Orthodox readings for 27 December 2005

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

2 Timothy, Chapter 3, verses 16-17

¹⁶ and commendeth the holy Scriptures

¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Read more:2 Timothy, Chapter 4

2 Timothy, Chapter 4, verses 1-4

¹ He exhorteth him to do his duty with all care and diligence

¹I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

²Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

⁴And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Read more:2 Timothy, Chapter 4

Mark, Chapter 8, verses 22-26

²² giveth a blind man his sight

²²And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

²³And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

²⁴And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

²⁵After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

²⁶And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

Read more:Mark, Chapter 8

NOTES

How often we catch ourselves thinking, when something happens that we, to put it mildly, do not like: 'Why is this happening to me?' Why did the Lord arrange everything this way, and if He did not arrange it, why did He allow it to happen?...

What a miracle took place on the day when each of us heard the news of Christ and met Him Himself! For, as the apostle Paul writes, almost every person is inclined...

For eight chapters in a row now we have been reading about the glorious passage of the Son of God over the earth. Have we recognized Him? Have we learned to trust Him?...

For eight chapters in a row now we have been reading about the glorious passage of the Son of God over the earth. Have we recognized Him? Have we learned to trust Him? To believe His word? Or do we still need signs? Have we "understood" everything, or have we remained blind? What is there more of in us: the leaven of the Pharisees, or the faith of the hungry and the sick? Does the one who was hungry and was fed, who was sick and was healed, who was blind and received sight, still need signs?

The disciples witnessed the feeding of the people. They were at that feast and even distributed the bread. But in everyday life they remain in doubt and are not sure that they will be fed, although Jesus is with them and they see Him with their eyes. But with the heart? Do we feel God's presence in everyday life, on Monday, in the boat in which we are crossing the week? Or do we "still not understand"? For the second time Mark gives a passage about feeding a large crowd with a few loaves. It is important to understand that if bread is given from God's hands, then it is not just bread. People are fed by God's blessing, by God's love. And this is truly real nourishment.

It is hard to understand what is happening to others when everything is all right with you, when you have nothing to plead for tearfully. When there is no real need, there is no need for hope, and no need for the Healer. When we do not thirst for an encounter with truth and love, when we have not been worn down in this world by our weakness and infirmity while seeking truth, it is hard to be satisfied with what God gives us. Such are the Pharisees: Jesus does not even speak with them. "He left them."

The disciples remain beside Jesus, see Him with earthly eyes, share a meal with Him, and see many healings, but still remain outside the mystery of God. They have received sight for the first time, like that blind man from Bethsaida. After the first laying on of hands, the blind man began to see like everyone else. He saw people outwardly. A person was able to "see everything clearly" only in the presence of Jesus, when he "looked intently."

God gives spiritual sight to those who thirst for it. For this, the "hardened heart" must be "softened." Then it will become clear what the spirit of Pharisaism is; then the spiritual life of people and of God will be visible. Then signs will no longer be needed. What, then, have we managed to "understand" over these seven and a half chapters? What have we really understood, what have we "seen clearly," how have we changed?

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