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7 “From temptations” - from the Greek word “skandalon” - a trap, a stone on the road over which one stumbles, hence the temptation. The Lord knows that temptations are inevitable, but warns against a fatalistic approach to them: they must be fought; the existence of temptations does not relieve responsibility from those who become instruments of evil.

1. Evangelist Matthew (which means “gift of God”) belonged to the Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Luke (Luke 5:27) calls him Levi, and Mark (Mark 2:14) calls him Levi of Alpheus, i.e. son of Alphaeus: it is known that some Jews had two names (for example, Joseph Barnabas or Joseph Caiaphas). Matthew was a tax collector (publican) at the Capernaum customs house, located on the shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee (Mark 2:13-14). Apparently, he was in the service not of the Romans, but of the tetrarch (ruler) of Galilee, Herod Antipas. Matthew's profession required him to know Greek. The future evangelist is depicted in Scripture as a sociable person: many friends gathered in his Capernaum house. This exhausts the data of the New Testament about the person whose name appears in the title of the first Gospel. According to legend, after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, he preached the Good News to the Jews in Palestine.

2. Around 120, the disciple of the Apostle John, Papias of Hierapolis, testifies: “Matthew wrote down the sayings of the Lord (Logia Cyriacus) in Hebrew (the Hebrew language here should be understood as the Aramaic dialect), and translated them as best he could” (Eusebius, Church History, III.39). The term Logia (and the corresponding Hebrew dibrei) means not only sayings, but also events. The message Papius repeats ca. 170 St. Irenaeus of Lyons, emphasizing that the evangelist wrote for Jewish Christians (Against heresies. III.1.1.). The historian Eusebius (IV century) writes that “Matthew, having preached first to the Jews, and then, intending to go to others, set forth in the native language the Gospel, now known under his name” (Church History, III.24). According to most modern researchers, this Aramaic Gospel (Logia) appeared between the 40s and 50s. Matthew probably made his first notes while he was accompanying the Lord.

The original Aramaic text of the Gospel of Matthew is lost. We only have Greek. translation, apparently made between the 70s and 80s. Its antiquity is confirmed by the mention in the works of “Apostolic Men” (St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius the God-Bearer, St. Polycarp). Historians believe that the Greek. Ev. from Matthew arose in Antioch, where, along with Jewish Christians, large groups of pagan Christians first appeared.

3. Text Ev. Matthew indicates that its author was a Palestinian Jew. He is well acquainted with the Old Testament, with the geography, history and customs of his people. His Ev. is closely connected with the tradition of the OT: in particular, it constantly points to the fulfillment of prophecies in the life of the Lord.

Matthew speaks more often than others about the Church. He devotes considerable attention to the question of the conversion of the pagans. Of the prophets, Matthew quotes Isaiah the most (21 times). At the center of Matthew's theology is the concept of the Kingdom of God (which he, in accordance with Jewish tradition, usually calls the Kingdom of Heaven). It resides in heaven, and comes to this world in the person of the Messiah. The good news of the Lord is the good news of the mystery of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:11). It means the reign of God among people. At first the Kingdom is present in the world in an “inconspicuous way,” and only at the end of time will its fullness be revealed. The coming of the Kingdom of God was predicted in the OT and realized in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Therefore, Matthew often calls Him the Son of David (one of the messianic titles).

4. Plan Matthew: 1. Prologue. The birth and childhood of Christ (Mt 1-2); 2. The Baptism of the Lord and the beginning of the sermon (Matthew 3-4); 3. Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7); 4. The ministry of Christ in Galilee. Miracles. Those who accepted and rejected Him (Matthew 8-18); 5. The road to Jerusalem (Matthew 19-25); 6. Passions. Resurrection (Matthew 26-28).

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament were written in Greek, with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew, which, according to tradition, was written in Hebrew or Aramaic. But since this Hebrew text has not survived, the Greek text is considered the original for the Gospel of Matthew. Thus, only the Greek text of the New Testament is the original, and numerous editions in various modern languages ​​around the world are translations from the Greek original.

The Greek language in which the New Testament was written was no longer the classical ancient Greek language and was not, as previously thought, a special New Testament language. It is a spoken everyday language of the first century A.D., which spread throughout the Greco-Roman world and is known in science as “κοινη”, i.e. "ordinary adverb"; yet both the style, the turns of phrase, and the way of thinking of the sacred writers of the New Testament reveal Hebrew or Aramaic influence.

The original text of the NT has come down to us in a large number of ancient manuscripts, more or less complete, numbering about 5000 (from the 2nd to the 16th centuries). Until recent years, the most ancient of them did not go back further than the 4th century no P.X. But recently, many fragments of ancient NT manuscripts on papyrus (3rd and even 2nd century) have been discovered. For example, Bodmer's manuscripts: John, Luke, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude - were found and published in the 60s of our century. In addition to Greek manuscripts, we have ancient translations or versions into Latin, Syriac, Coptic and other languages ​​(Vetus Itala, Peshitto, Vulgata, etc.), of which the most ancient existed already from the 2nd century AD.

Finally, numerous quotations from the Church Fathers have been preserved in Greek and other languages ​​in such quantities that if the text of the New Testament were lost and all the ancient manuscripts were destroyed, then experts could restore this text from quotations from the works of the Holy Fathers. All this abundant material makes it possible to check and clarify the text of the NT and classify its various forms (so-called textual criticism). Compared with any ancient author (Homer, Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Cornelius Nepos, Julius Caesar, Horace, Virgil, etc.), our modern printed Greek text of the NT is in an exceptionally favorable position. And in the number of manuscripts, and in the shortness of time separating the oldest of them from the original, and in the number of translations, and in their antiquity, and in the seriousness and volume of critical work carried out on the text, it surpasses all other texts (for details, see “Hidden Treasures and new life,” archaeological discoveries and the Gospel, Bruges, 1959, pp. 34 ff.). The text of the NT as a whole is recorded completely irrefutably.

The New Testament consists of 27 books. The publishers have divided them into 260 chapters of unequal length to accommodate references and quotations. This division is not present in the original text. The modern division into chapters in the New Testament, as in the whole Bible, has often been attributed to the Dominican Cardinal Hugo (1263), who worked it out in his symphony to the Latin Vulgate, but it is now thought with greater reason that this division goes back to Archbishop Stephen of Canterbury Langton, who died in 1228. As for the division into verses, now accepted in all editions of the New Testament, it goes back to the publisher of the Greek New Testament text, Robert Stephen, and was introduced by him in his edition in 1551.

The sacred books of the New Testament are usually divided into laws (the Four Gospels), historical (the Acts of the Apostles), teaching (seven conciliar epistles and fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul) and prophetic: the Apocalypse or the Revelation of John the Theologian (see Long Catechism of St. Philaret of Moscow).

However, modern experts consider this distribution to be outdated: in fact, all the books of the New Testament are legal, historical and educational, and prophecy is not only in the Apocalypse. New Testament scholarship pays great attention to the precise establishment of the chronology of the Gospel and other New Testament events. Scientific chronology allows the reader to trace with sufficient accuracy through the New Testament the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and the primitive Church (see Appendices).

The books of the New Testament can be distributed as follows:

1) Three so-called synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and, separately, the fourth: the Gospel of John. New Testament scholarship devotes much attention to the study of the relationships of the first three Gospels and their relation to the Gospel of John (synoptic problem).

2) The Book of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul (“Corpus Paulinum”), which are usually divided into:

a) Early Epistles: 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.

b) Greater Epistles: Galatians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Romans.

c) Messages from bonds, i.e. written from Rome, where ap. Paul was in prison: Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon.

d) Pastoral Epistles: 1st Timothy, Titus, 2nd Timothy.

e) Epistle to the Hebrews.

3) Council Epistles (“Corpus Catholicum”).

4) Revelation of John the Theologian. (Sometimes in the NT they distinguish “Corpus Joannicum”, i.e. everything that St. John wrote for the comparative study of his Gospel in connection with his epistles and the book of Rev.).

FOUR GOSPEL

1. The word “gospel” (ευανγελιον) in Greek means “good news.” This is what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself called His teaching (Mt 24:14; Mt 26:13; Mk 1:15; Mk 13:10; Mk 14:9; Mk 16:15). Therefore, for us, the “gospel” is inextricably linked with Him: it is the “good news” of the salvation given to the world through the incarnate Son of God.

Christ and His apostles preached the gospel without writing it down. By the mid-1st century, this preaching had been established by the Church in a strong oral tradition. The Eastern custom of memorizing sayings, stories, and even large texts helped Christians of the apostolic era accurately preserve the unrecorded First Gospel. After the 50s, when eyewitnesses of Christ's earthly ministry began to pass away one after another, the need arose to write down the gospel (Luke 1:1). Thus, “gospel” came to mean the narrative recorded by the apostles about the life and teachings of the Savior. It was read at prayer meetings and in preparing people for baptism.

2. The most important Christian centers of the 1st century (Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Ephesus, etc.) had their own Gospels. Of these, only four (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) are recognized by the Church as inspired by God, i.e. written under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. They are called “from Matthew”, “from Mark”, etc. (Greek “kata” corresponds to Russian “according to Matthew”, “according to Mark”, etc.), for the life and teachings of Christ are set out in these books by these four sacred writers. Their gospels were not compiled into one book, which made it possible to see the gospel story from different points of view. In the 2nd century St. Irenaeus of Lyons calls the evangelists by name and points to their gospels as the only canonical ones (Against heresies 2, 28, 2). A contemporary of St. Irenaeus, Tatian, made the first attempt to create a single gospel narrative, compiled from various texts of the four gospels, “Diatessaron”, i.e. "gospel of four"

3. The apostles did not set out to create a historical work in the modern sense of the word. They sought to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ, helped people to believe in Him, to correctly understand and fulfill His commandments. The testimonies of the evangelists do not coincide in all details, which proves their independence from each other: the testimonies of eyewitnesses always have an individual coloring. The Holy Spirit does not certify the accuracy of the details of the facts described in the gospel, but the spiritual meaning contained in them.

The minor contradictions found in the presentation of the evangelists are explained by the fact that God gave the sacred writers complete freedom in conveying certain specific facts in relation to different categories of listeners, which further emphasizes the unity of meaning and orientation of all four gospels (see also General Introduction, pp. 13 and 14) .

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6 (Mark 9:42) In Luke Luke 17:1,2- similar expressions, but in a different connection. U Mark 9:38-41 And Luke 9:49-50 stories are inserted here about a man who cast out demons in the name of the Savior; then the speech of the Savior is given in Matthew and Mark with almost literal similarity.

What is said in this verse is obviously the opposite of what was said in the previous one. It talks about acceptance with love; here - about the harm that occurs as a result of temptation - this is the last word (σκανδαλίση̨), as in other cases ( see note by 5:29), indicates a fall. As in 5 tbsp. “if anyone accepts” (lit.), so here “if someone seduces.” But if in 5 tbsp. - “one child”, then in 6 - “one of these little ones who believe in Me.” Speech thus expands and generalizes. The child standing among the disciples serves as an image to clarify the complex relationships that exist among adults who believe in Christ. At first glance, it seems that the Savior here proceeds to speak about an almost completely new subject, and, moreover, by simple association, so that verse 6 seems to have only an external connection with what was said earlier. But there is no doubt that it also has a more internal, deep, intimate connection with the previous verses. This latter is expressed, apparently, mainly by the word “to seduce” (σκανδαλίση̨). If in the previous verses an accessible and reliable path was indicated for everyone to acquire not imaginary, but real advantages in the Kingdom of Heaven established and established by Christ, then in Art. 6 indicates the obstacles that deviate from this path and the consequences of this type of activity.

The word πιστευόντων does not mean only small children in themselves and as such, because children generally do not have conscious faith, which is revealed in humility and humiliation, but adults who put themselves on the same level as babies.

The word (in the Greek text) συμφέρει can be translated, as in Russian, through “it would be better” - in the sense of more useful. This is the meaning of this word among the classics and in the New Testament (in the intransitive sense - Matthew 5:29,30; 19:10 ; John 11:50; 16:7 ; 18:14 ; 1 Cor 6:12; 2 Cor 8:10; 12:1 etc. (The meaning of the further speech shows what is the benefit for the person who produces the temptation. Before he seduces someone, it would be more useful for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea. Then his body would have perished, but his soul would have been saved by preventing him from causing temptation.

“Millstone” - the translation is inaccurate; in Slavic exactly: “a millstone of an ass”, i.e. a large millstone that a donkey turns; the latter was therefore called ὄνος μυλικός (millstone donkey). Inaccurate translation in Russian exiled, apparently due to assimilation Luke 17:2(λίθος μυλικός - millstone or millstone). Here, of course, there is the upper millstone, or the so-called runner. Drowning at sea was not a Jewish execution; but it was practiced by the Greeks, Romans, Syrians and Phoenicians.

7 (Luke 17:1) Previously it was said that a person who produces temptations will be subject to severe punishment; now “woe” is announced to him in a more general sense.

When interpreting verse 7, one can distinguish its first half and the second, separated from the previous one by the adverb πλὴν (Russian but). Interpreting the first half, some have argued that " if temptations must come, then it is necessary to sin; if it is necessary to sin, then those who sin are unfairly punished, obeying necessity" Here, then, is necessitas consequentiae. This opinion is cited, by the way, by Evfimy Zigaben and refutes it by the fact that “ temptations must come due to the necessity of the existence of demons; but there is no need for those devoted to virtue to create temptations, because people are characterized by free will. When temptations appear, it does not depend on us; but not to be tempted - that’s completely up to us" Or Chrysostom: “ from here it is clear that even if temptations need to come, that is, those people who cause harm, then it is not necessary to harm us».

