Therefore, the apostles come to the Lord and say: “increase our faith,” that is, show us to be the most perfect and firmest in the faith.
Luke 17:6. The Lord said: if you had faith the size of a mustard seed and said to this fig tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, then it would listen to you.
The Lord, showing them that their request is good and that they need to firmly hold the thought that faith has great power, says: if you had faith, you would have replanted this fig tree. There are two great things here, namely: what took root in the earth would, firstly, move from its place, and secondly, would be transplanted into the sea. What can be planted in water? Obviously, with these words the Lord shows the power of faith. Perhaps someone, in a figurative sense, will understand the “fig tree” as the devil, since he invented an eternal worm for us and feeds it with the thoughts he implants; for worms feed on fig leaves, from which silk threads are made. Likewise, faith can uproot this fig tree from the human heart and throw it into the sea, that is, cast it into the abyss.
Luke 17:7. Which of you, having a slave plowing or shepherding, upon his return from the field, will say to him: go quickly and sit down at the table?
Luke 17:8. On the contrary, will he not say to him: prepare my supper and, having girded yourself, serve me while I eat and drink, and then eat and drink yourself?
Luke 17:9. Will he thank this servant for carrying out the order? Don't think.
Luke 17:10. So you too, when you have fulfilled everything commanded you, say: we are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do.
Having said this about faith, the Lord adds another very necessary teaching. Which one? The teaching that one should not be proud of perfections. Since faith accomplishes many things and makes the one who contains it a fulfiller of the commandments, decorating him with miracles, and from this a person can easily fall into arrogance; Therefore, the Lord warns the apostles not to be proud of their perfections, presenting a wonderful example. “Who,” he says, “of you has a slave,” and so on. This parable declares that one should not boast of any perfection, not even of fulfilling all the commandments. For the slave has the necessary duty to carry out the master’s orders, but their execution should not be imputed to him as perfection. For if a slave does not do, he is worthy of wounds; and when he did, let him be content with the fact that he avoided wounds, and should not necessarily demand payment for this. For paying him, especially giving him something, depends on the generosity of the master. Likewise, one who works for God should not be proud if he fulfills the commandments, for he has not done anything great. On the contrary, if he had not fulfilled this, he would have suffered grief, as the apostle said: “Woe is me if I do not preach the good news!” (1 Cor. 9:16). Likewise, if he received gifts, he should not boast about them, for the gifts were given to him by the grace of God, and not because the Master owed him. For the special duty of a slave, in relation to his master, is to carry out all his orders. If we should not think anything great about ourselves even when we keep all the commandments, then what are we like when we do not fulfill even a small part of God’s commandments, and are even proud? Pay attention also to the expression of the parable that “the one who plows” is put first, and then “the one who shepherds” is added. For, whoever it is, first needs to cultivate the land, and then take over the pastoral position. He who has cultivated his flesh well, like some land, is worthy to be a shepherd for others. For whoever does not know how to manage his own house as it should, how will he care about the Church (1 Tim. 3:5)? So, first cultivate yourself, and then shepherd others, as the prophet Jeremiah said: “plow up new fields for yourselves” (Jer. 4:3), and then enlighten yourself with the light of reason, which denotes the most important part of the pastoral position.
MODERN COMMENTS
(Luke 17:3-10)
Archpriest Pavel Velikanov
The three topics of today's reading seem to have no connection with each other. The first theme is about the unlimited readiness to forgive those who have sinned against you; the second theme is a request for an increase in faith and Christ’s testimony about the power of even the smallest faith, and finally, the third theme is the parable of the worker and the owner. To understand the internal connection between these seemingly separate narratives, one question must be answered: why did the apostles need faith?
Strange question, you say. After all, faith is a key virtue in religious life. “Without faith it is impossible to please God”- is not it? Everything is correct, but there is one small nuance. The apostles talk about increasing their faith after the words of Jesus that forgiveness should be unconditional - and then the apostles understand: no, this is too much. Well, to forgive the same person seven times in a day is already something beyond the realm of possibility. And they see a way out of this situation in a significant increase in faith - with which, as it seems to them, it is quite possible to cope with the task of forgiveness.
Christ's answer seems very extraordinary. After all, in essence, He tells them: there would be something to multiply! You don’t even understand what you’re talking about: it seems to you that you have faith, you just need to “increase it” a little - but in fact, it is with faith as such that you have very big problems! But why? Because for the apostles, faith is a spiritual tool through which one can achieve high goals. This is a means, not an end. However, in the parable that follows this short talk about faith, Jesus puts everything in its place.
In the parable we see that all the servant’s service to the master is his life. He does not “earn” any kind of praise or gratitude: he is completely “embedded” in the life of the master’s house, and this integral service, without regard to what he will receive for it, is the only correct dispensation for a slave. Transferring this image to our lives, it is not difficult to understand: God is not looking for market relationships with a person, but family, sincere ones, like those of the closest family members. The situation when a child does not wash the dishes if he is not promised candy is abnormal. And here it’s not a matter of disobedience or childish egocentrism: this little person has simply not yet developed a sense of family as an integral organism, in which the general condition depends on everyone, including himself. If you didn’t wash the dishes when you could have done so, then you transferred this task onto the shoulders of someone else. But if, on the contrary, you did this deed, it is naive to expect some kind of reward - because you yourself are the “beneficiary” of the results of this good deed as a family member.
That is why the parable ends with strange at first glance words about the absence of any guarantees of salvation. Christ calls on everyone to work to cultivate faith, fulfilling the commandments - but at the same time not to expect any exceptional attitude from God. Why? Yes, because as soon as a parent in a family begins to single out one of the children, the harmony of the family begins to burst at the seams. If a “favorite” appears, it means that others inevitably become “disliked.” God, as an unconditionally loving Father, does not change His attitude towards His children depending on their behavior: He loves everyone completely, even though this love may not meet not only understanding, but even the desire to accept it.
In today's Gospel, Christ calls us to an incredible relationship with God: to feel like full members of the Divine family, to feel our kinship with each other - and to throw out of our heads the temptations that tempt us to use - instead of selflessly serving one another!
***
Priest Dmitry Baritsky
All the time while the apostles accompanied the Savior on His wanderings, they argued about which of them would take a better place in the future kingdom of the Messiah, closer to the king. It is obvious that for them the opportunity to be close to Christ was associated with power and superiority over other people. Instead of serving their neighbor, they want to dominate him. That is why in the passage we heard today, the Savior points out to his disciples an important principle that should be the basis of a healthy spiritual life.
In order to turn into a tyrant for another person, it is not necessary to wear a crown on your head, sit on a throne surrounded by hundreds of thugs and hold the unfortunate’s family and friends hostage. You can simply stubbornly not forgive a person for the bad act that he committed against you. In a sense, the person becomes your debtor. It seems like you even have a moral right to take revenge on him. Insert the pin at the appropriate moment. Dispose of his reputation and destiny as he sees fit. This is a fairly widespread type of household tyranny. And many people use it quite successfully. That's why Christ talks about forgiveness. After all, He did not come to dominate, but to serve. His disciples should follow the same principle.
There is one important point in the Savior’s words. Instead of talking about the need for forgiveness once, He aggravates the situation: a person has sinned against you seven times, forgive him seven times. Why is He doing this? The Lord knows very well that often, even when we forgive our neighbor in words, we cannot let go of the offense in our hearts. A bitter aftertaste continues to live in him. Our memory of the wrong he did against us holds him hostage. And therefore the person seems to remain our debtor. He continues to be guilty of us, even though we have reconciled. And on occasion, we use the opportunity to unobtrusively hint to him about this: I, they say, have forgiven you, please, follow my rules. So, we still keep the person on the hook, we remain in the position of master.
That’s why Christ says: watch yourself, that is, look carefully into your heart. Not all of your forgiveness and noble gestures are actually so. Absolute forgiveness is necessary. It was as if nothing had happened. It’s as if someone erased from your memory the insults that your neighbor inflicted. That's why the Lord uses the number seven. This is by no means an indication of a specific number of times. This number is symbolic. An indication of completeness, completeness of an action.
Further, the Savior deepens his thought: when fulfilling the commandments, you cannot make not only a person, but also God your debtor. It is strange to expect a reward for living the Gospel. After all, if so, then the gospel life for you is something out of the ordinary, distant, something that is different from your everyday life. Everything should be the other way around. Fulfilling the commandments of Christ should become a familiar, everyday thing for us. Like that routine work that saturates our everyday life. We breathe, sleep, walk, eat, clean the house, etc. But no one has the thought of demanding a reward for this.
