Many chosen ones are called. “Many are called, but few are chosen. See what “Many are called, but few are chosen” in other dictionaries

16 And he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper and invited many,
17 And when the time for supper came, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited: Go, for everything is already ready.
18 And they all began, as if by agreement, to apologize. The first one said to him: I bought land and I need to go and look at it; please forgive me.
19 Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen and am going to test them; please forgive me.
20 The third said, “I am married, and therefore I cannot come.”
21 And the servant returned and reported this to his master. Then, angry, the owner of the house said to his servant: go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.
22 And the servant said: Master! done as you ordered, and there is still room.
23 The master said to the servant, “Go out along the roads and hedges and compel people to come, so that my house may be filled.”
24 For I tell you that none of those who are called will taste my supper, for many are called, but few are chosen.

Listen to the words of St. Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, written by him in his great Apocalypse: And I heard as it were the voice of a great people, as the sound of many waters, as the voice of mighty thunder, saying: Hallelujah! for the Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory; For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright; The fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And the Angel said to me: Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me: these are the true words of God(Apoc. 19:6-9).

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. About this wedding supper, the Lord spoke his great parable about those invited to the supper, which you heard in today’s Gospel reading.<…>This supper was precisely the wedding feast of the Son of God, and God the Father Himself arranged this great supper. What do we hear next? Bulls and rams were slaughtered, everything was prepared for the wedding feast of the Son of God, whom Luke hid under the guise of a certain man. And when everything was ready, when it was time for dinner, he sent a slave to say to those invited: Go, for everything is already ready.

Some chosen ones were invited in advance, called in advance to the wedding feast.

Who were these chosen ones, whom the Lord called first to the wedding supper of His Son?

These were the leaders of the people of Israel, these were their teachers - the high priests, scribes, Pharisees, members of the Sanhedrin, the elders of the people - the Lord called them first of all to His feast.<…>And how did these chosen ones, these leaders of the people of Israel, respond? And everyone, as if by agreement, began to apologize. The first one said to him: I bought land, and I need to go and see it; please forgive me. And in Slavic it is said much better: I pray you, have me renounced, - I renounce your supper.

He bought land and therefore considered the wedding feast of Christ, the supper of the Son of God, completely uninteresting. The land he bought was dearer to him, for only on earthly things did he place all his hope, only on earthly things did he turn his heart, only on earthly goods were all his aspirations, all his thoughts directed, and therefore he did not want any supper in the Kingdom of God; uninteresting, what’s more important is the land you bought.<…>O accursed covetous! O unfortunate one, attached with all his heart only to wealth, only to earthly blessings. We know, we know that whoever once sets out on the path of covetousness never leaves it, for covetousness completely takes possession of a person’s heart, makes this heart insatiable by nothing, for the more a person acquires, the more his passion for acquisitions flares up, the more insatiable he wants he has new riches.

The third said: I got married; and that's why I can't come. The first two still apologized, but this one didn’t even apologize, he simply and rudely says: I don’t need your supper. I got married, I have the joys of marriage ahead of me, which are much dearer to me than your supper. Have me renounced. Again a man devoted with all his heart to earthly things.

And when he returned, that servant reported this to his master. Then, angry, the owner of the house said to his servant: go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. And the servant said: Master! done as you ordered, and there is still room.

Who are these blind, lame, poor and wretched whom the host of the supper gathered through the streets of the city? These are the ones about whom the Apostle Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Corinthians: God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong things; God chose the base things of the world and the base things, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.(1 Cor. 1:27-29).<…>But you know that the Lord Jesus Christ chose His holy apostles precisely from such people, from those who knew nothing of science, of human wisdom, simple fishermen. Then he elected 70 more.

They were among those who followed Him, and there were crowds of people with a completely different attitude than the leaders of Israel, who hated Christ out of envy towards Him.<…>They felt in their hearts, although sinful, but retaining sensitivity, the holiness of the Lord Jesus, they felt a huge contrast between Christ, the Most Holy of Holies, and themselves, vessels of sin and uncleanness. And this holiness of Christ attracted them to Him - all these lame people, stumbling in their sinful ways; all these blind people who saw nothing in their hearts that they should have seen, that they should have repented of. It was they - the poor, the lame, the blind, the wretched - it was they who turned their hearts to our Savior, they were gathered by the master's servant along the streets of the city. But there's still room left.

And then the master said to the servant: Go out along the roads and hedges and persuade them to come, so that my house may be filled. Whom did He order to look for along country roads, along country paths, along hedges? These are the pagans, among whom the word of the Gospel spread so quickly,<…>who shed so much blood in this process of their knowledge of Christ, the martyrs of Christ are they, the dark pagans who wandered at the crossroads. It was the Lord who called them. Do you know that the Gospel of Christ over the course of three centuries conquered the entire pagan world of that time. This is who filled the upper room prepared for the feast.

<…>Well, shall we say that the parable of Christ applies only to those ancient people, the enemies of Christ, the leaders of the people of Israel, and the wicked scribes and Pharisees?

We will not say, we will not say: the words of Christ are eternal, they have an eternal and unceasing meaning both in our days, and for us, living almost two thousand years later, they have a deep meaning. For truly, are not all the people whom He redeemed with His Divine Blood called to supper in the Kingdom of God?

How many people respond to the call?

Oh, how few of them, how few!

Oh my God! How terrible it is that Christ’s supper is being despised!

A huge, huge multitude of people do this: they don’t care about the Kingdom of Heaven, they don’t believe in an Eternal afterlife, they don’t believe in God and His Eternal Kingdom; they go their own way, rejecting the path of Christ. Well, let them go - their will, but let them look where they come. They will see, they will see, they will understand what they rejected, what they laughed at and mocked.

But not everyone in the human race is like that. Of those who rejected Christ’s supper, there are many, many who believe in God, who love Christ and would like to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But they do not go to the supper, but to Christ, who calls him to the supper, they answer: Have me denied. Why, why don't you go?! They answer embarrassedly: “How should we go, because they will laugh at us, they will mock us. Can we go against the flow, can we not live the life that everyone else lives?<…>And they don’t want to go against the current... And they float with the flow... Swim, swim, just look where you swim - you will swim in complete despair. You were afraid of the ridicule and mockery of the people of this world, but weren’t you afraid of the words of our Lord and God Jesus Christ Himself: Whoever is ashamed of Me before men, I will also be ashamed of him before My Heavenly Father.<…>It is not in our power to restrain such people, but in our power to realize the horror of renouncing the Kingdom of Heaven, from the supper of Christ.

Some chosen ones were invited in advance, called in advance to the wedding feast.

Who were these chosen ones, whom the Lord called first to the wedding supper of His Son?

<…>Well, shall we say that the parable of Christ applies only to those ancient people, the enemies of Christ, the leaders of the people of Israel, and the wicked scribes and Pharisees?

How many people respond to the call?

Oh, how few of them, how few!

Oh my God! How terrible it is that Christ’s supper is being despised!

AND the picture that is given to us in today's Gospel, so simple and tactfully describes all the states of our soul, all the reasons why we have no time for God, no interest in eternity.

The Lord has prepared a feast of faith, a feast of eternity, a feast of love, and He sends for those whom He warned long ago that there would be such a feast and to be ready for it. One answers: I bought a piece of land, I need to survey it, I need to take possession of it; after all, the earth is my homeland; I was born on earth, I live on earth, I lay my bones in the earth, how can I not make sure that at least some piece of this earth is mine? Heaven is God's, and let the earth be mine...

Don’t we act this way, don’t we also try to take root on earth so that nothing can shake us, so that we can provide ourselves with land and on earth? And we think that we are about to provide for ourselves; that the time will come when everything earthly will be done, and then there will be time to think about God.

But here we hear the second example that the Lord gives us: He sent His servants to other called ones, and they answered: we bought five pairs of oxen, we need to test them - we have a task on earth, we have work, we we cannot remain idle; It’s not enough to belong to the earth—you have to bear fruit, you have to leave a mark behind you. We have no time to feast in the Kingdom of God, it comes too early with its call to eternal life, to the contemplation of God, to the joy of mutual love - we need to finish something else on earth...

And when everything is done, when only the pitiful remnants of the human mind, body, strength, and abilities remain for God, then let Him take what remains of the earth for Himself; but now we are talking about the land - our own, our own, which bears fruit, on which we must leave an eternal mark: as if anything will remain of us in one or two decades after our death!

And the Lord sends to the third, and these answer Him: earthly love has entered our lives; I got married - should I really tear myself away from this love in order to enter the kingdom of another love?.. Yes, heavenly love is more spacious, it embraces everyone more deeply; but I don’t want this all-encompassing love, I want personal affection, I want to love one person so that no one and nothing on earth would mean as much as this person means to me. Now I have no time to enter the eternal palaces: there is love boundless, all-encompassing, eternal, of God, - and here is love on the scale of my human heart: leave me, Lord, to enjoy my earthly love, and when there is nothing else left, then take me into the palace Your love...

And we do this: we find such urgent work for ourselves on earth that there is no time for God’s work, for life with God. And we find such love for ourselves on earth that we don’t care about God’s love. “When death comes, then we will have time”: this is still the same answer to God’s love. Christ says: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest... I will give everything, I will give love: you, people of God, will meet face to face - not like on earth, seeing each other vaguely, not understanding each other, perplexed, hurting each other. You will stand in the Kingdom of God - and everything will be transparent: the understanding of the mind, the knowledge of the heart, the aspiration of the will, and love: everything will be clear as crystal... And we answer: No, Lord, this will have its time: let the earth be exhausted , on which we live... And we draw, and we live, and it ends with the fact that according to the word of God in Old Testament Having given us everything that she could give, the earth takes back everything that she herself gave and that the Lord gave: you are the earth, and to the earth you will go...

And then the purchased field turns out to be a burial field, then the work that tore us away from God, from living relationships with people, from living relationships with God, dissipates even in people’s memory; then earthly love, which seemed so great, appears to us, when we stand in eternity, as a narrow prison cell... But for the sake of all this, we said to God: No! It is not You, Lord, who we want to experience the land, labor, and earthly love to the end!..

Few are chosen, not because God strictly chooses, not because He finds few worthy of Himself, but because few find God worthy of sacrificing a piece of land, an hour of labor, a moment of affection... A lot of called - we are all called: which of us will respond? It is enough to respond to love with love in order to enter the feast of eternity, into life. Shall we not respond to God’s love with one word: Love you, God!.. Amen.

The Call of God and the Path of Salvation

Every year it seems more and more difficult for me to say something new at our meetings; We have been living one common church life for so many years, we have been sharing feelings and thoughts for so many years, we have been hearing the same Gospel readings for so many years and growing into them together, that it seems that I can only repeat what has been said so many times.

And at the same time, if we think about what fruit we have brought over the years of our lives because we heard the words of God Himself, who became Man, then we have to admit: No! Necessary say the same thing again and again about the same thing!.. And we must speak, and especially we must accept into our own hearts, that the Lord calls, prays, convinces, demands - and we remain so insensitive and deaf.

We are even accustomed to such terrible things as the story of the crucifixion of Christ: when we hear it, in the depths of our souls something tells us: Yes, but He is risen!.. - and therefore the horror of this event, the darkness of the terrible night of Good Friday, barely barely reach our consciousness, our feelings.

When I say “us,” I think about all of us and about myself first. When I first read the Gospel, I was shocked to the depths of my soul, to the very depths of my being; it seemed: now that I I know- all life must become different; It’s impossible to live like everyone else lives! And looking back at my life, I am painfully aware that although this feeling has not extinguished, life has not changed to the absolute extent that it could and should have changed.

Gospel events often seem distant, almost ghostly to us; and at the same time they are addressed to each of us at every moment. We look for consolation and encouragement in the Gospel - and we pass by the severity, inflexibility of the Gospel word, how the Lord calls us. Now we are before Christmas. What could and should be for us joy- that God So loved the world that he entered this world, became incarnate, So loved humanity that he became One of us!..

