Orthodox readings for 27 May 2018

King James Version (en)

Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2, verses 1-11

¹ The apostles filled with the holy Ghost and speaking diverse languages are admired by some and derided by others

¹And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

³And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

⁶Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

⁷And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

⁸And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

⁹Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

¹⁰Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

¹¹Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

John, Chapter 7, verses 37-52

¹⁴ teacheth in the temple, ⁴⁰ Diverse opinions of him among the people, ⁴⁵ The Pharisees are angry that their officers took him not, and chide with Nicodemus for taking his part

³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

³⁹(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

⁴⁰Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

⁴¹Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

⁴²Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?

⁴³So there was a division among the people because of him.

⁴⁴And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

⁴⁵Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

⁴⁶The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

⁴⁷Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?

⁴⁹But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

⁵⁰Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)

⁵¹Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

⁵²They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

John, Chapter 8, verse 12

¹² He preacheth himself the light of the world, and justifieth his doctrine

¹²Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

NOTES

Speaking with the Pharisees, Jesus again and again tries to explain to them who He is and why He came into the world. But it was not easy for them to understand Him, because they wanted not testimony but proofs, formal proofs of the kind required from witnesses in an ordinary earthly court over ordinary everyday matters. Jesus speaks to them about the life that He can give to everyone who is ready to believe Him (v. 12), and in response He hears: where are Your witnesses? And if there are no witnesses, how can we believe You (v. 13)? In answering those who question Him, Jesus tries to speak with them in their own language. He says: there are two witnesses, I and the Father (vv. 16-17).

But such language does not change the essence of the matter: in order to believe Jesus, one needs not legal proofs but simply the ability to see the situation with spiritual sight. One need only understand who Jesus is, where He came from and where He is going, but this cannot be done by relying only on formal legal procedures, even if they are based on the norms of the Torah (v. 14). You, Jesus says to the Pharisees, evaluate (“judge”) everyone only by external, formal criteria (“according to the flesh”); I, He says of Himself, evaluate no one (v. 15). In this way Jesus lets His interlocutors understand that it is pointless to measure His ministry and testimony by earthly measures and formal criteria, for the Kingdom does not fit within any human framework. And Jesus Himself too, according to His own words, judges no one: as can be seen, He did not come into the world for that. His goal was to free people from the sin from which otherwise they would never be freed, and the question of accepting or not accepting Jesus therefore becomes a question of life and death both for those who accept and for those who reject (vv. 21-24).

And although, as can be seen, the listeners still did not fully understand the Savior (vv. 25-27), among them there were many whom Jesus’ words convinced and who believed Him (v. 30). Apparently a division took place among those present between those who were ready to disregard the opinion of the majority and of religious authorities for the sake of the Kingdom, and those who preferred not to risk it. A division between those who seek the Kingdom and those who are ready to live as before, remaining with their religion.

Today's reading lets us see what religiosity can turn into when living spiritual experience is completely ignored. Of course, in itself it does not exclude the possibility of full communion with God, but on one condition: if religion occupies a subordinate, auxiliary position, remaining only a means for expressing and embodying revelation. Meanwhile any religious tradition becomes self-sufficient if special efforts are not undertaken for its spiritual renewal. And if politics is mixed into religion, as happened in Judea in the Gospel period, this happens even faster.

And, as we can see, the majority of the Jewish religious leaders of the Gospel era did not even try to look at the situation that had arisen in Jerusalem because of Jesus' preaching (vv. 40-43) from a spiritual point of view. For them He was merely a violator of the established order. From their point of view He could in no way be the Messiah, since His appearance did not correspond to the messianic ideas accepted in the Judaism of that time. And besides, a prophet "does not come from Galilee" (v. 52).

Before us is absolute confidence in the truth of one's own religious tradition, which no revelation can shake. If miracles happen contrary to what religion says about them, then they are "wrong" miracles. And even if they are so obvious that many of the people believed the One who performed them directly before their eyes, no one is interested in the opinion of the people: after all, they do not know the Torah and are therefore "accursed" (v. 49). Yet among those gathered for the feast there was almost certainly not one who had not read and studied both the Torah and the other sacred books! But, as we can see, their knowledge of the Torah was different; it did not prevent them from believing in Jesus, and therefore they are, of course, "ignorant" - otherwise how would they have differed in opinion from the religious authorities?

However, authorities who depart from the "general line" also get their share: when, for example, Nicodemus dares to say that before passing judgment, and all the more before condemning, it is necessary at least to hear the accused (vv. 50-51), he is silenced. The arguments are simple and have nothing to do with the Torah, truth, or justice: you yourself must be from Galilee, so you defend your fellow countrymen (v. 52). It is no surprise that in such an atmosphere Jesus could not count not only on a just trial, but even on a more or less objective assessment of everything He said and did.

"Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water." Bishop Cassian, in his foundational work on the Gospel of John, says that this is not the only possible translation. If the punctuation were different...

FAQ

I have one question that troubles me. It is a question regarding "other tongues". Who can receive "other tongues"? What are "other tongues"? What are they for? Are there two types of "other tongues"?

The gift of "speaking in tongues", "praying in tongues", or simply the "gift of tongues", in Greek "glossolalia" — is one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, which is given for edification in the faith and the growth of the Church. In different eras and in different parts of the Church, this gift manifests itself in various ways; at times it may become unnoticeable or noticeably transformed. This is natural, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit are always given with a specific purpose — "for the edification of the Church". Nevertheless, it can be said that in one form or another, this gift is always present in the Church.

We know of at least three main varieties of this gift.

First, there is the gift of speaking in a language unknown to the speaker. This is how the apostles spoke on the day of Pentecost. This is how, quite often, preachers and missionaries speak, and their word reaches the hearts of the listeners. It is essential that this form of glossolalia occurs if and only if a person is speaking about Jesus Christ, His Cross, and Resurrection. At present, this gift is quite rare.

Second, glossolalia may be expressed when a person in prayer praises God in a language that does not exist among the nations of the Earth. This is usually called "tongues of angels". Love for God, reverence before Him, and adoration of Him encompass at this moment not only the person's heart, but also their mind and emotional sphere... And suddenly the prayer is poured out in words incomprehensible to the person themselves. According to the testimony of early Christians, the Holy Spirit simultaneously grants another person the gift of interpretation, so that "the church may receive edification". This gift is currently widespread enough to be a noticeable phenomenon in the Church.

However, in our time, the gift of interpretation is much less common. Perhaps this is related to the fact that the edification of the modern Church is carried out differently than in the ancient one. To understand this gift, it is important to keep a few points in mind. Speaking in tongues of angels is given, as a rule (though not always), through the prayer of other Christians — those who possess this gift. Furthermore, the speaker usually does not understand the meaning of their own words. They are aware only of a certain non-verbal sense of the prayer in which they began speaking in such a language. In different parts of the Church there is a certain continuity, so that by the way glossolalia manifests in a person's prayer, one can quite accurately discern in which Church they received this gift. The glossolalia of Pentecostals is not the same as that of Catholics, and the glossolalia of Lutherans differs from that of the Orthodox. Often, such glossolalia sounds like a language unknown to humanity. Most commonly, this glossolalia (across all denominations) is compared to ancient Hebrew or Aramaic. Perhaps the Holy Spirit engages some aspects of the person's personality that are unknown to us... It is fundamentally important that this form of glossolalia is given during prayer and for prayer, usually — for the glorification of God.

Third, there is another form of glossolalia closely connected to the previous one. This should rather be called non-verbal prayer. The Apostle Paul speaks of this, saying that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. This prayer differs from the previous form in that distinct speech elements (words, phrases) are not always discernible in it, and in that such a prayer is sung rather than spoken. Often it is born as a continuation (and intensification) of our usual prayer and psalmody. In this, the Holy Spirit allows our heart to break out beyond the limits of human language and turn to God in some other, highly personal, yet non-verbal way.

Since ancient times, this prayer-glossolalia predominantly occurred during divine services. It was such an ordinary occurrence that church liturgical rubrics of the second half of the first millennium even designate moments in the service when this gift of the Holy Spirit typically manifests in the community. Some Orthodox typicons, including Russian ones, retained such instructions right up until the end of the 15th century. Generally speaking, however, since the end of the first millennium, this form of glossolalia has largely transitioned into the realm of church musical creativity.

Since the end of the 19th century, in various parts of the Church, the Holy Spirit has begun to explicitly bestow these gifts anew, albeit in different ways. This is likely due to the fact that different Churches have "dried up" to varying degrees in theological theorizing and have lost the experience of a living connection with the Spirit. It is perhaps for our edification in this regard that the Lord renews these gifts of His within us.