Gospel

The word “Gospel” (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον) in classical Greek was used to designate: a) a reward that is given to the messenger of joy (τῷ εὐαγγέλῳ), b) a sacrifice sacrificed on the occasion of receiving some good news or a holiday celebrated on the same occasion and c) this good news itself. In the New Testament this expression means:

a) the good news that Christ reconciled people with God and brought us the greatest benefits - mainly founded the Kingdom of God on earth ( Matt. 4:23),

b) the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, preached by Himself and His Apostles about Him as the King of this Kingdom, the Messiah and the Son of God ( 2 Cor. 4:4),

c) all New Testament or Christian teaching in general, primarily the narration of the most important events from the life of Christ ( 1 Cor. 15:1-4), and then an explanation of the meaning of these events ( Rome. 1:16).

e) Finally, the word “Gospel” is sometimes used to designate the very process of preaching Christian teaching ( Rome. 1:1).

Sometimes the word “Gospel” is accompanied by a designation and its content. There are, for example, phrases: Gospel of the kingdom ( Matt. 4:23), i.e. good news of the kingdom of God, the gospel of peace ( Eph. 6:15), i.e. about peace, the gospel of salvation ( Eph. 1:13), i.e. about salvation, etc. Sometimes the genitive case following the word "Gospel" means the author or source of the good news ( Rome. 1:1, 15:16 ; 2 Cor. 11:7; 1 Thess. 2:8) or the personality of the preacher ( Rome. 2:16).

For quite a long time, stories about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ were transmitted only orally. The Lord Himself did not leave any records of His speeches and deeds. In the same way, the 12 apostles were not born writers: they were “unlearned and simple people” ( Acts 4:13), although literate. Among the Christians of the apostolic time there were also very few “wise according to the flesh, strong” and “noble” ( 1 Cor. 1:26), and for most believers, oral stories about Christ were much more important than written ones. In this way, the apostles and preachers or evangelists “transmitted” (παραδιδόναι) the stories about the deeds and speeches of Christ, and the believers “received” (παραλαμβάνειν) - but, of course, not mechanically, only by memory, as can be said about the students of rabbinical schools, but with all my soul, as if something living and life-giving. But this period of oral tradition was soon to end. On the one hand, Christians should have felt the need for a written presentation of the Gospel in their disputes with the Jews, who, as we know, denied the reality of Christ’s miracles and even argued that Christ did not declare Himself the Messiah. It was necessary to show the Jews that Christians have genuine stories about Christ from those persons who were either among His apostles or who were in close communication with eyewitnesses of the deeds of Christ. On the other hand, the need for a written presentation of the history of Christ began to be felt because the generation of the first disciples was gradually dying out and the ranks of direct witnesses to the miracles of Christ were thinning. Therefore, it was necessary to secure in writing individual sayings of the Lord and His entire speeches, as well as the stories of the apostles about Him. It was then that separate records began to appear here and there of what was reported in the oral tradition about Christ. The words of Christ, which contained the rules of Christian life, were most carefully recorded, and they were much more free to convey various events from the life of Christ, preserving only their general impression. Thus, one thing in these records, due to its originality, was transmitted everywhere in the same way, while the other was modified. These initial recordings did not think about the completeness of the story. Even our Gospels, as can be seen from the conclusion of the Gospel of John ( In. 21:25), did not intend to report all the speeches and deeds of Christ. This is evident, by the way, from the fact that they do not contain, for example, the following saying of Christ: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” ( Acts 20:35). The Evangelist Luke reports about such records, saying that many before him had already begun to compile narratives about the life of Christ, but that they lacked proper completeness and that therefore they did not provide sufficient “affirmation” in the faith ( OK. 1:1-4).

Our canonical Gospels apparently arose from the same motives. The period of their appearance can be determined to be approximately thirty years - from 60 to 90 (the last was the Gospel of John). The first three Gospels are usually called synoptic in biblical scholarship, because they depict the life of Christ in such a way that their three narratives can be viewed in one without much difficulty and combined into one coherent narrative (synoptics - from Greek - looking together). They began to be called Gospels individually, perhaps as early as the end of the 1st century, but from church writing we have information that such a name began to be given to the entire composition of the Gospels only in the second half of the 2nd century. As for the names: “Gospel of Matthew”, “Gospel of Mark”, etc., then more correctly these very ancient names from Greek should be translated as follows: “Gospel according to Matthew”, “Gospel according to Mark” (κατὰ Ματθαῖον, κατὰ Μᾶρκον). By this the Church wanted to say that in all the Gospels there is a single Christian gospel about Christ the Savior, but according to the images of different writers: one image belongs to Matthew, another to Mark, etc.

Four Gospels

Thus, the ancient Church looked upon the portrayal of the life of Christ in our four Gospels, not as different Gospels or narratives, but as one Gospel, one book in four types. That is why in the Church the name Four Gospels was established for our Gospels. Saint Irenaeus called them the “fourfold Gospel” (τετράμορφον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον - see Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus haereses liber 3, ed. A. Rousseau and L. Doutreleaü Irenée Lyon. Contre les h érésies, livre 3, vol 2. Paris, 1974, 11, 11).

The Fathers of the Church dwell on the question: why exactly did the Church accept not one Gospel, but four? So St. John Chrysostom says: “Couldn’t one evangelist write everything that was needed. Of course, he could, but when four people wrote, they wrote not at the same time, not in the same place, without communicating or conspiring with each other, and for all that they wrote in such a way that everything seemed to be uttered by one mouth, then this is the strongest proof of the truth. You will say: “What happened, however, was the opposite, for the four Gospels are often found to be in disagreement.” This very thing is a sure sign of truth. For if the Gospels had exactly agreed with each other in everything, even regarding the words themselves, then none of the enemies would have believed that the Gospels were not written according to ordinary mutual agreement. Now the slight disagreement between them frees them from all suspicion. For what they say differently regarding time or place does not in the least harm the truth of their narrative. In the main thing, which forms the basis of our life and the essence of preaching, not one of them disagrees with the other in anything or anywhere - that God became a man, worked miracles, was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.” (“Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew”, 1).

Saint Irenaeus also finds a special symbolic meaning in the fourfold number of our Gospels. “Since there are four countries of the world in which we live, and since the Church is scattered throughout the entire earth and has its confirmation in the Gospel, it was necessary for it to have four pillars, spreading incorruptibility from everywhere and reviving the human race. The All-Ordering Word, seated on the Cherubim, gave us the Gospel in four forms, but permeated with one spirit. For David, praying for His appearance, says: “He who sits on the Cherubim, show Yourself” ( Ps. 79:2). But the Cherubim (in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel and the Apocalypse) have four faces, and their faces are images of the activity of the Son of God.” Saint Irenaeus finds it possible to attach the symbol of a lion to the Gospel of John, since this Gospel depicts Christ as the eternal King, and the lion is the king in the animal world; to the Gospel of Luke - the symbol of a calf, since Luke begins his Gospel with the image of the priestly service of Zechariah, who slaughtered the calves; to the Gospel of Matthew - a symbol of a person, since this Gospel mainly depicts the human birth of Christ, and, finally, to the Gospel of Mark - a symbol of an eagle, because Mark begins his Gospel with a mention of the prophets, to whom the Holy Spirit flew, like an eagle on wings "(Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus haereses, liber 3, 11, 11-22). Among the other Fathers of the Church, the symbols of the lion and the calf were moved and the first was given to Mark, and the second to John. Since the 5th century. in this form, the symbols of the evangelists began to be added to the images of the four evangelists in church painting.

Mutual relationship of the Gospels

Each of the four Gospels has its own characteristics, and most of all - the Gospel of John. But the first three, as mentioned above, have extremely much in common with each other, and this similarity involuntarily catches the eye even when reading them briefly. Let us first of all talk about the similarity of the Synoptic Gospels and the reasons for this phenomenon.

Even Eusebius of Caesarea, in his “canons,” divided the Gospel of Matthew into 355 parts and noted that 111 of them were found in all three weather forecasters. In modern times, exegetes have developed an even more precise numerical formula for determining the similarity of the Gospels and calculated that the total number of verses common to all weather forecasters rises to 350. In Matthew, then, 350 verses are unique to him, in Mark there are 68 such verses, in Luke - 541. Similarities are mainly noticed in the rendering of the sayings of Christ, and differences - in the narrative part. When Matthew and Luke literally agree with each other in their Gospels, Mark always agrees with them. The similarity between Luke and Mark is much closer than between Luke and Matthew (Lopukhin - in the Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia. T. V. P. 173). It is also remarkable that some passages in all three evangelists follow the same sequence, for example, the temptation and the speech in Galilee, the calling of Matthew and the conversation about fasting, the plucking of ears of corn and the healing of the withered man, the calming of the storm and the healing of the Gadarene demoniac, etc. The similarity sometimes even extends to the construction of sentences and expressions (for example, in the presentation of a prophecy Small 3:1).

As for the differences observed among weather forecasters, there are quite a lot of them. Some things are reported by only two evangelists, others even by one. Thus, only Matthew and Luke cite the conversation on the mount of the Lord Jesus Christ and report the story of the birth and first years of Christ’s life. Luke alone speaks of the birth of John the Baptist. Some things one evangelist conveys in a more abbreviated form than another, or in a different connection than another. The details of the events in each Gospel are different, as are the expressions.

This phenomenon of similarities and differences in the Synoptic Gospels has long attracted the attention of interpreters of Scripture, and various assumptions have long been made to explain this fact. It seems more correct to believe that our three evangelists used a common oral source for their narrative of the life of Christ. At that time, evangelists or preachers about Christ went everywhere preaching and repeated in different places in a more or less extensive form what was considered necessary to offer to those entering the Church. Thus, a well-known specific type was formed oral gospel, and this is the type we have in written form in our Synoptic Gospels. Of course, at the same time, depending on the goal that this or that evangelist had, his Gospel took on some special features, characteristic only of his work. At the same time, we cannot exclude the assumption that an older Gospel could have been known to the evangelist who wrote later. Moreover, the difference between the weather forecasters should be explained by the different goals that each of them had in mind when writing his Gospel.

As we have already said, the Synoptic Gospels differ in very many ways from the Gospel of John the Theologian. So they depict almost exclusively the activity of Christ in Galilee, and the Apostle John depicts mainly the sojourn of Christ in Judea. In terms of content, the Synoptic Gospels also differ significantly from the Gospel of John. They give, so to speak, a more external image of the life, deeds and teachings of Christ and from the speeches of Christ they cite only those that were accessible to the understanding of the entire people. John, on the contrary, omits a lot from the activities of Christ, for example, he cites only six miracles of Christ, but those speeches and miracles that he cites have a special deep meaning and extreme importance about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, while the Synoptics portray Christ primarily as the founder of the Kingdom of God and therefore direct the attention of their readers to the Kingdom founded by Him, John draws our attention to the central point of this Kingdom, from which life flows along the peripheries of the Kingdom, i.e. on the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, whom John portrays as the Only Begotten Son of God and as the Light for all mankind. That is why the ancient interpreters called the Gospel of John primarily spiritual (πνευματικόν), in contrast to the synoptic ones, as depicting primarily the human side in the person of Christ (εὐαγγέλιον σωματικόν), i.e. The gospel is physical.

However, it must be said that the weather forecasters also have passages that indicate that the weather forecasters knew the activity of Christ in Judea ( Matt. 23:37, 27:57 ; OK. 10:38-42), and John also has indications of the continued activity of Christ in Galilee. In the same way, weather forecasters convey such sayings of Christ that testify to His Divine dignity ( Matt. 11:27), and John, for his part, also in places depicts Christ as a true man ( In. 2 etc.; John 8 and etc.). Therefore, one cannot speak of any contradiction between the weather forecasters and John in their depiction of the face and work of Christ.

The Reliability of the Gospels

Although criticism has long been expressed against the reliability of the Gospels, and recently these attacks of criticism have especially intensified (the theory of myths, especially the theory of Drews, who does not recognize the existence of Christ at all), however, all the objections of criticism are so insignificant that they are broken at the slightest collision with Christian apologetics . Here, however, we will not cite the objections of negative criticism and analyze these objections: this will be done when interpreting the text of the Gospels itself. We will only talk about the most important general reasons for which we recognize the Gospels as completely reliable documents. This is, firstly, the existence of a tradition of eyewitnesses, many of whom lived to the era when our Gospels appeared. Why on earth would we refuse to trust these sources of our Gospels? Could they have made up everything in our Gospels? No, all the Gospels are purely historical. Secondly, it is not clear why the Christian consciousness would want - as the mythical theory claims - to crown the head of a simple Rabbi Jesus with the crown of the Messiah and Son of God? Why, for example, is it not said about the Baptist that he performed miracles? Obviously because he didn't create them. And from here it follows that if Christ is said to be the Great Wonderworker, then it means that He really was like that. And why would it be possible to deny the authenticity of Christ’s miracles, since the highest miracle - His Resurrection - is witnessed like no other event in ancient history (see. 1 Cor. 15)?

Bibliography of foreign works on the Four Gospels

Bengel - Bengel J. Al. Gnomon Novi Testamentï in quo ex nativa verborum VI simplicitas, profunditas, concinnitas, salubritas sensuum coelestium indicatur. Berolini, 1860.

Blass, Gram. - Blass F. Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch. Gottingen, 1911.

Westcott - The New Testament in Original Greek the text rev. by Brooke Foss Westcott. New York, 1882.

B. Weiss - Weiss B. Die Evangelien des Markus und Lukas. Gottingen, 1901.

Yog. Weiss (1907) - Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments, von Otto Baumgarten; Wilhelm Bousset. Hrsg. von Johannes Weis_s, Bd. 1: Die drei älteren Evangelien. Die Apostelgeschichte, Matthaeus Apostolus; Marcus Evangelista; Lucas Evangelista. . 2. Aufl. Gottingen, 1907.

Godet - Godet F. Commentar zu dem Evangelium des Johannes. Hanover, 1903.

De Wette W.M.L. Kurze Erklärung des Evangeliums Matthäi / Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch zum Neuen Testament, Band 1, Teil 1. Leipzig, 1857.

Keil (1879) - Keil C.F. Commentar über die Evangelien des Markus und Lukas. Leipzig, 1879.

Keil (1881) - Keil C.F. Commentar über das Evangelium des Johannes. Leipzig, 1881.

Klostermann - Klostermann A. Das Markusevangelium nach seinem Quellenwerthe für die evangelische Geschichte. Gottingen, 1867.

Cornelius a Lapide - Cornelius a Lapide. In SS Matthaeum et Marcum / Commentaria in scripturam sacram, t. 15. Parisiis, 1857.

Lagrange - Lagrange M.-J. Etudes bibliques: Evangile selon St. Marc. Paris, 1911.

Lange - Lange J.P. Das Evangelium nach Matthäus. Bielefeld, 1861.

Loisy (1903) - Loisy A.F. Le quatrième èvangile. Paris, 1903.

Loisy (1907-1908) - Loisy A.F. Les èvangiles synoptiques, 1-2. : Ceffonds, près Montier-en-Der, 1907-1908.

Luthardt - Luthardt Ch.E. Das johanneische Evangelium nach seiner Eigenthümlichkeit geschildert und erklärt. Nürnberg, 1876.

Meyer (1864) - Meyer H.A.W. Kritisch exegetisches Commentar über das Neue Testament, Abteilung 1, Hälfte 1: Handbuch über das Evangelium des Matthäus. Gottingen, 1864.

Meyer (1885) - Kritisch-exegetischer Commentar über das Neue Testament hrsg. von Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, Abteilung 1, Hälfte 2: Bernhard Weiss B. Kritisch exegetisches Handbuch über die Evangelien des Markus und Lukas. Göttingen, 1885. Meyer (1902) - Meyer H.A.W. Das Johannes-Evangelium 9. Auflage, bearbeitet von B. Weiss. Gottingen, 1902.

Merx (1902) - Merx A. Erläuterung: Matthaeus / Die vier kanonischen Evangelien nach ihrem ältesten bekannten Texte, Teil 2, Hälfte 1. Berlin, 1902.

Merx (1905) - Merx A. Erläuterung: Markus und Lukas / Die vier kanonischen Evangelien nach ihrem ältesten bekannten Texte. Teil 2, Hälfte 2. Berlin, 1905.

Morison - Morison J. A practical commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew. London, 1902.

Stanton - Stanton V.H. The Synoptic Gospels / The Gospels as historical documents, Part 2. Cambridge, 1903. Tholuck (1856) - Tholuck A. Die Bergpredigt. Gotha, 1856.

Tholuck (1857) - Tholuck A. Commentar zum Evangelium Johannis. Gotha, 1857.

Heitmüller - see Yog. Weiss (1907).

Holtzmann (1901) - Holtzmann H.J. Die Synoptiker. Tubingen, 1901.

Holtzmann (1908) - Holtzmann H.J. Evangelium, Briefe und Offenbarung des Johannes / Hand-Commentar zum Neuen Testament bearbeitet von H. J. Holtzmann, R. A. Lipsius etc. Bd. 4. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1908.

Zahn (1905) - Zahn Th. Das Evangelium des Matthäus / Commentar zum Neuen Testament, Teil 1. Leipzig, 1905.

Zahn (1908) - Zahn Th. Das Evangelium des Johannes ausgelegt / Commentar zum Neuen Testament, Teil 4. Leipzig, 1908.

Schanz (1881) - Schanz P. Commentar über das Evangelium des heiligen Marcus. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1881.

Schanz (1885) - Schanz P. Commentar über das Evangelium des heiligen Johannes. Tubingen, 1885.

Schlatter - Schlatter A. Das Evangelium des Johannes: ausgelegt für Bibelleser. Stuttgart, 1903.

Schürer, Geschichte - Schürer E., Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi. Bd. 1-4. Leipzig, 1901-1911.

Edersheim (1901) - Edersheim A. The life and times of Jesus the Messiah. 2 Vols. London, 1901.

Ellen - Allen W.C. A critical and exegetical commentary of the Gospel according to st. Matthew. Edinburgh, 1907.

Alford N. The Greek Testament in four volumes, vol. 1. London, 1863.

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The author of the first Gospel in the New Testament, Matthew, was a collector of taxes and duties in favor of the authorities of the Roman Empire. One day, while he was sitting in his usual place of collecting taxes, he saw Jesus. This meeting completely changed Matthew's whole life: from that time on he was always with Jesus. He walked with Him through the cities and villages of Palestine and was an eyewitness to most of the events that he talks about in his Gospel, written, as scientists believe, between 58 and 70 AD. according to R.H.

In his narrative, Matthew often quotes the Old Testament to show readers that Jesus is the very promised Savior of the world, whose coming was already predicted in the Old Testament. The evangelist presents Jesus as the Messiah, sent by God to create the Kingdom of Peace on this earth. As the One who came from the Heavenly Father, Jesus can and does speak as God, with the consciousness of His Divine authority. Matthew gives five major sermons, or speeches, of Jesus: 1) The Sermon on the Mount (chap. 5-7); 2) the commission given by Jesus to His disciples (chapter 10); 3) parables about the Kingdom of Heaven (chapter 13); 4) practical advice to students (chapter 18); 5) the verdict on the Pharisees and a prediction about what awaits the world in the future (chap. 23-25).

The third edition of “The New Testament and the Psalter in Modern Russian Translation” was prepared for printing by the Institute of Bible Translation in Zaoksky at the suggestion of the Ukrainian Bible Society. Conscious of their responsibility for the accuracy of the translation and its literary merits, the staff of the Institute used the opportunity of a new edition of this Book to make clarifications and, where necessary, corrections to their previous many years of work. And although in this work it was necessary to keep deadlines in mind, maximum efforts were made to achieve the task facing the Institute: to convey to readers the sacred text, as far as possible in translation, carefully verified, without distortion or loss.

Both in previous editions and in the present, our team of translators has strived to preserve and continue the best that has been achieved by the efforts of the Bible societies of the world in the translation of the Holy Scriptures. In an effort to make our translation accessible and understandable, we, however, still resisted the temptation to use rude and vulgar words and phrases - the kind of vocabulary that usually appears in times of social upheaval - revolutions and unrest. We tried to convey the Message of Scripture in generally accepted, established words and in such expressions that would continue the good traditions of the old (now inaccessible) translations of the Bible into the native language of our compatriots.

In traditional Judaism and Christianity, the Bible is not only a historical document to be treasured, not only a literary monument to be admired and admired. This book was and remains a unique message about God’s proposed solution to human problems on earth, about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, who opened the way for humanity to an ongoing life of peace, holiness, goodness and love. The news of this must be conveyed to our contemporaries in words directly addressed to them, in a language simple and close to their understanding. The translators of this edition of the New Testament and the Psalter did their work with prayer and hope that these sacred books, in their translation, will continue to support the spiritual life of readers of any age, helping them to understand the inspired Word and respond to it with faith.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Less than two years have passed since the “New Testament in Modern Russian Translation” was published at the Mozhaisk Printing Plant commissioned by the Dialogue Educational Foundation. This publication was prepared by the Institute of Bible Translation in Zaoksky. It was received warmly and with approval by readers who love the Word of God, readers of different confessions. The translation was met with considerable interest by those who were just getting acquainted with the primary source of Christian doctrine, the most famous part of the Bible, the New Testament. Just a few months after the publication of The New Testament in Modern Russian Translation, the entire circulation was sold out, and orders for the publication continued to arrive. Encouraged by this, the Institute of Bible Translation in Zaoksky, whose main goal was and remains to promote the familiarization of compatriots with the Holy Scriptures, began to prepare the second edition of this Book. Of course, at the same time, we could not help but think that the translation of the New Testament prepared by the Institute, like any other translation of the Bible, needed to be checked and discussed with readers, and this is where our preparations for the new edition began.

After the first edition, the Institute, along with numerous positive reviews, received valuable constructive suggestions from attentive readers, including theologians and linguists, who prompted us to make the second edition, if possible, more popular, naturally, without compromising the accuracy of the translation. At the same time, we tried to solve such problems as: a thorough revision of the translation we had previously made; improvements, where necessary, of the stylistic plan and easy-to-read design of the text. Therefore, in the new edition, compared to the previous one, there are significantly fewer footnotes (footnotes that had not so much practical as theoretical significance have been removed). The previous letter designation of footnotes in the text has been replaced by an asterisk for the word (expression) to which a note is given at the bottom of the page.

In this edition, in addition to the books of the New Testament, the Institute of Bible Translation publishes its new translation of the Psalter - the very book of the Old Testament that our Lord Jesus Christ loved to read and often referred to during His life on earth. Over the centuries, thousands and thousands of Christians, as well as Jews, have considered the Psalter to be the heart of the Bible, finding for themselves in this Book a source of joy, consolation and spiritual insight.

The translation of the Psalter is from the standard scholarly edition Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart, 1990). A.V. took part in the preparation of the translation. Bolotnikov, I.V. Lobanov, M.V. Opiyar, O.V. Pavlova, S.A. Romashko, V.V. Sergeev.

The Institute of Bible Translation offers to the attention of the widest circle of readers “The New Testament and Psalter in the Modern Russian Translation” with due humility and at the same time with confidence that God still has new light and truth ready to illuminate those who read His holy words. We pray that, with the blessing of the Lord, this translation will serve as a means to achieve this goal.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

Meeting any new translation of the books of Holy Scripture gives rise to any serious reader a natural question about its necessity, justification and an equally natural desire to understand what can be expected from new translators. This circumstance dictates the following introductory lines.

The appearance of Christ in our world marked the beginning of a new era in the life of mankind. God entered history and established a deeply personal relationship with each of us, making it abundantly clear that He is on our side and doing everything He can to save us from evil and destruction. All of this was revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The world was given in Him the utmost possible revelation of God about Himself and about man. This revelation shocks with its greatness: the One who was seen by people as a simple carpenter, who ended his days on a shameful cross, created the whole world. His life did not begin in Bethlehem. No, He is “He who was, who is, and who is to come.” It's hard to imagine.

And yet all sorts of people have steadily come to believe it. They were discovering that Jesus was God who lived among them and for them. Soon the people of the new faith began to realize that He lives in them and that He has the answer to all their needs and aspirations. This meant that they acquired a new vision of the world, themselves and their future, a new experience of life unknown to them before.

Those who believed in Jesus were eager to share their faith with others, to tell everyone on earth about Him. These first ascetics, among whom there were direct witnesses of the events, put the biography and teachings of Christ Jesus into a vivid, well-remembered form. They created the Gospels; in addition, they wrote letters (which became “messages” for us), sang songs, said prayers and recorded the Divine revelation given to them. To a superficial observer it might seem that everything written about Christ by His first disciples and followers was not specially organized by anyone: all this was born more or less arbitrarily. Over the course of just fifty years, these texts formed an entire Book, which later received the name “New Testament.”

In the process of creating and reading, collecting and organizing written materials, the first Christians, who experienced the great saving power of these sacred manuscripts, came to the clear conclusion that all their efforts were guided and directed by Someone Mighty and Omniscient - the Holy Spirit of God Himself. They saw that there was nothing accidental in what they recorded, that all the documents that made up the New Testament were in deep internal interconnection. Boldly and decisively, the first Christians could and did call the resulting body of knowledge “the Word of God.”

A remarkable feature of the New Testament was that its entire text was written in simple, colloquial Greek, which at that time spread throughout the Mediterranean and became an international language. However, for the most part, “it was spoken by people who were not accustomed to it from childhood and therefore did not truly feel Greek words.” In their practice, “it was a language without soil, a business, trade, service language.” Pointing to this state of affairs, the outstanding Christian thinker and writer of the 20th century K.S. Lewis adds: “Does this shock us? I hope not; otherwise we should have been shocked by the Incarnation itself. The Lord humiliated Himself when he became a baby in the arms of a peasant woman and an arrested preacher, and according to the same Divine plan, the word about Him sounded in popular, everyday, everyday language.” For this very reason, the early followers of Jesus, in their testimony about Him, in their preaching and in their translations of the Holy Scriptures, sought to convey the Good News of Christ in a simple language that was close to the people and understandable to them.

Happy are the peoples who have received the Holy Scriptures in a worthy translation from the original languages ​​into their native language that is understandable to them. They have this Book that can be found in every family, even the poorest. Among such peoples, it became not only, in fact, prayerful and pious, soul-saving reading, but also that family book that illuminated their entire spiritual world. This is how the stability of society, its moral strength and even material well-being were created.

Providence wished that Russia would not be left without the Word of God. With great gratitude we, Russians, honor the memory of Cyril and Methodius, who gave us the Holy Scriptures in the Slavic language. We also preserve the reverent memory of the workers who introduced us to the Word of God through the so-called Synodal translation, which to this day remains the most authoritative and best known among us. The point here is not so much in his philological or literary characteristics, but in the fact that he remained with Russian Christians throughout the difficult times of the 20th century. It was largely thanks to him that the Christian faith was not completely eradicated in Russia.

The Synodal translation, however, with all its undoubted advantages, is not considered today to be completely satisfactory due to its well-known (obvious not only to specialists) shortcomings. The natural changes that have occurred in our language over more than a century, and the long absence of religious education in our country, have made these shortcomings sharply noticeable. The vocabulary and syntax of this translation are no longer accessible to direct, so to speak, “spontaneous” perception. In many cases, the modern reader can no longer do without dictionaries in his efforts to comprehend the meaning of certain translation formulas that were published in 1876. This circumstance responds, of course, to a rationalistic “cooling” of the perception of that text, which, being by its nature uplifting, should not only be understood, but also experienced by the whole being of the pious reader.

Of course, to make a perfect translation of the Bible “for all times,” a translation that would remain equally understandable and close to readers of an endless series of generations, is impossible, as they say, by definition. And this is not only because the development of the language we speak is unstoppable, but also because over time the very penetration into the spiritual treasures of the great Book becomes more complex and enriched as more and more new approaches to them are discovered. This was rightly pointed out by Archpriest Alexander Men, who saw the meaning and even the need for an increase in the number of Bible translations. He, in particular, wrote: “Today pluralism dominates in the world practice of biblical translations. Recognizing that any translation is, to one degree or another, an interpretation of the original, translators use a variety of techniques and language settings... This allows readers to experience the different dimensions and shades of the text.”

In line with precisely this understanding of the problem, the staff of the Institute of Bible Translation, created in 1993 in Zaokskoe, considered it possible to make an attempt to make a feasible contribution to the cause of familiarizing the Russian reader with the text of the New Testament. Driven by a high sense of responsibility for the work to which they devoted their knowledge and energy, the project participants completed a real translation of the New Testament into Russian from the original language, taking as a basis the widely recognized modern critical text of the original (4th expanded edition of the United Bible Societies, Stuttgart , 1994). At the same time, on the one hand, the characteristic orientation towards Byzantine sources, characteristic of the Russian tradition, was taken into account, on the other hand, the achievements of modern textual criticism were taken into account.

The employees of the Zaoksk Translation Center could, naturally, take into account in their work foreign and domestic experience in Bible translation. In accordance with the principles that guide Bible societies around the world, the translation was originally intended to be free from denominational bias. In accordance with the philosophy of modern biblical societies, the most important requirements for translation were fidelity to the original and preservation of the form of the biblical message wherever possible, with a willingness to sacrifice the letter of the text for the sake of an accurate transmission of the living meaning. At the same time, it was impossible, of course, not to go through those torments that are completely inevitable for any responsible translator of the Holy Scriptures. For the inspiration of the original obliged us to treat its very form with reverence. At the same time, in the course of their work, the translators had to constantly convince themselves of the validity of the thought of the great Russian writers that only the translation that, first of all, correctly conveys the meaning and dynamics of the original can be considered adequate. The desire of the staff of the Institute in Zaoksky to be as close as possible to the original coincided with what V.G. once said. Belinsky: “Closeness to the original consists in conveying not the letter, but the spirit of the creation... The corresponding image, as well as the corresponding phrase, does not always consist in the visible correspondence of the words.” A glance at other modern translations that convey the biblical text with harsh literalness made us recall the famous statement of A.S. Pushkin: “Interlinear translation can never be correct.”

At all stages of work, the Institute’s team of translators was aware that not a single real translation could equally satisfy all the diverse requirements of different readers. Nevertheless, the translators strove for a result that could, on the one hand, satisfy those who turn to Scripture for the first time, and on the other, satisfy those who, seeing the Word of God in the Bible, are engaged in its in-depth study.

This translation, addressed to the modern reader, uses mainly words, phrases and idioms that are in common circulation. Outdated and archaic words and expressions are allowed only to the extent that they are necessary to convey the flavor of the story and to adequately represent the semantic nuances of the phrase. At the same time, it was found expedient to refrain from using highly modern, transient vocabulary and the same syntax, so as not to violate the regularity, natural simplicity and organic majesty of presentation that distinguish the metaphysically non-vain text of Scripture.

The biblical message is of decisive importance for the salvation of every person and, in general, for his entire Christian life. This Message is not a simple account of facts, events, and a straightforward exhortation of commandments. It is capable of touching the human heart, inducing the reader and listener to empathy, and arousing in them the need for living and sincere repentance. Zaoksky's translators saw their task as conveying such power of the biblical narrative.

In cases where the meaning of individual words or expressions in the lists of books of the Bible that have come down to us does not lend itself, despite all efforts, to a definite reading, the reader is offered the most convincing reading, in the opinion of the translators.

In an effort to achieve clarity and stylistic beauty of the text, translators introduce into it, when the context dictates, words that are not in the original (they are marked in italics).

Footnotes offer the reader alternative meanings of individual words and phrases in the original.

To assist the reader, chapters of the biblical text are divided into separate meaningful passages, which are provided with subheadings in italics. While not part of the text being translated, subtitles are not intended for oral reading or interpretation of Scripture.

Having completed their first experience of translating the Bible into modern Russian, the staff of the Institute in Zaoksky intend to continue searching for the best approaches and solutions in transmitting the original text. Therefore, everyone involved in the appearance of the translation will be grateful to our dear readers for any help that they find possible to provide with their comments, advice and wishes aimed at improving the text currently proposed for subsequent reprints.

The staff of the Institute are grateful to those who helped them with their prayers and advice throughout the years of work on translating the New Testament. V.G. should be especially noted here. Vozdvizhensky, S.G. Mikushkina, I.A. Orlovskaya, S.A. Romashko and V.V. Sergeev.

The participation in the now implemented project of a number of Western colleagues and friends of the Institute, in particular W. Iles, D.R., was extremely valuable. Spangler and Dr. K.G. Hawkins.

For me personally, it was a great blessing to work on the published translation together with highly qualified employees who devoted themselves entirely to this work, such as A.V. Bolotnikov, M.V. Boryabina, I.V. Lobanov and some others.

If the work done by the Institute’s team helps someone in knowing our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, this will be the highest reward for everyone who was involved in this translation.

January 30, 2000
Director of the Institute of Bible Translation in Zaoksky, Doctor of Theology M. P. Kulakov

EXPLANATIONS, CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

This translation of the New Testament is made from the Greek text, mainly from the 4th edition of The Greek New Testament. 4th revision edition. Stuttgart, 1994. The translation of the Psalter is from the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart, 1990).

The Russian text of this translation is divided into semantic passages with subtitles. Subheadings in italics, although not part of the text, are introduced to make it easier for the reader to find the right place in the proposed translation.

In the Psalter, the word “LORD” is written in small capital letters in cases where this word conveys the name of God - Yahweh, written in Hebrew with four consonant letters (Tetragrammaton). The word “Lord” in its usual spelling conveys another address (Adon or Adonai), used in relation to both God and people in the meaning of “Lord”, friend. trans.: Lord; see in Dictionary Lord.

In square brackets contains words whose presence in the text is considered not fully proven by modern biblical studies.

In double square brackets contain words that modern biblical scholarship considers to be insertions into the text made in the first centuries.

Bold Quotes from the books of the Old Testament are highlighted. In this case, poetic passages are located in the text with the necessary indents and breakdowns in order to adequately represent the structure of the passage. A note at the bottom of the page gives the address of the citation.

Words in italics are actually absent from the original text, but the inclusion of which seems justified, since they are implied in the development of the author’s thoughts and help to clarify the meaning inherent in the text.

An asterisk raised above the line after a word (phrase) indicates a note at the bottom of the page.

Individual footnotes are given with the following abbreviations:

Lit.(literally): formally accurate translation. It is given in cases where, for the sake of clarity and a more complete disclosure of the meaning in the main text, it is necessary to deviate from a formally accurate rendering. At the same time, the reader is given the opportunity to get closer to the original word or phrase and see possible translation options.

In meaning(in meaning): given when a word translated literally in the text requires, in the translator’s opinion, an indication of its special semantic connotation in a given context.

In some manuscripts(in some manuscripts): used when quoting textual variants in Greek manuscripts.

Greek(Greek): used when it is important to show which Greek word is used in the original text. The word is given in Russian transcription.

Ancient lane(ancient translations): used when you need to show how a particular passage of the original was understood by ancient translations, perhaps based on another original text.

Friend. possible lane(another possible translation): given as another, although possible, but, in the opinion of the translators, less substantiated translation.

Friend. reading(other reading): given when, with a different arrangement of signs denoting vowel sounds, or with a different sequence of letters, a reading different from the original, but supported by other ancient translations, is possible.

Heb.(Hebrew): used when it is important to show which word is used in the original. Often it is impossible to convey it adequately, without semantic losses, into Russian, so many modern translations introduce this word in transliteration into the native language.

Or: used when the note provides another, sufficiently substantiated translation.

Nekot. manuscripts are added(some manuscripts add): given when a number of copies of the New Testament or Psalter, not included in the body of the text by modern critical editions, contain an addition to what is written, which, most often, is included in the Synodal translation.

Nekot. manuscripts are omitted(some manuscripts are omitted): given when a number of copies of the New Testament or Psalter, not included in the body of the text by modern critical editions, do not contain an addition to what is written, but in a number of cases this addition is included in the Synodal translation.

Masoretic text: text accepted as the basis for translation; a footnote is given when, for a number of textual reasons: the meaning of the word is unknown, the original text is corrupted, the translation has to deviate from the literal rendering.

TR(textus receptus) - an edition of the Greek text of the New Testament prepared by Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1516 based on lists of the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire. Until the 19th century this publication served as the basis for a number of famous translations.

LXX- Septuagint, translation of the Holy Scriptures (Old Testament) into Greek, made in the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC References to this translation are given from the 27th edition of Nestlé-Aland. Novum Testamentum Graece. 27. revidierte Auflage 1993. Stuttgart.

ABBREVIATIONS USED

OLD TESTAMENT (OT)

Life - Genesis
Exodus - Exodus
Leo - Levite
Number - Numbers
Deut - Deuteronomy
Joshua - Book of Joshua
1 Kings - First Book of Samuel
2 Kings - Second Book of Kings
1 Kings - Third Book of Kings
2 Kings - The Fourth Book of Kings
1 Chronicles - 1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles - 2 Chronicles
Job - Book of Job
Ps - Psalter
Proverbs - Book of Proverbs of Solomon
Ekkl - Book of Ecclesiastes, or Preacher (Ecclesiastes)
Is - Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Jer - Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Lamentations - Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah
Eze - Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Dan - Book of the Prophet Daniel
Hos - Book of the Prophet Hosea
Joel - Book of the Prophet Joel
Am - Book of the Prophet Amos
Jonah - Book of the Prophet Jonah
Micah - Book of the Prophet Micah
Nahum - Book of the Prophet Nahum
Habak - Book of the Prophet Habakkuk
Hagg - Book of the Prophet Haggai
Zech - Book of the Prophet Zechariah
Mal - Book of the prophet Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT (NT)

Matthew - Gospel according to Matthew (Holy gospel from Matthew)
Mark - Gospel according to Mark (Holy gospel from Mark)
Luke - Gospel according to Luke (Holy gospel from Luke)
John - Gospel according to John (Holy gospel from John)
Acts - Acts of the Apostles
Rome - Epistle to the Romans
1 Cor - First Epistle to the Corinthians
2 Cor - Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Gal - Epistle to the Galatians
Eph - Epistle to the Ephesians
Philippians - Epistle to the Philippians
Col - Epistle to the Colossians
1 Thess - First Epistle to the Thessalonians
2 Thess - Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
1 Tim - First Timothy
2 Tim - Second Timothy
Titus - Epistle to Titus
Hebrews - Epistle to the Hebrews
James - Epistle of James
1 Peter - First Epistle of Peter
2 Peter - Second Epistle of Peter
1 John - First Epistle of John
Revelation - Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse)

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

ap. - apostle
aram. - Aramaic
V. (centuries) - century (centuries)
g - gram
year(s) - year(s)
Ch. - head
Greek - Greek language)
other - ancient
euro - Hebrew (language)
km - kilometer
l - liter
m - meter
note - note
R.H. - Nativity
Rome. - Roman
Syn. lane - Synodal translation
cm - centimeter
see - look
Art. - poem
Wed - compare
those. - that is
so-called - so-called
h. - hour

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.

Mk. 9, 42 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and thrown into the sea.

OK. 17, 2 It would have been better for him if a millstone had been hung around his neck and thrown into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.

Text of Luke. in index No. 111 as having no parallels;

The words about “a millstone on the neck” are etched in my memory. The image is very bright. Apparently, this is why it is found in the Gospel in different contexts: either Jesus repeated the metaphor more than once, or the disciples recalled this saying on different occasions. In Luke, in any case, it is taken out of the Savior’s dialogue with the disciples, inserted into the monologue, and in such a way that it is unclear exactly what temptations are being discussed and in relation to whom. And in Mf. and Mk. everything is clear: after Favor, the students began to find out which of them would be the favorite. Jesus cut them off, pointing to the child.

What kind of temptation are we talking about then? In those eras when Christianity became a state ideology, a “millstone on the neck” was promised primarily to those who deviated from the formulations approved by the kingdom of Caesar. As if a child is a student, as if every layman is just a child, a student who should open his mouth and listen.

Jesus, of course, is talking about something completely different: the “temptation” is the disciples arguing about primacy. It is those who are concerned about their place in the hierarchy who like to point at those below them: just be patient while we figure this out, be strictly loyal to me, otherwise you will not get the Kingdom of God. They threaten to excommunicate - and they do excommunicate! As a result, people simply shy away from Heaven.

The solution is not to abolish hierarchy. It will still arise where there are at least two believers. The way out is in humility, in childishness. It’s a terrible thing: believers in Jesus drown Jesus, but He tolerates it. In 1954, in the Italian town of Camogli, a statue of Christ with raised hands was made and flooded. In 2004, the statue was raised to the surface, cleaned, and drowned again. A copy of it is in a separate museum, and scuba diving enthusiasts enjoy it. Of course, the inhabitants of Camogli think that this is great piety, that Jesus is everywhere, both on the mountain above Rio and at the bottom of the sea. But still, subconsciously: What were you talking about drowning? Well, come on, let's do it yourself. Freudian fantasies, and it is not surprising that religiosity began to decline after that.

The millstone - milos onikos (in Mk) - is large, it is turned by a donkey, and not by a man with his own hand. the words “into Me” in Matt. and Mk. by many scientists it is considered a later addition. The addition is forced, perhaps, by the fact that in many languages ​​the verb “to believe” necessarily requires an addition (definition) - in whom or in what. It is possible to believe in general only in a culture where the most terrible substitute for faith - religion - has been implanted for thousands of years. Jesus speaks of "little ones", continuing the previous speech, where he spoke of children, babies. Here the “child” is not a symbol of an angel, as in modern European culture, but of complete nonentity. "Garcon!"... "Boy!" But the one who serves you cannot be encouraged to fall (in Greek “to tempt” - “to disgrace”, “to expose to ridicule” - I think the meaning is precisely that in many cultures they laugh at the one who fell, and not at the one who pushed. Blame placed on the weak, not on the strong.Jesus turns everything upside down here too, putting it on its head.

ON THE MEANINGLESS OF MULTIMURE: Matthew 18.6-9

The Lord devotes one phrase - verse 6 - to the fate of those who seduce. He doesn’t even say anything about this fate, he just notes that a millstone around the neck is better. In general, this fate is worse than death. But three times more space is devoted to words about the fate of those who are tempted. In real life, everything is the other way around: having sinned, we are mainly concerned with condemning those who tempted us, through whom the temptation came - but we are not concerned at all with our fate. Meanwhile, temptation is not a sin; it becomes a sin when we forget about God and remember only the temptation, submitting to it. They can show us the path of vice, entice us onto it - but if our eye is not seduced by it, if our foot does not set foot on it, if our hand does not reach for a wallet to pay for the entrance to this path - the seducers will achieve nothing. So our guilt is three times, a hundred times greater than the guilt of those who seduce us, and the Lord speaks more about our fate and describes it more terrible.

Many Christians advocate a literal understanding of every word of the Gospel. Nevertheless, among Christians there are no more one-legged, one-armed, one-eyed people than among other people - and there are no Christians at all who have made themselves crippled. At most, someone chopped off a few fingers; but this also seems like some kind of non-Christian act. Well, don’t our feet dance to the sweet spots, don’t our hands reach out to other people’s goods, are our eyes relentlessly fixed only on the light and goodness? Are we really not tempted at all? Of course not. But why then do Christians not fulfill this absolutely unambiguously expressed commandment of Christ, the commandment about self-mutilation?

Because this commandment was given before His death on the cross. Christians are not those who believe in salvation through the teachings of Jesus, but those who believe in salvation through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. There is no point in us cutting off anything for ourselves, for, according to the Savior himself, the source of evil is in our heart. It would have to be pulled out - but then there would be no one to save. Death is not a cure for temptation. The torments of conscience, the torments of hell are worse than death - but suicide is not a way out of the situation, but only a deepening of torment. The way out and salvation is in the death of Jesus for us. His hands and His feet died, although they did not tempt Him. His eyes closed in death, although they did not look at anyone with malice and envy. And we die with Him - in baptism, in ritual, in sacrament, and that’s enough. He did everything, He put everything to death in Himself, all we have to do is believe in Him, hide in Him from temptation, and be reborn in Him into a new person.

These words of the Savior are also found in the Gospel of Mark. They are also preceded by a story about a dispute between students (“who is bigger”) and words about children. Moreover, the corresponding chapters end in the same way: in Ev. Matthew with the Savior’s call to forgive “from your heart to your brother”, in Heb. Mark with the call of the Savior: “Have peace among yourselves” (Mark 9.50). But between the sermon about temptations and the call for peace with the brothers, completely different texts are placed: in the Gospel of Matthew there are parables about the lost sheep and about the unmerciful lender, in the Gospel of Mark there is a short phrase about fire and salt, with which our offering to God becomes a sacrifice. The Evangelist Matthew placed similar words about salt much earlier, in the Sermon on the Mount (5.13). And yet, the meaning of the Gospel has not changed. When comparing different options, this meaning only becomes clearer. Moreover: on one page the Lord describes the entire spiritual life of man, our entire path to God. All ascetic volumes grow from this description, and those who have not read them can perfectly understand the Christian life directly from the Gospel. This life begins with a state of discord and hatred, paradoxically combined with aspiration towards people: we not only envy them, but also seek them out, seek approval from them, the hated, and take offense at them without receiving praise. This life consists of a new aspiration - to Christ, in the search for His love, His approval, His life. Living in the sacrifice of Christ, we gradually learn to be a victim consumed by fire, to be the salt of the earth and its fire, disappearing for the world as a center of hatred and selfishness. And this life ends in the fact that in God we find peace and love, embracing ourselves and all people, and leading us to the source of love - in the Trinity, the worshiped God.

Goal: Convince the church of the existence of two types of temptations.

The origins of temptation...

Today we will discuss one of the passages of Holy Scripture, which, at first glance, does not cause any difficulties.

The Lord says simple and obvious things:

Matt.18:6,7 “...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world from temptations, for temptations must come; but woe to the man through whom temptation comes.”

Let's immediately define the meaning of the word “temptation”:

TEMPT, to tempt someone with something, to incline to something (more towards something bad) with bait, to confuse, to involve, to encourage, to lure; to give a reason or occasion for a sinful fall, to arouse desire or lust, to seduce; to lead someone into temptation, into temptation, to tempt, to seduce;
A temptation that seduces, a reason for sin, a charm, a temptation, an object of desire.
Seductress, temptress, seducing someone; seducer, tempter, seducer, swayer, lure, troublemaker, enticer. (Dahl's Dictionary)

Do you understand what temptation is? Yes?

And, returning to the passage we read from the Gospel of Matthew, it is clear that we are talking about people who push other people to sin.

And the fate of such people is unenviable - a stone on the neck and in the sea! And you need to act extremely harshly against such people. You remember that what follows is a short excursion into surgery, with the cutting off of arms, legs and the removal of eyes, as an example of how radically you need to separate yourself from temptations.

Let's look now at the meaning in Scripture of the Greek word that is translated into Russian as temptation:

The literal meaning of the Greek word "skandalon", which is translated as temptation, is "a peg that supports the trap door." More abstractly, it also means “push”, “blow”. The concept of temptation is based on the idea of ​​an obstacle on the path that confuses, stops, or leads to a fall.

As you can see, the understanding of the seducer is sharply negative and the attitude towards him is quite obvious and does not cause any difficulties, if not for one “but...”

WHO can be a temptation?!

For the first time in the Bible, this paradoxical thought appears in the book of the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 8:13-15 “The Lord of hosts - you will honor Him holy, and He is your fear, and He is your trembling!And He will be sanctification (no one will argue with this, but then miracles begin, causing, in those reading this place for the first time, an involuntary protest - we read:)….and a stumbling block and a rock of offense to both houses of Israel, a snare and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many of them will stumble and fall and be broken and entangled in a snare and be caught.”

The Lord of hosts speaks about Himself through the prophet that He Himself can be a temptation, and a stumbling block, and a noose, and a snare for His people (well, or for some of His people!)

So what does this mean? Does God personally push some people to sin?
This cannot be!

But still, let's figure out what is hidden behind these mysterious words?

And the key to understanding this is one word from Isaiah 8 that we just read:

This word is stone! (remember? “a stumbling block and a rock of temptation!) And in connection with this, two scriptures:

Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I lay a stone for the foundation in Zion, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: he that believeth in it shall not be put to shame.”
Ps.117:22,23 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner: this is from the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes.”

Now let’s see if “the tried stone, the cornerstone, the precious, and the sure established stone” can become a stumbling block and a rock of temptation?

We find the answer in the same 16th verse of the 28th chapter of Isaiah: Only for the believer - he is precious, because through faith in him a person receives salvation!

Gal.3:26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus”;

But for those who do not believe in it, it becomes the very stone that pushes them to condemnation.

John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

I hope I don't have to convince the church that the cornerstone and the Messiah are the same thing. We have explored this multiple times.

And since God is fair and does not condemn anyone without guilt, it is clear that the condemned person has sinned - he refused to believe in the messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth, and therefore does not have a part in His atoning sacrifice and remains unforgiven in his sins.

Thus, thanks to the stumbling block, the sin of the person who did not believe in Him becomes obvious.

Now let's turn to Psalm 117, in which we will find the answer to the question, why can God Himself become a temptation for man?

The whole point is that the key, central place occupied by the Word of God, the Truth of God, the Son of God, the Slain Lamb - which is essentially the same person, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, in God's plan for the salvation of people was not accepted by His people.

Israel did not agree to accept their Messiah - “the builders rejected” the central, cornerstone offered to them by God Himself for the construction of His Kingdom.

And thus, this stone worked as a stone of temptation for them - the trap slammed shut, the chosen people remained guilty of their sins in rejecting God Himself as their Savior!!!

God is like a temptation today

OK then! This was 2000 years ago. And now, today, can Jesus Christ be a stumbling block and a rock of temptation, a snare and a snare for people?
In order to understand this, let’s go back 2700 years ago, to the time of the prophet Isaiah and read another verse from the 28th chapter of his Book (we have already read verse 16 from there):

Isaiah 28:13 “And the word of the Lord became unto them: commandment upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, so that they would go and fall backward, and be broken, and fall into the net and will be caught.”

The conclusion is obvious - for those who add their own speculations to the Word of God, for those who subtract His commandments from the Word of God, for those who distort the Word of God for their own benefit - God will always be a stumbling block and a rock of temptation.
However, He is not the stone that pushes a person to sin, but the one that puts a mark on this person: Sinner!
And determines their future path, as it is written: “...they will go and fall backward and be broken, and be caught in a net and caught.”
And the place for those caught is already ready - “outer darkness”!

Are there people today who like to adjust the Scriptures “to suit themselves”?! Yes, as much as you like!

And it is not at all necessary that these are major theological figures, pastors, leaders of Christian and pseudo-Christian movements and denominations who are in plain sight!

Many of us quietly interpret the Word of God to justify our weaknesses and sins, without thinking about what Jesus said in warning to us:

“Whoever falls on that stone will be broken, and whoever it falls on will be crushed.” Luke 20:18

We are talking about the same stone! Therefore, let’s be careful when handling it!

“Our” god, invented by us for our convenience, will always be only a temptation...

But there is a less terrible temptation, although also quite unpleasant, the cause of which is, as it were, God. This type of temptation is well shown in the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 26:

Matthew 26:31-35 “Then Jesus said to them, “You will all be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” After My resurrection I will go before you to Galilee.

Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if everyone is offended because of You, I will never be offended.”

Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter said to Him: Even though I had to die with You, I will not deny You.

All the students said the same thing.”

What happened was what Jesus repeatedly told his disciples about - he was captured by the Jews.

Why did this behavior of the Savior serve as a temptation for the disciples? (remember - they were offended because of Him!)
They saw Him reviving people, healing lepers, giving sight to the blind, calming the storm...

And to paraphrase the famous words of the Jews from this passage of Scripture:

John 11:37 “And some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have ensured that this one also should not die?”

Could not this One, who performed all these miracles, prevent Him from being captured?!

Well, of course he could! Only this would be the implementation not of God’s plan, but of man’s!

Why did I say that falling into such temptation is less terrible?

Remember: accusing the disciples of future cowardice, Jesus nevertheless tells them after this quite calmly that after his resurrection He will meet them in Galilee...

From time to time, we also seem to recoil from God in horror when the implementation of His plans in our lives does not coincide with our ideas about how everything in this very life should happen:

• We want to serve Him, but He keeps us in the gallery of the church.
• We don’t want to serve, but He takes us by the ear and puts us in service.
• We expect to live quietly and calmly in our family, but He takes away from us “the joy of our eyes” and forces us to go through life alone...
• We want to live in abundance, but He keeps us on a starvation diet...

And in these cases, it is very important, even after running away from God for some time, to still come to Him at the place of the appointed meeting in Galilee, to submit to His will, to do for Him what He wants from us...
Simply because for us it is the best!

Thus, God can serve as a temptation for a person in two cases:

1. When a person does not accept the truth of God and does not believe it, and then the Lord puts a seal on him - a sinner!
2. And in the second case, when a person does not accept God’s plans for himself and tries to run away from them. In this case, God gives him a chance to repent and come to Him again (like, for example, Jonah).

Temptation - from person to person

Now let's return to the type of temptation for which a millstone rests on the neck. To the classic temptation, when a person pushes another person to sin.

And there are two troubles here:

1. The first is when they try to seduce us and push us onto the path of sin.
2. And the second, when we, voluntarily or unwittingly, become seducers, pushing other people to sin.

Consider the first option: we become the target of an attack!

Another person is trying to push us into sin, intentionally or without a second thought.

At the same time, he can act either quite consciously (if he is a person who does not know and does not fear God), or involuntarily, unconsciously by his behavior, provoking us to commit a sinful act.

Well, for example, knowing that I am a Christian, my neighbor is trying in every possible way to attract me to the festive feasts, emphasizing the famous phrase: Do you respect me?
Or also a classic case: let’s say I’m a married man, a beautiful young wife, and a pretty girl starts hovering around me, hatching her insidious matrimonial plans and doing almost innocent, but nevertheless very definitely directed actions - the end of which a smart person clearly sees adultery, family destruction, excommunication and hell!!!
What to do in this case?
There is only one way: speak calmly, but firmly - no!

Let us remember the words of God to Cain: “...sin lies at the door, it attracts you to itself, but you rule over it!”

There is another scripture:

James 4:7 "... resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Let's read this verse a little differently, using the direct meaning of the word "devil": “Resist the enemy and he will run away from you!”

No one doubts that the person trying to push a Christian to sin is his opponent? Therefore, this reading can be considered correct!

Don't let another person control you by pushing you into sin! Since we will be personally responsible for our sins, we must make a decision: to do or not to do this or that, personally!

