Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 12. Interpretation of the books of the New Testament

 1 The hidden will be revealed; who to fear? Small birds are not forgotten; confession and denial of Jesus. 13 Against covetousness; a parable about the madness of a rich man. 22 "Don't worry"; “look at the lilies”; “seek the kingdom of God.” 35 Stay awake; faithful housekeeper. 49 Division in the house and the coming judgment.

1 Meanwhile, when thousands of people had gathered, so that they pressed one another, He began to say first to His disciples: beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known..

3 Therefore, what you said in the darkness will be heard in the light; and what was spoken in the ear within the house will be proclaimed on the housetops.

4 I say to you, My friends: do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then are unable to do anything more.;

5 but I will tell you whom to fear: fear the one who, after killing, can throw you into Gehenna: I tell you, fear him.

6 Are not five small birds sold for two assars? and not one of them is forgotten by God.

7 And even the hairs on your head are all numbered. So, do not be afraid: you are worth more than many small birds.

8 But I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess it before the angels of God.;

9 but whoever denies Me before men will be rejected before the angels of God.

10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; and whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

11 But when you are brought before the synagogues and the rulers and powers, do not worry about how or what to answer or what to say.,

12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say.

13 One of the people said to Him: Teacher! tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.

14 And he said to the man: who made me judge or divide you?

15 At this he said to them: take heed, beware of covetousness, for a man's life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions.

16 And he told them a parable: one rich man had a good harvest in the field;

17 and he reasoned with himself: “What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits".

18 And he said: “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will gather all my grain and all my goods.,

19 and I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of good things lying around for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.”.

20 But God said to him: “You fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared?

21 So happens with He who lays up treasures for himself and not in God grows rich.

22 And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear.:

23 the soul is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

24 Look at the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; They have neither storehouses nor granaries, and God feeds them; How much better are you than the birds?

25 And which of you, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height?

26 So, if you can’t do even the slightest thing, why are you worrying about the rest?

27 Look at the lilies, how they grow: they do not toil, they do not spin; but I tell you that Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like any of them.

28 If God dresses the grass in the field, which is there today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, then how much more so than you, you of little faith!

29 So, don't look for what to eat or what to drink, and don't worry,

30 because all this is what the people of this world are looking for; your Father knows that you need this;

31 Seek above all else the Kingdom of God, and all this will be added to you.

32 Fear not, little flock! for it has been your Father's pleasure to give you the kingdom.

33 Sell ​​your property and give alms. Prepare for yourselves containers that will not wear out, a never-failing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.,

34 for where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

35 Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning.

36 And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open for him..

37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake; Truly I say to you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them..

38 And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them like this, then blessed are those servants.

39 You know that if the owner of the house had known what time the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into..

40 Be ready, too, for at an hour you think not, the Son of Man will come..

41 Then Peter said to Him: Lord! Are you speaking this parable to us, or to everyone?

42 The Lord said: Who is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master appointed over his servants to distribute to them in due season a measure of bread?

43 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing this.

44 Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions..

45 If that servant says in his heart: my master will not come soon, and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, eat and drink and get drunk, –

46 then the master of that servant will come on a day on which he does not expect, and at an hour in which he does not think, and will cut him in pieces, and subject him to the same fate as the infidels.

47 The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot;

48 but whoever did not know and did something worthy of punishment will receive less punishment. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him more will be required..

49 I have come to bring down fire to the earth, and how I wish it would already be kindled!

50 I must be baptized with baptism; and how I languish until this is accomplished!

51 Do you think that I came to give peace to the earth? No, I'm telling you, but separation;

52 for from now on five in one house will be divided, three against two, and two against three:

53 the father will be against the son, and the son against the father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

54 He also said to the people: when you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately say: “it will rain,” and it happens;

Meanwhile, when thousands of people had gathered so that they crowded each other, He began to speak first to His disciples: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known.Therefore, what you said in the darkness will be heard in the light; and what was spoken in the ear within the house will be proclaimed on the housetops.

I say to you, My friends: do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then are unable to do anything more;but I will tell you whom to fear: fear Him who, after being killed, can cast you into Gehenna: I tell you, fear Him.

Are not five small birds sold for two assars? and not one of them is forgotten by God.And even the hairs on your head are all numbered. So, do not be afraid: you are worth more than many small birds.

But I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess it before the angels of God;but whoever denies Me before men will be rejected before the angels of God.

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; and whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

But when they bring you to the synagogues, to the rulers and powers, do not worry about how or what to answer or what to say.for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say.

One of the people said to Him: Teacher! tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.

He said to the man: who made me judge or divide you?At the same time he told them: Beware of covetousness, for a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions.

And he told them a parable: one rich man had a good harvest in his field;and he reasoned with himself: “What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits.”And he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will gather all my grain and all my goods,and I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of good things lying around for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.”But God said to him: “You fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared?

So happens with that He who stores up treasures for himself and not in God grows rich.

And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your soul, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear.the soul is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.Look at the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; They have neither storehouses nor granaries, and God feeds them; How much better are you than the birds?And which of you, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height?So, if you can’t do even the slightest thing, why are you worrying about the rest?Look at the lilies, how they grow: they do not toil, they do not spin; but I tell you that Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them.If God dresses the grass in the field, which is there today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, then how much more so than you, you of little faith!

So, do not look for what you should eat or what you should drink, and do not worry,because all this is what the people of this world are looking for; but your Father knows that you have need;Seek above all else the Kingdom of God, and all this will be added to you.Fear not, little flock! for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.

Sell ​​your property and give alms. Prepare for yourselves containers that will not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys,for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning.And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open the door for him.Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake; Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them.And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them like this, then blessed are those servants.You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.Be ready, too, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come.

Then Peter said to Him: Lord! Are you speaking this parable to us, or to everyone?

The Lord said: Who is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master appointed over his servants to distribute to them a measure of bread in due season?Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing this.Truly I say to you, he will put him over all his possessions.If that servant says in his heart: “My master will not come soon,” and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, eat and drink and get drunk,then the master of that servant will come on a day on which he does not expect, and at an hour on which he does not think, and will cut him in pieces, and subject him to the same fate as the infidels.

The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot;but whoever did not know and did something worthy of punishment will receive less punishment. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him more will be required.

I came to bring down fire to the earth, and how I wish it would already be kindled!I must be baptized with baptism; and how I languish until this is accomplished!Do you think that I came to give peace to the earth? no, I tell you, but division;for from now on five in one house will be divided, three against two, and two against three:the father will be against the son, and the son against the father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

He also said to the people: when you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately say: “it will rain,” and it happens;and when the south wind blows, say, “There will be heat,” and it does.Hypocrites! You know how to recognize the face of the earth and the sky, how can you not recognize this time?

Why don’t you judge for yourself what should happen?When you go with your rival to the authorities, then on the road try to free yourself from him, so that he does not bring you to the judge, and the judge does not hand you over to the torturer, and the torturer does not throw you into prison.I tell you: you won’t leave there until you give back your last half.

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16-21 The sin of the rich man was that he used his property only for himself, not wanting to “become rich in God,” i.e. serve your neighbors.

1. Luke, “beloved physician,” was one of the closest associates of the apostle. Paul (Col 4:14). According to Eusebius (Church East 3:4), he came from Syrian Antioch and was raised in a Greek pagan family. He received a good education and became a doctor. The history of his conversion is unknown. Apparently, it occurred after his meeting with St. Paul, whom he joined c. 50 He visited with him Macedonia, the cities of Asia Minor (Acts 16:10-17; Acts 20:5-21:18) and remained with him during his stay in custody in Caesarea and Rome (Acts 24:23; Acts 27; Acts 28; Col 4:14). The narration of Acts was extended to the year 63. There is no reliable data about the life of Luke in subsequent years.

2. Very ancient information has reached us confirming that the third Gospel was written by Luke. St. Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3:1) writes: “Luke, Paul’s companion, set forth the Gospel taught by the Apostle in a separate book.” According to Origen, “the third Gospel is from Luke” (see Eusebius, Church. Ist. 6, 25). In the list of sacred books that have come down to us, recognized as canonical in the Roman Church since the 2nd century, it is noted that Luke wrote the Gospel in the name of Paul.

Scholars of the 3rd Gospel unanimously recognize the writing talent of its author. According to such an expert on antiquity as Eduard Mayer, Ev. Luke is one of the best writers of his time.

3. In the preface to the Gospel, Luke says that he used previously written “narratives” and the testimony of eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word from the very beginning (Luke 1:2). He wrote it, in all likelihood, before 70. He undertook his work “by carefully examining everything from the beginning” (Luke 1:3). The Gospel is continued in Acts, where the evangelist included his personal memories (starting from Acts 16:10, the story is often told in the first person).

Its main sources were, obviously, Matthew, Mark, manuscripts that have not reached us, called “logia,” and oral traditions. Among these legends, a special place is occupied by stories about the birth and childhood of the Baptist, which developed among the circle of admirers of the prophet. The story of the infancy of Jesus (chapters 1 and 2) is apparently based on sacred tradition, in which the voice of the Virgin Mary herself is also heard.

Not being a Palestinian and addressing pagan Christians, Luke reveals less knowledge of the situation in which the gospel events took place than Matthew and John. But as a historian, he seeks to clarify the chronology of these events, pointing to kings and rulers (eg Luke 2:1; Luke 3:1-2). Luke includes prayers that, according to commentators, were used by the first Christians (the prayer of Zechariah, the song of the Virgin Mary, the song of the angels).

5. Luke views the life of Jesus Christ as the path to voluntary death and victory over it. Only in Luke the Savior is called κυριος (Lord), as was customary in the early Christian communities. The Evangelist repeatedly speaks about the action of the Spirit of God in the life of the Virgin Mary, Christ Himself and later the apostles. Luke conveys the atmosphere of joy, hope and eschatological expectation in which the first Christians lived. He lovingly depicts the merciful appearance of the Savior, clearly manifested in the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Lost Coin, the Publican and the Pharisee.

As a student of ap. Paul Lk emphasizes the universal character of the Gospel (Lk 2:32; Lk 24:47); He traces the genealogy of the Savior not from Abraham, but from the forefather of all mankind (Luke 3:38).

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament were written in Greek, with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew, which, according to tradition, was written in Hebrew or Aramaic. But since this Hebrew text has not survived, the Greek text is considered the original for the Gospel of Matthew. Thus, only the Greek text of the New Testament is the original, and numerous editions in various modern languages ​​around the world are translations from the Greek original.

The Greek language in which the New Testament was written was no longer the classical ancient Greek language and was not, as previously thought, a special New Testament language. It is a spoken everyday language of the first century A.D., which spread throughout the Greco-Roman world and is known in science as “κοινη”, i.e. "ordinary adverb"; yet both the style, the turns of phrase, and the way of thinking of the sacred writers of the New Testament reveal Hebrew or Aramaic influence.

The original text of the NT came to us in large quantities ancient manuscripts, more or less complete, numbering about 5000 (from the 2nd to the 16th century). Until recent years, the most ancient of them did not go back further than the 4th century no P.X. But recently, many fragments of ancient NT manuscripts on papyrus (3rd and even 2nd century) have been discovered. For example, Bodmer's manuscripts: John, Luke, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude - were found and published in the 60s of our century. In addition to Greek manuscripts, we have ancient translations or versions into Latin, Syriac, Coptic and other languages ​​(Vetus Itala, Peshitto, Vulgata, etc.), of which the most ancient existed already from the 2nd century AD.

Finally, numerous quotes from the Church Fathers have been preserved in Greek and other languages ​​in such quantities that if the text of the New Testament were lost and all the ancient manuscripts were destroyed, then experts could restore this text from quotes from the works of the Holy Fathers. All this abundant material makes it possible to check and clarify the text of the NT and classify it various shapes(so-called textual criticism). Compared with any ancient author (Homer, Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Cornelius Nepos, Julius Caesar, Horace, Virgil, etc.), our modern printed Greek text of the NT is in an exceptionally favorable position. And in the number of manuscripts, and in the shortness of time separating the oldest of them from the original, and in the number of translations, and in their antiquity, and in the seriousness and volume of critical work carried out on the text, it surpasses all other texts (for details, see “Hidden Treasures and new life,” archaeological discoveries and the Gospel, Bruges, 1959, pp. 34 ff.). The text of the NT as a whole is recorded completely irrefutably.

The New Testament consists of 27 books. The publishers have divided them into 260 chapters of unequal length to accommodate references and quotations. This division is not present in the original text. Modern division on the chapters in the New Testament, as in the whole Bible, was often attributed to the Dominican Cardinal Hugo (1263), who worked it out when composing a symphony to the Latin Vulgate, but it is now thought with greater reason that this division goes back to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, who died in 1228. As for the division into verses, now accepted in all editions of the New Testament, it goes back to the publisher of the Greek New Testament text, Robert Stephen, and was introduced by him in his edition in 1551.

The sacred books of the New Testament are usually divided into laws (the Four Gospels), historical (the Acts of the Apostles), teaching (seven conciliar epistles and fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul) and prophetic: the Apocalypse or the Revelation of John the Theologian (see the Long Catechism of St. Philaret of Moscow).

However, modern experts consider this distribution to be outdated: in fact, all the books of the New Testament are legal, historical and educational, and prophecy is not only in the Apocalypse. New Testament scholarship pays great attention to the precise establishment of the chronology of the Gospel and other New Testament events. Scientific chronology allows the reader to trace with sufficient accuracy through the New Testament the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and the primitive Church (see Appendices).

The books of the New Testament can be distributed as follows:

1) Three so-called synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and, separately, the fourth: the Gospel of John. New Testament scholarship devotes much attention to the study of the relationships of the first three Gospels and their relation to the Gospel of John (synoptic problem).

2) The Book of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul (“Corpus Paulinum”), which are usually divided into:

a) Early Epistles: 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.

b) Greater Epistles: Galatians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Romans.

c) Messages from bonds, i.e. written from Rome, where ap. Paul was in prison: Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon.

d) Pastoral Epistles: 1st Timothy, Titus, 2nd Timothy.

e) Epistle to the Hebrews.

3) Council Epistles (“Corpus Catholicum”).

4) Revelation of John the Theologian. (Sometimes in the NT they distinguish “Corpus Joannicum”, i.e. everything that St. John wrote for the comparative study of his Gospel in connection with his epistles and the book of Rev.).

FOUR GOSPEL

1. The word “gospel” (ευανγελιον) in Greek means “good news.” This is what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself called His teaching (Mt 24:14; Mt 26:13; Mk 1:15; Mk 13:10; Mk 14:9; Mk 16:15). Therefore, for us, the “gospel” is inextricably linked with Him: it is the “good news” of the salvation given to the world through the incarnate Son of God.

Christ and His apostles preached the gospel without writing it down. By the mid-1st century, this preaching had been established by the Church in a strong oral tradition. The Eastern custom of memorizing sayings, stories, and even large texts helped Christians of the apostolic era accurately preserve the unrecorded First Gospel. After the 50s, when eyewitnesses of Christ's earthly ministry began to pass away one after another, the need arose to write down the gospel (Luke 1:1). Thus, the “gospel” came to mean the narrative recorded by the apostles about the life and teaching of the Savior. It was read at prayer meetings and in preparing people for baptism.

