Parables of Jesus for children. Gospel parables
The teachings of Jesus Christ would be immortalized even if only His parables, those priceless treasures that exist outside of time, were preserved.
Briefly about the article:
- The purpose of parables
- How to Study Parables
- Themes of parables
- Pearls in parables
- Greek meaning
A parable is “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.”
The purpose of parables
Jesus' parables have at least four purposes.
+ Parables are intended to clarify some spiritual concepts for people who sincerely strive to know the truth. For example, the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35) teaches the need to forgive others as God has forgiven us.
+ Proverbs sometimes hid the truth from people who might misuse it (see Matt. 13:13-15).
+ Sometimes a parable has helped a sinner to admit the truth before he realized how it applied to himself (Matt. 21:33-45).
+ The narrative form of the parable made it easier to remember its meaning.
How to Study Parables
Parables are wonderful teaching tools, but being figurative narratives, they are subject to misinterpretation.
The following rules will help make the study of parables a useful activity that brings good results.
+ It is necessary to carefully study the contextual (historical) background of the parable. This will help you figure out its correct meaning. The three parables in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel - the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son - arose from the fact that the Pharisees condemned Christ for His generous attitude towards sinners.
+ It is necessary to examine the grammatical and lexical forms of the parable, because they contain important aspects of truth. In the parable of the wicked husbandmen (Mark 12:1-9), the son (Christ) is presented as the Father's “last” offering (v. 6, PC). This is important because there will be no other means of salvation.
+ It is necessary to highlight the main truth of the parable, for example, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29), and then look at any other valid additional points that can be drawn from the narrative. However, it should be borne in mind that one cannot build a teaching only on the basis of single mentions of any issues in parables.
Themes of parables
Systematization of parables according to the general principle of a title, which to a certain extent reflects their themes, can be useful, although it must be recognized that such a classification is rather arbitrary.
+ Parables about the kingdom. In some parables there is a clear emphasis on the kingdom. Sometimes they begin with the words: “The kingdom of heaven is like...”.
+ Parables about sinners. There are three parables that relate directly to sinners; all three are recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel: "The Lost Sheep", "The Lost Coin" and "The Prodigal Son".
+ Parables about forgiveness. Some parables explore the theme of forgiveness, for example, “Worthless Servants” (Luke Chapter 17), “The Unmerciful Servant” (Matthew Chapter 18) and “Two Debtors” (Luke Chapter 7).
+ Parables about management. Service involves recognizing that God is the Supreme Ruler of everything and everything we have. We are merely “stewards” (stewards) of the Lord’s property.
Three parables are devoted to this topic: “Talents”, “Mines” (Luke ch. 19) and “The Rich Madman” (Luke ch. 12).
+ Parables about prayer. There are three parables (all in the Gospel of Luke) that give instruction about prayer: “The Friend at Midnight” (Luke 11), “The Unjust Judge” (Luke 18), and “The Pharisee and the Publican” (Luke 18). Chapter 18).
+ Parable about help. The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke ch. 10) stands out somewhat apart because it reveals the question of who is worthy of our friendship and help.
+ Parables about readiness. In conclusion, there are four parables that, in different ways, emphasize the idea that each of us will eventually have to answer for our actions, and therefore these parables speak of the need to be prepared for eternity.
These are the parables “The Barren Fig Tree” (Luke Ch. 13), “The Unfaithful Steward” (Luke Ch. 16), “The Marriage of the King’s Son” (Matt. Ch. 22) and “Ten Virgins” (Matt. Ch. 25) .
Pearls in parables
We have already noted that, as a rule, there is one main element of truth in a parable, although there may be several additional valuable lessons. In this section we will try to consider one parable from the above categories.
+ Attitude. The parable of the sower (Matthew 13) is intended to show the different attitudes with which people respond to being introduced to the gospel of Christ.
- The land “by the road”, that is, on the side of the road, is a cold heart that shows no interest in the teachings of Jesus.
- Rocky soil with very thin topsoil symbolizes the superficial person who readily accepts the gospel but then quickly abandons it when persecution begins.
- The soil where grains and thorns grow can be called “supersaturated” soil. Its fertility is drowned out by selfish interests that become “more important” than the gospel. The eternal is subordinate to the transitory.
- Finally, the good soil symbolizes an honest and good heart that gratefully receives the gospel and produces fruit according to its ability.
Seven of them are contained in the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: “The Sower,” “The Tares,” “The Mustard Seed,” “The Leaven,” “The Hidden Treasure,” “The Pearl of Great Price,” and “The Net.”
Also related to this topic are the parables “The workers in the vineyard” (Matt. ch. 20), “Evil vinedressers” (Matt. ch. 21), “Two sons” (Matt. ch. 21), “The mustard seed” (Mk. ch. 4) and “The Great Supper” (Luke ch. 14).
+ Sinners. Probably the most beloved parable about sinners is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke ch. 15).
The foolish son demanded his share of the inheritance. Having received what was due to him, he went to a distant country, where he spent his time in entertainment. But there is a very high price to pay for sin, and in the end the young man squandered all his funds and turned into a failure.
Ultimately, his failed life brought him back to reality. He swallowed his pride and returned home. His loving father was waiting for him and generously accepted him.
Of course, all this shows the compassion of the Lord Jesus, which is different from the hostile attitude of the Pharisees.
+ Forgiveness. “Forgiveness” is one of the most amazing words in Scripture. In response to Peter's limited attitude toward forgiveness (Matthew 18:21), Christ told the parable of the unmerciful servant (verses 23-35).
A certain ruler discovered that one person owed him a huge amount of money that he could never pay on his own. If he received the average salary of a hired worker of that time (Matt. 20:2) and paid it in full to pay off the debt, it would take him 200,000 years to eliminate the debt!
Of course, this is before God because of our sins.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Rom.6:23)
Man cannot “earn” his salvation.
8 For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God:
9 Not from works, so that no one can boast.
(Eph.2:8,9)
However, after begging forgiveness, this man found his friend, who owed him a trifling amount. Without regret, he forced him to pay, not paying attention to the request to be patient. When other people noticed this unworthy behavior, they reported it to the king, who threw this “merciless slave” into prison!
The Lord gave a clear explanation of this parable. If we do not agree to sincerely forgive other people, God will refuse to pardon us.
13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy; mercy is exalted over judgment.
(James 2:13)
+ Management. The earth and everything that fills it belongs to the Lord (Ps. 23:1). A person is just a “manager” (manager), who ultimately must be held accountable for the results of his work.
and calling him, he said to him: What is this I hear about you? give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage.
(Luke 16:2)What is required of the stewards is that everyone should be faithful.
(1 Cor. 4:2)
But greedy people resist this concept of “stewardship” with all their might, so Scripture places great emphasis on the dangers of materialism.
A man complained to Jesus about his brother, who was allegedly deceiving him regarding the division of his inheritance. The Lord saw covetousness in this man and warned him against this vice with the help of the parable of the rich fool (Luke ch. 12).
One successful farmer had a good harvest of grain, which his “granaries” (barns) could not contain. He didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t think about helping other people whose barns were empty. He decided to expand his storage facilities and rejoiced that his prosperity was ensured for many years. But God interrupted his thoughts, saying that that same night they would demand his soul!
He learned the lesson too late that material wealth does not provide any security. It is much better to “grow rich in God” than to have full barns!
+ Prayer. Prayer was an important part of Christ's life, and He knew that His disciples should also value this means of communication with God. Therefore, He taught lessons on prayer, one of which was the story of the friend who came at midnight (Luke ch. 11).
One night, when the owner of the house was already sleeping, suddenly there was a knock on the door. One night, when the owner of the house was already sleeping, there was a knock on the door. An unexpected guest came to a neighbor, and he needed food (three loaves of bread) to meet his friend. A neighbor came to this house for help. The man who was woken up was unhappy and initially refused to open the door, not wanting to be disturbed. However, the neighbor continued to knock until the angry friend got out of bed to give him what he asked for.
The Savior then said that even if a stubborn neighbor could be swayed by “persistence” (that is, persistence), would not a loving God take a greater interest in the needs of His people?
+ Humanity. One of the most famous parables tells of two people who were, so to speak, “natural” enemies.
One was a Jew, the other a despised Samaritan. Historically, Jews and Samaritans did not communicate with each other (John 4:9). There was a thick wall of hatred between them (see Luke 9:51-56). When one lawyer cynically asked: “Who is my neighbor? ”, trying to escape some of the obligations of the law (cf. Lev. 19:18), Jesus told this memorable parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke ch. 10).
The Jew was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho (a little less than thirty kilometers) when he was attacked by robbers, who robbed him and severely wounded him. In this state, he was seen first by a priest and then by a Levite - both were ministers of the Jewish religion - but they passed by, turning a blind eye to his suffering.
Finally, a Samaritan arrived at the scene. One would think that he, being an enemy, would also pass by, but no, he showed compassion for a stranger. He himself provided the wounded man with the necessary assistance, and then took him to the hotel. He gave the innkeeper money, which he calculated would be enough for three weeks' stay, and promised to pay more if the need arose.
What an amazing example of benevolence and caring - a true second-world religion!
Jesus then encouraged the lawyer who asked a question about his neighbor to follow the example of the Samaritan.
From this parable we learn that being a “neighbor” has nothing to do with national and racial preferences. Being a neighbor is a character trait, love for all people created in the image of God.
+ Readiness. The New Testament talks a lot about the need to be ready for the Lord's return. Several parables of the Savior are devoted to this topic.
For example, just a few days before his death, Jesus encouraged his disciples to prepare for eternity and told them the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. ch. 25). Ten virgins were invited to a great wedding feast. They came to the groom's house, taking with them "lamps" (oil lamps), because the groom could arrive at any hour of the day or night.
The five maidens prudently stocked up on oil in case the groom's arrival was delayed. Night came, the groom was late, and the virgins fell asleep. Suddenly they were awakened by a cry that the groom was already nearby. The five virgins, called “wise,” rose and added oil to their lamps; the other five virgins, called “foolish,” were forced to go in search of oil.
When the groom arrived, everyone present was invited to a feast, and then the door was locked. When the foolish virgins came to the house after some time, they were not allowed inside because they had not prepared properly, and this reflected their inappropriate attitude towards the host of the feast.
All Gospel parables are surprisingly short. There is no writer or philosopher who would leave behind such a meager legacy. However, we re-read the words spoken by Jesus Christ and transmitted in the Gospels many times throughout our lives. They do not become obsolete and remain relevant for more than two thousand years. During this time, entire volumes of research and interpretation were written.
Simple stories that open the way to salvation
Maybe the parables of Jesus Christ are so ornate that not everyone who reads them is able to understand the meaning of what the Lord said? Not at all. They are extremely simple and logical, and the parables of Jesus Christ for children were completely rewritten by various writers in such a language that against their background, folk tales for the little ones look much more mysterious. Jesus Christ was the first who began to address people without dividing them by religion, nationality or social status. The parables of the Lord Jesus Christ in simple words reveal to people what the meaning of life is. Christ, with his parables, showed us the shortest path to the salvation of the soul. And the salvation of the soul is peace, tranquility, happiness, prosperity and harmony. He also showed that this path is not at all easy, but by sacrificing Himself to all humanity, He ensured that the Lord Himself takes care of the salvation of everyone who turns their heart to Him.
All the Savior’s speeches are imbued with love for everyone
The parables of Jesus Christ cover all aspects of human life. They can be studied from a variety of perspectives, for example, considering the relationship between God and man or between man and other people. Each of them can be projected onto individual everyday situations, or can be considered as the entire life path of a person. For comparison, you can take the parables of Jesus Christ and the parables written by famous writers. One famous Russian writer, who left behind wonderful novels in which he preserved for us the details of the War of 1812, and also revealed the traditions, morals, customs and life of our ancestors who lived in the 19th century, at some point in his life turned to the genre of moralizing novels. parables Reading the parables of Jesus Christ and this writer, you involuntarily pay attention to the fact that in the stories of Christ there is not a shadow of annoyance at unreasonable people.
Christian thinkers who have taken the liberty to interpret the short parables of Jesus Christ unanimously agree that the Lord loves each of us and understands to the very deepest corners of the soul that He exists only to save and give happiness to each of His creations, then there is for you and me, no matter how different we may be and no matter what temptations torment our souls.
Interpretations of the story of the sheep that strayed from the flock
The lost animal in Jesus Christ's parable about the sheep that strayed from the flock shows how important every person is to the Lord. At least, many theologians believe that this parable is about the righteous and one sinner. In their opinion, the Lord rejoices at every sinner who repents of his sins and joins the host of the righteous. However, Theophylact of Bulgaria sees another meaning in this story. The lost sheep is people, and the flock is all other intelligent creatures. In other words, he believes that the Lord, of all living beings on earth and in the universe, considers only man to be a lost sheep. He considers the return of people under His roof to be His greatest joy.
Another theologian, Archbishop Averky (Taushev), by the flock means hosts of angels, and by the lost sheep - a sinful person.
The parable says that God allows for the possibility that a person, like a lamb, sooner or later, for one reason or another, will stray from the flock. However, He will not abandon him, but will make every effort to bring him back. The words of Christ, conveyed by His disciples, about the joy of the Master from the return of a lost sheep - this is not the joy from replenishing lost property. This is completely different.
The story of the lost sheep, projected onto the family relationship between a parent and his child
Imagine yourself in the place of this Master. The sheep is your little child who has gone to explore the neighboring yard. It is extremely difficult to draw such a parallel - after all, you do not have the opportunity, like the Master from the parable, that is, God, to see how a baby fearlessly walks past a sandbox with scattered garbage or past a large dog, and in time to avert serious dangers from him. You cannot read in a child’s soul how at some point he remembered you and how passionately he wanted to be next to you, how he felt great love for you and longing, how he was afraid of life without you, and how he decided to return. The Lord saw all this and accepted his child with open arms. However, the parable does not say how many times a person can leave and return like this. This means that God does not limit us. We ourselves make the decision whether to go with the herd or deviate from it. He will always rejoice at our return and will not punish us. How to live according to this parable, you ask? After all, we are sheep who make mistakes from time to time, repent of them, and then receive grace from the Lord. This parable is as multidimensional as all the parables about Jesus Christ. If your sheep has strayed from the flock, that is, your child has taken a dangerous path, turn to the Lord so that He will protect him and save him from death. Think and pray about your loved one constantly, and then you, as well as the lost child, will experience the same joy that is spoken of in the parable.
We are all prodigal sons
The same theme is touched upon by Jesus Christ's parable about the prodigal son. However, these two stories cannot be considered completely analogous, for the Holy Scripture does not contain a single superfluous or random word. The story about the youngest son, who left home and squandered his father’s inheritance, about his older brother, who remained in the house and worked conscientiously in his father’s fields all these years, and also about how he met his completely impoverished prodigal child who returned from wanderings - this is also parable about Jesus Christ. Short stories told by the Savior to His disciples always imply the participation of the Lord in them. In the story of the prodigal son, the father is a type of the Lord, and his sons are us humans.
The Lord calls us to learn to forgive
This parable teaches us to forgive without a second thought, to accept repentance without edifying suggestions, without reasoning and moralizing. The Lord is trying to inspire us so that we are not afraid that a repentant loved one, having received absolution, will again indulge in all kinds of serious crimes. This shouldn't concern us. The ability to forgive is no less important than the ability to ask for forgiveness. It's no secret that the father is also to blame for the fact that a son abandons his family and wastes his father's property to satisfy his own whims. In ordinary human life this happens quite often. Within the family, throughout our entire existence together, we from time to time remind each other of past grievances. This forms hostile relationships from which we want to break out, and from time to time we leave our family and begin to live only in our own personal interests, convincing ourselves that we have suffered enough - we can live for ourselves. The consequence of this is spiritual devastation.
The same situation, only slightly changed, is repeated again and again. Different peoples even have proverbs: “You can’t wash a black dog white,” “No matter how much you feed a wolf, he still looks into the forest,” which speaks to the meaninglessness of forgiveness. These proverbs, although they are folk wisdom dating back many hundreds of years, are still imbued with hostility and contempt for man. They feel a partial attitude towards the sinner, an elevation of one’s own personality over the personality of a person who was called a black dog or a wolf. In none of His parables does the Lord appear to despise people.
The offended person is just as created in the image and likeness of God as the one who offended him
Man is created in the image and likeness of God. How easy it is to relate this truth to oneself and how difficult it is to perceive the Image of God in a person who has caused trouble! Jesus Christ, talking with his disciples, did not put himself above them, for better than anyone else he understood that all people together and each person individually are the Image and Likeness of the Creator Himself. For the sake of saving each of us, He offered Himself on the sacrificial altar, fulfilling the will of the Father. The duty of every Christian is to make his sacrifice in the name of the Lord. Is any of us capable of committing such an act for the sake of saving humanity?
Fasting and prayer are what is required of every Christian, so that humanity does not have to pay in blood for its sins
Reading the Gospel and interpretations to it, written by wonderful and holy people, we understand how little is required of us so that the world is not shaken by tragedies with human casualties. We must only try to love, forgive and justify each other, always remember God and not lose touch with him. In order for this connection to be maintained, it is necessary to make sacrifices through fasting and accompany each action with prayer - and nothing more. Jesus said this.
Famous theologians and interpreters of Holy Scripture
Almost all the parables of Jesus Christ with interpretation by domestic and foreign priests and theologians are in such a book as “The Lord Speech...”. From ancient times, the Holy Fathers of the Church attached great importance to the interpretation of the words of the Savior preserved in the Gospel. It contains almost all the parables of Jesus Christ with the interpretation of such theologians revered by the Christian world as Meister Eckhart, St. John Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, Archbishop Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Luke of Voino-Yasenetsky, Gregory the Great of Dvoeslov, Hieromartyr Gregory of Shlisselburg, St. Basil of Kineshem, Archbishop of Tavrominsk Feofan Keramevs, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), Saint Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow and Kolomna, Archbishop Averky (Taushev), Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt, Archpriest Vsevolod Shpiller, Archpriest Alexander Shargunov, Saint Kirill of Alexandria, Saint Theophan the Recluse, Rev. John of Damascus, Archpriest Viktor Potapov, Blessed Jerome of Stridon, Bishop Methodius (Kulman), Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, monk Evfimy Zigaben, as well as Bible interpreters Gladkov B.I. and Lopukhin A.P.
In each of the stories told by Christ, He Himself and each of us are present
It is believed that the Gospels contain not much more than thirty parables:
About the sower;
About evil winegrowers;
About the mustard seed;
About ten virgins;
About the Lost Sheep;
About the Prodigal Son;
About the wedding feast;
About sourdough;
About the good sower and the tares;
About the barren fig tree;
About the workers in the vineyard;
About the lost drachma;
About talents;
About a treasure hidden in a field;
About an unmerciful debtor;
About an abandoned seine;
About a merchant looking for good pearls;
About two sons;
About the prudent servant;
About the Pharisee and the Publican;
About ten mines;
About the Rich Man and Lazarus;
About a worker who came from the field;
About an unjust judge;
About an unfaithful steward;
About the fig tree and trees;
About a seed growing out of the ground in an inconspicuous way;
About a man asking his friend for bread at midnight;
About the foolish rich man;
About two brothers;
About the healing of soul and body;
About lilies, etc.
The demons immediately recognized the Lord incarnate
During the period of His incarnation, the Lord walked through the land of Israel, healed the sick and told people what they should do in order to inherit eternal life and be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Communicating with people of different upbringing, education and faith, in order for them all to understand Him correctly, He used simple examples from ordinary, everyday life that was well known to them. The disciples wrote down His words. Left alone with them, the Lord explained what he meant. Thus, the stories that Jesus of Nazareth told are the secret parables of the Living Jesus Christ. After all, it is unthinkable for a simple person to recognize in a preacher, of whom there were a great many at that time, the incarnation of God Himself. Everything that a person is capable of perceiving has already existed. Everything new is, as we know, a well-forgotten old. But the Lord has never appeared to people before. But he was immediately recognized by the servants of Satan. There is a place in the Gospel of Mark where a man possessed by a demon recognized God in Him and shouted to everyone about it. The Lord cast out this demon from the man, and forbade the man himself to talk about Himself and about the healing that had occurred.
The meaning and confirmation of the phrase: “There is nothing secret that would not become apparent”
Theophylact of Bulgaria explains it this way. You should never notify anyone about a good deed you have done. Done in secret from people, it is revealed to God. An unpublicized good deed is considered dedicated to God, so the Lord will look upon it with His mercy. A good deed that becomes known to people receives reward from them, and therefore is considered to be done not for God, but for people. “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed,” says Jesus. This is confirmed by the fact that the Lord Himself, the Mystery of Mysteries, became a reality for people, incarnate in the Son.
True Mercy
One man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, and on the way he was attacked by robbers. They robbed him, beat him and left him to his fate. The priest and the Levite, who were of the same religion and nationality as him, passed by without providing help, and a certain Samaritan, who happened to be passing through this area, picked up the poor man and took him to the nearest hotel. There he asked to take care of the victim, left money and said that on the way back he would come again and if the owner spent more than the money he left, he would pay for these expenses too. This parable of Jesus Christ about mercy says that a person who is merciful in the name of God does not distinguish people by categories. He always shows it when help is needed.
Why didn't the Lord reveal when the Day of Judgment would come?
Our whole life is a preparation for God's Judgment, when He will exact from everyone according to their deeds. The disciples asked Him when this Judgment would take place. The parable of Jesus Christ about the Last Judgment does not answer this question. If we knew that the end of times would not come in our lifetime, then we would not begin to prepare for it, we would probably go to great lengths, because anyway, we will not see it during our lifetime. In this way, we would also harm our descendants, since we would not be able to teach them Christian life by our example. And if we knew that it would come in the coming years, during our lifetime, we would also do a lot of harm to ourselves, because we would decide that nothing could be changed anyway. The Lord does not reveal the fatal year; He says in the parable of the called and the chosen, as well as in the parable of the ten virgins, that we must always be in anticipation of the coming of the Judge, for when He comes, woe will be to those who did not prepare for this Day.
Book of Books - Eternal Wisdom
The Lord brought people the Good News of future happiness for all who believed in Him and followed His path. In order to receive the honor of becoming a participant in the wedding feast, that is, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must constantly remember and honor the Savior’s covenant “Love one another.” For this reason, responsible and loving mothers and fathers, as well as grandparents, have been retelling the parables of Jesus Christ for children and grandchildren for two thousand years. And God grant that this tradition never stops.
Simple gospel parables reveal their new facets to us with each reading. Being recorded in the Holy Scriptures, they all relate to the life of each individual person in different guises. Each parable requires regular rethinking and projection onto everyday circumstances. It is no coincidence that wise people say that in order for life to turn out well, it is enough to study, comprehend and master only one book - the Bible.
Among the sea of countless pearls of human wisdom, Orthodox parables occupy a special place: short allegorical stories allow us to understand the essence of all things and become more perfect in mercy, generosity, patience and love for life and our neighbors. This book includes selected, brightest, wisest, most useful stories told by Jesus Christ himself and great spiritual teachers.
Parables of Christ
“The sower went out to sow”
And a great multitude gathered unto Him, so that He entered into a boat, and sat down; and all the people stood on the shore. And he taught them many parables, saying:
– Behold, a sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some fell by the road, and birds came and devoured them; some fell on rocky places where there was little soil, and soon sprang up because the soil was shallow. When the sun rose, it withered and, as if it had no root, withered; some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew and choked it; some fell on good soil and bore fruit: one a hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
And the disciples came and said to Him:
– Why do you speak to them in parables?
He answered them:
– For the fact that it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them, for whoever has, to him will be given and will have an increase, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him; Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, and they do not understand; and the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled over them, which says: “If you hear with your ears, you will not understand, and you will look with your eyes, but you will not see, for the hearts of this people are hardened and their ears are hard to hear, and they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear.” ears, and they will not understand in their hearts, and let them not be converted, so that I may heal them.” Blessed are your eyes that they see, and your ears that they hear, for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear.
Listen to the meaning of the parable of the sower: to everyone who hears the word about the Kingdom and does not understand, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart - this is what is sown along the way. And what is sown on rocky places means one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; but it has no root in itself and is fickle: when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, it is immediately tempted. And what was sown among thorns means one who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. What is sown on good soil means one who hears the word and understands it, and who bears fruit, so that some bear fruit a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 2–23)
This parable of Christ is the first one told by the Savior. It is also transmitted by the evangelists Mark (Mark 4:1-10) and Luke (Luke 8:4-15). This is one of the rare parables of the Gospel that the Lord Himself interprets, and it speaks about itself - about the word of God. In this parable, the “Sower” is Jesus Christ; “seed” is the word of God, and “earth”, “soil” is the human heart. Christ sowed the word of God everywhere - in villages, cities, deserts, and at sea. He chose the apostles so that they too would sow the word of God. The apostles appointed successors for themselves - bishops and presbyters, who continued and continue to this day missionary work to spread and sow the word of God. The Church continues the work of Christ on earth - to sow the word of God into our hearts.
Here the Savior also gives the answer to why He chose the form of a parable for His teachings. Both the parables themselves and their impact on people are multi-layered and multi-valued. Saint John Chrysostom, in a conversation on the 44th Psalm, says: “... Since speech that is easy for understanding leads many to inattention, he speaks in a parable... A parable distinguishes a worthy listener from an unworthy one; the worthy one tries to find out the meaning of what was said, and the unworthy one ignores it... Covert speech in general can strongly encourage research.”
