Sunday
Luke 18:18-27 (about salvation with the example of a camel going through the ‘eye of a needle’

ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE NOTES…
This man does not come to test Jesus, but to seek advice from one he considers no more than a good Teacher. Christ’s response does not deny that He is God, but is designed to lead the rich man to this knowledge. Formal observance of commandments does not make one righteous before God. This man had an earnest desire for eternal life and sensed that he still lacked something; thus, he continues to press Jesus for the answer. To be perfect, one must willingly sacrifice all and follow Christ. Nothing is gained unless this sacrifice is given freely. The specifics of how one follows Christ will be different for each person. Because wealth had such a grip on this rich man, his only hope was to sell and give away all his possessions. St. John Chrysostom tells us that giving away possessions is the least of Christ’s instructions here; following Him in all things is a far greater and more difficult calling. Various interpretations have been suggested for the impossible image of a camel going through the eye of a needle: e.g., that the word was not camel, but “rope”; or that the eye of a needle was a city gate through which a camel might barely squeeze if it were first unloaded of all its baggage, symbolizing wealth….Whatever the phrase refers to, it displays the impossibility of salvation for those who are attached to riches. This is clearly evidenced by the disciples’ response, “Who then can be saved?” Yet by God’s grace, even what is impossible to man can come to pass.
Monday
Averky commentary continued…
As Joseph Flavius testifies, Herod died in a dreadful agony…the Divine Child was nearly 2 years old when He returned from Egypt. In any case, He was still a child — as the Angel called Him when he directed Joseph to return to Israel. Upon their return, Joseph apparently decided to settle in Bethlehem, where, as it seemed to him, the Son of David — future Messiah-Christ — had to be brought up. However, when hearing that the worst of Herod’s sons Archelaus, bloodthirsty and cruel, similar to his father, began to reign in Judea, he was “afraid to go thither”. Having received a new warning in a dream, he headed towards the boundaries of Galilee and settled in the township of Nazareth, where he used to reside previously, pursuing his trade of carpentry.
Tuesday
Before His appearance in the society to serve the human race, Lord Jesus Christ remained in anonymity. Concerning this period, Evangelist Luke tells about one event from His life. As he wrote his Gospel “having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,” presumably, there were no outstanding facts in the Lord’s life in this earlier period. Saint Luke gives us the general characteristics of this period in the following words: “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him”. This is understandable, as the boy Jesus was not only God, but also human and as such was subjected to the laws of human development. Human wisdom — in the measure of its development — reflected or contained the whole depth and fullness of the Divine knowledge, which adolescent Jesus possessed being the Son of God.Wednesday…when adolescent Jesus became 12, this Divine wisdom revealed itself clearly for the first time. According to the Law of Moses (Deut. 16:16), all male Jews were obliged to appear in Jerusalem on the feast days of Pascha, Pentecost and Festival of Tabernacle; the only exception was made for sick children. An adolescent, turning 12, became “the Child of the law”: from this point on, he had to learn all the demands of the law, fulfill its directions and in particular, go to Jerusalem for the feast days. Saint Luke states that Jesus’ “parents” went to Jerusalem every year. The mystery of the Divine Child’s birth remained a secret: Ever-Holy Virgin Mary and elder Joseph did not find it necessary or beneficial to reveal it; and in the eyes of the citizens of Nazareth, Joseph was Mary’s husband and the father of Jesus. The Evangelist uses this expression as being applicable to the social opinion. In another extract (3:23), he directly states that Joseph was only supposed to be the father of Jesus, and consequently, in reality he was not the one.

Thursday

The celebration of the Passover continued for 8 days, after which the faithful returned to their homes, normally in groups. Joseph and Mary did not notice how adolescent Jesus stayed in Jerusalem, surmising that He walks nearby in another group, with His relatives or friends. Seeing that He did not join them for a long time, they began to look for Him, and having not found Him, they returned to Jerusalem in anxiety, where after three days of searching (presumably from the day they departed from Jerusalem), they found Him, seated in the midst of the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions. That happened, probably, in one of the parts of the temple, where the rabbis gathered, holding discussions between them and with the people, edifying in the law all willing to listen to them. In this discussion, adolescent Jesus already displayed His Divine wisdom — that was why everybody listening to Him marveled at His answers and His mind.

Friday

His Mother, expressing their anxiety over Him, calls Joseph as the father of Jesus, as She could not call him in any other manner, because in everybody’s eyes, Joseph was the father. Adolescent Jesus responds to His Mother’s words by revealing His designation — to serve the will of the One that had sent Him, and then corrects His Mother by pointing out that not Joseph but God is His father: “Knowest ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” However, neither Blessed Mary nor Joseph understood His words, as the mystery of Christ’s matters on earth was not fully revealed to them. Nonetheless, “His Mother kept all these things in Her heart” — this was an especially memorable day for Her, as this was the first time Her Son made it known of His high designation. For the time for His social service had not arrived yet, Jesus obediently went with them to Nazareth, and as the Evangelist notes, “and was subject” to his earthly parents, probably sharing the labors of His so-called father Joseph, who was a carpenter. Growing up, He succeeded in wisdom, and the especial love of God towards Christ became more evident to the attentive eye, which in turn attracted people’s love towards Him.

Saturday

About the start of the sermon of John the Baptist and about his testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, correspondingly narrate all the Evangelists, in nearly the same detail. John is the only one, who omits something from that said by the others, instead, underlining only Christ’s Deity.  Saint Evangelist Luke gives the important information about the starting time of John the Baptist’s sermon, and together with that — the starting time of the social service of the very Lord. He says that this occurred “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee…while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests” (Luke 3:1-2).  Beginning his narration about John the Baptist starting his sermon, Saint Luke wants to say that at the time, Palestine was the part of the Roman Empire, and was governed by tetrarchs, or the rulers of the fourth part of a province, in the name of Emperor Tiberius…