2. The most important Christian centers of the 1st century (Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Ephesus, etc.) had their own Gospels. Of these, only four (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) are recognized by the Church as inspired by God, i.e. written under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. They are called “from Matthew”, “from Mark”, etc. (Greek “kata” corresponds to Russian “according to Matthew”, “according to Mark”, etc.), for the life and teachings of Christ are set out in these books by these four sacred writers. Their gospels were not compiled into one book, which made it possible to see the gospel story from different points of view. In the 2nd century St. Irenaeus of Lyons calls the evangelists by name and points to their gospels as the only canonical ones (Against heresies 2, 28, 2). A contemporary of St. Irenaeus, Tatian, made the first attempt to create a single gospel narrative, compiled from various texts of the four gospels, “Diatessaron”, i.e. "gospel of four"

3. The apostles did not set out to create a historical work in the modern sense of the word. They sought to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ, helped people to believe in Him, to correctly understand and fulfill His commandments. The testimonies of the evangelists do not coincide in all details, which proves their independence from each other: the testimonies of eyewitnesses always have an individual coloring. The Holy Spirit certifies not the accuracy of the details of the facts described in the gospel, but the spiritual meaning contained in them.

The minor contradictions found in the presentation of the evangelists are explained by the fact that God gave the sacred writers complete freedom in conveying certain specific facts in relation to different categories of listeners, which further emphasizes the unity of meaning and orientation of all four gospels (see also General Introduction, pp. 13 and 14) .

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15 The Lord points out that the motivation for the request expressed by the “man” was covetousness - greed, and at the same time convinces us to be afraid of this feeling.

Because life. What life? Ordinary physical life, or eternal life? From verse 20 it is clear that only the first can be understood here - simple existence, the duration of which does not depend on how much wealth one has managed to accumulate for himself: God unexpectedly puts an end to the life of a rich man and continues the life of a poor man.

16-21 The parable of the crazy rich man perfectly confirms the idea of ​​verse 15 - about the unreliability of wealth for lengthening human life.

17 I have nowhere to gather my fruits. The rich man had, of course, thousands of needy people in sight, to whom he should have given the excess harvest, but he seemed to not at all consider himself obligated to help his neighbors and thought only about himself, so that he could have peace of mind for the future, when, maybe there will be no harvest.

19 I will tell my soul. The soul here is taken as the “seat of feelings”: it will feel the pleasure that wealth will give a person (soul - in Greek, ψυχή is precisely the lower side of mental life, in contrast to πνευ̃μα - the highest side of this life).

20 God told him. When and how is not said: these omissions are generally characteristic of the parable (Theophylact).

They will demand - again it is not said who. You can, of course, see angels here - “ Angels of death who will pluck out the soul of a resisting animal lover"(Theophylact. Cf. Luke 16:22).

21 Become rich in God ( εἰς θεòν πλουτω̃ν ) - this does not mean: to collect wealth in order to use it for the glory of God, because in this case the previous expression would be retained: collects treasures (θησαυρίζων) and the opposition would consist only in the difference in the purposes of enrichment, whereas undoubtedly the Lord opposes enrichment generally complete indifference to collecting property. There can be no talk here of collecting undecaying riches - the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom, because this will still be the accumulation of treasures “for oneself,” although these are treasures of a different kind... Therefore, there is nothing left to do but accept the interpretation of B. Weiss, according to to whom “to be rich in God” means: to be rich in goods that God Himself recognizes as goods (cf. the expression of Art. 31: seek especially the Kingdom of God).

The personality of the Gospel writer. Evangelist Luke, according to legends preserved by some ancient church writers (Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabene, etc.), was born in Antioch. His name, in all likelihood, is an abbreviation of the Roman name Lucilius. Was he a Jew or a pagan by birth? This question is answered by the passage from the Epistle to the Colossians, where St. Paul distinguishes Luke from the circumcision (Luke 4:11-14) and therefore testifies that Luke was a Gentile by birth. It is safe to assume that before joining the Church of Christ, Luke was a Jewish proselyte, since he is very familiar with Jewish customs. By his civilian profession, Luke was a doctor (Col. 4:14), and church tradition, although rather later, says that he was also engaged in painting (Nicephorus Callistus. Church history. II, 43). When and how he turned to Christ is unknown. The tradition that he belonged to the 70 apostles of Christ (Epiphanius. Panarius, haer. LI, 12, etc.) cannot be considered credible in view of the clear statement of Luke himself, who does not include himself among the witnesses of the life of Christ (Luke 1:1ff.). He acts for the first time as a companion and assistant to the ap. Paul during Paul's second missionary journey. This took place in Troas, where Luke may have lived before (Acts 16:10 et seq.). Then he was with Paul in Macedonia (Acts 16:11ff.) and, during the third journey, in Troas, Miletus and other places (Acts 24:23; Col. 4:14; Phil. 1:24). He accompanied Paul to Rome (Acts 27:1-28; cf. 2 Tim 4:11). Then information about him ceases in the writings of the New Testament, and only a relatively later tradition (Gregory the Theologian) reports his martyrdom; his relics, according to Jerome (de vir. ill. VII), under the emperor. Constantia was transferred from Achaia to Constantinople.

Origin of the Gospel of Luke. According to the evangelist himself (Luke 1:1-4), he compiled his Gospel on the basis of the tradition of eyewitnesses and the study of written experiences in presenting this tradition, trying to give a relatively detailed and correct, ordered account of the events of the gospel history. And those works that Ev. used. Luke, were compiled on the basis of the apostolic tradition, but nevertheless, they seemed to be true. Luke insufficient for the purpose that he had when composing his Gospel. One of these sources, maybe even the main source, was for Ev. Luke Gospel Mark. They even say that a huge part of Luke's Gospel is literary dependent on Ev. Mark (this is precisely what Weiss proved in his work on St. Mark by comparing the texts of these two Gospels).

Some critics also tried to make the Gospel of Luke dependent on the Gospel of Matthew, but these attempts were extremely unsuccessful and are now almost never repeated. If anything can be said with certainty, it is that in some places Ev. Luke uses a source that agrees with the Gospel of Matthew. This must be said primarily about the history of the childhood of Jesus Christ. The nature of the presentation of this story, the very speech of the Gospel in this section, which is very reminiscent of the works of Jewish writing, suggests that Luke here used a Jewish source, which was quite close to the story of the childhood of Jesus Christ as set out in the Gospel of Matthew.

Finally, back in ancient times it was suggested that Ev. Luke as a companion. Paul, expounded the “Gospel” of this particular apostle (Irenaeus. Against heresy. III, 1; in Eusebius of Caesarea, V, 8). Although this assumption is very likely and agrees with the nature of Luke's Gospel, which, apparently, deliberately chose such narratives as could prove the general and main idea of ​​​​Paul's Gospel about the salvation of the Gentiles, nevertheless, the evangelist's own statement (1:1 et seq.) does not indicate this source.

The reason and purpose, place and time of writing the Gospel. The Gospel of Luke (and the book of Acts) was written for a certain Theophilus to enable him to ensure that the Christian teaching he was taught was based on solid foundations. There are many assumptions about the origin, profession and place of residence of this Theophilus, but all these assumptions do not have sufficient grounds. One can only say that Theophilus was a noble man, since Luke calls him “venerable” (κράτ ιστε 1:3), and from the nature of the Gospel, which is close to the nature of the teaching of the apostle. Paul naturally draws the conclusion that Theophilus was converted to Christianity by the Apostle Paul and was probably previously a pagan. One can also accept the testimony of the Meetings (a work attributed to Clement of Rome, X, 71) that Theophilus was a resident of Antioch. Finally, from the fact that in the book of Acts, written for the same Theophilus, Luke does not explain the apostles mentioned in the history of the journey. Paul to Rome of the localities (Acts 28:12.13.15), we can conclude that Theophilus was well acquainted with the named localities and probably traveled to Rome himself several times. But there is no doubt that the Gospel is its own. Luke wrote not for Theophilus alone, but for all Christians, for whom it was important to become acquainted with the history of the life of Christ in such a systematic and verified form as this story is in the Gospel of Luke.

That the Gospel of Luke was in any case written for a Christian or, more correctly, for pagan Christians, this is clearly evident from the fact that the evangelist nowhere presents Jesus Christ as primarily the Messiah expected by the Jews and does not strive to indicate in his activities and teachings Christ fulfillment of messianic prophecies. Instead, we find in the third Gospel repeated indications that Christ is the Redeemer of the entire human race and that the Gospel is intended for all nations. This idea was already expressed by the righteous elder Simeon (Luke 2:31 et seq.), and then passes through the genealogy of Christ, which is given by Heb. Luke is brought down to Adam, the ancestor of all mankind and which, therefore, shows that Christ does not belong to the Jewish people alone, but to all mankind. Then, beginning to depict the Galilean activity of Christ, Ev. Luke puts in the foreground the rejection of Christ by His fellow citizens - the inhabitants of Nazareth, in which the Lord indicated a feature that characterizes the attitude of the Jews towards the prophets in general - an attitude due to which the prophets left the Jewish land for the pagans or showed their favor to the pagans (Elijah and Elisha Luke 4 :25-27). In the Nagornoy conversation, Ev. Luke does not cite Christ’s sayings about His attitude to the law (Luke 1:20-49) and Pharisaic righteousness, and in his instructions to the apostles he omits the prohibition for the apostles to preach to the pagans and Samaritans (Luke 9:1-6). On the contrary, he alone talks about the grateful Samaritan, about the merciful Samaritan, about Christ’s disapproval of the immoderate irritation of the disciples against the Samaritans who did not accept Christ. This should also include various parables and sayings of Christ, in which there is great similarity with the teaching about righteousness from faith, which the apostle. Paul proclaimed in his letters written to churches made up primarily of Gentiles.

The influence of ap. Paul and the desire to explain the universality of salvation brought by Christ undoubtedly had a great influence on the choice of material for composing the Gospel of Luke. However, there is not the slightest reason to assume that the writer pursued purely subjective views in his work and deviated from historical truth. On the contrary, we see that he gives place in his Gospel to such narratives that undoubtedly developed in the Judeo-Christian circle (the story of Christ’s childhood). It is in vain, therefore, that they attribute to him the desire to adapt Jewish ideas about the Messiah to the views of the apostle. Paul (Zeller) or another desire to elevate Paul above the twelve apostles and Paul's teaching before Judeo-Christianity (Baur, Hilgenfeld). This assumption is contradicted by the content of the Gospel, in which there are many sections that run counter to this alleged desire of Luke (this is, firstly, the story of the birth of Christ and His childhood, and then the following parts: Luke 4:16-30; Luke 5:39; Luke 10:22; Luke 12:6 et seq.; Luke 16:17; Luke 19:18-46, etc. (To reconcile his assumption with the existence of such sections in the Gospel of Luke, resort to a new assumption that in its present form the Gospel of Luke is the work of some later person (editor), Holsten, who sees in the Gospel of Luke a combination of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, believes that Luke had the goal of uniting the Judeo-Christian and. Paul's views, highlighting from them the Judaistic and extremely Pauline. The same view of the Gospel of Luke, as a work pursuing purely reconciliatory goals of two directions that fought in the primal Church, continues to exist in the latest criticism of the apostolic writings. to the interpretation of Ev. Luke (2nd ed. 1907) come to the conclusion that this Gospel cannot in any way be recognized as pursuing the task of exalting Paulinism. Luke shows his complete “non-partisanship”, and if he has frequent coincidences in thoughts and expressions with the messages of the Apostle Paul, this can only be explained by the fact that by the time Luke wrote his Gospel, these messages were already widespread in all churches . The love of Christ for sinners, the manifestations of which he so often dwells on. Luke, there is nothing particularly characteristic of Paul’s idea of ​​Christ: on the contrary, the entire Christian tradition presented Christ precisely as loving sinners...

The time of writing the Gospel of Luke for some ancient writers was very early period in the history of Christianity - back to the time of the work of St. Paul, and the newest interpreters in most cases claim that the Gospel of Luke was written shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem: at the time when the two-year stay of the ap. Paul in Roman imprisonment. There is, however, an opinion, supported by fairly authoritative scholars (for example, B. Weiss), that the Gospel of Luke was written after the 70th year, i.e., after the destruction of Jerusalem. This opinion seeks to find its basis mainly in Chapter 21. The Gospel of Luke (v. 24 et seq.), where the destruction of Jerusalem is supposed to be an already accomplished fact. With this, it seems, the idea that Luke has about the situation agrees with Christian Church, as being in a very depressed state (cf. Luke 6:20 et seq.). However, according to the conviction of the same Weiss, it is impossible to date the origin of the Gospel further than the 70s (as, for example, Baur and Zeller do, putting the origin of the Gospel of Luke in 110-130, or as Hilgenfeld, Keim, Volkmar - in 100-100). m g.). Regarding this opinion of Weiss, it can be said that it does not contain anything incredible and even, perhaps, can find a basis for itself in the testimony of St. Irenaeus, who says that the Gospel of Luke was written after the death of the apostles Peter and Paul (Against Heresies III, 1).

Where the Gospel of Luke is written - nothing definite is known about this from tradition. According to some, the place of writing was Achaia, according to others, Alexandria or Caesarea. Some point to Corinth, others to Rome as the place where the Gospel was written; but all this is just speculation.

On the authenticity and integrity of the Gospel of Luke. The writer of the Gospel does not call himself by name, but the ancient tradition of the Church unanimously calls the apostle the writer of the third Gospel. Luke (Irenaeus. Against heresy. III, 1, 1; Origen in Eusebius, Church history VI, 25, etc. See also the canon of Muratorium). There is nothing in the Gospel itself that would prevent us from accepting this testimony of tradition. If opponents of authenticity point out that the apostolic men do not cite passages from it at all, then this circumstance can be explained by the fact that under the apostolic men it was customary to be guided more by the oral tradition about the life of Christ than by the records about Him; in addition, the Gospel of Luke, as having, judging by its writing, a private purpose first of all, could be considered by the apostolic men as a private document. Only later did it acquire the significance of a generally binding guide for the study of Gospel history.

The newest criticism still does not agree with the testimony of tradition and does not recognize Luke as the writer of the Gospel. The basis for doubting the authenticity of the Gospel of Luke for critics (for example, for Johann Weiss) is the fact that the author of the Gospel must be recognized as the one who compiled the book of the Acts of the Apostles: this is evidenced not only by the inscription of the book. Acts (Acts 1:1), but also the style of both books. Meanwhile, criticism claims that the book of Acts was not written by Luke himself or even by his companion. Paul, and a person who lived much later, who only in the second part of the book uses the notes that remained from the companion of the ap. Paul (see, for example, Luke 16:10: we...). Obviously, this assumption expressed by Weiss stands and falls with the question of the authenticity of the book of the Acts of the Apostles and therefore cannot be discussed here.

As for the integrity of the Gospel of Luke, critics have long expressed the idea that not all of the Gospel of Luke originated from this writer, but that there are sections inserted into it by a later hand. Therefore, they tried to highlight the so-called “first-Luke” (Scholten). But most new interpreters defend the position that the Gospel of Luke, in its entirety, is the work of Luke. Those objections that, for example, he expresses in his commentary on Ev. Luke Yog. Weiss, a sane person can hardly shake the confidence that the Gospel of Luke in all its sections is a completely integral work of one author. (Some of these objections will be dealt with in the interpretation of Luke's Gospel.)

Contents of the Gospel. In relation to the choice and order of the Gospel events, Ev. Luke, like Matthew and Mark, divides these events into two groups, one of which embraces the Galilean activity of Christ, and the other His activity in Jerusalem. At the same time, Luke greatly abridges some of the stories contained in the first two Gospels, but gives many stories that are not at all in those Gospels. Finally, those stories that in his Gospel represent a reproduction of what is in the first two Gospels, he groups and modifies in his own way.

Like Ev. Matthew, Luke begins his Gospel with the very first moments of New Testament revelation. In the first three chapters he depicts: a) the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the birth and circumcision of John the Baptist and the circumstances surrounding them (chapter 1), b) the history of the birth, circumcision and bringing of Christ to the temple , and then the appearance of Christ in the temple when He was a 12-year-old boy (chapter 11), c) the appearance of John the Baptist as the Forerunner of the Messiah, the descent of the Spirit of God on Christ during His baptism, the age of Christ, at what He was at that time, and His genealogy (chapter 3).

The depiction of Christ's messianic activity in the Gospel of Luke is also quite clearly divided into three parts. The first part covers the work of Christ in Galilee (Luke 4:1-9:50), the second contains the speeches and miracles of Christ during His long journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-19:27) and the third contains the story of the completion of the messianic ministry Christ in Jerusalem (Luke 19:28-24:53).

In the first part, where the Evangelist Luke apparently follows St. Mark, both in the choice and in the sequence of events, several releases are made from Mark's narrative. Omitted specifically: Mark 3:20-30, - the malicious judgments of the Pharisees about the expulsion of demons by Christ, Mark 6:17-29 - the news of the capture and killing of the Baptist, and then everything that is given in Mark (as well as in Matthew) from history the activities of Christ in northern Galilee and Perea (Mark 6:44-8:27 et seq.). The miracle of the feeding of the people (Luke 9:10-17) is directly joined by the story of Peter’s confession and the Lord’s first prediction about His suffering (Luke 9:18 et seq.). On the other hand, ev. Luke, instead of the section on the recognition of Simon and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee to follow Christ (Mark 6:16-20; cf. Matthew 4:18-22), reports the story of a miraculous fishing event, as a result of which Peter and his comrades left their occupation in order to constantly follow Christ (Luke 5:1-11), and instead of the story of Christ’s rejection in Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6; cf. Matthew 13:54-58), he places a story of the same content when describing Christ’s first visit as Messiah of His father city (Luke 4:16-30). Further, after the calling of the 12 apostles, Luke places in his Gospel the following sections, not found in the Gospel of Mark: Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:20-49, but in a more concise form than it is set out in St. Matthew), the question of the Baptist to the Lord about His messiahship (Luke 7:18-35), and inserted between these two parts is the story of the resurrection of the Nain youth (Luke 7:11-17), then the story of the anointing of Christ at a dinner in the house of the Pharisee Simon (Luke 7:36-50) and the names of the Galilean women who served Christ with their property (Luke 8:1-3).

This closeness of Luke's Gospel to Mark's Gospel is undoubtedly explained by the fact that both evangelists wrote their Gospels for pagan Christians. Both evangelists also show a desire to depict the gospel events not in their exact chronological sequence, but to give as complete and clear an idea as possible of Christ as the founder of the Messianic kingdom. Luke's deviations from Mark can be explained by his desire to give more space those stories that Luke borrows from tradition, as well as the desire to group the facts reported to Luke by eyewitnesses, so that his Gospel would represent not only the image of Christ, His life and works, but also His teaching about the Kingdom of God, expressed in His speeches and conversations with both His disciples as well as His opponents.

In order to systematically implement this intention of his. Luke places between both, predominantly historical, parts of his Gospel - the first and third - the middle part (Luke 9:51-19:27), in which conversations and speeches predominate, and in this part he cites such speeches and events that according to others The Gospels took place at a different time. Some interpreters (for example, Meyer, Godet) see in this section an accurate chronological presentation of events, based on the words of Ev. himself. Luke, who promised to present “everything in order” (καθ ’ ε ̔ ξη ̃ ς - 1:3). But such an assumption is hardly valid. Although ev. Luke says that he wants to write “in order,” but this does not mean at all that he wants to give only a chronicle of the life of Christ in his Gospel. On the contrary, he set out to give Theophilus, through an accurate presentation of the Gospel story, complete confidence in the truth of those teachings in which he was instructed. General sequential order of events. Luke preserved it: his gospel story begins with the birth of Christ and even with the birth of His Forerunner, then there is a depiction of the public ministry of Christ, and the moments of the revelation of Christ’s teaching about Himself as the Messiah are indicated, and finally, the whole story ends with a statement of events last days Christ's stay on earth. There was no need to list in sequential order everything that was accomplished by Christ from baptism to ascension - it was enough for the purpose that Luke had, to convey the events of the gospel history in a certain group. About this intention ev. Luke also speaks of the fact that most of the sections of the second part are connected not by exact chronological indications, but by simple transitional formulas: and it was (Luke 11:1; Luke 14:1), and it was (Luke 10:38; Luke 11:27 ), and behold (Luke 10:25), he said (Luke 12:54), etc. or in simple connectives: a, and (δε ̀ - Luke 11:29; Luke 12:10). These transitions were made, obviously, not in order to determine the time of events, but only their setting. It is also impossible not to point out that the evangelist describes here events that took place either in Samaria (Luke 9:52), then in Bethany, not far from Jerusalem (Luke 10:38), then again somewhere far from Jerusalem (Luke 13 :31), in Galilee - in a word, these are events of different times, and not just those that happened during the last journey of Christ to Jerusalem for the Passover of suffering Some interpreters, in order to maintain chronological order in this section, tried to find in it indications of two journeys of Christ to Jerusalem - on the feast of renewal and the feast of the last Easter (Schleiermacher, Olshausen, Neander) or even three, which John mentions in his Gospel ( Wieseler). But, not to mention the fact that there is no definite allusion to various journeys, the passage in Luke’s Gospel clearly speaks against such an assumption, where it is definitely said that the evangelist wants to describe in this section only the last journey of the Lord to Jerusalem - on the Passover of Passion. In the 9th chapter. 51st art. It is said: “When the days of His taking from the world drew near, He wanted to go to Jerusalem.” Explanation see clearly. Chapter 9 .

Finally, in the third section (Luke 19:28-24:53) Hev. Luke sometimes retreats from chronological order events in the interests of his grouping of facts (for example, he places the denial of Peter before the trial of Christ by the high priest). Here again ev. Luke adheres to the Gospel of Mark as the source of his narratives, supplementing his story with information drawn from another, unknown to us, source Thus, Luke alone has stories about the publican Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), about the dispute between the disciples during the celebration of the Eucharist (Luke 22:24-30), about the trial of Christ by Herod (Luke 23:4-12), about the women who mourned Christ during His procession to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31), the conversation with the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43), the appearance of the Emmaus travelers (Luke 24:13-35) and some other messages representing itself a addition to the stories of Ev. Brand. .

Gospel Plan. In accordance with his intended goal - to provide a basis for faith in the teaching that had already been taught to Theophilus, Hev. Luke planned the entire content of his Gospel in such a way that it really leads the reader to the conviction that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the salvation of all mankind, that He fulfilled all the promises of the Old Testament about the Messiah as the Savior of not just the Jewish people, but of all nations. Naturally, in order to achieve his goal, the Evangelist Luke did not need to give his Gospel the appearance of a chronicle of the Gospel events, but rather needed to group all the events so that his narrative would make the impression he desired on the reader.

The evangelist's plan is already evident in the introduction to the history of the messianic ministry of Christ (chapters 1-3). In the story of the conception and birth of Christ, it is mentioned that an angel announced to the Blessed Virgin the birth of a Son, whom she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and who would therefore be the Son of God, and in the flesh - the Son of David, who would forever occupy the throne of his father, David. The birth of Christ, as the birth of the promised Redeemer, is announced through an angel to the shepherds. When the Infant Christ was brought to the temple, the inspired elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna testified to His high dignity. Jesus Himself, still a 12-year-old boy, already declares that He should be in the temple as in the house of His Father. At the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, He receives heavenly testimony that He is the beloved Son of God, who received all the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit for His messianic ministry. Finally, His genealogy given in Chapter 3, going back to Adam and God, testifies that He is the founder of a new humanity, born of God through the Holy Spirit.

Then, in the first part of the Gospel, an image is given of the messianic ministry of Christ, which is accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling Christ (4:1). By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ defeats the devil in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13), and then appears in to this “power of the Spirit” in Galilee, and in Nazareth, His own city, He declares Himself the Anointed One and the Redeemer, about whom the prophets of the Old Testament predicted. Not finding faith in Himself here, He reminds His unbelieving fellow citizens that God, even in the Old Testament, prepared acceptance for the prophets among the pagans (Luke 4:14-30).

After this, which had a predictive significance for the future attitude towards Christ on the part of the Jews, the event was followed by a series of deeds performed by Christ in Capernaum and its environs: the healing of a demoniac by the power of the word of Christ in the synagogue, the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law and other sick and demoniacs who were brought and brought to Christ (Luke 4:31-44), miraculous fishing, healing of the leper. All this is depicted as events that entailed the spread of the rumor about Christ and the arrival to Christ of entire masses of people who came to listen to the teachings of Christ and brought with them their sick in the hope that Christ would heal them (Luke 5:1-16).

Then follows a group of incidents that aroused opposition to Christ on the part of the Pharisees and scribes: the forgiveness of the sins of the healed paralytic (Luke 5:17-26), the announcement at the publican’s dinner that Christ came to save not the righteous, but sinners (Luke 5:27-32 ), justification of Christ's disciples for non-observance of fasts, based on the fact that the Bridegroom-Messiah is with them (Luke 5:33-39), and in breaking the Sabbath, based on the fact that Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath, and, moreover, confirmed by a miracle, which Christ did this on the Sabbath with the withered hand (Luke 6:1-11). But while these deeds and statements of Christ irritated his opponents to the point that they began to think about how to take Him, He chose 12 from among His disciples as apostles (Luke 6:12-16), proclaimed from the mountain in the hearing of all the people who followed Him, the main provisions on which the Kingdom of God, which He founded, should be built (Luke 6:17-49), and, after descending from the mountain, not only fulfilled the request of the pagan centurion for the healing of his servant, because the centurion showed such faith in Christ, which Christ did not find in Israel (Luke 7:1-10), but also raised the son of the widow of Nain, after which he was glorified by all the people accompanying the funeral procession as a prophet sent by God to the chosen people (Luke 7:11-17 ).

The embassy from John the Baptist to Christ with the question whether He is the Messiah prompted Christ to point to His deeds as evidence of His Messianic dignity and at the same time reproach the people for their lack of trust in John the Baptist and in Him, Christ. At the same time, Christ makes a distinction between those listeners who long to hear from Him an indication of the path to salvation, and between those, of whom there are a huge mass and who do not believe in Him (Luke 7:18-35). The subsequent sections, in accordance with this intention of the evangelist to show the difference between the Jews who listened to Christ, report a number of facts that illustrate such a division among the people and at the same time the relationship of Christ to the people, to its different parts, consistent with their relationship to Christ, namely: the anointing of Christ a repentant sinner and the behavior of a Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50), a mention of the Galilean women who served Christ with their property (Luke 8:1-3), a parable about the various qualities of a field in which sowing is done, indicating the bitterness of the people (Luke 8: 4-18), the attitude of Christ towards His relatives (Luke 8:19-21), the crossing into the country of the Gadarenes, during which the lack of faith of the disciples was revealed, and the healing of a demoniac, and the contrast is noted between the stupid indifference that the Gadarenes showed to the miracle performed by Christ, and the gratitude of the healed (Luke 8:22-39), the healing of the bleeding woman and the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, because both the woman and Jairus showed their faith in Christ (Luke 8:40-56). What follows are the events related in chapter 9, which were intended to strengthen the disciples of Christ in the faith: equipping the disciples with power to cast out and heal the sick, together with instructions on how they should act during their preaching journey (Luke 9:1- 6), and it is indicated, as the tetrarch Herod understood the activity of Jesus (Luke 9:7-9), the feeding of five thousand, with which Christ showed the apostles returning from the journey His power to provide help in every need (Luke 9:10-17), the question of Christ , for whom the people consider Him to be and for whom the disciples, and the confession of Peter on behalf of all the apostles is given: “You are the Christ of God,” and then Christ’s prediction of His rejection by the representatives of the people and His death and resurrection, as well as the admonition addressed to the disciples so that they imitated Him in self-sacrifice, for which He will reward them at His second glorious coming (Luke 9:18-27), the transfiguration of Christ, which allowed His disciples to penetrate with their gaze into His future glorification (Luke 9:28-36), the healing of the demoniac a sleepwalking youth - whom Christ's disciples could not heal due to the weakness of their faith - which resulted in the enthusiastic glorification of God by the people. At the same time, however, Christ once again pointed out to His disciples the fate awaiting Him, and they turned out to be incomprehensible in relation to such a clear statement made by Christ (Luke 9:37-45).

This inability of the disciples, despite their confession of the Messiahship of Christ, to understand His prophecy about His death and resurrection, had its basis in the fact that they were still in those ideas about the Kingdom of the Messiah that had developed among the Jewish scribes, who understood the Messianic Kingdom as an earthly kingdom, political, and at the same time testified to how weak their knowledge was still about the nature of the Kingdom of God and its spiritual benefits. Therefore, according to Ev. Luke, Christ devoted the rest of the time before His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to teaching His disciples precisely these most important truths about the nature of the Kingdom of God, about its form and spread (second part), about what is needed to achieve eternal life, and warnings not to get carried away the teachings of the Pharisees and the views of His enemies, whom He will eventually come to judge as the King of this Kingdom of God (Luke 9:51-19:27).

Finally, in the third part, the evangelist shows how Christ, by His suffering, death and resurrection, proved that He is truly the promised Savior and the King of the Kingdom of God anointed by the Holy Spirit. Depicting the solemn entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, the evangelist Luke speaks not only about the rapture of the people - which is also reported by other evangelists, but also about the fact that Christ announced His judgment over the city that disobeyed Him (Luke 19:28-44) and then, according to with Mark and Matthew, about how He put His enemies to shame in the temple (Luke 20:1-47), and then, pointing out the superiority of the poor widow's alms for the temple compared to the contributions of the rich, He foretold to His disciples the fate of Jerusalem and His followers ( Luke 21:1-36).

