The Basics of the Divine Fellowship
Since we have spoken of repentance as the way without which we shall not encounter our heavenly friend, therefore this repentance has to be interpreted practically in the following ways:
- Sublimity which is above any literacy 1- 6
- Not to desire the foremost places 7- 11
- Opening your heart to the needy 12- 14
- Being concerned about the banquet invitation 15- 24
- The Carrying of the cross 25- 35
+ + +
- Sublimity which is above any literacy:
(Luke14: 1-6) “On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching Him closely. Just then, in front of Him, there was a man who had dropsy. And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, ‘Is it lawful to cure people on the Sabbath or not?” But they were silent. So Jesus took him, and healed him and sent him away. Then He said to them, “If any of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?” And they could not reply to this.”
This was not the first time in which, the Lord Jesus accepted the invitatin to dine at a Pharisees house, or at one of the Pharisees’ leaders house. His acceptance of the invitation was one of the features of His preaching that is founded primarily on the relations of friendship and love. For the Lord did not come to compete with them for positions, but He rather came to open His heart in love to them and to others so that He gains them in His kingdom as lovers and friends on an eternal standard.
The evangelist St. Luke narrates to us His acceptance to Simon the Pharisee’s invitation (Luke7: 36- 50) where He met the sinful woman who in tars and in love offered a tremendous banquet, and so she obtained the forgiveness of her many sins. The Lord revealed to him the concept of inward purification, and the purity of the heart instead of the concern about the physical washing alone (Luke11: 37 etc) Now, for the third time, He accepts the invitation to eat bread at one of the Pharisee leaders’ homes, so He reveals to him the true concept of the Sabbath. In the first invitation the Lord Jesus calls the Pharisees for repentance by means of love. In the second one He asks for their inward purity. In the third, He asks for the spiritual worshiping.
The Pharisee invited Him, and he and his friends were watching Jesus, wishing to catch Him making any mistake instead of benefiting from His fellowship.
St. Cyril the great says, “A Pharisee of some high rank invited Jesus to a banquet. Even though the Lord knew the malice of the Pharisees, yet He went along with him, and ate in their company. He condescended and accepted this, not to honor the host, but to benefit those ones in his company, by His words and miraculous deeds so as to guide them to the knowledge of real service, and to teach us as well all about this in His gospel. He knew He would make of them eye witnesses, though without their own will, of His tremendous authority and awesome glory that surpasses that of humanity. This might make them to
become believers that He is God, and the son of God who has indeed taken our image without His being transformed or changed from what he is. He became a guest to those who invited Him, so as to fulfil an urgent mission, as I have said. But as for them, they kept observing Him to see if He disregards the appropriate honor due to the law, and would thus do some other work forbidden on the Sabbath.
You Jew who has lost your feelings, understand well that the old law was a shadow and a symbol awaiting the truth, and that the truth is Christ and His commandments. So why are you armored with the symbol against the truth? Why do you set the shadow as contrary to the spiritual interpretation? Keep your Sabbath within reason; and if you are not convinced of doing so, then you are taking away from the Sabbath the matters that are pleasing to God. You will be unaware of the true Sabbath restfulness that God asks of us, and of which He spoke in the olden times in the law of Moses. Let us cease committing any sin, and rest by departing from any errors, and let us be washed from any defilement, and let us depart from the physical love of lust. Let us run away from greed and covetousness, and from any ugly gain and the love of incorrect money. Let us collect first a supply for our souls to support us on the way; the food sufficient in the world to come, and let us resort to the sanctified deeds, and so keep the Sabbath in a sensible way.
Those who practice the service among you, they are used to offering God certain sacrifices on the Sabbath, and slaughter the sacrifices in the temple, and fulfil the service chores they are assigned to do. Despite all of this, no one rebuked them, and even the law itself was silent! Therefore the law did not forbid people to serve on the Sabbath.
This was a symbol to us; and as I have said, it is our duty to observe keeping the Sabbath in a sensible way, and please God by the sweet spiritual fragrance. As I have previously mentioned, we fulfill this when we cease committing any sin, and offer God a sanctified offering, a sanctified life worthy of admiration, and develop steadfastly in every righteousness. This is the spiritual sacrifice that pleases God.
If you do not bear this in mind, then you are cleaving to the heart stubbornness mentioned in the Holy Book, and you have left the truth as a matter you cannot adopt. You are thus listening to the words of God spoken by the voice of Isaiah the prophet (Is.6: 10) “Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.”
What was the miracle they were observing?
Before Him there was a man who had dropsy. The Lord therefore asked the lawyers and the Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not. They remained silent.
Why are you silent, you lawyer? Adopt something from the Holy Book to show that the law of Moses forbids the doing of any good on the Sabbath. Prove to us that He wants us to be hard hearted and merciless for the sake of resting our bodies, and that He forbids gentleness for the sake of honoring the Sabbath. This is what you cannot prove in any part of the Holy Book.
Because they remained silent due to their deceit, the Lord challenged their same that is unabsolved, and He offered them the evidence.
He says (Luke14: 5) “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?” if the law forbids showing mercy on the Sabbath, then why do you practice pity on him that has fallen in the well? Do not be disturbed by the danger that surrounds your child on the Sabbath, but rather rebuke the natural feeling that urges you in fatherly love! Push your son on to his grave, and be joyful for honoring the Giver of the law, as if He is unmerciful and cruel! Leave your friend in danger, and do not be concerned about him, and if you even hear the weeping of a little child asking for help, tell him ‘Go die; for this the will of the law!”’
You do not approve of this; you rather open your arms to him who is in distress, and give him more care than your honor to the law, or to the restful Sabbath that has no emotions, even if you do not yet know that the Sabbath is to be kept in a spiritual way.
The God of everyone does not cease to have compassion, for He is good and the Lover of mankind. He did not establish the law of Moses to fulfil cruelty, nor did He set it as an instructor to mercilessness, but rather to lead you to love your neighbor.
Because He paid no attention to the envy of the Jews, He saved the man from his disease that is, the dropsy.
St. Cyril the great At any rate even the Jew in his literacy to the law, if he sees his ox or his donkey
fallen in the pit, he cannot stand immovable. He rather overrides the doctrine so as to save the animal from danger. How much more so would it be with God, the One so full of love and mercy, when He saw humanity has become two nations: the Jews burdened with the fatal yoke of literacy and have thus become as an ox in the pitfall of perdition, and the Gentiles who have become filled with foolishness in the atheist worshiping, and have thus become as the incomprehensible donkey. Will God not be concerned about their salvation to grant them a true Sabbath, and restfulness of an eternal standard?
Furthermore, St. Augustine thinks the patient sick with dropsy, whenever he drinks water he gets more thirsty. This is because the water is separated from the blood. Likewise is the money-lover; the more earthly blessings he receives, the more thirsty he becomes for it, and he never gets satisfied. For he says, “Indeed, the patient sick with dropsy is compared to the wealthy and greedy man. The former one; the more he obtains unnatural humidity, the more thirsty he gets. Likewise is the greedy rich one; the more affluence in riches the more he misuses it, and thus increases in his eagerness for more wealth.
The evangelist mentions the healing of this man sick with dropsy saying (Luke 14: 4) “So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away.” These are the three stages man goes through to be blessed with the Lord Jesus’ salvation work. They are:
(One) Jesus took him: if the disease has taken hold of our life, then we are in need of the Word of God, the real Physician who has come down to us, so He might take us. Thus we shall be in His grasp, and accept cleaving to Him and go into partnership with Him. The Lord takes hold of us by revealing the mysteries of His love through the cross; and so He encompasses our life, and absorbs all our feelings and senses for His account, in addition to His love for us. Hence we can say (Son2: 16) “My beloved is mine and I am His.”
(Two) He healed him: when the Lord takes us and we take Him, we are blessed with His salvation and are healed of our sins. In other words, our encounter with Him is based on absolute openness. We confess to Him our sins so as to obtain forgiveness, and be blessed with the deeds of His saving love that are non-intermittent.
(Three)He sent him away: The purpose of encountering the Savior is to be blessed with the release of freedom as God’s children, so we be found perpetually firm in Him. We are thus counted as God’s heirs, for He is our Father, and heirs with Christ (Rom.8: 7).
This is the work of the Lord Jesus in us. We encounter Him and hold on to His love, be healed of our sins, and be freed as God’s children so as to be found in Him eternally.
- Not Coveting the Foremost positions:
When the Lord Jesus wished us to accept His fellowship to us, He asked us to rise above any literacy. We are not to keep the Sabbath in a materialistic and dry way, but rather in a spiritual way so as to be blessed with the everlasting rest. We shall be healed not of the dropsy disease, but of every sin. We shall be released to be found with Him eternally. This is
what we have seen in the above phrases. But now, being a Friend to us, He wishes us to embody His qualities in us, so we be able to encounter Him. The most important of these qualities is probably lowliness, and to depart from the love of having the foremost positions.
He does not tell us not to covet these positions so He may humiliate us, or lessen our sense of honor; but because He humbled Himself and occupied the last seat as a slave, He therefore wished us not to covet this position so as to be with Him through the spirit of lowliness that is full of love.
In other words, our seeking the last position is not based on a feeling of inferiority, neither of obligation, but rather it is based on true love to carry Christ the One who has the last seat. It is at this point that He is transfigured in us, and His qualities are strongly manifested shining on those around us. This then becomes the mystery of the inward glory in the Lord.
The evangelist St. Luke says (Luke14: 7-9) “When He noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable. ‘when you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you ‘Give this person your place’, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place”.
+These things may seem to some as being trivial and is not worthy of any attention. But when someone focuses his mind on it, he will learn what defect man has been able to get rid of, and what good provision is found in him. For, to run after honors in an inappropriate way that does not befit us or is appropriate to us, for it shows us as being foolish, violent and haughty, asking for what is inappropriate to us, and actually it is appropriate to those who are greater than us and are more prestigious.
He who does this becomes despised, and at most times he is made fun of when he is obliged most probably, quite unwillingly to return for others the honor which is not his. He has to return what took unworthily.
The modest and praise worthy person, who is not afraid of any blame deserves to sit among the dignitaries, but he does not ask this for himself. He rather leaves to others what he is worthy of; and he is counted most probably worthy of vain glory, and he will receive this honor that befits him, for he hears someone who tells him (Luke14: 10) “Friend, move up higher”.
The modest mind, therefore, is great and excessively good. The mind saves its owner from and blame or rebuke, and from asking for any vain glory.
If you ask for this vanishing human glory, you will lose the right way by which you can indeed be famous, and also obtain unrivaled honor! For it is written, (1Pet.1: 24) “For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass”. Moreover, the prophet king David blames those who seek temporal dignitaries and said to them (Ps.129: 6) “Let them be like the grass on the housetops that withers before it grows up”. Just as the grass that springs on the housetops, that has no deep root, and so it withers quickly, likewise’ is he who is concerned about the worldly dignitaries. For, after he has become prominent in so short a time, just as the flower blossom, he falls to his downfall and becomes as nothing.
If anyone wants to win others, let him obtain this by the law of heaven. Let him be crowned by the honors granted him by God. Let him be above many others by the manifestation of the good virtues in him.
But, actually, the law of righteousness is the lowly mind that asks for no arrogance but rather asks for humility. This is what the devout St. Paul considered better than anything else, for he wrote to those who are eager to lead a conduct of holiness “Love humility” (Col.3: 12). Christ’s disciple praised this as well, for he wrote (James1: 9, 10) “Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the
rich will disappear like a flower in the field”. The mind that is lowly and controlled is exalted by God, for (Ps.51: 17) “a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise”.
He who thinks within himself he is highly esteemed, and so becomes arrogant in his thoughts, is gets puffed up in vain loftiness, this one becomes rejected and falls under the curse. He behaves contrary to Christ’s words, (Matt.11: 29) “Learn of Me for I an meek and lowly in heart”. It was moreover said (1Pet.5:5) “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. The wise Solomon showed on many occasions the security that dwells in the lowly mind, for he says (Sirach1: 30) “Do not exalt yourself, or you may fall”. The same thing is declared in an analogy (Prov.17: 19) “One who builds a high threshold invites broken bones”. Such a one is justly despised by God, for he wrongs against himself, and he wishes to over go what is beyond his nature, quite unawaringly.
I ask you; on what basis does man assume within himself he is a great one?
I wish everyone to regard himself with wise eyes, and so he becomes as Abraham who did not err in realising his nature, and he rather called himself dust and ashes (Gen.18: 27).
St. Cyril the great
+ Do you refuse to be modest, whereas you are actually a fallen one? There is a huge difference between him who is trying to be modest and him who is actually fallen on the ground. You are thrown on the ground, and do you not want to be modest?
St. Augustine
+ The one asking for honor does not obtain what he aims at, but he rather suffers from disillusion. For, he is preoccupied as to how he could be loaded with honors, and he suddenly finds dishonor instead. Since there is nothing any better than modesty, this is why the Lord leads the listening to Him to reject the foremost positions, and He rather commands then to seek the modest ones.
St. John Chrysostom
+ No one should think these commandments of Christ make him a trivial person, unworthy of the sublime and glorious word of God.
Father Theophlactius Furthermore, St. Basilious warns us of misunderstanding these words of Christ. He
has asked of us not to covet the foremost positions, but rather seek the last ones. But we ask of Him in peace and in modesty and discipline, not through violence or any ostentation. If we ask the host to have the foremost position we also accept it quietly, and do not disrupt his disciplinary system. In other words, the Lord’s words touch the innermost heart so that man does not covet the vain glory, whether we sit here or there. God asks for the heart and not for any outer appearance. This is why the Lord concluded the parable by saying (Luke14: 11) “For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”.
We may say that the wedding, or the banquet host is the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ Himself. He has invited us all to come to His church, the joyful banquet to the soul. He walks in its midst without any stopping, because the church is sanctified. He wants to see the lowly hearts, and thus He richly overflows them with the fruits of His Holy Spirit. He exalts them in the eyes of the heavenly and earthly ones. Just as the saint Mary said when she accepted the banquet Owner in her womb (Luke1: 52) “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.”
- Having an Open heart for the Needy Ones:
Because the Lord offered us His lowliness as a foundation upon which we accept His fellowship, and to carry His thoughts in us, and so conduct ourselves in the spirit of
lowliness, and asking for the last position, and are eager to depart from the foremost positions to give them to our brethren, presenting each other in preference of honor (Rom.12: 10), the Lord therefore asks us as well to follow His example. He is our heavenly friend; and so we have to carry a big heart for those who are in need, the deprived ones and the disabled ones. The Lord in His incarnation has come for the lost man, and has left His heavenly creation, that is, the ninety nine sheep, so as to search for the lost one. In love He endured the suffering of the cross, so He may carry the lost sheep on His shoulders, and lift him up to the glory of His heavens. Likewise we should appropriately search for every needy and suffering person.
(Luke14: 12- 14) He said also to the one who had invited Him ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of therighteous”.
+ If we are ashamed of those whom Christ is not ashamed of, them we are ashamed of Christ Himself by being ashamed of His friends.
Fill your table with crippled and deformed ones, and thus Christ will come to you through them not through the rich.
St. John Chrysostom
+ If you invite a friend, he keeps thanking you till evening time. But friendship remains for a while and soon ends, and so it is not worth the expenses you spent. But if you invite a poor or deformed one, then the gratitude is not corrupted, because God remembers it for you everlastingly. He will not forget it, since He Himself will be indebted to you.
St. John Chrysostom
+ Let us follow the friendship according to the Spirit, for it is strong and is hard to untie; and not the friendship that is round the table.
St. John Chrysostom
+ The more modest our brother is, the more Christ comes through him and visits us. Because when you host and important person, this is probably done due to vainglory. Let us not ask the able ones to reward us, but rather follow the saying ‘you will, be blessed since they have nothing to reward you with’.
Let us not be disturbed when we are not rewarded gentleness for gentleness. Because if we accept it of people, we do not obtain what is more. But if we are not repaid by humans then it is God who will rewardus.
+ It is appropriate that you receive the poor ones in the best room you have. If you reject this, then at least accept Christ in the lesser rooms where those who perform the base chores and the servants are.
Let the poor one at least keep your door safe; because where charity is, Satan cannot barge in and enter.
If you do not sit with them, then at least send them the plates from your table.
St. John Chrysostom St. Cyril thegreat mentions his remarks on this parable, saying that those concerned
in presenting beautiful pictures, do not find it enough to use one color. Likewise is the God of everyone, the Giver of spiritual beauty and its Teacher. He decorates our souls by various virtues so as to lead a sanctified life of various angles, so we be perfected in His image. This is why the Lord Jesus commanded the lawyers and the Pharisees and the scribes to lead a modest conduct, and be released of the love of vain glory. Also, they should not ask for the foremost positions. Now he is asking of them to love the poor, and not to host in their banquets the rich, and to ask for praise and the love of showing off; but rather to invite the needy, the unpaired, those in suffering by all kinds of physical diseases, so as to obtain the hope in the heavenlies fromGod Himself. St. Cyril the great concludes his words about this
virtue that ornaments the soul saying. “The lesson He teaches us is to love the poor, this very precious matter in the eyes of God”.
Are you pleased when you hear words of praise said by your friends and relatives that you host at a banquet? I shall tell you what is even better: the angels praise your generosity, and the sensible heavenly hosts and the saints likewise do so, and even God accepts him who exalts everyone and loves mercy and is compassionate. Lend Him and do not fear, for He will repay you with an interest, for it is said (Prov.19: 17) “He who has mercy on the poor, lends the Lord”. He knows the loan and He promises to be faithful to it (Matt. 25: 31).
Bring to your possession the grace springing from God. Have the Lord of heaven and earth a Friend to yourself, for indeed, man possesses the friendship of people usually by means of much gold. If those dignitaries befriend us, we are overjoyed, and try to offer gifts more than we can afford because we have obtained honor in being close to them. Despite this, these matters are transient and quickly pass away as an shadow in a dream.
Is it not appropriate to count our membership in God’s house as worthy of possession? Do we not consider it a valuable issue? Surely we shall stand in Christ’s presence after the resurrection from the dead, and the reward will be given to the compassionate and the merciful. The condemnation will be harsh indeed on the violent who had no natural love. For it is said (James2: 13) “For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy”.
But as for the scholar Oreganus, due to his symbolic interpretation, he sees the banquet as the spiritual table that is appropriate for us. For we cast away from us the vain glory, and so we welcome the poor and needy, that is, those who are ignorant and are in need of wisdom, so they find on our table the Lord Jesus who enriches everyone. We also host the weak ones who resist the inward conscience so they be inwardly healed. Also those who are crippled, who have got lost in their conduct of truth, so they find the straight paths in the Lord. We also host the blind who have no spiritual vision to realise the truth, and thus enjoy the true light. Those do not have what they could reward us with, for they do not find any answer as to the preaching so overpowering in its love.
- Being Concerned about the Banquet Invitation:
The Lord Jesus, as a skilful artist, wished to color in our minds the variable virtues, as St. Cyril the great said, so as to form a beautiful icon as His model that has His image. He commanded us to open our hearts in love to the poor, the needy, the physically and spiritually deformed so as to be satisfied for the Lord’s account, awaiting the above reward from God alone. But we will not be able to open our hearts in love as a banquet where we welcome our little brethren unless we first are blessed as little children by entering the divine banquet. This is why the Lord’s words were addressed to us so we accept being blessed by His banquet and do no refuse His invitation to us. We enter His spiritual banquet and hence our hearts themselves become a banquet of love to our brothers in the Lord of glory.
The evangelist says (Luke14: 15-17) “One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to Him ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now’.”
When those sitting around heard the previous words of the Lord Jesus, one of them wished to be rewarded with what the Lord had promised when inviting the poor in his banquets. He thought the reward is to obtain materialistic banquet in the kingdom of heaven, for the Lord had said ‘Blessed is he who eats bread in God’s kingdom’. In such a way were the Jewish doctrine leaders so materialistic in their concepts even when concerning God’s kingdom. But as for God’s sons, these find their satisfaction not in materialistic food, but
rather in God Himself ‘the true love’. This is why St. Clemendous the Alexandrian says, “The philosophers are wiser then the rich ones, for they do not bury their minds in food, and are not deceived by its pleasure.
The shared love (aghabi) is the heavenly food, the table of the mind.
(1Cor.13: 7,8) “Love bears all things, believes all things hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies they will come to an end”.
St. Cyril the great says, “This man may not have become yet spiritual, but he was rather physical and was unable to understand fully what Christ said, as he was not one of the believers, and neither was he baptized. He assumed the reward for the saints due to their loving deeds shared in common, concerned physical matters.
This man was probably one of the Pharisees invited to one of their leaders’ home. He represented the materialistic Jewish concepts even in the heavenly matters. This is why the Lord Jesus presented to them the following parable to reveal to them the secret behind the rejection of so many to the heavenly invitation. This was the concept slope towards the materialistic affairs, and the soul’s soaking into temporal matters, and being enslaved by the vain passions; for the Lord said: (Luke14: 16-21) “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now’. But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets. Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets’. Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come’. So the slave returned and reported this to his master, then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame’.”
We understand here that the master refers to God the Father. It is he who created the universe, and is Father of the glory. He has prepared a great banquet, that is, a feast for the entire world in honor of Christ. In the last days of the world, that is, in these our days, the Son has risen for our sakes. In these days too, He endured death for our sakes and offered His body as food, for it is the bread that comes down from heaven, and that gives life to the world.
When almost evening, too, in the light of the lantern, the offal was offered as a sacrifice according to the covenant of Moses. This is why the invitation offered by Christ was called supper.
Who is he who was sent, and about whom was said he was slave? This could mean Christ Himself; for He is by nature God the Word, the Son of God the Father. But He yielded Himself and took the form of a slave. By being god of God, He is the Lord of all, but could be called a slave with regards to His humanity’. Even though He took the form of the slave, as I have said, yet He is Lord for He is God.
When was He sent? At even tide. For the Son of God the Father, the only Begotten, He did not come down from heaven and become like us in our image at the beginning of this world; but rather when the Almighty Himself wished for it in the end of times as I have previously mentioned.
What is the nature of the invitation? ‘Come, for everything has been prepared’; this is because God the Father is preparing for the inhabitants of the earth in Christ, the talents given to the world through Him. These are the forgiveness of sins, the washing away of every iniquity, the partnership of the Holy Spirit, the glorious adoption as being His children and the heavenly kingdom. Christ called Israel for these blessings by the gospel commandments before calling anyone else. On one occasion the psalmist says (Ps.2: 6, 7) “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree of the Lord”. On another occasion it was said (Matt.15: 24) “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.
Was this persistence for their own good? Did they admire Him who has commanded them, and who has worked, and has come to serve them by the vocation? Never! For one by one they all began to apologize. This means they did not postpone it, they just rejected the invitation. Here you can realise how they were unable to be aware of the spiritual matters by submitting themselves to the temporal matters. Thus they have become insensitive, for they were overcome with the love of the body, and have become far away from any holiness. They were greedy and eager for wealth. They asked for the worldly affairs, and paid no concern to the hope of what god above kept in store for them. To possess the joy of paradise is way more wonderful than the earthly fields. To harvest the fruits of righteousness is way better than the temporal fruits we wish for from the yoke of the oxen. For it is written (Hosea10: 12) “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap stead fast love... that He may come and rain righteousness upon you”. Was it not their duty, instead of begetting physical children, to have the spiritual fruitfulness? Because the first are subject to death and corruption, but the others will live eternally as saints.
St. Cyril the great Let us go back to the parable to find the banquet owner sending just before dinner inviting everyone. This was the cu7stom in the East; that the host sends his slaves first so as to invite his friends, and just before eating he sends a second time to make them hurry in coming. Likewise did God send to us the prophets first. Even before the banquet of the cross, He sent His only begotten Son, who yielded Himself as a slave, and kept calling us to the banquet of the divine love, to His sacrifice that car satisfy everyone. As St. John Chrysostom says, “Indeed, the sacrifice has been offered to the entire humanity. It is sufficient to save
everyone; yet no one would be blessed by it except the believers alone”.
Who are those who apologized? St. Augustine says, “They are of three kinds”:
Firstly: The man who bought a field represents he who has authority on a particular spot, and this refers to pride.
Secondly: He who has purchased five pairs of oxen refers to the one confused about the physical senses, for every one has five physical senses (vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste). These have an influence on the soul, like someone carrying five hidden senses. He who gets disturbed by these senses in earthly matters, which preoccupy his body as well as his soul, will not be able to obtain and enjoy God’s kingdom.
Thirdly: The one who apologized for getting married refers to him who has changed even the holy matters to physical pleasure that hinder his spiritual ones.
St. Augustine summarizes these regrets saying “I wish we leave behind those vain and evil regrets, and that we come to the dinner of fully inward satisfaction. I wish we be not puffed up with pride that offends us and hinders us. I wish we be not inquisitive, and be not disturbed and get far away from God. I wish the physical pleasures not to hinder the hearts pleasure. Let us come and be satisfied”.
St. Ambrosios in his remarks on St. Luke’s gospel, thinks those three who have apologized for not coming these three represent the variable ways in loving the world. The first one is preoccupied with earthly affairs, and has come to own for himself an earthly house that drifts him away from God’s kingdom. This is why the Lord’s commandment came as follows (Matt.19: 21) “Sell all what you have... and come follow Me”. Also the bying of the cattle refers to getting disturbed by the world deeds and actions. This is why Elyah slaughtered on acre of cattle and cooked the meat with cattle utensils and gave the people to eat (1Kings19: 21). The third one who had married refers to him who is concerned with what is worldly so as to please his wife (1Cor.7: 34).
We can say that the drawback is not with the field, which is the earthly dwelling; neither is it with the cattle, which is the work; nor with the wife, which is the family relations, for it is possible for man to sanctify his body as well as his soul, when his house, his work,
his family are sanctified in the Lord. But the real drawback is to be disturbed by these matters away from the circle of God’s love and the concern about the eternal inheritance.
St. Ambrosios says some provide a different interpretation: it is that those to be avoided from the banquet are three; the unbelieving Gentiles, the ungrateful Jews, and the heretics. The Gentiles represent the love of money and greed. This is why the apostle advises us to flee covetousness (To.1: 29) lest we be deprived of the banquet like the Gentiles. He moreover says (Eph.5: 5) “Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolator) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God”.
The Jews, as the five pairs of cattle. Carry the yoke of the law in fatal literacy. They are five pairs, that is to say ten in number as a symbol of the ten commandments. It was said to the Samaritan woman. “You have five husbands” (John5: 18). But as for ourselves, we have taken Christ, who has set on us the light yoke of His love (Matt.11: 30). The heretics may be similar to the one confused and busy with his wife; since they reject the church, the true bride of the Lord Jesus Himself. They wish to assign for themselves a wife that offends in corrupt teachings the heavenly wedding.
Pope Gregory the great thinks the one preoccupied with the field refers to him who is preoccupied with the outward affairs of his life, and not concerned about his inward spiritual life. The one preoccupied with the five pairs of cattle refers to him who is concerned with the sensual physical matters and not with the deep spiritual life. The one preoccupied with his wife refers to him who ruins marriage, and instead of accepting to bring forth children, he changes to the physical lust and pleasures.
The scholar Oreganus thinks that he who owns the field, and thinks lightly of the banquet is he who accepts godly teachings that are adverse, and he rejects the word of truth. He who purchases five pairs of cattle is he who is careless about his spiritual and sensible nature, and thus yields to the physical senses and so he is unaware of the spiritualities. As for he who marries, this refers to him who is tied to the body ans is concerned about the physical pleasures more that being concerned about God.
Finally, many fathers have spoken about the one who rejected the invitation due to his marriage. They confirm that family ties, particularly the matrimonial boly tie, if in the Lord is for the construction of the soul.
+ I do not reject the matrimonial tie. I rather yield to it in greater love; for with this I confess to my wife appointed by the Lord to me, and I honor her. I do not reject being tied to her in this love of Christ that is never untied.
Father Theonas
+ The God of peace, who urges us to love our enemies, does not insert in us the hatred and undiscipline to those dear to us. If we love our enemies, let us then all the more be exalted so as to love the ones close to us.
If there is a wicked father, son or brother who obstructs anyone in the faith and confronts him in his offense to the higher life, and so let him not befriend him, and be released from the physical ti8es regarding this matter.
St. Clemandos the Alexandrian Now that we have revealed how the Lord Jesus has shown His parable the kinds of
people who have rejected His evangelical banquet due to their temporal link and their physical passions, the Lord continued His words in this way: (Luke 14: 21) “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame”.
Those who rejected the banquet in the first place, represent the Jews who disbelieve the evangelical message. The household here refers to the opening of the faith door to all the nations and the Gentiles who have lived for so long in atheist worship and its corruption. This was like the miserable ones who have no treasures of God commandments and prophecies.
They are like the lame and crippled ones who are paralyzed in their spiritual action, as the blind who have no inward vision. They are like those ones in the streets and alleys, who have no house of God in which they could rest.
Now, the doors of the heavenly city are open to them, so they be blessed with God’s banquet, and be present in God’s presence as members of Christ’s body, the sons of the living God.
+ The Gentiles came from the streets and the lames. I wish the heretics be rid of the barriers, and the thorns”.
St. Augustine
+ Those defeated by the disasters of this world, and have been forced to return by God’s love have returned and entered.
The following phrase is a terrifying one (Luke 14: 24) “For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste My dinner”. I wish no one to think scornfully of the invitation, lest if he is called he apologizes, and when he wishes to enter, he is unable to.
Pope Gregory the great
+ He sends His slaves to call the poor, the crippled the lame and the blind (Prov.1: 20) “Wisdom ones out in the street”.
He sent so as to call sinners to come from the wide roads to the narrow ones (Matt.7:
13).
He sew his slave to the village streets and its alleys, because those qualified for God’s
kingdom have to depart from the existing current matters and hasten to the promised goods, that are besieged, and are not in the streets and the alleys. Those fences separate the cultivable land from the streets, so they prevent the beasts from entering the fields and destroying the plants. In this way with the shield of faith, which is like the fence, we can discern the good from the bad and thus be able to resist the evil spirits. Therefore when the Lord wished to manifest His protection for His vineyard He said (Matt.21: 33) “He put a fence around it”.
St. Ambrosios
+ Those prestigious people from among the populace, did not submit to Jesus. He told them (Matt.11: 29) “For My yoke is easy”, but the rejected the call and did not accept the faith, and were far away from the banquet. They scorned the great dinner through their arrogant disobedience. The lack of faith among the scribes and the Pharisees was manifested in the Lord’s words (Luke11: 52) “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering”.
Instead of them, the call was offered to those in the streets and they alleys, who were also attributed to the common Jewish people; these were weak, impaired and mentally sick. They are regarded as being blind and crippled, yet in Christ they have become strong and whole. They have learnt how to walk uprightly, and have accepted the divine light in their minds.
Notice also the call to the Gentiles after those simple Jaws have adopted the faith. Those Gentiles in the old times were miserable ones in their thinking, having no spiritual culture regarding their understanding. They resided out of the city, and abided by no law. They were more of a herd of cattle than humans, for they barely used their mental ability. For this reason he sent the slaves to invite them to dinner, to those were in the streets out of town, as if he was obliging them to enter in. Despite this, the call to all humanity to come to the faith is an optional matter, which they accept in perfect freedom. Thus they become acceptable to God and are blessed with an overflow of His blessings.
St. Cyril the great How does heoblige them to enjoy the banquet even though the invitation to the faith
is optional? St. Cyril the great answers saying that the nations have become as id in the
bondage of Satan, and are unable to move. These nations need someone to pull them out of this bondage, as the Lord said (John6: 44) “No one can come to Me unless drawn by the Father who sent Me”. This drawing occurs by God’s strength that works in the Gentiles so they receive the Lord Jesus. The obligation here does not mean that man loses his voluntary wish, but that he is rather God’s help so as to urge him on to the faith.
