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Luke 15:1. All the publicans and sinners approached Him to listen to Him. Luke 15:2. The Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying: He receives sinners and eats with them. The Lord, allowing publicans and sinners to come to Him, as a doctor of the sick, did what He incarnated for. But the Pharisees, truly sinners, responded to such philanthropy with a murmur. For they considered publicans disgusting, although they themselves ate the houses of widows and orphans. Luke 15:3. But He told them the following parable: Luke 15:4. Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? Luke 15:5. And having found it, he will take it on his shoulders with joy. Luke 15:6. and when he comes home, he will call his friends and neighbors and say to them: Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep. Luke 15:7. I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. What about the Lord? He was a lover of mankind, both to the publicans and to those very ones who reviled His love for mankind. He does not turn away from these as incurable and murmurers, but with meekness he heals them, telling them the parable of the sheep, and actually and visually convincing them and curbing them not to be annoyed at such an outpouring of goodness. For if there is so much joy about one sheep, foolish and not created in the image of God, when it is found after being lost, then how much more joy should there be about rational man, created in the image of God? The parable obviously refers to the ninety-nine sheep as the righteous, and as one sheep to the fallen sinner. Some, by a hundred sheep, mean all rational creatures, and by one sheep, a person of rational nature, which, when it got lost, the good shepherd sought out, leaving the ninety-nine in the desert, that is, in the highest, heavenly place. For the sky, distant from worldly worries and filled with all peace and silence, is a desert. The Lord, having found this lost sheep, placed it on His shoulders. For “He... bore our sicknesses” and sins (Isa. 53:4), and without being burdened took upon Himself all our burdens; He paid everything we owed, and conveniently and without difficulty saved us (and brought us) all the way to home, that is, to heaven. And “he will call together friends and neighbors,” perhaps Angels, whom we also meant by sheep, in a double sense. Since, on the one hand, every created being in relation to God is, as it were, dumb, therefore the Heavenly powers can be called sheep. Since, on the other hand, they are verbal, that is, rational, and seem to be closest to God to other creatures, therefore the faces of the angelic Powers can be understood as friends and neighbors. Luke 15:8. Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a candle and sweep the room and search carefully until she finds it, Luke 15:9. and having found it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: rejoice with me: I have found the lost drachma. Luke 15:10. So, I tell you, there is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner who repents. And by “woman” we mean the wisdom and power of God and the Father, His Son, who lost one drachma from the creatures created in words and in His image, that is, man, and illuminates the lamp - His flesh. For as a lamp, being from the earth, with the light which it receives, it illuminates what is covered with darkness; so the flesh of the Lord, earthly and similar to ours, shone with the light of the Divine by which it was received. And “the house has been swept,” that is, the whole world has been cleansed of sin; for Christ took away the sin of the world upon Himself. And the “drachma,” that is, the royal image, “was found,” and joy arose both for Christ Himself, who found it, and for the Heavenly Powers, which are His friends and neighbors: “girlfriends” because they do His will; “neighbors” because they are incorporeal. And I ask if His friends are not all the Heavenly Powers, and His neighbors are the closest of them, such as thrones, cherubim and seraphim? For pay attention to the expression: “calls together friends and neighbors.” It obviously points to two things, although this may not seem particularly necessary. Luke 15:11. He also said: a certain man had two sons; And this parable is similar to the previous ones. And under the image of man she brings out a God who truly loves mankind; under two sons - two categories of people, that is, righteous and sinners. Luke 15:12. and the youngest of them said to his father: Father! give me the next part of the estate. And the father divided the estate for them. Righteousness is an ancient destiny of human nature, therefore the eldest son does not break free from his father’s authority. And sin is evil that was subsequently born; That’s why the “younger” son, who grew up with the sin that came later, breaks out from under parental authority. And in another way: the sinner is called the “younger” son, as an innovator, an apostate and a rebel against the father’s will. “Father! give me the next part of the estate." “Having” is rationality, to which freedom is also subject. For every rational being is free. The Lord gives us reason so that we can use it freely, as our true possession, and gives it to everyone equally, because everyone is still reasonable and self-ruling. But some of us use this dignity according to its purpose, while others make God’s gift useless. Luke 15:13. After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. By our “possessions” we can understand everything in general that the Lord has given us, namely: heaven, earth, every creature in general, the Law, the prophets. But the youngest son saw the sky and idolized it; I saw the earth and honored it, but I did not want to walk in His Law and did evil to the prophets. The eldest son took advantage of all this for the glory of God. The Lord God, having given (all) this in equal measure, allowed (everyone) to walk (live) according to their own will, and does not force anyone who does not want to serve