In the description of the suffering and death of Christ (chapters 22 and 23), it is exposed that Satan prompted Judas to betray Christ (Luke 22:3), and then Christ’s confidence is put forward that He will eat supper with His disciples in the Kingdom of God and that the Old Testament Passover must henceforth be replaced by the Eucharist established by Him (Luke 22:15-23). The evangelist also mentions that Christ at the Last Supper, calling his disciples to service, and not to domination, nevertheless promised them dominion in His Kingdom (Luke 22:24-30). Then follows the story of three moments of Christ's last hours: Christ's promise to pray for Peter, given in view of his imminent fall (Luke 22:31-34), the call of the disciples in the fight against temptations (Luke 22:35-38), and Christ's prayer in Gethsemane, in which He was strengthened by an angel from heaven (Luke 22:39-46). Then the evangelist speaks about the capture of Christ and Christ’s healing of the servant wounded by Peter (51) and about His denunciation of the high priests who came with the soldiers (53). All these particulars clearly show that Christ went to suffering and death voluntarily, in the consciousness of their necessity so that the salvation of mankind could be accomplished.

In the depiction of the very suffering of Christ, Peter’s denial is presented by the Evangelist Luke as evidence that even during His own suffering, Christ had compassion on His weak disciple (Luke 22:54-62). Then follows a description of the great sufferings of Christ in the following three features: 1) the denial of the high dignity of Christ, partly by the soldiers who mocked Christ in the court of the high priest (Luke 22:63-65), and mainly by the members of the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66-71), 2 ) recognition of Christ as a dreamer at the trial of Pilate and Herod (Luke 23:1-12) and 3) the people’s preference for Barabbas the thief over Christ and the sentencing of Christ to death by crucifixion (Luke 23:13-25).

After depicting the depth of Christ’s suffering, the evangelist notes such features from the circumstances of this suffering that clearly testified that Christ, even in His suffering, remained the King of the Kingdom of God. The Evangelist reports that the Convict 1) as a judge addressed the women who wept for Him (Luke 23:26-31) and asked the Father for his enemies who were committing a crime against Him unconsciously (Luke 23:32-34), 2) gave a place in paradise to the repentant thief, as having the right to do so (Luke 23:35-43), 3) realized that, dying, He betrayed His very spirit to the Father (Luke 23:44-46), 4) was recognized as righteous by the centurion and By His death he aroused repentance among the people (Luke 23:47-48) and 5) was honored with a particularly solemn burial (Luke 23:49-56). Finally, in the history of the resurrection of Christ, the evangelist highlights such events that clearly proved the greatness of Christ and served to clarify the work of salvation accomplished by Him. This is precisely: the testimony of the angels that Christ conquered death, according to His prophecies about this (Luke 24: 1-12), then the appearance of Christ himself to the Emmaus travelers, to whom Christ showed from Scripture the necessity of His suffering in order for Him to enter into glory His (Luke 24:13-35), the appearance of Christ to all the apostles, to whom He also explained the prophecies that spoke about Him, and commissioned in His name to preach the message of forgiveness of sins to all the nations of the earth, promising at the same time to the apostles to send down the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:36-49). Finally, having briefly depicted the ascension of Christ into heaven (Luke 24:50-53), Hev. Luke ended his Gospel with this, which really was a confirmation of everything taught to Theophilus and other pagan Christians, Christian teaching: Christ is truly depicted here as the promised Messiah, as the Son of God and the King of the Kingdom of God.

Sources and aids for studying the Gospel of Luke. Of the patristic interpretations of the Gospel of Luke, the most thorough are the works of Blessed. Theophylact and Euthymius Zigabena. Of our Russian commentators, in the first place we must put Bishop Michael (Explanatory Gospel), then who compiled a textbook for reading the Four Gospels by D.P. Bogolepov, B.I. Gladkov, who wrote the “Explanatory Gospel,” and Prof. Kaz. spirit. Academy of M. Theologian, who compiled the books: 1) The Childhood of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Forerunner, according to the Gospels of St. apostles Matthew and Luke. Kazan, 1893; and 2) The public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the stories of the holy evangelists. Vol. first. Kazan, 1908.

Of the works on the Gospel of Luke, we have only the dissertation of Fr. Polotebnova: The Holy Gospel of Luke. Orthodox critical-exegetical study against F. H. Baur. Moscow, 1873.

From foreign comments we mention interpretations: Keil K. Fr. 1879 (in German), Meyer as revised by B. Weiss 1885 (in German), Jog. Weiss "Writings of N. Zav." 2nd ed. 1907 (in German); Trench coat. Interpretation of the parables of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1888 (in Russian) and Miracles of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1883 in Russian, language); and Merckx. The four canonical Gospels according to their oldest famous text. Part 2, 2nd half of 1905 (in German).

The following works are also quoted: Geiki. Life and teachings of Christ. Per. St. M. Fiveysky, 1894; Edersheim. The life and times of Jesus the Messiah. Per. St. M. Fiveysky. T. 1. 1900. Reville A. Jesus of Nazareth. Per. Zelinsky, vol. 1-2, 1909; and some articles from spiritual magazines.

Gospel

The word “Gospel” (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον) in classical Greek was used to designate: a) a reward that is given to the messenger of joy (τῷ εὐαγγέλῳ), b) a sacrifice sacrificed on the occasion of receiving some good news or a holiday celebrated on the same occasion and c) this good news itself. In the New Testament this expression means:

a) the good news that Christ reconciled people with God and brought us the greatest benefits - mainly founded the Kingdom of God on earth ( Matt. 4:23),

b) the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, preached by Himself and His Apostles about Him as the King of this Kingdom, the Messiah and the Son of God ( 2 Cor. 4:4),

c) all New Testament or Christian teaching in general, primarily the narration of the most important events from the life of Christ ( 1 Cor. 15:1-4), and then an explanation of the meaning of these events ( Rome. 1:16).

e) Finally, the word “Gospel” is sometimes used to designate the very process of preaching Christian teaching ( Rome. 1:1).

Sometimes the word “Gospel” is accompanied by a designation and its content. There are, for example, phrases: Gospel of the kingdom ( Matt. 4:23), i.e. good news of the kingdom of God, the gospel of peace ( Eph. 6:15), i.e. about peace, the gospel of salvation ( Eph. 1:13), i.e. about salvation, etc. Sometimes following the word "Gospel" genitive means the author or source of the good news ( Rome. 1:1, 15:16 ; 2 Cor. 11:7; 1 Thess. 2:8) or the personality of the preacher ( Rome. 2:16).

For quite a long time, stories about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ were transmitted only orally. The Lord Himself did not leave any records of His speeches and deeds. In the same way, the 12 apostles were not born writers: they were “unlearned and simple people” ( Acts 4:13), although literate. Among the Christians of the apostolic time there were also very few “wise according to the flesh, strong” and “noble” ( 1 Cor. 1:26), and for most believers much higher value had oral stories about Christ than written ones. In this way, the apostles and preachers or evangelists “transmitted” (παραδιδόναι) the stories about the deeds and speeches of Christ, and the believers “received” (παραλαμβάνειν) - but, of course, not mechanically, only by memory, as can be said about the students of rabbinical schools, but with all my soul, as if something living and life-giving. But this period of oral tradition was soon to end. On the one hand, Christians should have felt the need for a written presentation of the Gospel in their disputes with the Jews, who, as we know, denied the reality of Christ’s miracles and even argued that Christ did not declare Himself the Messiah. It was necessary to show the Jews that Christians have genuine stories about Christ from those persons who were either among His apostles or who were in close communication with eyewitnesses of the deeds of Christ. On the other hand, the need for a written presentation of the history of Christ began to be felt because the generation of the first disciples was gradually dying out and the ranks of direct witnesses to the miracles of Christ were thinning. Therefore, it was necessary to secure in writing individual sayings of the Lord and His entire speeches, as well as the stories of the apostles about Him. It was then that separate records began to appear here and there of what was reported in the oral tradition about Christ. The words of Christ, which contained the rules of Christian life, were most carefully recorded, and they were much more free to convey various events from the life of Christ, preserving only their general impression. Thus, one thing in these records, due to its originality, was transmitted everywhere in the same way, while the other was modified. These initial recordings did not think about the completeness of the story. Even our Gospels, as can be seen from the conclusion of the Gospel of John ( In. 21:25), did not intend to report all the speeches and deeds of Christ. This is evident, by the way, from the fact that they do not contain, for example, the following saying of Christ: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” ( Acts 20:35). The Evangelist Luke reports about such records, saying that many before him had already begun to compile narratives about the life of Christ, but that they lacked proper completeness and that therefore they did not provide sufficient “affirmation” in the faith ( OK. 1:1-4).

Our canonical Gospels apparently arose from the same motives. The period of their appearance can be determined to be approximately thirty years - from 60 to 90 (the last was the Gospel of John). The first three Gospels are usually called synoptic in biblical scholarship, because they depict the life of Christ in such a way that their three narratives can be viewed in one without much difficulty and combined into one coherent narrative (synoptics - from Greek - looking together). They began to be called Gospels individually, perhaps as early as the end of the 1st century, but from church writing we have information that such a name began to be given to the entire composition of the Gospels only in the second half of the 2nd century. As for the names: “Gospel of Matthew”, “Gospel of Mark”, etc., then more correctly these very ancient names from Greek should be translated as follows: “Gospel according to Matthew”, “Gospel according to Mark” (κατὰ Ματθαῖον, κατὰ Μᾶρκον). By this the Church wanted to say that in all the Gospels there is a single Christian gospel about Christ the Savior, but according to the images of different writers: one image belongs to Matthew, another to Mark, etc.

Four Gospels

Thus, the ancient Church looked upon the portrayal of the life of Christ in our four Gospels, not as different Gospels or narratives, but as one Gospel, one book in four types. That is why in the Church the name Four Gospels was established for our Gospels. Saint Irenaeus called them the “fourfold Gospel” (τετράμορφον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον - see Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus haereses liber 3, ed. A. Rousseau and L. Doutreleaü Irenée Lyon. Contre les hé résies, livre 3, vol. 2. Paris, 1974, 11, 11).

The Fathers of the Church dwell on the question: why exactly did the Church accept not one Gospel, but four? So St. John Chrysostom says: “Couldn’t one evangelist write everything that was needed. Of course, he could, but when four people wrote, they wrote not at the same time, not in the same place, without communicating or conspiring with each other, and for all that they wrote in such a way that everything seemed to be uttered by one mouth, then this is the strongest proof of the truth. You will say: “What happened, however, was the opposite, for the four Gospels are often found to be in disagreement.” This very thing is a sure sign of truth. For if the Gospels had exactly agreed with each other in everything, even regarding the words themselves, then none of the enemies would have believed that the Gospels were not written according to ordinary mutual agreement. Now the slight disagreement between them frees them from all suspicion. For what they say differently regarding time or place does not in the least harm the truth of their narrative. In the main thing, which forms the basis of our life and the essence of preaching, not one of them disagrees with the other in anything or anywhere - that God became a man, worked miracles, was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.” (“Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew”, 1).

Saint Irenaeus also finds a special symbolic meaning in the fourfold number of our Gospels. “Since there are four countries of the world in which we live, and since the Church is scattered throughout the entire earth and has its confirmation in the Gospel, it was necessary for it to have four pillars, spreading incorruptibility from everywhere and reviving the human race. The All-Ordering Word, seated on the Cherubim, gave us the Gospel in four forms, but permeated with one spirit. For David, praying for His appearance, says: “He who sits on the Cherubim, show Yourself” ( Ps. 79:2). But the Cherubim (in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel and the Apocalypse) have four faces, and their faces are images of the activity of the Son of God.” Saint Irenaeus finds it possible to attach the symbol of a lion to the Gospel of John, since this Gospel depicts Christ as the eternal King, and the lion is the king in the animal world; to the Gospel of Luke - the symbol of the calf, since Luke begins his Gospel with the image of the priestly service of Zechariah, who slaughtered the calves; to the Gospel of Matthew - a symbol of a man, since this Gospel mainly depicts the human birth of Christ, and, finally, to the Gospel of Mark - a symbol of an eagle, because Mark begins his Gospel with a mention of the prophets, to whom the Holy Spirit flew, like an eagle on wings "(Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus haereses, liber 3, 11, 11-22). Among the other Church Fathers, the symbols of the lion and the calf were moved and the first was given to Mark, and the second to John. Since the 5th century. in this form, the symbols of the evangelists began to be added to the images of the four evangelists in church painting.

Mutual relationship of the Gospels

Each of the four Gospels has its own characteristics, and most of all - the Gospel of John. But the first three, as mentioned above, have extremely much in common with each other, and this similarity involuntarily catches the eye even when reading them briefly. Let us first of all talk about the similarity of the Synoptic Gospels and the reasons for this phenomenon.

Even Eusebius of Caesarea, in his “canons,” divided the Gospel of Matthew into 355 parts and noted that 111 of them were found in all three weather forecasters. IN modern times exegetes developed an even more precise numerical formula for determining the similarity of the Gospels and calculated that the total number of verses common to all weather forecasters goes back to 350. In Matthew, then, 350 verses are unique to him, in Mark there are 68 such verses, in Luke - 541. The similarities are mainly noticed in the rendering of the sayings of Christ, and the differences are in the narrative part. When Matthew and Luke literally agree with each other in their Gospels, Mark always agrees with them. The similarity between Luke and Mark is much closer than between Luke and Matthew (Lopukhin - in the Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia. T. V. P. 173). It is also remarkable that some passages in all three evangelists follow the same sequence, for example, the temptation and the speech in Galilee, the calling of Matthew and the conversation about fasting, the plucking of ears of corn and the healing of the withered man, the calming of the storm and the healing of the Gadarene demoniac, etc. The similarity sometimes even extends to the construction of sentences and expressions (for example, in the presentation of a prophecy Small 3:1).

As for the differences observed among weather forecasters, there are quite a lot of them. Some things are reported by only two evangelists, others even by one. Thus, only Matthew and Luke cite the conversation on the mount of the Lord Jesus Christ and report the story of the birth and first years of Christ’s life. Luke alone speaks of the birth of John the Baptist. Some things one evangelist conveys in a more abbreviated form than another, or in a different connection than another. The details of the events in each Gospel are different, as are the expressions.

This phenomenon of similarities and differences in the Synoptic Gospels has long attracted the attention of interpreters of Scripture, and various assumptions have long been made to explain this fact. It seems more correct to think that our three evangelists used a common oral source for their narrative of the life of Christ. At that time, evangelists or preachers about Christ went everywhere preaching and repeated in different places in a more or less extensive form what was considered necessary to offer to those entering the Church. Thus, a well-known specific type was formed oral gospel, and this is the type we have in written form in our Synoptic Gospels. Of course, at the same time, depending on the goal that this or that evangelist had, his Gospel took on some special features, characteristic only of his work. At the same time, we cannot exclude the assumption that an older Gospel could have been known to the evangelist who wrote later. Moreover, the difference between the weather forecasters should be explained by the different goals that each of them had in mind when writing his Gospel.

As we have already said, the Synoptic Gospels differ in very many ways from the Gospel of John the Theologian. So they depict almost exclusively the activity of Christ in Galilee, and the Apostle John depicts mainly the sojourn of Christ in Judea. In terms of content, the Synoptic Gospels also differ significantly from the Gospel of John. They give, so to speak, a more external life, the works and teachings of Christ and from the speeches of Christ are given only those that were accessible to the understanding of all the people. John, on the contrary, omits a lot from the activities of Christ, for example, he cites only six miracles of Christ, but those speeches and miracles that he cites have a special deep meaning and extreme importance about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, while the Synoptics portray Christ primarily as the founder of the Kingdom of God and therefore direct the attention of their readers to the Kingdom founded by Him, John draws our attention to the central point of this Kingdom, from which life flows along the peripheries of the Kingdom, i.e. on the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, whom John portrays as the Only Begotten Son of God and as the Light for all mankind. That is why the ancient interpreters called the Gospel of John primarily spiritual (πνευματικόν), in contrast to the synoptic ones, as depicting predominantly the human side in the person of Christ (εὐαγγέλιον σωματικόν), i.e. The gospel is physical.

However, it must be said that the weather forecasters also have passages that indicate that the weather forecasters knew the activity of Christ in Judea ( Matt. 23:37, 27:57 ; OK. 10:38-42), and John also has indications of the continued activity of Christ in Galilee. In the same way, weather forecasters convey such sayings of Christ that testify to His Divine dignity ( Matt. 11:27), and John, for his part, also in places depicts Christ as a true man ( In. 2 etc.; John 8 etc.). Therefore, one cannot speak of any contradiction between the weather forecasters and John in their depiction of the face and work of Christ.

The Reliability of the Gospels

Although criticism has long been expressed against the reliability of the Gospels, and recently these attacks of criticism have especially intensified (the theory of myths, especially the theory of Drews, who does not recognize the existence of Christ at all), however, all the objections of criticism are so insignificant that they are broken at the slightest collision with Christian apologetics . Here, however, we will not cite the objections of negative criticism and analyze these objections: this will be done when interpreting the text of the Gospels itself. We will only talk about the most important general reasons for which we recognize the Gospels as completely reliable documents. This is, firstly, the existence of a tradition of eyewitnesses, many of whom lived to the era when our Gospels appeared. Why on earth would we refuse to trust these sources of our Gospels? Could they have made up everything in our Gospels? No, all the Gospels are pure historical character. Secondly, it is not clear why the Christian consciousness would want - as the mythical theory claims - to crown the head of a simple Rabbi Jesus with the crown of the Messiah and Son of God? Why, for example, is it not said about the Baptist that he performed miracles? Obviously because he didn't create them. And from here it follows that if Christ is said to be the Great Wonderworker, then it means that He really was like that. And why could one deny the authenticity of Christ’s miracles, since the highest miracle - His Resurrection - is witnessed like no other event? ancient history(cm. 1 Cor. 15)?

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28.12.2013

Matthew Henry

Interpretation of the books of the New Testament. Gospel of Luke

CHAPTER 12

This chapter contains a number of remarkable speeches made by our Savior on various occasions; many of them are similar in meaning to those that we have already encountered in Matthew, although they were said on other occasions. We may suppose that our Lord Jesus preached the same truths, called the same duties, at different times and in different societies, and that one evangelist reported them as spoken by Him at one time, and another at another. We need precept upon precept and precept upon precept. Here:

I. Christ warns the disciples to beware of hypocrisy and cowardice in the profession of Christianity and the preaching of the Gospel, see 1-12.

II. He also warns them, in connection with the request of a covetous man, against covetousness, and illustrates his warning by the parable of the rich man who died unexpectedly while he was making his worldly plans and flattering himself with hopes, v. 13-21.

III. He exhorts his disciples to cast all their cares upon God, to live quietly, trusting to his providence, and calls upon them to make the service of God their chief business, v. 22-34.

IV. He urges the disciples to watch for His coming, by pointing out to them that those found faithful will then be rewarded, and those found faithless punished, v. 35-48.

V. Warns the disciples of the tribulations and persecutions that await them, v. 49-53.

VI. Warns the people that they must recognize and take advantage of favorable times, and make timely reconciliation with God, v. 54-59.

Verses 1-12

We find here:

I. A huge audience gathered to listen to the preaching of Christ. The scribes and Pharisees sought to accuse Christ and do Him harm, but the people, free from their prejudice and envy, admired Him, followed Him, and gave Him honor. Meanwhile (v. 1), while He was in the Pharisee's house, contending with those who sought to ensnare Him, the people were assembled for the afternoon sermon, the afternoon sermon, the Pharisee's after dinner, and He did not want to disappoint the people. Despite the fact that in the morning sermon, when the people gathered in large numbers (Luke 11:29), Christ severely denounced them, calling them an evil generation, seeking signs, they still gathered to Him again. The people were better able to accept reproof addressed to them than the Pharisees were to theirs. The more diligently the Pharisees tried to lead the people away from Christ, the more they flocked to Him. This time thousands of people gathered, so that they crowded each other, trying to get forward to hear Christ. It is a pleasing sight to see a mass of people eager to hear the word, and willing to suffer inconvenience and danger rather than lose an opportunity for their souls. Who is it that flies like clouds and like doves to their dovecotes? (Isa. 60:8). When a net is cast in areas where fish congregate, one can hope to catch something.

II. The instructions which Christ gives to His followers in the presence of the assembled hearers.

1. He began with a warning against hypocrisy. And He spoke about this first of all to His disciples, either twelve or seventy. They were the subject of His special care, His family, His school, and therefore He especially warns them as His beloved sons. They labored more than others in the profession of faith, and therefore were more exposed to the danger of being hypocritical in it than others. They were to preach to others, and if they twisted their hearts, twisted the Word, and acted deceitfully, their hypocrisy would be worse than anyone else's. In addition, among them was Judas, who was a hypocrite; Christ knew about this and thus wanted to either reason with him or deprive him of any excuse. As far as we know, the disciples of Christ were the best people of that time, but they also needed warning against hypocrisy. Christ spoke to them about this in the presence of a multitude of people, and not privately when he was alone with them, in order to give more weight in His own words, and also to show the world that He does not approve of hypocrisy even in His own disciples. So let's note:

(1.) A description of the sin against which He warned His disciples: it is the leaven of the Pharisees.

Hypocrisy is leaven; it spreads like leaven, imperceptibly penetrating inside a person and into all his affairs. It rises and leavens like leaven, for it fills people with pride, poisons them with malice and makes their service displeasing to God.

This is the leaven of the Pharisees: “This is a sin inherent in the majority of the Pharisees. Be careful not to imitate them, do not be of the same spirit with them and do not introduce hypocrisy into Christianity, as they introduced it into Judaism, do not use your religion to cover up evil, as they did.”

(2.) A good argument against hypocrisy: “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, v. 2.3. It is useless to be a hypocrite, because sooner or later the truth will be revealed by a lying tongue - only for a moment. If you have said something in the dark that it is not right for you to say, that does not agree with your open confession, then it is heard in the light; in one way or another it will become known, for the bird of the air can carry your word (Eccl. 10:20) and your madness and your falsehood will be revealed.” Lawlessness, covered by the appearance of piety, can be revealed already in this world, as happened with the hypocrisy of Judas and Simon the Magus, or very soon, on the day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts will be revealed, Eccl. 12:14; Rome. 2:16. If a person's religion is not aimed at conquering and eradicating the evil in his heart, then it will not always serve him to cover it. The day will come when the hypocrites will be stripped of their fig leaves.

2. To this Christ adds that His disciples are obliged to be faithful to the assignment entrusted to them, and not to betray it out of cowardice or fear. Some understand Art. 2, 3 as a warning to the disciples not to hide what they have been taught and what they must convey to the whole world. “Whether people listen to you or shy away, tell them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Whatever was said to you, what you talk about among yourself in private conversations, in secluded places, speak openly, no matter how much you are insulted, for if you please people, then you are not servants of Christ, you cannot please Him” (Gal. 1:10). This is not the worst, they may have to suffer (though they will never die), so they should arm themselves with courage. Then Christ gives various reasons to temper them with holy firmness for the work ahead.

(1) “But I say unto you, my friends... (v. 4): The strength of your enemies is limited (the disciples of Christ are His friends, He calls them friends and gives them friendly advice), do not be afraid and do not worry yourselves with fears of the strength and rage of the people." Note, Those whom Christ has acknowledged as His friends need fear no enemies. “Do not be afraid of any of those who kill the body, let neither the power of scoffers nor even murderers force you to abandon your work, so that you, having learned to triumph over death itself, can say about them: Let them do the worst, then they will not be able to do anything more to do, the immortal soul lives, it is happy and rejoices in God, challenging them all.” Let us note: those who can kill only the body are not able to cause real harm to the disciples of Christ, for by killing the body, they only quickly release it to rest, and the soul goes to its bliss.

(2.) God is to be feared more than the most powerful men: “But I will tell you whom to fear... (v. 5): That ye may fear men less, fear God more. This one overcame his fear of the king’s wrath thanks to the fact that he looked at the Invisible One. By confessing Christ, you may incur the wrath of people who can do no more than put you to death (but without God's permission they will not do even that); by renouncing Christ and rejecting Him, you incur the wrath of God, Who has the power to plunge you into Gehenna, and no one can prevent this. So, of two evils, you should choose the lesser, and you should fear the greater, so I tell you - fear Him.” The blessed martyr Bishop Hooper said: “Truly, life is beautiful and death is painful, but eternal life more beautiful, and eternal death more painful.”

(3.) The lives of good Christians and ministers are the special care of Divine providence, v. 6, 7. To keep us strong in difficult and dangerous times, we must call upon and build upon our first principles. A firm belief in the doctrine of the universal, all-inclusive providence of God will sustain us in every time of danger and encourage us in our trust in God in the path of obedience to duty.

God cares for the most insignificant creatures, even small birds. “Although they are valued at two assars for five pieces, not one of them is forgotten by God, but He cares about each and notices the death of each of them. You are dearer than many small birds and therefore you can be sure that you are not forgotten by God, even if you are imprisoned, in exile and forgotten by your friends; the death of saints is much more valuable in the eyes of God than the death of small birds.”

God takes care of even the most insignificant needs of Christ’s disciples: “And the very hairs of your head are all numbered (v. 7), how much more are all your sighs, and tears, and drops of blood, which you shed for the name of Christ, numbered. God counts all your losses in order to compensate them, and they will certainly be compensated with great benefit for you.”

(4) “According to whether you acknowledge or do not acknowledge Christ at this time, He will either recognize or reject you in that great day” (vv. 8, 9).

To encourage us to confess Christ before men, no matter what we lose and no matter how much we suffer for our faithfulness to Him, no matter how dear it may cost us, He assures us that whoever confesses Him now, He will confess him on the great day before the angels of God , to his everlasting comfort and glory. Jesus Christ confesses not only that He suffered for them and therefore they should enjoy the fruits of His suffering, but also that they also suffered for Him, that their suffering contributed to the spread of His Kingdom on earth and to His interests. What could be greater than this honor?

To keep us from denying Christ and cowardly rejecting His truths and His ways, He assures us that whoever rejects Him and treacherously forsakes Him, no matter what he saves thereby, even his own life, and no matter what he gains with in this, even if it were a whole kingdom, he will ultimately lose everything, for he will be rejected by Him before the Angels of God. Christ will not recognize him and will not recognize him as His own, will not show him any favor, and this will result in eternal horror and condemnation for him. The special significance attached here to the confession or denial of a person before the Angels of God gives us reason to assume that a significant part of the blessedness of glorified saints will consist in the fact that in the eyes of the angels they will be not only right, but also worthy of honor, the angels will love and honor them, they will recognize them, if they are servants of Christ, as their fellow servants and will accept them into their society. And on the contrary, the suffering of condemned sinners will largely consist in the fact that the holy angels will abandon them and will be witnesses not only of their dishonor, as here spoken of, but also of their destruction, for they will be tormented before the holy angels (Rev. 14: 10), which will give them no relief.

(5.) The commission with which they are soon to be sent is exceedingly, exceedingly important to the sons of men, v. 10. They must boldly preach the Gospel, for whoever rejects them (after the Holy Spirit, the last means of conviction, has been poured out on them) will suffer a more severe and grievous punishment than he who now rejects and resists Christ Himself: “He will do greater things than these, therefore those who will blaspheme the gifts and actions of the Holy Spirit in you will be subjected to greater punishment. And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, who stumbles over the insignificance of His external appearance and speaks contemptuously and disdainfully about Him, will be forgiven: “Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” But anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit, blasphemes the teachings of Christ, who will viciously oppose him after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and His testimony of the glorification of Christ (Acts 2:33; 5:32), will be denied forgiveness of sins; he will have no benefit from Christ and His Gospel. You may shake off the dust from your feet as a witness against those who do this, and leave them as incurable; they have lost that repentance and that forgiveness for which Christ was exalted to give them, and about which you are sent to preach.” During the period of supernatural gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the church, intended as a sign to unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:22), this sin was undoubtedly more daring and the situation, therefore, more hopeless. For those who, although they did not immediately come to the consciousness of sin through the preaching of the disciples, nevertheless accepted them, there remained some hope of salvation. But those who blasphemed them were deprived of this hope.

(6.) Whatever trials they may be subjected to, they will be sufficiently prepared for them, and will be carried through with honor, v. 11, 12. A faithful martyr for the name of Christ must not only endure suffering, but also bear witness, testify to a good confession, and try to do it well, so that the cause of Christ will not suffer, even if he himself suffers. And if he takes care of this, then he can leave the rest to God: “When they bring you into the synagogues, they bring you before the elders of the church and the Jewish court, or before the principalities and powers, the Gentile rulers, the rulers of the state, to question you about your doctrine , what it consists of and how it is proven, do not worry about how or what to answer or what to say:

To be saved. Do not try to soften your judges with cunning and eloquence or to save yourself through any manipulations with the law. If it is God’s will that you be released, and your time to suffer has not yet come, then He Himself will deliver you from the hands of your oppressors.

To serve your Lord. Strive for this, but do not worry about it, for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom, will teach you in that hour what you should say and how to say it in order to glorify God and His work.”

Verses 13-21

In these verses we read about how:

I. One of the listeners, at a very inopportune time, turns to Christ with a request to judge him and his brother on the issue of their inheritance (v. 13): “Teacher! tell my brother, say as a prophet, as a king, with authority (he is one of those who respect Your words), tell him to share the inheritance with me.” So,

1. Some people think that his brother has treated him unfairly and so he asks Christ to protect him because he knew that trial is expensive. His brother was one of those whom the Jews called Ben Hamesen - the son of violence, who took not only his part of the property, but also his brother's part and tore it from him by force. There are brothers in the world who are completely devoid of a natural sense of justice and mutual love, who make their prey those whom they are obliged to protect and care for. And the offended one goes to God, who creates justice and judgment for all the offended.

2. Others assume that this man planned evil against his brother and wanted Christ to help him carry out his plan; since, according to the law, a double part of the inheritance went to the eldest brother and the father himself could not dispose of his estate otherwise than in accordance with this law (Deut. 21:16, 17), he wanted Christ to change this law and oblige the eldest brother , who may have been a follower of Christ in the general sense of the word, to divide equally with him the whole inheritance, to divide it with His authority and to endow younger brother on par with the elder. I believe that this was exactly the case, because Christ took advantage of this opportunity to warn His disciples against covetousness, the desire to have more, more than what God in His providence has endowed us with. This was not a legal desire to get what was his, but a sinful desire to receive more than what belonged to him.

