About the parables of the Lord
Our Lord Jesus Christ, during His earthly life, often taught the people with words and deeds that were filled with love and mercy; and out of His love for us He Himself accepted suffering and death for us. He said that offenses must be forgiven, and He Himself prayed for those on the cross. who crucified Him. He explained God's commandments to those who listened to Him, taught them to pray, and promised eternal life to those who would believe in Him and follow Him. The people followed Jesus; there were men, women, and children, people of all ages, of all conditions, rich and poor, learned and unlearned.
Jesus Christ wanted everyone to understand His teaching, and for this purpose He often presented His teaching in parables, that is, in allegorical stories and
similarities borrowed from ordinary life - from the most simple and well-known objects. You will easily understand this by reading a few parables.
Here is the first one, told by the Evangelist Matthew.
PARABLE
about the house built on stone and about the house built on sand
Matthew 7:24-27
Jesus Christ once said; “Not everyone who says to me: Lord! God! He who does the will of My Father in heaven will enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Then He spoke the following parable:
“Everyone who hears My words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on rock.”
“But everyone who hears My words and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”
“And the rain fell, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and its fall was great.” Anyone who has seen how a house is built knows that the firmer and deeper its foundation, the stronger it will be, the better it will withstand storms, winds and floods. The same thing happens to a person: in life he has to fight temptations, disasters and dangers; and only then will he stand against them, and will he establish his life on a solid and unshakable foundation. This foundation is faith in God and obedience to His commandments.
A person who is a true believer always keeps in mind the commandments of the Lord, and this helps him to stand firmly on the path of truth; in all his affairs he acts in accordance with them and subjugates his own will. If he is rich, then, loving his neighbor, as the Lord commanded, he uses his wealth for good and useful deeds, and does not live only to please himself; if he is poor, then he tries to support himself and his family with honest work and will more willingly endure a lack than agree to act dishonestly, remembering that every dishonorable deed, lie and deception is disgusting to God. He is not easily tempted by frivolous advice and bad example, because he is accustomed to following the commandments of the Lord. Whether misfortune or suffering befalls him, he does not fall into despondency and does not complain, but with good spirits tries to overcome disasters or endures them with patience, being confident that God Himself sends suffering and sorrows for the benefit of the soul. In a moment of danger, he does not give in to despair, knowing that a person’s life and death are in the hands of God. Finally, at the very hour of death, faith strengthens him, pointing him to a future life. He knows that God will not abandon His mercy to those who tried to do His will on earth.
But this is not a person who does not live in accordance with the commandments of God, but is accustomed to following his own will. He does not know how to resist temptations. Bad example and bad advice often lead him astray from his good path. If such a person is rich, he lives more for himself, spends his time in idleness and vain pleasures, without thinking about his duties. If he has fallen into poverty, then, out of unaccustomment to work, he often decides to do dishonest things in order to get money and, having obtained it, spend it on trifles and for his own pleasure instead of helping his family with it. In distress, he becomes despondent and is not far from despair. Such a person is pitiful; his acquaintances and comrades despise him for his frivolity, because, as they say, he goes where the wind blows; his word cannot be trusted, his promise cannot be relied upon. He brings no benefit to his family; on the contrary, sometimes it becomes a burden to himself. He feels in his heart that he is not living as he should, but does not have enough strength and courage to repent from the fullness of his heart and begin new life. Happy is he if he meets a pious man who encourages him kind words and with advice and assure him that the Lord helps every sincerely repentant sinner when he turns to the path of virtue.
All of us, of course, would like to become honest, straightforward people and firm believers. To do this, from an early age one must acquire the habit of following the Lord’s commandments in everything, before each task asking oneself whether it is good and pleasing to God, and in general doing not as one wants, but as one should. We must try to have power over our own will in order to control it; if it controls a person, then sometimes it carries him away where he should not.
Let us ask God for strength and strength, repeating the song that is sung in church during the first week of Lent:
“On the immovable, Christ, the stone of Your commandments, establish my thoughts!”
“Solid my heart, O Lord, on the rock of Your commandments, for the Lord alone is holy!”
PARABLE
about the sower
Matthew 13:8 - 23; Mark 4:1 - 20; Luke 8:4–15
Jesus Christ was on the shore of Lake Gennesaret; a multitude of people surrounded Him. He entered the boat and from there began to speak the following parable.
“The sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and birds came and devoured it.” “Some fell on a rocky place where there was little soil, and soon sprang up, because it was not deep in the ground, but it burned from the heat of the sun and, having no roots, withered.”
“Some fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew and choked the seed.”
“Some fell on good soil and brought forth fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred.”
When the apostles asked Jesus Christ about the meaning of this parable, He explained it to them this way:
“The seed is the word of God.”
“Those sown by the wayside signify those in whom the word of God is sown, but to whom the devil immediately comes and snatches away the word sown in their hearts.”
The Word of the Lord must bear fruit in our hearts, that is, arouse faith and zeal for the fulfillment of all Christian duties; but just as a seed that falls along the road does not grow, so a word taken without attention does not bring any benefit, it is immediately forgotten; Jesus Christ said that the devil takes him away, but the evil one has power only over those who themselves allow him to come to them through their sins, laziness and inattention to prayer and the word of the Lord. If we begin to fight against evil, listen carefully to the teaching of Christ and try to fulfill it, the good seed will take root in our hearts, and the devil will not be able to steal it.
“Those sown on rocky ground,” Jesus continued, “mean those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but the word of God takes no root in them; At times they believe, but at times of temptation they fall away.”
All of us for the most part We listen with joy to the word of the Lord. But this is not enough: one must be ready to fulfill God’s law even if this would mean being subjected to hardship, labor and suffering.
In former times, when the Christian faith was not yet established, Jews and pagans cruelly persecuted Christians. They were imprisoned and imprisoned, separated from their families, tortured and killed. But even at the same time, they did not agree to renounce Christ, endured suffering with patience and went to death, rejoicing that they could thereby prove their loyalty to God. We honor the memory of these sufferers and honor them as saints. Now there are no longer obvious persecutions of Christians, but every day there are cases when we can prove whether we are faithful to God. We are faithful to Him if we prefer the fulfillment of His commandments to any benefit, to any pleasure. We are faithful to Him if we endure disasters and suffering with patience, knowing that they are sent to us by His will. If, on the contrary, we act against His commandments in order to obtain some benefit or pleasure, or in order to avoid danger and labor, then we become one of those who believe at times, but fall away when tempted.
Not only adults, but also every small child can prove whether he is faithful to God, because everyone has his own responsibilities according to his strength. About those children who study lazily, who do not follow the orders of their parents or, out of fear of punishment, tell lies and hide their guilt, about those children it cannot be said that they love God and are faithful to Him.
“And the seed that fell among the thorns,” says Christ, “means those who hear the word, but then it is drowned out in them by worries, wealth and worldly pleasures and does not bear fruit.”
These are those for whom earthly worries, vain affairs and pleasures of life words are more important Christ's. In church they listen to the word of the Lord, but then indulge in a vain life and empty amusements, not trying to overcome their sinful inclinations. That is why everything bad takes root in their hearts and drowns out everything good, just as bad grass drowns out good grass. “And what was sown on good soil,” the Lord finally said, explaining the parable, “means those in whose hearts the word sown is kept pure and bears abundant fruit.”
This is how it should be with the word of God sown in our hearts. If we try to drive away all bad thoughts from ourselves, if we earnestly ask God to help our good intentions, then the word of God will bear rich fruits in us. The habit of goodness will take root and strengthen. Every day we will be more and more corrected from our sins, become better, patiently endure the suffering and hardships sent to us by the will of God, and actively and lovingly fulfill the commandments of the Lord.
PARABLE
about seed and tares
Matthew 13: 24 – 30, 36 – 43
After the parable of the sower, Jesus Christ offered the people a parable about the seed and the tares. “The kingdom of heaven,” He said, “is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.”
“The man’s enemy came at night, sowed tares among the wheat, and left. When the greenery sprang up and the fruit appeared, then the tares also appeared. Seeing this, the servants said to the owner: “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did the tares come from?”
He answered them. “The enemy man did it.” “Would you like to order,” said the servants, “we will go and pull out the tares?”
“But the owner objected: no, by pulling out the tares, you can also pull out the wheat. Leave both to grow until the harvest; And at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather first the tares and bind them and the sheaves to burn them, and put the wheat into my barn.”
Jesus Christ Himself explained this parable. He said that this will happen at the end of the age, when evil and good people (tares and wheat) will gather at the Last Judgment; the wicked will be condemned and the good will be rewarded. The master did not allow his slaves to pull out the tares. This indicates the long-suffering and mercy of the Lord, who does not want to destroy the sinner, but gives him time for repentance and correction.. It is not always in this life that the sinner is punished and the righteous rewarded; we often see that to an evil person his enterprises succeed, and that the good one, on the contrary, suffers suffering and misfortune. But a believer will never be embarrassed by this, because faith helps to endure disasters with patience and hope in the mercy of God, Who future life He will reward everyone according to their deeds.
In this parable, the Lord again speaks of a sower who sowed seed in his field. The good seed is sown in all of us; we are all Christians, and the Gospel has been preached to us. Why are we not all good, but sometimes we are evil, ungrateful, and disobedient to the will of the Lord? Jesus Christ explained this by saying that the devil sowed his seed of evil right where the seed of good was sown. But we should not forget that the devil has power only over those who willingly indulge in evil and do not try to fight against it.
Here we can again repeat the comparison used by the Lord. Look at a field that belongs to a hardworking peasant who cultivates his land well. For him, the sown seed grows well, while for a careless and negligent owner, the seed grows poorly and the field is overgrown with grass. This happens with us too: if we try to become better, eradicate bad habits in ourselves and accustom ourselves to everything good, then the word of God will take root in us and grow well; but if we lazily look after ourselves, then the devil will take advantage of our laziness and carelessness to sow his tares on us too, and they will take root, drowning out the disposition to good. Let us try to fight against evil, against our own evil will, to move away from bad examples and to be more with good people, who, by doing good themselves, can teach us good.