Him. For if he wanted to force, he would not have created us rational and free. The youngest son “wasted” all this together. And what was the reason? That he “went to the far side.” For when a person retreats from God and removes the fear of God from himself, then he wastes all the Divine gifts. Being close to God, we do nothing that is worthy of destruction, according to what was said: “I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand; I will not be shaken" (Ps. 15:8). And having withdrawn and retreated from God, we do and suffer all kinds of evil, according to the words: “Behold, those who remove themselves from You perish” (Ps. 72:27). So, it is not surprising that he squandered his estate. For virtue has one limit and is something one, but malice is many-parted and produces many temptations. For example, for courage there is one limit, namely: when, how and against whom one should use anger, and there are two types of anger - fear and insolence. Do you see that reason is being wasted and the unity of virtue is perishing? Luke 15:14. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; When this property is squandered and a person does not live according to reason, that is, according to the natural law, does not follow the written Law and does not listen to the prophets, then a strong famine sets in (for him), not a hunger of bread, but a hunger of hearing the word of the Lord (Am. 8:11). And he begins to “need” because he does not fear the Lord, but is far from Him, while for those who fear the Lord “there is no poverty” (Ps. 33:10). Why is there no poverty for those who fear the Lord? Since he who fears the Lord deeply loves His commandments, therefore glory and wealth are in his house, and he rather lavishes and gives to the poor according to his own will (Ps. 112:1, 3, 9). So he is far from being poor! And whoever has gone far from God and does not have His menacing face before his eyes will, unsurprisingly, experience need, since no Divine word operates in him. That is, he went far and became stronger in anger, accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, “He who unites himself with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord,” and “he who copulates with a harlot,” that is, with the nature of demons, “becomes one body with her” (1 Cor. 6:17, 16), completely becoming flesh and having no place in himself for the Spirit, like those who lived in the days of the flood (Gen. 6:3). “The inhabitants of that country,” distant from God, are, without a doubt, demons. and he sent him to his fields to feed pigs; Having succeeded and become strong in anger, he “herds pigs,” that is, he teaches others about anger and a dirty life. For all who find pleasure in the mire of dishonest deeds and material passions are pigs. A pig's eyes can never look up, having such a strange device. Why do those who herd pigs, if, having caught a pig, cannot tame its squeal for a long time, they bend its head back and thus moderate its squeal. Just as a person who comes to such a spectacle as he has never seen, when he raises his eyes (to the stage), is amazed and remains silent, so the eyes of those who are brought up in evil never see the things above. These are shepherded by one who is more wicked than many, such as keepers of harlots, chiefs of thieves, and publicans. For all such people can be said to be herding pigs. Luke 15:16. and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him. This unfortunate man “wants to be satisfied” with sin, but no one gives him this satiation. For those who are accustomed to evil find no satiation in it. Pleasure is not constant, but as it comes, it goes away, and this unfortunate person is again left with emptiness (in his soul). For sin is like “horns”, having sweetness and bitterness: it delights for a while, but torments forever. No one will allow those who delight in it to be satisfied with evil. And who will give him satiation and peace? God? But He is not with him; for he who feeds on evil goes far from God. Demons? But how will they give when they especially try to ensure that there is never peace and satiation from evil? Luke 15:17. Having come to my senses, Over time, the dissolute came to his senses. For as long as he lived depravedly, he was beside himself. It is said that he squandered his property, and rightly so: therefore he is beside himself. For whoever is not governed by reason, but lives like an unreasonable person and leads others to foolishness, is beside himself and will not remain with his property, that is, with reason. When someone realizes what kind of disaster he has fallen into, then he comes to his senses through reflection and turning from wandering outside to repentance. He said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread to spare, but I am dying of hunger?” By “mercenaries” he probably means the catechumens, who, as still unenlightened, have not yet had time to become sons. And the catechumens, without a doubt, will be content with spiritual bread in abundance by listening to the readings every day. And so that you may know the difference between a mercenary and a son, listen. Three categories of survivors. Some, like slaves, do good out of fear of judgment. David hints at this when he says: “My flesh trembles at Your fear, and I fear Your judgments” (Ps. 119:120). Others are mercenaries; these seem to be those who try to please God out of a desire to receive good, as the same David says: “I have inclined my heart to fulfill Your statutes forever, to the end” (Ps. 119:112). And the third are sons, that is, those who keep the commandments of God out of love for God, as again the same David testifies: “How I love Your law! I meditate on him all day long” (Ps. 119:97). And again: “I will stretch out my hands to Your commandments, which I have loved” (Ps. 119:48), and not “which I have feared.” And again: “Wonderful are Your revelations,” and since they are wondrous, “therefore my soul guards them” (Ps. 118:129). So, when one who was in the rank of sons, but then through