It is important to note in conclusion that the only gift of the Holy Spirit that is absolutely indispensable for the life of the Church, without which She cannot exist, is the gift of love. All else is given as the need arises...

Some believe that Jehovah God is the only Person who claims worship and trust, and that Jesus is the Son of God, also a Person, but does not claim worship, because Jesus is a creation of Jehovah; moreover, Jesus is not God, since He Himself often prayed to His Heavenly Father (He could not, after all, pray to Himself). The Holy Spirit is impersonal, an expression of the will of Jehovah God; the impersonality of the Holy Spirit is confirmed by the fact that during Pentecost, He descended upon those present, dividing into many flames. The point is that the Holy Spirit divided into many... but can a person divide and be considered the same person? Personally, I believe that judging the nature of God, considering that He is a Trinity or considering that the situation is as described above, is generally wrong. Who can comprehend the nature of God?

Who can comprehend the nature of God? Of course, only God Himself...

Who can comprehend the nature of God? Of course, only God Himself. But what is essentially important for our salvation, He reveals to us. Therefore, the Church has always tried to be precise in comprehending this Revelation, so it is necessary to clearly envision what is important for our coming to God.

The idea of the created nature of Jesus Christ was first expressed by the Alexandrian priest Arius at the beginning of the 4th century AD. The Church quite unanimously rejected this opinion as erroneous, because if it was not God who shared our life and our death with us, then there is no salvation from sin and death for us. Likewise, if the Holy Spirit is a faceless force (a sort of semolina porridge, God forgive me), then communion with a Personal God is impossible for us. In this case, again, there is no salvation, because the entire biblical faith collapses. After all, the Holy Spirit is precisely the One Who pours life into our hearts, and not in some Hellenistic "afterlife existence" (which is a non-biblical idea), but here and now. Thus, the Church believes that Jesus is the God-Man, consubstantial with the Father in His Divinity and consubstantial with us in His humanity, and the Holy Spirit is a Person, God, whom we worship together with the Father and the Son.

The arguments you write about do not seem convincing. Of course, Jesus prays—how else can a man (and God incarnate in a man as well) communicate with the Father? The manner of communion between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the Trinity is incomprehensible to us; but the God-Man Jesus Christ is humbled for our sake to such an extent that He also shares our manner of communion with the Father. As for the worship of Jesus Christ, the Holy Scripture says that it is precisely the belief that He is Lord that gives a person salvation. The Apostle Paul in his Epistles to the Romans ( 10:9), to the Philippians ( 2:6-11), and to the Colossians says that the will of God regarding our salvation is that we worship God in Jesus Christ, since "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" ( 2:9). Obviously, the opinion of Arius regarding the created nature of the Son of God radically contradicts these last words of the apostle.

The Holy Spirit, of course, can act in every person, and in many people at once, for He is Almighty! And the "divided tongues, as of fire" are only visible signs of His coming, not He Himself. Ultimately, I reply to letters from many people—does my personality thereby divide into separate pieces of paper?

It is truly important for us to know and accept what is expressed in the dogmatic teaching of the seven Ecumenical Councils, including the concept of the Trinity, first explicitly formulated by St. Theophilus of Antioch in the second half of the 2nd century. The Triunity of God means for us that He a) is not like us; b) transcends us and our understanding; c) has life in Himself; d) gives us the opportunity to share with Him the fullness of His life. This is in brief, of course. The Church's teaching on the Triune God is profound and significant enough to become acquainted with it through the Bible itself and specialized sources.

Everyone, of course, is free to choose their own confession. But it is important for Christians to remember that every dogmatic assertion has consequences in practical spiritual life, and these consequences must be seen and evaluated by their fruits.

Under what conditions can the Holy Spirit be poured out (I mean the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, as with the Apostles)? Must a person be sanctified (holy), free themselves from all vices, etc.? Or did this take place only among the Apostles?

It is hard to imagine (or even believe) that partaking in the gift of the Holy Spirit is the exclusive lot of the apostles and prophets. Yet, on the other hand, it is beyond human comprehension what one must do for tongues of fire to suddenly descend upon you from heaven...

${currentDateString}


	After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free.