But since He became One of us, we should be so similar to Him! We should strive with all our being so that He would not be ashamed, it hurts because He is akin to us, His own... When in our family there is a person whom we revere, whom we marvel at - he is so wonderful that we would like to bow before him - how we try not to disgrace him in the face of the people around us! And not even in front of others - we try so that he himself does not feel ashamed that we are not like him, do not strive for the same thing that he strives for, and that the high ideal, beauty, meaning by which he lives are indifferent to us .

Probably each of us knows how painful it is when something deeply touches us and worries us; We’ll tell our close friend about this, and he’ll shrug his shoulders, because he’s simply not interested in it, he doesn’t care about it, and he’ll move the conversation to another topic. The theme of Christ is His love for us, God's love for us, God's love addressed to to each from U.S. This theme is why He became a man and why He All endured silently and for which He died, saying: Forgive them, Father, they don’t know what they are doing...

And in the face of this we live as if Nothing from this never didn't happen; as if there was no Incarnation, as if God’s love on the cross had not revealed itself to us. It’s as if we are telling Him: we are not interested in this; We have other concerns, our own; we are interested in our earthly life as it is, we are attached to it; don’t tell us that it can open up and embrace heaven, earth, and eternity, and that its name should be “love”... Moreover, love is not the kind that is concentrated on me or in me, but spacious, capable love cover ever wider circles of people, events, things.

And so, during the weeks leading up to the Nativity of Christ, we read the Gospel story about those invited to the feast. Let us read it in the words of the Gospel itself:

When you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed that they cannot repay you, for you will be rewarded at the resurrection of the righteous. Hearing this, one of those reclining with Him said to Him: Blessed is he who eats bread in the Kingdom of God! He said to him: one man made a large supper and invited many, and when the time for supper came, he sent his servant to say to those invited: go, for everything is already ready. And everyone, as if by agreement, began to apologize. The first one said to him: I bought land and I need to go and look at it; please forgive me. Another said: I bought five pairs of oxen and am going to test them; please forgive me. The third said: I got married and therefore cannot come.

And, returning, that servant reported this to his master. Then, angry, the owner of the house said to his servant: go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. And the servant said: Master! done as you ordered, and there is still room. The master said to the servant: go along the roads and hedges and persuade them to come, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you that none of those who are called will taste my supper, for many are called, but few are chosen.(Luke 14:13-24).

Isn't this an accurate picture of what I was talking about? We are called to God's feast. This feast should have begun on earth if man had not betrayed himself and betrayed God. When God created the world, He created it beautiful, in complete harmony with Himself and in the harmony of all creatures among themselves. And this world could have stood in its pristine beauty, could have grown from the beauty of innocence into the harmonious and already unshakable beauty of holiness - but man betrayed both himself and God. He was called to be the leader of the whole world from innocence to holiness; but he himself retreated from this path, and the whole world wavered and became the way we see it. And so at the beginning of this parable we are given three images that apply to each of us in this fallen world, which we have chosen as our homeland, while our homeland is the Kingdom of God, which could be earth and heaven at the same time, but remains only heaven until God wins the final victory over evil, over discord, over sin.

The first of those invited says to the messenger from the owner of the house: “I acquired a piece of land for myself; I need to examine it, master it; he is mine”... This is what I just talked about: we chose the land and said: I want to develop it, it is mine; I want to possess her to the end; I want her to be what I am... And we don’t notice that, trying to hold on to the earth, to make it ours, we ourselves become its slaves, we belong to it. We cannot tear ourselves away from it, we are completely immersed in it; We grow our roots into it, we no longer look up, but look only at this earth: so that it is fruitful. And in the end, we belong to this earth so much that we lie down in it with our bones, we are buried in it, our body dissolves in it; what we thought was ours now possesses us. We have no time to go to the feast of God, to the feast of faith, to the joy of meeting, to the Divine harmony of everything, because we want to conquer the earth; and as a result it consumes us.

Another says: “I bought five pairs of oxen - I need to test them! I need to check their performance! And besides, I didn’t buy them so that they would stand in a stable, they must endure labor and bear fruit”... Isn’t that how we talk – each in our own way, but all the same – about the fact that we have tasks before us! We must accomplish something, do something on earth! How can we live without leaving a trace?.. And everyone tries, to the best of their ability, to work. Some of the ancient fathers see the image of these five pairs of oxen as a symbol of our five senses.

We are given five senses - sight, hearing, smell, etc.: how can all this not be applied to earthly life? But the five senses apply only to the ground; you cannot catch the sky either by sight, or by hearing, or by smell; the sky is perceived with a different sense. Even earthly love is not covered by five senses - what can we say about Divine love, about eternity? We, as it were, put these five senses of ours into bargaining and acquire what we can - but only earthly things...

Sometimes through these feelings something more is revealed to us: earthly love. And so the third of those invited says to the servant: “I got married, I have my own joy, my heart is full to the brim - I have no time to come to the feast of your master, even my master - can’t he understand this himself? I have my own joy, how can I accommodate someone else’s joy?”

Affection, love that on the verge eternity, on this or the other side of eternity, depending on how we treat it, again becomes a barrier: it keeps me on earth, I have nowhere to escape from it. Eternity - later, once upon a time; now - I would like to fill the time with this joy, this amazement, this happiness, and it is enough that my happiness is my, I don’t need someone else’s... And the third person invited also does not go to God’s feast, because he is afraid that temporary joy will leave him, drowning in eternity, in the eternal.

So what remains? What remains is the man who lives by clinging to the earth, which will swallow him up; the whole meaning of its existence relies on doing something with this earth and on this earth - temporary, which will also pass: people’s memory passes, buildings collapse, the whole world is covered with the remains of outdated, dead, collapsed civilizations. And a person still builds a new one - which also will not stand, temporary, aimless - because there is no goal in itself, no further goal. AND Instead of opening up through love, a person often closes himself in love: ours - and others... And this is very scary. Oh, these “others” and “ours” can be distributed very differently, there can be a lot of “ours”; but it still remains one"other", the Kingdom of God not only does not exist, it denied.

I want to give you two images. The first is a story about real person, whom I remember, whose relatives I knew. A scientist, creative, gifted person died; he was buried. He had a son in a madhouse, a young man not yet twenty years old. His mother informed him of his father's death. He laughed and replied: “That’s not true! He couldn't die! Having exhausted all her explanations, his mother brought him to me so that I could explain to him that his father had actually died.

Before I said anything to him, I asked the young man: “Why do you think that your father is not dead, when the witnesses of his death tell you that he died, the people who saw his dead body, who took part in his funeral, who saw how was his coffin lowered into the ground and covered with earth? Why do you deny his death? “Because,” he answered, “he never lived and, therefore, could not die...” And he explained to me that his father existed only by attachment to his car, to his television, to his collection of precious stones, to his books. As long as these things exist, said this boy, my father is as alive or as dead as he was before...

Only a young man who had lost the habit of thinking, as we would say, “reasonably,” that is, in an earthly way, could express himself this way; but he saw things as they were. This man, his father, did not live: he reflected the surrounding reality, was ignited by some kind of interest, moved from experience to experience; but experience is not life; it is an instant event that goes away like a candle goes out...

How similar we are all to this! He is rooted in the earth; his only interests were earthly, but he was dehumanized, there was no man left in him, because he was completely absorbed in objects. And now each of us faces the same question: do I exist? Is there someone in me - or is there emptiness in me? or I, according to St. Theophan the Recluse about a person who is focused on himself - like wood shavings curled around his own emptiness? Whether there is a Is there anything in me that can go into eternity? Of course, neither the land that the first called one bought, nor the oxen that the second one bought, nor the work that the oxen did on this land will go into eternity. What will remain?..

And if we talk about love, then, again, what will remain if it is all reduced to the standards of earthly life, if there is nothing behind them, if it is as small, insignificant as our earth in this endlessly opening space, in which we live: a speck of dust - and in this speck of dust is a person with his feelings, thoughts. Yes, a person is more than a speck of dust, but only if he does not relate himself to this speck of dust, if he finds in himself a magnitude, a depth that only God can fill, a depth that can contain the entire universe and still remain empty, because that there is infinity in it and it can only be the place of indwelling of God Himself...

Love should open us up like this; if it does not achieve this, then it becomes small, like a speck of dust. Of course, we don’t know how to cover everyone, we don’t know how to cover everything; But we must open up more and more, and not close, close, narrow. We cannot and do not know how to love everyone; But Do we know how to love those we love? Is our love for those we love a blessing, freedom, fullness of life for them, or a prison in which they sit like captives in chains?.. The prophet Isaiah has a word: "set the prisoners free".

And each of us will say: “I have no slaves, I hold no one captive, I have no power over anyone,” and this is not true! How we hold each other captive as we enslave each other! Which We make life narrow for each other, and it’s scary to say how often this happens because we seem to “love” a person and know better than him what constitutes his happiness and goodness. And no matter how much he strives for his happiness, no matter how much he strives to open up, like a flower opens in the sun, we throw our shadow on him and say: “No, I know better than you, what are your paths, what is your happiness...”. How often do you hear - maybe not in these words, but in essence: “God, if this person stopped loving me, how free I would be! I could live, the chains would fall off me, life would begin..."

The second image is a story from a French book about how a man wanted to create an earthly paradise. A certain Cyprian, having lived for many years among the savages on the islands Pacific Ocean, passionately loved the earth, nature, life, the creative forces of this nature and learned from the local residents how to use the witchcraft of love to bring to life all the living forces of the sometimes parched earth. He returns to his homeland, buys a piece of rocky, lifeless soil and, as it were, envelops this soil with his love, calling into it and from it all the living, creative forces. And the soil, which has been dead for centuries, begins to come to life, to grow herbs, trees, flowers, it becomes, as it were, an earthly paradise. And in this insight, in this light of love, animals begin to gather, because there love conquers their enmity, their mutual malice, their habits, instincts; they live as if in paradise. Only one animal remains outside this paradise - the fox. She doesn't want to join others, she stays outside.

Cyprian at first thinks about her with compassion: poor beast, he doesn’t understand where his happiness is! - and in every possible way calls on this fox: Come! This is paradise!.. But the fox doesn’t come. Then he starts to get annoyed with her; love for her begins to fade, and gradually indignation and hatred are born in him, for this fox is a witness that his paradise is not a paradise for everyone, not everyone wants to live in this paradise. And he decides to kill the fox, because when she's gone, All animals, all plants will be united in the paradise that he artificially created with his love. And he kills the fox... He returns to his plot - all the grass has dried up, all the flowers have died out, all the animals have fled...

And so This we must remember: we are called to create the world and embrace it wider and wider with love, but not the kind that makes us slaves to an artificial paradise, but a love that can stretch further and further, leaving freedom to those who do not want to enter our paradise. This relates to our churchliness; this applies to our families, to our friendships, to our social aspirations. This poses before each of us the question of how, in what way, he is connected with those who surround him and with life. Again, we cannot embrace everyone with love, but those few whom we love, we must love with a different love than the love of an artificial paradise of enslaved beings.

“Many are called, but few are chosen.” 14th Sunday after Pentecost

“Many are called, but few are chosen.” These words end the parable of the Lord Jesus Christ about those called to the supper (Matthew 22:1-14). This parable talks about how God treats us and how we treat God.

God has prepared a wedding feast for all of us. There is enough room for everyone at this feast. As the Lord says, “in My Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). And the Lord calls us, one after another, but not each of us responds to God’s call. One says: “Lord, I thank You for the invitation, but I have no time, I have land; and what happens on it is more important to me now. The sky is far away, but the earth is here, here, under your feet. Maybe later, in old age, I will have time to think about heavenly things, now let me enjoy earthly joys.” But the earth and everything on it passes away, as the Holy Scripture says, but man and God remain. Having crossed the border separating life from death, a person remains alone with God. And if in earthly life he accumulated only earthly riches, and did not collect “treasures in heaven,” then before the face of God he is left with nothing. If a person’s whole life was connected only with the land, then when the land is taken away, he has nothing else left.

Another responds to God’s call: “Yes, Lord, I heard about Your wedding feast, but I have a lot of work, I don’t have time. When I finish my work, I’ll come.” And a person tries to finish things, but they don’t end, because - this is the law of this life - things never end, a person is always busy. We must consciously free ourselves to participate in the Lord’s feast, take pauses and respites in order to respond to the call of God. One modern theologian said: “Think about how many deeds have been done in the entire history of mankind, words have been spoken, but no one now remembers either these deeds or words; only a few of human affairs, the most important, the most significant, are recorded in the book of history, everything else has disappeared without a trace from the memory of mankind. And those things that we do, although they seem very important to us, in the face of eternity are much less significant than what we can do for our soul and for God.”

It happens that a person, having heard the call of God, says: “Lord, I am happy in earthly life: I have a family, a wife, children whom I love, I have friends, I feel good with them, and I don’t need anything else. Maybe over time all this will be taken away from me, maybe I will outlive my relatives and friends, and then I will have time to think about You.” But no earthly love, no friendship can replace for a person participation in the Lord’s feast, communication with God.

“Many are called, but few are chosen.” Hearing these words of the Lord, let us think that when God calls us, we make a choice: to respond to the call or not. God calls each of us; a place is prepared for each of us in His heavenly abodes. And if we do not find ourselves at His wedding feast, then it is our fault, for it means that we did not respond to the call of God. Then what the Savior speaks about happens - those invited turned out to be unworthy, and therefore others will be invited instead of us. The Lord's Supper will one way or another be filled with those reclining and feasting, and the worthy will occupy the mansions in the house of the Heavenly Father. But will we be among them?

“Many are called, but few are chosen.” Each of us is called, but not all will be chosen. They will only be those who themselves chose to live according to the commandments of God. Ultimately, the choice between good and evil, Christ and Antichrist, God and the devil, life and death is ours. We make this choice every day, every hour and every minute. For at every specific moment of our life, in every specific situation, we are faced with a dilemma that is so clearly expressed in the Old Testament: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, that you and your descendants may live” (Deut. 30:19).

From the book Son of Man author Men Alexander

From the book Son of Man, with illustrations author Men Alexander

Chapter Eleven. MANY ARE CALLED - FEW ARE CHOSEN September - December 29 If even after Peter’s confession the apostles were not ready to receive the divine-human mystery, then what did they mean in this case in the word “Messiah”? Who was Jesus to them in their third year?

From the book of the Four Gospels author (Taushev) Averky

From the book Questions for a Priest author Shulyak Sergey

2. “Many are called, but few are chosen”: can we conclude from this that few will be saved? Question: “Many are called, but few are chosen”: can we conclude from this that few will be saved? Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers: The Savior first spoke these words in the parable of the workers in

From the book 1115 questions to a priest author section of the website OrthodoxyRu

Why did the Savior say: “Many are called, but few are chosen”? Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) So it will be last ones first, and the first last, for many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16; 22:14). Many are called, because the Lord calls everyone to become heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven and

From the book of Sermons. Volume 1. author

“Many are called, but few are chosen”: can we conclude from this that few will be saved? Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) The Savior first spoke these words in the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:16). The Lord spoke them a second time, finishing the parable of the king who held a wedding feast

From the book Thoughts on Good and Evil author Serbsky Nikolay Velimirovich

WEEK 28. PARABLE OF THOSE CALLED TO THE SUPPER. Listen to the words of St. Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, written by him in his great Apocalypse: “And I heard as it were the voice of a great people, as the sound of many waters, as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying: Hallelujah!

From the book A Guide to Studying the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. Four Gospels. author (Taushev) Averky

Little and much For those who do not have enough small good, they believe in greater good and seek it. For those who do not have enough greater good, they believe in great good and seek it. For those who do not have enough, they do not believe in good and do not seek good. For those who are not satisfied with lower morality, he believes in the highest and seeks it. For those who do not have enough of it, he seeks more

From book Explanatory Bible. Volume 9 author Lopukhin Alexander

The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few (Matt. 9:35-38; Mark 6:6; Luke 8:1-3). He compares the crowds of people that the Lord saw while walking around the cities with a flock of sheep wandering without a shepherd - an image that is especially understandable in Palestine, a country of shepherds. The spiritual teachers of this people are not true

From the book Holy Scripture. Modern translation (CARS) author's Bible

37. Then He said to His disciples: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; (Luke 10:2). The image of exhausted and scattered sheep is replaced by the image of the “harvest” (????????), - a field in which ears of corn have grown and are ripe for reaping. Wed. In. 4:35ff., where the same word is used. The field is large and

From the book of the Bible. New Russian translation (NRT, RSJ, Biblica) author's Bible

14. For many are called, but few are chosen. The man who came to the feast without wearing wedding clothes, so to speak, became on the same level with those numerous people who insulted and killed those sent by the king (v. 6). In comparison with their huge number, the guests received by the king represent from

From the book The Human Face of God. Sermons author Alfeev Hilarion

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few 35 Jesus walked through all the cities and villages, taught in houses of worship, proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom and healed people from all diseases and infirmities. 36 When He saw the crowds of people, He had compassion on them, because these people were exhausted and helpless, like

From the book Son of Man author Men Alexander

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few 35 Jesus went to all the cities and villages, taught in the synagogues, preached the Good News of the Kingdom and healed people of all diseases and illnesses. 36 Seeing the crowds of people, He had compassion on them, because these people were tormented and helpless, like sheep

From the book Gospel Gold. Gospel Conversations author (Voino-Yasenetsky) Archbishop Luke

About those invited to the wedding feast. Week 14 after Pentecost We have just heard the parable of the Lord about those called to the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14), a parable about how God calls people to His supper, but people for one reason or another refuse to respond to the call God. Like other parables

From the author's book

Chapter Eleven. MANY ARE CALLED - FEW ARE CHOSEN September - December 29 If even after Peter’s confession the apostles were not ready to perceive the divine-human mystery, then what did they mean in this case in the word “Messiah”? Who was Jesus to them in their third year?