sin lost his sonship, sees that others enjoy Divine gifts, partake of the Divine Mysteries and Divine bread (and by the name mercenaries one can understand not only the catechumens, but also members of the church in general who are not in the first rank); then he must say to himself these words of regret: “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger.” That is, from the fall of sin. I will go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you Having left the heavenly, I sinned against it, preferring despicable pleasure to it, and instead of heaven, my fatherland, choosing rather a hungry country. For just as he, one might say, sins against gold who prefers lead to it, so he sins against heaven who prefers earthly things to it. For he is undoubtedly moving away from the path that leads to heaven. And notice that when he sinned, then he committed a sin as if not before God, and when he repents, then he feels himself to have sinned before God. Luke 15:19. and is no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants. Luke 15:20. He got up and went to his father. For we must not only desire what pleases God, but also actually fulfill it. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke 15:21. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. You have now seen warm repentance, look at the father’s mercy. He does not wait for his son to reach him, but he himself hurries towards and hugs him. For, being by nature a Father, God is also a Father by goodness. He completely embraces his son in order to unite him with Himself on all sides, as it is said: “and the glory of the Lord will follow you” (Is. 58:8). Previously, when the son himself moved away, it was time for the father to move away from the embrace. And when the son approached through prayer and appeal, then it became opportune to embrace him. The father “fell... on the neck” of his son, showing that she, who had been disobedient before, had now become submissive, and “kissed him,” signifying reconciliation and sanctifying the lips of the previously defiled, as if some kind of threshold, and through them sending down sanctification inside. Luke 15:22. And the father said to his servants: Bring the best clothes and dress him, By “slaves” you can understand Angels, since they are ministering spirits sent to serve those worthy of salvation (Heb. 1:14). For they dress the one who turns out of malice in “the best clothing,” that is, either in the old one that we wore before sin, the incorruptible clothing, or in clothing better than all others, such as the clothing of baptism. For she is the first to be put on me, and through her I take off the clothes of indecency. By “slaves” you can understand Angels because they serve in all that is done for our sake, and that we are sanctified through them. By “slaves” you can also mean priests, since they dress the convert through baptism and the teaching word and put on him the first garment, that is, Christ Himself. For all of us who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). and put the ring on his hand And he gives a “ring on the hand,” that is, the seal of Christianity, which we receive through deeds. For the hand is a sign of activity, and the ring is a seal. So, someone who is baptized and generally turns out of malice must have on his hand, that is, on all his active strength, the seal and sign of a Christian, so that he can show how he has been renewed in the image of the one who created him. Or in other words: by “ring” you can mean the pledge of the Spirit. I will say this: God will give the most perfect blessings when their time comes, and now, for assurance, as if in the form of a pledge of future blessings, He gives us this kind of gift: for some - the gift of miracles, for others - the gift of teaching, for others - some other gift. By accepting these gifts, we firmly hope to receive the most perfect ones. “Shoes for the feet” are given so that they are preserved both from scorpions, that is, from errors, apparently small and secret, as David says (Ps. 18:13), but also from those deadly ones, and from snakes, which are considered visibly harmful, that is, from sins. And otherwise: the one awarded the first garment is given shoes as a sign that God is making him ready to evangelize and serve for the benefit of others. For it is the distinguishing characteristic of a Christian to be useful to others. Luke 15:23. and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! Who is a “well-fed... calf”, tempered and eaten, it is not difficult to understand. He is, without a doubt, the true Son of God. Since He was a Man and took upon Himself flesh, by nature unreasonable and bestial, although He filled it with His own perfections, therefore He was called Taurus. This Taurus has not experienced the yoke of the law of sin, but is a “fattened” Taurus, since it was ordained for this Sacrament “before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20). Perhaps what else has to be said will seem refined, but let it be said. The bread that we break, in appearance, consists of wheat, therefore it can be called fattened by wheat, and in the spiritual side it is Flesh, therefore it can be called Taurus, and thus One and the same is Taurus and well-fed. Luke 15:24. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they started having fun. So, everyone who repents and becomes a son of God, especially those who are raised up and generally cleansed from sin, partakes of this well-fed Calf and becomes the cause of joy for the Father and His servants, angels and priests: “For he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” In the sense that he remains in evil, he “was dead,” that is, hopeless, and in relation to the fact that human nature is flexible and can turn to virtue from anger, he is called “lost.” For the word “lost” is more moderate than “dead.” Luke 15:25. His eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; Luke 15:26. and calling one of the servants, he asked: what is this? Luke 15:27. He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.” Luke 15:28. He became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. Luke 15:29. But he said in response to his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; Luke 15:30. and when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him. Luke 15:31. He said to him: My son! you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, Luke 15:32. and in this you had to rejoice and be glad, that this brother of yours was dead and has come to life, he was lost and has been found. Here the notorious question is asked: how does a son turn out to be envious, who in other respects lived and served his father well? But he will make up his mind as soon as they understand why this parable was told. This parable, together with the previous ones, was told, no doubt, because the Pharisees, who considered themselves pure and righteous, grumbled at the Lord because He accepted harlots and tax collectors. If it was said because the Pharisees grumbled, who, apparently, were more righteous than the tax collectors, then see that the face of the son, apparently grumbling, refers to everyone who is tempted by the sudden well-being and salvation of sinners. And this is not envy, but an outpouring of God’s love for mankind, incomprehensible to us, and therefore giving rise to murmuring. And doesn’t David bring out the faces of sinners tempted by the world (Ps. 72:3), likewise Jeremiah when he says: “Why is the way of the wicked prosperous?” “You planted them and they took root”? (Jer. 12, 1–2). All this is characteristic of the weak and poor human mind, which is indignant and perplexed at the sight of unworthiness, namely the well-being of vicious people. Therefore, the Lord, in this parable, seems to say this to the Pharisees: let it be that you, like this son, are righteous and acceptable before the Father; but I ask you, the righteous and pure, not to grumble that we are having fun for the salvation of a sinner, for he is also a son. So, from here it is not envy that is revealed, but with this parable the Lord admonishes the Pharisees so that they would not be annoyed at accepting sinners, even if they themselves were righteous and kept every commandment of God. And it is not at all surprising if we are upset by the acceptance of those who seem unworthy. God's love for mankind is so great and gives us his blessings so abundantly that this is where grumbling can arise. This is how we speak in ordinary conversation. Often, having done someone a favor and then not receiving gratitude from him, we say: everyone blames me for doing so much good to you. Although, perhaps, no one blamed us, but, wanting to show the greatness of the good deed, we invent it. Let us consider this parable in parts and, as it were, in a brief extract. “The eldest... son was in the field,” that is, in this world, cultivating his land, that is, his flesh, so that it would abound in grain, and he sowed with tears so that he could reap with joy (Ps. 125:5). Having learned about what had happened, he did not want to join in the general joy. But the philanthropic Father comes out, calls him and informs him that the reason for the fun is the revival of the dead, which he did not know, like a man who is tempted and accuses the Father because He “did not give him even a kid,” but for the dissolute he killed a fatted calf. What does "kid" mean? You can learn from the fact that every kid is numbered on the left side and on the side of sinners (Matthew 25:33, 41). So, the good-natured one says to the Father: I spent my life in all kinds of work, endured persecution, troubles, insults from sinners, and You never slaughtered or killed a kid for me, that is, the sinner who insults me, so that I could find a little pleasure. For example, Ahab was a goat to Elijah. He persecuted the prophet, but the Lord did not immediately hand over this goat to the slaughter in order to please Elijah a little and calm him down with his friends the prophets. Therefore (Elijah) says to God: “They have destroyed Your altars and killed Your prophets” (1 Kings 19:14). In relation to David, the goat was Saul and all those who slandered him, whom the Lord allowed to tempt him, but whom he did not kill for David’s pleasure. Therefore, this one says: “How long, Lord, will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?” (Ps. 93:3). So this son, presented in the Gospel, says: who is constantly in labor, you did not reward him with any consolation, you did not even deliver to slaughter any of those who insulted me, and now, without labor, you save the dissolute! So, the whole purpose of this parable, told about the Pharisees’ grumbling against the Lord for accepting sinners, is to teach us not to reject sinners and not to grumble when God accepts them, even if we were righteous. The youngest son is a harlot and a tax collector; the eldest son is the Pharisees and scribes, supposedly accepted as righteous. God seems to be saying this: even though you are indeed righteous and have not transgressed any commandment, but should we really not accept those who turn from evil? The Lord admonishes such murmurers with a real parable. It is well known to me that some by the eldest son meant the Angels, and by the younger son - human nature, which was indignant and did not obey this commandment. Others meant the elders as Israelites, and the younger ones as pagans. But what we just said is true: that the eldest son represents the face of the righteous, and the younger son represents sinners and repentants, and the entire structure of the parable was made up of the Pharisees, to whom the Lord inspired that they, even if they themselves were righteous, should not be upset by the acceptance of sinners. So, let no one be offended by the fate of God, but let him endure even when sinners are apparently made happy and saved. Because why do you know? Maybe the one you consider a sinner has repented and is accepted for that. And it may also be that he has secret virtues, and for their sake he is favorable in the eyes of God.