Well, of course, if possible, we should try to reason with the person who serves as a temptation to us, telling him about millstones and the deep sea.

The second option is when we become a temptation for our neighbor...

Much worse, if only because the sea with the millstones in this case is already shining on us.

The main danger of this case is that the one who gives temptation to his brother, in most cases, does not notice the essence of what he is doing.

• ...or because it suits his character and his way of life (in other words, he is a Chaldean!);
• ...or because he does not think about the fact that his words or deeds could serve as a temptation for a brother or sister...

In this case, the main thing for the successful completion of such a situation is: calmly, without hysterics, to face the incriminating words of an outside observer, who from the outside knows much better what is happening to us.

Well, for example: obsessive statements that every Christian, since he is a son or daughter of the Lord and Creator of the universe, should be rich, healthy and happy - are a temptation for many who come to God.
Because in real life they see the exact opposite of these false statements!
And this pushed many people away from God and from the church.
And when you tell such a notorious optimist-seducer that he is lying, he begins to scream that I do not believe in the omnipotence of God!
But I don’t believe the lies that are presented as the Word of God!

And now a few words about the mechanism of action of any temptation.

Having understood this, it will be much easier for us to determine the presence of temptation in our deeds or words and to counteract it in time.

To understand the mechanism of temptation, let us turn once again to the image of the stone with which we began our reflection. Scripture compares Jesus Christ to the chief cornerstone, the precious stone, the tried stone, and the sure rock. And at the same time, a stone, which in some cases and for some people can become a stumbling block and a rock of temptation...

Now let’s remember another scripture:

Exodus 20:25 “...if you make an altar for Me of stones, do not build it with hewn stones, for as soon as you lay your adze on them, you will defile them.”

Why did I read this? The stones for the altar must be natural wholes, created by God without human intervention.
As soon as a person tries to change his form by “improving” it, he becomes unfit for the altar - defiled!!!

Here is the image!
We know that very often idols of various earthly gods were carved out of stone.Thus, the stone, modified by a human chisel, was passed off as a god.

Most temptations have a similarity to this idol: the chisel of human cunning is applied to God's principles and sin is presented as virtue. And this is the essence of the effect of temptations!

• Adultery or sexual perversion are presented as love.
• Theft and robbery are presented as caring for the prosperity of one’s own family.
• Drunkenness is passed off as showing respect for drinking buddies.
• The introduction into Christianity of a gang of intermediaries between man and God is presented as a desire to make God more understandable or more holy.

And this can be summarized in one phrase: For the sake of achieving high goals, vile, sinful paths to these high goals are suitable!!!
No! No good! The purity of the path to the goal is as important as the purity of the goal itself!!!

No wonder Christ himself spoke about Himself - I am the way!

Therefore, if, showing us lofty goals from afar, they tell us that in order to achieve them we need to sacrifice God’s Truths, righteousness, purity - let him be anathema!

This can only be suggested by a person whose millstone already lies on the seashore and is waiting for him!

Conclusion.

So, today we talked about temptations. About an unusual case when God himself can serve as a temptation for a person:

• When a person does not accept the truth of God and does not believe it.
• And when a person does not accept God’s plans for himself and tries to run away from them.

We also talked about what to do if we ourselves become a temptation for our neighbors.
Or our neighbors become a temptation to us.

And the correct attitude towards temptations lies in the words of the Apostle Paul from...

1 Corinthians 10:31-33 “...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks, or to the church of God, just as I please everyone in everything, seeking not my own benefit, but [the benefit] of many, so that they may be saved.”

Amen

Preacher: Brother A.

Commentary (introduction) to the entire book of Matthew

Comments on Chapter 18

INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are usually called Synoptic Gospels. Synoptic comes from two Greek words that mean see together. Therefore, the above-mentioned Gospels received this name because they describe the same events in the life of Jesus. In each of them, however, there are some additions, or something is omitted, but, in general, they are based on the same material, and this material is also arranged in the same way. Therefore, they can be written in parallel columns and compared with each other.

After this, it becomes very obvious that they are very close to each other. If, for example, we compare the story of the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:12-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 5:17-26), then this is the same story, told in almost the same words.

Or take, for example, another story about the healing of a paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26). These three stories are so similar to each other that even the introductory words, “said to the paralytic,” appear in all three stories in the same form in the same place. The correspondence between all three Gospels is so close that one must either conclude that all three took material from the same source, or two were based on a third.

THE FIRST GOSPEL

Examining the matter more carefully, one can imagine that the Gospel of Mark was written first, and the other two - the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke - are based on it.

The Gospel of Mark can be divided into 105 passages, of which 93 are found in the Gospel of Matthew and 81 in the Gospel of Luke. Only four of the 105 passages in the Gospel of Mark are not found in either the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Luke. There are 661 verses in the Gospel of Mark, 1068 verses in the Gospel of Matthew, and 1149 in the Gospel of Luke. There are no less than 606 verses from Mark in the Gospel of Matthew, and 320 in the Gospel of Luke. Of the 55 verses in the Gospel of Mark, which not reproduced in Matthew, 31 yet reproduced in Luke; thus, only 24 verses from Mark are not reproduced in either Matthew or Luke.

But not only the meaning of the verses is conveyed: Matthew uses 51%, and Luke uses 53% of the words of the Gospel of Mark. Both Matthew and Luke follow, as a rule, the arrangement of material and events adopted in the Gospel of Mark. Sometimes Matthew or Luke have differences from the Gospel of Mark, but it is never the case that they both were different from him. One of them always follows the order that Mark follows.

REVISION OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK

Due to the fact that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are much larger in volume than the Gospel of Mark, one might think that the Gospel of Mark is a brief transcription of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But one fact indicates that the Gospel of Mark is the earliest of them all: so to speak, the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke improve the Gospel of Mark. Let's take a few examples.

Here are three descriptions of the same event:

Map. 1.34:"And He healed many, suffering from various diseases; expelled many demons."

Mat. 8.16:"He cast out the spirits with a word and healed everyone sick."

Onion. 4.40:"He, laying on everyone of them hands, healed

Or let's take another example:

Map. 3:10: “For He healed many.”

Mat. 12:15: “He healed them all.”

Onion. 6:19: "... power came from Him and healed everyone."

Approximately the same change is noted in the description of Jesus' visit to Nazareth. Let's compare this description in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark:

Map. 6.5.6: “And he could not perform any miracle there... and he marveled at their unbelief.”

Mat. 13:58: “And he did not perform many miracles there because of their unbelief.”

The author of the Gospel of Matthew does not have the heart to say that Jesus could not perform miracles, and he changes the phrase. Sometimes the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke leave out little hints from the Gospel of Mark that may somehow detract from the greatness of Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke omit three remarks found in the Gospel of Mark:

Map. 3.5:“And he looked upon them with anger, grieving because of the hardness of their hearts...”

Map. 3.21:“And when his neighbors heard, they went to take him, for they said that he had lost his temper.”

Map. 10.14:"Jesus was indignant..."

All this clearly shows that the Gospel of Mark was written earlier than the others. It gives a simple, lively and direct account, and the authors of Matthew and Luke were already beginning to be influenced by dogmatic and theological considerations, and therefore they chose their words more carefully.

TEACHINGS OF JESUS

We have already seen that the Gospel of Matthew has 1068 verses and the Gospel of Luke 1149 verses, and that 582 of these are repetitions of verses from the Gospel of Mark. This means that there is much more material in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke than in the Gospel of Mark. A study of this material shows that more than 200 verses from it are almost identical among the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; for example, passages such as Onion. 6.41.42 And Mat. 7.3.5; Onion. 10.21.22 And Mat. 11.25-27; Onion. 3.7-9 And Mat. 3, 7-10 almost exactly the same. But here's where we see the difference: the material that the authors of Matthew and Luke took from the Gospel of Mark deals almost exclusively with events in the life of Jesus, and these additional 200 verses shared by the Gospels of Matthew and Luke deal with something other than that. that Jesus did, but what He said. It is quite obvious that in this part the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke drew information from the same source - from the book of sayings of Jesus.

This book no longer exists, but theologians called it KB, what does Quelle mean in German - source. This book must have been extremely important in those days because it was the first textbook on the teachings of Jesus.

THE PLACE OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW IN THE GOSPEL TRADITION

Here we come to the problem of Matthew the Apostle. Theologians agree that the first Gospel is not the fruit of Matthew's hands. A person who was a witness to the life of Christ would not need to turn to the Gospel of Mark as a source of information about the life of Jesus, as the author of the Gospel of Matthew does. But one of the first church historians named Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, left us the following extremely important news: “Matthew collected the sayings of Jesus in the Hebrew language.”

Thus, we can consider that it was Matthew who wrote the book from which all people should draw as a source who want to know what Jesus taught. It was because so much of this source book was included in the first Gospel that it was given the name Matthew. We should be eternally grateful to Matthew when we remember that we owe to him the Sermon on the Mount and almost everything we know about the teaching of Jesus. In other words, it is to the author of the Gospel of Mark that we owe our knowledge of life events Jesus, and Matthew - knowledge of the essence teachings Jesus.

MATTHEW THE TANKER

We know very little about Matthew himself. IN Mat. 9.9 we read about his calling. We know that he was a publican - a tax collector - and therefore everyone should have hated him terribly, because the Jews hated their fellow tribesmen who served the victors. Matthew must have been a traitor in their eyes.

But Matthew had one gift. Most of Jesus' disciples were fishermen and did not have the talent to put words on paper, but Matthew was supposed to be an expert in this matter. When Jesus called Matthew, who was sitting at the toll booth, he stood up and, leaving everything but his pen, followed Him. Matthew nobly used his literary talent and became the first person to describe the teachings of Jesus.

GOSPEL OF THE JEWS

Let us now look at the main features of the Gospel of Matthew, so that when reading it we will pay attention to this.

First, and above all, the Gospel of Matthew - this is the gospel written for the Jews. It was written by a Jew to convert the Jews.

One of the main purposes of Matthew's Gospel was to show that in Jesus all the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled and therefore He must be the Messiah. One phrase, a recurring theme, runs throughout the book: “It came to pass that God spoke by the prophet.” This phrase is repeated in the Gospel of Matthew no less than 16 times. The Birth of Jesus and His Name - Fulfillment of Prophecy (1, 21-23); as well as flight to Egypt (2,14.15); massacre of the innocents (2,16-18); Joseph's settlement in Nazareth and the raising of Jesus there (2,23); the very fact that Jesus spoke in parables (13,34.35); triumphal entry into Jerusalem (21,3-5); betrayal for thirty pieces of silver (27,9); and casting lots for Jesus' clothes as He hung on the Cross (27,35). The author of the Gospel of Matthew made it his main goal to show that the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, that every detail of Jesus' life was foretold by the prophets, and thereby convince the Jews and force them to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

The interest of the author of the Gospel of Matthew is directed primarily to the Jews. Their appeal is closest and dearest to his heart. To the Canaanite woman who turned to Him for help, Jesus first answered: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (15,24). Sending the twelve apostles to proclaim the good news, Jesus told them: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter the city of Samaritans, but go especially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (10, 5.6). But one must not think that this Gospel excludes the pagans in every possible way. Many will come from the east and west and lie down with Abraham in the Kingdom of Heaven (8,11). "And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world" (24,14). And it is in the Gospel of Matthew that the order was given to the Church to set out on a campaign: “Go therefore and teach all nations.” (28,19). It is, of course, obvious that the author of Matthew's Gospel is primarily interested in the Jews, but he foresees the day when all nations will be gathered together.

The Jewish origin and Jewish orientation of the Gospel of Matthew is also evident in its attitude towards the law. Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Not even the smallest part of the law will pass. There is no need to teach people to break the law. The righteousness of a Christian must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (5, 17-20). The Gospel of Matthew was written by a man who knew and loved the law, and saw that it had a place in Christian teaching. In addition, we should note the obvious paradox in the attitude of the author of the Gospel of Matthew to the scribes and Pharisees. He recognizes their special powers: “The scribes and Pharisees sat in the seat of Moses; therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do.” (23,2.3). But in no other Gospel are they condemned as strictly and consistently as in Matthew.

Already at the very beginning we see the merciless exposure of the Sadducees and Pharisees by John the Baptist, who called them "born of vipers" (3, 7-12). They complain that Jesus eats and drinks with publicans and sinners (9,11); they declared that Jesus casts out demons not by the power of God, but by the power of the prince of demons (12,24). They are plotting to destroy Him (12,14); Jesus warns the disciples to beware not of the leaven of bread, but of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16,12); they are like plants that will be uprooted (15,13); they cannot discern the signs of the times (16,3); they are killers of prophets (21,41). There is no other chapter in the entire New Testament like Mat. 23, in which it is not what the scribes and Pharisees teach that is condemned, but their behavior and way of life. The author condemns them for the fact that they do not at all correspond to the teaching they preach, and do not at all achieve the ideal established by them and for them.

The author of Matthew's Gospel is also very interested in the Church. From all the Synoptic Gospels the word Church found only in the Gospel of Matthew. Only the Gospel of Matthew includes a passage about the Church after Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13-23; cf. Mark 8:27-33; Luke 9:18-22). Only Matthew says that disputes should be resolved by the Church (18,17). By the time the Gospel of Matthew was written, the Church had become a large organization and truly a major factor in the lives of Christians.

The Gospel of Matthew especially reflects an interest in the apocalyptic; in other words, to what Jesus spoke about His Second Coming, the end of the world and the Day of Judgment. IN Mat. 24 provides a much more complete account of Jesus' apocalyptic reasoning than any other Gospel. Only in the Gospel of Matthew is there a parable of the talents. (25,14-30); about wise and foolish virgins (25, 1-13); about sheep and goats (25,31-46). Matthew had a special interest in the end times and the Day of Judgment.