From the author's book

Week 28. Parable of those invited to supper Listen to the words of St. Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, written by him in his great Apocalypse: “And I heard as it were the voice of a large people, as it were the sound of many waters, as it were the voice of mighty thunderstorms, saying: Hallelujah! for

"Interpretation of Old Testament history"

After the public disgrace of the envoys of the Sanhedrin, the Lord continued His conversations with the people, who now especially needed the instruction of the Divine Teacher, since they did not know what to do. A kind heart would like to surrender selflessly to Jesus Christ and was drawn to Him by everything: His miracles, His Divine teaching, and His holy life. But everyday reason and the old habit of looking at the Pharisees and scribes as legitimate teachers appointed by God Himself stopped him. The Pharisees constantly interpreted that the Jews were "chosen people" God (), that the coming Kingdom of God is destined for them, and not for anyone else; and the people became so accustomed to this prejudice, which also flattered their pride, that it was painful for them to hear from the Lord a terrible word for them: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who bear its fruits”(). And the more the Lord’s listeners thought about this, the more painful were these doubts, these hesitations. The heart expert saw all these emotional states of the listeners, knew that they, perhaps, were ready to exclaim, as they did recently: “How long will You keep us in bewilderment? if you are the Christ, tell us directly."(), - but he also knew what His open declaration of Himself as the Messiah would lead to, and therefore warned this question: JESUS, CONTINUING TO SPEAK TO THEM IN PARABLES, as if responding to their heartfelt yearnings, and at the same time responding to the efforts of the Pharisees to lay hands on Him, SAID: THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MAN KING, WHO MADE A WEDDING Feast FOR HIS SON, AND when everything was ready, HE SENT HIS SLAVES TO CALL THEM INVOLVED TO THE MARRIAGE Feast. The guests were invited earlier; they already knew that the king had known time there will be a wedding feast and that they will be let know when it is ready. But these invitees were indifferent to the royal invitation: AND THEY DID NOT WANT TO COME. The Tsar complacently excused the guests who had slowed down, perhaps due to some misunderstanding; without threatening, without demanding, - on the contrary, out of his kindness, wanting them not to miss the opportunity to enjoy the holiday, he only ordered the slaves to hurry up the invitees more persistently than before: SENT OTHER SLAVES AGAIN, HAVING SAID: SAY TO THE INVOLVED: HERE, I COOKED MY LUNCH, MY CALFS AND WHAT IS FATTERED, STABLED, AND EVERYTHING IS READY; COME TO THE WEDDING FEAST.

BUT The invitees reacted to the second invitation just as coldly and even casually: THEY, NEGLECTED THAT, WENT, WHO IS ON THE FIELD, AND WHO IS GOING TO TRADE?. Apparently, selfish calculations were more important to them than the honor of being among the guests at the wedding feast of the Tsarev’s son. But this is not enough: among those invited there were also those who acted even more recklessly and horribly: OTHER SAME, CATCHING HIS SLAVES, INSULTED AND KILLED THEM. There is no doubt that these daring subjects would have done the same to the king’s son, if the king’s father had sent him to invite them to the feast. In any case, by offending the royal envoys, the subjects inflicted the greatest insult on the king himself. Both the high rank of the king and the important reason for the celebration increased the severity of the guilt of the offenders. HEARING ABOUT THIS, about such insane audacity of those whom he wanted to treat with a feast, TSAR, so complacent, ANGRY, flared up with righteous anger, and immediately decided to punish those responsible for his offense: AND, SENDING HIS TROOPS, HE KILLED THEM MURDERERS AND BURNED THEIR CITY, consigned to flames, destroyed from the face of the earth. Meanwhile, the time for the feast has arrived. The king did not want his joy to remain unshared with his subjects. THEN HE SAYS TO HIS Servants: THE MARRIAGE Feast IS READY, AND THE CALLED WERE NOT WORTHY. These arrogant people whom I did the honor of inviting to my feast are not worthy of my mercy. But I will find some guests. SO GO TO THE CROSSROADS where there are a lot of people passing by, AND EVERYONE YOU FIND no matter who you meet there, everyone CALL TO THE WEDDING Feast, without distinction of titles and status. The slaves fulfilled the command. AND THEY ARE SLAVES, GOING ON THE ROAD, WE GATHERED EVERYONE, WHO WE JUST FOUND, AND EVIL, AND KIND; They did not dare to distinguish: who was worthy and who was not worthy of the royal feast - they invited everyone who wanted to go, let the king himself decide: who should be seated at the royal meal and who should be removed from the feast. AND THE WEDDING FEAST WAS FILLED WITH SEATS- the banquet table was occupied by guests, the feast began. Then the king went out to the feasters to please them with his presence: TSAR, ENTER SEE THE PEOPLE, SAW A MAN THERE, NOT DRESSED IN WEDDING GARMENTS: he was dressed indecently, so that he dishonored the very celebration, insulted the king and his guests. And this after the royal servants, according to Eastern custom, before entering the banquet chamber, offered each guest clothes from the royal bounty! Why is this strange guest sitting in his dirty clothes, which he wore at the crossroads? Maybe this is an oversight of my servants who did not offer him clothes, the king thinks. And he approaches the guest.

