Глава 22

"Ch. 22. The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a man king who married his son and sent his servants to call those invited to the marriage, but they did not want to come. Then he sent other slaves, saying: tell those invited that my dinner is completely ready: come to the wedding. Those invited, neglecting the invitation, left - some to their own field, some to buy something. And others, seizing his servants, annoyed them and killed them. We see and read this bitter truth in the lives of people not only of our positive century, but of all times. The Lord, through His holy Word, through the voice of conscience and the voice of nature, also through the circumstances of life, invites everyone to the heavenly palace. And how many do not want to go; how many, neglecting the invitation, as if alien, foreign to them, some go to their field, some to buy, some and where. Others even harass preachers of the Gospel. What will the righteous and long-suffering King do? It’s scary to imagine what He will do to His daring subjects: He will burn their city with heavenly fire, that is, the land on which people live will burn like dry brushwood, so that it does not remind anyone of the black ingratitude of the subjects of the Heavenly King. Where will the ungrateful be? They will be saved from elemental fire - in order to be thrown into eternal fire, not elemental" [1, 130]. Matthew 22:2. “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who held a wedding feast for his son.” Matthew 22:3. “And he sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast; and didn’t want to come" Matthew 22:4. “Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell those who are invited: behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and what is fattened, slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast." Matthew 22:5. “But they despised this and went, some to their field, and some to their trade;” Matthew 22:6. “The others seized his servants, insulted and killed them.” Matthew 22:7. “When the king heard about this, he became angry, and, sending his troops, destroyed their murderers and burned their city.” Matthew 22:8. “Then he says to his servants: The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.” “In the Gospel read today, the Lord Jesus Christ likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a man king, who held a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those invited to the wedding feast - and they did not want to come. What inattention, what pride, ingratitude, insolence! But what leniency and patience of the king! He again sent other slaves, saying: Tell those who are invited: behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and what is fattened, slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast. What about those who were invited, how did they respond to the new invitation of their good king? They, the Gospel says, neglected this too, and went, some to their field, and some to their trade; the others, seizing his slaves, insulted and killed them. But now listen to what the king did to these impudent and ungrateful people. Hearing about such insolence of those invited to the marriage, the king became angry, and, sending his troops, destroyed their murderers and burned their city. Then he says to his servants: The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; So go to the crossroads and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast. And those slaves, going out onto the roads, gathered everyone they found, good and evil; and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining. The king, coming in to see those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes, and said to him: friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? He was silent. Then the king said to the servants: Having tied his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; for many are called, but few are chosen (cf. Matthew 22:2–14). Here is the end of the current reading from the Gospel. This legend is called a parable, that is, a similitude, or, as it were, a riddle. We need to guess it. Who is this king who held a wedding feast for his son? This is God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth and King of every creature; who is the king's son? This is the Only Begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ; and His bride is the Church, and, firstly, the Jewish people chosen by God, and secondly, the soul of every Christian believer; Christ loved the Church, it is said, and gave Himself for her (Eph. 5:25); the Apostle Paul says: I have betrothed you to one husband, in order to present you to Christ as a pure virgin (2 Cor. 11:2); By the wedding feast we mean the Kingdom of Heaven, in which true believers will be united forever with the Lord Jesus. To this marriage, or to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Jews were first of all invited through the prophets and apostles, but they refused the invitation; Moreover, they even insulted the messengers of God and killed many of them. For this, God, later in time, destroyed the Jewish people with the weapons of the Romans and destroyed their city and church. Instead of the Jews, God called pagan peoples, including us Russians, to marriage, or to His Church, through the apostles and equals of the apostles. But Christians from the pagans and the Christian generations that follow them will also not all enter the Kingdom of Christ. Those of them who do not preserve the purity of the bright wedding garment of innocence and holiness, which they received at Baptism - or, after desecration by sins, do not cleanse it with tears of repentance - will be cast out into utter darkness at the Last Judgment, where there will be eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth. Here is the interpretation of the above parable” [9, 240]. “In today's world, clear evidence of an invitation to dinner is a written or printed note; whoever received it goes to a dinner party with complete confidence and has no doubt at all that either there is no dinner or he will not be welcome at the dinner. Thus, Christians have an invitation letter to the supper of the Kingdom of Heaven and yet they neglect it, do not prepare for it and do not go to it; but she is also undoubtedly ready - go - as the whole essence is already ready (cf. Matthew 22:4). Rise up, brothers, from lack of faith and sleepiness: you are losing a lot, infinitely, through your carelessness. “Do not be one of those about whom it was said that they were not worthy of the title (Matthew 22:8)” [8, 257]. Matthew 22:12. “and says to him: friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? He was silent." Matthew 22:13. “Then the king said to the servants: Having tied his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth;" Matthew 22:14. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” "Friend, how did you come here without a wedding garment? And he said to his servants: having tied his hands and feet, throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen (cf. Matthew 22:12-14). Christ God, our Giver of Life, likens Himself to the Holy, beautiful, luminous Bridegroom, the eternal, who deigned to be betrothed with an eternal, incorruptible, vital betrothal in the future, infinite life and in this earthly life, who offered Himself to a faithful soul, in order to be betrothed to faithful souls, but who had defiled the garment of their souls with countless sins, who had distorted the image of God and who had moved away from God, becoming strangers to Him through sins, the Lord gave them a beautiful, incorruptible spiritual. clothing in the Sacrament of Baptism and sealing with the Holy Spirit through anointing with holy myrrh. But man again desecrated the robe of Baptism and again withdrew from God, and dressed himself in the stinking rags of passions, breaking and dishonoring his betrothal to God. The Lord, in His mercy, deigned to give him the wedding robe again in sincere repentance and in communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and man again receives the wedding robe and is united in the closest possible way with the Heavenly Bridegroom so that take care in every possible way not to soil the wedding garment again and to live in holiness. Who are these souls betrothed to Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom? Where are they? – These souls are you, brothers and sisters. I ask you: is your wedding garment clean and adorned? Have you adorned your souls with good deeds - simplicity, meekness, goodness, humility, mercy, unforgettable malice, patience, abstinence, holiness and chastity? What will you bring to the Wedding Supper, to the Kingdom of Heaven? Are you constantly preparing for where the wonderful Bridegroom awaits us - the King of all men and all saints? Get ready immediately: time flows and brings you closer to the end of your life, and then you will have to make a reckoning with the Righteous Householder for your entire life. To her, I say, let us all prepare to acquire the robe of the soul, pure, holy, pleasing to the Heavenly Bridegroom. Amen. October 19" [4, 79]. “Let no one think that sin is something unimportant; no, sin is a terrible evil that kills the soul now and in the next century. The sinner in the next century is bound hand and foot (speaking of the soul) and thrown into utter darkness, as the Savior says: having tied his hand and nose, take him and cast him into utter darkness [Matt. 22:13 ], that is, he completely loses the freedom of all the powers of his soul, which, being created for free activity, suffer through this some kind of murderous inactivity for all good: in the soul the sinner is aware of his strength and at the same time feels that his strength is bound by some indissoluble chains: everyone is held captive by his sins [Prov. 5:22 ]; To this add the terrible torment from the sins themselves, from the consciousness of one’s folly during earthly life, from the idea of ​​an angry Creator. And in this age sin binds and kills the soul; Who among those who fear God does not know what sorrow and oppression strikes their soul, what painfully scorching fire rages in their chest when they commit any sin? But by binding and killing the soul temporarily, sin kills it forever, if we do not repent from our hearts of our sins and iniquities. Here is experimental proof that sin kills the soul temporarily and eternally. If one of the God-fearing people happens to go to sleep without repenting of that sin or those sins that were committed during the day and tormented the soul, then this torment will accompany the person the whole night until he heartily repents of the sin and washes his heart with tears. (It's an experience). The torment of sin will awaken him from his sweet sleep, because the soul will be in distress, bound by the captives of sin. Now let’s assume that a person who goes to sleep in some sin and is tormented by sin will suffer death at night: isn’t it obvious that the soul will go to that age in torment, and since after death there is no place for repentance, it will suffer there depending on the extent of its sins. The Holy Scripture also testifies to this [Matt. 25:46 ; Rome. 2:6, 9; 2 Cor. 5:10, etc.]” ​​[5, vol. 1, 40]. “God’s holy men had enlightened eyes in their hearts (Eph. 1:18) and with these eyes they clearly contemplated the needs of our nature corrupted by sin, they clearly saw what we need to pray for, what to ask for, what to give thanks for, how to glorify the Lord, and they left us the most excellent examples of prayers of all kinds. - ABOUT! How good these prayers are! - In relation to these beads, we are for the most part like pigs (See: Matt. 7:6) - we do not feel, we do not know their value, because, for example, we know the price of food and drink, the price of fashionable clothes, a well-furnished apartment, the price of theaters, the price of music, the price of secular literature, namely: the price of novels, this eloquent verbosity and - alas! - We trample the precious beads of prayers under our feet. While everything secular finds a spacious shelter in the hearts of the majority, prayer - alas - does not find even a cramped corner in them, does not fit into them. And when she asks to come to us and comes up with even one foot, she is immediately pushed out like a beggar, like a person who does not have a wedding garment (cf. Matthew 22:12–13)” [10, 297]. Matthew 22:30. “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but remain as the angels of God in heaven.” “After the resurrection, our bodies will be spiritual, not earthly: everything earthly will remain on earth. Let us, Christians, remembering this future life of ours, gradually renounce everything earthly. In the resurrection of the dead people will be like angels in heaven [Matt. 22:30 ], – so spiritual! That is why there will be no food, no drink, no clothing, no air, no warmth - feeding, warming and supporting our bodies, but truth and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit [Rom. 14:17]. Now our earthly bodies are supported by the earth, i.e. earthly elements, but then all the elements that are burned will be destroyed, and the earth and the works on it will be burned up [2 Pet. 3:10]. So, remembering these future revolutions in our destiny, in our bodies and in our lives and strangely seeing God incarnate, let us withdraw from the vanity of the world and place our minds on the Divine: for this reason God came down to earth, so that he may lead us to heaven [akaf. Iis. Sweet, cond. 8]. The spiritual body is completely different from the material, elemental one. God will be all things in all [1 Cor. 15:28]" [5, vol. 2, 443]. Matthew 22:32. “Am I the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." “Verse 32. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. How certain is it that our dead are alive with the Lord God! Departing from the body, they only enter the Lord, from Whom the prison of the body separated them here” [1, 130]. Matthew 22:37. “Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind:” Matthew 22:38. “This is the first and greatest commandment;” Matthew 22:39. “The second is like this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself;” Matthew 22:40. “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” "Versions 37–40. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments are established all the law and the prophets. Always have these commandments of the great Lawmaker - God and try to fulfill them. How important they are: the whole Law of Moses and The prophets, no matter how extensive they are, mainly say the same thing as these two commandments” [1, 130]. “What are human souls? This is one and the same soul or the same breath of God, which God breathed into Adam, which from Adam has spread to the entire human race to this day. All people are therefore the same as one person or one great tree of humanity. Hence the most natural commandment, based on the unity of our nature: thou shalt love the Lord thy God (thy archetype, thy Father) with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy thought, and with all thy strength, and with all thy strength, and with thy neighbor (for who is nearer to me than a man like me, of the same blood as myself), as thyself [Mk. 12:30, 31; Wed: Matt. 22:37, 39 and Luke. 10:27]. There is a natural need to fulfill these two commandments” [5, vol. 2, 323]. “Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39). From the moment of disobeying the commandment of God in paradise, man fell of his own free will from the love of God and transferred perverted love to himself (self-love, selfishness) and to earthly objects, all clothed in deception He turned this delusion onto himself, was seduced by his mind, fell away from the mind of God - he fell into thousands of delights, into the delusion of all earthly pleasures and left no place in his heart for God, Who should be loved (with all his heart) with all his being, glorified, thanked, honored with sacrifices pleasing to God, as a sign of gratitude and appreciation" [6, 47]. “My neighbor is a being of equal rights to me, the same person as me, the same image of God; and since he is the same as me, then I need to love him, as I love myself. Love your sincere one as yourself [Matt. 22:39], - we must observe him as our own flesh and blood: treat him with love, meekly, kindly, forgiving his mistakes, as I willingly forgive myself, as I myself thirst for forgiveness or indulgence from others for my weaknesses, i.e. so that they would not notice them, as if they were not there, or would notice them affectionately, meekly, kindly, benevolently” [5, vol. 1, 131]. “Passion for spiritual dispensation is contagious; for example: anger, not yet expressed in words, not expressed in deeds, but hiding only in the heart and reflected slightly on the face and eyes, is already transmitted to the soul of the one against whom I have anger, and is noticeable to others; I am indignant with passion, my indignation also touches the heart of another, there is some kind of spiritual overflow of an unclean stream from one spiritual container to another. If you destroy your passion for your brother, it will also be destroyed in him; If you calm down yourself, he will calm down too. What a close connection between souls! The word of the Apostle is true: we are one another's delight [Eph. 4:25] – members, or one body, of many [1 Cor. 10:17]. From one blood the whole human race [Acts. 17:26]. That is why the divine commandment demands: love your sincere person as you love yourself [Matt. 22:39]. The action or inaction of preaching words is based on the mutual feeling or understanding of our souls of each other: if the preacher does not speak from the heart, hypocritically, the listeners with their inner instinct understand the discrepancy between the preacher’s words and his heart, with his life, and the word does not have the power that it could bring if the preacher uttered it from the heart, especially when he himself fulfilled his word in practice. There is too close an internal connection and communication between human souls. That is why good, pious, heartfelt dispositions are communicated