Orthodox readings for 12 November 2014

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

1 Thessalonians, Chapter 2, verses 1-8

¹ In what manner the gospel was brought and preached to the Thessalonians, and in what sort also they received it

¹For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:

²But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

³For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

⁴But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

⁵For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:

⁶Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

⁷But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

⁸So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Read more:1 Thessalonians, Chapter 2

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2

2:1 What was proposed, Th1 1:5-6, is now more largely treated of: concerning Paul and his fellowlabourers, Th1 2:1-12; concerning the Thessalonians, Th1 2:13-16.

2:2 We had suffered - In several places. We are bold - Notwithstanding. With much contention - Notwithstanding bothinward and outward conflicts of all kinds.

2:3 For our exhortation - That is, our preaching. A part is put for the whole. Is not, at any time, of deceit - We preach not a lie, but the truth of God. Nor of uncleanness - With any unholy or selfish view. This expression is not always appropriated to lust, although it is sometimes emphatically applied thereto.Nor in guile - But with great plainness of speech.

2:5 Flattering words - This ye know. Nor a cloak of covetousness - Of this God is witness. He calls men to witness an open fact; God, the secret intentions of the heart. In a point of a mixed nature, Th1 2:10, he appeals both to God and man.

2:6 Nor from others - Who would have honoured us more, if we had been burdensome - That is, taken state upon ourselves.

2:7 But we were gentle - Mild, tender. In the midst of you - Like a hen surrounded with her young. Even as a nurse cherisheth her own children - The offspring of her own womb.

2:8 To impart our own souls - To lay down our lives for your sake.

Luke, Chapter 11, verses 42-46

³⁷ and reprehendeth the outward show of holiness in the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers

⁴²But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

⁴³Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.

⁴⁴Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

⁴⁵Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.

⁴⁶And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

Read more:Luke, Chapter 11

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11:42 Wo to you - That is, miserable are you. In the same manner is the phrase to be understood throughout the chapter.

11:44 For ye are as graves which appear not - Probably in speaking this our Lord fixed his eyes on the scribes. As graves which appear not, being overgrown with grass, so that men are not aware, till they stumble upon them, and either hurt themselves, or at least are defiled by touching them. On another occasion Christ compared them to whited sepulchres, fair without, but foul within; Mat 23:27.

11:45 One of the lawyers - That is scribes; expounders of the law.

NOTES

In the Gospel we find no angry denunciations by Jesus directed at thieves, extortioners, prostitutes, unfaithful wives, occupying forces, or other sinners. The only class He denounces is the scribes and Pharisees. What had these people done wrong...

The Savior's words addressed to the Pharisees and teachers of the Torah, who in those days were usually called "scribes," may seem too harsh, just as they seemed to some of His listeners. But the question was too serious, and...

The Savior's words addressed to the Pharisees and teachers of the Torah, who in those days were usually called "scribes," may seem too harsh, just as they seemed to some of His listeners. But the question was too serious, and things had to be called by their proper names. The accusations are serious: in essence, Jesus reproaches both the religious leadership of the Synagogue of that time (the Pharisees) and the outstanding teachers of the Torah for not observing themselves what they call others to observe. A strange accusation, it would seem: after all, in the Gospels it is precisely the Pharisees and teachers of the Torah who are shown as zealots for the Torah; they are the ones who constantly reproach Jesus for violating one or another of its prescriptions. But Jesus clearly identifies the problem: external religiosity devoid of spiritual content. This very religiosity became the main problem of synagogue spiritual life in the Gospel era. Many Pharisees adhered to such religiosity, and many teachers of the Torah taught it to the people.

There was, of course, an alternative, but only a few represented it. The New Testament books have preserved the names of some of them for us: Nicodemus, Gamaliel... But they did not determine the general atmosphere of synagogue life at that time. And so it turned out that calls to spiritual life were accompanied by instruction in a life that was not so much spiritual as religious. People were taught not how to acquire inner wholeness and inner light (the very "clear eye" of which Jesus speaks), but how to observe ritual prescriptions. Of course, these prescriptions also did not appear for no reason, and behind them stands a certain spiritual experience that gave rise to them; but by that time the experience had already been forgotten, while the prescriptions remained.

And now the people are offered a life of religiosity alone, without spiritual content; prescriptions without communion with God. Meanwhile, the teachers themselves feel like masters of the Torah: after all, they are the ones who comment on it and interpret it; people come to them for advice; it is their authority in the eyes of ordinary people that is unquestioned.

Not all of them, of course, were like this, but there were enough of them for a vast number of people to become locked inside a circle of formal religiosity with no possibility of leaving it. And every free word from God, any breath of God's Spirit in this environment, is perceived as something unnecessary and even dangerous: it undermines the monopoly of teachers and interpreters over the Torah, and therefore over spiritual life. It is no accident that Jesus tells those who build monuments to the ancient prophets that they are no better than their fathers, who killed those same prophets. They have no need of living spiritual life, just as their fathers had no need of it. And that means they have no need of the Kingdom either.

Some unsearchable fear creeps in when you think about this text and at the same time project it onto...

Some unsearchable fear creeps in when you think about this text and at the same time project it onto the present state of affairs in the world. "But He said: Woe to you lawyers also, because you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers". The point is not even that some of our spiritual fathers force us to fast too severely, or that someone lays too strict penances on us. It seems that none of this is really a sign of the present day. Perhaps somewhere there are priests who are strict beyond measure. But overall, this is not at all the spirit of our days. Any normal priest understands that simply being an ordinary decent Christian against the background of our maddened, corrupted, terrifying age is already a very difficult task, to say nothing of ascetic feats among laypeople.

But it seems that this is only the most direct meaning of today's reading, while it also contains deeper layers of meaning. Now these words of the Lord call to our memory other words as well. "They will put you out of the synagogues; but the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God" (John 16:2). Now the closeness of these two texts is strong.

Why will he think that he is offering service to God? Why do some "Muslims" think that by killing Christians they are offering service to Allah? Why do some "Christians" think that by dropping bombs on civilians in Iraq, on children and women, they are doing a God-pleasing, good, kind, and just thing? Why?

And the answer to this question, strangely enough, lies precisely in the words Jesus speaks today. We are obedient to "lawyers"; they guide us like donkeys on whom burdens are loaded, and we obey them. We even have such words as "spiritual leader." But it seems to me that this is some kind of oxymoron, nonsense, an impossible expression. In principle there can be no such concept as a spiritual leader. In the spirit only the Spirit can guide us, and everything else is not in the spirit, but simply criminal, a matter for court. But one must strain oneself, labor, read, think, pray. Here everything is simple: the mullah said that it is written in the Quran, if you meet an unbeliever, strike the neck with the sword (the 47th sura, "Muhammad"), so go kill Christians. But it turns out that in fact something completely different is meant; the passage is about a battle, but this requires going deeply into it, looking at different translations, simply having an integral vision and living communion with God. And Christians hear their children being killed to shouts of "Allahu akbar" and begin to hate, or even behave in such a way that the only word a believer can use toward them is "infidel." And they forget that Christ teaches love, not hatred; they forget because they turn not to Christ, but to presidents who call themselves believers, to leaders - in a word, to "lawyers."

One wants to say: people, look more carefully at the words the Lord speaks today: "that you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch these burdens with a single finger." Are we donkeys, that burdens should be loaded on us? Woe to them, yes; but we should not offer them our backs.

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