II. Christ refuses to interfere in this matter (v. 14): “Who made Me a judge or a divider between you?” In matters of this kind, He does not want to assign to Himself either legislative power to change the law of inheritance, or judicial power to resolve disputes about inheritance. He could have played the role of legislator and judge as well as he played the role of a healer, and would have handled this litigation just as well as he dealt with illnesses, but he did not want to do this, because he was not authorized to do such things: “Who appointed Me judge or divide you? Perhaps He is hinting here at the insult inflicted on Moses by his brother in Egypt, with which Stephen later reproached the Jews, Acts. 7:27, 35. “If I had expressed my willingness to do this, then you would have made the same caustic remark to Me as was made to Moses: Who made You to judge or divide us?” He points out to this man his mistake, refuses to accept his petition (it was coram non judice - addressed to the wrong judge) and thus rejects his claim. If he had come to Him with a request to help him in his desire to gain a heavenly inheritance, then Christ would have helped him. But He will not do anything regarding the inheritance of earthly riches: who made Me a judge? Let us note, Christ was not a usurper, He did not appropriate to Himself more honor and glory than was given to Him, Heb. 5:5. Whatever He did, He could always say by what authority He was doing it and who gave Him this authority. This reveals to us the nature and structure of the Kingdom of Christ. This is a spiritual Kingdom, a Kingdom not of this world.

1. It does not interfere with the powers of the civil power and does not encroach on the power of kings. Christianity leaves these questions, such as they are, at the disposal of secular power.

2. It does not interfere with civil rights issues; it obliges everyone to act justly, according to established standards of justice, but grace does not provide the basis for dominion.

3. It does not encourage our hopes of receiving any material benefits from religion. If this man expected that, having become a disciple of Christ, he would receive his brother’s property with His help, then he was mistaken: the reward of Christ’s followers is of a completely different kind.

4. It does not encourage our competition with our brothers and our excessively high demands, but rather teaches us to give up our own rights for the sake of peace.

5. It does not allow ministers to bind themselves with worldly affairs (2 Tim. 2:4) and leave the word of God to tend to tables. Let the one whose business it is do this. Tractent fabrilia fabri for each worker his own craft.

III. A necessary warning given by Christ to His hearers on this occasion. Although He did not come to divide the goods of men, yet He came to guide their consciences in this matter, and would warn them all against that evil principle which they saw manifest itself in others as the root of many angry So:

1. The warning itself (v. 15): “Take heed, beware of covetousness... Orate - watch yourselves, be jealous that greed does not creep into your hearts; fiMooEove - take care of yourself, keep strict control over your heart so that greed does not dominate it and dictate its laws.” Covetousness is a sin against which we must always watch, and therefore we must be so often warned against it.

2. The reason or argument for this warning: "...for a man's life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions, that is, our happiness and peace do not depend on our wealth in this world."

(1) Undoubtedly, the life of the soul does not depend on this, and the soul is a person. The objects of this world do not correspond to the nature of our soul, they cannot satisfy its needs and desires, they are not as durable as the soul is durable. Moreover,

(2) Even our bodily life and its happiness do not lie in the abundance of things, for many who have a little wealth in this world are quite content and happy (a dish of greens with holy love is better than a fattened ox), they pass through this world quite happy , while the owners of great wealth are unhappy, they have an abundance of everything, but it does not console them, they deprive their souls of their blessings, Eccl. 4:8. Many rich people are dissatisfied and irritable, like Ahab and Haman. What, then, is their wealth to them?

3. Illustration in the form of a parable, the essence of which is to show the madness of worldly people, which they manifest during life, and the death that awaits them after death; it is intended not only to stop a person who came to Christ with a request for the division of property and did not show any concern for his soul and the afterlife, but also to strengthen this important warning for all of us - to beware of covetousness. This parable describes the life and death of a rich man, leaving us to judge for ourselves whether he was a happy man.

(1.) The description of his earthly wealth, his abundance (v. 16): A certain rich man had a good harvest in his field, Chara-regio - estate. He had a whole estate, his own property. Note that his wealth lay largely in the produce of the land. He had a lot of land, and this land was fertile; he was getting rich, because, as the proverb says, money comes to money. Note, the fertility of the earth is a great blessing, but God often bestows it abundantly on wicked people, for whom it becomes a snare, so that we cannot judge His love or hatred by what we see before us.

(2.) What was this man's heart occupied in the midst of such abundance. This is how he reasoned with himself, v. 17. Let us note that the God of Heaven knows and notices everything that we reason about in our hearts, and for everything we will give an account to Him. He discovers and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We are mistaken if we imagine that thoughts are hidden and that they are free. Let's note the following here:

What he cared and worried about. Seeing an extraordinary harvest in his fields, instead of thanking God or rejoicing at the opportunity to do more good deeds, he began to worry: What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits. He spoke like a man who had reached a dead end and was full of bewilderment: What should I do? The poorest beggar, who does not know where to get a piece of bread, could not speak with more anxiety than this rich man. Anxious preoccupation is a common fruit of earthly wealth and a common mistake of those who possess it. The more a person has, the more difficulties he has associated with wealth, the more desire he has to preserve what he has and add to it, the more worries he has about how to save everything and how to spend it; so it is the abundance of the rich that deprives them of sleep, because they are constantly thinking about what to do with it, how to distribute it. The rich man probably said these words with a sigh: what should I do? And if you asked him: what's the matter? - it would turn out that he has too much property and does not know where to put it. That's it.

What were his projects and intentions. They were, as a result of his cares, as absurd and foolish as the cares themselves (v. 18): “This is what I will do, and this is the most reasonable thing that I can do, I will break down my barns, because they are too small, And I will build bigger ones, and I will gather all my bread and all my goods there, and then I will be calm.”

First, it was madness for him to call the fruits of the earth his fruits and his goods. He was probably pleased to emphasize that these are his fruits and his goods, while everything we have belongs to God, and is only provided for us to use; we are stewards of His estate, perpetual tenants of His land. I gave bread and wine, says the Lord, Hos. 2:8, 9.

Secondly, it was madness to accumulate and then think about how best to arrange it all. And I will collect all the grain there - as if I should not have given anything to the poor, nor to my family, nor to the Levite, nor to the stranger, nor to the orphans and widows, but I had to put everything into my huge granaries.

Thirdly, it was madness on his part to be so exalted by his fortune, to talk about expanding the granaries, as if the next year must necessarily be as fertile as this one; after all, it may happen that next year his new granaries will turn out to be too large, just as this year they turned out to be too small. A harvest year is usually followed by a year of famine, as was the case in Egypt, so this time it would be better to set aside some grain.

Fourthly, it was madness on his part to think that by building new granaries he would ease his worries; on the contrary, construction will add new worries to him; Anyone familiar with the construction business knows what it is. God's way of getting rid of excessive worries is certainly successful, but the world's way only increases them. Moreover, when the rich man did this, other worries would visit him; the more granaries, the more worries, Eccl. 5:11.

Fifthly, it was madness to plan and decide everything so categorically and unconditionally. This is what I will do: I will destroy my barns and build greater ones, I will do this; and he does not add at the same time: if the Lord wills, we will live, James. 4:13-15. Unconditional projects are crazy projects, for our days are in God's hands, not in ours, and we do not know what will happen tomorrow.

What pleasant hopes he associated with the implementation of his plans. “Then I will say to my soul, confident that I have provided for myself well, whether God says it or not: soul! - note what I say, “you have a lot of goods lying in these granaries for many years, now rest, eat, drink, be merry” (v. 19). And this is where his madness manifests itself, since enjoying wealth is just as mad as striving for it.

First, it was madness on his part to postpone his consolation of wealth until all his plans for it were realized. He would calm down only after he built new granaries and filled them (which took time), and why couldn’t he feel calm now? Grotius here refers to the story of Pyrrhus, who planned to become the ruler of Sicily, Africa and other places after his victory. Well, what, says his friend Cyneas, will we do next? Postea vemus, he answers. - Then we will live. At hos jam licet, says Cyneas. We can live now if we want.

Secondly, his confidence that his goods would remain for many years was insane, as if his huge granaries would be more reliable than those he had, for within a few hours they and everything that lay in them could - whether to burn to the ground, at least from a lightning strike, against which he had no protection. Within a few years, significant changes can occur: moth and rust can destroy, thieves can dig in and steal.

Thirdly, it was madness to count on a quiet life, for even with the richest abundance there are many things that can deprive a person of peace. One fly in the ointment spoils a whole barrel of wonderful honey, and one thorn spoils the whole bed. Illness, family troubles and, especially, a bad conscience can deprive the richest person of peace.

Fourthly, his intention was also insane to use his wealth only to eat, drink and be merry, to please his flesh and satisfy its sensual lusts, without thinking about doing good to others and thus serving God and his generation more. : as if we live in order to eat, and do not eat in order to live, as if human happiness lies only in sensual satisfaction, elevated to the highest pleasure.

Fifthly, it was great madness to address your soul with such words. If he said: “Body! rest in peace, for you have a lot of good things lying around for many years,” then this would make some sense. But the soul, considering that it is immortal, that it is separable from the body, is in no way interested in granaries full of wheat and chests full of gold. If he had the soul of a pig, he could make it happy with an abundance of food and drink, but what is the use of all this for the human soul, which needs and desires what earthly goods cannot provide? This is the greatest madness of the people of this world - to hope to provide and satisfy their souls with material wealth and sensual pleasures.

(3) God's judgment is here given, and we are convinced that His judgments are true. The rich man said to himself, said to his soul: rest. If God had told him this, he would indeed have been happy, for His Spirit bears witness to the spirit of the believers to give them peace. But God told him exactly the opposite, and whether we stand or fall is determined by God's judgment, not our own, 1 Cor. 4:3, 4. His neighbors praised him for bringing joy to his soul (Ps. 49:19), but God said that he was doing evil to himself: Fool! This night your soul will be taken from you, v. 20. God told him, that is, God made a decision about this man and communicated it to him, either through his own conscience, or through some event that sobered him up, but most likely through both. This was said at a time when he was in the fullness of abundance (Job 20:22), when he was kept awake by worries and plans for expanding the granaries - not by adding two or more extensions to them, which would fully suit his needs. goals, but by destroying old ones and building new, larger ones that would satisfy his whims. When he predicted in this way, thinking everything through to the end, and then delighted himself with wonderful dreams of how he would enjoy life for many years, then God announced His sentence to him. So Belshazzar was shocked by the horror of what was written by hand on the wall during a merry feast. Notice what God said.

How He characterized him: mad, Nabal, alluding to the story of Nabal, who was mad (Nabal is his name, and his madness is with him): his heart sank, and he became like a stone, as he feasted at the abundant table with his sheep shearers . Let us note, the people of the world are madmen, and the day will come when God will call them by their proper name - madman, and they themselves will call themselves that.

The sentence that God passed on him was a sentence of death: this night your soul will be taken from you, it will be demanded of you (this is the meaning of these words), and then who will get what you have prepared? He thought that he had a lot of goods that he would possess for many years, but that night he would have to part with them. He thought that it would please him, but he would leave it to someone unknown. Let us note that the death of worldly, selfish people is unhappy in itself and terrible for them.

Firstly, it is a coercion, an arrest, a taking of the soul, the soul that you have made mad. What are you doing with your soul? You couldn't manage it in the best possible way? They will take your soul from you. This means that he did not want to part with her. A good person who has kept his heart from the world, at his hour of death joyfully gives up his soul, but from the worldly it is taken away by force; he is afraid to think about how he will leave this world. Your soul will be taken from you. God will take her and demand an account for her. “Man, what have you done with your soul? Give an account to your management." They will take it, that is, the evil angels, the messengers of God's justice, will take it. Good angels receive good souls to bring them to a place of joy, and evil angels receive wicked souls to deliver them to a place of eternal torment, they will demand them, since guilty souls must be punished. The devil will claim your soul as his property, because it, in fact, gave itself to him.

Secondly, it will be sudden and unexpected. This will happen at night, and at night everything terrible is even more terrible. The time of death for a good person is a bright time, this is his morning. But for a worldly person it is night, dark night, he plunges into sorrow. This very night, this very night, without delay, there will be no parole and no reprieve. On this pleasant night, when you promise yourself many years, you must die and appear for judgment. You amuse yourself with the imagination of a multitude have fun days, merry nights and merry feasts, but behold, in the midst of all these dreams comes the end of everything, Isa. 21:4.

Thirdly, it is the abandonment of everything that he had prepared for, for which he had worked and for which he was preparing in the future with such diligence. Everything in which he saw his happiness and on which he built his hopes, that fueled his dreams, will be abandoned. His glory will not follow him (Ps. 48:18), but he will leave the world as naked as he came into it, and all the wealth he has accumulated will not benefit him in any way, either in death, or in judgment, or in eternity. .

Fourthly, he doesn’t even know who will get his wealth: “Who will own this good? One thing is for sure, it’s not you. And you don’t know what those to whom you intended to leave it, your children and relatives, will turn out to be. Will they be wise or foolish, Eccl. 2:18, 19. Whether they will bless your memory or curse you, whether they will be an honor to your family or a shame. Will they use what you left them for good or bad purposes, will they keep it or waste it. Moreover, you do not know that those to whom you are going to leave your wealth may not use it, it may go to someone else whom you did not even think about. But even if it goes to the one to whom you leave it, you cannot know to whom they in turn will leave it, into whose hands it will ultimately fall.” If people could foresee who would get their house after they died, many of them would prefer to burn it rather than improve it.

Fifthly, it proves his insanity. Worldly, selfish people are foolish in their lives: This way of theirs is their foolishness... (Ps. 48:14), but their foolishness becomes more obvious when they die: and they will remain a fool at the end (Jer. 17:11) , for then it will become clear that he collected treasures in the world from which he was leaving, and did not bother to collect them in the world where he was now heading.

And, in conclusion, about the application of this parable (v. 21): This is what happens to those who store up treasures for themselves, and are not rich in God. This is the way and this is the end of such people. Let us note the following here.

1. Description of a worldly person. He collects treasures for himself, for the body, for the world, for himself, and not for God, for his self, which must be renounced.

(1) He mistakenly believes that his flesh is himself, as if man were only a body. Based on the correct definition and understanding of our self, then only a true Christian lays up treasures for himself and is wise for himself, Prov. 9:12.

(2.) His error is that he has made it his business to lay up treasures for the flesh, and calls it laying up for himself. All his labors are for his mouth (Eccl. 6:7), for the satisfaction of the flesh.

(3) His other mistake is that he considers as his treasure what he has collected for the world, for his flesh, for earthly life; he considers it wealth on which he relies, for which he exhausts himself, to which his heart is attached.

(4.) The greatest of all his errors is that he does not seek to be rich in God, to be rich in the sight of God, which really makes us rich, Rev. 2:9; to be rich in divine things, to be rich in faith (James 2:5), to be rich in good works, the fruits of righteousness (1 Tim. 6:18), to be rich in grace, comfort and spiritual gifts. Many who have the riches of this world are completely destitute of that which truly enriches the soul, that which makes a man rich in God, rich for eternity.

2. The madness and misfortune of the worldly man: So it is with that... Our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows the end of everything, tells us what its end will be. Let us note, it is the unspeakable folly of the greater part of mankind to desire the treasures of this world more than the treasures of the other world; to think that everything temporary, necessary for the flesh, is more important than what is necessary for the soul and eternal life.

