Апостолы

Preaching the Gospel, He [Jesus Christ] gathered twelve disciples, whom he called apostles and who were always with Him. Walking with them from place to place, from city to city, he taught about salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven, showing the way to it. And, what multiplies the miracle, not through the wise men and rhetoricians of this age, not through the glorious and noble ones, the universe gave and wrote down its hearts and names to the Crucified One, but through the simple, the unlearned, the noble, the monastery workers, 1 fishermen, and tax collectors. How many of them were there who thus accomplished a great, unheard-of and incomprehensible deed? Twelve. This small number had to go through the whole of heaven, as it is said: go, teach all nations (Matthew 28:19); and one more thing: go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). These few, according to human concepts, ignoramuses had to stand against the many wise men of this age and stop their mouths; these few simple, noble and unarmed should have armed themselves against countless glorious, high-born nobles, princes and kings of the whole earth and defeated them. And they did this: they went and preached everywhere (Mark 16:20); Their broadcast went out throughout the whole land (Ps. 18:5); the unlearned stood against the wise scribes and interrogators of this age, and the armed without weapons prevailed. It was necessary for them to pluck out the world, immersed and chronic in idolatry, from the depths of destruction and implant true worship of God: to prove the deception of the devil and teach the truth; to renew the people, dilapidated by malice, and lead to true repentance; to refute old statutes, laws, customs and establish and approve new ones; remove deeply rooted unbelief from human hearts and implant faith; the seductive polytheism to destroy and the one God, but to bring into knowledge the one worshiped in three Persons. All this surpasses human intelligence and strength. They did it to perfection. They needed to preach Jesus Christ “crucified”, and to prove and assure unfaithful hearts that this Jesus, whom they preach, is Christ, the Messiah, preached by the prophets, promised by God, is the Redeemer, Deliverer and Savior of the world, to assure that the crucified Jesus was crucified not for His sins, but for ours, suffered and died both by His will and by the good pleasure of God; to assure that in the “crucified Christ” our life, and bliss, and eternal glory are hidden. At the beginning of His preaching, [Jesus Christ] gathered twelve disciples from ordinary people, whom he called apostles, so that they would be His obvious witnesses to the whole world, as He Himself told them after His resurrection: you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And the Apostle John with his brethren, the other apostles, says: for life has appeared (that is, Christ, the Word of the Father), and we have seen and testify, and proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father and appeared to us (1 John 1:2). And one more thing: we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). The holy apostles, enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, carried the ineffable wealth of God's goodness throughout the entire universe: they preached the Son of God, who came into the world in the flesh; faith in Him was planted in human hearts; idolatry was refuted, nations darkened by the darkness of God’s ignorance were enlightened; the eyes of the hearts of those who were blinded were opened to the knowledge of the true God; founded the Church of God on the face of the whole earth; they gathered a single blessed herd from different nations, like wild animals; They taught to honor the Holy Trinity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one God; They kindled the fire of God's love in the hearts of believers and confirmed the hope of life and bliss of the future age, as it is written about them: they went and preached everywhere, with the Lord's assistance and strengthening the word with subsequent signs (Mark 16:20). Christ the Lord King of Heaven, having come to earth and completed the work of eternal salvation on earth, sent His holy disciples and apostles to all countries and cities of the whole earth to announce His coming and His saving coming 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 and preached everywhere, with the Lord's assistance and strengthening the word with subsequent signs (Mark 16:20). The apostles preached everywhere, but the Jews did not accept. In every city and country they said to the living people: open the gates, and the King of Heaven will come to you - your King, but unknown to you. He wants to reign in you and bring you into His eternal Kingdom: open the gates quickly - and He will come to you. Princes, lift up your gates, and stand up, everlasting gates! and the King of glory will come in (Ps. 23:7). And so the King of glory entered the cities and pagan countries with His grace and eternal salvation. The Jews, to whom he was sent, did not accept Him as their true King, according to Scripture: He came to his own, but his own did not receive Him (John 1:11). Therefore, 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, and accepted Him, and worshiped Him, and took upon themselves His sweet yoke. Therefore, the Kingdom of God turned out to be addressed to them: for where Christ is the Lord and King of glory, there is the Kingdom of God. The skin maker is a tent maker. (Editor's notes hereafter)