The students are shocked. Where do you get so much strength to follow what Christ just said? That's why they ask to increase faith in them. Of course, we are not talking about rational faith. It is not about the rational recognition of some dogmatic truths. We are talking about that life-giving effect of divine grace, which alone can overcome the narrowness and inertia of our hearts, our cowardice and give strength to sincerely live according to the Gospel.
Give us, Lord, such faith and spiritual strength that we can, to our best measure, fulfill Your commandment to serve our neighbors and God.
***
Priest Stefan Domusci
People who are decidedly unchurched are confused by many things in the Church... Confused by the language, rituals, traditions, confused by the behavior of priests and laity... But all this turns out to be a trifle compared to the sacrament of repentance or, more simply, confession. Usually a person immediately says that he would confess, but he doesn’t really have anything to say, since he didn’t commit any special sins... didn’t kill, didn’t rob... there are people with sins, even if they confess... And in fact, a very serious problem.
Why do many, when thinking about confession, think this way? Can only the worst of them really be considered sins that hurt the soul?
In fact, the problem is that when talking about sins, modern people often associate them with the norms of the criminal code... Because of this, even the Ten Commandments, which seem to be all known, are actually unknown, except for the 2-3 most famous. Neither the commandment prohibiting idolatry, nor the commandment about the name of God are known to practically anyone...
When people learn that the first commandment is not “thou shalt not kill”, but that in addition to serious sins in practice, there are also internal sins, the easiest way is to admit that if we judge this way, then their whole life turns out to be a complete sin, and since Even if they don’t have the resources to correct it at least partially, then there’s nothing to start at all... All the same, you can’t correct all sins.
Remembering that the saints valued prudence more than many other virtues, it is worth avoiding both one extreme and the other. Soberly assess your condition and strive to fulfill the commandments as much as possible.
But there are so many of them, a person might say, I don’t know where to start! Often the easiest place to start is with something external! From their appearance, from characteristic words and expressions... But if we open the Gospel and try to hear what Christ considered the main thing, we will see that His disciples are primarily distinguished not by their appearance, not by speech, or anything like that... The most important difference is the special the relationship that reigns between them... The relationship that is based on love. And just as we think about health when we get sick, so about love, or rather its absence, is most eloquently evidenced by the problems that arise when communicating with others. Problems that are expressed in resentment and hostility.
In today's reading, the Savior speaks to the apostles about forgiveness and reconciliation as the basic and elementary phenomena of their Christian attitude towards each other. In this context, both the one who says he has nothing to confess and the one who does not know where to start can follow the advice of Christ.
"Watch yourself"- He calls. And we are talking, of course, about being attentive to your inner life, to your relationships with people. Observe your relationships and forgive. Be honest with people, but also peaceful. It may seem strange to many that Christ invites us to forgive when our neighbor asks us for forgiveness. As if there is no need to forgive without this. In fact, this is not what this is about, and Christ does not say this. Simply knowing people who do not forgive even when they are directly asked to do so, He calls them to take the path of forgiveness and begin to learn it. This path is difficult, but Christ calls us to it, because He Himself, according to the Apostle Paul, loved us even when we were sinners. Of course, such love is not immediately available and not without difficulty... But you need to strive for it and you can start small. With forgiveness of insults and reconciliation with neighbors.
SERMON OF THE DAY
About miscellaneous
(1 Thess. 5:14-23; Luke 17:3-10)
Archpriest Vyacheslav Reznikov
The Apostle Paul writes: “Admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak.” In the church fence there are such, and others, and others. Of course, the disorderly ones interfere, the cowardly strive back, the weak slow down the path. But this has been and will always be. We need this, just like other temptations. This was the case in the Old Testament. God warned His church: “The poor will always be in the midst of your land; Therefore I command you: open your hand to your brother, your poor and your needy in your land.”(Deut. 15:21). And about the neighboring nations hostile to Israel He said: “I will not drive them out from before you, but they will be a snare to you, and their gods will be a snare to you.”(Judges 2:3). Let us finally remember how the Lord forbade pulling up the tares, so as not to damage the wheat (Matt. 13:24-30). After all, only when faced with various manifestations of evil in our home, in our church, do we see who we ourselves are, what we are worth, and what we have managed to acquire during our Christian life!
