Word on the day of remembrance of the opening of the Moscow Theological Academy

“Every scribe, having learned the kingdom of heaven, is like a housewife, who wears out of his treasure the new and the old.” (Matthew 13.52) Having offered people His heavenly teaching, showing them the way to the kingdom of heaven and preparing to leave the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ promised His people to send prophets, wise men and scribes to clarify and confirm the truths He preached. For this reason, behold, I will send to you prophets and wise men and scribes (Matthew 23:34). The names of the promised teachers, taken from the life of the Old Testament church, pointed to two different types of instruction by which they themselves achieved knowledge of divine truth. Prophets and wise men are men of divine inspiration, holy men of God who spoke the Word of God, enlightened by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). Scribes are people of labor who, studying day and night in the law of the Lord (Ps. 1:2), offered others to achieve knowledge in this way in instructions regarding faith and activity. Translating the Old Testament names into the language of the New Testament church, under the name of prophets and wise men we can understand those teachers to whom the Lord himself promised to give lips and wisdom, to whom He sent down from the Father the grace of the Holy Spirit, cleansing and enlightening to all truth, and whom He sent into the world to preach the Gospel, which began from Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). And under the name of the scribes - people of science, the only science on which everything is based in the Old Testament and New Testament churches - the Word of God. Among such New Testament scribes, in the times of the apostles, we think, there was a colleague of Pavlov, Apollos, a Judean, a man of words, strong in books (Acts 18:24), and another disciple and collaborator of Pavlov, Timothy, who knew the sacred scriptures from his youth (2 Tim. 3:15), to whom even in the priestly ministry the Apostle commanded: listen to reading (1 Tim. 4:13). Servants of the word of the Gospel, called to spread Christian science, collaborators in the work of spiritual enlightenment, present and future! Isn’t it comforting for us that the Lord Jesus Christ has provided for and given a place in his church for our hard-working ministry? I will send you prophets and wise men and scribes (Matthew 23:34). The Lord placed the work of book learning alongside the work of the prophets and the wise. Much teaching is the work of the flesh (Eccl. 12:12), said the Wise One with some chagrin; but the Lord accepts this work and declares the scribes of the New Testament to be his messengers, just like the prophets. I will send it to you. It is to these New Testament scribes, therefore, that the Lord gives us a lesson on how to teach the kingdom of God, a lesson previously explained and confirmed by His own example. Every scribe, having learned the kingdom of heaven, is like a housewife, who wears out of his treasure the new and the old. (Matthew 13.52) Scribe. Perhaps this name will confuse you when applied to your ministry, arousing an unpleasant memory of the comparison of scribes in the Savior’s speeches often alongside the Pharisees, opponents of the Gospel, but the Lord did not find anything reproachful in it that would prevent it from being assigned to a Christian teacher. And just as He Himself accepted from His disciples the name rabbi, which is common among the people, so He did not find it indecent to call His chosen envoys scribes. Indeed, this was a respectable title in the Jewish church. Just as respect for the law and the writings of the prophets was high among the Jewish people, the wisdom of the scribe was just as highly revered. Jesus the son of Sirach, long before Jesus Christ, describing the merits of the scribe of his time, represents in him truly a person who deserves full respect. He who gives his soul and meditates in the law of the Most High, he says about the scribe, will seek the wisdom of all the ancients. What kind of wisdom is this? He will learn from prophecies, he will keep the tales of famous men, and he will speak in parables. So, teaching in the law, in prophecies, in sacred stories and parables - this is what the Old Testament scribe devoted his life to. And if, the son of Sirach further says, if the Lord greatly delights, if this scribe is filled with the spirit of reason, then he will wait for the words of his wisdom, and in prayer he will confess to the Lord, he will direct advice and art. These are the fruits of his sacred studies: his word will be filled with wisdom, his prayer will be strong before the Lord, his advice and instructions will be directed to the good of his neighbor. And his memory will not pass away, adds the Wise One, and his name will live throughout generations, the pagans will teach his wisdom, and the church will confess his praise (Isa. Sir. 39, 1, 2, 7–9, 12, 13). And in the time of Jesus Christ there was such a scribe