Orthodox readings for 11 October 2021

King James Version (en)

King James Version (en)

Ephesians, Chapter 1, verses 22-23

²⁰ and possession thereof in Christ

²²And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

²³Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Ephesians, Chapter 2, verses 1-3

¹ By comparing what we were, ³ by nature

¹And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

²Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

³Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Read more:Ephesians, Chapter 2

Luke, Chapter 4, verses 37-44

³³ he cureth one possessed of a devil, ³⁸ Peter's mother-in-law, ⁴⁰ and diverse other sick persons, ⁴¹ The devils acknowledge Christ, and are reproved for it, ⁴³ He preacheth through the cities

³⁷And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

³⁸And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.

³⁹And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

⁴⁰Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

⁴¹And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

⁴²And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.

⁴³And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

⁴⁴And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Read more:Luke, Chapter 5

NOTES

Today's reading prompts us to reflect on the truth expressed in a well-known saying whose Gospel origin, however, is far from universally known today: no prophet is accepted in his own country...

Today's reading prompts us to reflect on the truth expressed in a well-known saying whose Gospel origin, however, is far from universally known today: no prophet is accepted in his own country (v. 24). By quoting a messianic passage from the Book of Isaiah, Jesus quite plainly identifies Himself as the One of whom the prophet spoke (vv. 17-21). At first glance, His listeners' reaction seems paradoxical: on the one hand they agree with Jesus, but on the other they immediately begin to doubt. How could their fellow townsman, whom they had known since childhood, make any claim to be the Messiah (v. 22)? They demand miracles from Him not as signs of the Kingdom but as proof of His messiahship (v. 23). It is then that Jesus speaks the bitter words about a prophet in his own country (v. 24).

Yet the paradoxical reaction of Jesus' listeners was actually quite understandable, and not merely because “great things are best seen from a distance.” The issue here was ordinary familiarity, which often proves to be one of the most serious obstacles on the spiritual path. Their doubts are justified, not by chance, with the thought that they have known Him since childhood: “Is not this Joseph's son?” So how could there be any question of messiahship? Of course, if Jesus had been recognized by respected people or official authorities and they had directly identified Him as the Messiah, He would undoubtedly have been welcomed with joy and celebrated as a famous fellow townsman. But there was no official recognition, and the townspeople had to decide for themselves. The force of habit weighed upon them.

Fallen human beings tend to see reality not as it is but as they are accustomed to seeing it. Clichés are common and widespread, and they arise for a reason: reducing reality to patterns and using ready-made models to describe it form a kind of psychological mechanism by which human beings adapt to the world—a mechanism without which, after the Fall, they can no longer manage. Yet this same adaptive mechanism often prevents a person from seeing what is new and unusual. It offers ready-made patterns and models where they do not apply, where the realities involved fit no pattern and can be described by no model.

The Kingdom to which Jesus bears witness is just such a reality. It fits no familiar framework. Yet Jesus' fellow townspeople do not want to lose that framework; they are prepared to defend it at any cost, and Jesus simply will not fit within it: an unrecognized Messiah, a disturber of the peace, someone passing Himself off as no one knows whom and claiming what no one in their small town had ever claimed or would ever have dared to claim. This is how He appeared to the people of Nazareth. They were left with only one remedy: to rid themselves of their excessively troublesome fellow townsman. And they would have done so if they could (vv. 28-30).

As we can see, it is not only the hatred of religious rigorists and the maneuvering of politicians that lead Jesus to the cross. He is driven there also by the narrowness of fallen human nature.

The problem of insiders and outsiders has always existed, in every society and every culture. Everywhere and always it turned out that being an insider was better than being an outsider. But then the Messiah came into the world, and it turned out that everything was not so simple. It turned out that an insider is not necessarily someone we know. Most often it is someone we think we know...

The problem of insiders and outsiders has always existed, in every society and every culture. Everywhere and always it has turned out that it is better to be an insider than an outsider. But then the Messiah came into the world, and it turned out that everything was not so simple. It turned out that an insider is not necessarily someone we know. Most often it is someone we think we know. And this is understandable: we perceive our own people as part of the familiar and known world. There is no need to look closely at them, and no need to listen carefully to their words. In general, we already know more or less what our own people can tell us.

Outsiders are another matter. An outsider is always someone you do not know. Someone who is not part of the known and familiar world, and here it does not matter where he is from: another continent or the neighboring village. Outsiders are often rejected, but they are always looked at closely. People listen to what they say. Not necessarily in a friendly way, but always attentively. After all, an outsider has to be understood. Or at least explained to oneself. Explanation is often an illusion of understanding. Understanding presupposes the perception of another person as he is. Explanation begins when we perceive this other person as we want to see him, so that he will fit within the bounds of our perception of the world familiar and known to us.

Christ can and must be accepted as He is. And He can and must be understood too - also as He is. But He does not need to be explained. Not to ourselves and not to others. Provided, of course, that we want to communicate with Christ and not with our images of Christ. And here it turns out that it is easier for those to whom He is an outsider. They know nothing about Him. His own people also know nothing about Him, but they think they know everything. Unlike outsiders, who at least are not mistaken about their ignorance. And it is this way not only with Him.

It is this way with God too. With His heavenly Father. It is no accident that Jesus gives examples from ancient Jewish history of God's not being recognized by His own people. A failure to recognize Him that separates people from God. And from the Messiah too. For God or the Messiah to begin to act, a person must want it. And must turn directly to God. Directly to Christ. But not to those images of God or Christ that he has invented for himself. Otherwise even the Kingdom may turn out to be unreal. Imagined. And so may life in it.

Why do three evangelists give attention to this one of Jesus' first miracles, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law? Perhaps the reason lies in the genre of the Gospel: testimony...

FAQ

What is the fullness of Christ and how does one enter into it?

The "fullness of Christ" is a concept that can be interpreted in several aspects...

The "fullness of Christ" is a concept that can be interpreted in several aspects.

1) The fullness of the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is, in fact, the reason why Christians gather in the Church, as the Lord Himself said about it: "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). Furthermore, the Lord says about this: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:24). The Greek word can be translated as a) dwelling, b) rest, c) abiding. It is speaking of the presence of God in a person's life.

2) The Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians says: "till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). The last words can also be translated as "to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ." The Apostle is saying that the life of a Christian is directed towards being able, following the apostle himself, to say: "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). The apostle also says about this: "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

The fullness of Christ, undoubtedly, cannot be adequately described in words; however, these two aspects allow us to identify the main point.

As for the question of how to enter into this fullness, the answer follows from what has been said above. The "gates" through which we can enter the fullness of Christ is the Church. In it, the possibility of prayerful communion with Christ and participation in the sacraments of the Church is revealed to us, where He Himself comes into our lives according to His promise. Also, a fundamental condition for entering into the fullness of Christ is living according to His commandments. But most importantly: since it would be naive to try to force Him into the fullness of communion with us, we must first of all ask this of Him Himself. Many Christians resort, in addition to this, to the prayers of other members of the Church, first and foremost the Most Pure Mother of God.

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