Jesus Christ taught, "Take heed and beware of
covetousness (that is, beware of the love of accumulating wealth, beware of
the attachment to riches), for a man’s life does not consist in abundance of
his possessions."
So that people could understand this better, the
Lord told them a parable about a rich fool.
The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully,
and he thought to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store
my crops?" And he said, "I will do this. I will pull down my barns
and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I
will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take
your ease, eat, drink, be merry’."
But God said to him, "Fool! This night your
soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they
be?"
After the parable, the Lord said, "So is he
who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." This is
what happens with everyone who gathers wealth only for himself, for his subsistence
and pleasure, and not for God, or not for good works pleasing to God — neither
to assist neighbours nor to relieve their suffering. Death will come to the
man, and his earthly riches will not transport his soul to that brilliant
future life.
"Therefore, I tell you," said the
Saviour, "do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, or about
your body, what you shall put on, for life is more than food, and the body is
more than clothing. Your Heavenly Father knows you have need of them. Instead,
seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
yours as well." First of all take care of the salvation of your soul
by fulfilling the commandments of God. Show mercy to your neighbour, deal
righteously with your soul; then, you may be worthy of the Kingdom
of God. Then, everything else, everything that is necessary for
your physical existence, for life on earth, the Lord will provide for you.
Note: See
the Gospel of Luke 12:15-31.
The Gift of Prayer.
One day Jesus Christ was praying; and when He had
ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John
taught his disciples."
Jesus Christ said to them, "When you pray,
say: Our Father Who art in the heavens, Hallowed be
Thy name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For
Thine are the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
Note: See
the Gospels of Luke 11:1-4; Matthew 6:9-13.
On Forgiving
Offences: The Parable of the Unmerciful Creditor.
During one conversation with Jesus Christ, the
Apostle Peter came to Him and asked, "Lord! How often shall my brother (my
neighbour) sin against me (that is, if he in some way offends me), and I
forgive him? As many as seven times?"
Jesus Christ said to him, "I do not say to
you seven times but seventy times seven;" — that is, forgive without counting to count.
To explain this better, Jesus Christ told a
parable. "One man owed the king ten thousand talents (about ten
thousand dollars). As he could not pay, the King ordered him to be sold with
his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the
servant fell on his knees imploring him, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I
will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him the lord of that servant
released him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he went out,
came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,
(about twenty dollars). Seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’
So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, ‘Have patience with me, and I
will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the
debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly
distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
Then, his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked
servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not
you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger,
his lord delivered him to the jailers till he should pay all his debt."
After the parable, Jesus Christ said, "So
also My Heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your
brother from your heart."
In this parable the king represents God. The man
who owed a huge sum to the king represents us. The debt is our sins. By the
fellow servants are meant those people who in some way are guilty before us
(our debtors).
From this parable, it is evident that everyone,
who is evil to his neighbour for some sort of fault of theirs and does not want
to forgive them, does not deserve the mercy of God.
Note: See
the Gospels of Matthew 18:21-35 and Luke 17:3-4.
The Healing of Ten Lepers.
At the entrance of one village, Jesus Christ met
ten lepers. Nine of them were Jews and one a Samaritan. Their common grief
united them. The lepers were forbidden to come close to people because their
disease was infectious. Therefore, they stood at a distance and lifted up their
voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
Jesus Christ said, "Go and show yourselves to the priests."
The priests were to inspect those who recovered
from leprosy and testified to their right to live in cities and towns. The
lepers went to the priests; and as they walked on the road, they were cleansed
of the leprosy, that is, they were restored to health. One of them seeing that
he was healed returned to Jesus Christ, glorified God with a loud voice, and
fell at the feet of Christ thanking Him. It was the Samaritan. The Jews had
left without giving thanks.
Then, Jesus Christ said, "Were not ten
cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to
God, except this foreigner?"
Then, turning to the thankful Samaritan, he said,
"Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." From this, it
is clear that we must always be thankful to God for His mercy which He extends
to us.
Note: See
the Gospel of Luke 7:11-19.
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
Concerning people who love wealth and do not help
the needy, Jesus Christ told this parable.
"There was a rich man, who was clothed in
purple (garments made from expensive red material) and linen (fine white garments),
and who feasted sumptuously every day. At his gate lay a poor man named
Lazarus, who was covered with sores. He desired to be fed with what fell from
the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to
Abraham’s bosom (the place of blessedness of the righteous, Paradise).
The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he
lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom, and he
called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip
the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this
flame."
But Abraham said to him, "Son, remember that
you in your lifetime received good things, but Lazarus in like manner evil
things; but now, he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all
this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who
would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to
us."
And then the formerly rich man said to Abraham,
"Then, I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, for I have
five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of
torment."
But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the
prophets (their Holy Scripture); let them hear them."
And he said, "No, Father Abraham; but if some
one goes to them from the dead, they will repent."
Then, Abraham said to him, "If they do not
hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should
rise from the dead."
In this parable, the Lord clearly indicates that
if a rich man wastes his wealth only on his pleasure and does not help the
needy, does not think about his soul and its eternal fate, then he will be
judged and will not receive blessedness in the future life. At the same time,
he, who patiently, humbly, without grumbling endures suffering, will
receive eternal, blessed life in the Kingdom
of Heaven.
Note: See
the Gospel of Luke 16:19-31.
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.
Warning all of us not to become proud, boastful
and not to consider ourselves righteous and better than others but rather to be
humble and alert for our sins to grieve over them and to judge no one because
only a humble man is raised in spirit to God, Jesus Christ has told the
following parable.
Two men went up into the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other — a publican
(tax collector).
The Pharisee stood up front and prayed, "God,
I thank Thee that I am not like other men, extortionists, unjust, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give one tenth of
all that I receive to the priests."
But the publican standing far off would not even
lift up his eyes to Heaven and beat his breast saying, "God be merciful
to me a sinner!"
Jesus Christ said, "I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts
himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Note: See
the Gospel of Luke 18:9-14.
Blessing the Children.
Many brought their children to Jesus Christ that
He might touch them, lay His hands on themб and bless them. The disciples of Christ rebuked them thinking it was not worth
having the children disturb the Master.
But when Jesus Christ saw it, He was indignant,
called the disciples to Him, and said, "Let the children come to me and do
not hinder them, for to such is the Kingdom
of Heaven. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom
of God like a child, shall not enter it."
Taking the children in His arms, Jesus Christ laid
His hands on them and blessed them.
From this we are given to understand that
innocence, guiltlessness, simplicity, and goodness of soul, which are traits
mainly of children, lead men into the Kingdom
of Heaven.
Note: See
the Gospels of Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17.
Return to the first page