Man, in his faith, asks god freely to seize him to His kingdom as if man is obliging God to do so. This means than with man’s will he yields his life in the Lord’s hands, so God may work in him according to His divine will.
The obligation here may also not mean the obligation to individuals to accept the call, but it rather obliges the nations of Gentiles after the rejection of the Jews. Thus the Gentile nations have adopted the Christian faith.
- The Carrying of the Cross:
The divine fellowship requires us to bear the qualities of our greatest Friend, and accept His invitation to His evangelical banquet. This friendship is based inside the circle of the cross. Our Friend has carried the cross instead of us, for our sake. Let us therefore carry it also for His sake! This is the account the Lord asked us to consider so as to construct the tower of friendship.
The evangelist tells us of carrying the cross, saying (Luke14: 25, 26) “Now large crowds were traveling with Him; and He turned and said to them. ‘Whoever comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be My disciple’”.
Because the multitudes surrounded Him, and followed Him, the Lord declared to them the concept of “His fellowship’, and their surrounding Him and following Him. He does not ask for the mere outward appearance, but He rather asks for the hearts’ encounter to come in the first place; when the heart rejects anyone’s entrance neither the father nor the mother nor the son—unless it be through the greatest Friend Jesus Christ. Even our very souls, we do not have to love them away from God. This is the concept of true love, which is to accept the cross, interpreted practically by hating every relation out of God’s love. In other words, if I hate my father and mother, my children and my brothers or sisters, even myself, this is only to accept them in a deeper and wider circle of love, for I love them in the Lord. I love even the enemies, and those who resist me in the Lord who has loved me when I was an enemy and a rebel so as to forcefully take me to His kingdom, as a friend and a loved one to Him.
+ Some may say ‘What is this O Lord? Do you scorn the law of natural emotions?’
do you command us to hate one another, and to think lightly of the parents’ love towards their children, and that of the husbands towards their wives, and the brothers towards each other?
Do we count the house members as enemies to us, even though it is appropriate that we should love them? Shall we make them enemies so we are drawn closer to You, and be able to follow You?
This is not what the Savior means. This is wrong and inappropriate thinking, because He has commanded us to be gentle even with the tough enemies, and to forgive those who hurt us. He said to love our enemies, and to pray for those who offend us. How does He wish us to hate those born of the same family, and to scorn the honor due to parents, and to scorn our brothers? Even our children and ourselves? What He wishes to teach us by these commandments is explicit to him who understands what He said on another occasion about the same subject (Matt.10: 37) “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me”. By His saying
‘more than Me’, He manifested He allows us to love, but not more than He. He asks for himself our main emotions. This is right and true, because God’s love in those of perfect mind, has its sublimity more than honoring the parents, and more than the natural emotions for the children.
St. Cyril the great
+ It is clear that man hates his neighbor when he loves him, as himself. We truly hate ourselves when we are not engrossed in our physical pleasures, but rather suppress them and resist their urge. By hatred we are better off, as if we love ourselves by hatred, for thus we hate its evil malice.
Pope Gregory the great
+ God does not want us to be ignorant of nature, and the natural family love. He does not want us either to be enslaved to it; but rather to submit nature, and give honor to the Creator of nature. Thus we should not give up God due to our love to our parents.
St. Ambrosios He has pointed out clearly here, what the Lord meant by His commandment saying (Luke14: 27) “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple”. He does not ask us to have the hateful nature to others, but to accept the daily death to everything for God’s sake. Thus, we have to carry the cross with Him incessantly, not through our hatred to others, or even to ourselves, but through our tremendous love to God, who absorbs every
emotion and love.
St. John Chrysostom says that the Lord does not ask us to put a cross of weed to carry every day, but to put death before our eyes, and thus do as St. Paul who scorned death.
+ We carry our Lord’s cross in two ways: either by declining what concerns our bodies, or by our kindness to our close ones and so consider their needs as our own. Some physically give up everything not for God’s sake, but rather for vain glory. They show tenderness not in a spiritual way but rather physically. This is why He truly said ‘Come, follow Me’. The carrying of the cross, and following the Lord means using the physical renunciation and being kind to our close ones for the sake of eternal benefit.
Pope Gregory the great The carrying of the cross is the price of our true fellowship with the Lord Jesus. He
also asks us to calculate the cost account and He offered us two parables: the first one is he who builds a tower has to calculate the cost first, before digging the foundation. The other example is that of the king who fights another king, and how he has to reconsider his potentials before waging the war. Our fellowship with Christ has to have those two aspects: the building of a very high tower by means of which we shall encounter the heavenly king, so as to live with Him in the heavenly embrace. The second is the waging of war with Satan who resists Christ’s friends, and does not cease wrestling with them so as to withdraw them to the dark kingdom instead of the kingdom of light.
First: The parable of building the tower:
(Luke14: 28-30) “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow bean to build and was not able to finish’”.
+ Let us calculate the cost of the very high spiritual tower, and let us meditate carefully ahead of time. Let us take into consideration first the errors in a clear way. Let us put aside the physical corruption and passions, so we be able to set the basics of simplicity and modesty, which are so strong that they are above the solid soil of our live chest. In other words, the foundation is laid on the gospel rock (Luke6: 48). In this way the tower of spiritual virtues is heightened; and is able to stand firm and gets higher to the highest heavens, in perfect safety, and is immovable.
Father Isaac.
+ Those who have chosen to lead a blameless and glorious life, they first have to store in their minds sufficient zeal. They should remember Him who said (Sirach2: 1) “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing. Set your heart right and be steadfast”. But those who have no such zeal, how could they reach the sign ahead of them?
St. Cyril the great
+ Because He has given us such high commandments that are so sublime, He mentioned to us the parable of building the tower.
If we wish to build the tower of modesty, we first have to prepare ourselves against the troubles of this world.
Pope Gregory the great
+ The tower is that one of high observation and supervision for guarding the city, and discovering the approach of the enemy. In such a way, our minds have to keep righteousness and beware of any evil.
St. Basilious the great
+ We have to struggle continuously to achieve the goal of every hard job, by more and more concern for God’s commandments. In this way we shall complete the divine work. It is not enough to have one stone to make the tower. Likewise, it is not enough to follow one commandment to perfect the soul. We rather have to dig the foundation. As the apostle says to put stones of gold and silver and precious stones (1Cor. 3: 12).
St. Gregory, bishop of Nicus Therefore, if we wish to have ourselves a gigantic tower high up towards heaven, or a
tower sanctified to the Lord, then let us consider the cost to be paid, which is ‘the live faith working in love’. This manifested love makes us carry the Lord’s cross. He begins with us this work, since we are carrying His own cross. He Himself accompanies us the difficult way of the cross, for He has walked through it all by Himself. No one could cross it unless he is hidden in Him. It is He who completes the way, and He lefts us up to the thrill and joy of His resurrection.
Unless we accept the cross, we carry Christ’s name without His life in us. We will then have the appearance of the cross, yet without its power. In this case the evil powers look scornfully on us, saying, (Luke14: 30) ‘This man has begun to build but is unable to complete the building’. As St. Cyril the great says ‘We have many enemies who are been on mocking us, whether they be evil spirits or the law of sin and the physical lust...etc.
Secondly: The parable of the fighting king:
(Luke14: 31-35) “Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes with twenty thousand against him? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become My disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen”.
In the parable of the tower, He spoke of the building expenses, that is, about the positive aspect. We have been called to the divine fellowship so as to build up ourselves as a tower, soaring up high to the heavens themselves. Therefore this, the vision is blessed with matters that are unseen, and enters solely with God so as to contemplate on the mysteries of His overwhelming love, and comes to know His glories inside herself. The building of the tower, as we have seen, means that through our fellowship with our Lord Jesus, we become by Him a fortified tower which the enemy cannot invade into our sanctified inner self. The enemy will find no place of rest for Him in us, and we shall say with the Lord Jesus ‘The ruler of the world comes and finds nothing for him in us’.
But as for the parable of the king, this refers to the conflict of the enemy against us. For when he sees the tower of our inward life being built by the Holy Spirit, so the Lord of glory is glorified in us, and our souls are exalted to the Father’s embrace, the enemy is kindled in envy and jealousy. He does not cease to fight us in every deceitful way so as to destroy our depths.
The adversary wrestles since he is king, and he wishes to devour everyone to his dark kingdom. But we, as believers, are bonded to the king of kings, and have become ‘kings’ (Rev.1: 6) and we have spiritual authority. We have the ability to work with the Holy Spirit, so as to overcome with Christ who (Rev.6: 2) ‘has come out victorious and to overcome.
Our call to Christ’s fellowship, the Overcomer, is a call to overcome by Him, and to be blessed with the heavenly crown, and to share His glories. This is why St. Cyril the great says:
“What does this mean? Our struggle is not with flesh and blood (Eph.6: 12) “But against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.
We too have a crown just as the overcoming of the other enemies, such as the physical thoughts, the rebelling law in our members, the variable passions as the passion of pleasure, the physical pleasure, the wealth pleasure and so forth. We wrestle with these as if they were a violent troop of enemies.
How do we overcome? By faith, (Ps.60: 12) “With God we shall do valiantly; it is He who will tread down our foes”. One of our saintly prophets speaks to us of this confidence, saying, (Is.50: 9) “It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?” The devout king David chants, saying, (Ps.27: 1) “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” He is our strength, and by Him we achieve victory, for He gives us the authority to tread on life and scorpions, and every power of the enemy.
+ (Rom.6: 17, 25) The king is the sin that reigns over our members. But our spiritual understanding was created a king. If he wishes to fight against sin, let him work with all his mind.
Father Theophlactius The true Christian, when he faces spiritual war, he meets with ten thousand him who
comes with twenty thousand. He represents the ‘small flock’ (Luke12: 32) That the Father was pleased to give the heavenly kingdom. He apparently seems lesser and weaker when facing the adversary. But as much as he leaves ‘all of his wealth’ (luke14: 33) that is, he does not rely on himself or his self righteousness, nor his potentials; this one becomes salt good to salt others so they would not go bad.
The Christian carries ‘Ten thousand’ because the number 10 refers to the commandments, and the number 1000 refers to the spiritual thinking of heaven. He fights Christ Jesus, and abides by the commandment in heavenly thinking. But as for the adversary, he comes as a king of ‘twenty thousand’, for he fights him in spiritual wars (1000) through the northern strike (10) and the right strike (10). Sometimes he urges the lust as a northern strike, and at other times he urges in him the self-righteousness, as a right hand strike.
As for the secret behind victory, it is the departure from everything (Luke14: 33) so that God becomes the all in all, and also to be armored by the good salt, that is, the divine commandments. As St. Cyril the great says ‘This is for our salvation. If we scorn God’s word and His commandments our life will be transformed to corruption, and we will be fit for nothing’. We have previously spoken elaborately of the good salt.