to the souls of others, especially good deeds” [5, vol. 1, 109]. “Everyone sees that light pours onto the earth from the sky, for the sun, the month, and the stars shine for us from the heavenly circle. This indicates to us that the uncreated intelligent Light - the Lord our God dwells primarily in heaven and from Him all light, both material and spiritual, descends to us, the light of the mind and heart. There is no true light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world [Jn. 1:9]. God is love [1 John. 4:16]. All thoughts, feelings and dispositions of the heart that tend towards the destruction of love and the planting of enmity are from the devil; write this on your heart and adhere to love in every possible way. Hold on to love [1 Cor. 14:1]. Pay attention: what is contrary to the carnal, old, sinful man, then do it, go against him all your life. This is the purpose of your life and together your glory in Christ Jesus. They who are like Christ have crucified their flesh with passions and lusts [Gal. 5:24]. Confirm in your heart the following truth: one thing is worth all our hatred - it is sin or vice, and only have love for people. The royal law is clear: Thou shalt love thy sincere man as thyself [Matt. 22:39]" [5, vol. 1, 73]. “I have sinned, Lord, by disliking the crooked, the deaf (although I myself am deaf), the lame, those disfigured in the face with rowan ridges or scars, those without a real nose, mouth, and everyone else who is somehow disfigured by illness or various accidents, forgetting that they are the same people as those who are pleasant in face and the correct structure of the whole body, that their souls are also in the image of God and, perhaps, they are much more beautiful than us in the inner dignity, according to virtue, secret or obvious. Correct my passionate heart, O Lord, so that I love everyone according to Your commandment: love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Matthew 22:39)” [4, 45]. “When, due to any everyday calculations: greed or ambition, your love and respect for your neighbor dry up in your heart, immediately return to your heart the due love and respect for your brother with the words of the Gospel: love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matt. 22:39; Lev. 19:18). May your love and due respect for your neighbor not fall before any earthly calculations, for the soul of a brother is the image of God" [10, 172]. “Since our soul is a spiritually simple being, one crafty, self-satisfied glance at a spacious, comfortable and well-decorated apartment can turn our hearts away from the Lord if we do not pay attention to ourselves at every moment of life. - This can be done by one crafty one, with a heartfelt passion (or at least a wish) for a woman’s beautiful face, for his beloved, pleasant food, for a pleasant drink, for elegant clothes. - My God! How many networks for the soul! How many pleasant shackles for her, which, so to speak, are asking for you! How carefully a servant of God must use the blessings of this world! You have to treat them like fire. - Not fire, but burning and scorching the insides; no teeth, but a strong bite to the heart; not stones, but suppress worse than any stones. “We must try to love the one Lord with all our hearts (cf. Matt. 22:37; Deut. 6:5) and already in the Lord and for the Lord, to please Him, to enjoy all the blessings of this vain age” [10, 497]. “About anger. If you are angry with your brother for his sins, let’s say, even tempting ones, then you yourself are not without sins, also tempting, although perhaps of a different kind; and how you yourself wish that your tempting sins would be covered by the condescending and all-covering (sins) love of your neighbors: how grateful you would be to them, with what love you would embrace and kiss them for their all-enduring love (Compare: 1 Cor. 13:4, 7)! How this condescension would ease your already heavy grief over sins, encourage and strengthen your weakness in the fight against them, strengthen your spirit with hope in God’s mercy! But whatever you wish for yourself in such cases, wish for your brother. He is your member and the member of Christ; love, it is said, your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39). – Always remember, when your heart condemns and is angry at your brother for his sins, that you yourself are not without sins. Why do you see the bitch that is in your brother's eye, but don't you hear the log that is in your eye? “You hypocrite, truly a hypocrite, first remove the thorn from your hair, and then see clearly to take away the knot from your brother’s hair (cf. Matthew 7:3, 5). Moreover, it is the Lord’s brother who stands or falls (Rom. 14:4), not you” [10, 216]. “Our soul is a simple being, therefore it cannot love God and, for example, money, food, drink, or a neighbor and money, food and drink at the same time. That is why it is said: no one can work for two masters: either he will love one and hate the other, or he will stick to one and begin to neglect the other. You cannot work for God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). That is why the psalmist says by the Holy Spirit: if wealth flows, do not apply your heart (Ps. 61:11). Thus, every Christian should be afraid to attach his heart to money, food, drink, elegant clothes, an elegant apartment, books, secular music; Yes, you don’t love, you don’t caress your flesh with anything: whether with amusements, elegant views, food and drinks; sleep, idleness and laziness, shameful deeds, games, idle travel, empty books and shows. Love one God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your thoughts and your neighbor as yourself (cf. Matt. 22:37, 39; Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5) - and be indifferent to everything else in the world, do not be partial or greedy for anything. - Be jealous of the simplicity of everything, so that the Simple Being - God - will be loved. Take away wickedness (cf. Isa. 1:16), doubt, lack of faith and double-mindedness from your soul” [10, 217]. You might be interested in: