Orthodox readings for 3 November 2018

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

2 Corinthians, Chapter 8, verses 1-5

¹ He stirreth them up to a liberal contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem, by the example of the Macedonians

¹Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;

²How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

³For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;

⁴Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

⁵And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

Read more:2 Corinthians, Chapter 8

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8

8:1 We declare to you the grace of God - Which evidently appeared by this happy effect.

8:2 In a great trial of affliction - Being continually persecuted, harassed, and plundered.

8:4 Praying us with much entreaty - Probably St. Paul had lovingly admonished them not to do beyond their power.

8:5 And not as we hoped - That is, beyond all we could hope.They gave themselves to us, by the will of God - In obedience to his will, to be wholly directed by us.

Luke, Chapter 7, verses 1-10

¹ Christ findeth a greater faith in the centurion, a Gentile, than in any of the Jews, ¹⁰ healeth his servant being absent

¹Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

²And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

³And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

⁴And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:

⁵For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.

⁶Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

⁷Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

⁸For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

⁹When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

¹⁰And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

Read more:Luke, Chapter 7

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7

7:1 Mat 8:5.

7:3 Hearing of Jesus - Of his miracles, and of his arrival at Capernaum.

NOTES

We all believe that the Lord, who created this world, has complete power over nature. That is as easy to imagine as an officer commanding...

Today we return again to such a fundamental concept as faith. In the Bible this word most often means not simply trust in some information, but...

As in all the cases of resurrection and healing mentioned by the evangelists, here before us is the manifestation of the Kingdom that Jesus brought into the world. In this Kingdom there is no place for sickness or death, and everyone...

As in all the cases of resurrection and healing mentioned by the evangelists, here before us is the manifestation of the Kingdom that Jesus brought into the world. In this Kingdom there is no place for sickness or death, and everyone who comes into contact with it receives life and health in all their fullness, insofar as such fullness is accessible to him within the framework of humanity not yet transformed.

But the Kingdom is not simply some place or space, even one that is somehow specially arranged or organized. The Kingdom is first of all relationships binding people with Christ and with one another. One could even say that the Kingdom as a special kind of place or space is determined by these relationships and depends on them. Indeed, if we take, for example, the story of the healing of the centurion's servant, here there is not really any single continuous physical or mystical space: at the moment when the centurion's servant was healed, Jesus was quite far from him, and the servant himself very possibly may not even have known that his master was asking for his healing. But there is one spiritual space, and it is generated by the relationships of love and trust that bound the centurion both to his servant and to Jesus.

It is quite obvious that the centurion had an altogether special attitude toward his servant, who in the original is directly called a slave: such concern for a sick slave was plainly unusual for Romans, who were by no means inclined to sentimentality. Evidently this love forced him to turn to the Teacher, about whom all kinds of rumors circulated among the people, but about whom it was known for certain that He healed everyone ready to trust Him. And the centurion truly managed to trust Jesus in a way that, according to Jesus' own testimony, few had trusted Him even among the people of God, verse 9: he did not dare call the Teacher to his house, being completely certain that His desire alone would be enough for healing, verses 6-8.

The measure of trust and love proved so great that the Kingdom became a reality not only for the centurion himself, but also for his servant, who did not see Jesus at all and perhaps even knew nothing about Him. Thus relationships give birth to the Kingdom. And then it becomes clear why Jesus is ready to enter every house where He is awaited. For those who wait for Him and receive Him thereby increase the space of the Kingdom, themselves becoming part of it, and therefore its witnesses and servants. The same kind of witnesses and servants Jesus wants to see in each of us.

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