AND friendly, without disturbing the general fun, SAYS TO HIM: FRIEND! HOW DID YOU COME IN HERE NOT IN YOUR WEDDING CLOTHES? The guest could not say that he was accidentally invited to the feast right from the crossroads, that he was not given time to go home to change clothes, that, due to poverty, he did not have the best clothes at all - apparently, the Tsar’s servants also offered him wedding clothes, but he himself did not want to put it on, neglected this royal gift and, therefore, deliberately appeared at the celebration in an unkempt state, came to the king, to the wedding of the king’s son! What could he say in his defense? HE WAS SILENT. The depravity of the heart was reflected in this silence. He remained stubbornly silent, although by this silence he was already pronouncing a sentence on himself. And this sentence did not slow down: THEN THE KING SAID TO THE SERVANTS, to the stewards of the wedding feast: TIING HIS HANDS AND LEGS,TAKE, delete HIS from here AND THROW INTO OUTER DARKNESS, into the deepest and darkest dungeon; THERE, in this pitch darkness, THERE WILL BE CRYING AND GRINDING OF TEETH, the inconsolable cry of late, fruitless repentance, and the gnashing of anger at oneself, the gnashing of disastrous despair. The Lord concluded this parable with the same saying with which he ended the parable of the evil winegrowers: FOR MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE THE CHOSEN. Among these called, but not chosen, are not only those who did not go to the wedding feast at all, but also many of those who came to the feast, but did not want to put on the wedding garment... After hearing this parable, the people should one cannot help but think: “So there is nothing to be surprised that the high priests do not believe Jesus: many are called, but few are chosen. There is no reason to ask: who will inherit the kingdom if the Jews do not enter it? The king will find guests. Consequently, there is no point in looking at the Pharisees, but you must listen to your conscience, go to the supper, but go in wedding clothes. This - decent attire, a pious life - is the main thing. God has no partiality; whoever keeps faith and is kind will certainly be in the Kingdom of the Messiah and receive salvation” (Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson). Reading the Divine parables of the Lord, one cannot help but be amazed at the wise gradualness with which He reveals in them the holy truths of His teaching. Thus, in the previous parable of the evil vinedressers, He revealed Himself under the image of the only begotten, beloved son of the householder, the good master; in the parable of those invited to supper, He appears as the son of a powerful king. In this parable, He only covertly indicated that the Kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jews “And it will be given to the people who bring forth the fruit thereof”; here, under the image of those called from the crossroads, he more clearly depicts the pagans who will enter His Kingdom.

In the first, as it were, an Old Testament parable, He Himself appears in the form of the last greatest Prophet, crowning; in the latter, He will already accept His Kingdom, as the King foretold long ago, and calls both Jews and pagans into this Kingdom. In that parable of the Law, He demands from people fruits, fulfillment of duty; in this parable of Grace, He Himself offers gifts to people. There He is insulted by failure to fulfill legal demands; here they insult by not accepting the gift. Thus, these two parables complement each other, so that where the first ends, the second begins. Let us pay reverent attention to the interpretation of the parable of those called to the supper according to the guidance of the teachers of the Church. God the Father, the King of the whole world, is called King here; The Bridegroom is His Only Begotten Son, the true Messiah, the Lord Jesus; wedding feast - the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ or His Church in the world. The Church of Christ is His immaculate bride. And the Old Testament prophets imagined the opening of the blessed kingdom under the image of a wedding feast. “Do you see,” says St. Chrysostom, “the great similarity and at the same time the great difference of both parables? For this parable also shows the long-suffering of God, His great care and the wickedness of the Jews. It foreshadows the falling away of the Jews and the calling of the pagans, and also what kind of execution awaits the careless. It is rightly proposed after the previous parable. Having said that the Kingdom of God “it will be given to the people who bring forth its fruits”, shows here what kind of people it will be given to. There He is depicted calling before His crucifixion, and here He is drawing them to Himself after the crucifixion; whereas they should have been punished most severely, He calls and draws them to the wedding feast and honors them with the greatest honor. Just as there he does not first call upon the Gentiles, but first upon the Jews, so it is here. How was it when the Jews did not want to accept Him and even killed the one who came to them, and He gave the vineyard to others; so here too, when they did not want to come to the wedding feast, He called others. Could there be anything worse than such ingratitude - to be called to a wedding feast and not come? Who would not want to go to a marriage, to a marriage with a king, a king preparing a marriage for his son? You ask: why is the Kingdom of Heaven called marriage? So that you know God’s care, His love for us, splendor in everything, so that you know that there is nothing sad or regrettable, but everything is filled with spiritual joy. That’s why John calls Him the Bridegroom, and that’s why Paul says: “I have betrothed you to one husband in order to present you to Christ as a pure virgin”(). Here Christ also foretells the resurrection. Before He spoke of death; now he says that after death there will be a marriage, there will be a Groom.”

"Interpretation of New Testament history"

“And those slaves, going out onto the roads, gathered everyone they found, both evil and good.” This is exactly what the apostles did. So Philip came to the city of Samara and preached Christ to them. Peter baptized Cornelius and his household, and Paul proclaimed before the Athenians that he now commanded people everywhere to repent. It is said that they gathered both the evil and the good. Nathanael was good, Cornelius was good, the pagans were good, who, not having the Law, were a law unto themselves; on the other hand, those who are affected more strongly by sin, common to all, are evil than on others; the disease that affected all mankind was more concentrated in some members than in others.

The Kingdom of God is a net that captures both the best and the worst, those who previously strived for a righteous life according to the Law and those who completely died in sins and iniquities, but, having heard the preaching of the Gospel, repented and turned to Christ. “And the wedding feast was filled with those reclining”. Until now, Christ’s parable has explained to us why and how God punished the people of Judah and its elders and teachers, who clearly rejected the gospel of salvation; explained how the pagans would enter the Kingdom of God. Now the Lord reveals and warns us that of all who will enter His, not all will be worthy of His Kingdom. “The king came in to see those reclining”, The Lord, as the One Knower of the Heart, will Himself judge who is worthy and who is not worthy of His Kingdom. This is what it says about him: “His shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor.”(). All guests called to the royal feast were given decent clothing: everyone who enters Christ in the Sacrament of Baptism is clothed in the robe of truth, in the bright clothing of spiritual purity, becomes new people by grace and must preserve this purity of the soul, without desecrating it with new sins. The wedding garment is a pure and immaculate life, like a garment woven from virtue. "Put on therefore", - says the Apostle Paul (), - “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, for mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering”. “Under clothing,” says St. Chrysostom, “we understand the deeds of life. Although calling and cleansing are a work of grace, the fact that those who are called and clothed in clean clothing constantly keep it that way depends on the diligence of those called. Calling is not by merit, but by grace; Therefore, one must correspond to grace with obedience and, having received honor, not show such wickedness. Therefore, great punishment awaits the careless. For you, by turning aside to a depraved life, also offend God, just as they offended Him by not coming to Him. For to enter in unclean clothes means: having an unclean life, you will lose grace. That is why it is said: “he was silent.” Don’t you see how, with all the clarity of the matter, the Lord does not punish first, as then, when the sinner condemned himself! Having no way to defend himself, he condemned himself and subjected him to extreme punishment.” Why did the Lord say in the parable: "made a wedding feast", and not wedding feasts? “Because,” the Venerable Simeon the New Theologian responds to this, “this marriage happens with every faithful son of the day,” every believing soul can not only become a participant in the Kingdom of God, but also the bride of Christ. And the Lord gives us all the means so that we can live by faith.

In the Sacraments of His Church we find both purification and renewal of the spirit, so there is no excuse for us if we do not put on righteousness, as in the clothing that the Heavenly King is always ready to give us, if only we strive with all our hearts to fulfill His holy will and cry out to To him: “I see Your palace, my Savior, adorned, and I have no clothes, but there is a stench below: enlighten the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me!”(Lunar of Holy Monday). The unworthy guest was silent... The tongue of the sinner will be numb when he appears at the Judgment of God. He will not dare to justify himself when his eyes are opened and he sees all the evil that defiles his soul. Convicted by God, convicted by conscience, he will wait in silent trepidation for the pronouncement of the verdict of God's Judgment. And this Judgment will not delay. He cannot escape it. The King will say: "Binding his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness". And then for the exile of the Kingdom of God, for the unrepentant sinner, "the night comes when no one"(Human) "can't do"(), the time will come when repentance and correction will no longer be possible, for he himself did not want to live in the light, did not strive for the light of life and became the son of darkness and eternal destruction. Death will bind all the active forces of his soul. “Hearing about darkness,” says Saint Chrysostom, “do not think that he was punished only by being sent to a dark place; no, there will still be crying and gnashing of teeth, which shows unbearable torment. Pay attention to this, all of you who, having taken part in the Sacraments and being called to marriage, clothe your soul with unclean deeds! Listen to where you are called from! From the crossroads. What were you? Lame and blind in soul, which is much worse than bodily blindness. Honor the philanthropy of the One who Called; Let no one come in unclean clothes, but let everyone take care of the clothing of his soul. Listen wives, listen husbands! What you need is not this gold-woven robe that adorns your body, but clothing that adorns your soul. But it is difficult for us to put on these clothes as long as we wear the first. You can’t decorate both the soul and the body together - you can’t! It is impossible to work together as mammon and serve Christ as we should. So, let's leave this bad habit that dominates us. You, of course, would not be generous if someone decorated the house with golden curtains, and forced you to sit in rags, almost naked. But now you are doing this yourself, decorating the dwelling of your soul, i.e. body, in countless clothes, but you leave your soul in rags. Don’t you understand that your soul, called to this solemn palace, will have to be brought in dressed and adorned with golden robes? Do you want me to show you those dressed in this way, dressed in wedding clothes? Remember the saints, dressed in hair shirts, living in the deserts.

They especially wear wedding clothes. You will see that they will not agree to take the porphyry if you give it to them; but just as a king, if someone ordered him to put on the poor man’s thin clothes, would reject them with contempt, so they will also reject his scarlet robe. And they do this for no other reason than because they know the beauty of their clothes. That is why they despise a magnificent robe, like a cobweb. If you could open the doors of their hearts and see their soul and all the beauty within, you would fall to the ground, you would not be able to bear the radiance of beauty, the lightness of those clothes and the shine of their conscience. So, if we compare ourselves to them, how much better are we than the ants? Nothing. For just as ants care about things, so do we. And let us only take care of this, otherwise we will worry about much worse things, because we care not only about what is necessary, like ants, but also about what is superfluous. Ants work and their work is blameless, but we always work out of covetousness.” “I,” says Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, “always shudder when I remember the words: "Friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes?” We should especially bring these menacing words to mind when we are preparing to begin the Lord’s Supper—the communion of the Most Pure and Divine Mysteries of Christ. No royal supper can compare with this heavenly Supper of the Heavenly King. With what fear and trembling, with what purity of heart and soul should we approach it! “No one is worthy from those bound by carnal lusts and pleasures to come, or draw near, or serve You, the King of glory...”. (Prayer of the priest during the Cherubic song). But the gracious King of glory Himself offers clothing to everyone who wants to begin His spiritual meal: this clothing is the grace of repentance. Before you begin the Lord’s Table, come to the servant of Christ, cleanse yourself with repentance and put on the robe of righteousness, and even if you are unworthy, the Lord, in His mercy, will merit you for your humility to taste His Immortal Table. : “many are called, but few are chosen”. There are many people who call themselves Christians, but how many of them will really enter the Kingdom of Heaven, at the Great Supper of Christ? How many are there who remain in the same clothes in which the call of saving grace found them at the crossroads of the world - without changing their hearts, without correcting their lives... “Live in such a way,” teaches Bishop Theophan, “so that love will love you with an eternal love . Go out into your trade, but be careful not to sell your soul to the world through the acquisition of worldly goods. Go out into your fields, fertilize your land and sow seeds on it, so that with their fruits you can strengthen your body, but especially sow seeds of virtue in the field of your soul, so that you will reap from them the fruits of eternal life.

Keep the clean, unspotted clothes received in Holy Baptism until the end of your life, so that you will be a worthy participant in the heavenly bridal chamber, which includes only those who have clean clothes and lamps burning in their hands...”