All the parables of Orthodoxy grow out of the parables of the Savior, and this book begins with them. The key to reading the multiple meanings of Christ’s parables, where the Savior Himself did not give it to us, is given to us by the great minds and hearts of the Church. From the many interpretations, explanations, and sermons devoted to each of Christ’s parables (interpretations of individual parables themselves could form entire libraries), we have chosen the most concise, intelligible and significant. After all, the parables of Christ themselves must be read in the Gospel itself, which is available for everyone to read; but they are the center of this book, and in placing them here we must add to them the conciliar mind of the Church, her love, her voice, her explanations.
“The first group includes parables told by the Savior shortly after the Sermon on the Mount, during the period between the second and third Easter of His public ministry. These initial parables speak about the conditions for the spread and strengthening of the Kingdom of God or the Church among people. These include the parables of the sower, the tares, the invisibly growing seed, the mustard seed, the pearl of great price and others….
The second group of parables was told by the Lord towards the end of the third year of His public ministry. In these parables, the Lord spoke about God’s endless mercy towards repentant people and outlined various moral rules. These include parables about the lost sheep, about the prodigal son, about the unmerciful debtor, about the good Samaritan, about the foolish rich man, about the wise builder, about the unjust judge and others.....
In His last parables (of the third period), told shortly before the sufferings on the cross, the Lord speaks about the Grace of God and about man’s responsibility before God, and also predicts about the punishment that will befall unbelieving Jews, about His second coming, about the Last Judgment, about the reward of the righteous and about eternal life. This last group includes the parables of the barren fig tree, the wicked husbandmen, those invited to the supper, the talents, the ten virgins, the workers who received equal pay, and others.”
(Bishop Alexander (Mileant). Hidden Wisdom: Modern Orthodox Commentary on the Books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. P. 258)
A list of sources for each section is given at the end of the book. The parables of Christ in this section are given exactly according to the edition of the Bible indicated in the list (Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church); for ease of perception, a division into paragraphs has been added and direct speech is conveyed in accordance with modern punctuation standards.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."
(Parables about the Kingdom of God)
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 259–260:
In the first group of parables, the Lord Jesus Christ gives the Divine Teaching about the spread of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven among people. By these names one should understand the Church of Christ on earth, which at first consisted of the twelve Apostles and the closest disciples of Christ, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, it began to quickly spread throughout different countries in which the Apostles preached. In its spiritual essence, the Church of Christ is not limited by any territory, nationality, culture, language or other external signs, for the grace of God penetrates and abides in the souls of people, illuminating their mind and conscience, directing their will to good. People who have become members of the Church of Christ are called “sons of the Kingdom” in the parables, in contrast to unbelievers and unrepentant sinners, who are called “sons of the evil one.” The conditions for the spread and strengthening of the Kingdom of God in people are told in the parables of the sower, of the tares, of the invisibly growing seed, of the mustard seed, of the leaven and of the treasure hidden in the field.
About the tares
This parable directly follows in the Gospel the parable of the Sower.
He told them another parable, saying:
– The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; while the people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away; When the greenery sprang up and the fruit appeared, then the tares also appeared. Having arrived, the servants of the householder said to him: “Master! did you not sow good seed in your field? where does the tares come from?” He told them: “The enemy man did this.” And the slaves said to him: “Do you want us to go and choose them?” But he said: “No - so that when you choose the tares, you do not pull up the wheat along with them, leave both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares and bind them in sheaves to burn them, and put the wheat into my barn.”
…Then Jesus dismissed the crowd and entered the house. And coming to Him, His disciples said:
– Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field.
He answered them:
– He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the Kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as they gather up the tares and burn them with fire, so it will be at the end of this age: the Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom all who offend and those who practice iniquity, and will throw them into the fiery furnace; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
(Matthew 13, 24–30, 36–43)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Tuesday of the 6th week after Pentecost:
Good seed was sown, but the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. Tares are heresies and schisms in the Church, and in each of us there are evil thoughts, feelings, desires, passions. A person accepts the good seed of the word of God, decides to live holy and begins to live that way. When a person falls asleep like this, that is, weakens his attention to himself, then the enemy of salvation comes and puts evil plans into him, which, not being rejected at first, ripen into desires and dispositions and start their own circle of affairs and enterprises, mixed with deeds, feelings and thoughts kind. And they both remain together until the harvest. This harvest is repentance. The Lord sends angels - a feeling of contrition and fear of God, and they, appearing like a sickle, burn up all the tares and burn them in the fire of painful self-condemnation. Clean wheat remains in the granary of the heart, to the joy of man, the angels, and the most good God, worshiped in the Trinity.
About the invisible growing seed
And said:
– The Kingdom of God is like if a person throws a seed into the ground, and sleeps and rises night and day; and how the seed sprouts and grows, he does not know, for the earth itself produces first greenery, then an ear, then a full grain in the ear. When the fruit is ripe, he immediately sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
(Mk. 4, 26–29)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Tuesday of the 14th week after Pentecost:
The parable of the gradual growth from the seed of wheat depicts in relation to each person the gradual growth of what is hidden in the heart of a person, seeded and preserved by the grace of God, and in relation to humanity - the gradual increase in the body of the Church or society saved in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the order established by Him. This parable resolves the question: why is Christianity not all-embracing to this day? Just as a person, having thrown a seed into the ground, sleeps and gets up, but the seed vegetates and grows by itself without his knowledge, so the Lord, having laid the seed of Divine life on the earth, gave it the freedom to grow, subordinating it to the natural course of events and without forcing them the latter; only the seed watches, assists it in particular cases and gives general direction. The reason for this is human freedom. The Lord seeks for man to submit himself to Him, and waits for his freedom to decline; the matter continues. If everything depended only on the will of God, everyone would have been Christians long ago. Another thought: the body of the Church being created is being built in heaven; Only materials come from the earth, which are also formed by heavenly figures. The word from heaven passes through the earth and attracts those who want it. Those who listened and followed, like raw material, enter the laboratory of God, the Church, and here they are remade according to the models given from heaven. Those who have been converted, upon leaving this life, move to heaven and there they enter the building of God, each one fit for purpose. This goes on continuously, and therefore the work of God is not worthwhile. The universal triumph of Christianity is not required for this. The building of God is built invisibly.
About the mustard seed
He proposed another parable to them, saying:
– The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field, which, although smaller than all the seeds, when it grows, it is larger than all the grains and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches.
(Matt. 13, 31–32; also: Mark 4, 30–32; Luke 13, 18–19)
About sourdough
He told them another parable:
– The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.
(Matt. 13:33; also: Luke 13:20–21)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Wednesday of the 6th week after Pentecost:
The Kingdom is like mustard seed and leaven. A small mustard seed grows into a large bush; the leaven penetrates the entire kneaded dough and makes it leavened. Here, on the one hand, is the image of the Church, which at first only consisted of the Apostles and a few other persons, then grew and became numerous, penetrating all of humanity; on the other hand, an image of spiritual life revealed in every person. Its first seed is the intention and determination to be saved through pleasing God through faith in the Lord the Savior. This determination, no matter how strong, is like a small point. At first it embraces only consciousness and self-activity; From this, all the activities of spiritual life then develop. In itself, it multiplies in movements and strength, and matures, and in relation to the soul it begins to penetrate it in all its powers - in the mind, will, feelings and fulfills them with itself, makes them fermented in its spirit, penetrates the entire composition of human nature and body, soul, and spirit in which it is born is also said in the following very short parable -
About the treasure hidden in the field
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which, having found, a man hid, and out of joy over it he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.
(Matt. 13:44)
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 268:
The grace of God is a true treasure, in comparison with which all earthly blessings seem insignificant (or rubbish, in the words of the Apostle Paul). However, just as it is impossible for a person to take possession of a treasure until he sells his property in order to buy the field where it is hidden, so it is impossible to acquire the grace of God until a person decides to sacrifice his earthly goods. For the sake of the grace given in the Church, a person needs to sacrifice everything: his preconceived opinions, free time and peace of mind, successes and pleasures in life. According to the parable, the one who found the treasure “hid it” so that others would not steal it. In the same way, a member of the Church who has received the grace of God should carefully preserve it in his soul, not boasting about this gift, so as not to lose it through pride.
About the pearl
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for good pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold everything he had and bought it.
(Matt. 13:45)
St. Theophan the Recluse. What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it, ch. 28:
From these parables you can see exactly what is expected of us. We are expected to 1) recognize the presence of the gift of grace within ourselves; 2) we understood its preciousness for us, so great that it is more precious than life, so that without it life is not life; 3) they desired with all their desire to assimilate this grace to themselves, and themselves to it, or, what is the same, to be imbued with it in their entire nature, to be enlightened and sanctified; 4) they decided to achieve this by deed and then 5) they brought this determination into fulfillment, abandoning everything, or detaching their heart from everything and betraying it all to the all-effects of God’s grace. When these five acts are completed in us, then the beginning of our internal rebirth begins, after which, if we relentlessly continue to act in the same spirit, internal rebirth and insight will increase - quickly or slowly, judging by our work, and most importantly, by self-forgetfulness and selflessness.
The Kingdom of Heaven is also like a net thrown into the sea and capturing fish of all kinds, which, when it was full, they pulled ashore and, sitting down, collected the good in vessels, and threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come out and separate the wicked from among the righteous, and throw them into the fiery furnace: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 13:47–50)
And Jesus asked them: Have you understood all this? They say to Him: Yes, Lord! He said to them: Therefore, every scribe who has been taught the kingdom of heaven is like a master who brings out of his treasury new and old.
(Matthew 13:51–52)
“Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep.”
(Parables about God's mercy and repentance)
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 270:
After a relatively long break and several months before His suffering on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ told us His new parables. These parables conditionally form the second group. In these parables, the Lord revealed to people the endless mercy of God, aimed at saving sinful people, and also gave a number of visual teachings about how, following God, we should love each other.
About the Lost Sheep
All the publicans and sinners approached Him to listen to Him. The Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying: He receives sinners and eats with them. But He told them the following parable:
– 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? And having found it, he will take it on his shoulders with joy and, having come home, will call his friends and neighbors and say to them: “Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep.” 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.
(Luke 15:1–7; also: Matt. 18:11–14)
About the lost drachma
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, and when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors and says: “Rejoice with me: I have found the lost drachma.”
So, I tell you, there is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner who repents.
(Luke 15:8–10)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Wednesday of the 26th week after Pentecost:
Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin
How great is the Lord’s mercy towards us sinners! Leaves all the good ones and turns to the faulty ones to fix them; He looks for them and, when he finds them, He Himself rejoices and calls all heaven to rejoice with Him. How does it look? Doesn't He know where we are, having departed from Him? He knows and sees everything, but if the point was only to take it and transfer it to his own, immediately all the sinners would appear again in their rank. But one must first be disposed to repentance so that conversion and return to the Lord can be free, and this cannot be done by command or any external order. The Lord's search for the sinner consists in bringing him to repentance. He arranges everything around him so that the sinner comes to his senses and, seeing the abyss into which he is striving, returns back. All circumstances of life are directed here, all meetings with moments of sorrow and joy, even words and glances. And the internal influences of God through conscience and other right feelings lying in the heart never cease. How much is being done to convert sinners to the path of virtue, but sinners still remain sinners!.. The enemy brings darkness, and they think that everything will pass; and if anxiety arises, they say: “I’ll quit tomorrow,” and remain in the same position. So day after day passes; indifference to one's salvation grows and grows. A little more, and it will turn into bitterness in sin. Will conversion come then - who knows?
About the Prodigal Son
Also said:
– A certain man had two sons; and the youngest of them said to his father: “Father! give me the next portion of the estate.” And the father divided the estate for them.
After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; and he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to graze pigs; and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him.
Having come to his senses, he said: “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger; I will get up, go to my father and say to him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants." He got up and went to his father.
And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” And the father said to his servants: “Bring the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they started having fun.
His eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; and, calling one of the servants, asked: “What is this?” He said to him: “Your brother came, and your father killed the fatted calf, because he received it healthy.”
He became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. 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; and when this son of yours, who squandered his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him.”
He said to him: “My son! You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, and it was necessary to rejoice and be glad that this brother of yours was dead and came to life, was lost and was found.”
(Luke 15:11–32)
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov). Lesson on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. About repentance. – Creations, vol. IV, p. 35–37:
The youngest son, according to the explanation of the Holy Fathers, can be the image of the entire fallen human race and of every human sinner. The next part of the estate for the youngest son is the gifts of God, with which every person, especially a Christian, is filled. The most excellent of God's gifts are the mind and heart, and especially the grace of the Holy Spirit, given to every Christian. The father’s demand for the next part of the estate to be used arbitrarily is a person’s desire to overthrow his obedience to God and follow his own thoughts and desires. The father’s consent to the issuance of the estate depicts the autocracy with which God honored man in the use of God’s gifts. A distant country is a sinful life that removes and alienates us from God. Wasting property is depleting the strength of the mind, heart and body, especially insulting and driving away the Holy Spirit through sinful acts. The poverty of the youngest son: this is the emptiness of the soul resulting from a sinful life. The permanent residents of a distant country are the rulers of the darkness of this age, fallen spirits, constant in their fall, in alienation from God; the sinner is subject to their influence. A herd of unclean animals are sinful thoughts and feelings that wander in the soul of a sinner, grazing in its pastures; they are an inevitable consequence of sinful activity. It would be in vain for a person to think of drowning out these thoughts and sensations by fulfilling them: they are the most impracticable! And the fulfillment of passionate thoughts and dreams possible for a person does not destroy them: it excites them with redoubled force. Man was created for Heaven: true good alone can serve as satisfactory, life-giving food for him. Evil, attracting and seducing the taste of the heart, damaged by the fall, can only upset human properties.