Let us also try not to set a bad example for others: this great sin. Our sinful deeds, and sometimes even an idle word, can seduce our neighbor, and then we will be like the evil one who sows tares in the field. On the contrary, he who gives good advice and teaches good things helps Christ, who sows good seed.
PARABLE
about mustard seed
Matthew 13:31 – 32
Jesus Christ once compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed that a man sowed in his field. It is smaller than all the seeds, but it produces a large and tall plant so that the birds of the air fly and take refuge in its branches. With this parable, Jesus Christ pointed out the power of the gospel teaching. At first it was preached to a small number of people, but soon it spread throughout the whole earth and destroyed false teachings that existed until then. Just as a tree gives protection and shelter to the birds of the air, so the Christian faith gives strength and consolation to all who accept it.
What has happened throughout the whole earth is happening in our hearts. Having established themselves in them, the Christian teaching destroys with its power bad thoughts, evil and vices. Just as a small grain has the power to produce a tall and fruitful tree, so does the word of the Lord, accepted with a pure heart, takes root in it and bears fruit, that is, Christian virtues: faith, love for God and neighbor, patience and mercy. At first, goodness begins in us in a barely noticeable way; but if we constantly pray to God for help and at the same time begin to carefully monitor ourselves so that we do not transgress the law of God either in word or deed, then the good beginning will take root and grow in us.
PARABLE
about a treasure hidden in a field
Matthew 13:44
And Jesus Christ compared the kingdom of heaven with a treasure hidden in the field. The man, having found this treasure, joyfully sold all his property and bought that field.
And for all of us there is a treasure that is more precious than all the riches, all the blessings in the world. We could not achieve it by any effort if Jesus Christ Himself, out of His love, did not help us. He delivers it to us at the dear price of His suffering. This treasure is eternal life. Jesus Christ Himself suffered and died to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.
This is the treasure - faith in God. Faith is more precious and necessary than all possible earthly blessings; it is joy and consolation in this life and the path to eternal life.
Life is eternal! - this is what awaits us after our difficult and short-lived earthly life! This is the reward prepared by the all-good Lord! How short is earthly life! Meanwhile, don’t we all willingly work to arrange and decorate it? How many people in their youth work and labor in order to achieve a calm and comfortable old age! But the earthly future is very uncertain; none of us knows whether he will live to see tomorrow. The future beyond the grave, the eternal, is certain; she is either eternal joy or eternal torment; Let's take care of her. Let us try to live as the Lord commanded, and let us continually pray to God that He will arrange our afterlife according to His goodness.
PARABLE
about the seine
Matthew 13: 47 – 50
“The kingdom of heaven,” Jesus said, “is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of all kinds.” He was pulled ashore; The good fish were collected in vessels, and the small ones were thrown out. So it will be at the end of the age: angels will appear, separate the wicked from the righteous, and cast the wicked into the fiery furnace.”
PARABLE
about the merciless debtor
Matthew 18:21 – 35
The “Our Father” prayer, which each of us repeats daily morning and evening, was given to us, as we know, by Jesus Christ Himself. In it, by the way, we ask God to forgive us our sins. “And forgive us our debts (sins), we say and add: “Just as we forgive our debtors.” If we do not forgive those who have sinned against us, then we cannot expect the Lord to forgive us our sins. So, we should beware of anger, make peace with our comrades, our own, if we happen to have a quarrel with them, forgive their offenses and remember that God will not hear the prayers of someone who, coming to church, retains anger or rancor against his neighbor. To explain this truth, Jesus once told the following parable: “A servant was brought to a certain king who owed him ten thousand talents (a talent means an amount of more than one thousand two hundred silver rubles). Since that servant had nothing with which to pay the debt, the king ordered him, his wife, his children, and everything he had to be sold to pay the debt. But that slave threw himself on his knees and said: “Sovereign! Be patient with me, I’ll pay you everything.” The Emperor, having mercy, released him and forgave him the entire debt. After this, the servant met his comrade, who owed him one hundred denarii, that is, much less than what he himself owed the king. He grabbed his comrade and began to beat him, demanding payment of the debt. His comrade fell at his feet and, begging, said: “Be patient with me, I will give you everything.” But he didn’t want to listen and put him in prison.
The king was told about this incident. Then the king, calling a servant, says to him: “Evil servant! I forgave you the entire debt because you begged me; Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your comrade, just as I had mercy on you?” And, angry, the sovereign ordered him to be tortured until he repaid his debt. “So,” added Jesus, “my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother his sins from the heart.”
Of course, the king acted justly when he punished the one who, having received mercy and forgiveness, did not have mercy or forgive himself. Let us remember that no matter how much our neighbor may offend us, he is still not as sinful against us as we are all sinful against the Lord God. We are annoyed when someone offends us, and especially if a person to whom we have rendered a benefit or service offends us. Let us remember how many innumerable benefits God has shown us. He created the earth and everything on it for man; He gave us life with all its blessings; no matter how sinful we are, the Lord Jesus Christ, having loved us, came down to earth to teach us the will of the Lord, and finally accepted suffering and death in order to save us from eternal condemnation and give those who believe in Him eternal bliss. And, despite all these blessings, we constantly offend the Lord God with our sins.
Let us begin to pray to Him for our correction, and at the same time we will forgive those who have offended us, in order to ask God for mercy with greater hope. Jesus Christ said that captivity will be done to us as we do to others. “Forgive your neighbors,” He said, “and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.
PARABLES
about the good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37
One day a lawyer came to Jesus Christ and said: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him: “What is written in the law? What do you read in it? He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him “You answered correctly; do this and you will receive eternal life.” But the lawyer asked Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?” To this Jesus said: “A certain man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and was caught by robbers, who took off his clothes, wounded him and left, leaving him barely alive. By chance, a priest was walking along that road and, seeing him, passed by. Likewise, the Levite, passing through the place, came up, looked, and passed by. Finally, a Samaritan rode up to him and took pity on him. He bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, put him on his donkey, brought him to the inn and took care of him. The next day, as he was leaving, he gave money to the innkeeper and said to him: “Take care of him, and if you spend anything on top of this, I will give it to you when I return.” “Which,” asked Jesus, “of the three, was the neighbor to the one who fell into the hands of the robbers?” “Of course, who helped him,” answered the lawyer. Then Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
It should be noted that some Jews considered it their duty to love only their friends and only help them, but they hated their enemies, as we often do. But Jesus Christ gave us a different law. He said: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who insult you, and as you want people to do to you, do so to them.”
The Samaritans were at enmity with the Jews, but despite this, one Samaritan helped the unfortunate Jew. Let us learn from this parable that we must love all people, and let us ask God to help us maintain love even for those who themselves do not love us and are ready to do us harm. Let us remember the commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we have the opportunity to help someone, then there is no point in asking whether he is our friend or foe, good or evil, compatriot or stranger. No matter who he is, he is our neighbor, our brother, and we should gladly help him in any way we can: with money, if we have it, good advice, labor or participation.
By giving help to our neighbor, we give to God Himself. Jesus Christ said: “Whatever you do to one of the least of My brothers, that you do to Me.” By the words “My least brothers” He meant all the unfortunate people in need of help.
PARABLE
about the barren fig tree
Luke 13:6-9
In many parables, Jesus Christ spoke about the long-suffering and mercy of God, about the fact that the Heavenly Father does not desire the death of the sinner, but his correction, and is always ready to accept the repentant. “One man,” He said, “had a fig tree in his garden (a fig tree is the name given to one fruit tree, which we do not have and which grows in Palestine). He came to look for fruit on it and did not find it. Then he said to the gardener: “This is the third year I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have not found it; cut it down: what is its place for?” The gardener objected to him: “Sir, leave her for this year too; I will dig it up and cover it with manure; and if it bears fruit, then good, but if not, then we will cut it down.” A fig tree that does not bear fruit means people who live without faith in God, without love for Him and their neighbor, without repentance for their sins, in whose hearts, therefore, the word of the Lord does not bear fruit. But the Lord is long-suffering and merciful. He is in no hurry to condemn the sinner, loving all people and wanting their correction. He gave them His word. He Himself suffered and died for them. He continually offers them different means for correction, sends them via good people advice and example, gives them the opportunity to learn goodness, in various ways calls them to Himself. To others He gives many blessings and waits to see if these mercies will awaken in them love and gratitude; He tests others with suffering so that they turn to Him as their only comforter. But if all this does not produce an effect, and the sinner does not repent and does not correct himself, if he does not want to go to the call of the Savior, then, after his death, he will be brought to strict judgment and will accept punishment for his evil deeds.
PARABLE
about the rich man
Luke 12:16-21
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world, was born in poverty. He often said that one should not become attached to earthly wealth, but should be concerned about acquiring eternal wealth. After death, our wealth will not help us, but good deeds and good feelings will remain with us in eternal life. It often happens that a person, having become attached with all his heart to his wealth, forgets God and His commandments and lives only to please himself; this is a great sin. Jesus Christ warned His disciples against this, saying: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.” “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be (Matthew 6: 10-21). Once, to warn, Jesus Christ offered this parable: “A certain rich man had a good harvest in the field; and he reasoned with himself: I have nowhere to gather my fruits; I will tear down my barns and build a larger one, and I will gather there all my bread and all my goods, and I will say to my soul: “Soul! You have a lot of goods lying around for many years; rest, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him: “You fool! Death will come to you this very night, and then what will happen to your wealth? This is what happens to those who accumulate treasures for themselves, and not for God, and become rich. To be rich in God means to be rich in feelings and deeds pleasing to God. If the person described in the parable were rich in Christian virtues, then, having received a good income, he would not think only about himself, but would also remember about his neighbors who are in need. Faith and love for God and neighbor, this is the wealth that would follow him after his death and would help him “to give a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ,” which, as you know, we pray for daily, and more than once, in churches.