Verses 22-40

In this passage our Lord Jesus teaches His disciples some necessary and useful lessons. He had given them to them before, and subsequently took every opportunity to remind them of them, for they needed commandment upon commandment, rule upon rule: “Therefore, since many perish because of covetousness and excessive attachment to earthly wealth, I say to you, My disciples: beware of him.” But you, a man of God, flee from these things, and you also, a man of this world, 1 Tim. 6:11.

I. Christ commands not to burden yourself with restless worries about your livelihood: do not worry about your soul, v. 22. In the previous parable, He warned us against covetousness, which most threatens rich people, that is, against sensual pleasure in the abundance of worldly goods. The disciples might have thought that they were safe because they had no abundance or variety to boast about. Therefore, Christ warns them against another type of covetousness, to which those who have little in this world are most susceptible, to which His disciples belonged both before, and even more so now, when they left everything for the sake of Christ, namely: against excessive worries about necessary means. to existence. “Do not worry about your life, that is, about its preservation if it is in danger, nor about its necessary provision, about food or clothing, what you will eat or what you will wear.” This warning Christ has already dwelt upon at length (Matt. 6:2534), and here He uses the same arguments to urge us to cast all our cares upon God, as the surest way to get rid of them. Next we will consider:

1. God, who has done this great thing for us, will certainly do this little thing for us. God has given us soul and body without any care on our part, and therefore we can safely leave to Him the care of food to support our life and clothing to protect our body.

2. We can hope that God, who cares for the lower creatures, will also care for good Christians. “Trust God with the provision of food, for He also feeds the ravens (v. 24); they do not sow, nor reap, nor worry or worry prematurely about how to feed themselves, and yet they have food and do not perish because of its lack. Look how much better you are than the birds, better than the ravens. Trust God with the care of your clothing, for He clothes the lilies, v. 27, 28; they do not prepare anything for their clothing, do not work, do not spin, their roots in the ground are completely bare, ugly, however, when the flower grows, it is so amazingly beautiful! So, if God thus clothes the flowers that wither and die, much more will He clothe you with clothing suitable for you, according to your nature, just as He dresses flowers according to their nature.” When God fed the people of Israel with manna in the wilderness, He also provided for their clothing. Although He did not provide them with new clothes, yet He caused them to wear out the clothes they had, Deut. 8:4. This is how He will dress His spiritual Israel. Let us not be of little faith. Let us note that our excessive concern is a consequence of our weak faith. A strong practical faith in the all-sufficiency of God, in His covenantal fatherly relationship to us, and especially in His precious promises both in this life and in the next, is powerful, by the power of God, to destroy the strongholds of anxious, tormenting apprehensions and fears.

3. Our worries are fruitless, futile and meaningless, so it is foolish to indulge in them. They will not help us achieve what we want, and therefore should not disturb our peace of mind (v. 25): “And whoever of you, by caring, can add one cubit to his stature, can add to his life even one year or one hour? If you are not able to do such a small thing, if it is not in your power even to change your height, then why do you burden yourself with worries about what is beyond your strength, what should be entrusted to God? Let us note that it is wise on our part to accept our position, as well as our growth, as it is, making the best of it, for irritability and restlessness, dissatisfaction and concern will not improve it.

4. Excessive desire for the goods of this world, even necessary ones, is destructive for the disciples of Christ (v. 29, 30): “Whatever others do, do not seek what you can eat or drink, do not bother yourself with these worries, do not burden yourself with constant effort, do not run hither and thither, asking what you will eat or drink, like the enemies of David who wander to find food (Ps. 58:16), or like the eagle that looks for its food, Job. 39:29. It is not proper for the disciples of Christ to seek their bread in this way; they must ask God every day. They should not be doubtful, like atmospheric phenomena that change with every change in the direction of the wind; do not rise and fall like them, but maintain composure, be balanced and firm, confident in your heart. Don't live in troubled worries. Let your minds not rush between hope and fear, being in constant torment.” The children of God need not be alarmed, for:

(1.) This is to be like the men of this world: For all these things the men of this world seek, v. 30. They care only about the flesh, not about the soul, only about worldly things and nothing else, looking only for what they can eat and drink. Not knowing the almighty God to seek Him and trust in Him, they burden themselves with excessive worries about all this. But you shouldn't do that. You who are called out of this world must not be conformed to the world and walk in the way of this people” (Isa. 8:11, 12). When we are overwhelmed by excessive worries, ask yourself the question: “Who am I, a Christian or a pagan? If I am a Christian, if I am baptized, then should I stand on a par with the pagans and unite with them in their aspirations?

(2.) They have no need to worry about their livelihood, because they have a Father who cares and will care for them: “But your Father knows that you have need, and takes it into account; He will supply all your need according to His riches in glory, for I am your Father, He created you in need of this and therefore has compassion for your needs. Your Father, who watches over you and raises you, who has prepared an inheritance for you, will make sure that you lack nothing.”

(3.) They have something better to care for and strive for (v. 31): “Seek ye especially the kingdom of God, and be anxious about it; you, My disciples, who are to preach the Kingdom of God, give your hearts to this work, let your main concern be how best to fulfill it, and this will distract your thoughts from excessive worries about worldly things. Let all who need the salvation of their souls seek the Kingdom of God, for only in it will they be safe. Seek access to it, seek success in it, seek the kingdom of grace to be its citizens; kingdom of glory, to reign in it, and then all these things will be added to you. Deal with the affairs of your soul with diligence and diligence, and then God will take upon Himself all your other concerns.”

(4) They have something better to hope for: Fear not, little flock!... (v. 32). Freeing yourself from unnecessary worries is necessary in order to get rid of fears. Tormented by the premonition of impending disaster, we burden ourselves with worries about how to avoid it, while it may turn out to be just a figment of our own imagination. Therefore, fear not, little flock, but hope to the end, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. We do not find these words of consolation in the Gospel of Matthew. Note:

Christ's flock in this world is small, His sheep are few and weak. The church is a vineyard, a garden, a small speck compared to the vast wilderness of this world, just as Israel (1 Kings 20:27) was like two small herds of goats, while the Syrians filled the earth.

Although this flock is small, and its enemies greatly outnumber it, and therefore it is in danger of being overcome by them, yet Christ wants it not to be afraid: “Fear not, little flock, know that you are safe under the protection of and the guidance of the great and good Shepherd, so be calm.”

For everyone who belongs to the flock of Christ, God has prepared a kingdom, a crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4), a throne of power (Rev. 3:21), unsearchable riches far surpassing the earthly treasures of kings. The sheep on the right side will be invited to enter and inherit the Kingdom, which is theirs forever, each and every one of them.

The kingdom is given by God's good pleasure: It has been your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, not by duty, but by grace, by generous, sovereign grace. Hey, Father! for such was Thy good pleasure. This Kingdom belongs to Him, and cannot He do with His property as He pleases?

The prospects and hopes of the Kingdom must pacify and suppress the fears of Christ's little flock in this world. “Do not be afraid of trouble, for although it will come, it will not stand between you and the Kingdom of God, which is already close. (That is, no evil, the very thought of which makes us tremble, can separate us from the love of God.) Do not be afraid of lack of anything, for if your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom, you can be sure that He will carry along the way there are your burdens."

II. He commands them to make sure provision for their souls by laying up treasures in heaven, v. 33, 34. Those who do this can be calm about all the events of life.

1. “Be indifferent to this world, to everything that you have in it: sell your estates and give alms, that is, if you have nothing to help someone who is really in need, then sell the surplus of your estate, everything you can save for support yourself and your family, and give to the poor. Sell ​​your possessions if you see that they hinder your service to Christ. Do not think that you will be lost if you are fined, arrested, or banished for your testimony of Christ, so that you are forced to sell your property, even if it were your father's inheritance. Sell ​​not for the purpose of hoarding the proceeds or giving them away at interest, but to give alms. What is given as alms, and given properly, is placed in the most reliable custody and at the highest interest rates.

2. “Cleave your heart to the next world and turn away from this world. Prepare for yourselves sheaths that do not wear out, which do not become empty, sheaths filled not with gold, but with the virtues of the heart and the good deeds of life; such sheaths will be eternal.” Mercy will go with us to another world, for it is woven into our soul, and our good deeds will follow us, for God is not unrighteous to forget them. They will be our treasures in heaven that will enrich us for eternity.

(1) This treasure is inexhaustible, we can spend it all eternity, and it will not be exhausted, there is no danger of seeing its bottom.

(2) No one can steal this treasure from us, no thief will approach it, what is stored in heaven is inaccessible to enemies.

(3) This treasure does not become scarce when used and does not deteriorate during storage; moth does not spoil it, like our clothes that we now wear. From this it follows that we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven if our heart is in heaven while we are still here (v. 34), that is, if we think a lot about heaven, look to Heaven, encourage ourselves with hopes for Heaven and we are afraid not to achieve it. But if your heart is attached to the earth and to earthly things, then there is a danger that your treasure and your inheritance are here, and it will all perish when you leave them.

III. He exhorts his disciples to prepare and be ever ready for his coming, when all those who have laid up their treasures in heaven shall take possession of them, v. 35 ff.

1. Christ is our Master, and we are His servants, and not only working servants, but also those waiting for their Master, servants who should show Him honor by serving Him and listening to Him: Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me. Follow the Lamb wherever He goes. But that's not all, they must also honor Him by waiting for Him, waiting for His coming. We should be like people waiting for the Master, who stay up long and stay awake so that they can be ready to meet him, no matter how late he stays.

2. Christ, our Master, although he has left us, will soon return, return from the wedding, from the celebration of the marriage that took place outside the home, to finish it at home. Christ's servants are now in a state of anticipation, they are waiting for the appearance of the glory of their Master and they do everything with this in mind, and for this. He will come to test His servants, and since this will be the decisive day, they will either remain with Him or be cast out, depending on the condition in which He finds them on that day.

3. The time of our Master's return is unknown, it will happen at night, deep at night; He delays His coming so long that many have ceased to expect Him: in the second watch, about midnight, or in the third watch, just after midnight, v. 38. His coming to us, at our hour of death, is unknown, and for many it will be a great surprise: at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come (v. 40), without any preliminary messages. This speaks not only of the uncertainty of the time of His coming, but also of the carelessness of the majority of people, who do not think and pay absolutely no attention to the warnings given to them, so that whenever He comes, it will be at an hour in which they do not think .

4. Christ expects and requires of His servants that they should be ready to immediately open the door to Him whenever He comes (v. 36), that is, they must be ready to receive Him, or rather to be accepted by Him, so that He will find them, His servants, in proper condition: with girded loins (here is an allusion to slaves, ready to go wherever their master sends them, and to do whatever he commands them, whose long clothes are picked up, since otherwise they, hanging down, will fetter them movements) and meeting their master with burning lamps to give light to their master on the way to the house up to his upper room.

5. Blessed will be those servants who are found ready, in a proper state, when their Lord comes (v. 37): Blessed are those servants... who, after long waiting, will still wait until the hour of their Lord's coming, and will be found awake at the moment of His coming, will recognize His first approach and His first knock. And again (v. 38): blessed are those servants, for then the time of their exaltation will come. They will be given such honor as we are unlikely to find among men: He will make them sit down, and come and minister to them, v. 37. There is nothing unusual in the groom serving his bride at table. But serving your servants is not a human rule. However, Christ was a servant among His disciples and once served them, wanting to show His love and condescension: He girded and served them, washing their feet, John. 13:4, 5; this signifies the joy with which they will be received into the next world by the Lord Jesus, who went away first to prepare a place for them, and told them that His Father would honor them, Jonah 12:26.

6. Therefore, it is not given to us to know the exact time of His coming, so that we would be ready at any time, for the one who was ready for an attack, because he knew in advance the exact hour when it would happen, does not deserve praise: If the owner of the house had known, in what time will the thief come, then even if he were a careless person, he would have been awake and would have scared the thief away, v. 39. But we do not know at what hour the signal will be given to us, and therefore we must expect it at any time, always be on guard. Or these words may be applied to the unfortunate condition of those who are careless and do not believe in the reality of this great event. If the owner of the house had been informed of the danger of being robbed on such and such a night, he would not have gone to bed, but would have guarded his house; but we are warned that the coming of our Lord will be as unexpected as the coming of a thief to confuse and destroy careless sinners, and yet we do not watch as we should. If people take such care of their homes, then we too will be wise and take care of our souls. Therefore, be prepared just as the owner of the house would be ready to meet a thief if he knew the hour of his arrival.

Verses 41-53

I. Peter’s question to Christ regarding the previous parable (v. 41): “Lord! Are you speaking this parable to us, who constantly follow You, to Your servants, or to all who have come to learn from You, to all listeners, and through them to all Christians?” Peter now, as he often did, speaks for all the disciples. We must thank God that there are such brave people with the gift of speech; However, let such beware lest they become proud. Peter asks Christ to explain, to indicate what He intended to say with the previous parable. He calls it a parable because it was not just an allegory, but had a very important, deep, edifying meaning. “Lord,” says Peter, “does this apply to us or to everyone?” In the Gospel of Mark, Christ gives a direct answer: And what I say to you, I say to everyone, Mark. 13:37. But here He probably wants to show that this concerns mainly the apostles. Note, We must all apply to ourselves what Christ in His word intends for us: Do You say this to us? To me? Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. Does this word apply to me? Speak to my heart.

II. Christ's answer to this question is addressed to Peter and all the other disciples. If what Christ said before applied not only to them, but in general to all Christians as His servants, so that they would watch and pray for the coming of Christ, then His subsequent words apply especially to ministers, stewards in the house of Christ. So our Lord Jesus says to them:

1. What is their duty as stewards, and what commission is given them.

(1.) They are stewards in the house of God, subject to Christ, to whom the house belongs. Ministers received from Christ authority to preach the Gospel, administer the sacraments of Christ, and apply the seals of the covenant of grace.

(2) Their duty is to distribute to God's children and servants the measure of bread that is due to each, to admonish those who need to be taught, and to console those who need to be comforted. Suum cuique – to each his own. This means faithfully teaching the word of truth, 2 Tim. 2:15.

(3) To give all this in due time, at that time and in such a way as is most suitable to the condition and character of those nourished by the word; in due time to say a word to the weary.

(4) In this they were to show themselves faithful and prudent, faithful to their Master, who had entrusted them with this responsible task, and to their companions, for whose benefit they were performing it, and also prudent, using every opportunity to glorify their Master and serve His family. . Ministers must be both faithful and prudent.

2. How blessed will they be if they prove faithful and prudent (v. 43): Blessed is that servant...:

(1) Whoever does this, that is, is not lazy, does not indulge in idleness; stewards are to be workers, to be servants of all.

(2.) He that doeth this, doeth as he ought to do, giveth them their measure of bread, by the general preaching, and by the personal application thereof.

(3) Who will be found doing this when his Master comes, who will be faithful to the end, notwithstanding the difficulties that may come his way. The happiness of a conscientious servant may be likened to that of a steward, who has proved himself well in a low and limited service, and is worthy of a more honorable and responsible service (v. 44): he will set him over all his substance, as happened to Joseph, who was made over all the house of Pharaoh. Note, Ministers who have found the grace of God to be faithful to Him will receive still greater favor when they are richly rewarded for their faithfulness in the day of the Lord.

