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Orthodox Visual Catechism #47
Works & Words of Jesus, Part 5
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The Healing of the Ten Lepers
Luke 17:11-19
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What is God’s will for you?
How can you know?
What does the text say?
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Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”��When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
Luke 17:11-14, NIV
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One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.��Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:15-19, NIV
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What does this mean?
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What kind of people does Jesus encounter in this story?
What is the significance of their condition?
Where are these people located in relation to Jesus?
Why?
What do they ask Jesus?
What does Jesus tell them to do?
When are they “cleansed”?
How many people did Jesus encounter in the story?
Exactly what did one of them do and say?
Who was this one person?
Why is that significant?
How does Jesus respond to this person?
What could Jesus mean by “Your faith has made you well?”
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What is the message for us today?
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“Parents always want their children to be happy, content, and thankful to them for all their work and sacrifice. So when they see their children in a bad mood and unthankful, they’re saddened. It’s the same with our Heavenly Father. He has given us everything, but we are unsatisfied and gloomy. Instead of thanksgiving and praising God for everything, we only express our thankfulness with our lips, and our hearts remain cold. Joy is thankfulness, and when we are joyful, that is the best expression of thanks we can offer the Lord, Who delivers us from sorrow and sin.”
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, p 97.
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What is God’s will for you? How can you know?
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:21
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17��
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Parable of the Pharisee & the Publican * Blessing the Children
Luke 18:9-17; Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16
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How can a person be close with God?
Is it possible to have a close relationship with God?
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To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’��“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14, NIV
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People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
Luke 18:15-17, NIV
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Who does Jesus direct this parable to? Who is the audience?
Who are the two people described in this parable? What are they like?
What is the focus of the person’s prayer?
Where is the second person located in the parable?
What does the second person do? What does he say?
What happens after these two people pray?
How does Jesus apply the parable to his listeners?
How is the disciples’ perspective about children different from their Lord?
How are babies and the publican similar? What is in common?
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The Pharisee “really did keep all the rules: he did it externally correctly. The tax collector, on the other hand, had broken all the rules. In fact, the tax collectors, as we all know, were kind of the paradigmatic sinners at the time of Jesus; they were Jews who betrayed their own people, who worked for the Romans, who extorted money from the people, who collected more money for taxes than they needed to collect, who gave that money to the Roman occupiers and kept the rest for themselves and basically were considered to be very sinful people.”
. . . the interpretation is that if we keep all the rules and boast about it and think that in those rules is our merit, is our religious life, is our standing before God, then we are greatly deluded and we even, if we dare to boast of these things, we are even more deluded.
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Now the Pharisee’s problem, so to speak, was he had not really had an encounter with the living God, he had never met the righteous, holy, glorious God, who is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and mercy. He really thought that by these external regulations and keeping them properly that he was justified before God, but the Lord Jesus said that he was not.��And that Publican, who really was a sinner, it seems clear, had an encounter with the living God. He knew that he was a sinner, and whenever we encounter God we know that we are sinners; whenever we encounter God we know that, however well we keep rules and regulations, that that is not the heart of the matter.��Now the Orthodox Church tradition following the Bible would be very very firm and strong and affirming that the rules have to be kept. Yes, the rules have to be kept… Now no one would justify the behavior of the tax collector; the tax collector has to repent ...
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The Pharisee is there with himself. He is there for himself. He is there because it makes him feel good about himself to be there. He walks in, knowing that he’s a good guy, a man who does all the right things, and he is confirmed in that feeling there with himself. He seems to be addressing God, but when the God-man describes him, He does not say that the Pharisee prayed to God, but that he “prayed thus with himself.” The Pharisee is alone. The Pharisee is not open to anyone else, certainly not to God. He is there with himself, for himself, by himself.
… Fundamentally, the difference between these two approaches to prayer in God’s holy temple is that the one is only there for himself while the other seeks to connect. The Pharisee does not feel that he lacks anything at all. He may even feel he’s offering some sort of contribution, and of course he should be recognized for that. But the Publican knows his sin. He knows his lack. He knows his brokenness. He knows that he can never be complete without the mercy of God.
O Lord, You condemned the Pharisee who justified himself by boasting of his works, and You justified the Publican who humbled himself and with cries of sorrow begged for mercy. For You reject proud-minded thoughts, O Lord, but do not despise a contrite heart. Therefore in abasement we fall down before You Who have suffered for our sake: Grant us forgiveness and great mercy.��+��Let us flee the proud speaking of the Pharisee and learn the humility of the Publican, and with groaning let us cry to the Saviour: Be merciful to us, for You alone are ready to forgive.
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How can a person be close with God?
Is it possible to have a close relationship with God?
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But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:��“God opposes the proud� but shows favor to the humble.”��Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James 4:6-10, NIV
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The Parables of the The Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son
Luke 15
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Why do people often feel unhappy?
Is there a path to happiness? Where?
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Read Luke 15
How does this chapter begin?
What ties all three parables together?
Who is the main character portrayed?
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What is revealed in this parable?
What is the message to us?
Why might the Church place this story before us in preparation for Lent?
The Prodigal Son Icon: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frted/8516233338
Prodigal
noun��a person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.
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Why do people often feel unhappy?
Is there a path to happiness? Where?
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People feel unhappy and they don’t know why. They feel that something is wrong, but they can’t put their finger on what. They feel uneasy in the world, confused and frustrated, alienated and estranged, and they can’t explain it. They have everything and yet they want more. And when they get it, they are still left empty and dissatisfied. They want happiness and peace, and nothing seems to bring it. They want fulfillment, and it never seems to come. Everything is fine, and yet everything is wrong. In America this is almost a national disease. It is covered over by frantic activity and endless running around. It is buried in activities and events. It is drowned out by television programs and games.
Excerpt from The Lenten Spring by Fr. Thomas Hopko, St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1983, p. 21-22.
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But when the movement stops and the dial is turned off and everything is quiet …then the dread sets in, and the meaninglessness of it all, and the boredom, and the fear. Why is this so? Because, the Church tells us, we are really not at home. We are in exile. We are alienated and estranged from our true country. We are not with God our Father in the land of the living. We are spiritually sick. And some of us are already dead.�
Excerpt from The Lenten Spring by Fr. Thomas Hopko, St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1983, p. 21-22.
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Our hearts are made for God, St. Augustine has said, and we will be forever restless until we rest in Him. Our lives are made for God, and we will be unfulfilled and dissatisfied and frustrated until we go to Him. All of God’s creatures, as Francis Thompson said in his poem The Hound of Heaven, are His “loyal betrayers.” They do not satisfy His children and cannot bring them peace. He alone can do that, because He alone is our home. And we are His.
The lenten season is the time for our conscious return to our true home. It is the time set aside for us to come to ourselves and to get up and go to the divine reality to which we truly belong.
Excerpt from The Lenten Spring by Fr. Thomas Hopko, St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1983, p. 21-22.
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God is seeking us far more than we are seeking Him. God does not just come out to meet us half way, He comes out far more. If we take one step towards Him, He takes a hundred towards us. So, today’s Gospel is not just a story of repentance. It is a story of the way in which our repentance is accepted. It is a story of the loving father and how He goes out in search of His child and how He loves both His children, both the one that went astray and returned and the one who remained at home….
Love without Limits: Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. The sermon was delivered on February 20, 2011 on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son at the Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Westland, Michigan.
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Let us notice in the story that the Father does not wait for the prodigal to say, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me like one of your hired servants.” The Father will not let him finish the sentence. Immediately, unhesitatingly, He restores the exile to his sonship. Nor is this all. The Father not only accepts his son back, not only restores him to his inheritance, but He accepts him back with an unbounded all-embracing joy.
Love without Limits: Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. The sermon was delivered on February 20, 2011 on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son at the Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Westland, Michigan.
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So what we see — vividly — in today’s Gospel, is not just the repentance of the prodigal, but the love of the Father: love without limits.��The meaning of today’s parable, the message written on every page of Holy Scripture, is this: God loves us.��It is said of the prodigal, ‘while he was yet far off’ — is that not true of us? We are far off from our true home, but God runs out to meet us, He puts His arms round us, He unites us to our home, He invites us into the feast.
Love without Limits: Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. The sermon was delivered on February 20, 2011 on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son at the Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Westland, Michigan.
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Preparing for the End
Matthew 24-25
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What is THE end?
What YOUR end?
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The 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew’s Gospel record a talk Jesus gave. This talk has been called “The Olivet Discourse." WHY is it called this?
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What is this talk about?
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When is the end? What are signs of the end?
Matthew 24
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No one knows the day or hour.
Prior to the end … deception, persecution, and suffering.
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“For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Matthew 24:27, NIV
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As Christ’s return will shine from the east, so Orthodox Christians whenever possible worship facing eastward in symbolic hope and anticipation of His second and glorious coming.
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 24:27
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How do we prepare for the end?
Matthew 25
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Two Parables
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
The Parable of the Talents
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The Parable of the Ten Virgins
Matthew 25:1-13
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What happens in this parable?
What does the parable illustrate?
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According to Eastern wedding customs, the groom went for his bride, who awaited him in the home of her father. Her friends, virgins, had to meet the groom with burning lanterns in late evening, and accompany him to the fiancee.
The Law of God (Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy), p. 314�
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This parable illustrates the need for being spiritually prepared while the bridegroom - Christ - is delayed in His return (v. 5). The Kingdom is often portrayed as a marriage … between Christ and His Church. The marriage will be consummated at the end of the age when the Bridegroom returns to escort His Bride - the Church - into the eternal wedding banquet.
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 25:1-13
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This parable is primarily about the virtue of charity and almsgiving, as oil and “mercy” have the same root in Greek. The wise virgins are those who practice charity and mercy in this life, while the foolish are those who squander God’s gifts on themselves.
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 25:1-13
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The fact that all the virgins slumbered and slept indicates death: in this world the virtuous will die alongside the wicked. The cry at midnight indicates the Second Coming, when the wicked will arise with the righteous for judgment.
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 25:1-13
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The inability of the righteous to share their oil is not to be interpreted as a lack of generosity. Rather, it is an illustration of (1) the impossibility of entering heaven without one’s own faith and virtue, and (2) the impossibility of changing one’s state of virtue after death (see Lk 16:26).
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 25:1-13
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St John Chrysostom teaches us the true meaning of it in his Homilies on Matthew.��The ten virgins have fallen asleep, meaning that they have passed away. They are awakened with the sudden announcement that all of us will hear one day: the Bridegroom, who is the King and the Judge of all mankind, is now coming.��There are five maidens who have much oil, but no money. There are another five who have money, but no oil.��The virgins who had money, but no oil are those who did not fully invest their “talent” that the Master gave them. St John Chrysostom teaches that the merchants who sell oil represent those in the world whom we assist with charitable action. By being generous, we purchase “oil” for the age to come.
https://www.orthodoxroad.com/the-parables-of-the-ten-virgins-and-the-talents/
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The five maidens who were lacking oil either thought that they could take their worldly goods with them or they thought, “I’ll have time to repent and do good later.” And so they procrastinated and, without warning, “fell asleep” until the sudden announcement of the bridegroom’s arrival. Realizing their works were not on par with the faith they professed, they attempted to borrow the good deeds of others. But that cannot be done. So, they scrambled to the market place and returned to find that it was too late. The Bridegroom never knew them anyway.
https://www.orthodoxroad.com/the-parables-of-the-ten-virgins-and-the-talents/
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When does the Church especially recall this parable?
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The themes of this parable and the one before it (24:45-51) are woven together in the liturgical hymns of Holy week, particularly in the troparion hymn for Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which begins, “Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching.”
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 25:1-13
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The Parable of the Talents
Matthew 25:14-30
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What happens in this parable?
What does the parable illustrate?
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This parable was part of today’s readings, and the Orthodox Church ties it together with the parable of the servants who received the talents (five, two, and one) from their Master. Bringing these parables together helps us to understand that they are teaching the same thing. The servant who received one talent hid it in the earth, which the fathers teach us means that he used his God-given abilities in earthly pursuits.��While St Chrysostom frequently focuses on generosity toward the poor, our abilities are not limited to that.��
https://www.orthodoxroad.com/the-parables-of-the-ten-virgins-and-the-talents/
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Today’s reading in the Triodion states,��…Let us serve the Master eagerly, for He gives riches to His servants. Each of us according to the measure that we have received, let us increase the talent of grace. Let one gain wisdom through good deeds; let another celebrate the Liturgy with beauty; let another share his faith by preaching to the uninstructed; let another give wealth to the poor. So shall we increase what is entrusted to us, and as faithful stewards of His grace we shall be counted worthy of the Master’s joy.
https://www.orthodoxroad.com/the-parables-of-the-ten-virgins-and-the-talents/
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The Last Judgment
Matthew 25:31-46
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When does this judgment take place?
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When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Matthew 25:31-33, NIV
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Christ uses sheep to illustrate the righteous, for they follow His voice and are gentle and productive. Goats indicate the unrighteous, for they do not follow the shepherd and they walk along cliffs, which represent sin.
Orthodox Study Bible, note on Matthew 25:32
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What does the King say to the sheep?
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Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:34-36, NIV
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How do the sheep respond?
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Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
Matthew 25:37-39, NIV
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What is the reply of the King?
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The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40, NIV
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What does the King say to the goats?
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Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
Matthew 25:41-43, NIV
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How do the goats respond?
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They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
Matthew 25:44, NIV
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What is the reply of the King?
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He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Matthew 25:45, NIV
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What is the conclusion of this prophecy?
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Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
Matthew 25:46, NIV
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What is the message to us today?
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The judgment is all about how we treat people.
The judgment is all about LOVE.
The first and greatest commandment = LOVE GOD with all …
The second greatest commandment = LOVE neighbor as being your own self.
The sheep are unaware they encountered Christ. Their love was uncalculated and free. But these words contain an important reminder about how we should view others.
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The Son of God became human.
Jesus was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, imprisoned, wounded.
This is how the Holy Fathers see this parable of the last judgment. The judgment really is: How do we relate to every single human being? Because for us, every single human being is Christ himself. Christ identified with everyone and everything, and he certainly identified, according to this parable, with the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned, and ultimately even the dead. . . .
At the end of our earthly life and at the end of the age, every single human being will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. As Chrysostom said, “No judge, no jury, no prosecuting attorney, no defense lawyer—just Christ and me.” Christ and us. And the question that will be asked: “Were you a lover? Did you love in concrete acts of righteousness?” And: “Were your acts of righteousness, your good deeds, filled with love? Were they done out of love? Because if they were done to the least, lowliest human being,” God almighty says to us in the Person of his Son, Jesus, “then they were done to me.” - Father Thomas Hopko https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/the_sunday_of_the_last_judgment �