Therefore, when you see someone else’s sin, the first thing to do is “see that no one repays evil for evil; but always seek the good of each other and everyone.” But you can’t ignore sin either: “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him.” But if he repents, then “forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times a day he turns back and says, “I repent,” forgive him.” Hearing this, the disciples were horrified and prayed: "Increase our faith" so that we can raise such feats of love! The Lord approved their desire. But at the same time he said: “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, and said to this fig tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” then it would listen to you.”
The Apostle also says: “always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks for everything.” It is “always”, “constantly”, and “for everything”, without exception. And this, perhaps, requires no less faith than replanting a fig tree.
Of course, hearing about the “mustard seed” can make the ground shift from under your feet. We considered ourselves believers, but we don’t even have such faith. But let us remember that the Lord did not immediately increase faith even to the disciples, at their request, although he spoke about its importance. You must be able to use God's gifts. Just give someone else real faith, and he will do such a thing! And he will turn back the rivers, and heal all the sick - let them sin to the fullest! And of course after that he won’t say: “We are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do.” Having accomplished even the smallest, insignificant things, we secretly wait for the Lord to immediately say: “come quickly, sit down at the table”!
“Test everything, hold on to the good”- continues the Apostle. When experiencing everything, it is not at all necessary, for example, to roll around in the mud yourself in order to understand what it is - "not good". A stupid person stumbles twenty times in one place, but a smart person may not even stumble once, because he uses his accumulated experience, both church and simply human.
This is how much important and useful we heard today from the Apostle Paul. But - what is this? Commandments? But the commandments are given in an imperative tone. Instructions? Adviсe? But this is neither a teaching tone nor a tone of fraternal advice. The Apostle writes: “We beg” “you, brothers”!
Just as we beg for what we need, so he begs us, as if he needs it many times more than we do! So we should also plead with those who sin against us!
And so that we can at least somehow succeed, the Apostle also begs God: “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved completely without blemish at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Church calendar. 1st of February
We read the Gospel together with the Church. 1st of February
We read the Apostle. 1st of February
Cartoon calendar. 1st of February. Macarius the Great, Egyptian
Cartoon calendar. 1st of February. Saint Mark, Archbishop of Ephesus
This day in history. 1st of February
In the hand of the Living Christ on almost all icons is a scroll of Scripture: the Lord, the Lord of history, the Lamb slain, crucified and risen - He is the only one who can open all seals, because He is in us and we are in Him. In the light of Easter, our reading of life should be more and more illuminated by the reading of Scripture. The Lord wants to “open our mind to the understanding” of events, to give us the ability to see His living presence in all our deaths, because death is defeated by Him. “Fear not, I was dead, but behold, I am alive forever and ever” (Rev. 1:17-18).
The book of Nehemiah tells that after the return of God's chosen people from the 70-year Babylonian captivity, the priest Ezra reads the Scriptures that had been forgotten during the years of exile. And everyone from sunrise to noon listens to him with tears, in which the joy of finding the Law of God is mixed with sadness for their infidelity, which was the cause of this captivity after a long period of divisions, betrayals and useless compromises with ambitious paganism.
Oh, that today our people, after their no less long and no less terrible captivity, could return to listening to the word of life! However, everything is being done to deprive him of this opportunity not only physically, but most importantly, to make him incapable of perceiving the highest truth. And we, Christians, have been given, by the grace of God, to stand in churches and listen, as if for everyone, to the gospel of the Gospel. We listen to this word with humility and gratitude to the One who speaks personally to each of us. Truly we must listen to the Gospel as if the Lord Himself were present here and speaking to us. Let no one say: blessed are those who could see Him. Because many of those who saw Him participated in His crucifixion, and many of those who did not believe in Him. The same words that came from the mouth of the Lord are recorded in writing to be preserved for us.