But this is not the most important feature of the Gospel of Matthew. This is an eminently meaningful gospel.

We have already seen that it was the Apostle Matthew who gathered the first meeting and compiled an anthology of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew was a great systematizer. He collected in one place everything he knew about the teaching of Jesus on this or that issue, and therefore we find in the Gospel of Matthew five large complexes in which the teaching of Christ is collected and systematized. All these five complexes are associated with the Kingdom of God. Here they are:

a) Sermon on the Mount or Law of the Kingdom (5-7)

b) Duty of Kingdom Leaders (10)

c) Parables about the Kingdom (13)

d) Greatness and Forgiveness in the Kingdom (18)

e) The Coming of the King (24,25)

But Matthew not only collected and systematized. We must remember that he wrote in an era before printing, when books were few and far between because they had to be copied by hand. At such a time, comparatively few people had books, and so if they wanted to know and use the story of Jesus, they had to memorize it.

Therefore, Matthew always arranges the material in such a way that it is easy for the reader to remember it. He arranges the material in threes and sevens: three messages of Joseph, three denials of Peter, three questions of Pontius Pilate, seven parables about the Kingdom in chapter 13, sevenfold "woe to you" to the Pharisees and scribes in Chapter 23.

A good example of this is the genealogy of Jesus, with which the Gospel opens. The purpose of a genealogy is to prove that Jesus is the son of David. There are no numbers in Hebrew, they are symbolized by letters; In addition, Hebrew does not have signs (letters) for vowel sounds. David in Hebrew it will be accordingly DVD; if these are taken as numbers rather than letters, their sum would be 14, and the genealogy of Jesus consists of three groups of names, each containing fourteen names. Matthew does his best to arrange Jesus' teachings in a way that people can understand and remember.

Every teacher should be grateful to Matthew, because what he wrote is, first of all, the Gospel for teaching people.

The Gospel of Matthew has one more feature: the dominant thought in it is the thought of Jesus the King. The author writes this Gospel to show the kingship and royal origin of Jesus.

The genealogy must prove from the very beginning that Jesus is the son of King David (1,1-17). This title Son of David is used more often in the Gospel of Matthew than in any other Gospel. (15,22; 21,9.15). The Magi came to see the King of the Jews (2,2); Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem is a deliberately dramatized declaration by Jesus of His rights as King (21,1-11). Before Pontius Pilate, Jesus consciously accepts the title of king (27,11). Even on the Cross above His head stands, albeit mockingly, the royal title (27,37). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus quotes the law and then refutes it with the royal words: “But I say to you...” (5,22. 28.34.39.44). Jesus declares: "All authority has been given to me" (28,18).

In the Gospel of Matthew we see Jesus the Man born to be King. Jesus walks through its pages as if dressed in royal purple and gold.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Chapter 18 The Gospel of Matthew is of great importance for the field of Christian ethics because it speaks of those properties that should characterize the personal relationships of Christians. We will go into more detail about these relationships as we study section by section in the chapter, but first we will look at the entire chapter. It identifies seven qualities that should characterize the personal relationships of Christians.

1. Firstly, modesty, humility (18:1-4). Only a person who is humble, like a child, can be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Personal ambition, personal prestige, fame, personal gain - these are qualities incompatible with the life of a Christian. A Christian is a man who has forgotten his self in devotion to Jesus Christ and in the service of his fellow men.

2. Secondly, responsibility (18.5-7). The worst sin is to teach others to sin, especially if those others are a weaker, younger or less experienced brother. God has reserved the most severe punishment for those who place a stumbling block in the path of others. The Christian is always aware that he is responsible for the impact his life, his deeds, his words, his example have on others.

3. What follows self-denial (18.8-10). The Christian is like an athlete who does not find any method of training too difficult if it gives him the opportunity to win a prize; he is like a student who sacrifices enjoyment, pleasure and leisure to achieve his goal. A Christian is ready to cut off from life everything that prevents him from showing perfect obedience to God.

4. Caring for each individual (18.11-14). A Christian understands that God cares about him, and that he himself must also care about each individual. A Christian never operates in terms of mass character and people; he thinks in terms of the human personality. For God there is no unimportant person and for Him no one is lost in the crowd; For a Christian, every person is important, like a child of God, who, if lost, must be found. Evangelism is Christian concern and its driving force.

5. This discipline (18.15-20). Christian kindness and Christian forgiveness do not mean that one should allow the erring person to do as he wants. Such a person must be guided and corrected and, if necessary, punished and sent back to the right path. But such punishment must always be carried out with a feeling of submissive love, and not with a feeling of smug condemnation. It must always be imposed in a desire for reconciliation and correction, and not in a desire for revenge.

6. Feeling of brotherhood (18,19.20). You could even say that Christians are people who pray together. They are people who, together, seek the will of God, who, in brotherhood and community, listen to and honor God. Individualism is completely alien to Christianity.

7. This spirit of forgiveness (18,23.35). A Christian forgives his fellow men because he himself is forgiven. He forgives others just as Christ forgave him.

BE LIKE CHILDREN (Matthew 18:1-4)

This is a very interesting and meaningful question, to which an equally meaningful answer is given. The disciples asked who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus called the child and said if they do not convert and become like this child, they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all.

The disciples asked: “Who will be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” and the very fact that they asked this question showed that they still had no idea what the Kingdom of Heaven was. Jesus said, "Unless you are converted." He warned them that they were going the wrong way, not towards the Kingdom of God, but in the completely opposite direction. In life, everything depends on what a person strives for, what goals he sets for himself. Whoever strives to fulfill his ambitious plans, to achieve personal power, to have prestige, to self-exaltation, goes in the opposite direction, because to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven means to completely forget his “I”, and to spend his life in service, and not in achieving power. As long as a person considers his life to be the most important thing in the world, he stands with his back to the Kingdom of Heaven; if he wants to reach the Kingdom of God, he must turn and face Jesus Christ.

Jesus called the child. According to legend, this child grew up to become Ignatius of Antioch, later a great servant of the Church, a major writer, and finally a martyr for Christ. Ignatius was given the name Theoforos, in the Russian Orthodox Church he is called Ignatius God-bearer. According to legend, he received this name because Jesus sat him on His lap. Maybe it was so, but it could also be that Peter asked the question, and Jesus picked up and seated Peter's little son in the middle, because we know that Peter was married (Matt. 8:14; 1 Cor. 9:5).

So, Jesus said that a child has the characteristics that distinguish him as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. A child has many wonderful characteristics: the ability to be surprised while he is not yet mortally tired of seeing the wonders of the world; the ability to forget and forgive, even when adults and parents, as often happens, treat him unfairly; innocence, and therefore, as Richard Glover so beautifully put it, a child should only learn, and not unlearn, only do, and not redo. No doubt Jesus thought about this too; but no matter how wonderful these traits were, they were not the main thing in the thoughts of Jesus. A child has three great qualities that make him a symbol of the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

1. First, and above all - modesty, which is the main idea of ​​this passage. The child does not try to push himself forward; he, on the contrary, is trying to fade behind. He does not seek to occupy a prominent position; he would rather remain in obscurity. Only when a child grows up and begins to become familiar with the world, with its fierce struggle for prizes and first places, does his instinctive modesty disappear.

2. Secondly, addiction. For a child, addiction is a completely natural state. He never thinks that he can cope with life on his own. He is perfectly willing to be completely dependent on those who love and care for him. If people would realize and acknowledge their dependence on God, new strength and new peace would come into their lives.

3. And finally confidence. The child instinctively feels his dependence and also instinctively trusts that his parents satisfy all his needs. While we are children, we cannot buy food or clothing for ourselves, nor maintain our own home, and yet we never doubt that we will be fed and clothed, and that shelter, warmth and comfort await us at home. As children, we go on a journey without money for travel and without thinking about how we will get to the final goal, but it never occurs to us to doubt that our parents will reliably take us there.

The modesty of a child is the model for the Christian's behavior towards his fellow men, and the child's sense of dependence and trust is the model for the Christian's attitude towards God, the Father of all.

CHRIST AND THE CHILD (Matthew 18:5-7.10)

There is one difficulty in interpreting this passage which must not be forgotten. As we have often seen, Matthew continually organizes Jesus' teaching into large thematic sections. At the beginning of this chapter he collected elements of Jesus' teaching on the subject children; and we must not forget that the Jews used the word child, child in a double sense. Firstly, they used it literally, to mean small child, but the teachers usually called sons or children, their students. And therefore the word child, child also has the meaning a new convert, a beginner in the faith, a person who has just begun to believe, who is not yet established and unsteady in faith, who has just entered the right path and can still be easily led away from it. In this passage, the word child very often means Small child And a beginner on the path of the Christian faith.

Jesus says that whoever receives one such child in His name receives Himself. Turnover in my name can have one of two meanings. It can mean: a) for my sake. People take care of children precisely for the sake of Christ. To instruct a child, to raise a child in the spirit in which he should go through life - this is done not only for the sake of the child, but also for the sake of Jesus Himself, b) It can mean blessing, and this means accepting the child and saying the name of Jesus over him. Whoever brings a child to Jesus and His blessing is doing a Christian work.

Phrase adopt a child can also have several meanings.

a) It may not mean so much to accept a child, but rather to accept a person with childlike modesty. Jesus may well have meant that the most important things in life are not those who make their way and climb to the top of the pyramid, pushing everyone else out of their way, but the calm, modest, simple people with child-like hearts.

b) It can mean welcoming a child, caring for him, loving him, teaching and raising him. Helping a child live well and know God better means helping Jesus Christ.

c) But this phrase can have another, absolutely beautiful meaning. It can make a difference to see Christ in a child. The fact is, teaching rambunctious, disobedient, restless children can be an exhausting job. Taking care of a child's physical needs—washing his clothes, dressing his cuts and bruises, preparing his food—may not be a glamorous task, but no one in the world provides such help to Jesus Christ as a small child's teacher and a tired, underperforming mother. Such people will see sparkle in gray everyday life if they sometimes see Jesus Himself in the child.

GREAT RESPONSIBILITY (Matt. 18.5-7.10 (continued))

But the leitmotif of this passage is the enormous responsibility of each of us.

1. It emphasizes how terrible it is to teach others to sin. It is fair to say that no one sins without any reason or invitation, and the reason or invitation often comes from a fellow man. A person will first feel the temptation to sin, someone must prompt him to do evil, someone must push him onto the forbidden path. The Jews believed that the most unforgivable sin is teaching others to sin, and therefore a person can receive forgiveness for his sins because their consequences are, in some way, limited; but if you teach another to sin, then he, in turn, can teach this to another and, thus, an endless chain of sins opens.

There is nothing more terrible in the world than depriving someone of their innocence, and if a person has even a shred of conscience left, it will always haunt him. They tell about one dying old man. He was very alarmed, and finally he was persuaded to tell the reason. “When I was playing with a boy as a child,” he said, “we once turned the sign at a road intersection so that it pointed in the opposite direction, and I watched how many people we sent in the wrong direction.” Teaching others to sin is a sin for all sins.

2. It emphasizes what terrible punishment awaits those who teach others to sin; It would be better for such a person if a millstone were hung around his neck and drowned in the sea.

Millstone - in this case Milos onikos. The Jews ground grain with a hand mill, consisting of two round stones - millstones. Grain was ground at home, and in every house one could see such a mill. The upper stone, which rotated above the lower one, was equipped with a handle, and it was usually of such a size that a woman could rotate it, because she ground the grain needed in the household. A Milos Onikos was so big that you needed a donkey to rotate it (it, in Greek - donkey, cute - millstone). The very size of the millstone shows the horror of condemnation.

Moreover, the Greek text rather says that it would be better for such a person to be drowned far out on the open sea, rather than in the depths of the sea. The Jews were afraid of the sea; for them heaven was a place where there is no sea (Rev. 21:1). The man who teaches others to sin would be better off drowned far away in the loneliest of all desert places. Moreover, the very picture of a drowning man horrified the Jew. The Romans sometimes executed by drowning, but never the Jews. In the eyes of the Jew, this was a symbol of complete destruction. When the rabbis taught that the pagans and everything pagan would be completely destroyed, they said that everything should be “thrown into the sea.” The historian Josephus ("Antiquities of the Jews" 14,15.10) has a terrible description of the Galilean rebellion, during which the Galileans drowned all of Herod's supporters in the depths of the Sea of ​​Galilee. This very idea painted in the minds of the Jews a picture of complete destruction and destruction. Jesus chose his words carefully here to show what fate awaits those who teach others to sin.

3. It contains a warning that prevents any kind of excuses and subterfuges. We live in a world full of temptations and sins; no one can avoid temptations to sin, especially when a person goes out into the world from a home in which he was protected from all evil influences. Jesus says, "It is true. This world is full of temptation; this is inevitable in a world into which sin has come, but this does not lessen the responsibility of a person who is himself a stumbling block in the way of a younger or new believer."

We know that this world tempts, and therefore it is the Christian's duty to remove stumbling blocks and never be the cause of them being put in the way of others. It is a sin to even put a person in a position or environment where he will encounter such a stumbling block. A Christian cannot simply lead a complacent and lethargic life in a society where the very conditions of life make it impossible for a young person to escape the temptation of sin.

4. Finally, this passage emphasizes the special importance of children. “Their angels in heaven,” says Jesus, “always see the face of My Father in heaven.” In the era of Jesus, the Jews had a highly developed angelology. In their minds, every nation, every natural force has its own angel: wind, thunder, lightning, rain. They even went so far as to say that every blade of grass has its own angel. And they also believed that every child has his own guardian angel.

To say that these angels see the face of God in heaven is to say that they have the right of direct access to God at any time. This picture depicts the situation at the large royal court, where only beloved courtiers, ministers and officials can get directly to the king. Children are of such great importance in the eyes of God that their guardian angels always have direct access to the very presence of God.

For us, the enormous value of a child should always be associated with the capabilities inherent in him. It all depends on how and what he was taught and taught. Perhaps the possibilities inherent in it are never realized; perhaps they will be strangled and wither away; good opportunities may be turned to evil ends, or they will be developed so that the world is flooded with a new, powerful wave of energy.

Each child contains unlimited possibilities of good and evil. Parents, teachers, the Christian Church have the greatest responsibility to see that these dynamic possibilities are realized for good. To strangle them, to leave them unrevealed, to turn them into an evil force is a sin.

SURGICAL INTERVENTION (Matt. 18.8.9)

This passage can be understood in two senses. It can be understood that he refers personally to everyone, that in order to avoid God's punishment it is better to make any sacrifice and any self-denial.

We must be clear about what this punishment entails. Here this punishment is named eternal, and the word eternal is closely related to the Jewish idea of ​​punishment. In Greek this word aionios. The Book of Enoch talks about eternal condemnation, condemnation forever, about punishment forever and about flour eternal, about the fire that burns forever. Historian Josephus calls hell eternal prison. The Book of Jubilees talks about eternal curse, in the Book of Baruch that “there will be no possibility of return, no time limit."

In all these passages the word is used aionios, but we must not forget what it means. Literally it means belonging to centuries; word aionios can truly be used only in relation to God. This word means much more than just infinity.

Punishment aionios - it is a punishment that is due to God and that only God can inflict. When we think of punishment, we can only say: “Will the judge of all the earth act unjustly?” (Gen. 18:25). Our human ideas are powerless here; everything lies in the hand of God.

But we have one key. The passage talks about fiery hell. Gehenna is the Valley of Hinnom, which began under the mountain on which Jerusalem stands. She was eternally cursed because at this place, during the era of the kings, apostate Jews sacrificed their children in fire to the pagan god Molech. King Josiah desecrated and cursed this place. This subsequently became the site of Jerusalem's landfill, a kind of large incinerator. There was always garbage burning there and there was always smoke and smoldering fire.

It was a place where everything unnecessary was dumped and destroyed. In other words, God's punishment awaits those who do not bring any benefit; who makes no contribution to life; who slows down life instead of moving it forward; who drags her down instead of lifting her up; who puts a spoke in others' wheels instead of inspiring them to do great things. The New Testament teaches that uselessness leads to death. A useless person, a person who has a bad influence on others; a person whose very existence cannot be justified by anything is threatened with God's punishment if he does not eliminate all this evil from his life.

But perhaps this passage should be understood not as referring personally to each of us, but as relating to the whole Church. Matthew had already used this saying of Jesus in a very different context in Mat. 5.30. The difference here may be that the entire passage is about children, and perhaps children in faith. Perhaps the meaning of this passage is: “If there is someone in the church who is a bad influence, who sets a bad example, those who are still young in the faith, whose life and behavior cause harm to the church, should be uprooted and thrown out ". It may well be that this is the meaning of this passage. The Church is the body of Christ; In order for this body to be healthy and bring health to others, it is necessary to remove everything that carries the seeds of a separating and poisonous infection.

One thing is absolutely clear: whether in a person or in the Church, it is necessary to remove everything that can seduce to sin, no matter how painful this removal may be, because those who allow these seeds to grow will be punished. It is possible that this passage emphasizes both the need for self-denial of every Christian and discipline in the Christian Church.

. At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said: Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Since they saw that Peter was honored by Christ (he was also honored because he received the command to give a statir for Christ and for himself), therefore they experienced something human and, consumed by envy, they approached the side, asking the Lord: “Who is greater?” .

. Jesus called a child and placed him in the midst of them

. and he said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

. So whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Seeing that the disciples are overcome by the passion of ambition, the Lord restrains them, showing them through a modest child the path of humility. For we must be children in humility of spirit, but not in childish thinking, in kindness, but not in foolishness. Speaking: "if you don't contact me", showed that they moved from humility to ambition. So, you must return there again, that is, to humility, from which you have deviated.

. and whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

. But whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble who believe in Me, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.

You, he says, not only must be humble, but if for My sake you honor other humble ones, you will receive a reward, for you will receive Me when you receive children, that is, the humble. Then, and vice versa, he says: “Whoever seduces, that is, offends, one of these little ones", that is, from those who humiliate and humble themselves, even if they were great, “It would be better for him if they hung a millstone around his neck”. He clearly indicates sensitive punishment, wanting to show that those who offend the humble in Christ and seduce them will endure much torment. But you must understand that if someone seduces a really small one, that is, a weak one, and does not lift him up in every possible way, he will be punished, for an adult is not as easily tempted as a child.

. Woe to the world because of temptations: for temptations must come; but woe to that person through whom temptation comes.

As a lover of mankind, the Lord mourns the world, because it will suffer harm from temptations. But someone will say: why do you need to mourn when you need to help and lend a hand? We will say that mourning someone is also helpful. For it can often be seen that those to whom our admonition has not brought any benefit, we benefit by mourning them, and they come to their senses. And if the Lord says that temptations must necessarily come, then how can we avoid them? They need to come, but there is no need for us to perish, since we have the opportunity to resist temptations. Under temptations mean people who hinder good, while under the world - people who are low and creeping on the earth, who are easy to keep from doing good.

. If your hand or your foot offends you, cut them off and throw them away from you: it is better for you to enter life without an arm or without a foot, than to be cast into eternal fire with two hands and two feet;

. and if your eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to be cast into fiery hell with two eyes.

Under hand, foot and eye, understand the friends whom we have among our members. So, if even such, that is, close friends, turned out to be harmful to us, then we should despise them like rotten limbs and cut them off so that they do not harm others. So from this it is clear that if there is a need for temptations to come, that is, harmful people, then there is no need for us to become corrupted. For if we do as the Lord said, and we cut off from ourselves those who harm us, even if they are friends, then we will not suffer harm.

. See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.

He commands not to humiliate those who are considered small, that is, poor in spirit, but great with God. For they, he says, are so loved by God that they have angels as their protectors so that demons do not harm them. Each of the believers, or rather, all of us humans, have angels. But the angels, small and humble in Christ, are so close to God that they constantly contemplate His face as they stand before Him. From here it is clear that although we all have angels, the angels are sinners, as if ashamed of our lack of boldness, and they themselves do not have the courage to contemplate the face of God and even to pray for us; But the angels of the humble behold the face of God, because they have boldness. “And what do I say,” says the Lord, “that such have angels? I came in order to save the lost and become close to those who are considered insignificant by many.”

. What do you think? If someone had a hundred sheep, and one of them got lost, would he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains and go looking for the lost one?

. And if he happens to find her, then truly I tell you, he rejoices over her more than over the ninety-nine who were not lost.

. Thus, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

What man had a hundred sheep? At Christ's. For every rational creation is angels, as well as people, these are a hundred sheep, whose shepherd is Christ; He is not a sheep, for He is not a creature, but the Son of God. So, He left ninety-nine of His hundred sheep in heaven, took the form of a servant, went to look for one sheep, that is, human nature, and rejoices in it more than in the firmness of the angels. Taken together, this indicates that he cares about and rejoices in the conversion of sinners more than those who have firmness in virtue.

. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone; If he listens to you, then you have gained your brother;

. But if he does not listen, take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established;

. if he does not listen to them, tell the church; and if he does not listen to the church, then let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.

Having directed a strong word against those who seduce, the Lord now corrects those who are seduced. So that you, he says, being tempted, do not fall completely because the one who seduces has punishment, I want you, when you are tempted, that is, harmed, to expose those who treat you unfairly and harm you, if he is a Christian. Look what it says: “if your brother sins against you”, that is, a Christian. If an infidel acts unjustly, give up what belongs to you; if it is a brother, expose him, for it does not say “offend”, but “reprove.” “If he listens”, that is, if he comes to his senses, for the Lord wants those who sin to be convicted first in private, so that, being convicted in front of many, they do not become more shameless. If, however, he is convicted in front of two or three witnesses, he is not ashamed, tell his fall to the leaders of the church. For if he did not listen to two or three, although the law says that with two or three witnesses every word stands, that is, remains firm, then let him finally be admonished by the church. If he does not listen to her, then let him be cast out, so that he does not pass on his evil to others. The Lord likens such brothers to publicans, for the publican was a certain despised object. The consolation for the offended is that the one who offended him is considered a publican and a pagan, a sinner and an infidel. So, is this the only punishment for the one who acts unjustly? No! Listen to what follows.

. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

If, he says, you, offended, have someone who has treated you unjustly as a publican and a pagan, then he will be such in heaven. If you resolve it, that is, forgive, then it will be forgiven in heaven. For not only what the priests allow can be allowed, but also what we, when we are treated unjustly, bind or loose, can also be bound or loosed in heaven.

. Truly I also say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven,

. for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.

Introduces us into love with these sayings. Having forbidden us to seduce each other, harm and suffer harm, now he speaks of agreement with each other. By those who agree we mean those who cooperate with each other not in evil, but in good, for look what he said: “if two of you,” that is, believers, virtuous. Both Annas and Caiaphas agreed, but in a way that was reprehensible. After all, it often happens that when we ask, we do not receive it because we do not agree with each other. He did not say: “I will,” for He does not intend and does not hesitate, but “I am,” that is, I immediately find myself there. You may think that even if the flesh and spirit come into agreement and the flesh does not lust after the spirit, then the Lord is in the middle. The three forces of the soul also agree - mind, feeling and will. But the Old and New Testaments, they both agree; and Christ appears among them, being preached by both.

. Then Peter came to Him and said: Lord! How many times should I forgive my brother who sins against me? up to seven times?

. Jesus says to him: I do not say to you, until seven, but until seventy times seven.

This is what Peter asks: if a brother sins, then comes and, repenting, asks for forgiveness, then how many times should I forgive him? He added: if he sins against me. For in the event that someone sins against God, I, a simple person, cannot forgive him, unless I am a priest of divine rank. If a brother sins against me, then I forgive him, then he will be forgiven, even if I were a private person and not a priest. Said; “up to seven times seventy times” is not meant to limit forgiveness by number—it would be strange if someone sat and counted until the number was four hundred and ninety (for seven times seventy is so great), but here it denotes an infinite number. The Lord seemed to say this: no matter how many times someone repents of sinning, forgive him. The next parable speaks about this, that we must be compassionate.

. Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants;

The idea of ​​this parable teaches us to forgive our fellow servants for their sins against us, and even more so when they fall on their faces, asking for forgiveness. Only one who has the mind of Christ can study this parable piece by piece. But we too will dare. The kingdom is the Word of God, and the kingdom is not of any small ones, but of heaven. It became like a human king, incarnate for our sake and becoming in human likeness. He takes account from his slaves, as a good judge for them. He does not punish without judgment. That would be cruelty.

. and since he did not have anything to pay with, his sovereign ordered him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and everything that he had, and to pay.

We owe ten thousand talents, as those who benefit daily, but who do not repay God anything good. Ten thousand talents are also due to those who have assumed authority over a people or over many people (for every man is a talent, according to the word: man is a great deed) and then uses his power poorly. The sale of a debtor with his wife and children signifies alienation from God, for the one who is sold belongs to another master. Isn’t the wife flesh and the spouse of the soul, and aren’t children acts of evil committed by the soul and body? So, the Lord commands that the flesh be given over to Satan for destruction, that is, it should be given over to the illnesses and torment of the demon. But children, I mean the forces of evil, must be connected. Thus, if someone’s hand steals, he withers it or binds it through some demon. So, the wife, flesh and children, the forces of evil, are given over to torture so that the spirit can be saved, for such a person can no longer act as a thief.

. Then that slave fell and, bowing to him, said: Sir! Be patient with me, and I’ll pay you everything.

. The Emperor, having mercy on that slave, released him and forgave him the debt.

Pay attention to the power of repentance and the Lord’s love for mankind. Repentance caused the slave to fall into evil. He who stands firm in evil does not receive forgiveness. God's love for mankind completely forgave the debt, although the slave did not ask for perfect forgiveness, but for a reprieve. Learn from here what gives and more than what we ask. So great is His love for mankind, so He said this apparently cruel command - to sell a slave - not out of cruelty, but in order to frighten the slave and convince him to turn to prayer and consolation.

The one who has received forgiveness goes out and crushes his fellow servant. None of those who abid in God are uncompassionate, but only those who move away from God and become alien to Him. So great is the inhumanity that he who has received forgiveness for more (ten thousand talents) not only does not forgive absolutely less (one hundred denarii), but also does not give a reprieve, although his fellow servant speaks in his own words, reminding him by which he himself was saved: “ have patience with me, and I will give you everything.”

. His comrades, seeing what had happened, were very upset and, when they came, they told their sovereign everything that had happened.

Angels appear here as haters of evil and lovers of good, for they are fellow servants of God. Not as if they were ignorant, they say this to the Lord, but so that you may learn that angels are our protectors and that they are indignant at the inhuman.

. Then his sovereign calls him and says: evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me;

. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your companion, just as I had mercy on you?

. And, angry, his sovereign handed him over to the torturers until he paid him all the debt.

The master judges the slave because of his love of humanity, in order to show that it is not he, but the cruelty of the slave and his foolishness that averts the gift. To what torturers does he betray? Perhaps to punitive forces, so that he is forever punished. For “until he pays off the entire debt” this means: let him be punished until he pays it off. But he will never give his due, that is, due and deserved punishment, and he will always be punished.

. So will My Heavenly Father do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart for his sins.

He did not say: “Your Father,” but “My Father,” for such are not worthy to have God as a father. He wants them to let go with their hearts, and not just with their lips. Think about what a great evil memory is if it turns away the gift of God. Although the gifts of God are not changeable, nevertheless they also turn away.