Youth! I tell you, get up! Our Lord Jesus Christ commands the young man in His name, and not like the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who prayed to God that He would raise the dead. They were servants of the living God, and this is His Only-begotten Son. Thus, by His Divine power, the Lord commands the young man to come to life and get up. I tell you - with these words, which the Lord does not use in any other resurrection of the dead, He wants to show and emphasize that He accomplishes this work exclusively by His Divine power. He wants to show that he has power over both the living and the dead. For this miracle did not happen through the faith of the mother of this young man, as in the case of the resurrection of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue Jairus; and none of the funeral procession expected such a wondrous miracle as was the case with the resurrection of Lazarus. No; this miracle happened not by anyone's faith or by anyone's expectation, but solely by the powerful word of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The dead man got up, sat down and began to speak; and Jesus gave him to his mother. The creature heard its Creator and obeyed his commandment. The same Divine power that originally breathed the breath of life into the dust of the earth and created man from the dust, worked now, reviving the dead dust, causing the blood to flow and the eyes to see, the ears to hear, the tongue to speak, the bones and flesh to move. Wherever the soul of the deceased youth was at that time, it heard the voice of its Chief and instantly returned to the body in order to carry out His command together with the body. The subject recognized the voice of his Tsar - and responded. The young man got up and sat down on the bed, and began to speak. Why did he start talking right away? So that people do not think that this is some kind of magical mirage, so that they do not think that some spirit entered his body and raised him on his bed. Everyone had to hear the voice and words of the animated, so that there would not be the slightest doubt that it was him and not someone else in his body. For the same reason the Lord took a young man from his bed and gave him to his mother, and Jesus gave him to his mother. When the mother recognizes him, and accepts him, and embraces him, then fear and doubt will disappear in the rest of those present. And the Lord also takes it with His hands and gives it to the mother to show her that now He gives it to her as a gift - as when she gave birth to it. Life is a gift of God. The life of every person is given by the hand of God. And God does not disdain to take any created man by the hand and direct him into this earthly, temporal life. This is also why the Lord takes the resurrected young man and gives him to his mother, in order to show her that He did not tell her in vain: do not cry. When He said this to her, He already knew that He would console her not only with these words, which the unfortunate mother could hear that day from many acquaintances, but with a deed that was an unexpected and perfect consolation. And, finally, the Lord also acts in this way in order to teach us: when we do good deeds, we must do them as much as possible personally, attentively and good-naturedly; and not through others, carelessly and with vexation, if only to get rid of the one to whom we are doing the work of mercy as soon as possible. Look how much beauty and love there is in every word and every movement of our Lord and Savior! In this case, as always, both before and after, he shows that not only is every gift of God perfect, but also the way in which God bestows is perfect.

And fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited his people. Christ was able to remove the fear of evil spirits and sorcery by his caring behavior toward his son and mother, but that is why the fear remained. However, this was a good fear. For this was the fear of God, which evoked thanksgiving and praise to God. The people speak of Christ as a great prophet. The people were waiting for a great prophet, whom God had promised to Moses to send to the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:18). This people could not yet rise to the concept of Christ as the Son of God. But his spirit, a spirit so darkened and oppressed by the people's elders, could perfectly rise to the realization of our Lord Jesus Christ as a great prophet. If the elders of Jerusalem, who in the same way saw the miracles of Christ, the numerous miracles, had been able to rise even to this understanding of the common people, they would not have committed the terrible crime of condemning and killing the Son of God. But each one performed miracles of his kind, according to his spirit and heart: Christ restored life to the dead, and the elders of the Jews took it from the living. He was a lover of mankind, and they were murderers and murderers of God. He was the Wonderworker of good, and they were the wonderworkers of evil. But in the end, these evil elders couldn't take the life of anyone but themselves. And all the prophets they killed remained alive forever both with God and with men, while they themselves are hidden, like serpents, in the shadow of these prophets, so that, wandering from generation to generation, they may receive condemnation and curses from each generation. In the same way, by killing Christ, they did not kill Him, but themselves. He, who easily resurrected others, resurrected Himself, and revealed Himself on earth and in heaven as the greatest Light, which burns the more strongly and the brighter it shines, the more it is extinguished. By this Light we all live, and breathe, and rejoice. And this Light of lights will once more, and soon, appear to the earth and to all the living and the dead. This will happen when our Lord Jesus Christ comes to complete human history, to resurrect those who are in the tombs, and to judge all human beings who have lived on earth, from Adam to the end of time. Then once again - and this time in full measure - the words of the Savior will be fulfilled: Verily, verily, I say to you, the time is coming, and it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live. The miracle of the resurrection of the widow's son from Nain was wrought both out of mercy to the grieving mother and in order to help our faith in the final and universal resurrection, the miracle of miracles, truth above all righteousness, and joy above all joy. To our Lord Jesus Christ be honor and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, One in Essence and Indivisible, now and ever, at all times and unto the ages of ages. Amen.k/1132/addpart

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel of the Lord the Sower

Luke, 35 rec., 8:5-15.

The whole world is one long parable, made up of an innumerable number of parables.

As every parable has an end, so is this world and all that is in the world transitory. But the spiritual core, hidden in the shell of all parables, remains strong and does not rot.

People who feed only their eyes and ears with these parables remain hungry in spirit. For the spirit is nourished by the nucleus of these parables, and they are not able to reach this nucleus.

The unspiritual, carnal man feeds on the green foliage of many parables and is always hungry and troubled by hunger. A spiritual person seeks the core of these numerous parables and, nourished by it, is full and calm.

All existing things are also parables, for all of them, like green leaves or like shells, surround the hidden nucleus. Parables are also all the events that take place, for they are only clothes for spiritual content, spiritual core, spiritual food.

Placed in this world, a person seems to be immersed in the sea of God's wisdom, expressed in parables. But he who looks at this wisdom only with his eyes sees nothing but the dress in which it is clothed; he looks and sees the garment of nature, but the spirit and the core of nature do not see; He listens and hears nature, but listens and hears meaningless voices, and does not understand the meaning. Neither the eye can see the core of nature, nor the ear grasp its meaning. The spirit reveals the spirit; comprehension finds meaning; reason meets reason; Love feels love.

Truly, this world is poor and miserable, for it quickly passes away, and whoever clings to it as something of independent value will surely fall down and groan with pain and shame. But the world is a rich treasury of instructive parables, and whoever perceives it in this way and uses it in this way will not fall and will not be put to shame.