PARABLE
about the marriage of the Tsarev's son
Matthew 22:1 - 14
at another time, wanting to expose the stubbornness of the Jews, their disregard for the good deeds of God and attachment to earthly goods, Jesus Christ said the following parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who held a feast on the occasion of the marriage of his son. He sent his slaves to invite guests to the feast, but those invited did not want to come. Then the king sent other slaves to tell them that the feast was ready and that they should go. But they neglected the invitation and went, some to the field, and others to their trade, and others even seized the slaves they had sent and killed them. The king, hearing about this, became angry, sent an army, destroyed the murderers and burned their city.”
“After this the king said to his servants: The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; Therefore, go to the crossroads and invite everyone whom you find to the wedding feast.”
“The slaves went out onto the road and gathered everyone they met, both evil and good, and the feast was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at his guests, he saw one man who was not wearing wedding clothes, and said to him; “My friend, how did you come here without wearing wedding clothes?” He was silent. Then the king ordered the servants, having tied his hands and feet, to drive him out, saying: “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
The meaning of this parable is as follows. The king who made the feast is God the Father; the son of kings is the incarnate Son of God, whose bride is the Church. The wedding feast is the table of gospel teaching and saving sacraments offered through Christ. The Jews were invited to this feast through the prophets and apostles before all nations, but temporary blessings distracted them from accepting the law of Christ and from the promised bliss; they even often cursed at the messengers of God and killed them. Therefore God sent against them roman army which destroyed them; and their city Jerusalem, together with its temple, turned into a heap of ashes and stones. When the Jews did not want to take advantage of the mercies of the Lord and only a few of them believed in Christ, then the Lord commanded the apostles to go to all the countries of the universe and preach the word of the Lord to all the pagans.
Through the Gospel, the Lord God calls us all to the feast, which is eternal life. He tells us: “Everything is ready, come!” Indeed, everything is ready: Jesus Christ, through suffering and death, prepared eternal life for us. We go to her if we believe in God and fulfill the commandments of the Lord. And how many of us are like those people who, instead of going to the king’s invitation, go to the field, or to their trade; that is, they prefer the vain pursuits of life to following Jesus Christ.
It may seem that the king, having called the poor and wretched from the crossroads to his feast, unfairly demands from them that they be clothed in festive clothes. But for a better understanding of this parable, you need to know that in the East, when the king invited guests to his feast, he also assigned festive attire for them; the one who did not agree to put on them offended the kind and hospitable host. This circumstance clarifies the meaning of the parable in relation to us. Where are we, the weak and the poor, on our own find an opportunity to appear in attire worthy of a heavenly table? But the Lord, by His mercy, has prepared and offers us the means. Jesus Christ himself teaches us how and how to please the Father and King of heaven: he dies to redeem us; ascends to heaven, where he prepares a place for us; promises to all who believe in Him to give them the Holy Spirit, who will help them reject a life of sin and put on the new man. Only by putting on the new man, created according to God, in truth and in the honor of truth, and by being reborn again, can we enter the kingdom of heaven. Let us resort to the Lord with full faith that he will grant us the promised help; Let us ask Him to strengthen our faith, love, repentance for our sins, to give us strength to correct ourselves, so that we may not be expelled from the royal meal, but accepted as children of Christ.
In the first days of Holy Week, the Church reminds everyone of this parable in the following church song:
“I see your palace, my Savior, adorned, and I have no clothes, but let me enter into it, enlighten the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me.”
PARABLE
about evil winegrowers
Matthew 21: 33 - 44; Mark 12:1 - 12; Luke 20:9-19
The parable of the evil winegrowers is somewhat similar in content and meaning to the previous parable. Here it is: “One owner planted a vineyard, surrounded it with a fence, built a winepress in it, erected a tower, gave it to winegrowers, and went away. When the time for gathering fruit approached, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to get the fruit. The vinedressers, seizing his servants, beat some, killed others, and stoned others. Again he sent other servants to the former hospital, and the same was done with them. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying: “They will be ashamed of my son.” But the vinedressers, seeing their son, said to each other: “This is the heir; Let’s go, kill him and take possession of his inheritance.”
And they seized him, took him out of the vineyard and killed him.
So, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do with those vinedressers?”
Some of the listeners said to this:
“He will put these evildoers to an evil death, and he will give the vineyard to other vinedressers, who will give him the fruit in due season.”
And, confirming the truth of this answer, the Lord said. “Therefore the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who bear the fruits thereof.” This parable also indicates the Lord's care for the Jewish people; after all the mercies that God showed him, of course, one should have expected good fruits from him, but the Jews tortured and killed the prophets sent to them, and finally crucified Christ Himself, the Son of God.
However, the threats expressed in this parable can apply to all wicked and careless Christians. Countless mercies have been shown to us all; We have all been entrusted with a vineyard, from which the Lord expects fruit, for the teaching of the Lord has been revealed to us; We have been given the ability and strength so that you can understand the will of the Lord and serve Him faithfully in the state in which the Lord was pleased to place us.
PARABLES
about slaves waiting for the master
Matthew 24: 41 - 51; Mark 13:33-37
Jesus Christ often spoke to those listening to Him about the need to live in such a way as to always be prepared for death. We all know that death is inevitable, but none of us knows at what time our heavenly Father will be pleased to call us to himself. Let us try at all times to be ready to appear before Him in bright clothes, that is, with faith, love, with kind and good thoughts. “Be like,” Jesus said, “like servants waiting for their master to open the door for him. It will be good for those slaves if the master finds them awake, no matter what hour of the night he returns.
“If the master of the house knew at what time the thief would come, he would not sleep and would not allow his house to be undermined. Be ready, too, because you do not know at what time the master of the house will come.
Jesus also said: “The master has appointed a ruler or steward over his servants, to rule over them and to distribute food to them as they ought. It is good if, upon his return, the master finds a steward fulfilling his duties; he will put him over all his property. But if the steward says in his heart: “My master will not come soon,” he begins to beat the servants and maidservants, eat, drink and get drunk; and suddenly the master will come on a day when the steward is not expecting him, he will severely punish the steward and subject him to the same fate as the evildoers.”
The Lord commanded us all, as this steward, to fulfill our duties, which we all have—the king and the subject, the master and the servant, the rich and the poor, the small and the great. So, we must work with all our might so as not to become like an evil manager. Let us hasten to correct ourselves from our sins, without saying as he did: “My master will not come soon, I still have time.”
Each of us, of course, knows how harmful laziness and carelessness are, even in everyday affairs.
“Tomorrow I will reap my rye, tomorrow I will harvest my hay,” says the lazy peasant. And tomorrow a storm or rain will interfere with him, and everything will perish, while his hardworking neighbor has everything already done and put away. But much more harmful is mental laziness, because of which many put off the matter of correction until the wrong tomorrow. “Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation,” says the Scripture. Let us begin, without delay, from today, to correct ourselves from our sins and let us do good with all our zeal. The more we hesitate, the more difficulties will arise. The habit of bad things grows in the soul, like bad weed in a garden, and drowns out the good. While the grass is still small, it is easy to weed; but the further you put it off, the thicker it grows and finally drowns out everything sown.
On Holy Week The Church, calling us to spiritual deeds and to meeting the Lord, fills our ears with the following touching song:
“Behold, the bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant, for he will be found watching; if he is not worthy again, he will find him despondent. Take care, my soul, not to be burdened with sleep, so that you will not be given over to death, and the kingdom will be shut out, but rise up, calling: Holy, holy, holy art thou God, have mercy on us through the Mother of God.”
PARABLE
about persistent prayer
Luke 18:1-8, 11:5-13
The Lord Jesus Christ often spoke to His disciples about prayer and taught them to pray. He spoke to them about the love of the Heavenly Father, about His goodness and mercy, and convinced them to approach Him with full trust that He loves us like a father of his children, even at a time when he hesitates to fulfill our prayers. Let us not become discouraged if sometimes the Lord God does not fulfill what we pray to Him for; we can be sure that this is being done for our own benefit; We ourselves do not know what exactly is good and useful for us, but the Lord knows this and, like a loving father, distributes His gifts in accordance with our spiritual benefit. Therefore, let us pray without losing heart and with complete trust in the goodness of God.
Wanting to convince His disciples not to weaken in prayer, the Lord told them the following parable: “In one city there was a judge who was not afraid of God and was not ashamed of people. In the same city there was a widow who asked the judge to protect her from harassment. But, finally, she got bored with him, and he said to himself: “Although I am not afraid of God and I am not ashamed of people, I will still fulfill her wish so that she leaves me alone.” “Will not God protect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, although He is slow to protect them? - the Lord added. “I tell you that he will give them protection soon.” The Lord spoke another parable about that subject. “One day a man came to his friend at midnight and said to him, “Lend me three loaves of bread; A friend came to me, and I have nothing to treat him with.” “Don’t bother me,” he replied, “I already locked the door and went to bed with the children; I can’t get up and give it to you.” But he continued to beg him, and he finally stood up and gave him what he wanted.”
“Ask,” added the Lord, “and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it is opened. Which father of you, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? Or when he asks for fish, would you give him a snake? So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”
What joy these words of the Lord should fill us with! The grace of the Holy Spirit is the highest and best gift we can receive, for it enlightens our souls and gives us strength to do good. We must pray for this highest good without ceasing. In general, we will be concerned not so much about temporary blessings as about eternal ones, for we do not know which temporary blessings are useful to us, and we will pray to the Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the forgiveness of our sins, for a good answer at His Last Judgment. Let us pray for all our neighbors, for relatives, for friends and for enemies, if we have them, for the suffering and unfortunate, and, entrusting ourselves to the merciful Heavenly Father, let us add from the heart: “Thy will be done in everything, Lord!” The will of the Lord, His love and mercy are our most reliable support both in this century and in the future.
PARABLE
about the publican and the pharisee
Luke 18:9-14
Among those who listened to Jesus Christ there were people who thought of themselves that they were righteous, were exalted and humiliated others. Jesus told them the following parable: “Two men came to the church to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing, prayed to himself like this: “God! I thank You that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, libertines, or like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of everything I receive to the church.” The publican, standing in the distance, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but, striking himself on the chest, he said: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” “I tell you,” Jesus added, “that the publican left the church and went to his house “justified more than he” (i.e., the Pharisee). For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Pride is disgusting to God; There is no vice that would be more harmful to us than pride. It prevents us from noticing our own own weaknesses and shortcomings, but who doesn’t have them? He also has them better man, and therefore we should all repeat with heartfelt contrition the words of the publican: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” The parable of the publican and the Pharisee is read in church several times before Lent to remind us of humility, without which there can be no repentance and correction. At the same time, the following church song or stichera is sung:
“Let us flee from the lofty words of the Pharisees, and let us learn from the high speeches of the publicans the high words of the humble, crying out in repentance: “Savior of the world, cleanse Thy servants.”
The Pharisee was not only proud of his own virtues, but also despised his neighbor. And this is a very big sin and disgusting to God. How can we despise a brother when the Lord Jesus Christ died for him? Moreover, we all have many of our own shortcomings, and we don’t know whether our brother is not atone for his shortcomings with virtues unknown to us? Let us be lenient in our judgments about our neighbor, remembering our own sins and how much we ourselves need leniency and mercy.
“Why do you look at the spoke in your brother’s eye,” Jesus once said, “but do not feel the beam in your own eye?” That is, that you condemn a small defect in your neighbor, while you do not notice your own great vice.
“Or,” Jesus continues, “whatever you can say to your brother; “Let me take the knitting needle out of your eye, while there is a log in your eye?”
“First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see the spoke taken out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).
PARABLES
about two sons
Matthew 21:28-32
Jesus Christ often denounced the Jewish teachers, who always spoke about the law and justice, but themselves did not act according to their words. About them, He said, among other things, the following parable: “A certain man had two sons, and, approaching the first, he said: “Son! Go and work in my vineyard today.” He answered: “I don’t want to,” and then, having come to his senses, he left.
And, approaching the other son, the father said the same thing. This one said in response: “I’m going, father,” but he didn’t go. Which of the two fulfilled the will of his father?” The listeners said: “First.”
Indeed, the first, who did not want to fulfill his father’s orders at first, then, repenting, did so; and the second one only said that he would do it, but didn’t do it. His piety was only in words, and not in his heart; it was hypocrisy and a lie contrary to God. These were precisely the leaders of the Jews; who in words cared about faith and piety, but in reality were proud, envious and cruel people; they hated the Lord and put Him to death on the cross. The disobedient son who refused to fulfill the will of his father means those who for a long time did not fulfill the law of God, but then, having come to their senses, they sincerely repented and became obedient and faithful servants of the Lord God.
PREPRICT
about ten virgins
Matthew 25:1 - 13
The parable of the ten virgins was told to teach listeners constant spiritual vigilance and readiness to meet the Lord when He comes to judge the living and the dead.
I must tell you that among the Jews, weddings were almost always celebrated in the evening; The bride and groom were escorted by girls holding lit lamps in their hands. This is what the Lord said:
“The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. Of these, five were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps and took no oil with them. The wise took oil in their vessels along with their lamps. And as the groom slowed down, everyone dozed off and fell asleep. But at midnight a cry was heard: “Here is the groom coming, come out to meet Him.” The virgins woke up and began to adjust their lamps. The wise virgins burned brightly because they contained oil; but among the foolish they went out. And they said to the wise virgins: “Give us your oil, because our lamps are going out. But they answered: “So that there is no shortage then for both us and you, it’s better to go buy yourself some oil.” They went to buy, and in the meantime the groom came; the wise virgins went in with him to the wedding feast, and the doors were shut. After a while those virgins came and began knocking and saying: “Lord! God! Open to us,” but the groom answered: “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” The Savior finished this story in the following words: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of man comes.”
What do these words mean? They point to the hour of our death, when we will have to give an account to the Lord about our entire life. We do not know when the Lord will call us, and we must expect death, as the wise virgins expected the groom, with lit lamps, that is, with hearts filled with love for God and warm faith. If we are absent-minded and lazy, if we do not meditate on God and do good, then the Lord will not accept us into the kingdom of heaven and will also say to us: “Get out of here. I don't know you."
During Holy Week, on Maundy Tuesday, a song is sung in church, the content of which is borrowed from this parable. Here it is: “Let us love the groom, brothers, and decorate our candles; shining in virtues and right faith, so that, like the wise virgins of the Lord, we are ready to go with him to marriage: the Bridegroom is a gift, like God, who gives an imperishable crown to everyone.”
Let us pray more often for this crown of incorruption, which the good and the faithful will receive in the kingdom of heaven.
PARABLE
about talents
Matthew 25: 14 – 30
The Son of Man, said the Lord, will act at the Last Judgment like one master, who, going to a distant country, entrusted his property to his servants. To one slave he gave five talents, to another slave he gave two talents, and to a third one. This master was wise and distributed his money to the slaves, taking into account their abilities. During his absence, the first worked, labored, traded with the money given to him and thus acquired five more talents; the one who received two talents did the same and worked out the other two; but the one who received one talent went and buried it in the ground. Finally, the master returned and demanded from his slaves an account of the money he had left them.
The first one who received five talents brought the other five talents and said: “Sir! You gave me five talents; I bought the other five with them.”
The master said to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant! In little things you were faithful; I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
In the same way, the one who received two talents brought the other two acquired by his labor, and heard the same praise from the master.
The one who had received one talent came up and said: “Sir! I knew that you are a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, I went and hid your talent in the ground; here’s yours.” - “You wicked and lazy slave! - the gentleman told him. “If you were afraid of me, then why didn’t you trade, work, or bring me other talent?” Then I would receive my goods at a profit.” Then he turned to the other slaves and said: “Take his talent and give it to the one who has ten; and throw this evil slave to where there is eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth, for the one who has will always be given even more, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
In this parable, Jesus Christ compares Himself to the Lord. Who are the slaves? This is all of us. The money that the master distributed to his slaves is all those qualities and abilities that the Lord gives us: mind, memory, strength of soul and body, health, wealth. We must use all this for good deeds to fulfill the will of God. We should not bury our talent in the ground, that is, we should not destroy our abilities and strengths in laziness and sinful pleasures. And how many people do this? How many children who have all the means to learn, but are lazy and inattentive, who could be pious and kind, but behave badly! How many adults who could please God by helping their families, and who are ruining their minds, health, and time in sins! How many rich people use their wealth for evil! How scary to think about the punishment that awaits lazy and unfaithful slaves! But before the hour of our death has come, each of us can correct ourselves. Let us firmly decide to begin a virtuous life, let us ask God to help us make a good beginning, and let us stir our hearts with the words of a church song. “Having heard the condemnation of the one who hid his talent, do not hide the word of God about your soul, proclaim His wonders, so that by multiplying your talent, you may enter into the joy of Your Lord.”
PARABLE
about the employee
Luke 17:7-10
One day the Lord said to His disciples: “If any of you has a worker cultivating his field or tending his flock, will he say to him upon his return from the field: “Go quickly, sit down at the table?” On the contrary, will he not say to him: “Bring me supper and serve me while I eat and drink, and then eat and drink yourself?” Will he thank his servant for carrying out the order? Don't think. So you too, when you have fulfilled everything commanded to you, say: “We are slaves, worthless, because we only did what we had to do.”
But can the best of us say that he has fulfilled all that was due? Let us remember with what laziness, with what carelessness we perform even the simplest daily duties our. And in relation to the Lord, can we even think that we have fulfilled everything we should? After all, everything we have belongs to Him. Our heart, our thoughts, our strength, our abilities, our time, everything belongs to Him. These are all means given to us to glorify His name and do His will. Is this how we use what has been entrusted to us? What about the good deeds of the Lord? Can we count and measure them? He created us, gave us all the blessings, loved us, sinners and unworthy. The only begotten Son of God died on the cross to save us. Can we ever think of deserving such favors? Of course not. But we must thank God every hour and try to prove our gratitude through our deeds, through our entire lives, by doing everything commanded to us with love and zeal.
PARABLE
about the lost sheep and the lost drachma
Luke 15:3-10
Jesus Christ in many parables spoke about God’s love for us, He said that the Heavenly Father desires correction for every sinner and provides the means for this. This same subject is the content of the parable of the lost sheep. Here are the words of the Savior:
“Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go looking for the lost one until he finds it? And having found it, he will bring it home with joy and say to his friends and neighbors: “Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep.”
“So in heaven there is more joy over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.”
A lost sheep is a sinner who has departed from God; but just as a shepherd goes to look for a lost sheep, so the Lord God wants to bring the sinner back to himself with the word of the Gospel, the promise of mercy and forgiveness. And if the sinner finally turns away from sin and with warm prayer and repentance runs back to God, firmly deciding to correct himself, then the Lord God Himself rejoices and all the holy angels rejoice.
So, you should never lose heart and doubt the mercy of the Lord. The Church offers us its help and its prayers so that we improve. When we fast and repent of all our sins in order to receive forgiveness, then we must make a firm intention to correct ourselves and start a new, better life. And the Lord God will gladly accept our repentance and help us fulfill our good intentions.
For the same purpose - to depict love and mercy for the repentant sinner - Jesus Christ told the following parable:
“What woman, having ten drachmas (a small coin), if she loses one drachma, does not light a candle, sweep the room and search carefully until she finds it?
And having found it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: “Rejoice with me: I have found the lost drachma.”
Thus, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
PARABLE
about the good shepherd and the hired servant
John 10:1-16
In the parable of the good shepherd, the Lord again depicts His love for people. “I am the good shepherd,” He said. — Shepherd kind soul he gives his own for the sheep; But the hireling, who is not the shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs, and the wolf plunders them. But the hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd and I know Mine, and Mine know Me. As the Father knows Me, so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold; but these also I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd.
In this parable, Jesus Christ called Himself a shepherd, and compared all people to sheep. He loved all people so much that he accepted death to save them and to give them eternal life. With the same parable He teaches us that we must obey the saving teaching of Christ and must listen to those shepherds and teachers who are elected by the Church to this dignity, and, on the contrary, must avoid such teachers who teach contrary to the true God-appointed shepherds of the Church.
“Truly, truly, I say to you,” said the Lord, “I am the door of the sheep; Whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.”
By this, Jesus showed that only through faith in Him can a person enter the kingdom of heaven, that there is only one true faith - Christian faith, and one path to salvation - faith and love for God.
There are still peoples in distant countries who do not know the Christian faith; but pious people undertake journeys there to preach the Gospel to them and to enlighten them. The Church prays that everyone will join the one incorruptible Church; and we firmly hope that the time will come when everyone will hear the holy truth and there will be, in the words of the Lord, “one flock and one Shepherd.”
PARABLE
about the rich man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19 - 31
The rich must remember that wealth was given to them in order to make something out of it. good use to help the poor and do good. And if the rich forget this and live only to please themselves, a strict account will be required from them, if not in this life, then in the future. To explain this, the Savior told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
“Some man was rich. He dressed in expensive clothes and feasted luxuriously every day.
There was also a howl of a beggar named Lazarus, who, sick and wounded, lay at the rich man’s gate and wanted to be fed with the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table; and the dogs licked his wounds.
The beggar died, and the angels carried his soul to Abraham’s bosom, that is, to heaven. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: “Father Abraham! Have mercy on me, send Lazarus so that he may dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in the fire.” But Abraham answered: “Child, remember that you prospered in your life, but Lazarus was poor; now he is consoled here, and you suffer. And besides this, a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us.
Then the rich man said: “So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers: let him warn them so that they do not come to this place of torment.”
Abraham told him “They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.” But he objected: “No, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent.” Then Abraham said: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets; then even if someone rose from the dead, they won’t believe it.
We have more than Moses and the prophets, we have the word of Jesus Christ Himself, Who told us that in the future life everyone will be rewarded according to his deeds, that there will be strictly exacted punishment from those who did not use the means given to them properly, and those who They endured all kinds of hardships and suffering with faith and patience, did not grumble, did not envy, and lived honestly. The rich man spoken of in the parable is condemned not because he was rich, but because, having all the means to do good and help his neighbor, he did not do this, but lived only for himself.
PARABLE
about the prodigal son
Luke 15:11-32
You remember what Jesus said about the joy that comes in heaven when a sinner is reformed. He explained the same truth in the following parable, showing the love and mercy of our heavenly Father:
“A certain man had two sons; the youngest of them said to his father: “Father! Give me the next portion of the estate.” And the father divided the estate to his sons. Soon younger son Having collected everything, he went to a distant country and there squandered his property, living dissolutely.
When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. He pestered one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him into the field to graze pigs. And he was glad when he could eat pig feed, but no one gave it to him. Having come to his senses, he said: “How many of my father’s hired servants are content with bread in abundance, while I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father and tell him:
"Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son, accept me as one of your hired servants.”
He got up and went to his father. And when he was still far away, his father saw him and took pity on him, ran and, throwing himself on his neck, began to kiss him. The son told him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” And the father said to his servants; “Bring best clothes and dress him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” And they started having fun.
The eldest son was in the field; returning home, he heard singing and rejoicing. Calling one of the servants, he asked what this meant. He answered him: “Your brother came, and your father killed the fatted calf, because he received it healthy.” The eldest son became angry and did not want to enter. Then his father came out and called him. But he said to his father: “I have served you for so many years and always followed your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends. And when that son of yours came, who had squandered his property and lived dissolutely, you killed the fatted calf for him.” The father said to him: “My son! You are always with me, and everything that is mine is yours. And in this you should rejoice and be glad, that your brother was dead and is alive again, that he was lost and is found.”
How kind this father is, who joyfully accepted his repentant son and went to meet him halfway! This Father is God Himself, Who joyfully accepts the repentant sinner. It seems that the greatest sinner, having read this parable, should be encouraged and go back to such a kind and tender-hearted Father.
But how many are there who, having received property from God: strength, abilities, health, wealth, intelligence, instead of using all this well, squander their property in a distant country, that is, they move away from God and forget about Him and about His commandments, living in sin, laziness and carelessness. But if among this pitiful and empty life repentance and a sincere desire to return to the Father will awaken in them, believe me, He Himself will help them in turning to the path of virtue, He Himself will, as it were, come out to meet them, strengthening their good intentions in their hearts. He will receive them not only with mercy, but also with joy and love, like a father to his children.
The Church reminds us of this parable in order to encourage us with the mercy of the Lord and turn us to repentance. On the week called the week of the Prodigal Son, before Maslenitsa, the following hymn or stichera is read and sometimes sung: “Good Father, I have departed from You; do not leave me and do not show me as indecent for Your kingdom; the all-evil enemy exposed me and took my wealth, I prodigally squandered Your gifts. But I turn to You and cry: create me as one from Your hired servants, You, for my sake, stretched out Your most pure hands on the cross to snatch me from the fierce beast, clothe me in the first garment, as one who is abundantly merciful.”
PARABLE
about a king going to war
Luke 14:31 - 33
Jesus once said to His disciples: “What king, going to war against another king, does not first sit down and consult whether he is able with ten thousand to withstand the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
Otherwise, when he is still far away, he will send to ask for peace.”
With this parable, Jesus wanted to say that anyone who wants to follow Him, that is, to become a real Christian, must gather all his strength, understand all the difficulties, so as not to weaken on the way and not return, afraid of the difficulties: he must turn to God for help , for he will face struggle, hardship and labor. He will have to fight against various temptations, against laziness, often against his own will, which is sometimes dangerous to follow. He must be ready to renounce all pleasure and all benefit, the achievement of which involves violating the law of Christ, and must often undergo suffering and labor in order to remain faithful to God. Therefore, he needs to arm himself with strength, patience and strong will; but all this will not be enough if he does not first ask for the Lord’s help. And God will hear his sincere prayer and help his weakness. Christ supported Peter in the midst of a stormy sea; He will also support those who trust in Him and sincerely desire to serve Him. In the midst of danger, He will support a Christian with faith and hope, in the midst of suffering and adversity He will give him peace of mind, and in return for earthly blessings He will give him eternal heavenly blessings.
How insignificant all hardships, labors and sufferings will seem to us if we are worthy to be one of those whom the Lord will call blessed of His Father and accept into the heavenly kingdom.
The meaning of the parable of the Sower is explained in sufficient detail by the Lord Himself. To the gospel explanation we can also add that the Sower is the Lord Himself, the seed is the word of God, the field is all of humanity, the whole world, receiving into its depths the miraculous seed of the gospel word. Like a seed, the gospel word carries within itself the beginning of life, true, spiritual life, for what is true life? This onethere is eternal life,- answers the Lord in Hishigh priestly prayer,- let them know Youthe only true God, and sent by YouJesus Christ(John XVII, 3). The gospel word gives this knowledge of the true God, and therefore it is a wondrous seed of salvation and life. Thrown into the human heart, under favorable conditions it grows and bears fruit - good deeds and a holy life. Like a seed, it eternally carries this living force within itself.
Nowadays, like nineteen centuries ago, it equally excites and touches, pleases and consoles, judges and humbles, touching the innermost strings of the human heart.
Philosophical systems die and are forgotten political theories, the flowers of poetry fade, but the word of God is living and active and sharper than anythingth double-edged sword: it penetrates to theof soul and spirit, joints and brains, and judgesthoughts and intentions of the heart(Heb. IV, 12). The eternally living truth is hidden in it.
But, always possessing this hidden living force in to the same degree, the word of God does not always produce the same harvest. It depends on the soil into which it falls, and here the parable acquires a particularly burning, living, personal interest for us, for this soil is our heart. We all, listeners and readers of the word of God, receive our share of the holy seeds; We would all probably like to have fertile soil in our hearts that brings a hundredfold harvest, and the question of why this does not happen and why the seedlings are so stunted, poor and mixed with weeds - this question, of course, for we are far from indifferent.
Let us think more carefully about the parable in order to discover in its wondrous images and symbols the laws of spiritual agronomy that are important for us, which the Lord Jesus Christ points to.
In order to successfully cultivate the field and apply to it rational ways processing, it is necessary first of all to study the soil and know its composition. Sandy soil requires one fertilizer, loam - another, black soil - another; and the cultivation methods themselves are different on different soils. The same is true in spiritual life. In order to understand the reasons that determine the fruitlessness of the word of God for man, and at the same time find the right ways cultivation and education of the soul, which could increase the harvest of the holy seed, strengthen the influence and effect of the Gospel word on a person - for this we need to study the soil of our heart and find out what exactly in this heart prevents the successful growth of the seed. Accordingly, we can take certain measures.
Speaking about the fate of the seed, the Lord in His parable depicts four types of conditions into which it finds itself during sowing and which have different effects on its growth. These are four different types of human psyche, four types of structure of the soul.
