Глава 20

Matthew 20:1. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” Matthew 20:2. “And having agreed with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard;” Matthew 20:3. “When he went out about the third hour, he saw others standing idly in the market place,” Matthew 20:4. “And he said to them, “Go you also into my vineyard, and whatever is proper I will give you.” They went." Matthew 20:5. “Going out again around the sixth and ninth hours, I did the same.” Matthew 20:6. “Finally, going out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing idly, and said to them: Why have you been standing here all day idly?” Matthew 20:7. “They tell him: Nobody hired us. He says to them: You also go into my vineyard, and whatever comes next, you will receive.” Matthew 20:8. “When evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.” Matthew 20:9. “And those who came about the eleventh hour received a denarius each.” Matthew 20:10. “And those who came first thought that they would receive more, but they also received a denarius;” Matthew 20:11. “And when they received it, they began to murmur against the owner of the house.” Matthew 20:12. “And they said: These last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us, who endured the hardship of the day and the heat.” Matthew 20:13. “He answered and said to one of them: friend! I don't offend you; Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius?” Matthew 20:14. “Take yours and go; I want to give this last one the same as I gave you.” Matthew 20:15. “Don’t I have the power to do what I want? Or is your eye envious because I am kind?” The home-loving man is our Lord Jesus Christ; He went out to hire workers into His grapes, that is, into spiritual grapes: people have the ability and purpose to expel spiritual wine from themselves - good works. The homely man went out five times to hire laborers for His vineyard: early in the morning, at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours. These periods mean periods of the existence of the human race, or the existence of the world and the existence of each person individually. First it says that He went out early in the morning to hire workers. This means: soon after he created man. So He hired Adam and other people of the primitive world into His vineyard. They worked in His grapes, multiplying the talents entrusted to them by Him. Then we see the post-Flood patriarchs working in His grapes: Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others; then prophets, godly kings and other righteous men. The time after the flood is equal to the third hour of the great day of the world. Then the sixth hour, the time of full light, is equal to the luminous time of the New Testament. At this time, the apostles, martyrs, saints, saints, unmercenaries and others did. The ninth hour is equal to the later time of the world's existence; the eleventh - at the latest, the last time. In all these periods there were, are and will be workers in the grapes of the Lord who multiply the wealth of the Master of the world through the development of the spiritual soil of the human soul, which has the ability to produce good deeds from itself, like sweet wine to the Holy Trinity. However, these times of the day (early morning, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 11th hours) also mean periods of life for each person individually. The Lord hires others into His grapes very early, that is, during his earliest youth, and we know people who began to work for the Lord from adolescence and worked until old age; The Lord calls others in the third hour of the day of their life - in the years of youth, and from that time they work for Him; third - at the sixth hour, in adulthood, fourth - at the ninth hour, in the evening of their life; fifth, finally, in old age, or at the very end of their lives. All receive the same price for their labors through the goodness of the generous Lord. Do not despair, my soul, of your salvation - just try to achieve it. However, I advise you to work not so much for the denarii, for the heavenly reward, but for the sake of the Lord Himself. The Lord will pay you very generously for your selflessness, diligence and devotion” [1, 83–85]. “Extreme degrees of hope: even at the 11th hour those who come are accepted, although they have done nothing worthy (See: Matthew 20:1–16); bearing fruit 30 times (cf. Mark 4:20), fornicators, robbers and murderers, blasphemers and persecutors, those who repent are found in the Kingdom of Heaven. Great hopes! What is Christian hope? In order to answer this question in accordance with the essence of the matter, let us turn to ourselves and see: what is the most important good that we are deprived of in this life and which, however, there is hope of receiving? The heart, the center of our life, tells us that we do not have true life in this world, that there is only a ghost of life in us; our heart, thirsting for peace and bliss, does not find it in anything on earth, no matter how much it looks for it in earthly blessings, for example, in wealth, in food and drink, in various amusements, in fame and distinction, in health, in beauty, in the earthly affection of relatives and friends; on the contrary, the attachment of the heart to imaginary earthly blessings constrains, darkens it, produces in it a painful, burning thirst for more, more and more intensifying, longing and boredom for the satisfaction of the heart with earthly blessings. – Where is our true, permanent good? – Where is our peace and bliss? – Where is our true life? – In the Triune God, in heartfelt union with God, from whom we fell at the beginning, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to earth precisely in order to give us this future good. I have come, He says, and have life and have more (John 10:10). This is the promise that He Himself promised us, eternal life (1 John 2:25). It is good for me to cleave to God (Ps. 72:28). Our hope for this union with God is our peace and eternal bliss in Him in the future life - in Christ Jesus: come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). The peace of our hearts in God - in the confidence that He continually cares (cf.: 1 Pet. 5:7) - this is what Christian hope actually consists of. This is the definition and subject of hope. Hope, says Saint Demetrius of Rostov, is a virtue influenced from above, through which the benefits of eternal life are expected with certainty. (Note: all our illnesses are born and come from within - from the source of sin - the heart. It constantly bears the fruits of death.) [8, 193]. “Is it for this reason that your eye is evil, for I am good (cf. Matthew 20:15)? So, I am crafty, envious because our common Lord and Benefactor is good to everyone. – I have, for example, sufficient maintenance; but why, I think, does such and such a person known to me have as much or more than me? Or one good person gives me a certain amount of money and, together with me, my colleague in the service the same amount or more than me, let’s assume that not for work or for much less work than me, or even for free - and I envy my neighbor, saying to myself: why give him, or: why does he need so much, and not less; Why was he compared to me? – Where is brotherhood, humility before others, goodwill here? - So, we are crafty and envious because our Lord is good. “Is it for this reason that your eye is evil, because I am good?” Or is it impossible for me to create what I want - in my own eyes? I want to give to this last one as well as to you (Matthew 20:15, 14)” [11,358]. Matthew 20:16. “So the last will be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 20:20. “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee and her sons came to Him, bowing and asking Him something.” Matthew 20:21. “He said to her: what do you want? She says to Him: command that these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand and the other on Your left in Your Kingdom.” Matthew 20:22. “Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They say to Him: We can. » Matthew 20:23. “And he says to them: You will drink my cup, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized, but to let you sit at my right hand and on my left does not depend on me, but on whom my Father has prepared.” Matthew 20:24. “When the other ten disciples heard this, they were indignant against the two brothers.” Matthew 20:25. “Jesus called them and said, “You know that the princes of the nations rule over them, and the great rulers rule over them.” Matthew 20:26. “But let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant;” Matthew 20:27. “And whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave;” Matthew 20:28. “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” "Mf. 20, art. 26–28. Serving humanity earns one's seat at the right hand of the Son of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. This virtue is so important. He who diligently, sincerely and unselfishly serves the essential needs of people imitates the Son of God, who did not come and be served, but served and gave His soul deliverance for many. Shepherds of Christ's flock! Use your title to your salvation and obtain high dignity in the Kingdom of the Son of God. Serve your flock diligently, sincerely and, if possible, unselfishly: your service in heaven is highly valued” [1, 127]. “Be obedient in heart, word and deed at all times to serve others, without the slightest annoyance or irritability, remembering the words of the Savior: whatever He willed to be in you, let him be your servant [Matt. 20:26]" [5, vol. 1, 213]. “Out of master’s or, better yet, monetary pride and incomprehensible malice, we often do not want to honor the speech of those who feed from us, we treat them with hostility, instead of us being more humble before them, as their servants, according to the word of the Lord: Whoever wills to be in you, let him be your servant [Matt. 20:26 ], in order to thereby aggravate the reward of the Master through sincere, unfeigned service to Him in the person of His lesser brethren! Oh, meek and humble-hearted Creator, Life-Giver, Redeemer, Nourisher and Guardian, our Lord Jesus! Teach us love, meekness and humility by Your Holy Spirit and strengthen us in these virtues most dear to You, so that Your rich gifts do not puff up our hearts, so that we do not imagine that we feed, satisfy and support anyone; You, the Common Breadwinner of all, nourish, satisfy and preserve; everyone is content and at peace under the wings of Your goodness, generosity and love for mankind, and not under ours, for we ourselves need to take refuge in the shadow of Your wings every moment of our lives. Our eyes are directed to You, our God, like the eyes of a slave in the hand of the Lord, the eyes of a slave in the hand of her mistress, You have spared us [Ps. 122:2, 3]. Amen” [5, vol. 1, 214]. “Can you drink the cup that I will drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I will be baptized (cf.: Matthew 20:22)? The two brothers softened their answer by saying: “we can.” If not for this answer or this willingness to lay down their lives for Christ, their request would have been very offensive to all the apostles; and even then, they were offended; - it is said: they were indignant at James and John. - The Lord admonished them (See: Matthew 20:20–28)" [4, 38]. “If Jesus Christ had intended to give His church, upon His ascension to heaven, another head in His place, or a vicar, as the popes say, considering themselves vicars of Christ on earth, then He would have clearly announced this before His ascension, for this is such an important dogma for the salvation of human souls; and the apostles would have announced this or one of them would have called himself a vicegerent, otherwise none of them said anything, remembering the words of the Lord: whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant (Matthew 20:26); after all, you are brothers (Matthew 23:8). The whole trouble is that Catholic theologians incorrectly interpreted the Lord’s words to Peter: on this rock (not on Peter, but on the Lord Himself) I will build My Church (Matthew 16:18). Compare the words of the Lord: destroy this church (the Body of Christ), and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19)” [6, 41]. “Always rejoice when they call you to any need, because you are going to talk with the Lord Himself and serve His sheep, whom He loved to death, even death on the cross (Phil. 2:8). Rejoice also that, in serving the members of Christ, you fulfill the word of the Savior: whoever willed to be in you, let him be a servant to all: just as the Son of Man came, he did not come and be served, but served and to give His soul redemption for many (Matthew 20:26, 28). Don’t think about the payment: whatever they give you is fine. It’s a disaster if selfishness creeps into a holy cause: the enemy will fail - and you will perform the Sacrament or prayer insincerely, carelessly, to judgment and condemnation of yourself. Be also afraid of extreme reluctance, slowness, laziness in holy work. Hurry to every poor person, do not be alienated from him in your heart; don’t say to yourself: a dry spoon hurts your mouth; they won’t give you anything for your efforts; It's not worth the trouble. You work for the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Col. 3:24), who will reward you with eternal life. Blessed are you, for you have no recompense to the poor: but he will reward you for the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14)” [10, 89]. Matthew 20:34. “Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.” "Verse 34. Jesus, having compassion, touched their eyes (the blind of Jericho); and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed Him. I kiss Your most pure, all-powerful hands, Sweetest Jesus, life-givingly touching our weak nature. I see here clearly the Creator of the world and people: like a skilled mechanic, it costs nothing to correct the most skillful and tender machine, because He is its master and has all sorts of tools and materials for correcting it, so the Creator of the world, all the more, does not cost anything to correct a machine of the human body that has been damaged in some place, since He is its Master and in His creative mind and word lie all the means not only for correcting the damaged machine that He created, but also for creating again (in one word) any machine of any size. Human! Answer me: why does the huge machine of the world not deteriorate over time and from such long use, but your small, invisible in comparison with the world, microscopic machine deteriorates and is damaged so quickly? Because the universe, or the visible world, is filled with the Spirit of God - the Life-Giving Spirit (the Spirit of the Lord fills the universe (Wisdom 1:7), because the world, like a meaningless creature, is carried by the powerful word of God - and your body is filled and penetrated by your lawless, sinful soul. But can there not be damage, can there be a right course, a right life where the law is not followed? life, indicated by God? Your bodily illnesses are for the most part the fruit of the iniquities of your soul. And since you have subordinated the unreasonable creation to your vanity, because of you it is soon damaged and destroyed, and it sighs and suffers with you, wanting to be freed from the work of corruption” [1, 128]. You might be interested in: