Пятница

(1 Cor. 11, 8–22; Matt. 17, 10–18) The Lord said about John the Baptist: “Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him” (Matthew 17:12). Why is this? Because they did not listen to the ways of God and were not interested in them: they had a different mood, different tastes, a different outlook on things. Outside the circle of Divine things, their insight was strong, but in this circle they did not understand anything due to their alienation from it. The inner mood is also formed by one’s own instinct, which immediately notices and identifies what is familiar to it, no matter how hidden it may be. An artist, a scientist and an economist look at one thing equally carefully, but each pronounces a judgment about it in his own way - one by its beauty, another by its causal relationships, a third by its benefits. So it was with the Jews: as they were inclined, they judged John, and then the Savior, and since they were not disposed according to God, they did not understand them, who were doing God’s work. So even now they have not begun to understand either the Forerunner or the Lord - and they do with them as they want. A secret persecution of Christianity arose, which began to break out clearly, as recently in Paris. What happened there on a small scale must be expected over time on a larger scale... Save us, Lord! You might be interested in: