He also said to His disciples: There was a certain man who was rich and had a steward, against whom it was reported to him that he was wasting his property; and calling him, he said to him: What is this I hear about you? give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage. Then the steward said to himself: What should I do? my lord takes away the stewardship of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask; I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from managing the house. And calling his master’s debtors, each one separately, he said to the first: How much do you owe my master? He said: one hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty. Then he said to another: how much do you owe? He answered: one hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: take your receipt and write: eighty. And the lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely; for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes. Every parable covertly and figuratively explains the essence of some object, but it is not in all respects similar to the object it is taken to explain. Therefore, one should not explain all parts of the parable to the point of subtlety, but, having used the subject as appropriate, the other parts should be omitted without attention, as parables added for the sake of integrity, but having no correspondence with the subject. The same should be done with the proposed parable. For if we undertake to explain everything in fine detail, who is the steward, who put him in charge, who denounced him, who are the debtors, why one owes oil and the other wheat, why it is said that they owed a hundred each, and if all If we generally explore everything else with excessive curiosity, then we will make the speech obscure, and, forced by difficulties, we may even end up with ridiculous explanations. Therefore, this parable should be used as much as possible. Let me explain a little. The Lord wants here to teach us how to manage the wealth entrusted to us well. And, firstly, we learn that we are not lords of property, for we have nothing of our own, but that we are stewards of someone else’s property, entrusted to us by the Master so that we dispose of property well and as He commands. Then we learn that if we act in managing wealth not according to the thought of the Lord, but squander what has been entrusted to us on our own whims, then we are the kind of stewards who have been denounced. For the will of the Master is such that we use what has been entrusted to us for the needs of our fellow servants, and not for our own pleasures. When they inform on us and we have to be removed from the management of the estate, that is, expelled from this life, when it is we who will give an account of the management after our death from here, then we are late in noticing what needs to be done, and we make friends for ourselves with unrighteous wealth. “Unrighteous” is the name given to the “wealth” that the Lord has entrusted to us to use for the needs of our brothers and co-workers, while we keep it for ourselves. But late we realize where we should turn, and that on this day we cannot work, for then is not the time to do, nor to ask for alms, for it is indecent, since the virgins who asked (for alms) are called fools (Matthew 25:8). What remains to be done? To share this property with our brothers, so that when we move from here, that is, we move from this life, the poor will accept us into eternal abodes. For the poor in Christ are assigned eternal abodes as their inheritance, into which they can receive those who have shown them love here through the distribution of wealth, although it, as belonging to the Master, first had to be distributed to the poor. They are debtors according to what was said: “he shows mercy and lends every day” (Ps. 36:26), and in another place: “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord” (Proverbs 19:17). So, first it was necessary to distribute everything to these good debtors, who pay a hundredfold. However, when we turn out to be unfaithful stewards, unjustly retaining for ourselves what is assigned to others, we should not remain forever in this inhumanity, but should give to the poor so that they will accept us into eternal abodes. - When we explain this parable in this way, then in the explanation there will be nothing superfluous, or sophisticated, or mind-boggling. However, the expression “the sons of this age are more perceptive” and further seems to mean something else, and not incomprehensible or strange. He calls “sons of this age” those who invent everything on earth that is useful for them, and “sons of light” those who, out of love for God, must teach others spiritual wealth. So, it is said here that people who are appointed as stewards of human property try in every possible way to have consolation after leaving management, but the sons of light, who are appointed, that is, receiving in trust the management of spiritual property, do not think at all that after to benefit from this, So, the sons of this age are those who have been entrusted with the management of human affairs and who “in their generation,” that is, in this life, conduct their affairs wisely, and the sons of light are those who have accepted property in order to manage they are God-loving. It turns out that when managing human property, we manage our affairs wisely and try to have some kind of refuge for life even when we are removed from this management. And when we manage property, which must be disposed of according to the will of God, we do not seem to care that, upon our departure from this life, we will not fall under responsibility for management and be left without any consolation. That is why we are called foolish because we do not think about what will be useful for us after this. But let us make friends for ourselves in the poor, using on them unrighteous wealth, given to us by God as a weapon of righteousness, but retained by us for our own benefit and therefore turned into untruth. If wealth acquired in a righteous way, when it is not managed well and is not distributed to the poor, is imputed to unrighteousness and to mammon, then how much more is the wealth unrighteous. Let us be the last to make friends for ourselves, so that when we die and move from this life, or in another case we become faint-hearted from condemnation, they will receive us there into eternal abodes.
He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Lord also teaches that wealth must be managed according to the will of God. “He who is faithful in little,” that is, who has managed well the property entrusted to him in this world, is faithful “in much,” that is, worthy of true wealth in the next century. “Small” refers to earthly wealth, since it is truly small, even insignificant, since it is fleeting, and “many” - Heavenly wealth, since it always abides and comes. Therefore, whoever turned out to be unfaithful in this earthly wealth and appropriated what was given for the common benefit of his brothers to himself, he will not be worthy of even that much, but will be rejected as an unfaithful. Explaining what has been said, he adds: “So, if you were not faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will believe you what is true?” He called “unrighteous” wealth the wealth that remains with us; for if it were not unrighteous, we would not have it. And now, since we have it, it is obvious that it is unrighteous, since it is withheld by us and not distributed to the poor. For the theft of someone else's property and that of the poor is injustice. So, whoever manages this estate poorly and incorrectly, how can he be trusted with “true” wealth? And who will give us “ours” when we mismanage “someone else’s”, that is, property? And it is “foreign”, since it is intended for the poor, and on the other hand, since we did not bring anything into the world, but were born naked. And our destiny is Heavenly and Divine riches, for there is our dwelling (Phil. 3:20). Possessions and acquisitions are alien to man, created in the image of God, for none of them are like him. And enjoying Divine blessings and communicating with God is akin to us. - Until now, the Lord has taught us how to properly manage wealth. For it is someone else's, not ours; we are stewards, not lords and masters. Since the management of wealth according to the will of God is accomplished only with firm dispassion towards it, the Lord added this to his teaching: “You cannot serve God and mammon,” that is, it is impossible for one to be a servant of God who is attached to wealth and addiction to it holds something behind it. Therefore, if you intend to properly manage wealth, then do not be enslaved to it, that is, do not have attachment to it, and you will truly serve God. For the love of money, that is, the passionate inclination for wealth, is condemned everywhere (1 Tim. 6:10).
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they laughed at Him. He said to them: You show yourselves to be righteous before men, but God knows your hearts, for whatever is exalted among men is an abomination to God. The Pharisees, annoyed at the words of the Lord, laughed at Him. For they, as money lovers, were unpleasant to hear about non-covetousness. So it is said: “Godliness is an abomination to a sinner, and wounds to the wicked are reproached” (Proverbs 9:7). The Lord, revealing the hidden wickedness of the Pharisees and showing that, although they take on the appearance of righteousness, they are vile, yet before God because of their conceit, he says: you present yourselves as righteous before people and think that you alone are given the understanding of what is necessary, and teach; That’s why you laugh at My words as unreasonable, wanting to be considered teachers of truth among the mob. But that's not the case. Because God knows your hearts and considers you vile for your arrogance and addiction to human glory. “For whatever is high among men is an abomination to God.” “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5). Therefore, you, Pharisees, had to live not for human opinion, “for God will scatter the bones of those who fight against you” (Ps. 53:6), but it is better to make yourselves righteous before God.
Law and Prophets before John; From now on, the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone enters into it with effort. But it is sooner that heaven and earth pass away than one line of the law disappears. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries one divorced from her husband commits adultery. Apparently, this is a separate speech that has nothing in common with the above, but for the attentive it will not seem inconsistent, but, on the contrary, very connected with the previous one. The Lord, with the above words, taught non-covetousness and called wealth an unrighteous name, and the Law (Lev. 26:3-9) provided blessings in wealth (by the way), and the prophets (Isa. 19) promised earthly blessings as a reward. Lest anyone, like the Pharisees, say to Him mockingly: What are you saying? Are you contradicting the Law: it blesses with wealth, but You teach non-covetousness? - therefore the Lord says: The Law and the Prophets had a time before John and they taught well, because the listeners were then at a young age. But from the time when John appeared, almost disembodied due to lack of covetousness and non-covetous almost due to disembodiment, and preached the Kingdom of Heaven, earthly blessings no longer have time, but the Kingdom of Heaven is preached. Therefore, those who desire heaven must learn non-covetousness on earth. Since the prophets and the Law did not mention the Kingdom of Heaven, they rightly promised earthly blessings to people who were still far from perfect and unable to imagine anything great and masculine. Therefore, Pharisees, I rightly teach non-covetousness, when the imperfect commandments of the Law no longer have time. Then, so that they would not say that, finally, everything legal was rejected as vain and completely empty, the Lord says: No! on the contrary, now it is being fulfilled and accomplished even more. For what the Law wrote in the shadow, speaking figuratively of Christ or of the commandments, is now being fulfilled, and not a single line of it will be lost. What is indicated there in the form of a shadow about Christ will now be fulfilled in the clearest way. And the commandments of the Law, given then adaptively and in accordance with the understanding of the imperfect, will now have the highest and most perfect meaning. And that the Law spoke imperfectly to the imperfect can be seen from the following. For example, the Law, due to the hardness of the hearts of the Jews, gave a sentence on the dissolution of marriage, namely: if a husband hated his wife, he had the right to divorce her so that something worse would not happen. For the murderous and bloodthirsty Jews did not spare their closest relatives, so they buried their sons and daughters as sacrifices to demons. But this is a flaw and imperfection of the Law. Then there was a time for such a law, but now a different, more perfect teaching is needed. That is why I say: whoever divorces his wife for reasons other than adultery and marries another commits adultery. Therefore, it is not surprising if I teach about non-covetousness, although the Law does not clearly say anything about it. Behold, the Law indifferently gave the commandment about marital divorce, to prevent murder among the Jews; and I, accustoming my listeners to the highest perfection, prohibit divorce without a blessed reason and command this not contrary to the Law, but so that there is no murder between husbands and wives. And I confirm this when I teach that spouses should take care of each other and protect each other as if they were their own members. And the Law wanted this, but since the listeners were imperfect, He determined to dissolve the marriage, so that, at least under this condition, the husband and wife would spare each other and would not be angry with each other. - So, Christ confirmed all the requirements of the Law; and therefore he said well that it is impossible to miss a single line from the Law. For how would it perish when Christ corrected it (the Law) in the best possible way?
A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered in scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. This speech stands in connection with the previous one. Since the Lord taught above how to manage wealth well, he rightly adds this parable, which, by example of what happened to the rich man, points to the same idea. This speech is precisely a parable, and not a real event, as some thought without reason. For the time has not yet come for the righteous to inherit good things, nor for sinners to inherit evil. And the Lord gave the speech figurativeness in order to teach both the unmerciful what is in store for them in the future, and to teach the ill-suffering that they will be prosperous for what they endure here. The Lord took the rich man in the parable without a name, since he is not worthy to be named before God, as it was said through the Prophet: “I will not remember their names with my mouth” (Ps. 15:4). And he mentions the poor by name, for the names of the righteous are written in the book of life. They say, according to Jewish tradition, that at that time there was a certain Lazarus in Jerusalem, who was in extreme poverty and illness, and that the Lord mentioned him, taking him into the parable as obvious and famous. - The rich man was prosperous in all respects. He dressed in purple and fine linen and not only dressed himself, but also enjoyed every other pleasure. “He feasted brilliantly,” it is said, and not that today - yes, but tomorrow - no, but “every day,” and not that moderately, but “brilliantly,” that is, luxuriously and wastefully. But Lazarus was poor and sick, and, moreover, “with scabs,” as it is said. For you can be sick and yet not be wounded, but this increases evil. And he was defeated at the rich man's gate. It is a new sorrow to see that others enjoy abundantly, while he suffers from hunger. For he wanted to be satisfied not with luxurious dishes, but with crumbs from them, such as the dogs ate. No one cared about the healing of Lazarus: for the dogs licked his wounds, since no one drove them away. What then? Lazarus, being in such a difficult situation, blasphemed God and reviled the luxurious life of the rich man? Condemned inhumanity? Grumbled about Providence? No, he didn’t think of anything like that, but he endured everything with great wisdom. Where can you see this? From the fact that when he died, the Angels accepted him. For if he had been a murmurer and a blasphemer, he would not have received such an honor - being accompanied and carried by Angels. “The rich man also died, and they buried him.” Even during the life of the rich man, his soul was truly buried; it carried the flesh like a coffin. Therefore, even after his death, he is not elevated by the Angels, but is relegated to hell. For he who has never thought about anything lofty or heavenly deserves the lowest place. With the words “they buried him,” the Lord hinted that his soul was destined for the underworld and a dark place.
And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all 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. Just as the Lord, having expelled Adam from paradise, settled him in front of paradise (Gen. 3:24), so that suffering, repeated at the constant sight of paradise, would allow Adam to more clearly feel the deprivation of bliss, so he condemned this rich man before the face of Lazarus, so that, seeing in what state Lazarus is now there, the rich man felt what he had lost through inhumanity. Why did the rich man see Lazarus not with another of the righteous, but in the bosom of Abraham? Since Abraham was hospitable, and the rich man had to be convicted of his dislike for hospitality, therefore the rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham. He even invited those passing by into his house, but he despised the one lying inside the house. Why does the rich man make his request not to Lazarus, but to Abraham? Maybe he was ashamed, or maybe he thought that Lazarus remembered his evil, and based on his deeds he concluded about Lazarus as well. If I (he could think), enjoying such happiness, despised him, oppressed by such misfortune, and did not give him even crumbs, then all the more he, despised by me, will remember the evil and will not agree to show me mercy. That is why he addresses his words to Abraham, probably thinking that the patriarch does not know how it happened. What about Abraham? He didn’t say to the rich man: inhumane and cruel, aren’t you ashamed? now you remember about philanthropy. But how? "Child"! See a compassionate and holy soul. Some sage says: do not disturb a humble soul. Therefore, Abraham says: “child,” letting him know through this that it is in his power to call him so graciously even now, but only that, and that more than this he has no power to do anything for him. I will give you what I can, that is, a voice of compassion. But to go from here to there is not in our will, for everything is contained. “You have already received your good things in your life, but Lazarus received your evil things.” Why didn't Abraham say to the rich man: you received, but you received? We usually use the word “get back” about those who receive what they were owed. What do we learn? Because although some have defiled themselves with atrocities, although they have reached the extreme degree of malice, at some point they have done one or two good deeds. Therefore, the rich man also had some good deeds, and since he received a reward in the prosperity of this life, it is said that he received his good. “And Lazarus received his evil.” Perhaps he also committed one or two evil deeds and in the sorrow that he endured here, he received due reward for them. Therefore, he is comforted, but you suffer. “The abyss” signifies the distance and difference between the righteous and sinners. For just as their intentions were different, so their abodes have a great difference when. everyone receives reward according to will and life. Take here also the objection against the Origenists. They say that the time will come when the torment will end and sinners will unite with the righteous and with God, and thus God will be all in all. But behold, we hear, Abraham. He says that those who want to move from here to you or from there to us cannot do this. Therefore, just as it is impossible for anyone to move from the fate of the righteous to the place of sinners, so it is impossible, Abraham teaches us, to move from the place of torment to the place of the righteous. And Abraham, without a doubt, is more worthy of faith than Origen. - What is “hell”? Some say that hell is an underground dark place, while others called hell the transition of the soul from a visible to an invisible and formless state. For as long as the soul is in the body, it is revealed by its own actions, but after separation from the body it becomes invisible. This is what they called hell. - “Abraham’s Bosom” refers to the totality of those blessings that are offered to the righteous upon their entry from the storm into the heavenly havens; since in the sea we usually call bays (bosom) places convenient for landing and calming down. - Pay attention to the fact that on the day that offender will see in what glory the one offended by him will be, and this one, in turn, will see in what condemnation the offender will be, just as here the rich man saw Lazarus, and this one saw the rich man again.
Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him; they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then Abraham He said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe it. The unfortunate rich man, having not received relief from his lot, encloses a request for others. Look how, through punishment, he came to sympathize with others, and whereas before he despised Lazarus, who lay at his feet, now they care about others who are not with him, and begs to send Lazarus from the dead, not just someone, to his father’s house from the dead, but Lazarus, so that those who had previously seen him sick and dishonored would now see him crowned with glory and healthy, and those who were witnesses of his misery would themselves become contemplators of his glory. For it is obvious that he would have appeared to them in glory if it had been necessary for him to be a preacher worthy of belief. What did Abraham say? "They have Moses." You, he says, do not care about your brothers as much as God, their Creator. He assigned countless mentors to them. And the rich man says: “No, father!” For just as he himself, hearing the Scriptures, did not believe and considered their words to be fables, he assumed the same about his brothers and, judging by himself, says that they will not listen to the Scriptures, just like he himself, but if someone rises from the dead, they will believe. There are people like this today who say: who saw what was happening in hell? Who came from there and told us? Let them listen to Abraham, who says that if we do not listen to the Scriptures, we will not believe those who would come to us from hell. This is obvious from the example of the Jews. They, since they did not listen to the Scriptures, did not believe even when they saw the dead risen, and even thought of killing Lazarus (John 12:10). Likewise, after many of the dead were resurrected during the Crucifixion of the Lord (Matthew 27:52), the Jews breathed even greater murder on the apostles. Moreover, if this resurrection of the dead were useful for our faith, the Lord would have done it often. But now nothing is as useful as a careful study of the Scriptures (John 5:39). The devil would have managed to resurrect the dead (although) in a ghostly way, and therefore would have misled the foolish, instilling among them a doctrine of hell worthy of its malice. And with our sound study of the Scriptures, the devil cannot invent anything like that. For they (the Scriptures) are a lamp and a light (2 Pet. 1:19), by the radiance of which the thief is revealed and revealed. So, we need to believe the Scriptures, and not demand the resurrection of the dead. - This parable can also be understood in a figurative sense, for example, in such a way that the face of a rich man represents the Jewish people. Previously, he was rich, enriched with all knowledge and wisdom, and the sayings of God, which are more honorable than gold and precious stones (Proverbs 3:14-15). He arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, having a kingdom and a priesthood, and being himself a royal priesthood to God (Exod. 19, 6). Porphyry alludes to the kingdom, and fine linen to the priesthood. For the Levites wore fine linen vestments during their sacred ceremonies. He rejoiced brilliantly all day long, for every day, morning and evening, he made sacrifices, which also bore the name of infinity, that is, continuity. - Lazarus were the pagans, a people poor in Divine gifts and wisdom and lying at the gates. For the Gentiles were not allowed to enter the house of God; their entry there was considered desecration, as can be seen from the book of Acts. The Asian Jews shouted indignantly at Paul for bringing the pagans into the temple and desecrating this holy place (Acts 21:27-28). The pagans were wounded by fetid sins and with their wounds they fed shameless dogs and demons; for our (spiritual) plagues are a pleasure to them. The pagans wanted to eat the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; for they had no share in the bread that strengthens the heart (Ps. 103:15), and needed the finest food, small and reasonable, just as the Canaanite woman, being a pagan, wants to be fed with crumbs (Matt. 15:22. 26 - 27) . What's next? The Jewish people died for God, and their bones became dead, since they did not make any movement towards good. And Lazarus, who is a pagan people, died to sin. The Jews, who died in their sins, are burned with the flame of envy, jealous, as the apostle says, that the pagans have been accepted into the faith (Rom. 11:11). And the pagans, formerly a poor and inglorious people, rightly live in the bosom of Abraham, the father of the pagans. Abraham, being a pagan, believed in God and moved from serving idols to the knowledge of God. Therefore, those who became participants in his conversion and faith rightly rest in his depths, inheriting the same fate, abodes and perception of benefits as he did. The Jewish people want even one drop from the previous legal sprinklings and cleansings, so that their tongue will be cooled and can boldly say something against us in favor of the power of the Law, but they do not receive it. For the Law is only until John (Matthew 11:13). “Sacrifice,” it is said, “You did not desire offerings,” and further (Ps. 39:7). And Daniel foretold: “the vision and the prophet were sealed, and the Holy of Holies was anointed” (Dan. 9:24), that is, they stopped and were concluded. - You can understand this parable morally. Namely: being rich in evil, do not leave your mind to endure hunger and, when it is created to strive for heaven, do not cast it down and do not force it to lie at the gate, but bring it inside, and do not stand outside, do not wander, do not lie, but take action. This will serve as the beginning for you to engage in rational activity, and not only carnal pleasure. And other parts of the parable are conveniently understood in favor of morality.
He also said to His disciples: There was a certain man who was rich and had a steward, against whom it was reported to him that he was wasting his property; and calling him, he said to him: What is this I hear about you? give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage. Then the steward said to himself: What should I do? my lord takes away the stewardship of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask; I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from managing the house. And calling his master’s debtors, each one separately, he said to the first: How much do you owe my master? He said: one hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty. Then he said to another: how much do you owe? He answered: one hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: take your receipt and write: eighty. And the lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely; for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes.
Every parable covertly and figuratively explains the essence of some object, but it is not in all respects similar to the object it is taken to explain. Therefore, one should not explain all parts of the parable to the point of subtlety, but, having used the subject as appropriate, the other parts should be omitted without attention, as parables added for the sake of integrity, but having no correspondence with the subject. The same should be done with the proposed parable. For if we undertake to explain everything in fine detail, who is the steward, who put him in charge, who denounced him, who are the debtors, why one owes oil and the other wheat, why it is said that they owed a hundred each, and if all If we generally explore everything else with excessive curiosity, then we will make the speech obscure, and, forced by difficulties, we may even end up with ridiculous explanations. Therefore, this parable should be used as much as possible. Let me explain a little. The Lord wants here to teach us how to manage the wealth entrusted to us well. And, firstly, we learn that we are not lords of property, for we have nothing of our own, but that we are stewards of someone else’s property, entrusted to us by the Master so that we dispose of property well and as He commands. Then we learn that if we act in managing wealth not according to the thought of the Lord, but squander what has been entrusted to us on our own whims, then we are the kind of stewards who have been denounced. For the will of the Master is such that we use what has been entrusted to us for the needs of our fellow servants, and not for our own pleasures. When they inform on us and we have to be removed from the management of the estate, that is, expelled from this life, when it is we who will give an account of the management after our death from here, then we are late in noticing what needs to be done, and we make friends for ourselves with unrighteous wealth. “Unrighteous” is the name given to the “wealth” that the Lord has entrusted to us to use for the needs of our brothers and co-workers, while we keep it for ourselves. But late we realize where we should turn, and that on this day we cannot work, for then is not the time to do, nor to ask for alms, for it is indecent, since the virgins who asked (for alms) are called fools (Matthew 25:8). What remains to be done? To share this property with our brothers, so that when we move from here, that is, we move from this life, the poor will accept us into eternal abodes. For the poor in Christ are assigned eternal abodes as their inheritance, into which they can receive those who have shown them love here through the distribution of wealth, although it, as belonging to the Master, first had to be distributed to the poor. They are debtors according to what was said: “he shows mercy and lends every day” (Ps. 36:26), and in another place: “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord” (Proverbs 19:17). So, first it was necessary to distribute everything to these good debtors, who pay a hundredfold. However, when we turn out to be unfaithful stewards, unjustly retaining for ourselves what is assigned to others, we should not remain forever in this inhumanity, but should give to the poor so that they will accept us into eternal abodes. - When we explain this parable in this way, then in the explanation there will be nothing superfluous, or sophisticated, or mind-boggling. However, the expression “the sons of this age are more perceptive” and further seems to mean something else, and not incomprehensible or strange. He calls “sons of this age” those who invent everything that is useful for them on earth, and “sons of light” those who, out of love for God, must teach others spiritual wealth. So, it is said here that people who are appointed as stewards of human property try in every possible way to have consolation after leaving management, but the sons of light, who are appointed, that is, receiving in trust the management of spiritual property, do not think at all that after to benefit from this, So, the sons of this age are those who have been entrusted with the management of human affairs and who “in their generation,” that is, in this life, conduct their affairs wisely, and the sons of light are those who have accepted property in order to manage they are God-loving. It turns out that when managing human property, we manage our affairs wisely and try to have some kind of refuge for life even when we are removed from this management. And when we manage property, which must be disposed of according to the will of God, we do not seem to care that, upon our departure from this life, we will not fall under responsibility for management and be left without any consolation. That is why we are called foolish because we do not think about what will be useful for us after this. But let us make friends for ourselves in the poor, using on them unrighteous wealth, given to us by God as a weapon of righteousness, but retained by us for our own benefit and therefore turned into untruth. If wealth acquired in a righteous way, when it is not managed well and is not distributed to the poor, is imputed to unrighteousness and to mammon, then how much more is the wealth unrighteous. Let us be the last to make friends for ourselves, so that when we die and move from this life, or in another case we become faint-hearted from condemnation, they will receive us there into eternal abodes.
He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
The Lord also teaches that wealth must be managed according to the will of God. “He who is faithful in little,” that is, who has managed well the property entrusted to him in this world, is faithful “in much,” that is, worthy of true wealth in the next century. “Small” refers to earthly wealth, since it is truly small, even insignificant, since it is fleeting, and “many” - Heavenly wealth, since it always abides and comes. Therefore, whoever turned out to be unfaithful in this earthly wealth and appropriated what was given for the common benefit of his brothers to himself, he will not be worthy of even that much, but will be rejected as an unfaithful. Explaining what has been said, he adds: “So, if you were not faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will believe you what is true?” He called “unrighteous” wealth the wealth that remains with us; for if it were not unrighteous, we would not have it. And now, since we have it, it is obvious that it is unrighteous, since it is withheld by us and not distributed to the poor. For the theft of someone else's property and that of the poor is injustice. So, whoever manages this estate poorly and incorrectly, how can he be trusted with “true” wealth? And who will give us “ours” when we mismanage “someone else’s”, that is, property? And it is “foreign”, since it is intended for the poor, and on the other hand, since we did not bring anything into the world, but were born naked. And our destiny is Heavenly and Divine riches, for there is our dwelling (Phil. 3:20). Possessions and acquisitions are alien to man, created in the image of God, for none of them are like him. And enjoying Divine blessings and communicating with God is akin to us. - Until now, the Lord has taught us how to properly manage wealth. For it is someone else's, not ours; we are stewards, not lords and masters. Since the management of wealth according to the will of God is accomplished only with firm dispassion towards it, the Lord added this to his teaching: “You cannot serve God and mammon,” that is, it is impossible for one to be a servant of God who is attached to wealth and addiction to it holds something behind it. Therefore, if you intend to properly manage wealth, then do not be enslaved to it, that is, do not have attachment to it, and you will truly serve God. For the love of money, that is, the passionate inclination for wealth, is condemned everywhere (1 Tim. 6:10).
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they laughed at Him. He said to them: You show yourselves to be righteous before men, but God knows your hearts, for whatever is exalted among men is an abomination to God.
The Pharisees, annoyed at the words of the Lord, laughed at Him. For they, as money lovers, were unpleasant to hear about non-covetousness. So it is said: “Godliness is an abomination to a sinner, and wounds to the wicked are reproached” (Proverbs 9:7). The Lord, revealing the hidden wickedness of the Pharisees and showing that, although they take on the appearance of righteousness, they are vile, yet before God because of their conceit, he says: you present yourselves as righteous before people and think that you alone are given the understanding of what is necessary, and teach; That’s why you laugh at My words as unreasonable, wanting to be considered teachers of truth among the mob. But that's not the case. Because God knows your hearts and considers you vile for your arrogance and addiction to human glory. “For whatever is high among men is an abomination to God.” “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5). Therefore, you, Pharisees, had to live not for human opinion, “for God will scatter the bones of those who fight against you” (Ps. 53:6), but it is better to make yourselves righteous before God.
Law and Prophets before John; From now on, the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone enters into it with effort. But it is sooner that heaven and earth pass away than one line of the law disappears. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries one divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Apparently, this is a separate speech that has nothing in common with the above, but for the attentive it will not seem inconsistent, but, on the contrary, very connected with the previous one. The Lord, with the above words, taught non-covetousness and called wealth an unrighteous name, and the Law (Lev. 26:3-9) provided blessings in wealth (by the way), and the prophets (Isa. 19) promised earthly blessings as a reward. Lest anyone, like the Pharisees, say to Him mockingly: What are you saying? Are you contradicting the Law: it blesses with wealth, but You teach non-covetousness? - therefore the Lord says: The Law and the Prophets had a time before John and they taught well, because the listeners were then at a young age. But from the time when John appeared, almost disembodied due to lack of covetousness and non-covetous almost due to disembodiment, and preached the Kingdom of Heaven, earthly blessings no longer have time, but the Kingdom of Heaven is preached. Therefore, those who desire heaven must learn non-covetousness on earth. Since the prophets and the Law did not mention the Kingdom of Heaven, they rightly promised earthly blessings to people who were still far from perfect and unable to imagine anything great and masculine. Therefore, Pharisees, I rightly teach non-covetousness, when the imperfect commandments of the Law no longer have time. Then, so that they would not say that, finally, everything legal was rejected as vain and completely empty, the Lord says: No! on the contrary, now it is being fulfilled and accomplished even more. For what the Law wrote in the shadow, speaking figuratively of Christ or of the commandments, is now being fulfilled, and not a single line of it will be lost. What is indicated there in the form of a shadow about Christ will now be fulfilled in the clearest way. And the commandments of the Law, given then adaptively and in accordance with the understanding of the imperfect, will now have the highest and most perfect meaning. And that the Law spoke imperfectly to the imperfect can be seen from the following. For example, the Law, due to the hardness of the hearts of the Jews, gave a sentence on the dissolution of marriage, namely: if a husband hated his wife, he had the right to divorce her so that something worse would not happen. For the murderous and bloodthirsty Jews did not spare their closest relatives, so they buried their sons and daughters as sacrifices to demons. But this is a flaw and imperfection of the Law. Then there was a time for such a law, but now a different, more perfect teaching is needed. That is why I say: whoever divorces his wife for reasons other than adultery and marries another commits adultery. Therefore, it is not surprising if I teach about non-covetousness, although the Law does not clearly say anything about it. Behold, the Law indifferently gave the commandment about marital divorce, to prevent murder among the Jews; and I, accustoming my listeners to the highest perfection, prohibit divorce without a blessed reason and command this not contrary to the Law, but so that there is no murder between husbands and wives. And I confirm this when I teach that spouses should take care of each other and protect each other as if they were their own members. And the Law wanted this, but since the listeners were imperfect, He determined to dissolve the marriage, so that, at least under this condition, the husband and wife would spare each other and would not be angry with each other. - So, Christ confirmed all the requirements of the Law; and therefore he said well that it is impossible to miss a single line from the Law. For how would it perish when Christ corrected it (the Law) in the best possible way?
A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered in scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
This speech stands in connection with the previous one. Since the Lord taught above how to manage wealth well, he rightly adds this parable, which, by example of what happened to the rich man, points to the same idea. This speech is precisely a parable, and not a real event, as some thought without reason. For the time has not yet come for the righteous to inherit good things, nor for sinners to inherit evil. And the Lord gave the speech figurativeness in order to teach both the unmerciful what is in store for them in the future, and to teach the ill-suffering that they will be prosperous for what they endure here. The Lord took the rich man into the parable without a name, since he is not worthy to be named before God, as it was said through the Prophet: “I will not remember their names with my mouth” (Ps. 15:4). And he mentions the poor by name, for the names of the righteous are written in the book of life. They say, according to Jewish tradition, that at that time there was a certain Lazarus in Jerusalem, who was in extreme poverty and illness, and that the Lord mentioned him, taking him into the parable as obvious and famous. - The rich man was prosperous in all respects. He dressed in purple and fine linen and not only dressed himself, but also enjoyed every other pleasure. “He feasted brilliantly,” it is said, and not that today - yes, but tomorrow - no, but “every day,” and not that moderately, but “brilliantly,” that is, luxuriously and wastefully. But Lazarus was poor and sick, and, moreover, “with scabs,” as it is said. For you can be sick and yet not be wounded, but this increases evil. And he was defeated at the rich man's gate. It is a new sorrow to see that others enjoy abundantly, while he suffers from hunger. For he wanted to be satisfied not with luxurious dishes, but with crumbs from them, such as the dogs ate. No one cared about the healing of Lazarus: for the dogs licked his wounds, since no one drove them away. What then? Lazarus, being in such a difficult situation, blasphemed God and reviled the luxurious life of the rich man? Condemned inhumanity? Grumbled about Providence? No, he didn’t think of anything like that, but he endured everything with great wisdom. Where can you see this? From the fact that when he died, the Angels accepted him. For if he had been a murmurer and a blasphemer, he would not have received such an honor - being accompanied and carried by Angels. “The rich man also died, and they buried him.” Even during the life of the rich man, his soul was truly buried; it carried the flesh like a coffin. Therefore, even after his death, he is not elevated by the Angels, but is relegated to hell. For he who has never thought about anything lofty or heavenly deserves the lowest place. With the words “they buried him,” the Lord hinted that his soul was destined for the underworld and a dark place.
And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all 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.
Just as the Lord, having expelled Adam from paradise, settled him in front of paradise (Gen. 3:24), so that suffering, repeated at the constant sight of paradise, would allow Adam to more clearly feel the deprivation of bliss, so he condemned this rich man before the face of Lazarus, so that, seeing in what state Lazarus is now there, the rich man felt what he had lost through inhumanity. Why did the rich man see Lazarus not with another of the righteous, but in the bosom of Abraham? Since Abraham was hospitable, and the rich man had to be convicted of his dislike for hospitality, therefore the rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham. He even invited those passing by into his house, but he despised the one lying inside the house. Why does the rich man make his request not to Lazarus, but to Abraham? Maybe he was ashamed, or maybe he thought that Lazarus remembered his evil, and based on his deeds he concluded about Lazarus as well. If I (he could think), enjoying such happiness, despised him, oppressed by such misfortune, and did not give him even crumbs, then all the more he, despised by me, will remember the evil and will not agree to show me mercy. That is why he addresses his words to Abraham, probably thinking that the patriarch does not know how it happened. What about Abraham? He didn’t say to the rich man: inhumane and cruel, aren’t you ashamed? now you remember about philanthropy. But how? "Child"! See a compassionate and holy soul. Some sage says: do not disturb a humble soul. Therefore, Abraham says: “child,” letting him know through this that it is in his power to call him so graciously even now, but only that, and that more than this he has no power to do anything for him. I will give you what I can, that is, a voice of compassion. But to go from here to there is not in our will, for everything is contained. “You have already received your good things in your life, but Lazarus received your evil things.” Why didn't Abraham say to the rich man: you received, but you received? We usually use the word “get back” about those who receive what they were owed. What do we learn? Because although some have defiled themselves with atrocities, although they have reached the extreme degree of malice, at some point they have done one or two good deeds. Therefore, the rich man also had some good deeds, and since he received reward in the prosperity of this life, it is said that he received his good deeds. “And Lazarus is evil.” Perhaps he also committed one or two evil deeds and, in the sorrow that he endured here, received due retribution for them. Therefore he is comforted, and you suffer. The "gap" signifies the distance and difference between the righteous and the sinners. For just as their wills were different, so their abodes have a great difference, when each receives reward according to will and life. Take into account here the objection against the Origenists. They say that the time will come when the torment will end and sinners will unite with the righteous and with God, and thus God will be all in all. But now, we hear Abraham saying that those who want to go from here to you or from there to us cannot do this. Therefore, just as it is impossible for anyone to move from the fate of the righteous to the place of sinners, so it is impossible, Abraham teaches us, to move from the place of torment to the place of the righteous. And Abraham, without a doubt, is more worthy of faith than Origen. - What is “hell”? Some say that hell is an underground dark place, while others called hell the transition of the soul from a visible to an invisible and formless state. For as long as the soul is in the body, it is revealed by its own actions, but after separation from the body it becomes invisible. This is what they called hell. - “Abraham’s Bosom” is the totality of those blessings that are offered to the righteous upon their entry from the storm into the heavenly havens; since in the sea we usually call bays (bosom) places convenient for landing and calming down. - Pay attention to the fact that on the day that offender will see in what glory the one offended by him will be, and this one, in turn, will see in what condemnation the offender will be, just as here the rich man saw Lazarus, and this one saw the rich man again.
Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him; they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then [Abraham] said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they would not believe it.
The unfortunate rich man, having not received relief from his lot, encloses a request for others. Look how, through punishment, he came to sympathize with others, and whereas before he despised Lazarus, who lay at his feet, now they care about others who are not with him, and begs to send Lazarus from the dead, not just someone, to his father’s house from the dead, but Lazarus, so that those who had previously seen him sick and dishonored would now see him crowned with glory and healthy, and those who were witnesses of his misery would themselves become contemplators of his glory. For it is obvious that he would have appeared to them in glory if it had been necessary for him to be a preacher worthy of belief. What did Abraham say? "They have Moses." You, he says, do not care about your brothers as much as God, their Creator. He assigned countless mentors to them. And the rich man says: “no, father”! For just as he himself, hearing the Scriptures, did not believe and considered their words to be fables, he assumed the same about his brothers and, judging by himself, says that they will not listen to the Scriptures, just like he himself, but if someone rises from the dead, they will believe. There are people like this today who say: who saw what was happening in hell? Who came from there and told us? Let them listen to Abraham, who says that if we do not listen to the Scriptures, we will not believe those who would come to us from hell. This is obvious from the example of the Jews. They, since they did not listen to the Scriptures, did not believe even when they saw the dead risen, and even thought of killing Lazarus (John 12:10). Likewise, after many of the dead were resurrected during the Crucifixion of the Lord (Matthew 27:52), the Jews breathed even greater murder on the apostles. Moreover, if this resurrection of the dead were useful for our faith, the Lord would have done it often. But now nothing is as useful as a careful study of the Scriptures (John 5:39). The devil would have managed to resurrect the dead (although) in a ghostly way, and therefore would have misled the foolish, instilling among them a doctrine of hell worthy of its malice. And with our sound study of the Scriptures, the devil cannot invent anything like that. For they (the Scriptures) are a lamp and a light (2 Pet. 1:19), by the radiance of which the thief is revealed and revealed. So, we need to believe the Scriptures, and not demand the resurrection of the dead. - This parable can also be understood in a figurative sense, for example, in such a way that the face of a rich man represents the Jewish people. Previously, he was rich, enriched with all knowledge and wisdom, and the sayings of God, which are more honorable than gold and precious stones (Proverbs 3:14-15). He arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, having a kingdom and a priesthood, and being himself a royal priesthood to God (Exod. 19, 6). Porphyry alludes to the kingdom, and fine linen to the priesthood. For the Levites wore fine linen vestments during their sacred ceremonies. He rejoiced brilliantly all day long, for every day, morning and evening, he made sacrifices, which also bore the name of infinity, that is, continuity. - Lazarus were the pagans, a people poor in Divine gifts and wisdom and lying at the gates. For the Gentiles were not allowed to enter the house of God; their entry there was considered desecration, as can be seen from the book of Acts. The Asian Jews shouted indignantly at Paul for bringing the pagans into the temple and desecrating this holy place (Acts 21:27-28). The pagans were wounded by fetid sins and with their wounds they fed shameless dogs and demons; for our (spiritual) plagues are a pleasure to them. The pagans wanted to eat the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; for they had no share in the bread that strengthens the heart (Ps. 103:15), and needed the finest food, small and reasonable, just as the Canaanite woman, being a pagan, wants to be fed with crumbs (Matt. 15:22. 26 - 27) . What's next? The Jewish people died for God, and their bones became dead, since they did not make any movement towards good. And Lazarus, who is a pagan people, died to sin. The Jews, who died in their sins, are burned with the flame of envy, jealous, as the apostle says, that the pagans have been accepted into the faith (Rom. 11:11). And the pagans, formerly a poor and inglorious people, rightly live in the bosom of Abraham, the father of the pagans. Abraham, being a pagan, believed in God and moved from serving idols to the knowledge of God. Therefore, those who became participants in his conversion and faith rightly rest in his depths, inheriting the same fate, abodes and perception of benefits as he did. The Jewish people want even one drop from the previous legal sprinklings and cleansings, so that their tongue will be cooled and can boldly say something against us in favor of the power of the Law, but they do not receive it. For the Law is only until John (Matthew 11:13). “Sacrifice,” it is said, “You did not desire offerings,” and further (Ps. 39:7). And Daniel foretold: “the vision and the prophet were sealed, and the Holy of Holies was anointed” (Dan. 9:24), that is, they stopped and were concluded. - You can understand this parable morally. Namely: being rich in evil, do not leave your mind to endure hunger and, when it is created to strive for heaven, do not cast it down and do not force it to lie at the gate, but bring it inside, and do not stand outside, do not wander, do not lie, but take action. This will serve as the beginning for you to engage in rational activity, and not only carnal pleasure. And other parts of the parable are conveniently understood in favor of morality.
Interpretation of Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria
16:1-9
A parable about an enterprising rogue manager.
A wonderful parable. Why is it shown to God’s servants -
the wicked practicality of the people of this world
, if in THIS - you can’t take an example from them? And if in this parable the master represents God, who will certainly demand from his servants an account for the management of His earthly estate, then why does He praise the rogue manager? In what ways should a Christian follow the example of such a manager?
We are thinking.
1He also said to His disciples: There was a certain man who was rich and had a steward, against whom it was reported to him that he was wasting his property;
2 And he called him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you?” give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage.
The master’s decision to remove the unfaithful manager is natural: whoever wastes his estate cannot be trusted with it: he will ruin the owner and ruin the estate.
3 Then the steward said to himself, “What should I do?” my lord takes away the stewardship of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask;
R The owner of the estate knew that sooner or later he would have to give an account to the owner. However, he was still taken by surprise by the owner’s decision: he could no longer earn his own bread, he had to strain his wits to be able to adapt to other future circumstances, not knowing how to dig and not wanting to beg.
4 I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from the management of the house.
Having cynically assessed the situation, he insures himself, and, moreover, he acquires the rear for future exile again by continuing to waste the owner’s estate.
5 And he called his master’s debtors, each one separately, and said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?”
6 He said, “One hundred measures of oil.” And he said to him: take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty.
7 Then he said to another, “How much do you owe?” He answered: one hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: take your receipt and write: eighty.
ABOUTn reduces the amount of repayment of the debt to the owner, realizing that now the owner’s debtors will become his debtors and will consider it fortunate to help him when he finds himself outside the threshold of the estate: they will believe that it was partly because of them that the manager was driven away. Essentially, he used other people's money to make friends.
8 And the lord praised the unfaithful steward, because he acted wisely; TOclimax of the parable: the owner praises a quick-witted weasel. For what? Because he continues to cheat? No.The owner liked ithis intelligence. Jesus showed what benefits they can bringenterprising and smart people- to themselves, if they make “profitable investments” of material resources.
for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light.
Many of the sons of this age are like this swindler: in the struggle to acquire personal gain, they are capable of moving mountains.
But, unfortunately, it doesn’t matter to them at what cost to acquire goods for themselves, as long as they acquire them. That is why those who live in evil prosper in this age (2 Timothy 3:13)
The sons of light (believers) will not acquire benefits for themselves at the cost of violating God’s principles, therefore, to do what all the swindlers of this age do for the sake of their own well-being - it cannot even occur to them, they will not guess, to acquire benefits for themselves through deception or cunning: their ingenuity in the direction of fraud does not work. This is why the sons of light suffer hardship in this age (2 Tim. 3:12)
And yet, the owner praised the swindler’s ingenuity.
What exactly is commendable about his behavior? What should Christians learn from such an enterprising son of this age? Jesus explained:
9 And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes.
Unrighteous wealth is all the corruptible gains of the age of the devil's reign ( unjust system of things) -in contrast to the wealth of righteousness, the incorruptible “heavenly treasures” (spiritual wealth, Matt. 6:19,20).
In order to purchase an eternal home with the help of earthly riches from your eternal Friend - God - you need to show great ingenuity and make “profitable investments”.
If, for the sake of the earthly and perishable acquisitions of this age, a practical
the weasel strained his mental faculties, That why should the servants of God in this century do not strain as hard - for the sake of eternal “heavenly” acquisitions?
(for the sake of the opportunity to acquire eternal abodes from God).
This is where the sons of light can take an example from this wicked one: in the tension of mind and enterprise to do good for others and thereby please God. Water does not flow under a lying stone, Christians. obliged think about how to use it better and more effectively unrighteous wealth - all the perishable acquisitions of this age (health, strength, time, material values, scientific and technical achievementsetc) - to serve God and look after His interests, so that God will be willing to become their friend and welcome them into His home. For example, the people whom Jesus would place on the right side were able to gain the approval of the Highest by helping the lesser brothers of Christ with the material things they had (Matt. 25:34-40).
If they strain their ingenuity in the same way as this son of this century strained it, they will always be able to figure out how to organize themselves, their way of life in this century and the circumstances in which they had to live - in order to work as hard as possible for God. In this way they will be able to acquire in God and His Christ such “friends” who, when they become poor(they will no longer have the opportunity to work for the interests of God and will die) - would like to accept them into “ their eternal abodes ”, that is, to resurrect God in a new world order.
Total for the parable:
this parable NOT calls for earning in wicked ways (cunning and fraud) means to expand God's earthly possessions and for the benefit of God's cause. But he calls for active action, using ingenuity and enterprise, using all the acquisitions of this unrighteous age to serve God as effectively as possible - in helping people and collecting “treasures” in heaven.
16:10 He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. PThe ronyra from the parable was not faithful to the owner in small things: he squandered his estate little by little and gradually, did not collect it for the owner, but used it for his own personal gain. Therefore, after being exposed for fraud, there was no reason for the swindler to think that he would continue to be entrusted with managing the owner’s estate. He was removed as soon as it was time to report to the master.
The same applies to the servants of God: if they are not true It’s a small thing for him, if in the PRESENT they use serving God for their own gain and think that godliness is for profit (1 Tim. 6:5), if they do not lay up “treasures in heaven,” then in the FUTURE they will be driven out of God's mansions are the same as this swindler.
16:11
So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true?
If Christians cannot wisely and correctly manage their earthly wealth of this century, if they did not strain to acquire heavenly treasures and squandered what they had (did not grow spiritually, did not serve Jehovah with effort, did not improve) - then how can
Can God entrust them with His harmony of eternal existence - for creation? No way: whoever has wasted earthly things in the corruptible world will not be entrusted with anything from the imperishable, eternal world.
16:12
And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours?
If life is in this age, ( someone else's for believers) Christians “wasted” without benefit for God and did not collect anything for Him, then who will give them eternal life ( yours- intended for believers)?
16:13
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other.
NIt is impossible to serve two masters with equal zeal: yourself (your material wealth) and God. Why? By collecting wealth for yourself, you will leave neither time nor energy for quality service to God and the expansion of His spiritual estate (the assembly of believers).
And while collecting “possessions” for Him, you won’t have time to collect “possessions” for yourself.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
The assumption that a servant of God will also have time to live well for himself in this century is illusory. And if he manages to live well for himself, it means that God’s interests suffer for him. It is impossible to be absolutely devoted to more than one master: either we are devoted to God, or to ourselves and everything that we get for ourselves in this century.
16:14
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they laughed at Him.
The Pharisees were able to live for themselves and get rich by serving God, as they thought. Moreover, wealth was considered a blessing from God in Judea
since the time of Patriarch Jacob, and this was for them high- to be rich and authoritative persons in their society.
Therefore, the words of Christ seemed funny to them: they say, Christ is mistaken, because we serve God and are rich because we serve God.
However, Jesus did not allow them to remain smart in his eyes, he clarified the situation with how they serve God and why they manage to be rich:
16:15
He said to them: you show yourselves righteous before men
It is possible to serve two masters only in one case: if you try to look righteous - only in the eyes of people.
And looking righteous in the eyes of men is much easier than BEING righteous in the eyes of God.
People are easily deceived in terms of demonstrating their righteousness: it is enough, for example, to publicly donate large sums of money to the temple of God. Or - periodically organize charity events with entertainment programs for fellow believers.
Or preach a lot and intensely, while not caring about remaining faithful to God in keeping His commandments.
Or - to make a career to the status of a leader in the people of God (the stereotype of human thinking does not allow that scammers and swindlers can penetrate into the leaders of God's people). Etc.
But it will not be possible to deceive God with such ostentatious righteousness: his standards for spiritual height are completely different:
but God knows your hearts, for whatever is high among men is an abomination to God.
God's righteousness is not measured by the amount of earthly silver. But exclusively the number of “heavenly treasures” found in the heart of a believer.
16:16
Law and Prophets before John;
All the prophets of the period of the Old Testament predicted the history of mankind, especially of God's people - BEFORE John the Baptist, that is, before the first coming of Jesus Christ: John the Baptist became a prophet predicting the very appearance of Christ to the people at the first coming.
The Old Testament is a teacher: an educator leading the children of God from the Old Testament. to Christ and the New Testament (Rom. 10:4).
Waiting for the Prophets V.Z. was connected only with the fact that God would bring His son - in his first coming to earth (for starters) - and in the 1st century AD. it came true.
Christ came to FULFILL the predictions of the prophets V.Z. and close the page of his action by fulfilling the entire Mosaic Law (Matt. 5:17,18).
The New Testament is the “second series” of the life of God’s people and humanity, it is the continuation of its new history from a new page - in the Christian era. From the New Testament, the prophecies of Christ and the apostles about the signs of the approaching end of this age and the second coming of the son of God to restore order on Earth came into force. Some prophecies of N.T. borrowed from the prophets from the Old Testament, but supplemented with new expected events.
If someone stopped at studying only the Old Testament, he, naturally, would not recognize the first coming of Jesus Christ, nor would he learn anything about his second coming from the prophecies of the New Testament.From now on, the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone enters into it with effort.
Since the first coming of Christ, people have learned about the possibility of entering the future Kingdom of God with ALL EFFORT. Up to this point, take it or leave it, only Israel had the privilege of being God's people and living under His care.
The New Testament abolishes this national exclusivity of the descendants of Israel and reveals God's plan to invite all the nations of the Earth to enter His Kingdom, into His future system of things (Acts 10:35,36; 13:46).
To fulfill the intentions of the coming era of righteousness and His system of things, God Himself personally selects a “bride”-helper for His son: only from the era of the New Testament does He form the composition of the future heavenly government for the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ (Luke 22:30; Rev. 20: 6), depending on who and with what efforts tries to follow in the footsteps of His son in order to become like him in everything (Rom. 8:28-30, John 17:6,12; 2 Cor. 1:21)
It does not depend on Jesus Christ who will be next to him on the thrones of heaven (Matt. 20:23). However, the invitation to become a co-ruler of Christ and the chance to become one were received by all participants in the New Covenant with God, making efforts in the fight against sinful flesh and fulfilling the will of the Father Jesus Christ - regardless of nationality.
And to what extent every Christian who wants to achieve the spiritual fitness of the future co-ruler of Christ was able to achieve it - God Himself will evaluate: the business of a Christian is to strive for spiritual perfection and fight to achieve it. (Heb. 6:1; 1 Cor. 9:26,27).
Those who do NOT strive into God's system of things and do NOT want to achieve citizenship in it or the spiritual dignity of the heavenly co-ruler Christ - it is clear that they will not acquire either one or the other.
16:17
But it is sooner that heaven and earth pass away than one line of the law disappears.
But before the new era of the New Testament on earth came into force, began to operate and implement its tasks of gathering those who wanted to achieve the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ had to fulfill the entire Mosaic Law through sacrificing himself.
So he performed all types of sacrifices - in one, and contributed to the fulfillment of all holidays to God V.Z. - in the New Testament, and took upon himself the curse of the Mosaic Law - instead of all the sinners of the earth, being executed as a blasphemer for all the sins of the world (Is. 53:5).
Thus, the Mosaic Law was fulfilled and after the death of Christ it was possible to turn over the old page of humanity’s relationship with God - and begin to live a new one.
16:18
Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery
If a Christian divorces his faithful wife (who has not cheated on her spouse) in order to enter into a new marriage, he violates the vow of marital fidelity to his wife and cheats on her, becoming an adulterer in the eyes of God.
How, for example, ten-tribe Israel became an adulterer for God, choosing other gods for themselves instead of Jehovah - despite the fact that Jehovah was faithful to them (Jer. 3:8).
The same goes for a Christian woman who is getting a divorce.
However, as Paul explained, if a Christian nevertheless decides to get a divorce, but not in order to find another wife, but remains single after the divorce, he is not considered an adulterer in the eyes of God (1 Cor. 7:11)
and whoever marries a woman who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
If a Christian woman is divorced not because of her husband’s adultery, then she remains his wife even after the divorce (two are one flesh).
A Christian, even if he is single, but takes another man’s wife (her husband’s flesh) as his wife, is also involved in adultery through an adulterous Christian woman.
That's why it's said
1 Cor.7:11
If she gets divorced, she must remain celibate, or be reconciled with her husband, and the husband must not leave [his] wife.
That is, Christians have the right to divorce and re-brother ONLY in the event of adultery of their companion, however, the innocent party may decide to forgive the culprit and not bring the matter to a divorce. But if in this case the matter is nevertheless brought to a divorce and as a result a new marriage is concluded by the innocent party, then the person entering into a new marriage will not be considered an adulterer from the point of view of God.
If Christians divorce not because of adultery, they do not have the right to remarry before God.
16:19-31
The parable of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus,
on which they build the doctrine of the existence of hell as a place of torment for sinners
those who have not looked into Psalm 15:10. This Psalm tells all readers that Jesus, a sinless man, was also in hell. But not for preaching in it, as some think - since he preached in the underworld (prison, hell) AFTER his resurrection, and not at the time of death (1 Peter 3:18,19). Why? Because Jesus died.
Therefore, hell cannot mean a place of torment for sinners: the sinless Jesus could not go to “hell” - in this sense. The Psalm explains that hell is a place of corruption for the dead. Or grave: Jesuswas in a place of corruption, in the grave, where the bodies of the dead decompose and decay (Psalm 15:10).
Since Jesus did not use the word “parable” when starting this story, many are inclined to perceive it as a more literal teaching about hell for sinners and heaven for the righteous. ( to the Synod. Per. the blurb for chapter 16 says that this is a parable. That is, the translators of the Holy Synod correctly understood the allegorical meaning of Christ’s words, which cannot be taken literally)
However, a careful examination of even this story shows that it cannot be taken literally, it is an allegory or parable, with the help of which Jesus demonstrates the huge difference between those who were satiated with their righteousness in their own eyes (rich) - and those who themselves believed , that he was poor in it (realized his sinfulness), but in the eyes of God he was recognized as righteous.
It may not be clear now why Jesus told a parable that was based on false ideas. But the point is that Jesus spoke to people in their own language, using familiar imagery to convey vital truths to them. His listeners believed in the conscious existence of the soul after death, an error that Jews adopted during the intertestamental period as part of the Hellenization process of Judaism.
It is very gratifying for our research that we have at our disposal Jewish written documents that shed light on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Particularly interesting" Conversation or conversation with the Greeks about hell"Josephus.
This “Conversation” is very closely intertwined with Christ’s story about the rich man and Lazarus. There Joseph explains that “hell is an underground region where the light of this world does not reach...” He notes that hell is divided in two. There is a “region of light” where the souls of the dead righteous dwell, carried by angels to “that place which we call “Abraham’s bosom.” The second half remains in “eternal darkness” and the angels, who are entrusted with punishment by force, drag the souls of the wicked there; they find themselves so close to hell itself that they see and feel the “heat of the flame.” But they are not thrown into hell until the final judgment is completed, and no one can leave their place of residence.
The amazing similarity between Josephus's description of Hades (Greek, hell) and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus speaks for itself: Jesus took advantage of the generally accepted idea of the state of the dead in Hades (hell), but not for the sake of propagating these views, but in order to emphasize how important it is in this earthly life to follow the teachings of Moses and the prophets, for this determines the fate of man in the world to come.
Let us consider and analyze this story of Jesus.
16:19
A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day.
The clothes of royal and commanding persons were made of purple fabrics; fine linen, the finest white linen, showed observers the purity and righteousness of those wearing them.
The rich man's feast indicates that he had plenty of all kinds of food and did not experience hunger.
Allegorical understanding, taking into account the fact that Jesus talked with the scribes and Pharisees:
the rich man represents the religious leaders of Judea, to whom many spiritual benefits and opportunities are available (those in charge among the people of God, such as the Pharisees, not all).
16:
20,21
There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered with sores.
21 And he wanted to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his sores.
Lazarus represents the common people of God's people who are hungry for spiritual food.
The Pharisees look at ordinary people the same way as they looked at the scabbed Lazarus - as spiritually crippled, ignorant of the law (John 7:49), whose fate is to live with dogs. But those belonging to the “category” of Lazarus are hungry and thirsty for spiritual food. Therefore, they do not leave the gates of the teachers of the law, trying to pick up the crumbs of spiritual food that fall from their table (the seat of Moses (Matt. 23:2,3)
Reminds me of the moment when the Canaanite woman humbly answered Jesus that she agreed to glean crumbs from God’s table as a dog.
That is, Lazarus did not have the opportunity to be fully satisfied, his situation during his life in this century was very disastrous, and the Jewish teachers of the law were to blame for this, who were not worried about either the spirituality or the life of the simple people of God.
16:
22
The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom.
Since the rich man and Lazarus are not two literal people, but different “categories” of God’s servants, their death is also symbolic. What does she represent?
It is clear that this text cannot be taken literally for several reasons. For example:
1) the literal bosom of Abraham is not a suitable place to accommodate the righteous.
2) what size should the womb be ( chest, sinus) from Abraham to place on him ALL the righteous of the earth?
This moment only shows that the death of people like Lazarus is not the end of them as individuals.
People belonging to the humble “category” of Lazarus, aware of their sins and repenting of them - after death they have the hope of being resurrected and reunited with Abraham, the ancestor of all the righteous, and living in the same place where he will live.
Moreover, Jesus did not say here that Abraham lives in heaven. He simply said that Abraham had some place of residence appointed by God for him and the rest
righteous people like him. As we remember, Abraham and his descendants were promised an eternal possession of a land flowing with honey and milk (Gen. 17:8).
The rich man also died and was buried. The rich man suffered death in the same way as the beggar. And even wealth could not save him from death. However, after death the rich man did not get to where God intended Abraham and the rest of the righteous to go.
That is, Jesus shows that not everyone who belongs to God’s people will have the honor of going to heaven (the abode of the righteous of the family of Abram): those who form the “category” of the rich among God’s people (leaders of God’s people like the Pharisees of the 1st century) incur God’s condemnation because they do not love God’s people, do not care about their spirituality or their lives, and thereby themselves they cut off their path to the future, to the eternity of God.
16:
23
And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom
The place “hell” is also allegorical, like “womb”:
If we take this description literally, we will have to admit that the spatial residence of the righteous (heaven) and hell for sinners are so close that saints and sinners can communicate and observe each other, which is not part of God’s plan for people:
if the righteous staying in paradise throughout all eternity watched the torment of their neighbors - this spectacle would destroy their joy of the saving grace of God, which cannot be the case according to the description of the essence of heavenly life, where there will be no more crying, no crying, no sorrow, no suffering (Rev. 21:4).
16:
24
and crying out, he said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame
If we take this passage literally, and accept that the immortal soul, the soul of a rich man, is an incorporeal substance, then where can it have a carnal language? Or the end of a finger? And how can material water cool all this for an ethereal soul?
That is, here Jesus shows that the fate of the rich man after death is strikingly different from the fate of those living in the “bosom” of Abraham, in paradise.
His torment in the flames of the lake of fire, as the Apostle John describes the place of torment for all the minions of the devil (Rev. 20:10) - in fact symbolizes the second death, for the lake of fire itself, as John explained further in the text, is the second, final death, without hope of returning to the world of those who live forever (Rev. 20:14).
The wages of sin for all the evildoers of the earth is only death, not torment (Rom. 6:23), as the Apostle Paul explained. Those to whom Jesus told this parable should have understood that they could not live forever as rich men in fine linen and at feasts. God will close this “shop” of earthly pleasures for them in due time. And the knowledge of this end should have tormented them.
16:
25
But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer;
Abraham does not mean that this is God's vengeance on the rich man just because he was rich and feasted. No. Here's what we're talking about here:
2 ...do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may praise them. Truly I say to you: they are already receiving their reward.
(in the form of honor and respect from people)
5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward
. (Matt. 6:2-5)
That is, all the “righteous” who want to have a reward from people, and not from God, moreover, who want to have it while still alive in this century, can have it, it is not prohibited.
God simply warns that His righteous, who are in dire need of satisfying their spiritual hunger, strive for reward NOT in this age and not from people, but from God. This means that they will receive it from God. And it will consist precisely in the fact that God will give them life in paradise. What no one can reward even the most “righteous man” from his point of view.
Honor and respect with applause is all that can be received as a reward from people at best. And that's all.
Therefore, whoever wants a reward from someone will receive it from him. That's what Abraham said here.
16:
26
and above all 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.
And again the picture is implausible if taken literally:
Lazarus, who is in heaven, and the rich man, who is tormented in hell, are separated by an abyss. It is so big that no one can overcome it and, meanwhile, it is so small that one can freely talk through it.
16:
27
Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house,
By saying this, the rich man admits that his family lead the same lifestyle as he himself led. The rich man does not wish harm to his family and is concerned about their fate, realizing that Lazarus’s fate is much better than his:
16:
28
for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment.
Jesus shows that, firstly, the rich man should have regretted his wrong lifestyle BEFORE his death: the sentence pronounced by God at the time of death - for sinners who do not repent during life - will not be changed. Therefore, everything that can be done for reconciliation with God must be done DURING LIFE in this century.
Secondly, people must give up all illusions associated with the fact that supposedly their deceased relatives can somehow help the survivors - from the “other world”: there can be no help “from the other world” from the dead.
16:
29
Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.
Jesus shows that those living on earth have a chance to be reconciled with God and after death to inherit life with the ancestor of the righteous Abraham - provided that they learn to obey the voice of God through His prophets, fulfilling God's requirements in their lives.
God does not provide for a supernatural miracle of motivation to obey God and be righteous for anyone living on Earth. There are God's requirements, there is an opportunity to recognize and fulfill them. None of the people of this century simply have any other way to achieve eternal life.
16:30
He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent.
The “rich” race is always looking for special signs; the word of God is not enough for them to admonish, they are greedy for miracles.
Jesus shows that those who are waiting for special signs and wonders so that they supposedly have good reasons to change their lives will not wait for these signs.
God will not perform special signs or wonders to convince all the “rich” of this age to obey His commands:
16:
31
Then [Abraham] said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they would not believe it.
If people want to gain the favor of God, they need not seek signs from God, nor expect God to supernaturally instill faith and obedience in them through any impact of a miracle: this will not come from God.
Those who want to find God and have a future need to read the Holy Scriptures and apply it in life. That's all. (John 9:28, 29; Matthew 19:3-9; Galatians 3:24; Colossians 2:14; John 8:44.)
TOTAL according to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus:
this story of Jesus Christ
is intended to teach God's people the fundamental truth about the existence of a happy future for the righteous and the absence of such for all the “rich” of this age if they do not repent of their evil deeds during their lifetime and do not listen to the word of God.
The lesson to be learned from this parable is given by Jesus in the last punch line:
« If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone rose from the dead they would not believe
»
This is the main idea of the parable, namely:
nothing and no one can surpass the power of conviction that accompanies the revelation God gives to man in His Word.
Gospel of Luke Chapter 16 He also said to His disciples: There was a certain man who was rich and had a steward, against whom it was reported to him that he was wasting his property; and calling him, he said to him: What is this I hear about you? give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage. Then the steward said to himself: What should I do? my lord takes away the stewardship of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask; I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from managing the house. And calling his master’s debtors, each one separately, he said to the first: How much do you owe my master? He said: one hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty. Then he said to another: how much do you owe? He answered: one hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: take your receipt and write: eighty. And the lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely; for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes. He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they laughed at Him. He said to them: You show yourselves to be righteous before men, but God knows your hearts, for whatever is exalted among men is an abomination to God. Law and Prophets before John; From now on, the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone enters into it with effort. But it is sooner that heaven and earth pass away than one line of the law disappears. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries one divorced from her husband commits adultery. A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered in scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all 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 he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then Abraham said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they would not believe it.
He also said to His disciples: There was a certain man who was rich and had a steward, against whom it was reported to him that he was wasting his property; and calling him, he said to him: What is this I hear about you? give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage. Then the steward said to himself: What should I do? my lord takes away the stewardship of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask; I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from managing the house. And calling his master’s debtors, each one separately, he said to the first: How much do you owe my master? He said: one hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty. Then he said to another: how much do you owe? He answered: one hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: take your receipt and write: eighty. And the lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely; for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes. Every parable covertly and figuratively explains the essence of some object, but it is not in all respects similar to the object it is taken to explain. Therefore, one should not explain all parts of the parable to the point of subtlety, but, having used the subject as appropriate, the other parts should be omitted without attention, as parables added for the sake of integrity, but having no correspondence with the subject. The same should be done with the proposed parable. For if we undertake to explain everything in fine detail, who is the steward, who put him in charge, who denounced him, who are the debtors, why one owes oil and the other wheat, why it is said that they owed a hundred each, and if all If we generally explore everything else with excessive curiosity, then we will make the speech obscure, and, forced by difficulties, we may even end up with ridiculous explanations. Therefore, this parable should be used as much as possible. Let me explain a little. The Lord wants here to teach us how to manage the wealth entrusted to us well. And, firstly, we learn that we are not lords of property, for we have nothing of our own, but that we are stewards of someone else’s property, entrusted to us by the Master so that we dispose of property well and as He commands. Then we learn that if we act in managing wealth not according to the thought of the Lord, but squander what has been entrusted to us on our own whims, then we are the kind of stewards who have been denounced. For the will of the Master is such that we use what has been entrusted to us for the needs of our fellow servants, and not for our own pleasures. When they inform on us and we have to be removed from the management of the estate, that is, expelled from this life, when it is we who will give an account of the management after our death from here, then we are late in noticing what needs to be done, and we make friends for ourselves with unrighteous wealth. “Unrighteous” is the name given to the “wealth” that the Lord has entrusted to us to use for the needs of our brothers and co-workers, while we keep it for ourselves. But late we realize where we should turn, and that on this day we cannot work, for then is not the time to do, nor to ask for alms, for it is indecent, since the virgins who asked (for alms) are called fools (Matthew 25:8). What remains to be done? To share this property with our brothers, so that when we move from here, that is, we move from this life, the poor will accept us into eternal abodes. For the poor in Christ are assigned eternal abodes as their inheritance, into which they can receive those who have shown them love here through the distribution of wealth, although it, as belonging to the Master, first had to be distributed to the poor. They are debtors according to what was said: “he shows mercy and lends every day” (Ps. 36:26), and in another place: “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord” (Proverbs 19:17). So, first it was necessary to distribute everything to these good debtors, who pay a hundredfold. However, when we turn out to be unfaithful stewards, unjustly retaining for ourselves what is assigned to others, we should not remain forever in this inhumanity, but should give to the poor so that they will accept us into eternal abodes. - When we explain this parable in this way, then in the explanation there will be nothing superfluous, or sophisticated, or mind-boggling. However, the expression “the sons of this age are more perceptive” and further seems to mean something else, and not incomprehensible or strange. He calls “sons of this age” those who invent everything on earth that is useful for them, and “sons of light” those who, out of love for God, must teach others spiritual wealth. So, it is said here that people who are appointed as stewards of human property try in every possible way to have consolation after leaving management, but the sons of light, who are appointed, that is, receiving in trust the management of spiritual property, do not think at all that after to benefit from this, So, the sons of this age are those who have been entrusted with the management of human affairs and who “in their generation,” that is, in this life, conduct their affairs wisely, and the sons of light are those who have accepted property in order to manage they are God-loving. It turns out that when managing human property, we manage our affairs wisely and try to have some kind of refuge for life even when we are removed from this management. And when we manage property, which must be disposed of according to the will of God, we do not seem to care that, upon our departure from this life, we will not fall under responsibility for management and be left without any consolation. That is why we are called foolish because we do not think about what will be useful for us after this. But let us make friends for ourselves in the poor, using on them unrighteous wealth, given to us by God as a weapon of righteousness, but retained by us for our own benefit and therefore turned into untruth. If wealth acquired in a righteous way, when it is not managed well and is not distributed to the poor, is imputed to unrighteousness and to mammon, then how much more is the wealth unrighteous. Let us be the last to make friends for ourselves, so that when we die and move from this life, or in another case we become faint-hearted from condemnation, they will receive us there into eternal abodes.
He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Lord also teaches that wealth must be managed according to the will of God. “He who is faithful in little,” that is, who has managed well the property entrusted to him in this world, is faithful “in much,” that is, worthy of true wealth in the next century. “Small” refers to earthly wealth, since it is truly small, even insignificant, since it is fleeting, and “many” - Heavenly wealth, since it always abides and comes. Therefore, whoever turned out to be unfaithful in this earthly wealth and appropriated what was given for the common benefit of his brothers to himself, he will not be worthy of even that much, but will be rejected as an unfaithful. Explaining what has been said, he adds: “So, if you were not faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will believe you what is true?” He called “unrighteous” wealth the wealth that remains with us; for if it were not unrighteous, we would not have it. And now, since we have it, it is obvious that it is unrighteous, since it is withheld by us and not distributed to the poor. For the theft of someone else's property and that of the poor is injustice. So, whoever manages this estate poorly and incorrectly, how can he be trusted with “true” wealth? And who will give us “ours” when we mismanage “someone else’s”, that is, property? And it is “foreign”, since it is intended for the poor, and on the other hand, since we did not bring anything into the world, but were born naked. And our destiny is Heavenly and Divine riches, for there is our dwelling (Phil. 3:20). Possessions and acquisitions are alien to man, created in the image of God, for none of them are like him. And enjoying Divine blessings and communicating with God is akin to us. - Until now, the Lord has taught us how to properly manage wealth. For it is someone else's, not ours; we are stewards, not lords and masters. Since the management of wealth according to the will of God is accomplished only with firm dispassion towards it, the Lord added this to his teaching: “You cannot serve God and mammon,” that is, it is impossible for one to be a servant of God who is attached to wealth and addiction to it holds something behind it. Therefore, if you intend to properly manage wealth, then do not be enslaved to it, that is, do not have attachment to it, and you will truly serve God. For the love of money, that is, the passionate inclination for wealth, is condemned everywhere (1 Tim. 6:10).
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they laughed at Him. He said to them: You show yourselves to be righteous before men, but God knows your hearts, for whatever is exalted among men is an abomination to God. The Pharisees, annoyed at the words of the Lord, laughed at Him. For they, as money lovers, were unpleasant to hear about non-covetousness. So it is said: “Godliness is an abomination to a sinner, and wounds to the wicked are reproached” (Proverbs 9:7). The Lord, revealing the hidden wickedness of the Pharisees and showing that, although they take on the appearance of righteousness, they are vile, yet before God because of their conceit, he says: you present yourselves as righteous before people and think that you alone are given the understanding of what is necessary, and teach; That’s why you laugh at My words as unreasonable, wanting to be considered teachers of truth among the mob. But that's not the case. Because God knows your hearts and considers you vile for your arrogance and addiction to human glory. “For whatever is high among men is an abomination to God.” “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5). Therefore, you, Pharisees, had to live not for human opinion, “for God will scatter the bones of those who fight against you” (Ps. 53:6), but it is better to make yourselves righteous before God.
Law and Prophets before John; From now on, the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone enters into it with effort. But it is sooner that heaven and earth pass away than one line of the law disappears. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries one divorced from her husband commits adultery. Apparently, this is a separate speech that has nothing in common with the above, but for the attentive it will not seem inconsistent, but, on the contrary, very connected with the previous one. The Lord, with the above words, taught non-covetousness and called wealth an unrighteous name, and the Law (Lev. 26:3-9) provided blessings in wealth (by the way), and the prophets (Isa. 19) promised earthly blessings as a reward. Lest anyone, like the Pharisees, say to Him mockingly: What are you saying? Are you contradicting the Law: it blesses with wealth, but You teach non-covetousness? - therefore the Lord says: The Law and the Prophets had a time before John and they taught well, because the listeners were then at a young age. But from the time when John appeared, almost disembodied due to lack of covetousness and non-covetous almost due to disembodiment, and preached the Kingdom of Heaven, earthly blessings no longer have time, but the Kingdom of Heaven is preached. Therefore, those who desire heaven must learn non-covetousness on earth. Since the prophets and the Law did not mention the Kingdom of Heaven, they rightly promised earthly blessings to people who were still far from perfect and unable to imagine anything great and masculine. Therefore, Pharisees, I rightly teach non-covetousness, when the imperfect commandments of the Law no longer have time. Then, so that they would not say that, finally, everything legal was rejected as vain and completely empty, the Lord says: No! on the contrary, now it is being fulfilled and accomplished even more. For what the Law wrote in the shadow, speaking figuratively of Christ or of the commandments, is now being fulfilled, and not a single line of it will be lost. What is indicated there in the form of a shadow about Christ will now be fulfilled in the clearest way. And the commandments of the Law, given then adaptively and in accordance with the understanding of the imperfect, will now have the highest and most perfect meaning. And that the Law spoke imperfectly to the imperfect can be seen from the following. For example, the Law, due to the hardness of the hearts of the Jews, gave a sentence on the dissolution of marriage, namely: if a husband hated his wife, he had the right to divorce her so that something worse would not happen. For the murderous and bloodthirsty Jews did not spare their closest relatives, so they buried their sons and daughters as sacrifices to demons. But this is a flaw and imperfection of the Law. Then there was a time for such a law, but now a different, more perfect teaching is needed. That is why I say: whoever divorces his wife for reasons other than adultery and marries another commits adultery. Therefore, it is not surprising if I teach about non-covetousness, although the Law does not clearly say anything about it. Behold, the Law indifferently gave the commandment about marital divorce, to prevent murder among the Jews; and I, accustoming my listeners to the highest perfection, prohibit divorce without a blessed reason and command this not contrary to the Law, but so that there is no murder between husbands and wives. And I confirm this when I teach that spouses should take care of each other and protect each other as if they were their own members. And the Law wanted this, but since the listeners were imperfect, He determined to dissolve the marriage, so that, at least under this condition, the husband and wife would spare each other and would not be angry with each other. - So, Christ confirmed all the requirements of the Law; and therefore he said well that it is impossible to miss a single line from the Law. For how would it perish when Christ corrected it (the Law) in the best possible way?
A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate covered in scabs and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. This speech stands in connection with the previous one. Since the Lord taught above how to manage wealth well, he rightly adds this parable, which, by example of what happened to the rich man, points to the same idea. This speech is precisely a parable, and not a real event, as some thought without reason. For the time has not yet come for the righteous to inherit good things, nor for sinners to inherit evil. And the Lord gave the speech figurativeness in order to teach both the unmerciful what is in store for them in the future, and to teach the ill-suffering that they will be prosperous for what they endure here. The Lord took the rich man in the parable without a name, since he is not worthy to be named before God, as it was said through the Prophet: “I will not remember their names with my mouth” (Ps. 15:4). And he mentions the poor by name, for the names of the righteous are written in the book of life. They say, according to Jewish tradition, that at that time there was a certain Lazarus in Jerusalem, who was in extreme poverty and illness, and that the Lord mentioned him, taking him into the parable as obvious and famous. - The rich man was prosperous in all respects. He dressed in purple and fine linen and not only dressed himself, but also enjoyed every other pleasure. “He feasted brilliantly,” it is said, and not that today - yes, but tomorrow - no, but “every day,” and not that moderately, but “brilliantly,” that is, luxuriously and wastefully. But Lazarus was poor and sick, and, moreover, “with scabs,” as it is said. For you can be sick and yet not be wounded, but this increases evil. And he was defeated at the rich man's gate. It is a new sorrow to see that others enjoy abundantly, while he suffers from hunger. For he wanted to be satisfied not with luxurious dishes, but with crumbs from them, such as the dogs ate. No one cared about the healing of Lazarus: for the dogs licked his wounds, since no one drove them away. What then? Lazarus, being in such a difficult situation, blasphemed God and reviled the luxurious life of the rich man? Condemned inhumanity? Grumbled about Providence? No, he didn’t think of anything like that, but he endured everything with great wisdom. Where can you see this? From the fact that when he died, the Angels accepted him. For if he had been a murmurer and a blasphemer, he would not have received such an honor - being accompanied and carried by Angels. “The rich man also died, and they buried him.” Even during the life of the rich man, his soul was truly buried; it carried the flesh like a coffin. Therefore, even after his death, he is not elevated by the Angels, but is relegated to hell. For he who has never thought about anything lofty or heavenly deserves the lowest place. With the words “they buried him,” the Lord hinted that his soul was destined for the underworld and a dark place.
And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all 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. Just as the Lord, having expelled Adam from paradise, settled him in front of paradise (Gen. 3:24), so that suffering, repeated at the constant sight of paradise, would allow Adam to more clearly feel the deprivation of bliss, so he condemned this rich man before the face of Lazarus, so that, seeing in what state Lazarus is now there, the rich man felt what he had lost through inhumanity. Why did the rich man see Lazarus not with another of the righteous, but in the bosom of Abraham? Since Abraham was hospitable, and the rich man had to be convicted of his dislike for hospitality, therefore the rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham. He even invited those passing by into his house, but he despised the one lying inside the house. Why does the rich man make his request not to Lazarus, but to Abraham? Maybe he was ashamed, or maybe he thought that Lazarus remembered his evil, and based on his deeds he concluded about Lazarus as well. If I (he could think), enjoying such happiness, despised him, oppressed by such misfortune, and did not give him even crumbs, then all the more he, despised by me, will remember the evil and will not agree to show me mercy. That is why he addresses his words to Abraham, probably thinking that the patriarch does not know how it happened. What about Abraham? He didn’t say to the rich man: inhumane and cruel, aren’t you ashamed? now you remember about philanthropy. But how? "Child"! See a compassionate and holy soul. Some sage says: do not disturb a humble soul. Therefore, Abraham says: “child,” letting him know through this that it is in his power to call him so graciously even now, but only that, and that more than this he has no power to do anything for him. I will give you what I can, that is, a voice of compassion. But to go from here to there is not in our will, for everything is contained. “You have already received your good things in your life, but Lazarus received your evil things.” Why didn't Abraham say to the rich man: you received, but you received? We usually use the word “get back” about those who receive what they were owed. What do we learn? Because although some have defiled themselves with atrocities, although they have reached the extreme degree of malice, at some point they have done one or two good deeds. Therefore, the rich man also had some good deeds, and since he received a reward in the prosperity of this life, it is said that he received his good. “And Lazarus received his evil.” Perhaps he also committed one or two evil deeds and in the sorrow that he endured here, he received due reward for them. Therefore, he is comforted, but you suffer. “The abyss” signifies the distance and difference between the righteous and sinners. For just as their intentions were different, so their abodes have a great difference when. everyone receives reward according to will and life. Take here also the objection against the Origenists. They say that the time will come when the torment will end and sinners will unite with the righteous and with God, and thus God will be all in all. But behold, we hear, Abraham. He says that those who want to move from here to you or from there to us cannot do this. Therefore, just as it is impossible for anyone to move from the fate of the righteous to the place of sinners, so it is impossible, Abraham teaches us, to move from the place of torment to the place of the righteous. And Abraham, without a doubt, is more worthy of faith than Origen. - What is “hell”? Some say that hell is an underground dark place, while others called hell the transition of the soul from a visible to an invisible and formless state. For as long as the soul is in the body, it is revealed by its own actions, but after separation from the body it becomes invisible. This is what they called hell. - “Abraham’s Bosom” refers to the totality of those blessings that are offered to the righteous upon their entry from the storm into the heavenly havens; since in the sea we usually call bays (bosom) places convenient for landing and calming down. - Pay attention to the fact that on the day that offender will see in what glory the one offended by him will be, and this one, in turn, will see in what condemnation the offender will be, just as here the rich man saw Lazarus, and this one saw the rich man again.
Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him; they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then Abraham He said to him: If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe it. The unfortunate rich man, having not received relief from his lot, encloses a request for others. Look how, through punishment, he came to sympathize with others, and whereas before he despised Lazarus, who lay at his feet, now they care about others who are not with him, and begs to send Lazarus from the dead, not just someone, to his father’s house from the dead, but Lazarus, so that those who had previously seen him sick and dishonored would now see him crowned with glory and healthy, and those who were witnesses of his misery would themselves become contemplators of his glory. For it is obvious that he would have appeared to them in glory if it had been necessary for him to be a preacher worthy of belief. What did Abraham say? "They have Moses." You, he says, do not care about your brothers as much as God, their Creator. He assigned countless mentors to them. And the rich man says: “No, father!” For just as he himself, hearing the Scriptures, did not believe and considered their words to be fables, he assumed the same about his brothers and, judging by himself, says that they will not listen to the Scriptures, just like he himself, but if someone rises from the dead, they will believe. There are people like this today who say: who saw what was happening in hell? Who came from there and told us? Let them listen to Abraham, who says that if we do not listen to the Scriptures, we will not believe those who would come to us from hell. This is obvious from the example of the Jews. They, since they did not listen to the Scriptures, did not believe even when they saw the dead risen, and even thought of killing Lazarus (John 12:10). Likewise, after many of the dead were resurrected during the Crucifixion of the Lord (Matthew 27:52), the Jews breathed even greater murder on the apostles. Moreover, if this resurrection of the dead were useful for our faith, the Lord would have done it often. But now nothing is as useful as a careful study of the Scriptures (John 5:39). The devil would have managed to resurrect the dead (although) in a ghostly way, and therefore would have misled the foolish, instilling among them a doctrine of hell worthy of its malice. And with our sound study of the Scriptures, the devil cannot invent anything like that. For they (the Scriptures) are a lamp and a light (2 Pet. 1:19), by the radiance of which the thief is revealed and revealed. So, we need to believe the Scriptures, and not demand the resurrection of the dead. - This parable can also be understood in a figurative sense, for example, in such a way that the face of a rich man represents the Jewish people. Previously, he was rich, enriched with all knowledge and wisdom, and the sayings of God, which are more honorable than gold and precious stones (Proverbs 3:14-15). He arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, having a kingdom and a priesthood, and being himself a royal priesthood to God (Exod. 19, 6). Porphyry alludes to the kingdom, and fine linen to the priesthood. For the Levites wore fine linen vestments during their sacred ceremonies. He rejoiced brilliantly all day long, for every day, morning and evening, he made sacrifices, which also bore the name of infinity, that is, continuity. - Lazarus were the pagans, a people poor in Divine gifts and wisdom and lying at the gates. For the Gentiles were not allowed to enter the house of God; their entry there was considered desecration, as can be seen from the book of Acts. The Asian Jews shouted indignantly at Paul for bringing the pagans into the temple and desecrating this holy place (Acts 21:27-28). The pagans were wounded by fetid sins and with their wounds they fed shameless dogs and demons; for our (spiritual) plagues are a pleasure to them. The pagans wanted to eat the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; for they had no share in the bread that strengthens the heart (Ps. 103:15), and needed the finest food, small and reasonable, just as the Canaanite woman, being a pagan, wants to be fed with crumbs (Matt. 15:22. 26 - 27) . What's next? The Jewish people died for God, and their bones became dead, since they did not make any movement towards good. And Lazarus, who is a pagan people, died to sin. The Jews, who died in their sins, are burned with the flame of envy, jealous, as the apostle says, that the pagans have been accepted into the faith (Rom. 11:11). And the pagans, formerly a poor and inglorious people, rightly live in the bosom of Abraham, the father of the pagans. Abraham, being a pagan, believed in God and moved from serving idols to the knowledge of God. Therefore, those who became participants in his conversion and faith rightly rest in his depths, inheriting the same fate, abodes and perception of benefits as he did. The Jewish people want even one drop from the previous legal sprinklings and cleansings, so that their tongue will be cooled and can boldly say something against us in favor of the power of the Law, but they do not receive it. For the Law is only until John (Matthew 11:13). “Sacrifice,” it is said, “You did not desire offerings,” and further (Ps. 39:7). And Daniel foretold: “the vision and the prophet were sealed, and the Holy of Holies was anointed” (Dan. 9:24), that is, they stopped and were concluded. - You can understand this parable morally. Namely: being rich in evil, do not leave your mind to endure hunger and, when it is created to strive for heaven, do not cast it down and do not force it to lie at the gate, but bring it inside, and do not stand outside, do not wander, do not lie, but take action. This will serve as the beginning for you to engage in rational activity, and not only carnal pleasure. And other parts of the parable are conveniently understood in favor of morality.