Is it possible to love someone without knowing him? To devote every day, at least a little time, to reading the Gospel with prayer means to begin to gradually know and see Christ, just as the apostles saw Him. He Himself is in these words, filled with wisdom, compassion for the misfortune of sinners, holy anger and firmness towards religious businessmen, patient care for disciples who often do not understand the meaning of His words. It is difficult to love the Lord, to truly know Him, without listening to the Word of God, without reading the Holy Gospel - at least for a few minutes every day.
Before beginning the reading of the Gospel during the service, the priest or deacon says: “And we pray that we may be worthy to hear the Holy Gospel of the Lord God.” And what prayer does the priest pray before this: “Shine in our hearts, Lover of Mankind, the imperishable light of Your God-understanding.” And further: “Wisdom, forgive me. Let's hear the Holy Gospel. Peace to all ". And the reading ends, as it begins, with our answer: “Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee.” How do we give glory and praise to the Lord? Words and deeds, our lives? Or do we immediately forget about this word, making it fruitless? What exile from the presence of God will follow this for us? - Worse than Babylon. And in our Fatherland, we, our entire people, may find ourselves in captivity worse than Babylon. The great enemy of God in the world is ignorance of the most important thing; spiritual ignorance is the cause and root of all troubles and evils that poison nations and confuse human souls. Ignorance, aggravated by the powerful organized influence of television and the media, supposedly objectively, without God, covering what is happening in life. How many people who call themselves Orthodox Christians suffer spiritual defeat, becoming easy prey for the enemy, only due to the lack of a firm knowledge of their faith. Ignorance is followed by delusion, the void is filled with blackness. What could be sadder than when ignorance of the word of God makes the world unable to accept the salvation of Christ offered to it!
A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day.
There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered with scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs.
The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all this, a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.
Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment.
Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.
He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent.
Then Abraham said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they would not believe it.
Luke 16:19-31
Interpretation of the Gospel of the Blessed
Theophylact of Bulgaria
Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria Luke 16:19. A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day.
This speech stands in connection with the previous one. Since the Lord taught above how to manage wealth well, he rightly adds this parable, which, by example of what happened to the rich man, points to the same idea. This speech is precisely a parable, and not a real event, as some thought without reason. For the time has not yet come for the righteous to inherit good things, nor for sinners to inherit evil. And the Lord gave the speech figurativeness in order to teach both the unmerciful what is in store for them in the future, and to teach the ill-suffering that they will be prosperous for what they endure here. The Lord took the rich man in the parable without a name, since he is not worthy to be named before God, as it was said through the Prophet: “I will not remember their names with my mouth” (Ps. 15:4).
Luke 16:20. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered with sores.
And he mentions the poor by name, for the names of the righteous are written in the book of life. They say, according to Jewish tradition, that at that time there was a certain Lazarus in Jerusalem, who was in extreme poverty and illness, and that the Lord mentioned him, taking him into the parable as obvious and famous.
The rich man was prosperous in all respects. He dressed in purple and fine linen and not only dressed himself, but also enjoyed every other pleasure. “He feasted brilliantly,” it is said, and not that today - yes, but tomorrow - no, but “every day,” and not that moderately, but “brilliantly,” that is, luxuriously and wastefully. And Lazarus was poor and sick, and, moreover, “with scabs,” as it is said. For you can be sick and yet not be wounded, but this increases evil. And he was defeated at the rich man's gate.
Luke 16:21. and wanted to feed himself on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs.
It is a new sorrow to see that others enjoy abundantly, while he suffers from hunger. For he wanted to be satisfied not with luxurious dishes, but with crumbs from them, such as the dogs ate. No one cared about the healing of Lazarus: for the dogs licked his wounds, since no one drove them away.
Luke 16:22. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom.
What? Lazarus, being in such a difficult situation, blasphemed God and reviled the luxurious life of the rich man? Condemned inhumanity? Grumbled about Providence? No, he didn’t think of anything like that, but he endured everything with great wisdom. Where can you see this? From the fact that when he died, the Angels accepted him. For if he had been a murmurer and a blasphemer, he would not have received such an honor - being accompanied and carried by Angels.
The rich man also died and was buried.
Even during the life of the rich man, his soul was truly buried; it carried the flesh like a coffin. Therefore, even after his death, he is not elevated by the Angels, but is relegated to hell. For he who has never thought about anything lofty or heavenly deserves the lowest place. With the words “they buried him,” the Lord hinted that his soul was destined for the underworld and a dark place.