in Jerusalem, whose disciple he did not consider it a humiliation to call himself before the Jews and an apostle of the tongues. I was raised under the foot of Gamaliel, punished, as is known by the law of my fathers, a zealot of God (Acts 22:3). So, the title of scribe in itself did not contain anything shameful. We repeat, these were not people of inspiration, but workers of science, which, by the means of that time, was not little difficult and not fruitful, but, however, one that brought universal respect, and most importantly, could lead to the truth of salvation. How many examples does the Gospel history present to us when the explanation of ancient prophecies by learned Jews coincided with their true explanation, although they were not allowed to be applied to the face of Jesus Christ. These teachers, who took their place in Moses’ seat, suffered alone, and as the Lord rebuked them: they say, and do not do (Matthew 23:3). The deficiency is equally worthy of reproof, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament scribes. In the present case, without denouncing anyone, the Lord allows us to see in His future scribes people who have learned the kingdom of heaven. Every scribe who has learned the kingdom of heaven... Of all the subjects of teaching, they chose for themselves only the kingdom of heaven - the subject of many desires, hopes, and many disputes at that time. This kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of the Messiah with all its blessings, heavenly and earthly. But many people dreamed of seeing in it only the earthly kingdom and promised themselves satisfaction in it for their sensual and temporary desires and needs. The Lord with one word separates his scribes from such unworthy disciples, saying: every scribe, having learned the kingdom of heaven... What should this teaching consist of? The Savior’s speech about the scribes in the Evangelist Matthew stands at the conclusion of an extensive word about the kingdom of heaven, proposed in parables. So, concluding his conversation, composed of parables, the Lord, of course, first of all, meant that the New Testament scribe should well know and understand the secrets of the kingdom hidden in this tributary instruction. Divine wisdom offered in it a teaching about the preaching of the Gospel and its fruits, from the first vegetation of its seeds on the earth to the last harvest, preparing new seeds for the heavenly granaries. The conversation began in front of the people, but ended with an explanation of the proposed parables and the addition of new parables among the disciples and for the disciples themselves. So, the scribe of the Gospel had to know what was hidden from the people. The Lord likens such and such a scribe to a housewife, who wears out of his treasure the new and the old. A home-loving person must have his own home, which he takes care of supplying with everything necessary, and must be a free manager of his property. Thus, the scribe of the Gospel is given his inheritance in the house of God, in which he, by the will of the heavenly Householder, is appointed as a dispenser of the saving knowledge entrusted to him. By indicating the providence of God, by choosing a church, or by some other calling, he is entrusted with his own circle of listeners and disciples: this is his home, in the great house, a small one, which he must build well. As a good owner, he must bring everything into his home, but not in order to save only for himself, but to see that his own people are satisfied, and that there is enough for strangers to satisfy their needs, for mutual consolation, according to the Apostle, by common faith (Rom. 1:12). A householder should not be stingy, and not stingy: and the scribe of the Gospel, constantly concerned about increasing the treasury of his knowledge, should always be cordially ready to communicate it to others, for edification and salvation. Putting aside concern for himself, for his peace, for his enjoyment of his favorite studies or speculations, he must first of all try to ensure that in his words the members of his household find what is essential for them - their daily bread. Not the red word, not the pretentious words of human wisdom (Cor. 2:4) are needed by the hungry, hungry and thirsty soul for truth. Give her whatever she needs. God forbid if you give her a serpent instead of a fish, a stone instead of bread, a scorpion instead of an egg (Luke 11, 11, 12). There is no need to excite and cultivate in the soul a taste for any false or refined gourmet foods. She will not accept them, or even if she does, she will not be satisfied with them. The word about repentance, which tastes bitter, but delights the soul, is the word about the Cross of Christ, by whom the world was crucified to us, and we must be crucified to the world (Gal. 6:14), the word about constant attention to oneself and attentive walking before God is what should always be ready to satisfy the first needs of our relatives. But the scribe of the Gospel must also be ready to answer every word that asks about the hope