When the sower sowed, something else happened(seed) fell along the road, and birds came and peckedeither(v. 4).
This is the first type. The heart is like a passing road, and the seed, falling on it, does not even penetrate the soil, but remains on the surface and becomes easy prey for birds.
What kind of people are these?
Firstly, this includes rude natures, of a purely animal nature. This is the worst type among people, and, unfortunately, there are especially many of them nowadays. They live a purely uterine life: eat deliciously, drink sweetly, sleep a lot, dress well - beyond this they know nothing. A trough, food and swill - this is all they contain. Their worldview is exclusively materialistic. Questions of the spirit do not exist for them. To the ideals of truth, goodness and beauty, to everything that humanity worshiped as the greatest shrine, that attracted and captivated heroes, ascetics and the best figures of history, to which they devoted their strength and their lives without hesitation - to all this people like the road are treated with cynical ridicule and outright contempt. “Benefit” is the word that defines their activities. For them, God is the womb, and the Gospel, the word of God, meets in them a blank wall of dull indifference. It bounces off them like peas off a wall, without even penetrating the outer crust of egoism and without penetrating inside, into the heart. If sometimes it remains on the surface of the memory, then only until the moment when the first impulse of debauchery, voluptuousness or covetousness swoops in like a bird and swallows everything without a trace, while the coarse heart remains still hard and impenetrable.
Secondly, this category includes very frivolous people who live only on superficial impressions. The essence of their psyche is idle curiosity, which is easily aroused, but does not at all strive to connect the impressions received with deep fundamentals mental life. Such curiosity does not bring any benefit: it is aimless and pointless. Impressions are evaluated here solely by their effect on the nerves. Anything that tickles the nerves equally attracts people of this type. Therefore, for them it is completely indifferent: to listen to a good preacher or a fashionable tenor, to watch a religious procession or English boxing, to be present at a solemn, inspiring worship service, or to roll with laughter while watching a funny Ville. They view the whole world as if it was created exclusively for their entertainment, and they approach every phenomenon in life with the same standard. If they listen to an inspired preacher speaking about the truth of the Gospel, about the radiant world of purity and holiness, about the Great Loving God, they will say only one thing in praise: “Oh, he speaks well, beautifully!” or: “He has a well-developed, elegant speech!” This is the most humiliating praise for a preacher, reducing him to the role of a schoolboy demonstrating his literary and declamatory talents before the examiners. Let sobs and genuine tears of suffering love be heard in the sermon, the groan of a tormented heart, bitterness and indignation at the sight of trampled truth, they will not find other words to evaluate except vulgar phrases: “Oh, he has dramatic talent!” It’s as if they were looking at a stage performer, performing solely to entertain them and tickle their frayed nerves.
These are people of small souls, and life for them is not a serious task, complete deep meaning, but just a farce. People of this type listen to the word of the Gospel as if it does not apply to them: they do not perceive it.
The third type of people of this type are absent-minded natures, with scattered thoughts. There is nothing basic, permanent about them that would serve as the center of their lives. These are people, as they are called, without a core, that is, they do not have a predominant inclination or attachment to one particular business or activity that determines the direction of their lives. How do these people live? You won’t say it right away: everything here is so fluid, so changeable, so impermanent. Today one thing, tomorrow another, the day after tomorrow another. One thought replaces another, like in a kaleidoscope, without any order or system. One passion is crowded out by another, plan follows plan, with everything like on a road where carriages roll, passers-by replace one another, stray cattle trample. They start everything, try everything and finish nothing. They have no purpose in life. These are slaves of the momentary whim, a cane shaken by the wind. Their hobbies are fragile, unreliable, fleeting. With the ease of a moth they flutter from object to object. Every new thing attracts and captivates them, but only for a short time. “Whatever the last book says will fall on the heart.” Teaching them anything serious, preaching the word of God is almost useless. This means writing on the water, sowing along the road: passers-by will trample, birds will peck, that is, the world with its eternal change of new products, the devil with its temptations and seductions. Since impressions and thoughts here are constantly changing, not one of them penetrates deep into the heart, and the heart itself little by little loses its responsiveness, the ability to take them at least somewhat seriously, becomes dry, indifferent, hard, like a road trampled by the feet of passers-by and rolled by the wheels of countless carriages.
These are the three categories of people belonging to the type of road. What they all have in common is that the seed of the word of God does not penetrate their soul at all, does not excite them, does not please them, does not excite them, but remains on the surface, that is, only in memory, in the head consciousness, and without bearing any fruit , will soon die.
A little better are the following two types of soil, indicated by the Lord Jesus Christ in His parable.
Another seed fell on a rocky place wherethere was little earth, and soon it sprang up" becausethe ground was shallow; when the sun rose,withered and, as if it had no root, withered(vv. 5-6).
Explaining these words, the Lord adds: pose on a rocky place means those whoSome, when they hear the word, immediately accept it with joy, but have no root in themselves and cannotstanding; then, when sorrow comes orhesitation for the word, they are immediately tempted(vv.16-17).
A type that is widespread and quite familiar to us. In these people there is an undoubted desire and love for good, and the word of God finds a living and quick response in them, but it does not capture them so strongly that in order to implement it in life they find enough strength and determination to work on themselves, fight obstacles and defeat hostile currents. Having heard the gospel sermon about truth, love, self-sacrifice, they immediately light up, like Swedish match, but just as quickly go out. These flashes of fleeting passions can be very strong, like flashes of magnesium, and at this moment these people are even capable of feats, but a moment will pass - and it’s all over, and, like after magnesium, only smoke and soot remain - annoyance at their cowardice and flabbiness or, on the contrary, regret about your hobby. These people are not capable of harsh, persistent, long-term work, and the law of entry into the Kingdom of God, given by the Lord, represents an insurmountable barrier for them: From the days of JohnBaptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been powered bystruggles, and those who use force admire him(Matt. XI, 12).
Only small grass can grow on rocky soil, and these people, under ordinary conditions of a quiet life, are capable of only very small things that do not require effort. They cannot be denied sensitivity: you will sometimes see them in church praying with tears of tenderness in their eyes, they are inspired good singing, the sayings and exclamations of the Divine Service, full of sublime meaning, are touching; with feeling they repeat together with others: “Let us love each other...”, “Let us embrace each other, with our mouths: brethren!” But when the moment comes when good words you need to get down to business, you will immediately see that tearful tenderness and religious uplift did not soften their cold souls, that it was only a phosphoric shine that did not give warmth, simple sentimentality or false sensitivity, and not a real feeling. They sometimes like to read the lives of saints, just as children love to read scary tales And touching stories, but even here things don’t go beyond sighs and verbal delight. They are not averse to dreaming about this ascetic life and imagining themselves in the role of ascetics and martyrs for the truth, but the efforts of will that are required for this frighten them. They have nothing against virtue, morality, asceticism, they would even like to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but on condition that this does not require any deprivation from them and that this can be done with complete comfort and with all the amenities. They want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven in a first-class carriage.
What prevents these people from completely surrendering to Christ and bearing full fruit? A rocky layer that lies beneath the outer layer of good soil and prevents plant roots from penetrating deeper.
In the human soul, such a rocky layer is self-love. Usually it is only slightly covered on top by a thin coating of sensitivity and good impulses. But when it is necessary to deepen these good impulses and implement them in life, that is, to do a good deed, which, in fact, constitutes the fruit of a good impulse, self-love and the self-pity born of it invariably rebel against this. Let's say you are asked to help. You are ready to do this and donate something to someone in need, but now you hear the voice of selfishness: “What will I be left with? I need money myself: I have so little of it!” Your good impulse encounters the cold, rocky wall of selfishness and fades like an unopened bud.
Self-love does not put up with deprivations, even imaginary ones.
This also happens in spiritual, ideological struggle. People often wear their Christian beliefs like a decent suit, giving them an appearance of decency and gentlemanliness, as long as it does not embarrass them or oblige them to anything. But when you have to pay for these beliefs with suffering and deprivation, now self-pity whispers insidiously: “Is it worth it to suffer so much? Is the fee too expensive? After all, you can do without convictions!”
The result is treason and apostasy.
The last type of people, in whose souls the word of God remains fruitless, is characterized by the Lord in the following words:
Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew, and choked the seed, and it did not bear fruit.
Those sown among thorns signify those who hear the word, but are in them with the cares of this world, deceptionwealth and other wishes, entering them,they choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful(vv. 7, 18-19).
These are people who want to work for God and mammon at the same time. Wanting to live according to the laws of God, they at the same time do not want to give up the vanity of the world and usually end up with this whirlpool of worldly worries, hobbies, and passions absorbing them without a trace, crowding out everything bright, ideological, sublime from the soul. If a person does not fight earthly addictions in the name of the truth of the Gospel, he inevitably becomes their captive, and just hearing the word of God will not save him. Attempts to establish a balance in life between tribute to God and tribute to mothers and this world have never succeeded, for the soul is a simple being and cannot be divided into two. No one can serve two masters- says the Lord: - for either one will be missing to see and love another; or one will be zealous and neglect the other(Matt. VI, 24).
These people are also unfit for the Kingdom of God. So much of the seed of God’s word is wasted to no avail!
Of the four categories, only one bears fruit: the other seed fell on good ground and gavefruit that sprang up and grew and brought forth otherthirty, some sixty, and some a hundred.
And what was sown on good soil means thosewho hear the word and receive it, and bear fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold(vv. 8, 20).
These are integral natures, whose word does not diverge from deeds and who, listening and perceiving the word of God, try to fulfill it and live according to its instructions. But even among these people, whose responsive and sincere hearts represent good soil, obedience to the Gospel word is not equally complete and perfect for everyone, for some bring thirty, others sixty, others a hundred. This means that one is able to fulfill a third of what the highest ideal of Christian perfection requires of him, another - almost two-thirds, and only a few manage to fulfill everything completely and perfectly. These are chosen natures. These are the ones about whom the Lord says: I have found a man after My heart... who who will fulfill all my desires(Acts XIII, 22).
