{"id":3964,"date":"2017-11-25T20:10:07","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T01:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/?p=3964"},"modified":"2017-11-24T20:56:03","modified_gmt":"2017-11-25T01:56:03","slug":"devotional-for-november-26-december-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/?p=3964","title":{"rendered":"Devotional for November 26-December 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday<\/p>\n

Luke\u00a0 13:10\u00a0<\/sup>Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. <\/span> 11\u00a0<\/sup>And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself<\/i> up. <\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>But when Jesus saw her, He called her<\/i> to Him<\/i> and said to her, \u201cWoman, you are loosed from your infirmity.\u201d<\/span> <\/span> 13\u00a0<\/sup>And He laid His<\/i> hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.<\/span><\/p>\n

14\u00a0<\/sup>But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, \u201cThere are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

15\u00a0<\/sup>The Lord then answered him and said, \u201cHypocrite!<\/span>[b<\/a>]<\/sup> Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it<\/i> away to water it?<\/span> <\/span> 16\u00a0<\/sup>So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound\u2014think of it\u2014for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?\u201d<\/span> <\/span> 17\u00a0<\/sup>And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

OSB Commentary:\u00a0 \u00a0According to certain traditions that the scribes and Pharisees had built up around the Law, healing was considered work, and thus was not permissible on the Sabbath. They believed they served God by zealously keeping these peripheral traditions, but this legalism made them insensitive to God\u2019s mercy.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The Fathers see this command as directing us to a spiritual meaning for the eighteen years. As the Greek expression is literally translated \u201cten and eight years,\u201d both St. Ambrose and Theophylact see ten as representing the Ten Commandments and eight as representing grace, for the day of Resurrection is often called the \u201ceighth day.\u201d Thus humanity is lifted up by faith in Christ, who fulfills both law and grace.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Monday<\/div>\n
+Readings from St. Nikolai’s Prologue this week<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

The greatest treasure of any realm is the saintly and good men who live in it. Compared to this wealth, all other wealth is as nothing. Devout Christian emperors considered holy men within their realms as the greatest of God\u2019s blessings. The holy Emperor Constantine the Great said: \u201cI give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ that in my days there exist three divine lights: Blessed Abba Anthony, Abba Elonius and Abba Euchius.\u201d Before the battle of Kulikovo, crucial for the Russians, the devout Prince Dimitri Donskoy went to the forest of Radonezh with his chief assistants and dukes, to seek out the Venerable Sergius, and he implored his intercession before God. Even<\/p>\n

though the prince prepared his army for a war of liberation against the Tartars, he placed greater hope in the prayers of one holy man than in a vast army and many weapons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tuesday<\/p>\n

Only he can forgive who can also seek revenge. The strong man seeks revenge by reprisal. The weak man seeks revenge by hatred. If you are able to return the delivered blow and you do not do it, it still does not mean that you have forgiven, until you uproot the anger from your heart. Great is the One Lord, Who can both seek revenge and forgive. Great is He in His justice, for He will seek revenge on the unrepentant sinner. Great is He in His mercy, for He will forgive the penitent sinner. Oh, if only men would know the power of the forgiveness of sins! Behold, when the sins of the blind man were forgiven, he saw. When the sins of the deaf man were forgiven, he heard. When the sins of the hunchbacked woman were forgiven, she stood erect. When the sins of the woman with the issue of blood were forgiven, she also was healed. When the sins of the man afflicted by insanity were forgiven, he became sane. When the sins of the man possessed with demons were forgiven, he was freed. When the sins of the harlot were forgiven, she too was cleansed. When the sins of the dead man were forgiven, he lived again! Oh, how terrible is the chain of sins! How heavy are the chains of many sins! These chains are not loosened by sinful hands. But when the hands of the All-pure Lord touch them, they become loosened and fall apart of their own accord. When the voice of the Pure One reaches them, they fall apart. And from the glance of the Pure One, they fall apart. Yes, even from the thoughts of the Pure One, they fall apart\u2014 these terrible chains of sins.<\/p>\n

Wednesday<\/p>\n

Fasting is a great thing, but love is even greater. If, through fasting, demons are cast out, passions tamed, the body pacified and the spirit steadied; then, through love, God takes up His abode in man. The Lord Himself emphasized fasting as necessary, but stressed love as the main commandment. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Jeladin Bey ruled in Ohrid\u2014 a renegade from the Sultan and an independent ruler. At that time, the Church was governed by Metropolitan Callinicus. Even though of different faiths, Jeladin Bey and Callinicus were very good friends, and they often visited one another. It happened that Jeladin Bey condemned twenty-five Christians to be hanged. They were scheduled to be hanged on Great and Holy Friday. The metropolitan, completely disturbed by this, went to Jeladin Bey and began to implore him to be more lenient with the sentence. While they were conversing, the time for lunch arrived and the bey invited the metropolitan to dine. Lamb had been prepared for lunch. The metropolitan excused himself, saying that because of the fast he could not\u00a0\u00a0remain for lunch, and he prepared to leave. The bey was sorry and said to the metropolitan: \u201cChoose\u2014 either you dine with me and free twenty-five men from the gallows, or you do not dine and allow them to be hanged.\u201d The metropolitan crossed himself and sat down to eat, and Jeladin freed the condemned from the punishment of death.<\/p>\n

Thursday<\/p>\n

The Lord Jesus is the beginning of creation, the beginning of restoration, the beginning of salvation, the beginning of resurrection, and the beginning of immortal glory. Wherever there is any evil in the world that needs to be uprooted, He is the beginning. Without Him it is impossible. Wherever there is any good that is desired to be done in the world, He is the beginning. Without Him it is impossible. If anyone desires to uproot dissent and malice in a family, in a village, in a town, in the entire world, without Him it is impossible. One must begin with Him. If anyone desires to instill good will, peace, love and unity in a family, in a village, in a town, among the peoples in the entire world, without Him it is impossible. He is the beginning. Why is it that one cannot uproot evil or sow good without Christ? Because all evil is from sin, and only He can forgive sins. When He (and only He) forgives sin, then sin is plucked out by the root. No manner of good is possible to be sown without Him, because in Him is the treasury of all good\u2014 all the seeds of good. He is the only Sower of good in the field of the world. The Apostle Paul, who understood all of this better than we, said: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4: 13). Without Jesus Christ, who can begin to heal himself of evil, to heal others from evil, to sow good in himself and to sow\u00a0\u00a0good in others? No one, truly no one. Therefore, brethren, if we are determined to uproot evil in ourselves and in others, and in place of evil to sow good in ourselves and in others, let us begin with the Beginning\u2014 that is, let us begin with the Conqueror over evil and the Sower of good, with the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

Here is a saving example given to us by our Savior! He Who had such power, authority and wisdom says that He came into the world to do not His own will but the will of the Father, and to do not His own work but the work of His Father\u2014 but we, even\u00a0though we are as weak as a cobweb, continuously emphasize our will and, some of us, even our work! The Son is equal to the Father, as He says in another place: I and My Father are one (John 10: 30). Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus says that He came into the world to do His Father\u2019s will and to accomplish His Father\u2019s will. He is not saying this in order to show the smallness of His being before the Father\u2019s being\u2014 for Their being is one\u2014 but, rather, to show the greatness of His love toward the Father, and in order to motivate us, out of love toward God, to totally adopt His will. All of our misery in this life comes from the fact that we do not implement the will of Him Who sent us into this world. We do not implement His will because we do not have love toward Him. For whoever loves someone acts according to his will. The Lord Himself said: If ye love Me, keep My commandments (John 14: 15). By what means could the Lord proclaim His love toward the Father, if not by fulfilling the will of the Father? And by what means can we proclaim our love toward the Lord Jesus, crucified for us on the Cross, if not by fulfilling His will? Our will, O my brethren, is as deceitful as a shadow. Let us not follow it, that we may not perish. Rather, let us follow the will of the Lover of mankind, the Lord, Who alone knows what is best for us.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

Thus speaks the Lord, and His word is holy and true. What advantage do children have over adults? They have three advantages: in faith, in obedience, and in forgiveness. The child asks his parent about everything, and no matter what his parent replies, the child believes his parent. The child is obedient to his parent and easily subordinates his will to the will of his parent. The child is forgiving, and even though he provokes easily, he forgives quickly. Our Lord requires these three from all men, that is, faith, obedience\u00a0\u00a0and forgiveness. He desires that men believe in Him unconditionally, as a child believes in his parent; that they be unconditionally obedient to Him, as a child is to his parent; and that they be forgiving in relation to one another, not remembering evil and not rendering evil for evil. Faith, obedience and forgiveness are the three main characteristics of a child\u2019s soul. Purity and joy are in addition to these. A child is not greedy, a child is not lustful, and a child is not vainglorious. The child\u2019s eye is unspoiled by vices, and his joy is unspoiled by worries. O brethren, who can make us over again into children? No one, except the one Christ. He can make us over into children and help us to be born again by His example, by His teaching and by the power of His Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

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