Luke 16:23. And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom
Just as the Lord, having expelled Adam from paradise, settled him in front of paradise (Gen. 3:24), so that suffering, repeated at the constant sight of paradise, would make Adam more clearly feel the deprivation of bliss, so he condemned this rich man before the face of Lazarus, so that, seeing in what condition Lazarus is now there, the rich man felt what he had lost through inhumanity. Why did the rich man see Lazarus not with another of the righteous, but in the bosom of Abraham? Since Abraham was hospitable, and the rich man had to be convicted of his dislike for hospitality, therefore the rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham. He even invited those passing by into his house, but he despised the one lying inside the house.
Luke 16:24. and crying out, he said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
Why does the rich man make his request not to Lazarus, but to Abraham? Maybe he was ashamed, or maybe he thought that Lazarus remembered his evil, and based on his deeds he made conclusions about Lazarus as well. If I (he could think), enjoying such happiness, despised him, oppressed by such misfortune, and did not give him even crumbs, then all the more he, despised by me, will remember the evil and will not agree to show me mercy. That is why he addresses his words to Abraham, probably thinking that the patriarch does not know how it happened. What about Abraham?
Luke 16:25. But Abraham said: child!
He didn’t say to the rich man: inhumane and cruel, aren’t you ashamed? now you remember about philanthropy. But how? "Child"! See a compassionate and holy soul. Some sage says: do not disturb a humble soul. Therefore, Abraham says: “child,” letting him know through this that it is in his power to call him so graciously even now, but only that, and that more than this he has no power to do anything for him. I will give you what I can, that is, a voice of compassion. But to go from here to there is not in our will, for everything is contained.
remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer;
Why didn’t Abraham say to the rich man: you received, but you “received”? We usually use the word “get back” about those who receive what they were owed. What do we learn? Because although some have defiled themselves with atrocities, although they have reached the extreme degree of malice, at some point they have done one or two good deeds. Therefore, the rich man also had some good deeds, and since he received reward in the prosperity of this life, it is said that he “received his good.” “And Lazarus is evil.” Perhaps he also committed one or two evil deeds and, in the sorrow that he endured here, received due retribution for them. Therefore, he is comforted, and you suffer.
Luke 16:26. and on top of all this, a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.
The "gap" signifies the distance and difference between the righteous and the sinners. For just as their wills were different, so their abodes have a great difference, when each receives reward according to will and life. Take into account here the objection against the Origenists. They say that the time will come when the torment will end and sinners will unite with the righteous and with God, and thus God will be all in all. But now, we hear Abraham saying that “those who want to go from here to you... or from there to us... cannot” do this. Therefore, just as it is impossible for anyone to move from the fate of the righteous to the place of sinners, so it is impossible, Abraham teaches us, to move from the place of torment to the place of the righteous. And Abraham, without a doubt, is more worthy of faith than Origen.
What is "hell"? Some say that hell is an underground dark place, while others called hell the transition of the soul from a visible to an invisible and formless state. For as long as the soul is in the body, it is revealed by its own actions, but after separation from the body it becomes invisible. This is what they called hell.
“Abraham’s Bosom” is the totality of those blessings that are offered to the righteous upon their entry from the storm into the heavenly havens; since in the sea we usually call bays (bosom) places convenient for landing and calming down.
Pay attention also to the fact that on the day that offender will see in what glory the one offended by him will be, and this one, in turn, will see in what condemnation the offender will be, just as here the rich man saw Lazarus, and this one saw the rich man again.
Luke 16:27. Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house,
Luke 16:28. for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment.
The unfortunate rich man, having not received relief from his lot, encloses a request for others. Look how, through punishment, he came to sympathize with others, and whereas before he despised Lazarus, who lay at his feet, now he cares about others who are not with him, and begs to send Lazarus from the dead, not just anyone, to his father’s house from the dead, but Lazarus, so that those who had previously seen him sick and dishonored would now see him crowned with glory and healthy, and those who were witnesses of his misery would themselves become contemplators of his glory. For it is obvious that he would have appeared to them in glory if it had been necessary for him to be a preacher worthy of belief. What did Abraham say?
Luke 16:29. Abraham said to him; they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.