There are few such people. But how brightly they shine against the dim background of the warm-cold attitude towards the Gospel of the majority of their contemporaries, sluggish, flabby, weak in goodness, and how the word of God, to which they surrendered selflessly and which they fulfilled to the end, exalted and enlightened their souls!
Here is St. Anthony the Great. Two Gospel sayings made a decisive change in his soul and directed him on the path that led to the highest degrees of holiness. One day, shortly after the death of his parents, while still a young man of 18-20 years old, he heard the words of the Lord in church: if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor... and follow Me. He took these words as advice addressed directly to him, and fulfilled it literally, distributing his property to the poor. Another time, hearing the words of the Savior: don't worryabout tomorrow He felt in them an imperious call, to which he unquestioningly obeyed: he left home and went into the desert, so that, freed from all worries, in the exploits of an ascetic life he could surrender to Him, Whose will had become for him. supreme law. The word bore fruit a hundredfold in him.
Here is the venerable martyr Evdokia, originally a great sinner, purified and transformed by the word of God, like that burning coal that the six-winged Seraphim took with tongs from the altar of the Lord to touch the lips of the prophet (Ex. VI, 6-7).
In the world her name was Maria. She was wonderfully pretty, and that was her misfortune. Success, flattery, universal admiration turned her head. Maria led a vain, frivolous social life, elegant and brilliant on the outside, but empty and vulgar in content. Feasts and entertainment of all kinds filled all her time, not allowing her to come to her senses, to come to her senses. But underneath the appearance of a socialite lay a kind heart and a sympathetic soul. It saved her.
One day, near the inn where Mary was feasting, surrounded by a crowd of admirers, two elder monks stopped indecisively. It was clear that they had come from afar. Their feet and clothes were covered with dust, beaten, worn shoes spoke of long journey. They were tired and wanted to rest at the hotel, but the sounds of music and cheerful company frightened them. Finally they decided to enter. They were placed next to the banquet hall in a room separated only by a thin partition.
The noisy orgy continued. Shameless speeches were heard. The intoxicated Maria danced with a seductive, voluptuous dance.
Someone remembered the elders.
Let's see what they do? Well, they must be praying!
“Leave them alone,” Maria said with a smile.
But several dissolute revelers were already crowded around the partition, listening to what was happening behind it.
Shh... Tigle! They're reading something! Let's listen!
The noise stopped. In the silence that followed, one could hear the voice of the old man reading, slightly muffled by the wall.
He read:
And behold, the woman of that city who wassinner, learning that He is reclining in the house of Farisowing, she brought an alabaster flask of ointment and,standing behind Him at His feet and weeping, she began to pourHis feet with tears and wipe his hair with his hairwith her own, and kissed His feet, and anointed him with ointment(Luke VII, 37-38).
Here we have found a place for such readings! - exclaimed one of the young revelers. - Hey, you there!..
Leave it! - Maria cried. Her face became more and more serious as the wonderful gospel story about the forgiven sinner unfolded. She herself did not understand what was happening to her.
Therefore I tell you: sins are forgivenher many because she loved much(Luke VII, 47).
Well, you really won’t care about that! - the youngest of the guests whispered to Maria.
A loud cry was his answer. Everyone shuddered. Maria stood there trembling. Deathly pallor covered her face. The dark eyes burned with fire.
Get away from me! Leave me!..
These burned in her heart wonderful words about forgiveness, about salvation, about God’s mercy. So the parched earth greedily swallows the moisture of the spring rain.
The embarrassed guests dispersed. Maria rushed behind the partition to the astonished elders. The latter's instant amazement gave way to indignation.
Get away from us! - said one of them sternly. -
Or do you have no shame?!
Fathers, do not reject me! I am a sinner
but the Lord did not reject the harlot!..
She pressed her lips to the dusty feet of the elders: the sinner Mary became the saint of Eudoca to her. The Word of God brought forth a hundredfold fruit.
What lessons can we learn from all this? If we really want the gospel seed to produce abundant fruit in us and intend to seriously work on this, then we must study the soil of our hearts and find out what exactly is hindering the growth of the word of God. Think about what type you belong to? Does your heart imagine a passable road or rocky soil, or do the seeds of God’s word perish in it, drowned out by the thorns of worldly vanity?
It should be borne in mind that these types are rarely found in their pure form. Usually there is a little bit of everything in the human heart, and the type can only be determined by the predominance of one or another trait.
Having determined the soil characteristics, you can specify and apply special moves processing in accordance with each type of soil. Of course, here it is always necessary to remember that planter andHe who waters is nothing, but God who increases everything(1 Cor. III, 7), who alone by His power can the most barren soil to make it fruitful and, conversely, to turn a fertile field into a desert, and that, therefore, our prayers and petitions for the success of the work should be addressed to Him first of all. But with this trust in God as the main condition for success, we are still not freed from the obligation to work under ourselves, for who knows how to do good anddoesn't do it, it's a sin(James IV, 17).
So what can we do?
There is almost no need to talk about the first variety of the first type, because the psyche of people of this type does not even contain the desire to become morally better and purer. Only some catastrophe sent by the beneficent providence of God can bring them out of their stupid animal complacency. You can only pray for them, but it is useless to advise them anything, since normal conditions they will not want to follow any advice. The other two varieties, as we have seen, are turned onto the road by a mass of various motley impressions, which, rushing through the consciousness, like an endless procession of carriages and passers-by, compact the soil, that is, make the soul hard, callous and unreceptive to the word of God. . It is clear that our first concern here is to put up fences so that people do not drive or walk on the road. In simple terms, this means delaying or completely stopping that flow of incoherent perceptions of daily life, which annoyingly crowds into the brain, cluttering it with all sorts of rubbish.
Think, in fact, how much crap goes through the head of the average so-called cultured person! One morning newspaper is worth something! Here is a deceitful editorial, covering events the way the editors need it; here is a feuilleton full of obscene ridicule; there is also a newsreel reporting all the market news; here are announcements about a missing pug and about a doctor who radically cures sexual impotence. After reading all this “useful” information, you feel the need to take a walk in the fresh air for at least two hours to clear your head. Next, you come to work and immediately find out a number of other news: whose wife ran away, which of his colleagues stole, who received a promotion and an award, etc. You return home - your wife already has a friend, a patent gossip, who dumps You have a whole box of the freshest, freshly baked news. In the evening you go to the theater, and again a new string of incidents, speeches, monologues, various faces, spectators, actors, acquaintances and strangers, old and young, smart and poorly dressed, passes before you, all this exciting, noisy, ever-changing crowd filling the place of spectacle. Add to this the final chord of a restaurant dinner with impressions of electric light, dressed-up women, a cheap orchestra, etc. - and you will understand that after living for a month in this boiling cauldron of external variety, fleeting effects and internal emptiness, you can become hardened , and get stupefied. In such a situation, there can be no talk of success and the influence of the word of God on the soul. But put up the slingshots, give up this noise and bustle, limit this influx of impressions by all means in your power, live a more secluded life, be sure to provide yourself with hours of deep thoughtfulness and silence - and you will see that the core of your heart will begin to constantly change and become deeper perceive the germs of God's word.
For people of the second category, the obstacle to the growth of the gospel seed is a stone layer of selfishness. This is where efforts should be directed. This layer must be cracked and removed. This is how the field is cultivated in Finland. To prepare the soil for sowing, it is necessary to first remove the mass of huge boulders and stone fragments that clutter the field. These stones are either blown up or uprooted from the ground by placing long thick logs under them. And you need to see this work! Bringing a log under a huge stone, whole family peasants - owners or tenants of the field - sit on its free end and begin to swing. They sway persistently, methodically, sway morning and evening, sway one day after another... And at the end, the massive boulder begins to tremble slightly and quietly turn out of the ground. This is difficult, boring work, but there is no other outcome: the field must be cleared. There will be hard work to be done with self-esteem. There is no way to tear it out and remove it right away, but you can break it off in pieces. You just shouldn't feel sorry for yourself.
Let's say you are asked to provide a service. You don’t want to, because this means a loss of time and other inconveniences for you. Your selfishness protests and grumbles. Don’t listen to this voice, overcome yourself and, having conquered your unwillingness and self-pity this time, you have already broken off a piece of selfishness. Continue this work persistently, persistently, continuously, as the Finnish peasants work, and little by little your selfishness will soften, weaken and disappear, giving way to better feelings of self-sacrifice and concern for others. Then the roots of God’s word will penetrate deeper into the heart and will not perish from the first adversity.
Finally, people of the third category, for whom thorns choke the shoots of the Gospel sowing, need to remember that you cannot serve Mammon and God at the same time, that you must choose one thing, and once you have chosen to serve God, then the thorns and weeds of vain desires and worldly attachments must be carefully weeded out, otherwise they will grow and choke the word of God. It is useful to remember that the sooner this work is done, the better. While the thorns are only in the bud, they are easy to weed out.
While sinful desires exist only in thoughts and have not yet turned into action, they are easier to overcome. But they take root when they are put into action, and then the fight against them becomes more difficult.
When the soil has been somewhat prepared in this way, then the cultivation of the soul itself, which contributes to the successful growth of the word of God, is carried out according to the old rule of ascetics: plow with the plow of repentance, fertilize with prayer, water with tears of contrition and constantly weed out the bad grass of passions.
One day, Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Sufi mystic, led his disciples to a field where a farmer had been trying to dig a well for many months. The disciples didn’t really want to go there: what was the point? Whatever the master wanted to say, he could say here. However, Jalaliddin insisted:
- Come with me. Without this you will not be able to understand what I am talking about.