3. What terrible retribution awaits them if they turn out to be unfaithful, treacherous, v. 45, 46. If the servant is quarrelsome and wicked, he will be called to account and punished severe punishment. This has already been discussed in the Gospel of Matthew, and therefore here we will only consider the following:

(1) Our expectation of the second coming of Christ as an event remote from us in time is the cause of all those violations that make the thought of it terrible: He said in his heart: “My lord will not come soon.” Christ's patience is often misinterpreted as procrastination, which discourages His children and encourages His enemies.

(2.) The persecutors of God's people are generally inclined to carelessness and voluptuousness, they beat their fellows, eat and drink with drunkards, showing complete indifference to their sins and to the sufferings of their brothers, as the king and Haman sat and drank, and the city of Susa was in turmoil . They drink to drown out the cry of their own conscience and to mislead those who would otherwise spit in their faces.

(3) A terrible end and severe punishment await all evil people, but especially evil ministers. It will be unexpected for them, at an hour when they do not think. For them it will be a decree of eternal suffering; they will be cut up and suffer the same fate as the infidels.

4. How their sin and punishment will be aggravated by the fact that they knew their duty and did not do it (v. 47, 48): And the servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, was beaten will be many, he will be subjected to a more severe punishment; and whoever did not know and did something worthy of punishment, the bit will be less, his punishment, taking into account his ignorance, will be mitigated. Here Christ probably has in mind the law distinguishing between sins committed in ignorance and willful sins (Num. 15:29, 30; Lev. 5:15), and also the law regarding the number of stripes given to the criminal according to his crime , Deut. 25:2, 3. So,

(1.) Ignorance of duty partly excuses sin. Anyone who did not know the will of the master due to his carelessness and negligence, and also because he did not have the same opportunity as others to know it, and did something worthy of punishment, will be beaten, because he could have known his duty better, but less , since his ignorance partially excuses him, although not completely. Thus, out of ignorance, the Jews crucified Christ (Acts 3:17; 1 Cor. 2:8), and on this basis He comes out in their defense: Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

(2) Knowledge of duty aggravates sin: But the servant who knew the will of his master... will receive many beatings. God will justly punish him more severely for the misuse of the knowledge which He gave him, and which someone else could have used better, since it shows his great self-will and neglect of the sin against knowledge; What more painful punishment will he then receive than the numerous blows that his own conscience will inflict on him! Son, remember. Here the reason for such severity is indicated: whoever has been entrusted with a lot will be exacted more, especially if it is entrusted as a debt, for the fulfillment of which he must give an account. Much is entrusted to the one who is endowed to a greater extent than others mental abilities, knowledge and education, who is more knowledgeable in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures; such people will be required to report accordingly.

III. Christ's further discourse is about His own suffering, which He expected, and about the suffering of His followers - He would like them too to live in anticipation of suffering. In general (v. 49): I have come to bring down fire on the earth... Some understand by this the preaching of the Gospel and the outpouring of the Spirit, holy fire. Christ came to send him to cleanse the world, to remove impurities from it, to burn the straw, and this fire has already been kindled. The Gospel began to be preached, some introduction to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had already taken place. Christ baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, and subsequently this Spirit descended in the form of tongues of fire. However, as follows from the further context, it is more correct to understand this as the fire of persecution. It is not Christ who is the culprit of these persecutions, but the sin of the instigators, the persecutors, but He allows them, moreover, He appoints them as a cleansing fire to test those being persecuted. This fire has already kindled in the form of the enmity of the carnal Jews towards Christ and His followers. “How I wish D would have already ignited! Whatever you do, do it quickly. If it is already on fire, what will I do? Will I wait for it to go out? No, for it must embrace Me and everyone, and it will contribute to the glory of God.”

1. He himself must suffer much, he must go through this fire, which has already been kindled: I must be baptized with baptism, v. 50. In Ps. 65:12 and 68:2, 3 tribulations are likened to fire and water. Christ's suffering is both fire and water. He calls them baptism (Matt. 20:22), for he was watered or sprinkled with them, as the people of Israel were baptized in the cloud, and immersed in them, as the people of Israel were baptized in the sea, 1 Cor. 10:2. He was to be sprinkled with His own Blood and the blood of His enemies, Isa. 63:3. Notice here:

(1) Christ's foreknowledge of His sufferings. He knew what he would be subject to, and he knew the necessity of it: I must be baptized with Baptism. He calls His sufferings with a word that softens their meaning: it is baptism, not a flood, I must be immersed in it, but I will not be drowned. This word also sanctifies suffering, for baptism is a word that sanctifies it; baptism is a sacred rite. Christ by His sufferings dedicated Himself to the glory of God and sanctified Himself to be a Priest forever, Heb. 7:27, 28.

(2) Christ's readiness to suffer: how I yearn until this is accomplished! Looking upon the glorious result of His sufferings, Christ longed passionately for the time when He would suffer and die. This is an allusion to the labor pains of a woman who suffers in order to be resolved, and readily accepts this suffering, because it brings the birth of the child closer, and wants it to be sharp and strong so that this work can be completed as quickly as possible. The sufferings of Christ were the torments of His soul, which He joyfully endured in the hope of seeing His posterity, Isa. 53:10, 11. So eager was His heart for the redemption and salvation of mankind.

2. Christ tells those around Him that they too will have to endure hardships and trials (v. 51): “Do you think that I have come to give peace to the earth... to give you a peaceful dominion over the earth, and outward prosperity on the earth?” These words of Christ mean that they were ready to think so; moreover, they believed that the Gospel would be met with universal approval, that people would unanimously welcome it and therefore would try to make the preachers of the Gospel wealthy and great people, what if Christ did not give them wealth and power, then at least give them peace. These concepts found support in various places The Old Testament, speaking about peace in the Kingdom of the Messiah, by which they meant the external world. “No,” said Christ, “you are mistaken. Events will develop in the opposite direction, do not indulge yourself with illusions. You will see

(1.) That the preaching of the gospel will cause division.” Not because the purpose of the Gospel and its tendency is not to unite all the sons of men with each other, to akin them with holy love; if everyone accepted the Gospel, this is exactly what would happen. But since there are many people who not only do not want to accept the Gospel, but also oppose it, people whom the preaching of the Gospel irritates and those who accept it enrage, then it turns out to be, if not a reason, then a reason for division. While the strong man with weapons guarded his home in the pagan world, his estate was safe, everything was calm, for everyone walked the same path: philosophers of different movements, admirers of different deities got along quite peacefully with each other. But when the Gospel was preached and many were enlightened by it and turned from the power of Satan to God, then the calm coexistence was disturbed, there was noise and movement, Ezek. 37:7. Some separated by accepting the Gospel, while others violently took up arms against them. Moreover, among those who have accepted the Gospel, there may be different opinions on unimportant issues, which usually causes divisions. And Christ allows this for holy purposes (1 Cor. 11:18), that Christians may learn and practice mutual forbearance in their lives, Rom. 14:1, 2.

(2.) "That this division should penetrate into individual families, the preaching of the Gospel will give rise to discord among the nearest relatives" (v. 53): The father will be against the son, and the son against the father... when one is converted to Christianity and the other is not , because he who is converted will endeavor to convert another by his testimony and kindness, 1 Cor. 7:16. Paul, immediately after his conversion, spoke and contended with the Hellenists, Acts. 9:29. He who continues to live in unbelief will be irritated, hate and persecute the one who, with his faith and obedience, testifies against him and condemns his unbelief and disobedience. The spirit of fanaticism and persecution will destroy the strongest ties of kinship and natural affection; see Mat. 10:35; 24:7. Even mothers and daughters can become enemies because of faith, so that those who do not believe will be so cruel that they will deliver into the hands of bloodthirsty persecutors those who have believed, although they are very near and dear to them. In the Acts of the Holy Apostles we find that wherever the Gospel came, persecution began, many opponents appeared, and considerable rebellion arose against the way of the Lord. Therefore, let not the disciples of Christ expect peace for themselves on this earth, for they are sent out like sheep among wolves.

Verses 54-59

Having taught His disciples a lesson in the previous verses, Christ turns to the people and gives lessons for them, v. 54. He also told the people. He preached ad populum to the people, as well as ad clerum to the clergy. Christ wants them to be as wise in spiritual matters as they are in earthly ones. He teaches two lessons to them.

I. They must learn to discern the ways of the Lord concerning them, that they may prepare themselves accordingly. They knew how to forecast the weather and, by observing the winds and clouds, predict when it would rain and when it would be hot, v. 54, 55; According to their forecast, they either collected hay and bread, or scattered it, or were or were not going to travel. Even regarding changes in the weather, God Himself gives us warning of what will happen and has endowed us with the art of determining it with the help of a barometer. Forecasting, to which reference is made here, begins with repeated observations of cause-and-effect relationships: based on what has happened, we can guess what will happen. This is the benefit of life experience: by taking notes about what is happening, we can predict the future. Every sensible person is watching the crowd. Notice now:

1. Some of these omens: “When you see a cloud rising from the west (the Jews usually say from beyond the sea), even if at first it is no larger than the palm of a man (1 Kings 18:44), then you say that it brings rain, and this is confirmed. And when you notice that the south wind is blowing, you say: “It will be hot,” and usually it is. However, nature is not limited to such connections, so sometimes we are mistaken in our predictions.

2. From this Christ concludes (v. 56): “You are hypocrites, thinking yourselves wise, but in reality you are not. You say that you are waiting for the Messiah and His Kingdom (most Jews were waiting for Him), but you are completely disinclined to accept Him. How can you not recognize this time? How can you not see that, according to the signs indicated by the Old Testament prophets, now is the time for the Messiah to appear and that, according to all these signs, I am the Messiah? Why don’t you understand that you are now presented with an opportunity to gain God’s Kingdom with its privileges that will not soon be presented to you again, and perhaps will never present itself?” Now is the time, it's now or never. The madness and misfortune of man is that he does not recognize his time, Eccl. 9:12. The grief of the people of that generation was that they did not know the time of their visit, Luke. 19:44. But the heart of a wise man knows both the time and the rules. So wise were the sons of Issachar, who knew what they should do when, 1 Chron. 12:32. Christ adds: “Why don’t you judge for yourself what should happen, even if you didn’t have loud signals? (v. 57). You are not only foolish and careless in matters relating exclusively to God's revelations, and do not understand the signs it gives you, but you also do not understand the instructions of light and the law of nature. Christianity has reason and natural conscience on its side, and if people took advantage of the freedom to judge what should be, they would very soon be convinced of the correctness of Christ’s instructions regarding all things, that there is nothing more just in itself and It is more fitting for us to submit to these instructions and be guided by them.

II. They must hurry to make peace with God before it is too late, v. 58. Christ spoke these words on another occasion, see Mat. 5:25, 26.

1. We consider ourselves wise when, in our earthly affairs, we are reconciled with someone with whom we are unable to compete, we are reconciled with our rival on the most favorable terms possible, before we are denied the right to do so and are subjected to a harsh judgment: “When you go with your rival to the authorities to whom the complaint has been filed, and you know that your opponent has an advantage against you and you are threatened with prison, then you understand that the most prudent thing is to come to an agreement among yourself; then on the road try to free yourself from him, achieve reconciliation and avoid trial and punishment under the law.” A reasonable person will not take a quarrel to extremes, but will settle it in a timely manner.

2. Let us do the same in matters concerning our soul. With our sins we have made God our rival, caused His displeasure, and on His side there is truth and power, so it is pointless to compete with Him in court or in battle. Christ, to whom judgment is committed, is the ruler, and we must appear before Him. And when we appear before His court and insist on our own righteousness, the case will certainly turn against us, the judge will hand us over to the torturer, the executor of His just sentence, and we will be thrown into prison, where the entire debt will be exacted from us; although we will not be able to pay in full, we will be constantly required to pay every last penny, which will not happen for all eternity. The sufferings of Christ were brief, but the value of these sufferings made them quite sufficient. The suffering of condemned sinners, without sufficient value, must last forever. Taking into account all that has been said, let us make every effort to free ourselves from the hands of God as a rival and surrender ourselves into His hands as a Father while we are on the road, which is especially emphasized here. While we are alive, we are on the road, now is our time to, through repentance and faith, settle the quarrel through Christ (Who is not only the boss, but also the Intercessor), while it is possible, before it is too late. God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself and gave us the word of reconciliation. Let us take hold of the hand of the Lord, which is extended to us with this blessed offer, to be reconciled, and make peace (Isa. 27:4, 5), for we cannot go together until we are agreed.

1 Meanwhile, when thousands of people had gathered together, so that they crowded one another, He began to say first to His disciples: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be known.
3 Therefore what you said in the darkness will be heard in the light; and what was spoken in the ear within the house will be proclaimed on the housetops.
4 But I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then are unable to do anything more;
5 But I will tell you whom to fear: fear the one who, after killing, can cast into Gehenna: I tell you, fear him.
6 Are not five small birds sold for two assars? and not one of them is forgotten by God.
7 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid: you are worth more than many small birds.
8 But I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess it before the angels of God;
9 But whoever denies Me before men will be rejected before the angels of God.
10 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; and whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 But when they bring you before the synagogues, before the principalities and powers, do not worry how or what to answer, or what to say;
12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say.
13 One of the people said to Him: Teacher! tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.
14 And he said to the man, “Who made me a judge or a divider between you?”
15 At this he said to them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions.
16 And he told them a parable: A certain rich man had a good harvest in his field;
17 And he reasoned with himself: What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits?
18 And he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and all my goods,
19 And I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of good things lying around for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.
20 But God said to him: You fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared?
21 So happens with that He who stores up treasures for himself and not in God grows rich.
22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
23 The soul is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
24 Look at the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; They have neither storehouses nor granaries, and God feeds them; How much better are you than the birds?
25 And which of you, by caring, can add even one cubit to his height?
26 So, if you cannot do the least, why are you anxious about the rest?
27 Look at the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you that Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them.
28 But if God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, how much more so than you, O you of little faith!
29 So do not seek what you will eat or what you will drink, and do not be anxious;
30 For all these things the people of this world seek; but your Father knows that you have need;
31 Seek above all else the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.
32 Fear not, little flock! for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.
33 Sell your possessions and give alms. Prepare for yourselves sheaths that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys,
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning.
36 And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open the door to him.
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds watching; Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them.
38 And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them like this, then blessed are those servants.
39 You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
40 Be therefore ready, for at an hour when you do not think, the Son of Man will come.
41 Then Peter said to Him: Lord! Are you speaking this parable to us, or to everyone?
42 And the Lord said, Who is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master hath appointed over his servants, to distribute to them in due season a measure of bread?
43 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing this.
44 Truly I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
45 But if that servant says in his heart, “My master will not come soon, and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, and eat and drink and get drunk, -
46 Then the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect, and at an hour when he does not think, and will cut him in pieces, and subject him to the same fate as the unbelievers.
47 But that servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten many times;
48 But he who did not know, and did something worthy of punishment, will receive less punishment. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him more will be required.
49 I came to bring down fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 I must be baptized with baptism; and how I languish until this is accomplished!
51 Do you think that I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division;
52 For from now on five in one house will be divided, three against two, and two against three.