You, he says, do not care about your brothers as much as God, their Creator. He assigned countless mentors to them.
Luke 16:30. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent.
And the rich man says: “no, father”! For just as he himself, hearing the Scriptures, did not believe and considered their words to be fables, he assumed the same about his brothers and, judging by himself, says that they will not listen to the Scriptures, like himself, but if someone rises from the dead, they will believe.
Luke 16:31. Then: Abraham said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they would not believe it.
There are people like this today who say: who saw what was happening in hell? Who came from there and told us? Let them listen to Abraham, who says that if we do not listen to the Scriptures, we will not believe those who would come to us from hell. This is obvious from the example of the Jews. They, since they did not listen to the Scriptures, did not believe even when they saw the dead risen, and even thought of killing Lazarus (John 12:10). In the same way, after many of the dead were resurrected during the Crucifixion of the Lord (Matthew 27:52), the Jews breathed even greater murder on the apostles. Moreover, if this resurrection of the dead were useful for our faith, the Lord would have done it often. But now nothing is more useful than a careful search of the Scriptures (John 5:39). The devil would have managed to resurrect the dead (although) in a ghostly way, and therefore would have misled the foolish, instilling among them a doctrine of hell worthy of its malice. And with our sound study of the Scriptures, the devil cannot invent anything like that. For they (the Scriptures) are a lamp and a light (2 Pet. 1:19), by the radiance of which the thief is discovered and revealed. So, we need to believe the Scriptures, and not demand the resurrection of the dead.
This parable can also be understood in a figurative sense, for example, in such a way that the face of a rich man represents the Jewish people. Previously, he was rich, enriched with all knowledge and wisdom, and the sayings of God, which are more honorable than gold and precious stones (Proverbs 3:14-15). He arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, having a kingdom and a priesthood, and himself being a royal priesthood to God (Ex. 19:6). Porphyry alludes to the kingdom, and fine linen to the priesthood. For the Levites wore fine linen vestments during their sacred ceremonies. He rejoiced brilliantly all day long, for every day, morning and evening, he made sacrifices, which also bore the name of infinity, that is, continuity.
Lazarus were the pagans, a people poor in Divine gifts and wisdom and lying at the gates. For the Gentiles were not allowed to enter the house of God; their entry there was considered desecration, as can be seen from the book of Acts. The Asian Jews shouted indignantly at Paul for bringing the pagans into the temple and desecrating this holy place (Acts 21:27-28). The pagans were wounded by fetid sins and with their wounds they fed shameless dogs and demons; for our (spiritual) plagues are a pleasure to them. The pagans wanted to eat the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; for they had no share in the bread that strengthens the heart (Ps. 103:15), and needed the finest food, a little and reasonable, just as the Canaanite woman, being a pagan, wants to be fed with crumbs (Matt. 15:22, 26-27) . What's next? The Jewish people died for God, and their bones became dead, since they did not make any movement towards good. And Lazarus, who is a pagan people, died to sin. The Jews, who died in their sins, are burned with the flame of envy, jealous, as the apostle says, that the pagans have been accepted into the faith (Rom. 11:11). And the pagans, formerly a poor and inglorious people, rightly live in the bosom of Abraham, the father of the pagans. Abraham, being a pagan, believed in God and moved from serving idols to the knowledge of God. Therefore, those who became participants in his conversion and faith rightly rest in his depths, inheriting the same fate, abodes and perception of benefits as he did. The Jewish people want at least one drop from the previous legal sprinklings and cleansings, so that their tongue will be cooled and can boldly say something against us in favor of the power of the Law, but they do not receive it. For the Law is only until John (Matthew 11:13). “Sacrifice,” it is said, “You did not desire offerings,” and further (Ps. 39:7). And Daniel foretold: “the vision and the prophet were sealed, and the Holy of Holies was anointed” (Dan. 9:24), that is, they stopped and were concluded.
You can also understand this parable morally. Namely: being rich in evil, do not leave your mind to endure hunger and, when it is created to strive for heaven, do not cast it down and do not force it to lie at the gate, but bring it inside, and do not stand outside, do not wander, do not lie, but act. This will serve as the beginning for you to engage in rational activity, and not only carnal pleasure. And other parts of the parable are conveniently understood in favor of morality.
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