It turned out that the farmer did the following: having started digging in one place, he walked away five to ten steps and started digging again. Not finding water, he began to dig in a new place. The farmer had already dug eight holes and was digging a ninth. He ruined the whole field.
Rumi told his disciples:
- Don't be like that idiot. If he had devoted all his energy to digging one well, he would have found water long ago, no matter how deep it was. He wasted his energy uselessly.
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There lived one person. And he had a peculiarity: apples fell straight into his hands.
He passed by an apple tree, stretched out his hand - and an apple would definitely fall.
The one he wanted, right into his hand!
Everyone was surprised. And, of course, they wanted to know how it turns out.
And the man said:
-I know how to want. I want the apple to fall, and it does.
People wanted it too, but apples didn’t fall into their hands.
“It means you don’t know how to want correctly,” the man answered them.
He extended his hand, and the apple fell straight into his palm.
People were surprised, their eyes widened, they wanted to, but probably not in the right way.
People began to get angry that they couldn’t do it, and consider the person a sorcerer. And they even wanted to burn with their envy. Then the man decided to hold a workshop: how to want correctly.
“But this won’t be a relief for you,” the man warned. “How can you want?”
- Well... we think: it would be nice if the apple fell into your hands. We think very hard, we pray to God... We don’t sin, we do good. And everything is as we were taught,” people said almost in unison.
- That's all? “But this is how I want it,” said the man, and took out ropes, springs, buttons, and screws.
“I want the apple to fall, and I do everything for this,” the man began to explain about some kind of device that must be attached to the apple, and then pass by the apple at the exact time. Pressing the spring and all that.
“It’s not fair,” the people said.
- From what? I want, and my wish comes true.
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In China, there once lived a dharma teacher named Master Fo Yin. This dharma teacher had a friend named Su Dong Po, a poet with a bad reputation due to his rude, quarrelsome nature. One day the poet sat down pretending to be Buddha. He asked the dharma teacher:
-Who do I look like?
“You look like Buddha,” answered Master Fo Yin.
The poet then said:
- Do you know who you look like? You look like a pile of crap!
The Dharma Master was not at all embarrassed by this. He still continued to smile. The poet, who had lost his courage, asked:
- How come you weren’t angry?
The monk replied:
“He who has realized the Buddha nature in himself sees the same Buddha nature in every person. Someone who is full of crap sees everyone else as a pile of crap.
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Parable: The Bearded Jew
| 10.03.2019 . PritchiAdmin |
Two young Jews argued about whether a real Jew should wear a beard. In the end, they decided to address this issue with the wise old rabbi.
“Tell me, oh most venerable Rabbi, should a real Jew wear a beard?”
- No! - the rabbi answered them. - A real Jew should not wear a beard!
When the young Jews were already returning from the rabbi, one of them suddenly realized:
- Listen, Rabinovich! The Rabbi told us that a true Jew should not wear a beard. But the rabbi himself has a huge beard! The old man is just fooling us! Let's go back and ask him!
The young Jews returned to the rabbi:
- O wisest one! You told us that a real Jew should not wear a beard. Why do you wear a beard yourself?
“Because,” the wise old rabbi answered them, “I never asked anyone whether a real Jew should wear a beard!” Continue reading the parable → “Yes,” the student frowned, “you know, it happens that some person causes hostility.” Appearance, the way you dress, the way you behave...
Sufi parable about vows and promises:
One man, tormented by endless misfortunes, vowed that if misfortune left him, he would sell his house and give all the money he received for it to the poor.
After some time, fate became merciful to him, and he remembered his oath. But he didn’t want to lose so much money, and then he came up with a way out.
He announced that he was selling his house, but with a cat to boot. He asked for one silver coin for the house, and ten thousand for the cat.
Soon a buyer came and bought a house and a cat. The man gave one coin received for the house to the poor, and kept ten thousand received for the cat for himself.
Many people think the same way as this man. They decide to follow some teaching, but they interpret their connection with it in a way that suits their interests.
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He was the representative and founder of that didactics, the favorite form of which among eastern peoples is parables, aphorisms worldly wisdom, often expressed in them through similes. Jews have long considered Solomon the greatest of the sages, who could resolve the most difficult questions life. In the thoughts of the Jews, he became a representative of all those types of poetry in which the eastern peoples express their everyday philosophy. The main form of this poetry among the Jews was “likening” ( mashal): an intricate juxtaposition of objects that are far from each other. With such comparisons, “parables,” the eastern peoples formulated the rules of morality and lessons of everyday prudence. The parable in its abbreviated form becomes proverb. Brief witty aphorisms, naive experiments of the young people's mind to do general conclusions from observation of life; Proverbs circulate among the people like small coins, accepted by everyone. They form the common intellectual property of the entire people; they are wisdom learned by all and passed on from generation to generation. The form of Jewish poetry, which consists in dividing thoughts into two parts, was very favorable for the formation of likenings and the development of aphoristic didactics. The simile fit well into the two-member parallel of Jewish poetry: one member of the parallel was the main idea, the other member explained it by comparison or contrast. The conclusion appears in an aphorism as a ready-made, indisputable truth that does not require any evidence and is self-evident to everyone who is not devoid of common sense.
Solomon will come Proverbs. Painting by G. Doré, c. 1866
Solomon was for the Jews a representative of another type of Eastern wisdom, consisting in the ability to compose and solve riddles. The Jews loved riddles even before Solomon, but he brought this form of mental activity to perfection. A student of Nathan, during his years of study he undoubtedly practiced a lot in it under the guidance of his mentor; Afterwards he competed in solving riddles with Queen of Sheba and with Hiram, king Tyrian. Observing nature, having many-sided worldly experience, he, of course, found a lot of materials for riddles; they, as shown by the riddle offered by Samson to the Philistines, were sometimes compiled on the basis of actual cases. The Book of Proverbs contains some traces of riddles; questions are released, but answers are given. For example:
“The earth shakes because of three, it cannot bear four: a slave when he becomes a king; a fool when he eats his fill of bread; a shameful woman when she marries; and a maidservant when she takes the place of her mistress” (Book of Proverbs XXX, 21 – 23).
The Proverbs of Solomon consists of several collections of stories. According to the inscriptions on these collections, two of them contain the parables of Solomon. The first collection constitutes a section of the book, running from the beginning of Chapter X to verse 16 of Chapter XXII; the second collection consists of chapters XXV – XXIX. The inscription of the second collection is as follows: “And these are the parables of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah collected” (XXV, 1). Exactly when the work of compiling the Book of Proverbs was completed is difficult to determine; but it was probably after Babylonian captivity. How in Psalms reflects the religious side of the spiritual life of the people of Israel, so the Book of Proverbs contains the conclusions of worldly wisdom developed by the pious people of the Jewish people over many centuries. The unique Jewish worldview is revealed most fully in the psalms. But the parables of the Jews, especially those that belong to ancient times, are higher than all other eastern collections of aphorisms, even Arabic ones.
The Book of Proverbs of Solomon (RBO translation)
The book of Proverbs consists of four large collections and four additions to them. IN first collection (chapters I – IX) ancient sage inspires his son, that is, the student, that he must constantly strive for wisdom, which gives happiness and peace of mind, and that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (I, 1-7). The parables in this collection are arranged in a fairly systematic order. The sage warns his disciple against “another man’s wife,” that is, against a foreign woman, a seductive representative of all lies, all vices and iniquities, and convinces him to be faithful to wisdom, to hope in God, and not to lose heart in misfortunes. In this section of the Book of Proverbs and in Book of Job(XV, 7 seq., XXVIII, 12 seq.) wisdom is the first and highest of the creatures created by God. She says about herself: “The Lord had me as the beginning of his path. When he hasn't yet created the earth“When He prepared the heavens, I was an artist with him” (Book of Proverbs VIII, 22, 27, 30). Subsequently, this idea of wisdom became very great importance in the religious philosophy of the Jews.
Second collection It has as its inscription “The Proverbs of Solomon” (X, 1). This section of the book (X, 1 – XXII, 16) contains 375 parables; they take the form of two-term parallels, in which the second term usually represents a contrast to the first. The content of most of them relates to the life of middle class people. The teachings of this department are addressed especially to young people and speak very emphatically of monogamy as the only good form of married life.
Third collection constitute “the words of the wise” (XXII, 17 – XXIV, 12); an addition is added to it (XXIV, 23 – 35).
Fourth collection (XXV – XXIX) contains “the parables of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, collected.” This section is followed by three appendices: 1) “The Words of Agur” (Chapter XXX); 2) “The words of Lemuel the king. The instruction that his mother taught him” (XXXI, 1-9); - these are teachings for kings; and 3) praise of the virtuous wife (XXXI, 10-31) fittingly concludes the book.
The parables of the first collection belong to those times when the national energy of the Jewish people was still strong. And in the following sections there is much that belongs to the times of the great prophets. But the book received its final form later, as evidenced by the nature of its content. 1) Nowhere in it are there any warnings against idolatry, the sinfulness of which the prophets spoke strongly about; so, the Jews no longer had idolatry then. 2) The Book of Proverbs is alien to narrow national exclusivity and considers monogamy the only good form of marriage; The Jews achieved such development late. 3) The Book of Proverbs has many similarities with the Book of Sirach, compiled at a very late time; 4) Reflection is highly developed in the Book of Proverbs; it contains concepts that appeared among the Jews only after the captivity. - For these and similar reasons, it must be assumed that the Book of Proverbs was compiled at the end of the 6th or beginning of the 5th century BC, when the best of the sacred songs arose, belonging to times after capture; that it was compiled in Judea, but it included ancient collections of parables and stories preserved by oral tradition, which belonged not only to the Jews, but to all tribes of the people of Israel.