The emptiness of the soul that a sinful life produces is terrible! The torment from passionate sinful thoughts and sensations is unbearable, when they boil like worms in the soul, when they torment the soul that has submitted to them, the soul that is raped by them! Often a sinner, tormented by fierce thoughts, dreams and unfulfilled wishes, comes to despair; He often encroaches on his very life, both temporary and eternal. Blessed is that sinner who, in this difficult time, comes to his senses and remembers the unlimited love of the Heavenly Father, remembers the immeasurable spiritual wealth that abounds in the house of the Heavenly Father - the Holy Church. Blessed is the sinner who, horrified by his sinfulness, wants to get rid of the burden that oppresses him through repentance.
From the parable of the Gospel we learn that on the part of a person, for successful and fruitful repentance, the following are necessary: vision of one’s sin, consciousness of it, repentance for it, confession of it. Turning to God with such a heartfelt pledge, I am still far away from him, God sees: he sees and is already hastening to meet him, embracing him, kissing him with His grace. As soon as the penitent has made a confession of sin, the merciful Lord commands the slaves - the altar servers and the holy Angels - to clothe him in the bright robe of purity, to put on his hand a ring - evidence of renewed unity with the Church earthly and heavenly, to put boots on his feet, so that his activity will be protected from spiritual thorns by strong regulations - such is the meaning of boots - by the commandments of Christ. To complete the acts of love, a meal of love is provided for the returning son, for which a well-fed calf is slain. This meal signifies a church meal at which spiritual incorruptible food and drink is offered to a sinner reconciled with God: Christ, long promised to humanity, prepared by the ineffable mercy of God for fallen humanity from the very minutes of its fall.
About the Publican and the Pharisee
He also spoke to some who were confident in themselves that they were righteous, and humiliated others, the following parable:
– Two men entered the temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing, prayed to himself like this: “God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this publican: I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I acquire.”
The publican, standing in the distance, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but, hitting himself on the chest, he said: “God! be merciful to me, a sinner! I tell you that this one went to his house justified more than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.
(Luke 18:9–14)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Week of the Publican and the Pharisee (33rd):
Yesterday the Gospel taught us persistence in prayer, and now it teaches us humility or a sense of powerlessness to be heard. Do not arrogate to yourself the right to be heard, but begin to pray, as if you are unworthy of any attention, and give yourself the boldness to open your lips and offer prayer to God, according to the Lord’s boundless condescension towards us poor people. And don’t let the thought occur to you: I did this and that; give me something. Whatever you do, consider it due; you had to do all that. If you hadn’t done it, you would have been punished, but what you did, there’s nothing to reward, you didn’t show anything special. There the Pharisee listed his rights to be heard and left the church with nothing. The bad thing is not that he did as he said; That’s what he should have done, but the bad thing is that he presented it as something special, when having done it he shouldn’t have even thought about it. – Deliver us, Lord, from this Pharisee sin! Rarely does anyone say this in words, but in the feeling of the heart it is rare that no one is not like this. For why do they pray poorly? Because they feel that they are already in order before God.
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov). Pharisees. Part I. – Creations, vol. I, p. 382–383:
Anyone infected with the disease of Pharisaism is deprived of spiritual success. The soil of his heart’s field is hard and does not bear harvest: for spiritual fruitfulness, a heart is necessary, cultivated by repentance, softened, moistened with tenderness and tears. Deprivation of prosperity is already significant damage! But the harm that comes from Pharisaism is not limited to the sterility of the soul: the deadly infection of Pharisaism is for the most part associated with the most disastrous consequences. Pharisaism not only makes a person’s good deeds fruitless, but directs them to evil in his soul, to his condemnation before God.
The Lord depicted this in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican who prayed together in the temple of God. The Pharisee, looking at himself, did not find reasons for repentance, for a feeling of heartfelt contrition; on the contrary, he found reasons to be pleased with himself, to admire himself. He saw himself as fasting, giving alms; but he did not see the vices that he saw, or thought to see in others, and by which he was tempted. I say I thought to see: because temptation has big eyes; he also sees sins in his neighbor that are not in him at all, which his imagination, led by wickedness, invented for his neighbor. The Pharisee, in his self-delusion, brings praise to God for his state of mind. He hides his exaltation, and it is hidden from him, under the guise of thanksgiving to God. With a superficial look at the Law, it seemed to him that he was a fulfiller of the Law, pleasing to God. He forgot that the commandment of the Lord, in the words of the Psalmist, is extremely broad, that heaven itself is unclean before God, that God does not take pleasure in sacrifices, not even burnt offerings, when they are not accompanied and promoted by contrition and humility of spirit, that the Law of God is necessary planted in the very heart to achieve true, blissful, spiritual righteousness. The manifestation of this righteousness begins in a person with a feeling of poverty of spirit. The vain Pharisee thinks of thanking and glorifying God... he is counting obvious sins that can be visible to everyone; but he doesn’t say a word about spiritual passions, about pride, deceit, hatred, envy, hypocrisy. And they are what constitute a Pharisee! They darken and deaden the soul, making it incapable of repentance! They destroy love for one's neighbor and give birth to temptation filled with coldness, pride and hatred! The vain Pharisee imagines thanking God for his good deeds; but God turns away from him; God pronounces a terrible sentence against him: Everyone who exalts himself will humble himself.
When Pharisaism strengthens and matures and takes possession of the soul, its fruits are terrible. There is no lawlessness before which it would shudder, or to which it would decide. The Pharisees dared to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees dared to call the Son of God possessed. The Pharisees allowed themselves to assert that God incarnate, the Savior who came to earth, is dangerous for public well-being; for the civil life of the Jews. And why all these intertwined fictions? In order, under the cover of outward justice, under the guise of protecting the nationality, laws, religion, to satiate the insatiable malice with blood, to sacrifice blood to envy and vanity, in order to commit Deicide. Pharisaism is a terrible poison; Pharisaism is a terrible mental illness.
Let us try to draw an image of a Pharisee, borrowing painting from the Gospel, so that everyone, peering at this terrible, monstrous image, can be carefully guarded, according to the will of the Lord, from the leaven of the Pharisees: from the way of thinking, from the rules, from the mood of the Pharisees.
About the unmerciful debtor
Then Peter came to Him and said:
- God! How many times should I forgive my brother who sins against me? up to seven times?
Jesus tells him:
“I don’t tell you: up to seven, but up to seventy times seven.”
Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants; when he began to reckon, someone was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and since he did not have anything to pay with, his sovereign ordered him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and everything that he had, and to pay; then that slave fell, and, bowing to him, said: “Sovereign! Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you everything!”
The Emperor, having mercy on that slave, released him and forgave him the debt.
That servant, going out, found one of his companions, who owed him a hundred denarii, and, grabbing him, strangled him, saying: “Give me what you owe!” Then his comrade fell at his feet, begged him and said: “Have patience with me, and I will give you everything!” But he didn’t want to, but went and put him in prison until he paid off the debt.
His comrades, seeing what had happened, were very upset and, when they came, they told their sovereign everything that had happened. Then his sovereign calls him and says:
– Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me; Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your companion, just as I had mercy on you?
And, angry, his sovereign handed him over to the torturers until he paid him all the debt.
So will My Heavenly Father do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart for his sins.
(Matthew 18:21–35)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. 11th Sunday after Pentecost:
The Lord concluded the parable of the two debtors with these words: “So will My Heavenly Father do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother his sins from his heart.” It seems that such a little is required: forgive, and you will be forgiven; and when forgiven, then accepted into mercy; and when he was accepted into mercy, he became a participant in all the treasures of mercy. Therefore, here is salvation, and paradise, and eternal bliss. And such a great gain for such a small thing that we will forgive!.. Yes, a small thing, but for our pride there is nothing harder than to forgive. Some kind of unintentional trouble, secretly inflicted on us so that no one would see, we will probably still forgive; but a little more sensitively, and in front of people, at least don’t ask: there is no forgiveness. There are circumstances, whether you like it or not, but you cannot express displeasure, and you remain silent: but the tongue is silent, and the heart speaks and makes evil plans. Increase the unpleasantness by one more line, and there is no holding back: neither shame, nor fear, nor losses, nothing will hold back. Boiling selfishness makes a person seem like a madman, and those who succumb to it begin to say nonsense. It is not just any people who are most susceptible to such misfortune, but the more civilized one is, the more sensitive to insults, the less forgiving. On the outside, relationships sometimes still remain smooth, but on the inside there is a decisive discord. Meanwhile, the Lord demands that we forgive with all our hearts.
About the Merciful Samaritan
And so, one lawyer stood up and, tempting Him, said:
- Teacher! What must I do to inherit eternal life?
He told him:
– What is written in the law? how do you read?
He said in response:
– Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus said to him:
– You answered correctly; do this and you will live.
But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus:
– Who is my neighbor?
To this Jesus said:
– A certain man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho and was caught by robbers, who took off his clothes, wounded him and left, leaving him barely alive. By chance, a priest was walking along that road and, seeing him, passed by. Likewise, the Levite, being at that place, came up, looked and passed by. A Samaritan, passing by, found him and, seeing him, took pity and, coming up, bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine; and, setting him on his donkey, brought him to the inn and took care of him; and the next day, as he was leaving, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper and said to him: “Take care of him; and if you spend anything more, when I return, I will give it back to you.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the one who fell among the robbers?
He said:
– He showed him mercy.
Then Jesus said to him:
- Go and do the same.
(Luke 10:25–37)
Saint Nicholas of Serbia. Conversations. pp. 362–381:
...The true measure of kinship, truly connecting and bringing together people and nations, is not so much blood as mercy. The misfortune of one person and the mercy of another person make them closer and dearer than blood makes siblings. For all blood ties are temporary and have some significance only in this transitory life, serving as an image of strong and eternal ties of spiritual kinship. And spiritual twins, born at the meeting of misfortune and mercy, remain brothers in eternity. For brothers who are related by blood, God is only the Creator; for spiritual brothers born of mercy, God is the Father.
Our Lord Jesus Christ offers this new measure of kinship and closeness between people to humanity in the Gospel parable of the Merciful Samaritan - he offers it, and does not impose it, because salvation is not imposed, but is graciously offered by God and voluntarily accepted by man. Blessed are those who voluntarily accept this new measure, for they will gain many brothers and relatives in the immortal Kingdom of Christ!
...Kinship by name, race, nationality, language is useless where mercy is needed, and mercy alone. Charity is the new cornerstone of the kinship established by Christ between people. The lawyer did not see this; but what his mind understood from this particular incident, he was forced to admit. Go ahead and do the same, the Lord tells him. That is: if you want to inherit eternal life, then this is how you must read God’s commandment about love - and not the way you, lawyers and scribes, read. For you look at this commandment as a golden calf and deify it as an idol, but you do not know its Divine and saving meaning. You consider only a Jew as your neighbor, because you evaluate him by name, by blood and by language; You do not even consider every Jew to be your neighbor, but only the one who belongs to your party, whether legalistic, Pharisees or Sadducees; and not every one of your supporters, but those of them from whom you receive benefit, honor and praise. Thus, you interpreted God’s commandment about love as greed, and therefore it became for you a real golden calf, similar to the one that your forefathers worshiped near Horeb. So, you worship this commandment, but you do not understand and do not fulfill it. Probably the lawyer could understand this meaning of Christ’s parable, and he should have walked away ashamed. He who came to shame! And how ashamed he should be if he could understand that Christ’s parable applies to him personally! After all, he is one of the similar travelers walking from Heavenly Jerusalem to dirty earthly Jericho, a traveler from whom the demons took off the robe of God’s grace, beat him, wounded him, and left him by the road. The Law of Moses and the prophets passed by, unable to help him. And now, when the Lord tells him this parable, the merciful Samaritan has already bent over his sick soul, bandages it and pours oil and wine. He himself felt this - otherwise he would not have recognized the truth of Christ’s instruction. Whether he then allowed himself to be taken to a hotel - that is, to the Church - and finally healed, is known to the Omniscient God. The Gospel does not speak about this further.
So, in a roundabout way, Christ led this lawyer to the point that he, unconsciously in his soul, recognized Christ as his closest and dearest. The Lord led him to unconsciously admit that the words: love your neighbor as yourself, means: love the Lord Jesus Christ as yourself. It remains for us to consciously and intelligently recognize and confess this. The closest of all our neighbors is our Lord Jesus Christ, and through him all other people in trouble, whom we can help with our mercy in the name of the Lord, become our neighbors. The Lord bowed over each of us, and He left each of us two denarii so that we could heal until He comes. Until He comes into our hearts, so that we no longer see Him bending over Us, but dwelling in our hearts and living in them! And only then will we be healthy, for the source of health will be in our hearts.
About the Unrighteous Manager
He also said to His disciples:
One man was rich and had a steward, against whom it was reported to him that he was wasting his property; and calling him, he said to him:
– What am I hearing about you? Give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage.
Then the manager said to himself:
- What should I do? My master takes away the management of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask; I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from managing the house.
And calling his master’s debtors, each one separately, he said to the first:
– How much do you owe my master?
He said:
– One hundred measures of oil.
And he said to him:
– Take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty.
Then he said to another:
– How much do you owe?
He answered:
– One hundred measures of wheat.
And he said to him:
– Take your receipt and write: eighty.
And the lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely; for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light.
And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes.
He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true?
(Luke 16:1–11)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Letters to various persons. Letter 4:
“We got,” you say, “to the parable of the unrighteous steward, and it turned out that none of us understands it.” Of all the Savior’s parables, this seems to be the most difficult. Our holy interpreters, however, managed to simplify the matter. In general, in all parables one should not seek a mysterious interpretation of every feature of the story in the story, but only pay attention to what the parable is aimed at. The same should even more so be observed when interpreting this parable. Where all attention should be directed, the Savior himself directs, saying: The lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely. What is the unrighteous steward praised for? Not for the truth, but for the fact that he managed to extricate himself from the embarrassing circumstances in which he found himself. This wisdom is what the Savior wanted to instill. He seems to be saying: “See what this manager did? He did not ooh and ahh or wait for the full weight of trouble to fall on his head, but immediately, when he learned that trouble was threatening, he got down to business and managed to avert it. So manage to avert the main misfortune that threatens you.” What trouble? The one that you are sinners, and what awaits you for your sins? Condemnation and a state in which you will be more wretched than anyone else who is wretched. You are now in exactly the same position as that manager. You are about to be set aside, that is, death will come and put you in that bitter position. Do not indulge in carelessness, do not waste time, but take care to avert disaster and secure your future.
What was the wisdom of the ruler? The fact that he managed to secure his future. Manage to do the same. How? Through charity and alms. Make it easier for those in need, and it will save you. The manager made it easier for the merchants, it is assumed that they were not poor. But the power of speech is that it made it easier, although they were not among the poor, the debt still lay on their shoulders and weighed them down. This is what the Savior wanted to instill - to alleviate the situation of those who are oppressed by it - as a way to get out of the trouble that threatens everyone after death. Help those in need from your property or from everything that is in your power, and by this you will prepare yourself for the monastery into which you will be received after death.
It confuses many that charity from unrighteous property is recommended. No, this is not recommended. Notice the words of the Lord: the sons of this age are more perceptive than the sons of light in their generation. The ruler is called the son of this age, acting according to the spirit of the age. Opposed to him are the sons of light - the disciples of the Lord. The Lord says, as it were: he has become wise in his generation; be wise in your own way, that is, acting according to the laws of truth. The ruler's wisdom recommends, but his method does not recommend. That method is suitable for the sons of the age; and you will use the method that is suitable for you in your generation.
Therefore, when the Lord says after this: And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes,- it does not inspire to help those in need from property that was wrongfully acquired or misappropriated, but to do this without violating the truth, as is characteristic of the sons of light. Unrighteous wealth The Lord called the estate in general, and this is why - that it is false, deceptive; we rely on it as on a strong mountain, but today it is, and tomorrow look for it. So, the Lord inspires: ease the lot of everyone in need and burdened by misfortune from your property, and thereby you will gain friends who will take you into eternal shelter when you become poor, that is, when your life is exhausted and you move on to another life, leaving everything we have here on earth. Enter the next world with nothing: only if you have managed to send there the due portion of your property through charity, you will meet this same thing there, and that will constitute your eternal fortune. The more you send there through the hands of the poor, the more abundantly you will be satisfied and live more contentedly there.
Who these friends are, you don’t have to torture. The main thing is that you will be accepted into eternal shelters. Or, if it is desirable to define, then it will be the Lord himself, combining in Himself all the poor who have been blessed. For He said: Just as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.(Matt. 25, 35–40). For all friends - He is one, and that’s enough. He will receive you in the heavenly mansions, which He went to heaven to prepare for His faithful.
I leave all other details in the parable legend without allegorical interpretation. And you shouldn't do this. If you begin to interpret, you will only obscure the main idea and purpose of the parable.
About the Rich Man and Lazarus
A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day.
There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered with scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs.
The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom, and cried out and said:
– Father Abraham! Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said:
– Child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all this, a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.
Then he said:
“So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment.
Abraham said to him:
– They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.
He also said:
– No, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent.
Then Abraham said to him:
– If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe it.
(Luke 16:19–31)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. 22nd Sunday after Pentecost:
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus shows that those who did not live as they should will come to their senses, but will no longer have the opportunity to improve their situation. Their eyes will be opened and they will see clearly what the truth is. Remembering that there are many blind people on earth, like them, they would like someone to be sent to them from among the dead to assure them that they must live and understand things only according to the instructions of the Revelation of the Lord. But even this will be denied to them, for the sake of the fact that Revelation is self-certifying for those who want to know the truth, and for those who do not want and do not love the truth, the very resurrection of any of the dead will be unconvincing. The feelings of this influx of rich people are probably experienced by all those leaving here. And therefore, according to the conviction there, which will be the conviction of all of us, the only guide for us on the path of life is the Revelation of the Lord. But there such a conviction will be belated for many; It would be more useful here, but not everyone has it. Let us at least believe the testimony of those there, transferring ourselves to their state. Those in torment will not lie; pitying us, they want our eyes to be opened, so that we do not come to the place of their torment. You can’t talk about this subject the way we often talk about current affairs: “maybe it will pass somehow.” No, it won’t go away somehow. We must be thoroughly sure that we will not end up in the place of the rich.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 287:
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the curtain of the other world is lifted and the opportunity is given to understand earthly existence from the perspective of eternity. In the light of this parable, we see that earthly goods are not so much happiness as they are a test of our ability to love and help our neighbors. If you in unrighteous wealth were not faithful, says the Lord at the conclusion of the previous parable, who will believe you to be true? That is, if we did not know how to properly manage our present illusory wealth, then we are unworthy to receive from God the true wealth that was intended for us in the future life. Therefore, let us remind ourselves that our earthly goods actually belong to God. With them He tests us.
About the reckless rich man
One of the people said to Him:
- Teacher! tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.
He said to the man:
– Who made Me to judge or divide you?
At the same time he told them:
– See that you beware of covetousness, for a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions.
And he told them a parable:
– A rich man had a good harvest in his field; and he reasoned with himself: “What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits.” And he said: “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather there all my bread and all my goods, and I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of good things lying around for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him: “You fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? This is what happens to those who store up treasures for themselves and do not become rich in God.
(Luke 12:13–21)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. 26th Sunday after Pentecost:
Having told a parable about a man who became rich, who was only going to eat, drink and be merry, and for this he was struck by death, not having lived to enjoy the expected pleasures, the Lord concluded: “This is what happens to those who accumulate treasures for themselves, and do not become rich for God.”... Those who get rich with In oblivion of God they only think about carnal pleasures. Those who wish to avoid this bitter fate should not “gather” for themselves, but grow rich only in God. And since wealth is from God, when it flows, dedicate it to God, and holy wealth will come out. Share all excesses with those in need: this will be the same as returning to God what was given by God. He who gives to the poor gives to God. Seemingly depleting wealth, such a one truly becomes rich, rich in good deeds - rich for God's sake, in ways of pleasing Him, rich in God, attracting His favor, rich in God, Who in a little places the faithful over many; he grows rich in God, and not in himself, for he does not consider himself a master, but only a steward and spender, whose whole concern is to satisfy everyone who comes to him with needs, and is afraid to spend anything especially on himself, considering it to be an improper use property entrusted to him.
“Behold, the Bridegroom is coming, come out to meet Him!”
(Parables about responsibility and grace)
About talents
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come.
For He will act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted them with his property: and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his strength; and immediately set off. He who received five talents went and put them to work and acquired another five talents; in the same way, the one who received two talents acquired the other two; He who received one talent went and buried it in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time, the master of those slaves comes and demands an account from them. And the one who had received the five talents came and brought another five talents and said:
- Mister! You gave me five talents; Behold, I acquired another five talents with them.
His master said to him:
The one who had received two talents also came up and said:
- Mister! You gave me two talents; behold, I acquired the other two talents with them.
His master said to him:
– Okay, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master.
The one who had received one talent came up and said:
- Mister! I knew you that you were a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, I went and hid your talent in the ground; here's yours.
His master answered him:
– You wicked and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; Therefore, you should have given my silver to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine with profit; So, take the talent from him and give to the one who has ten talents, for to everyone who has it will be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away; and throw the worthless slave into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Having said this, he exclaimed: whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!
(Matt. 25, 13–30; also: Luke 19, 11–28, given below)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. 16th Sunday after Pentecost:
The parable of the talents gives the idea that life is a time of bargaining. It means we must hurry to take advantage of this time, just as at a bargain everyone rushes to bargain for what they can. Even if someone brought only bast shoes or bast, he does not sit idly by, but manages to invite buyers to sell his own and then buy what he needs. Of those who have received life from the Lord, no one can say that he does not have a single talent; Everyone has something, and more than one thing: everyone, therefore, has something to trade and make a profit. Don’t look around and don’t consider what others have received, but take a good look at yourself and more precisely determine what you have and what you can acquire with what you have, and then act according to this plan without laziness. At the trial they will not ask why you did not acquire ten talents when you had only one, and they will not even ask why you acquired only one talent with your one talent, but they will say that you acquired a talent, half a talent or a tenth of it. And the reward will be not because you received, but because you acquired. It will be impossible to justify anything - neither nobility, nor poverty, nor lack of education. When this is not given, there will be no demand for it. But you had arms and legs, tell me, they will ask what you acquired with them? Was there a language that they acquired? This is how the inequalities of earthly conditions are equalized at God’s judgment.
Archpriest Viktor Potapov. Gospel parables:
...Although this slave knew what he should do, but due to his evil will and laziness, he did not work to increase his spiritual wealth. The answer he makes in his own defense is curious: “you... take what you did not put in, and you reap what you did not sow.” In other words, You demand perfection from me, but You Yourself have not given me the strength to acquire this perfection. Familiar words. Many people still say this now. Some person, addicted to some passion and having made several attempts to free himself from it, accuses God of cruelty and injustice: “You demand purity from me, but You yourself have not given me the strength to fight my passion. I prayed to You several times, but You did not help me.” As a result, he abandons all struggle with himself and uncontrollably indulges in his passion. Alcoholics, drug addicts, and all sinners who are addicted to their sin do the same. But on the scales of God's justice such an answer has no value.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 291–292:
“To everyone who has, more will be given, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Here we are talking primarily about reward in the future life: whoever became rich spiritually in this life will be enriched even more in the future, and, conversely, the lazy person will lose even the little that he previously possessed. To a certain extent, the truth of this saying is confirmed every day. People who do not develop their abilities gradually lose them. Thus, with a well-fed and inactive vegetation, a person’s mind gradually becomes dull, his will atrophies, his feelings become dull, and his whole body and soul become relaxed. He becomes incapable of anything, except to vegetate like grass.
About the builder of the tower and about the king preparing for war
…He who does not bear his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, whether he has what it takes to complete it, lest, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to complete it, all who see it begin to laugh at him, saying: “This man started building and couldn’t finish”?
Or what king, going to war against another king, does not sit down and consult first whether he is able with ten thousand to resist the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Otherwise, while he is still far away, he will send an embassy to him to ask for peace.
So, anyone of you who does not renounce everything that he has cannot be My disciple. Salt is a good thing; but if the salt loses its strength, how can it be corrected? not suitable for soil or manure; they throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
(Luke 14:27–35)
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 294:
The first of these parables speaks of the need to correctly assess our strengths and capabilities before taking on the work that we are about to do. On this occasion Rev. John Climacus writes: “Our enemies (demons) often deliberately incite us to do things that exceed our strength, so that we, not having success in them, fall into despondency and abandon even those things that are commensurate with our strength...” (“Ladder” ", word 26th). The second parable above talks about the struggle with difficulties and temptations that inevitably occur when doing good deeds. Here, for success, in addition to prudence, dedication is also necessary. That is why both of these parables are connected in the Gospel with the teaching of bearing the cross: He who does not bear his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Wednesday of the 10th week after Pentecost:
A light heart is immediately ready for any good thing that presents itself to it, but an unsteady and unhardworking will refuses to do it at first. This weakness occurs in almost everyone. How can one avoid such failure before oneself and before others? Here's how: don't start anything without thinking it over and calculating that you will have enough strength for what you are trying to do. This is what the Lord commanded in the parable of the one who starts a war and begins to build a house. What is this calculation? This, according to the same influx of inspiration from the Lord, is to arm ourselves in advance with self-sacrifice and patience. See if you have these supports of all workers in goodness, and if you have, start the business, and if not, then stock up on them in advance. If you reserve yourself, no matter what you encounter on the way to what you intend, you will endure and overcome everything, and you will complete what you started. Calculation does not mean that if something is too difficult, quit, but rather to inspire yourself to do any work. From here will come firmness of will and constancy of action.
About a friend asking for bread
And he said to them:
– Suppose that one of you, having a friend, comes to him at midnight and says to him: “Friend! lend me three loaves of bread, for my friend came to me from the road, and I have nothing to offer him, - he will answer him from inside: “Don’t bother me, the doors are already locked, and my children are with me on the bed; I can’t get up and give it to you.” If, I tell you, he does not get up and give him out of friendship with him, then, out of his persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he asks. And I will tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Which father among you, when his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? or, when he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or, if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? So, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
(Luke 11:5–13)
About the unjust judge
He also told them a parable about how one should always pray and not lose heart, saying:
– In one city there was a judge who was not afraid of God and was not ashamed of people. In the same city there was a widow, and she came to him and said: “Protect me from my rival.” But for a long time he didn’t want to. And then he said to himself: “Although I am not afraid of God and I am not ashamed of people, but, just as this widow does not give me peace, I will protect her so that she does not come to bother me anymore.”
And the Lord said:
– Do you hear what the unjust judge says? Will not God protect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, although He is slow to protect them? I tell you that he will give them protection soon. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?
(Luke 18:1–8)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Saturday of the 33rd week:
...If such a calloused person could not resist the persistence of the petition, will not the humane-loving and abundantly merciful God fulfill the petition that is relentlessly offered to Him with tears and contrition?! And here is the answer to why our prayers are often not heard. Because we send our petitions to God not diligently, as if in passing, and, moreover, in such a way that, having prayed once today, tomorrow we wait for the fulfillment of our prayer, without thinking about sweating and overworking ourselves in prayer. So our prayer is not heard and not fulfilled, because we ourselves do not fulfill, as it should, the law of trusting and diligent persistence laid down for prayer.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 296:
The time of the Savior's public ministry was coming to an end. In the previous parables, the Lord taught about the conditions for the spread of the Kingdom of God among and in people. In His last six parables, the Lord also speaks about His gracious Kingdom, but emphasizes the idea of man’s responsibility before God when he neglects the possibility of salvation or, even worse, when he directly rejects the mercy of God. These parables were told in Jerusalem in the last week of the Savior’s earthly life. These last parables reveal the teaching about the truth (justice) of God, the second coming of Christ and the judgment of people. These last six parables include the parables of the wicked vinedressers, the barren fig tree, the wedding feast, the workers receiving equal wages, the slaves waiting for their master to come, and the ten virgins.
About ten mines
When they heard this, he added a parable: for He was near Jerusalem, and they thought that the Kingdom of God would soon open. So he said:
“A certain man of high birth went to a distant country to obtain a kingdom for himself and return; Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas and said to them:
– Use them until I return.
But the citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying:
– We don’t want him to reign over us.
And when he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered to call to himself the slaves of those to whom he had given the silver, in order to find out who had acquired what. The first one came and said:
- Mister! Your mine brought ten mines.
And he said to him:
- Okay, good slave! Because you have been faithful in small things, take control of ten cities.
The second one came and said:
- Mister! Your mine brought five mines.
He also said to this one: you too be over five cities.
The third one came and said:
- Mister! Here is your mine, which I kept wrapped in a scarf, for I was afraid of you, because you are a cruel person: you take what you did not put in, and you reap what you did not sow.
The gentleman told him:
– I will judge you through your mouth, wicked servant! You knew that I am a cruel man, I take what I did not put in, and I reap what I did not sow; Why didn’t you give my silver into circulation, so that when I came, I would receive it at a profit?
And he said to those present:
– Take the mine from him and give it to the one who has ten mines.
And they said to him:
- Mister! He has ten mines.
– I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away; Bring my enemies, those who did not want me to reign over them, here and kill them before me.”
(Luke 19, 11–28; see also the parable of the talents – Matt. 25, 13–30, cited above)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Friday of the 27th week:
The parable of the ten minas depicts the entire history of mankind until the second coming of Christ. The Lord says in it about Himself that He goes through suffering, death and resurrection to the Heavenly Father to accept the kingdom over humanity, which is all His ancestral property. Those who remain on earth are divided into two halves: into slaves who enslaved themselves to the Lord through obedience to faith, and into those who do not want to have Him as king and work for Him, for the sake of their unbelief. Those who approach the Lord by faith, with a willingness to work for Him, are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Sacraments: this is mina - and every believer receives it for service in the circle of believers. When all of the human race who are capable of submitting to the Lord submit to Him, then He will come again as one who has accepted the Kingdom. His first task will be to judge the servants who have acquired what by this grace, and then judgment will follow on those who did not want to have Him as king, that is, either did not believe or fell from the faith. Impress these truths in your mind and do not take your attention away from them, for then there will be a decision that you will not expect to change. Run away from disbelief; but do not believe idly, but also bear the fruits of faith. Having found you faithful in a little way, the Lord will place you over many things.
About evil winegrowers
And He began to speak this parable to the people:
– A certain man planted a vineyard and gave it to vinedressers, and went away for a long time; and in due time he sent a slave to the vinedressers so that they would give him fruit from the vineyard; but the winegrowers, having beaten him, sent him away empty-handed. He also sent another slave; but they beat and cursed him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent a third one; but they also wounded him and kicked him out. Then the lord of the vineyard said: “What should I do? I will send my beloved son; maybe when they see him they will be ashamed.” But the vinedressers, seeing him, reasoned among themselves, saying: “This is the heir; Let’s go and kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.” And they brought him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the lord of the vineyard do with them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.
Those who heard this said:
- It won’t happen!
But He looked at them and said:
– What does this written mean: the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner? Anyone who falls on that stone will be broken, and whoever it falls on will be crushed.
And at that time the chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on Him, but they were afraid of the people, for they understood that He had spoken this parable about them.
(Luke 20:9–19; also Matt. 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12)
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Sunday sermons. Sermon on the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, September 2, 1990
We will enter eternity only if we ourselves grow into the measure of true, authentic humanity, if we become worthy of the title of man , because only man can become a partaker of the Divine nature. Until we have grown to this extent, while we are only embryonic, in hope, in God’s dream, we are people, and have fallen so low, so far from Him, the path is still barred to us.
Today's parable warns us precisely about this. We have been given a vineyard from God - this world, which we were ordered to cultivate, sanctify, which we were supposed to introduce into Divine holiness, fill with the presence of the Holy Spirit... And we took this world into our own and act in this world like those unworthy workers of God. We reject the one who comes to us with the news of truth: we do not always kill him (although the Old Testament is full of this horror), but we reject him with coldness, indifference, by turning away from the messenger of God and telling him: “Go away! Die , It’s like you never existed!” And when the Savior Christ turns to us with saving news, do we repent? We are touched by what we see during Holy Week, by what we read in the Gospel, but do we change so that everything becomes new in us? Aren't we we give Should He die the way people made Him die about two thousand years ago?
How will we respond to God when we stand before Him? Will death for us really be a quiet, serene sleep of the flesh, and the soul will come to life? jubilation into eternal life, simply because Christ has risen, simply because the Mother of God has risen?.. Let's think about this: with all our life, purity, truth, holiness of our life, we will become worthy of death for us, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, not by putting off temporary life, but by putting on eternity. Amen!
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Friday of the 17th week after Pentecost:
The parable of the vineyard depicts the Old Testament Church and God’s care for it. The New Testament Church inherited the Old Testament, therefore this parable can also apply to it, and since every Christian is also a living Church of God, it can also apply to him. The latter is more necessary for us. What's a vineyard here? A soul that has received remission of sins, the grace of rebirth, the gift of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the inheritance of the eternal kingdom, the word of God, the holy Sacraments, a guardian angel. Who are the workers? Consciousness and freedom. They receive gifts and commit to cultivating them and producing fruit for the Lord. Who are the faulty workers? Those who want to take advantage of Christian benefits and use them as much as is appropriate in the external order of life, but do not bear spiritual fruits worthy of the Lord. Who are the messengers from the Lord? Conscience with the fear of God, the word of God, teachers and shepherds with whom the Lord wants to admonish the faulty. Those who do not want to correct themselves do not listen to them; others persecute them and try to drown out their voice; others go so far as to begin to enmity themselves against the Lord Himself when they reject faith in Him in various forms. End: “The wicked will perish in evil.”
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Thursday of the 28th week after Pentecost:
The parable of the vineyard depicts the Old Testament church; doers are its then-hierarchy. And since she did not correspond to her purpose, a sentence was passed on her: to take the vineyard from her and give it to others. These others were at first St. the apostles, then their successors - the bishops with the entire priesthood. The vineyard of God is one from the beginning of the world, and the purpose of its workers was, is and will be until the end of the age - to bring fruit to the Lord of the vine - saved souls. This is the task of the Christian hierarchy, and therefore ours. We all see to what extent it is being fulfilled. What can I say to this? In many ways – thank God! – but in many, many ways one cannot help but wish for the best. This is especially true for preaching the word of God. A sermon is heard somewhere; and meanwhile, this is the only garden knife in the hands of the workers of God’s grapes. As if it were not fulfilled for us: “The lord of the vineyard will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” But lest these others break in and destroy not only the workers, but also the grapes themselves...
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 298–299:
In this parable, the slaves sent by the owner of the vineyard mean the Old Testament prophets, as well as the apostles who continued their work. Indeed, most of the prophets and apostles died a violent death at the hands of “evil vinedressers.” By “fruits” we mean faith and pious works that the Lord expected from the Jewish people. The prophetic part of the parable - the punishment of evil winegrowers and the giving of the vineyard to others - was fulfilled 35 years after the ascension of the Savior, when, under the commander Titus, all of Palestine was devastated, and the Jews were scattered throughout the world. Through the labors of the apostles, the Kingdom of God passed to other nations.
The Pharisees and scribes who listened to Jesus understood the meaning of the parable, because the image of the Vineyard of God was familiar to them from the Holy Scriptures, primarily from the prophet Isaiah.
Song of the Vineyard of the Prophet Isaiah
I will sing to my Beloved the song of my Beloved about His vineyard.
My Beloved had a vineyard on the top of a fattened mountain, and He surrounded it with a fence, and cleared it of stones, and planted choice vines in it, and built a tower in the midst of it, and dug a winepress in it, and expected it to bear good grapes. , and he brought wild berries. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more should I have done for My vineyard that I have not done for it? Why, when I expected him to bring good grapes, did he bring wild berries? Therefore I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be desolate; I will destroy its walls, and it will be trampled down, and I will leave it desolate: they will neither prune it nor dig it, but it will be overgrown with thorns and thistles, and I will command the clouds not to rain rain on it.
The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His beloved planting.
(Isaiah 5:1–7)
About the barren fig tree
And he said this parable:
“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, and found none; and said to the vinedresser:
– Behold, I have been coming for the third year to look for fruit on this fig tree and have not found it; cut it down: why does it occupy the land?
But he answered him:
- Mister! leave it this year too, until I dig it up and cover it with manure, and see if it bears fruit; if not, then next year you will cut it down.”
(Luke 13:6–9)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. Thursday of the 25th week after Pentecost:
...When some misfortune befalls others, we need to talk not about why and for what it happened, but quickly turn to ourselves and see if we have any sins worthy of temporary punishment for the admonition of others, and hasten to blot them out with repentance. Repentance cleanses sin and removes the cause that attracts trouble. While a person is in sin, the ax lies at the root of the tree of his life, ready to cut him off. It doesn’t flog because repentance is expected. Repent, and the ax will be taken away, and your life will flow to the end in a natural order; If you don’t repent, wait for the beating. Who knows whether you will live to see next year. The parable of the barren fig tree shows that the Savior begs the truth of God to spare every sinner in the hope that he will repent and bear good fruits. But it happens that the truth of God no longer listens to petitions, and only someone agrees to leave someone alive for another year. Do you know, sinner, that you are not living your last year, not your last month, day and hour?
Bishop Alexander (Mileant), p. 299–300:
God the Father, like the owner of the fig tree, during the three years of His Son’s public ministry, expected repentance and faith from the Jewish people. The Son of God, like a kind and caring vinedresser, asks the Master to wait until He once again tries to make the fig tree – the Jewish people – fruitful. But His efforts were not crowned with success, then a formidable definition was fulfilled, meaning God’s rejection of those people who stubbornly opposed Him. The Lord Jesus Christ showed the onset of this terrible moment by the fact that a few days before His suffering on the cross, on the way to Jerusalem, He cursed a barren fig tree growing along the road (see Gospel of Matthew, 21, 19).
About the wedding feast of the Son, from the Evangelist Matthew
Jesus, continuing to speak to them in parables, said:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man king, who held a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast; and didn't want to come. Again he sent other slaves, saying: “Say to those invited: behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and what is fattened, slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” But they, despising this, went, some to their field, and some to their trade; the rest, seizing his slaves, insulted and killed them . Hearing about this, the king became angry, and, sending his troops, destroyed their killers and burned their city. Then he says to his servants:
– The wedding feast is ready, but those 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, both evil and good; and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining.
The king, going in to look at those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes, and said to him:
- Friend! How did you come in here without wearing your wedding clothes?
He was silent. Then the king said to the servants:
– Binding 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.”
(Matthew 22:1–14)
St. Theophan the Recluse. Thoughts for every day of the year. 14th Sunday after Pentecost:
The king arranges a wedding feast for his son, sends for those invited once, sends twice, but they do not come because of everyday worries: one took up farming, the other traded. A new invitation was made in other areas, and the wedding chamber was filled with reclining persons. Among them there was one who was not dressed for marriage, and therefore ejected. The meaning of the parable is clear. Wedding feast - Kingdom of Heaven; invitation - preaching the Gospel; those who refused - those who did not believe at all; one who is not dressed for marriage - one who believed, but did not live by faith. Everyone can figure out for themselves which category each of us belongs to. That we are called is clear, but are we believers? After all, you can be among believers, under their common name, without faith. Others don’t think about faith at all, as if it doesn’t exist; another knows something about it and from it and is satisfied; others interpret faith crookedly; some are completely hostile to her, and everyone is considered a Christian, even though they have absolutely nothing Christian. If you believe, figure out whether your feelings, your deeds, the garment of your soul, are consistent with faith, for the sake of which God sees you dressed for marriage or for non-wedlock. You can know the faith well and be zealous for it, and in life work according to passions, dress, that is, in the shameful clothing of a sin-loving soul. Such people have one thing in their words, but another in their hearts; on the tongue: “Lord, Lord!”, and inside: “Have me renounced.” Think about yourself, whether you are in faith and in the wedding garment of virtues, or in the shameful rags of sins and passions.
Saint Nicholas of Serbia. Gospel about the marriage of the Royal Son. – Conversations, p. 215–217:
...The Lord concludes this entire majestic and prophetic parable with the words: For many are called, but few are chosen. This applies to both Jews and Christians. There were few chosen ones among the Jews, and few among the Christians. All of us, the baptized, are called to the royal meal, but the One God knows who His chosen ones are. Woe to those of us to whom the Most High King, before all the angels and saints, says: Friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? What a shame, and a useless shame! What horror, and irreparable horror! What destruction, and irrevocable destruction! But in fact, these words are spoken to us by the Lord even now, every time we approach to receive Holy Communion and unite with our souls to the Bridegroom Christ: friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? Let us listen with our hearts and our conscience when we approach the Holy Chalice - and we will hear this question and this reproach. Unless these words of God entail crying and gnashing of teeth in outer darkness as it will be when God tells them to us for the last time. And who among you can guarantee that God is not telling him this for the last time in his earthly life? Who can guarantee that already at night his soul, dressed in the dirty clothes of sin, will not find itself in the brilliant heavenly assembly around the royal table? Ah, who among mortals can know whether this day is not fateful for all of his eternity! Just a few minutes decided the fate of the two crucified robbers. One of them failed to use these few minutes and retreated into outer darkness; while the other wisely used these few minutes, repented, confessed the Son of God and prayed to Him for his salvation: remember me, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom! And at the same instant the old garment of sin fell from his soul, and his soul was clothed in a shining wedding attire. And the repentant thief, with the dignity of the chosen one, sat down in paradise to the royal meal.
End of introductory fragment.
Parables of Jesus Christ
Abeltin E.A.
In the synoptic gospels, Jesus Christ appears surrounded by ordinary people who inhabited Galilee and Judea. He had to speak to them in a language they understood, using phenomena and objects known to them. From here Christ surprisingly fruitfully explains complex Christian truths in His famous parables. This genre was well known to listeners from the Old Testament, where allegories and comparisons occupy a large place.
The objective reason for Christ’s story about the Good Samaritan is the need to concretize the principle of “love thy neighbor” in His teaching. And here a comparison inevitably arises with the Old Testament “law.” Christ’s opponent is precisely the “lawyer” who was present during Christ’s conversation with the 7 apostles.
By “scribes” or “legalists” are meant persons who studied the Holy Scriptures (Old Testament). They were also given the honorary title of rabbis. These “interpreters of fatherly laws” were generally in charge of the book business, including private correspondence. The scribes enjoyed great influence among the people.
The text of the parable is contained in the Gospel of Luke (chapter 10, verses 25 to 37). Without retelling the content of the parable here, let us turn to the comments of individual expressions.
29. "Desiring to justify oneself." The lawyer found himself in a rather cramped position: he, it turned out, knew what to do, and yet he asked! Therefore, he wants to show that his question made sense, that in the solution he gives to this question, in accordance with Christ, there is still something unsaid. Namely, it is still unclear who the neighbor is who needs to be loved... In the Law of Moses, of course, by “neighbor” was meant a fellow tribesman, but also in relation to the “stranger” it was necessary to “love him as yourself.” The lawyer expected that Christ would primarily highlight in His answer love for strangers rather than for His own Jews, and this could bring Him down in the eyes of his fellow tribesmen: most Jews understood the commandment about love in a narrow sense, limited to their nationality.
30. In answer to the lawyer’s question, the Lord tells him about one man who, walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell into the hands of robbers, who robbed him and at the same time wounded him, leaving him on the road. From the context of the speech, we can conclude that the Lord, by robbed, meant a Jew. Jericho was separated from Jerusalem by the desert, which was very dangerous for travelers, as robbers lived there.
31. A priest who happened to be passing here by chance passed by: he himself was probably afraid of suffering the fate of the robbed. The Lord puts the priest in first place in the story, because the priests were supposed to serve as an example of fulfilling the law in general and the law of mercy in particular.
32. The Levites also belonged to the number of teachers of the people (that is why they were resettled by Moses in different cities of Palestine), and however, the Levite, who looked at the wounded man, also went his own way, without doing anything for the unfortunate man.
33-35. Only the Samaritan (a resident of neighboring Samaria, where it was forbidden to preach to the Jews, as among the pagans, although the Samaritans recognized the law of Moses, but the Jews treated them with contempt) paid attention to the wounded man. Moreover, the Samaritan is a man who, it seemed, should not have cared about the Jew at all. He took pity on the unfortunate man, bandaged his wounds, poured wine and oil on them, as the medicine of that time advised, and, putting him on his donkey, took him to the hotel (caravanserai, where there was also an owner who received guests). The next day, leaving, he entrusted the wounded man to the care of the owner, giving him some money - two denarii, in the hope of returning soon again and then completely settling accounts with the owner.
36-37. Now Christ, apparently, had to say to the lawyer: “Do you see from the example of the Samaritan who is your neighbor? This is every person, no matter what nation he belongs to.” But the Lord does not put things that way. The Lord leaves aside the question of who is neighbor to each of us, as it is quite clearly resolved by the above story. He gives the lawyer another question - not theoretical, but practical: which of the three who passed by the wounded man turned out to be his neighbor, i.e. who fulfilled in relation to him the requirement of love, which the law inspires in everyone? The lawyer answers this question: “who showed him mercy.” He didn’t want to say directly that he was a “Samaritan.” The Lord then releases him, advising him to act like the Samaritan. Thus, the Lord leaves the soil of theoretical reasoning and debate, which, of course, would never end, and reduces the whole question to how a person’s natural feeling resolves the question posed by a lawyer. In the story about the Merciful Samaritan, the Lord intended to show the lawyer the great abyss separating knowledge and actions, how little life itself responded to his moral concept of love for one’s neighbor. The one who asked: “Who is my neighbor?” whoever desired for himself a preliminary complete statement of duties towards his neighbor, thereby revealed how little he understood love, the essence of which is that it knows no limits except its inability to go further.
It is usually customary to call this story about the Good Samaritan a parable. But, strictly speaking, this story does not fit into the category of parables. The parable still needs to be explained, to apply the case contained in it to the issue in question. Such are, for example, the parables of the sower, the mustard seed, etc. No explanation is required here. The Lord simply takes a very possible case, the instructiveness of which is clear to everyone, and makes this case a lesson in true mercy. This, so to speak, is an approximate story about what true love for one’s neighbor consists of.
Questions aimed at clarifying the moral positions of Christianity:
Why does the lawyer act as an opponent of Christ?
What is the formality of love for one's neighbor for a lawyer?
What is the coincidence between the truly human and Christ’s understanding of love?
What conclusions does Christ want to bring to the lawyer and people in general?
Is there a difference in the understanding of this feeling in the Old Testament and Christians?
Parable of the Prodigal Son. In the beautiful parable of the Prodigal Son, Christ gives an answer to the Pharisees’ objections regarding Christ’s favorable attitude towards sinners and generally unworthy people. Like a father embracing his disobedient son who has returned to him, God receives the repentant sinner with great joy. Ordinary people do not understand this joy - and this is beautifully depicted under the guise of the murmur of a son who remained in his father’s house when he learned how kindly his father received his returning brother.
Thus, the purpose of the parable is very clear: Christ wants to show that He, like God, loves sinners and wants to save them, but the Pharisees resist this and act in this case completely mercilessly in relation to these sinners, who are their brothers.
It is therefore in vain to look for any other meaning in this parable, and all allegorical interpretations of it can only have spiritual and moral application, but do not find direct justification for themselves in the parable itself. And there are a lot of such explanatory experiments. Thus, some interpreters mean by the eldest son - the Jews, and by the younger, prodigal - the pagans in their relation to Christianity. Others - by both brothers they mean righteous and sinners, etc.
The parable with the disciples can be considered episode by episode:
The departure of the youngest son from his father's house.
Disasters in a distant land.
Repentance.
Return to father.
Misbehavior of the eldest son.
Now let's turn to the comments on individual passages from the parable. It is better to take the presentation of the parable from the Gospel of Luke (chapter 15). The numbering of the commentaries coincides with the numbering of the verses from the indicated 15th chapter.
12. According to Jewish inheritance law, the youngest son, upon the death of his father, received half of what went to the elder. The father might not have given his son his share in advance, but nevertheless, in his own understanding, he found it necessary to satisfy the son’s request and divided the estate in advance between both sons, and remained the owner of the share intended for the eldest, who still remained in the father’s house.
13. After a few days. Here you can see a sign of delicacy in relation to his father on the part of the youngest son: he was embarrassed to immediately leave his father’s house. But one can also see in these words an indication that upon receiving the estate, the youngest son very soon aroused a thirst to live for his own pleasure away from his father. - Having collected everything. Exactly what he received as his part of the inheritance - things and money. - Living dissolutely. Among the classics, this expression means wasters of the father's inheritance. Therefore, the youngest son is sometimes called the “wasteful son.” It is more correct to take this expression to mean a careless, dissolute life in the broadest sense of the word.
14-16. The youngest son soon spent his fortune, and at that time famine began throughout the country where he found himself. He had nothing to eat, and he had to hire himself out to one of the inhabitants of that country as a shepherd (swineherd). This occupation is the lowest from the point of view of the Jew, who by law considered a pig an unclean animal. But the owner apparently gave his shepherd little food, and he was forced to pick pods from the so-called “breadfruit tree of John the Baptist.” These pods had the shape of horns, which is why they are called horns here. Pigs also ate them.
17-19. Having come to your senses. Need forced the prodigal son to come to his senses and, first of all, to remember his father’s house, which he had completely forgotten about and which now appeared to him in all the contrast with his present situation. There, even the mercenaries have a lot of bread, and he, the son of the owner of this house, is dying of hunger! Therefore, he decides to go to his father and repent to him for leaving him. - Against the sky. The sky is presented here as the seat of the Divine and pure Spirits - it can be said to be personified. The higher heavenly world appears to be offended by the sins of the prodigal son. - And in front of you. Since we sin in the proper sense only against God, if the son here calls himself a sinner in the face of his father, then in this case he understands the father as the representative of God.
20-24. The prodigal son immediately fulfilled his intention and went to his father. He saw him from a distance and rushed to meet him, began to hug and kiss him. Seeing such love, the son could not express his request that his father accept him as a mercenary. He only expressed remorse to his father. The father responded to this repentance by ordering the servants to bring the first, i.e. the most expensive clothes in the house. - Ring and shoes. Signs of a free man (slaves walked barefoot). This meant that the son again became a member of the family. - He was dead and came back to life. Death is remaining in sin, revival is repentance.
25-28. The eldest son, offended by his father for such an acceptance of an unworthy, in his opinion, brother, became angry. This is simply a good son, well-behaved, but not without some pride in his virtue and not without some feeling of envy of the preference shown by his father to his brother. - Singing and rejoicing. Singing and dancing were performed by hired singers and dancers. - Received him healthy. I am glad that my son returned in full health.
29-30. He didn't even give me a kid. It would be more correct to translate: “but you didn’t give me, so good and obedient, a kid,” which, of course, is much cheaper than a fatted calf. This expresses a painful sense of self-esteem. - And when is this son yours? More correct: and when your son (he does not want to say: my brother). - This. Expression of contempt.
31-32. The father softens or wants to soften his offended son. - My son. More correctly - child. An expression of affection and tender love. - You are always with me. those. Why should you be angry when you were always with me, while your brother wandered somewhere in the distance, not taking advantage of his father’s affection, and when in my house, in fact, everything is already yours: you will receive everything alone after my death.
Some interpreters see some understatement in the parable, because the Lord does not announce whether the eldest son persisted in his grievances to the end.
In the same way, some researchers find it necessary for the parable to indicate the further fate of the repentant son...
But, strictly speaking, there was no need to explain this. After all, the main idea of the parable is that God loves sinners and joyfully accepts them to Himself, and this idea is completely completed by bringing the words of the father to the eldest son. Everything else - both the future behavior of the older brother and the fate of the younger one - has no significance for the essence of the matter.
Commentators try to find deeper thoughts in it, for example, the statement that Christ’s love alone is enough to save a person; in the parable, they say, there is not the slightest hint of the cross of Christ and the need for atonement: let the sinner repent - God will immediately forgive without any atoning sacrifice... This idea was seen even earlier by German rationalists in the 19th century. But other interpreters rightly answer: a parable cannot be required to present the entire Christian teaching about salvation. And that Christ could not have such a thought about the unnecessaryness of atonement through His own death is clearly evident from His words spoken shortly before the utterance of this parable: “I must be baptized with baptism” (i.e. I must die for the atonement of human sins on the cross ). The last meeting of Jesus with his disciples (Last Supper). The high priests and other leaders of Jewish religious thought hated Christ.
They did not recognize Him as the Messiah, accused Him of violating the laws of the prophet Moses, and were afraid of His power over the people. At a meeting of the Sanhedrin He was sentenced to death. But it was not death that was approaching, but the triumph of Christ.
One of the apostles, Judas Iscariot, promised the high priests to point Jesus out. All this, according to the testimony of the evangelists, was known to Christ in advance. Two days before Easter, He told the disciples that He would be crucified by His enemies. He prepared for death by allowing one woman (John believes it was Mary, the sister of the resurrected Lazarus) to pour precious ointment on His head, as if anointing His body for burial.
The evangelists show the behavior of Jesus before his death as a Hero who prepared without fear for what awaited Him.
Every year the Jews celebrated the Passover festival, which lasted seven days. This was how the happy exodus of the Jews from Egypt was celebrated. At the festive feast they ate the meat of the Passover lamb, sacrificed in the temple the day before, ate unleavened bread, bitter salad and drank wine.
Jesus wanted to celebrate the Passover among the disciples. The Evangelist Luke confirms that the evening meal was prepared by Peter and John. During the supper, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, showing an example of humility. Washing feet in the time of John (he is the only one to talk about this event) was part of the duties of slaves. The evangelist emphasizes that by this act Jesus reduced himself to the position of a slave, therefore crucifixion, which was a punishment for slaves, could not outrage believers.
During the supper, Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. John, the favorite of Jesus, at the instigation of Peter, asked: “Lord, who is this?” Jesus answered: “He to whom I dip a piece of bread.” He dipped a piece of bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, saying: “Whatever you are doing, do it quickly.” No one understood Him, but Judas, under the cover of darkness, disappeared from home to commit his betrayal.
After Judas left, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying: “Take, eat: this is my body.” Then He took the cup, also blessed it and gave it to the disciples: “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
This is how the rite of Holy Communion (Eucharist) was introduced.
According to John, Jesus gave a lengthy speech at the evening in which he encouraged and consoled the disciples, urging them to love one another.
Jesus then turned to God the Father in prayer.
After the supper, Jesus and his disciples went to the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane, to prepare for death and upcoming suffering.
Jesus in Gethsemane. In Gethsemane, Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here, and I will go and pray.” He took Peter, John and James with him. He was overcome with terrible anxiety and melancholy. Then He said to them: “My soul is full of mortal sorrow. Stay here and watch with Me.” Having walked away a little, He fell face down on the ground and prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, then let this cup pass by Me, however, not as I want, but as You want.” An angel came to Him from heaven and encouraged Him. In agony, Jesus prayed even more fervently, and His sweat was like drops of blood dripping onto the ground.
Then He returned to the disciples and saw that they had fallen asleep. “Well, you couldn’t even watch with Me for an hour?” - He asked Peter. "Watch and pray, so that you do not yield to temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He went and prayed a second time: “My Father, if it is impossible for this cup to pass from Me without me drinking from it, then let Your will be done.” When Jesus returned, He left them, went, and prayed the same prayer a third time. Then He returned to the disciples and said to them: “Are you all sleeping and resting? Look, the time has come and the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of sinners. Arise! Here comes My betrayer.”
Comments. Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to stay close to Him in these difficult moments and to remain awake serves as an expression of the most severe sorrow, during which a person especially seeks the closeness of people to himself and cares about their special sympathy. The Savior prays that, if possible, He will not be subjected to suffering, which He calls “the cup of suffering.” But in this matter He rejects, so to speak, the action of His own human will, and wants everything to be as it pleases the Father.
Betrayal and arrest of Jesus.
Peter's first denial.
Jesus before the high priest.
Peter's second and third denials.
Interrogation at the council (Sanhedrin).
Death of Judas.
Jesus before Pilate. The Jews brought Jesus from the high priest Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. They had no right to sentence anyone to death without his sanction.
It was early in the morning, and the Jews, fearing to be defiled, did not enter the palace, otherwise they would not be able to eat the Passover dinner later (the Romans were pagans). Pontius Pilate therefore came out to them. "What are you accusing this man of?" - he asked. “If he had not been a criminal, we would not have brought him to you,” they replied. Pilate said: “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” “But we do not have the right to execute a person,” the Jews objected. Thus, the words of Jesus about the death by which He would die were to be fulfilled. Then Pilate went inside, called Jesus and asked Him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Are you saying this on your own or have others told you about Me?” - asked Jesus. "Am I a Jew?" - Pilate answered, “It was your people and your leaders who handed you over to me. What did you do?”
Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were of this world, then My subjects would protect Me. My kingdom is not of this world.” “So you are a king after all!” - said Pilate. “You yourself say that I am a king,” Jesus answered, “I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. He who is on the side of the truth listens to Me.” Pilate asked: “What is truth?”
Then he went out to the Jews and said: “I find no guilt in this man.”
They began to accuse Him, saying, "This man is destroying the morals of our people. He says that there is no need to pay tax to the emperor, and he claims that He is the king, the Messiah."
Pilate asked Jesus again: “Why don’t you answer? Do you see how many accusations they bring against you?” But Jesus still did not answer, and this surprised Pilate.
They insisted: “He is disturbing the people throughout Judea with his teaching. He began in Galilee, but now he has come here.”
Hearing this, Pilate asked if he was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was from an area subject to Herod, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at the time. Herod, seeing Jesus, was very happy, because he had long wanted to see Him. He had heard a lot about Him and hoped to see some miracle. He asked Him many questions, but Jesus did not even answer him. The priests and teachers of the law stood there and made strong accusations against Him. Herod and his soldiers, having humiliated Jesus and laughed at Him, sent Him back to Pilate.
Jesus again before Pilate. On holidays, Pilate usually released one of the prisoners, at the choice of the people. Barabbas was imprisoned at this time, accused of murder during the rebellion.
Pilate summoned the priests and leaders of the people and said to them: “You brought this man to me as inciting the people to revolt. I questioned Him in your presence and did not find confirmation of your accusations. Herod also did not find any guilt in him and sent him back to us "As you can see, he did nothing worthy of death."
Therefore, when the people had gathered, Pilate asked: “Whom do you want me to release to you - Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ?” He knew that the people gave Jesus to him out of envy. When Pilate was sitting on the judge’s chair, his wife said to him: “Don’t do anything to this innocent man, I suffered greatly today in a dream for him.” But the priests and elders incited the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus. “So which of these two do you want me to let you go?” - asked the ruler. “Barabbas,” they answered.
Condemnation to death. Pilate then ordered Jesus to be beaten. The soldiers wove a wreath from thorn branches and placed it on His head. They dressed Him in a purple robe and began to approach Him shouting: “Long live the king of the Jews!” - and they hit Him in the face.
Pilate went out again and said to the Jews: “Look! Here I am bringing him out to you again, so that you can be convinced that I do not find any guilt in him. Here is a man,” said Pilate, when Jesus came out in a crown of thorns and a purple robe . As soon as the priests and leaders saw him, they shouted: “Crucify him, crucify him!”
Comments. From the messages of the evangelists it is not clear that earlier they were talking about the cross (crucifixion). The people's leaders wanted only the death of Jesus, which they asked Pilate for. Most likely, because of his crimes, Barabbas was condemned to execution on the cross, and the crowd, in their brutality, decided to replace the thief on the cross with Jesus.
Let us note that Barabbas was the first person who, due to his accidental connection with Christ, was freed from this terrible execution. If Christ, having completed His work of redemption, had not freed people from the death of the cross, it would have been incomplete. Therefore, His death on the cross is one of the most important aspects of His redemptive work. Subsequently, execution on the cross was abolished in Christian states.
The Savior was condemned to execution on the cross. Flagellation took place before the crucifixion. The Romans had the custom of scourging a condemned prisoner, and Jesus Christ was handed over to the soldiers for this purpose - this was a monstrous injustice and cruelty, because He had been found innocent twice before. Pilate's fear (cowardice) of Caesar played a role.
The terrible punishment before the crucifixion was carried out with such barbarity that it was known as “near death.” Indeed, the victim often fainted during the punishment and often died before crucifixion. The blows were inflicted with whips, not sticks, because Pontius Pilate did not have lictors who were armed with sticks.
The Romans subjected slaves to scourging (freemen were punished with rods), usually condemned to death, naked, tied to a stake, before being taken to the cross. The scourge consisted of leather belts, sometimes equipped with lead tips or sharp nails and animal bones, which covered the victim with a mass of wounds and bruises. The scourging was carried out, it is believed, in front of the Praetorium (the residence of the procurator Pilate) in full view of everyone.
Jesus was scourged by Roman soldiers, not Jews. Attempts to present the matter somewhat differently and prove that the Jews enjoyed the right to execution on the cross, that Pilate only agreed to this execution, and that Christ was crucified by the Jews independently of Pilate and his soldiers, does not stand up to criticism, in view of the clear testimony of all the gospels that it was not the Jews themselves who accepted participation in the execution, and Pilate's soldiers.
Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus was led to be crucified. On the way, the soldiers grabbed Simon from Cyrene, who was returning home from the field, put a cross on him and forced him to carry it after Jesus. A large number of people followed Jesus, among them were women who wept and lamented for Him. Jesus turned to them and said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. The time will come when you will say: Happy are those who have had no children!” Then “they will say to the mountains: “Fall on us!” and to the hills: “Cover us!”
“After all, if people do this to a green tree, then what happens when the tree dries up?”
They came to a place called Golgotha (which means the Place of the Skull or the Place of the Skull). There Jesus was offered to drink wine mixed with bile. But He refused.
He was crucified along with the robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
The guards divided Jesus' clothes among themselves.
Pilate ordered a tablet to be prepared and attached to the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth is the king of the Jews,” it was written on it.
Those passing by shouted ridicule. One of the robbers hanging there mocked Him: “Aren’t You the Christ? Save yourself and us!” The other calmed him down and said: “Fear God!
Don't you have the same punishment? We were punished justly, we got what we deserved, and this man did nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you, you will be with Me in heaven."
Not far from the cross stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary - the wife of Cleopas and Mary from Magdapa. Jesus saw His mother standing there and His disciple whom He loved (John) standing next to her. “Here is your son,” He said to His mother. He said to John: “Here is your mother.” From that time on, the student took her into his house.
At the sixth hour darkness fell over the whole earth, and it was dark until the ninth hour. About nine o'clock Jesus shouted loudly: "Eli, Or! Lama Savahvani?" - this means: “My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?” Some of those standing there did not hear what Jesus was shouting. They decided that He was calling the prophet Elijah to free Him.
Death of Jesus. Jesus knew that everything had already been accomplished, and so that the Scripture would be fully fulfilled, He said, “I thirst.” There stood a jug of wine vinegar and someone dipped a sponge in it and handed it to Jesus on a stick. Jesus tried and said, “It is finished,” and cried out loudly, “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.” He said and died.
At that moment, the curtain in the temple was torn into two parts from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The graves opened, and the bodies of many dead righteous people came to life. They came out of their graves and after the resurrection of Jesus entered the holy city, where many people saw them. When the Roman officer and those who were guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and everything that happened, they said: “Truly this was the Son of God!”