of him (1 Peter 3:15). Questions of time inevitably come into contact with the truths of divine revelation; willingly or unwillingly one must take part in their resolution. Hostile clashes with the false wisdom of the carnal mind have especially often recently called for the defense of the truth of God. And not only actual attacks arouse the care of the steward of the house of God, but also envisaged meetings with the enemies of the truth: in conversation, in a book, in the field of other sciences. In a word, the wise scribe of the Gospel needs a huge stock of varied knowledge, concentrated in one thing - to make the path to the kingdom of heaven easier for everyone, and zeal, inexhaustible by any labors and difficulties, to guide the infants, children, and young men entrusted to him in the faith. The Lord outlined all this complexity of responsibilities with the words: be like a housewife, who wears out from his treasure the new and the old. What is new and old? The new is what he learned about the kingdom of heaven from Jesus Christ; old - ancient teaching, which was taught to the scribe from the law and the prophets. The Lord, Himself standing at the limit of two dispensations, one beginning, the other ending, having before Him the disciples of the Old Testament, whom He first intended to make participants in the New, in addition to the teaching they inherited from Moses and from the prophets, offered them and still had to offer many new things: new commandments, new truths. Renewing the old man and putting on the new man, created by God in righteousness and excellence of truth (Eph. 4:22-24), the Lord also demands from his scribe that he wear out from his treasury the new and the old. And above all, new: because what is gracious, true, is necessary first of all and for everyone. The truth of Christ's teachings, faith in redemption, the laws of life according to the spirit of Christ, the hopes of a blessed eternity - all these are objects of church necessity for one and all. But the old or ancient is also required: because in this Old Testament the key to understanding the new, it paved the way to the new: it predicted, prefigured the grace of the Gospel. What is required is a new life of faith: devotion to the will of God, boundless love, self-sacrifice and crucification of the flesh with passions and lusts, and this also requires the old, strict obedience to the commandments of the law of God. For the path of the ancient law is not something arbitrary, accidental: it is an inevitable path for a natural person coming to God; grace makes it easier for us to walk along this path: but our life can only be realized through long-term and constant labor in submission to the law. Neither new without the old, nor old without the new. The new, without the old, will say: all things pass away (1 Cor. 6:12), and, guided by the principles of false freedom, will establish the dominion of the flesh in the place of the sanctity of the spirit. The old without the new is letters that kill the spirit, this is the righteousness of the Pharisees, who worship mint and copra and kimin, and forsake the things of the law: judgment and mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23). This requirement to wear out from one’s treasure the new and the old can and should have an application to other knowledge with which the scribe of the Gospel is supplied and armed here for his future ministry. Let each science appear in its new, transformed form in accordance with the principles of Christianity; but do not neglect what you knew, how this science looked before Christianity, or how it wants to look besides Christianity. Through this, the beneficial light of Christ will be revealed more clearly, illuminating our darkness on all paths of our spiritual development. Just don’t separate one from the other, compare one with the other. Brothers and fellow disciples in the school of Christ! Today it is fifty years since the local theological school introduced the first scribes in the spirit of Christ to serve the church. Blessed are the labors in word and deed, science and life, of those who served for the creation of the Orthodox Church: their memory will not fade away, and their name will live on throughout generations: the pagans will proclaim their wisdom and the church will confess their praise. The memory of the Golubinskys, Delitsyns, Filarets and others will not fade away. But you yourself see, you yourself feel how meager the ranks of such figures are in such a vast field. Let us intensify our zeal in knowledge, understanding and active assimilation of the one saving teaching of Christ for all. As thrifty owners, let us collect as much as possible into the treasury of our spirit, so that we always have a good supply of new and ancient knowledge to satisfy those in need; May there be neither scarcity nor stinginess among us in the distribution of this knowledge. And let us together pray to the Lord of the harvest, that he may bring out new, more zealous workers, and that we ourselves work with all care to prepare them. Amen.