57. Царь, входящий в город или дом

It happens that when the Tsar wants to enter a city or house, his servants and messengers say to other people living in the city or house: “Open the gates, the Tsar is coming.” And so the King enters a city or house, and is received with honor by the citizens or household. So Christ the Lord, the Heavenly King, having come to earth and brought about eternal salvation in the midst of the earth, sent His holy disciples and apostles to all countries and cities of the whole earth to announce His coming and His saving entry to them. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). These messengers of God and faithful servants of Christ, “went out and preached everywhere, with the Lord working together and confirming the word with signs that followed” (Mark 16:20). They said to living people in every city and every country: “Open the gates, and the King of Heaven will come in to you, your King, but unknown to you. He wants to reign in you and bring you into His eternal kingdom: open the gate, and He will come to you. “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in!” (Ps. 23:7). And so the King of glory entered the cities and countries of the pagans with His grace and eternal salvation. The Jews, to whom he was sent, did not accept Him as their True King, as it is written: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). That is why the kingdom of God was taken away from them. The peoples who did not know and did not expect Him, with joy and faith opened their cities to Him, accepted Him, worshiped Him, and took upon themselves His sweet yoke. Therefore, the kingdom of God turned to them, for where Christ, the Lord and King of glory, there is the kingdom of God. Thank God that the King of glory and peace, Jesus Christ, has entered our country, our Fatherland and cities, and with Him the kingdom of God! But we see that the saint again departed from many countries and cities for ingratitude and contempt for the word of His, and with Him the kingdom of God was taken away from them. And since we see that in our Fatherland all untruths have multiplied, love has almost completely dried up, immeasurable luxury has multiplied, carnal and careless life is seen almost everywhere, and so the word of God is in the utmost contempt, and almost everyone listens to the whims of the flesh and worldly, and not God’s lips, almost everyone pleases the flesh and the world, and not God, they seek temporal and worldly, and not eternal blessings, it is dangerous, Christians, it is very dangerous, lest Christ the Lord and His kingdom depart from our country and cities. Nothing else will follow if people imagine that they know Him, but do not honor Him, and instead of Him they honor the mammon of unrighteousness, they neglect His holy Gospel, they trample upon the holy law, everyone seeks peace and vanity, and not His kingdom. Such people, following the Jews, drive Christ away from them, and He is thus convinced to move away from them; and what he said to the Jews, he also says to these people: “Behold, your house is left to you empty” (Matthew 23:38). This is a scary word, very scary! What is without Christ but obvious destruction? Let us turn, Christians, to Christ with all our hearts, and repent and cry before Him. May the kingdom of God not leave us, may it not be taken away from us, as it was taken away from the hardened Jews. “Forsake me not, O Lord my God! Do not retreat from Mene; come to my help, O Lord of my salvation!” ( Ps. 37:22–23 ). You might be interested in: