Why, in the parable of the ten virgins, did the wise virgins not give oil to the foolish? After all, Christianity consists in love for one's neighbor? Interpretation of the parable of the ten virgins

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom; of them five were wise and five foolish; the foolish, taking their lamps, took no oil with them, but the wise took oil with their lamps in their vessels "

There is hardly any other parable in the entire Bible that could describe the state of this community with greater accuracy. As with the ten virgins, you can all be divided into two groups. Some of you, I believe, are wise, and some, alas, are unreasonable. Like the ten virgins, you all claim your faith. However, some have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and some do not yet. And the day is not far off when you will be separated from each other. The one who is truly saved will enter with Christ; the rest will be excommunicated forever. At the moment, I can give only three facts.

1. God's children are wise, the rest are foolish (v. 2).

Those of you who are God's children are truly wise. At first, this is not about worldly wisdom. We renounce such wisdom: "Look, brothers, who you are called: not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many strong, not many noble ones; but God chose the foolish of the world to put the wise to shame" (1 Cor. 1: 26,27) ; "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God" (1 Cor. 3:19); "I will praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You hid this from the wise and prudent and revealed it to babies" (Mat.11: 25); "From the lips of babies and nursing children You have made praise" (Psalm 8: 3). Among people with an unusually deep mind, there are not many saved, not many among scientists, not many among those who are inherent in worldly wisdom, which allows them to succeed in worldly affairs.

They often stand aside, and God chooses a little child who knows nothing about the world, or takes a peasant following his plow and brings him to glory. Why? So that no one boasts and says: "My wisdom has saved me." Secondly, only God's children, the only ones in the whole world, are wise.

They see things in their true light. Those of you who only call yourself Christians do not see things in their true light.

You have a wrong idea of ​​time: you do not see that time is the threshold of eternity. You do not see how short it is, that seventy years - the human century - is just an instant. You do not see how fast it flies: like a fast ship, like an eagle following prey. You do not see that it is irreversible and that every moment is priceless, that this is the time for conversion, the only time. If you understood this, you would not waste it on feigned piety. And the one who is Christ sees time in its true light.

You don't see yourself in your true light. You have never understood what it means to be naturally children of anger. You have never noticed those monstrous mountains of sin that perched above your soul. You have never seen how lusts entangle your soul. You have not seen that deep volcano of burning lust that is in your chest. Only those who are Christ's see all this in its true light.

You do not see the grace of God, you have never understood its value. You know the value of human mercy and therefore disguise yourself as professing Christianity. But you do not know the value of God's mercy, otherwise you would have come running to Christ. He who is Christ knows what God's mercy is.

God's children don't rely on knowledge.

Hypocrites always rely on their knowledge. Whatever you tell them, it will not be news to them. They answer: "I know that." Tell them about sin, about Christ, about the coming judgment - they will still think that they will be saved thanks to their knowledge. However, knowledge did not tell them that they needed to rely on Christ, pray and forsake their sins. But you children of God are not content with knowledge. You not only know and testify about Christ, but you do what He says. You turned your back on idols. Only you are wise.

God's child lives thinking about the eternal.

The hypocrite lives with the thought of the earthly. This is all for which Judas lived, if for some time he managed to pass for a true disciple, maintain a decent appearance, and if, indulging his own lusts, he could seem like a believer and a true apostle. He tried to the end to keep this mask. So Demas tried in this life to deceive Paul - to pretend to be a brother. Alas, how many of you are just as unreasonable! You live with the thought of how to preserve for some time the outward appearance of a Christian, although you know that you are living in sin and will soon be exposed before the world. Only he is really wise who lives thinking about the eternal. And when the time comes to die, you will wish you lived the same way as he did.

God's child is like God.

God alone is wise. In Him is every source of the highest wisdom. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him. To become like Him means to become truly wise. Those who come to Christ become like God. You have His Spirit within you, and you are changing in His image. You have one will with God. You agree with God's purposes in this world. His joy is your joy. And those who pretend to confess are not at all like God. They do not want to have such a resemblance and do not strive for it.

2. The wise and the foolish are alike in many ways (vv. 3, 4).

The virgins were similar in many ways. The human eye will not distinguish between them. Probably, all the maidens were dressed in white, and their faces were beautiful and pretty. Each of the ten carried a burning silver lamp, shiny and polished. Moreover, it seems that all the virgins were striving for one goal - they went out to meet the groom. And only in one thing did they differ. The foolish took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And to this day, the same difference exists between those who pretend to confess and the children of God.

A person in many ways will not see the difference between them.

You are participating in the same ordinances.

They both listen to the same pastor, sit on the same bench. Together you come to the house of God. Sing the same psalms. Your voices merge into one chorus, and no one but God will be able to distinguish the voice of a hypocrite from the voice of a wise virgin. Both those and others stand up for prayer, and they both look equally reverent. You are listening to the same sermons. Sometimes both are equally excited. You are all seized by a feeling of community, but no one can say whether it is like the morning dew, or it is the dew of the Spirit, whether it is a spiritual community or spiritual. Together you come to the table of the Lord and pass the bread and the cup from hand to hand. Oh, how sad to think that many in this congregation are but foolish virgins who will be parted forever.

Both those and others speak the same language.

God's children speak the language of Canaan. However, professors can pretend to learn to imitate him, so much so that no one will notice the difference. They talk about conviction of sin, about awakening, about enlightenment, about the search for Christ, about the acceptance of Christ, about the covenant with Christ and the finding of peace. But at the same time, their hearts are far from God, and they love pleasure more than God. Oh, how sad it is to think that many languages ​​that have often spoken about Christ, rebirth and the Holy Spirit will need a drop of water to cool it in a burning lake.

Both of them say the same prayers. The need to pray is one of the basic characteristics of God's children: "Look, he is praying." He loves to pray. But even this is imitated by those who pretend to confess, who bear the name as if they were alive, but dead. Often they will pray secretly, passionately and sensually, often they will pray in front of people with great zeal and pathos. However, they live in sin all the time and know about it. Alas, how sad that many of those whose voices were often heard in prayer will nevertheless begin to shout: "Lord, Lord, open to us," calling out to the mountains and rocks to hide from the wrath of the Lord and the Lamb!

Outwardly, both those and others behave the same.

The surest sign of God's children is their desire not to sin. They avoid old friends and old ways; they walk in the Lord. But even this can be imitated by foolish virgins. They went out to meet their Lord. For a while, they avoid old sins, rush from work to God's house, seek the company of God's children, perhaps try to save others, showing great zeal in this. What a pity that many of those who now adhere to the company of the pious will soon depart from them and associate with demons and wicked ones!

3. There is a difference: foolish virgins have no oil in their vessels.

Often the Spirit has to wrestle with pretense confessors. So it was in the days of Noah, when He fought to

so that people would leave their sins and enter the ark (Genesis 6: 3). So it was with Israel in the wilderness: "But they rebelled and grieved the Holy Spirit" (Is.63: 10). And even at the time when Stephen lived: "You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers, so do you" (Acts 7:51). On the pages of the Bible, in ministry, having mercy and sending sorrow, He fights with you as a man would fight. He fights to get you to leave your sins and run to Christ. Most of you have felt the Spirit wrestle with them one way or another, if not all possible ways... But still,

They are not taught by the Spirit.

All those who are saved are taught by the Spirit - "all are taught by God." Without this, not a single person will come to Christ, for his soul is dead. He teaches us while we are sinners - then He glorifies Christ.

The Spirit does not dwell in them.

The Spirit dwells in all believers in Christ (John 7: 37-39).

First, how seal:"In Him ... believing in Him, they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit" (Eph. 1:13). The heart is wax, the Holy Spirit is a seal, and the image of Christ is a print. He softens the heart and puts a seal. But unlike other seals, He does not disappear, but remains in place.

Second, how witness:"The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit" (Rom. 8:16). The spirit of adoption, calling in our hearts: "Abba, Father," is the Spirit-witness. When a soul becomes a member of God's family as a child of God, it becomes free.

Third, how pledge:"The pledge of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor. 1:22). A little reminder of the full reward. The Holy Spirit in the heart is a piece of heaven, the beginning of everything. Oh my friends, do not be deceived! Do not tell me that during this or that sermon you felt conviction and found freedom in prayer. But have you changed? Has your heart been renewed? Are you on your way to heaven? And is there oil in your vessels along with the lamps?

Lecture 2

"And as the groom slowed down, then they all dozed off and fell asleep"

It is impossible to find a parable that more than this would thrill and awaken. Last time I showed you that: At first, only God's children are truly wise, and those who pretend to be professing are actually unreasonable. Only God's children see things in their true light. They live with the thought of the eternal, in accordance with God's will. Secondly, wise and foolish virgins seem to be similar in many ways: they participate in the same sacraments, speak the same language, say the same prayers, outwardly behave the same. Thirdly, what is the difference between them, we will consider today - some have the Holy Spirit, others do not.

1. The groom slowed down.

During the memorable Last Supper, the Savior, talking with his disciples, said: "Soon you will not see Me, and soon you will see Me again; for I am going to the Father" (John 16:16). And again, John in Revelation 16:15 hears Him say: "Behold, I go like a thief: blessed is he who is awake and keeps his clothes, so that he does not walk naked and so that they do not see his shame." His last words, which seemed to John of the delightful beauty of heavenly music: "Behold, I am coming soon" and "She, I am coming soon." Many of the early Christians seem to have thought that he would come in their day.

Therefore, Paul warned in II Thessalonians that apostasy must first take place. And we see that in those days when Peter lived, the mockers used to say: "Where is the promise of His coming?" Since then, century after century has passed, and He never came. Now the meaning of the words becomes clear: "The groom slowed down." Surely He wants to come: "His desire is directed to me." It will be the day of joyfulness of His heart, the day of the wedding. Those who love Christ will be glad to see Him appear. And as John they will exclaim: "She, come, Lord Jesus." And yet, He hesitates. Why?

He doesn't want anyone to die."The Lord is not slow to fulfill the promise, as some consider it slowness; but he is longsuffering to us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3: 9).

That is why He is slow: He is slow to anger. Sometimes, watching the actions of frankly vicious ones are committed, my heart trembles. And then I think about what it is like for the Lord to see all this - all the evil done in the world, but He is holding back. Oh, what an example of restraint, longsuffering and compassion He shows us! Therefore He hesitates: He has compassion for the lowest, He waits a long time before coming.

To fully collect the number of His, the elect.

At this time, Christ is gathering a people among the pagans. He builds the magnificent temple of the Lord by adding stone to stone. He cannot come until this work is completed. When everything is done, He will come and lay the last stone on the roof with exclamations: "Grace, grace to you." He told Paul to stay and preach in Corinth: "For I have many people in this city." For the same reason, He tells His servants to stay and preach, because He still has a lot of people. When He comes, those who are ready will enter with Him to the wedding feast, and the doors will be closed. Undoubtedly, many are chosen, many are those whom the Father gave Him even before the foundation of the world, while nature was sleeping. He waits for them to get together. When the last of the elect are gathered, then He will come.

To test the grace of his people.

Many of the graces inherent in God's people can be developed during times of tribulation. There is a plant in the garden that the gardener tramples under his feet so that it grows better. It is the same with the many graces of God's people - they grow better in trials.

Faith in His Word. The world says, "Where is the promise of His coming? Nothing has changed." Everything visible testifies against this. Can you see the invisible world? This is precisely what is lacking: "We are not looking at the visible, but at the invisible." So this is one of the reasons why the bridegroom hesitates: to let the faith grow.

Ability to be patient with opponents. If now He came and avenged our enemies for us, then we would be deprived of the opportunity to forgive insults and endure reproaches in His Name. We must conform to His death; therefore, He is longsuffering to us.

Compassion for souls. This trait was the most remarkable in the character of Christ. She prompted Him to come down from the throne of glory, she caused Him to weep on the Mount of Olives. We ought to be like Him in this too. Right now is the time when we can become like Him in this. When Christ comes, we will greet Him with exclamations: "Righteous and true are Thy ways, King of the saints," and the enemies will be cast down at His feet. Therefore, do not be surprised that Jesus hesitates.

2. The dream of the virgins: "they all fell asleep and fell asleep."

There are several interpretations of these words. I have no doubt that the simplest interpretation is true: before the coming of Christ, all Christian churches will fall into deep slumber. The Bible says that not only hypocrites, but also true believers fall asleep. So we see the apostles sleeping on the Mount of Transfiguration, and then in Gethsemane, and Paul calls out to the Romans: "The hour has come for us to awaken from sleep."

How Christians Sleep.

Their eyes begin to close. When sinners first came to Christ, their eyes were wide open - they saw the fleetingness of time, that it was only a moment; they saw that everything in the world is vanity; they saw the excessive depravity of sin. They saw that they were completely entangled in sins, like demons, and wondered how they had not yet gone to hell. They saw Christ in all His majesty, fullness and glory. And now all this has ceased to be clear, as if it appeared to the gaze of a sleeping person. Everything external is hidden - the soul no longer sees the fleetingness of time, the vanity of the world, the abomination of sin and the glory of Christ.

The ear does not hear His knocking. Once the ear of a Christian heard His voice. Among a thousand voices, it heard the voice of Christ, strong and beautiful. Now the soul does not seem to hear: "I took off my tunic, how can I put it on again? I washed my feet, how can I get them dirty?"

The sleeping Christian dreams. The soul meets idols, useless fantasies. Having awakened for the first time, the soul asked: "Why do I need idols?" But now, when Christ and everything spiritual is hidden, the soul again draws closer to worthless idols. And this leads, firstly, to deadness in prayer. How sweet prayer is to the heart of a believer! This is a great opportunity to approach the throne, pour out your soul, put an end to separation and open yourself to God. But now prayer is absolutely empty, the heart has no desire, there is no free access to the throne. Secondly, it appears the spirit of fear. Now the feeling of guilt lies on the conscience, a person is oppressed by the thought that he has offended God, and a spirit of slavery arises. Third, the believer ceases to be afraid of sin. Once the fear of sin kept a person from committing vicious acts, so it was with Joseph: "How then can I do this great evil?" Now he knows sin firsthand.

How hypocrites sleep.

They forget all their accusations. Once they felt clear and deep conviction of sin, but now they have lost it. They began to sin openly and drowned out reproof. They extinguished the Spirit.

They stop rejoicing in what is from God. Those whose hearts are symbolized by stony ground received the Word with joy - it was a burst of joy. There is something in the Word that excites their imaginations: either eloquence, or vivid mental images. Or they, in the hope that they were converted, flatter themselves and rejoice when they hear him. But it soon disappears.

They stop praying. For a long time they prayed with great feeling. Either under the influence of reproofs, or as a result of explanations or with unjustified hope, or so that others would see, but they prayed willingly. Now they pray less often. "Everyone fell asleep and fell asleep." The reasons are different: spent time in the company, wanted to sleep, lost interest, and the result is the same - gradually the habit of praying disappears.

Is there a difference between sleeping Christians and sleeping hypocrites? Yes, and great. The godly still have oil in their vessels; the hypocrites do not. I do not at all call the pious to fall asleep, on the contrary, the hour has come to awaken from sleep. But I cannot fail to note how much the sleep of some people differs from the sleep of others. First, the godly will awaken from sleep. Sleeping is both sinful and dangerous, but not fatal. But the hypocrite is unlikely to ever wake up. Cases of hardened-hearted hypocrites are the rarest in the world. Secondly, although God dislikes the sleep of the pious, they still do not fall under His curse. And a hypocrite can sleep until he ends up in hell.

3. The Coming of the Bridegroom.

Time.

Christ will come in the middle of the night, at a time when they are not expected. Throughout the Bible, we find confirmation of this: "About that day and hour no one knows, not the angels of heaven, but only My Father"; "So watch, because you do not know the day or the hour at which the Son of Man is coming." The coming is compared with lightning: "For as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man." What can frighten with its suddenness stronger than lightning! At first there was an eerie silence, black thunderclouds cover the sky, and now - a bright flash of light from east to west. This will be His coming. “For when they say:“ Peace and security, then destruction will suddenly overtake them, just as torment in childbirth befalls one who has in her womb, and they will not escape. ”Like a thief in the middle of the night:“ The day of the Lord will come, like a thief in the night. ”This is a comparison. appropriate for two reasons.

1) The time is not known. If a thief is going to get into the house, he does not tell the time of his arrival. It approaches imperceptibly. If the owner of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have let his house be dug in. This will be the coming of the Bridegroom: "You do not know the day or the hour at which the Son of Man will come."

2) The thief comes when everyone is resting. When the whole family went on vacation, when the owner of the house locked the doors with locks and bolts, when all the candles were extinguished and the eyelids closed, then a thief comes, breaks the bolts and enters. This will be the coming of the Savior. Jesus will come when the world is slumbering.

Some of you will say: "We will certainly guess about the time of his coming." So, if the truth is simple, then it consists in the fact that you will not know either the day or the hour: "At an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come." If I approached each of you and asked: "Do you think the Son of Man will come tonight?" You would all say, "I think not." But it is at such an hour that He will come. You are ready?

A word to unbelievers.

Some of you lives dishonestly. When buying and selling, some of you may be using lightweight weights and incorrect weights, or in some other way deceive your neighbor. Oh, how awful it is for Christ to come and find you like this! No wonder it is said that people will buy and sell when He comes.

Some constantly doing deeds of darkness. Maybe you say, "The darkness will surely cover me." "I looked out the window of my house, through my bars, and I saw among the inexperienced, I noticed among the young people an unreasonable youth, crossing the square near its corner and walking along the road to her house, at dusk, in the evening of the day, in the night darkness and in the gloom ". Some of you do things like that, which are even embarrassing to talk about. You will find yourself in a terrible situation when His holy face appears.

Some of you suppresses reproof. Like Agrippa, you are almost convinced of the need to become a Christian. Like Felix, you are afraid and say: "When I find the time ...". Some stifle accusations with gaiety, worldly pleasures, saying: "A lot of time before my death, I will be in time." What will you do if there is a scream at midnight? There will be no time for prayer, Bible, or conversion. "But at midnight there was a cry."

Lecture 3

“But at midnight there was a cry:“ Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. ”Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. : "so that there is no shortage of both us and you, go better to those who sell and buy yourself" "

There is something thrilling in this cry, which was heard at midnight: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming." This day will terrify even the children of God.

First, all sudden changes scare us. For many people, even the sudden joy that fell upon them turned out to be murderous. How joyful this cry will be for us when we hear that all our temptations and worries are behind us, that sin will no longer reign in this world!

Second, the fate of our wicked friends will be dire. We all have unbelieving friends whose salvation we pray for. This cry will be a death knell for their souls. And yet, no matter what, that day will be a day of joy. In Mat. 24:32 it compares to summer. It will be summer for the soul - winter will pass. "But for you, who revere my name, the sun will rise righteousness and healing in His rays "(Mal. 4: 2)." And as at the dawn of the morning, at the rising of the sun in a cloudless sky "(2 Kings 23: 4). land "(Ps. 71: 6).

But most importantly, the cry of "The bridegroom is coming" will revive the drooping hearts of His elect. He will remind us of the time when He chose us for Himself, the time of love, when He proposed to us, and said: "Do not be with another; also I will be for you." The One who loved us and died for us, promised to return and take us to Himself: "Behold, the bridegroom is coming." Just think, dear friends, will this be a time of sorrow for you, or a time of joy? And for you, carefree sinner? Please note the following facts.

1. Opening:"Our lamps are going out."

Often, a dry wick burns with a bright flame for some time. Likewise, hypocrites often manage to pretend to be believers to the very end. This often becomes demonstrative and obvious. Many things could awaken the hypocrites.

What happens to them becomes the topic of sermons. Often, a God-directed pastor describes their situation exactly. Quite often the Word almost reaches their conscience. In such cases, we say: "This person will certainly take the Word home." But no, it somehow evaporates.

They witness the conversion of others. Often times, hypocrites see others being changed by their side as a result of salvation. They see how those convicted of sin, lying in the dust, came to Christ, were filled with joy and live a new life, conquering the world. This could open their eyes so that they could see the emptiness and falsity of their open statements about the alleged changes that have occurred to them.

Someone's death. It is unlikely that hypocrites remain indifferent, seeing the demise of other people. Death tears off all masks, because it calls the soul to appear before the Testing heart. Feigned reproofs, feigned grace, words of feigned piety will no longer help. Often, when I watched the hypocrites standing at the coffin of the deceased, I thought that they would surely convert. But this is not so, often they "burn" to the last.

They bear the name as if they were alive, and do not want to lose it. They publicly declared that they believe, and now they do not want to retreat. The pastor and the deacons liked this, pious people began to respect them, so they do not want to give up all this. Likewise, Judas was long considered a true disciple, and he managed to maintain that reputation to the very end.

They often deceive themselves. They have some inherent inner enlightenment and knowledge, which they mistake for grace. They have a form of piety, they pray in secret and in the presence of the family, and thus deceive not only others, but also themselves. But at the coming of Christ, their lamps will be extinguished. "Our lamps are going out." There is no more bright flame, no more spark. Why is that?

There is no grace within their hearts.

Their lamps were extinguished because they had no oil. For some time they burned, like a dry wick burns, often even with a bright flame, but soon the flame subsides and goes out for lack of oil. This is exactly what happens to the hypocrites. There is no source of the oil of grace within their hearts. The Spirit of God often descends on them, but does not live within. So it was with Balaam. His eyes were open, he saw the great joy of God's people and even wanted his soul to die the death of the righteous (Num.23: 10). But there was no oil in his vessel, and his lamp went out. So it was with Saul. "God gave him another heart" and "the Spirit of God came upon him" (1 Samuel 10: 9,10). But there was no oil in his lamp, and the Spirit, which makes it possible to cleave to Christ, did not abide gracefully inside - therefore, his lamp went out.

Often in the rainy season, water floods the fields where there is no spring or source. At first, there is a lot of water - whole lakes that seem large and deep, but with the arrival of summer they dry up and disappear. So it is with the hypocrites in this congregation. The Spirit has been poured out on many of you, as it did on Balaam and Saul in due time. Your eyes were open, you experienced deep convictions and wondrous discoveries, passionately strived for Christ and everything spiritual. But the work of the Spirit of God has not been done on you, otherwise you would have come and cleave to Jesus.

Alas, your lamps will be extinguished, leaving you in the gloom of darkness.

Dear friends, examine your hearts to see if they have been subjected to deep, real work of grace. Remember what is said about the man who built his house on stone: he dug, went deep and laid the foundation on the stone. Not every change is evidence of true conversion and salvation. For many, the words are true: "They turned, but not to the Most High" (Hos. 7:16). If you have not converted and believed, then you should not be content with being cultured and brought up. Culture and upbringing will not replace conversion and will not help you on that great day.

They are to appear before Christ.

It is easy to appear as a Christian in the eyes of people: "A man looks at his face, but the Lord looks at his heart." As long as the hypocrites only need to pretend to be in front of humans, it is easy for them to maintain this appearance. They can speak, read and pray as if they were God's children. But when the cry is heard, "Behold, the bridegroom is coming," they will know that they must appear before Christ, who tests the hearts. When Jesse brought his seven sons, Samuel looked at Eliab and said: "Surely, this is His anointed one before the Lord." But God answered: "... I rejected him, I do not look like a man looks; for a man looks at the face, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16: 6,7).

Oh brothers! Many of you are not afraid to appear before people, although you know that you are deprived of grace, not born again, and living in sin. Without shame or fear, you participate in the ordinances. But when Christ comes, your lamp will be extinguished, and you cannot bear the gaze of His holy eyes. Pray for your interest in Christ now, so that later, at His coming, you can appear before the Son of Man.

2. Desperate Request:"give us your oil, for our lamps are extinguished."

Then the hypocrites will see the difference between themselves and the godly. Their lamps will be extinguished, while the lamps of the truly godly will burn brightly. Now hypocrites think they are no worse than others. They believe they are no different from God's people. But on that day, they will be convinced that there is a huge chasm between them.

They will understand what a joy it is to have oil in their lamps. Now many of you do not see the need for grace. You don’t understand that if you had grace in your heart, you would be happier. You prefer to stay the way you are. But on that day you will cry, "Give us your oil." On that day, you will see that the godly are calm. They will remain unshakable while the entire universe collapses. The blood of Christ, washing their consciences, will give them inner peace. You will see joy on their faces when they hear the screams and footsteps of the approaching Bridegroom. You will hear their songs of praise with which they greet their Lord and Redeemer. Today, the godly are poor and despised, they often suffer adversity, they have to start every day with humility, and you do not want to join them. But on that day, they will become like jewels that adorn the crown, and will become like the royal children.

They will turn to the godly with a request. Nowadays, hypocrites despise the godly and would hardly make any request to them. When a truly godly person warns you or gives you advice, you are offended. But on that day, you will be in despair and feel happy to turn to anyone. On that day, you will be happy to speak to godly friends and pastors. You, who were surprised that people go to talk with the priests, you, who made fun of the truly pious and ridiculed them, say: "Give us your oil."

Today the pastor and godly friends are knocking at your doors, begging you to receive the oil of grace into your hearts. But on that day, shouting: "Give us your oil, because our lamps are extinguished," you will knock on their doors.

Oh, keep striving for grace, for on that terrible day even the hypocrites will want to have it!

3. Disappointment:"So that there is no shortage of both us and you."

It is not in their power to give grace. It is pleasing to God that the pious should serve Him as instruments, but they are not given to be sources of grace: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Cor. 3: 6). Rachel said to Jacob: "Give me children; if not, I am dying. Jacob was angry with Rachel and said: Am I God, who did not give you the fruit of the womb?" (Genesis 30: 1-2). Man does not dispose of grace. Those who received Christ "were born not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God" (John 1:13). Therefore, it is useless to seek means of obtaining saving grace for your soul. An ax does not cut without a woodcutter's hand. The jug in which water is carried is not a well. It will be useless that day to speak to God's children. Come to Jesus now.

They have nothing superfluous. And the righteous are saved with difficulty. Every child of God receives exactly the amount of grace necessary to take him to heaven. Even now, the child of God feels that he has nothing superfluous. He doesn't have much of the Holy Spirit to help him pray, grieve over sins, and love Christ. During temptation, it seems to the believer that he does not have the Holy Spirit at all. His need to receive is much greater than the ability to give. And in that solemn hour of the coming of Christ, he will understand that he has nothing superfluous.

Oh dear brothers, go and buy yourself! If you know you do not have grace, go before the cry comes to Jesus and take grace for yourself. Neither the saints nor the pastor can give it to you. All our sources are in Christ. In Him the Spirit dwells immeasurably. Lord, set their hearts to run to You!

Lecture 4

"And when they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the doors were closed. After that, the other virgins also came and said:" Lord! Lord, open to us. "But he answered them:" Truly I say to you, I do not know you. "

Matthew 25: 10-13

1. Who is ready?

Not everyone is ready. This parable shows that not everyone who calls themselves Christians is ready. It seemed that the foolish maidens were ready. They had an outfit, lamps, a wick and a flame - but they were not ready. Many of you come to the house of God, participate in the ordinances, openly declare that you have worried about your soul - but you are not ready. Not all concerned are ready to appear before the Bridegroom. The foolish maidens were also worried. Their hearts beat violently. They went to buy - their cry was loud and mournful, perhaps they shed bitter tears. But they weren't ready. Many of you are worried about buying. When you seek the Lord, your cheeks are wet with tears, but you are not ready. If you have to die tonight or Christ comes, you will not be ready. Who is ready then?

Those with a wedding outfit.

This is stated in the Book of Revelation 19: 7,8: "And His wife made herself ready. And it was given to her to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright; fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." And also in Psalm 44: 10,14: "The queen has become at your right hand in Ophir gold", "All the glory of the King's daughter is within; her clothes are sewn with gold." And in Matthew 22:11, we see that the King, first of all, was struck by the absence of a wedding garment on one person. The wedding garment symbolizes God's righteousness — the garment of Jesus thrown over the soul — imputed righteousness.

This is the first thing that is necessary in order to be ready to meet the Divine Bridegroom. Have you ever been shown your own utter abomination — that you are all unclean, evil, and vicious? Have you made a glorious discovery about how the righteousness of Christ is credited to us? Are you covered in the Blood and white robe of the Lord Jesus? Then you are ready.

But make no mistake.

This is not something that, once worn on us, then needs some kind of addition. This fine linen was presented to us once and for all. He is mistaken who thinks that first Christ is our righteousness, and then - our own holiness. Christ is our righteousness to the end. In heaven, our wedding garment will only be the blood-washed garment of Christ. It must be granted to us every day, every moment. Blessed is the soul that every day sees its own baseness and every day takes these clothes in order to cover up its nakedness.

Those with a new heart.

Can two people conduct a dialogue without mutual consent? It is impossible for two souls to be happy together if they enjoy exactly the opposite things. It resembles two oxen harnessed to one yoke and pulling in different sides... Hence follows the profound wisdom of Christ's commandment, which forbids God's children to be related to the world. What does light have to do with darkness? All this applies to the bride of Christ: she must be of one accord with Him if she is to enter with Him to the wedding feast.

Imagine that some of you with an old heart are about to enter with Christ to a wedding feast. Your heart is hostile to God, you hate the people of God, Sunday is boredom for you, and you are a slave to various lusts and pleasures. Imagine: the Lamb in the midst of the throne leads you, and God wipes the tears from your eyes. But you hate God and the Lamb. Can you be happy there? There is no one there but God's children - brothers and sisters (hypocritical psalmists, as you used to call them) - can you be happy with them? What about eternal Sunday? My brightest idea of ​​heaven is eternal Sunday with Christ. Will you be happy? May you like this? My friends, in no way will anything unclean enter there, and no one who is devoted to abomination and lies. If you are still not born again, you are not ready.

Those whose lamps are in perfect order.

While the wise virgins slept, they were not ready. True, they were wearing wedding clothes, and the lamps were filled with oil, although the light from them was dim - their eyes were closed. But when they heard the cry, they got up and put the lamps in order - now they are ready to meet the Bridegroom and enter with Him. Not all of God's children are ready. Is the apostate ready - the one who has just taken on the soul the guilt that remained unwashed; the one on whom the fault has long been, but he is in no hurry to the Source; the one who turned his back to the house of God and his face to his idol? Is the idolater ready - the one who once loved Christ, and now put an idol in his place, having fallen into the net of pernicious passion? Is that soul ready that has left its first love and has grown cold to everything that is from God? Was Solomon ready when his heart was drawn to many wives? Or Peter when he denied his Lord?

Learn, then, dear friends, to awaken the grace that is in you. Awaken your faith in Jesus, your love for Him and for the saints, to be ready. Stay awake, abide in that which is of God. Keep your eyes open for the glory to come.

2. What reward awaits those who are ready:"and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast."

Christ recognizes them as his own.

Christ will take them with Him, lead them to the Father and say: "Behold, I and the children you gave Me." These are those for whom I died, I prayed, for whom I reigned. ”At the present time, Christ does not openly declare those whom he recognizes as His people and does not distinguish between them and the hypocrites.

The world does not know them. The sun shines over both the evil and the good. Worldly people think that we are just like them. The saints don't know us. They often doubt us. Quite often the children of God undeservedly suspect each other. They, they say, have not experienced this and that, or they do not have this or that sign of God's children.

We often don't know ourselves. When we sin, and inside there is a powerful war of corruption, grace is hidden somewhere deep in the soul: "Can I consider myself a child of God?"

But on that day, Christ recognizes us as His - so all doubts will end forever. Then the world, laughing at us, will know about Christ's love for us and will regret that it did not choose its lot with us. The saints will see that we, like them, are Christ's, and will no longer regard us with suspicion. And we will stop doubting ourselves: then there will be no more death, impermanence, corruption, darkness, sin. Christ confesses our name before His Father. He will say, "Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom that is prepared for you."

The saints will be with Christ:"Come in with him."

The greatest joy for a believer in this world is to feel the presence of Christ - the invisible, intangible, inaudible, and yet real presence of the invisible Savior. This is what gives pleasure when we secretly pray, listen to sermons and participate in the sacraments - we meet with the Lord: "I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at my right hand; I will not shake."

Often times Jesus hides His face and we worry. We are looking for the One whom we love with all our souls, but He is gone. We go to seek Him, but we do not find. Missing the invisible Lord is, at best, only half-bliss. Imagine a husband and wife separated by many seas. It's nice to receive letters, other messages of love, or to meet a friend who saw him in full health. But none of this replaces his presence. Therefore, we yearn for the Lord in His absence.

But when He comes, we will be with Him. "Fullness of joy is in your presence, bliss is in your right hand for ever" (Ps.16: 11). Here we have drops and glimpses of joy. Christ cannot be happy without us. We are His Body. If even one of God's children were missing, He would be incomplete. We are His fullness. Therefore, He prays: "Father, whom You gave Me, I want them to be with Me where I am, that they may see My glory that You gave Me" (John 17:24).

We cannot be happy without Christ. Once in the golden city with pearl gates, chants, a throne, palms and angels, we still say: "Where is God the man who died for me? Where is the Angel who redeemed me from all evil? Where is Jesus? Where is His pierced side?" "We will see His face." The Lamb himself will shine on us. We will stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. From now on, we will be inseparable.

3. The fate of the hypocrites:"the doors were closed."

The door that Christ opened has been wide open for a long time, but it will finally close. When Christ comes, the door will slam. The door is now open and we have been sent to invite you in. Soon it will close, and then you will not be able to enter. This was the case during the flood. For a hundred and twenty years the doors of the ark were wide open. Noah went out and preached everywhere, inviting people to come in. The spirit fought with people. But they only laughed when they heard of the coming flood. Finally, the day has come. Noah entered, and the Lord shut behind him. The doors closed. The flood began and carried away all the people. The same will happen to many who are here. The doors are wide open now. Jesus says: "I am the Door: whoever enters by Me, he will be saved, and will come in and out, and find pasture." Christ does not say, "I was" or "I will be the door," but "I am the Door." Currently, anyone can enter. But soon Christ will come suddenly - like a thief in the night, like a net, like a torment in childbirth comprehends one that has in the womb - and you will not be able to escape. Enter by the narrow gate.

They begged: "Lord, Lord, open for us." In our time, hypocrites do not pray, and if they do, it is insincere. Their prayers are cold, lifeless and boring, but on that day they will scream without any pretense. Now many of you are ashamed to show diligence in caring for your soul - to cry, pray, go to the pastor. On that day, you will lose all shame - you will cry, weep, and run to Christ in the agony of the spirit. Christ is looking for many of you today - He "came to seek and save that which was lost." He, like a shepherd, is looking for one lost sheep. He stands at your door and knocks: "To you people, I cry out: Turn, turn! Sinner, sinner, open for Me."

That day will be the other way around. It is you who will seek the Savior and you will not find Him. You will stand at His door and knock, you raise your voice and shout: "Lord, Lord, open to me." What a spectacle this coming on that day will be! Those who do not come to the house of God - carefree gray-haired old men and women mired in sins, youths who love entertainment, children living without Christ - everything will be very serious for all of you that day. Will this not be a reproach to those who do not pray, or who pray dryly, boringly and lifelessly? You will pray the day it is too late. Why don't you anticipate this fear and start praying now?

They were disappointed. The Lord replied, "I do not know you." Christ openly acknowledges His people: "Their I know. ”He recognizes the poor despised believers. Despite the fact that the world did not know them, Christ will recognize them. On that day, He will not pass by even one of them. otherwise Christ does not recognize them. Oh, how terrible it will be for those whom Christ denies before His Father and the holy angels!

"So stay awake, for you do not know the day or the hour at which the Son of Man is coming." See that there is true grace in your hearts, that Christ is your righteousness, that your soul is alive.

13 So stay awake, for you do not know a day appointed, not an hour adventures.

Comments:

Commentary on the book

Section comment

1 Or: The kingdom of heaven can be compared with ten virgins.

2 a) Or: stupid/ reckless.

2 b) Or: smart.

9 Friend. possible per .: no matter how there is a shortage of us and you.

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 at his usual tax collection point, he saw Jesus. This meeting completely changed the whole life of Matthew: from that time he was always with Jesus. With Him he walked through the cities and villages of Palestine and was an eyewitness to most of the events that he tells about in his Gospel, written, as scholars believe, between 58 and 70 years. according to R. Kh.

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

The third edition of the "New Testament and Psalms in Modern Russian Translation" was prepared for publication by the Bible Translation Institute in Zaoksky at the suggestion of the Ukrainian Bible Society. Aware 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 in order to introduce clarifications and, where required, corrections in their previous long-term work. And although in this work it was necessary to remember the timing, maximum efforts were made to achieve the task facing the Institute: to convey to the readers the sacred text, as much as possible in translation, carefully verified, without distortion and loss.

Both in previous editions and in the present, our team of translators strove to preserve and continue the best that was achieved by the efforts of the biblical societies of the world in the translation of the Holy Scriptures. In an effort to make our translation accessible and understandable, however, we still resisted the temptation to use coarse and vulgar words and phrases - the same vocabulary that usually appears in times of social upheaval - revolutions and unrest. We tried to convey the Message of Scripture in the words generally accepted, well-established 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 that should be cherished, not only a literary monument that can be admired and admired. This book was and remains the most unique message about the solution of human problems on earth proposed by God, about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who opened the way for mankind to an endless life of peace, holiness, kindness and love. The message about this should sound for our contemporaries in words directly addressed to them, in a language that is simple and close to their perception. The translators of this edition of the New Testament and the Psalms have done their work with prayer and hope that these holy books in their translation will continue to support the spiritual life of readers of all ages, helping them to understand the inspired Word and respond to it by faith.

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

Less than two years have passed since the "New Testament in a modern Russian translation" was published at the Mozhaisk Printing Works by order of the Dialogue Educational Foundation. This edition was prepared by the Zaoksky Institute for Bible Translation. Readers who love the Word of God, readers of different confessions received it warmly and with approval. The translation was met with considerable interest by those who were just getting acquainted with the primary source of the Christian doctrine, the most famous part of the Bible, the New Testament. A few months after the publication of the "New Testament in a modern Russian translation" the entire circulation was sold, and orders for the publication continued to come. Encouraged by this, the Institute for 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 was the beginning of our preparations for the new edition.

After the first edition, along with numerous positive reviews, the Institute received valuable constructive suggestions from attentive readers, including theologians and linguists, who prompted us to make the second edition as popular as possible, naturally, not to the detriment of the accuracy of the translation. At the same time, we tried to solve such problems as: thorough revision of the translation we had made before; where necessary, stylistic improvements and easy-to-read text layout. Therefore, in the new edition, in comparison with the previous one, there are significantly fewer footnotes (footnotes that had not so much practical as theoretical significance have been removed). Former letter designation footnotes in the text are replaced with an asterisk to the word (expression) to which the note is given at the bottom of the page.

In this edition, in addition to the books of the New Testament, the Institute for Bible Translation publishes its new translation of the Psalter - the very book of the Old Testament that he loved to read and to which our Lord Jesus Christ often referred during His life on earth. Throughout the centuries, thousands and thousands of Christians, as well as the 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 enlightenment.

The Psalter is translated from the standard scientific edition of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart, 1990). A.V. Bolotnikov, I.V. Lobanov, M.V. Opiyar, O.V. Pavlova, S.A. Romashko, V.V. Sergeev.

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

FOREWORD TO THE FIRST EDITION

Any serious reader's encounter with any new translation of the Holy Scriptures gives rise to 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 new era in the life of mankind. God went down in history and established deeply personal relationships with each of us, showing with obvious clarity that He is on our side and is doing everything possible to save us from evil and destruction. All this manifested itself 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 is striking in its grandeur: He who was seen by people as a simple carpenter, who ended their days on the shameful cross, created the whole world. His life did not begin in Bethlehem. No, He is "He who was, who is, who is to come." This is hard to imagine.

Yet all kinds of people have steadily come to believe in this. They discovered that Jesus is God who lived among and for them. Soon, people of the new faith began to realize that He lives in themselves and that He has the answer to all their needs and aspirations. This meant that they were gaining a new vision of the world, themselves and their future, a new, previously unknown experience of life.

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 were direct eyewitnesses to the events, clothed the life story and teachings of Christ Jesus in a vivid, well-remembered form. The Gospels were created by them; in addition, they wrote letters (which became "messages" for us), sang songs, performed prayers and sealed 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 and in any way: all this was born more or less arbitrarily. For some fifty years, these texts have made up a whole Book, which later received the name "New Testament".

In the process of creating and reading, collecting and organizing the 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 captured, that all the documents that made up the New Testament are deeply interconnected. Boldly and decisively, the early Christians could and did call the existing code "the Word of God."

A remarkable feature of the New Testament was that its entire text is written in a simple, colloquial Greek, which spread at that time throughout the Mediterranean and became the international language. However, for the most part, "it was spoken by people who were not accustomed to it from childhood and therefore did not really feel the Greek words." In their practice, "it was a language without soil, a business, commercial, official 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? .. Hopefully 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 the folk, everyday, everyday language. " For this very reason, the early followers of Jesus, in their testimony about Him, in their sermons and in their translations of the Holy Scriptures, strove to convey the Good News about Christ in a simple, close to the people and in a language understandable to them.

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

Providence was pleased 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 as in the fact that he remained with Russian Christians during all 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 merits, is not considered quite satisfactory today due to its well-known (obvious not only to specialists) shortcomings. The natural changes that have taken place in our language over more than a century, and the long absence of religious enlightenment in our country have made these shortcomings sharply perceptible. The vocabulary and syntax of this translation have ceased to be accessible to direct, so to speak, "spontaneous" perception. The modern reader in many cases can no longer do without dictionaries in his efforts to comprehend the meaning of certain formulas for the translation that was published in 1876. This circumstance, of course, responds with a rationalistic "cooling" of the perception of the text, which, by its nature uplifting, must not only be understood, but also experienced by the whole being of a pious reader.

Of course, it is impossible to make a perfect translation of the Bible “for all time”, such a translation that would remain equally understandable to readers of an endless series of generations, as they say, by definition. And this is not only because the development of the language in which we speak is unstoppable, but also because over time, the very penetration into the spiritual treasures of the great Book becomes more and more complicated 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. In particular, he wrote: “Today, pluralism prevails 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 different dimensions and shades of the text. "

In line with this understanding of the problem, the staff of the Institute for Bible Translation, created in 1993 in Zaoksky, considered it possible to make an attempt to make a contribution to the introduction of the Russian reader to the text of the New Testament. Driven by a high sense of responsibility for the cause to which they dedicated their knowledge and efforts, the project participants completed a real translation of the New Testament into Russian from the original language, based on the widely recognized modern critical text of the original (4th revised edition of the United Bible Societies, Stuttgart , 1994). At the same time, on the one hand, the 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 staff of the Zaoksky Translation Center, naturally, could not but reckon in their work with foreign and domestic experience in translating the Bible. In accordance with the principles that guide biblical societies around the world, translation was originally intended to be free from confessional bias. Consistent with the philosophy of modern biblical societies essential requirements the translation was recognized as faithful to the original and preserving the form of the biblical message wherever possible, with the readiness to sacrifice the letter of the text for the sake of accurate transmission of the living meaning. At the same time, it was impossible, of course, not to go through those torments that are absolutely inevitable for any responsible translator of the Holy Scriptures. For the inspiration of the original obliged to treat with reverence the very form of it. At the same time, in the course of their work, the translators had to constantly be convinced 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 Zaokskoye to be as close as possible to the original coincided with what V.G. Belinsky: “The closeness to the original consists in conveying not the letter, but the spirit of creation ... The corresponding image, as well as the corresponding phrase, do not always consist in the apparent correspondence of words”. A glance at other modern translations that convey the biblical text with harsh literality, forced to remember famous saying A.S. Pushkin: "Interlinear translation can never be correct."

The team of translators of the Institute at all stages of work was aware of the fact that no real translation can equally satisfy all the requirements of different readers, which are diverse in nature. Nevertheless, the translators strove for a result that could, on the one hand, satisfy those who first turn to the Scriptures, and, on the other, satisfy those who, seeing the Word of God in the Bible, are engaged in in-depth study of it.

This translation, addressed to the modern reader, uses predominantly words, phrases and idioms in living circulation. Obsolete and archaic words and expressions are allowed only to the extent that they are necessary to convey the color of the narrative and to adequately represent the semantic shades of the phrase. At the same time, it was found expedient to refrain from using cutting-edge, 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 critical to the salvation of every person and, in general, to his entire Christian life. This Message is not a simple account of facts, events, and a straightforward edifying statement of commandments. It is able to touch the human heart, to induce the reader and listener to empathy, to arouse in them the need for living and sincere repentance. Zaoksky's translators saw their task in conveying such power of the biblical story.

In those 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, in the opinion of translators, reading.

In pursuit of clarity and stylistic goodness of the text, translators introduce into it, when it is dictated by the context, words that are not in the original (they are marked in italics).

The footnotes provide the reader with alternative meanings for individual words and phrases in the original.

To help the reader, the chapters of the biblical text are divided into separate semantic passages, which are supplied with subheadings in italics. While not part of the text to be translated, subheadings 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 at Zaoksky intend to continue searching for the best approaches and solutions in transferring the original text. Therefore, all those involved in the appearance of the completed translation will be grateful to the deeply respected readers for any help that they find possible to provide with their comments, advice and wishes aimed at improving the currently proposed text for subsequent reprints.

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

The participation of a number of Western colleagues and friends of the Institute, in particular W. Isles, D.R. Spengler and Dr. C.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 business, such as A.V. Bolotnikov, M.V. Boryabina, I.V. Lobanov and some others.

If the work done by the staff of the Institute will help someone in the knowledge of 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 for Bible Translation in Zaoksky, Doctor of Theology M.P. Kulakov

EXPLANATIONS, SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

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

The Russian text of this translation is divided into semantic passages with subtitles. Italicized subheadings, not being part of the text, have been introduced to make it easier for the reader to find the right place in the proposed translation.

The word "LORD" is written in small capital letters in the Psalter when this word is used to convey the name of God - Yahweh, written in Hebrew in four consonant letters (Tetragrammaton). The word "Lord" in its usual spelling conveys another address (Adon or Adonai), which was used in relation to both God and people in the sense of "Lord", friend. per .: Vladyka; see Dictionary Lord.

In square brackets contain words, the presence of which in the text modern biblical studies consider not completely proven.

In double square brackets are the words that modern biblical studies consider to be insertions into the text made in the first centuries.

Bold highlighted quotes from the books of the Old Testament. At the same time, poetic passages are located in the text with the necessary indents and breakdowns in order to adequately represent the structure of the passage. In a note at the bottom of the page, the address of the quote is indicated.

Words that are actually absent in the original text are italicized, but the inclusion of which seems justified, since they are implied in the development of the author's thought 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 provided with the following abbreviations:

Letters.(literally): formally accurate translation. It is given in those cases when, for the sake of clarity and a more complete disclosure of the meaning in the main text, one has to deviate from the formally accurate transmission. In this case, the reader is given the opportunity to come closer to the original word or phrase and see the conceivable translation options.

In meaning.(in the meaning): given when a word translated literally in the text requires, in the translator's opinion, an indication of its special semantic connotation in this 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. per.(ancient translations): used when it is necessary to show how a particular place in the original was understood by ancient translations, possibly based on another text in the original.

Friend. possible per.(another possible translation): given as another, albeit possible, but, in the opinion of the translators, a less substantiated translation.

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

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

Or: used when a note contains a different, reasonably justified translation.

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

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

Masoretic text: text accepted as the main one for translation; a footnote is given when, for a number of textological reasons: the meaning of the word is unknown, the original text is corrupted - the translation has to deviate from the literal transmission.

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

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

ABBREVIATIONS USED

OLD TESTAMENT (OT)

Life - Being
Ex - Exodus
Leo - Leviticus
Numbers - Numbers
Deut - Deuteronomy
Is Nav - Book of Joshua
1 Kings - First Book of Kings
2 Kings - Second Book of Kings
3 Kings - The third book of Kings
4 Kings - Fourth Book of Kings
1 Chronicles - First Book of Chronicles
2 Chronicles - 2 Chronicles
Job - Book of Job
Ps - Psalter
Proverbs - Book of Proverbs of Solomon
Eccles - The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Preacher (Ecclesiastes)
Is - the Book of the prophet Isaiah
Jer - Book of the prophet Jeremiah
Lamentations - Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah
Ezek - Book of the prophet Ezekiel
Dan - Book of the prophet Daniel
Os - Book of the prophet Hosea
Joel - Book of the prophet Joel
Am - Book of the prophet Amos
Jonah - Book of the prophet Jonah
Micah - The Book of the Prophet Micah
Nahum - Book of the prophet Nahum
Habb - The book of the prophet Habakkuk
Hagg - The book of the prophet Haggai
Zach - The Book of the Prophet Zechariah
Mal - The Book of the Prophet Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT (NZ)

Matthew - Gospel according to Matthew (Holy gospel from Matthew)
Mk - the Gospel according to Mark (From Mark the holy gospel)
Luke - the Gospel according to Luke (From Luke the holy gospel)
John - the Gospel according to John (From John the holy gospel)
Acts - Acts of the Apostles
Rome - Epistle to the Romans
1 Cor - First Letter to the Corinthians
2 Cor - 2 Corinthians
Gal - Epistle to the Galatians
Eph - Epistle to the Ephesians
Phil - Epistle to the Philippians
Colossians
1 Thess - First Letter to the Thessalonians
2 Thess - Second Thessalonians
1 Tim - First Letter to Timothy
2 Tim - 2 Timothy
Titus - Epistle to Titus
Heb - Epistle to the Jews
Jacob - The Epistle of Jacob
1 Peter - First Epistle of Peter
2 Peter - 2 Peter
1 John - First Epistle of John
Rev - Revelation of John the Divine (Apocalypse)

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

ap. - apostle
aram. - Aramaic
v. (centuries) - century (centuries)
g - gram
year (years) - year (years)
ch. - chapter
Greek - Greek language)
others - ancient
Heb. - Hebrew (language)
km - kilometer
l - liter
m - meter
note. - note
R.Kh. - Nativity
Rome. - Roman
Syn. per. - Synodal translation
cm - centimeter
see - see
Art. - poem
Wed - compare
those. - that is
so called - so-called
h - hour

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1-13 According to the Eastern custom, the bride's friends were supposed to meet the groom with lamps at the hour when he entered the bridal chamber. Virgos symbolize Christian souls awaiting the bridegroom - Christ. Oil means faith, hope and active love.

1. The Evangelist Matthew (which means "the gift of God") was one of the Twelve Apostles (Matt 10: 3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Lk (Luke 5:27) calls him Levi, and Mk (Mk 2:14) - Levi Alpheus, i.e. son of Alpheus: it is known that some Jews bore two names (for example, Joseph Barnabas or Joseph Caiaphas). Matthew was a tax collector (tax collector) at the Capernaum customs located on the shores of the Sea of ​​Galilee (Mark 2: 13-14). Apparently, he was not in the service of the Romans, but of the tetrarch (ruler) of Galilee, Herod Antipas. Matthew's profession required him to know the Greek language. The future evangelist is portrayed 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 is in the heading 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 Hierapolis testifies: "Matthew wrote down the sayings of the Lord (Logius of Cyriacus) in the Hebrew language (here the Hebrew language should be understood as the Aramaic dialect), and he translated them as best he could" (Eusebius, Church. History, III.39). The term Logia (and the corresponding Hebrew dibrey) means not only sayings, but also events. Papias' message repeats approx. 170 St. Irenaeus of Lyons, emphasizing that the evangelist wrote for Christians from the Jews (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 out in the Russian language the Gospel, now known under his name” (Church History, III.24). According to most modern scholars, this Aramaic Gospel (Logia) appeared between the 40s and 50s. Probably, Matthew made his first notes when he accompanied the Lord.

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

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

Mt. speaks more often than others about the Church. He devotes considerable attention to the question of the conversion of the Gentiles. Of the prophets, Matthew quotes Isaiah the most (21 times). At the center of the theology of Matthew is the concept of the Kingdom of God (which, in accordance with Jewish tradition, he usually calls the Kingdom of Heaven). It dwells in heaven, and comes to this world in the person of the Messiah. Announcing the Lord is announcing the mystery of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:11). It means the accession of God among people. In the beginning, 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 was realized in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Therefore, Mt. often calls Him the Son of David (one of the messianic titles).

4. Plan of Matthew: 1. Prologue. The birth and childhood of Christ (Mt 1-2); 2. Baptism of the Lord and the beginning of the sermon (Mt 3-4); 3. Sermon on the Mount(Mt 5-7); 4. The ministry of Christ in Galilee. Wonders. Those who accepted and rejected Him (Mt 8-18); 5. The way to Jerusalem (Mt 19-25); 6. Passion. Resurrection (Mt 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 it was previously thought, a special New Testament language. It is a colloquial everyday language of the first century AD, which spread in the Greco-Roman world and is known in science under the name "κοινη", i.e. "Common adverb"; nevertheless, the style, and the turns of speech, and the way of thinking of the sacred writers of the New Testament show 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 century). Until recent years, the most ancient of these did not ascend further than the 4th century no P.X. But lately, many fragments of ancient NT manuscripts on papyrus (3rd and even 2nd c) have been discovered. So, for example, Bodmer's manuscripts: Ev from John, Luke, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude - were found and published in the 60s of our century. In addition to the 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 of the Church Fathers in Greek and other languages ​​have been preserved in such an amount 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 to classify it various forms(the so-called textual criticism). Compared to 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 extremely favorable position. And in the number of manuscripts, and in the brevity of the time that separates the most ancient of them from the original, and in the number of translations, and in their antiquity, and in the seriousness and volume of critical works 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, p. 34 ff). The text of the NT as a whole is recorded absolutely irrefutably.

The New Testament consists of 27 books. They are subdivided into 260 chapters of unequal length by the publishers for investment of references and citations. The original text does not contain this subdivision. The modern division into chapters in the New Testament, as in the entire Bible, was often attributed to the Dominican Cardinal Hugo (1263), who developed it, composing a symphony to the Latin Vulgate, but now it is thought with good reason that this division goes back to the Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton, who died in 1228. As for the subdivision into verses, now adopted 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.

It is customary to divide the sacred books of the New Testament into law-positive (the Four Gospels), historical (Acts of the Apostles), teaching (seven conciliar epistles and fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul) and prophetic: the Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John the Theologian (see the Extensive Catechism of St. Philaret of Moscow).

However, modern experts consider such a distribution to be outdated: in fact, all the books of the New Testament are law-positive, historical and instructive, and the prophecy is not only in the Apocalypse. New Testament science pays great attention to the exact establishment of the chronology of the Gospel and other New Testament events. Scientific chronology allows the reader to trace with sufficient accuracy the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and the original Church in the New Testament (see Appendices).

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

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

2) The book of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle of the Apostle Paul ("Corpus Paulinum"), which are usually subdivided into:

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

b) Great Epistles: to the Galatians, 1 st and 2 nd to the Corinthians, to the Romans.

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

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

e) Epistle to the Hebrews.

3) Epistles of the Council ("Corpus Catholicum").

4) Revelation of John the Evangelist. (In NZ, Inigda distinguishes "Corpus Joannicum", ie everything that Ap In wrote for a comparative study of his Gospel in connection with his Epistles and Book of Rev.).

THE FOURTH GANGEL

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" about 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 middle of the 1st century, this sermon was consolidated by the Church in a persistent oral tradition. The Eastern custom of memorizing sayings, stories and even large texts helped Christians of the apostolic era to accurately preserve the unwritten First Gospel. After the 1950s, when eyewitnesses of Christ's earthly ministry began to die one by one, the need arose to record the gospel (Luke 1: 1). Thus, the "gospel" began to denote the narration 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 (Mt, Mk, Lk, In) 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.), because the life and teachings of Christ are presented in these books by these four clergy writers. Their gospels were not combined into one book, which made it possible to see 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 Ev Irenaeus Tatian made the first attempt to create a unified evangelical narrative, composed of different texts of the four Gospels, "Diatessaron", ie. "The gospel of the four."

3. The apostles did not set themselves the goal of creating a historical work in the modern sense of the word. They strove to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ, helped people to believe in Him, to correctly understand and fulfill His commandments. Evangelists' testimonies do not coincide in all details, which proves their independence from each other: eyewitness testimonies are always individualized. 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 insignificant contradictions encountered in the exposition of the evangelists are explained by the fact that God gave the clergy complete freedom to convey certain specific facts in relation to different categories of listeners, which further emphasizes the unity of the meaning and direction of all four gospels (see also General Introduction, pp. 13 and 14) ...

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1 The word then (τότε) indicates here the time when the Son of Man will come. Of course, mainly (but not exclusively) His final coming for judgment at the end or at the end of the world. Τότε also serves as a link with the previous speech and indicates its continuation. The Savior continued to speak to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, in view of Jerusalem. Wieseler sets the time on Tuesday, April 14, Nisan 12, 783 from the founding of Rome.

The kingdom of God cannot, of course, be like ten virgins - this is only a special turn of speech, as in 13:24 and others, and it means that the Kingdom of Heaven is similar to all the circumstances described in the parable, in which ten virgins took part. The same thing that happened to the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom is or will be in the kingdom established by the Savior. Without exception, all members of this kingdom, believers and unbelievers, or only those who have heard about Christ, can be like the ten virgins. With extreme accuracy and brevity, in just eighteen separate words (in Greek), the personality of every person who is a member of Christ's Kingdom or, in general, has any relation to Christ, is characterized here. The number ten was apparently not chosen arbitrarily; because in speech, to a high degree of artistic and vital, there could be nothing arbitrary and accidental. But it is rather difficult to explain why exactly the number ten was chosen. The answer to why virgins are indicated in the parable must be that the whole parable is full of the most beautiful, extremely attractive, poetic and artistic images, and the indication of virgins could best correspond to the thought that was supposed to be expressed in the parable. The Baptist was a friend of the bridegroom and rejoiced at hearing His voice; Christ Himself called Himself the bridegroom ( Mt 9:15; Mk 2: 19.20; Luke 5: 34.35). Since He now continued to talk about His second coming, there was no better and more beautiful image that He could choose as the image of a wedding feast, all the joy and joy of which depends on the presence of the groom. An illustration for the parable is Ps 44 and the Song of Songs; Wed 1 Mack 9:37 .

3 This verse provides proof (γὰρ) why in the previous verse the five virgins are called foolish because they did not take oil with them for their lamps.

4 Oil here means in general all the virtues that make a person worthy to participate in the feast of the Kingdom of Heaven, mainly those that are opposite to the stupidity, negligence, frivolity and carelessness of foolish virgins.

5 The word "slowed down" is inaccurate; in the original: χρονίζοντος (present) δὲ του̃ νυμφίου - when the groom hesitated, he did not come for a long time. Note, All the virgins fell asleep, both foolish and wise. Neither one nor the other for this is not blamed or denounced. Therefore, there is no question of the criminality and sinfulness of spiritual slumber and sleep. Only the need for wakefulness is indicated. Otherwise, when the groom comes, he will not receive any greeting at all. Virgos are quite different from the evil slave ( 24:48 ), who says: "My lord will not come soon," they expect his soon arrival; at the same time, the foolish ones say, as it were: "he will probably come soon, and therefore there is no need to store up a lot of oil." “This,” says Alford, “ can serve as an indication of how much the fundamentals of both parables are generally different».

6 It should be noted that from this verse the so-called Alexandrian a code that dates back to the 5th century. It is kept in the British Museum. Prior to this verse in this codex, all of the earliest chapters of Matthew's Gospel are lost. Alexandrian the codex, however, is considered less important than the Sinai and Vatican ones.

At midnight, that is, at a time when sleep is especially deep. Who raised the cry? Unknown. The matter seems so common and natural that there was no need to mention it. Perhaps, while the maidens were sleeping, there were lovers of all kinds of processions and ceremonies, who raised a cry from afar when the groom appeared. Some think that the cry was raised by the maidens themselves, who woke up earlier than others, who began to wake up their girlfriends. The word γέγονεν (rang out - in Russian) is very picturesque. It means: the cry rang out (started, happened) and did not stop (last Soviet time), as if it was hanging in the air. This happens during all kinds of popular celebrations. It can be translated in the present tense: "at midnight there is a cry." Trench and Morison quote from the English writer Ward, where he describes the wedding ceremony he witnessed in India: after two or three hours of waiting, at last, around midnight, it was announced: "here is the groom coming, go out to meet him." All those who participated in the procession lit their lamps and hastily took their places in the procession, some of them lost their lamps and were not ready. But it was too late to find, and the cavalcade moved". What is happening in India now was, of course, in Palestine in the time of Christ. Chrysostom uses the words "at midnight" to indicate that there will be a resurrection at that time. “It is He (the Savior) who speaks. either in accordance with a parable, or showing that Sunday will happen at night". Jerome goes further and points to the "Jewish tradition" according to which " Christ will come at midnight, just as it was in Egypt when Passover was celebrated, and (the angel) the destroyer came, and the Lord passed over the booths, and the doorposts of our houses were sanctified by the blood of the lamb (Ref 12)... Hence, I think, the apostolic tradition remained, so that on the waking day of Easter it would not be allowed to dissolve before midnight the people awaiting the coming of Christ". This opinion has been criticized; said that Christ is more likely to come for judgment in the morning; because He is pater lucis - the father of light. Neither opinion seems to be based on anything. Midnight simply indicates a time of tranquility and deep sleep in order to expose the surprise of the groom's arrival more sharply (cf. 24:37 ). At what time the coming of Christ will be, this is not said and it is not explained. Everything here has a symbolic meaning and serves only to clarify that the coming of Christ will be unexpected.

8 This and the following verses are the "dialogue" of the parable. Explaining this verse, Origen says: “ although the virgins were stupid, they understood that they had to go to meet the bridegroom with light, having all the lamps of their feelings burning". Jerome: “ if someone has a virgin soul and loves bashfulness, he should not be content with the average, which dries up quickly, and, starting to burn, goes out; it points to perfect virtues, emitting eternal light».

9 The answer of the wise virgins is sometimes considered callous and even "ignoble." But Jerome notes: “ thus (the virgins) answer not out of greed, but out of fear. And how during the Babylonian captivity Jeremiah could not help sinners, and he was told: "Do not ask for this people" (Jer 7:16)- so terrible will be the day when everyone will have to think only of themselves". Some have suggested that the answer of the wise virgins contains simple irony or mockery of the foolish. Recent critics and exegetes strongly reject such an interpretation. It appeared, it seems, mainly because if you do not take the answer for ridicule and if it was serious, then it is difficult to explain where and how stupid maidens could get oil at night, "when all the shops were locked." But this matter is easier to explain. If the wise virgins advised the foolish to go and buy themselves some butter, then this advice was easy to follow. From the following Art. ten one can conclude that the stupid, indeed, got hold of oil, only that it was already too late; perhaps they did not need it at all. In all likelihood, the sellers lived somewhere in the vicinity. It is known that in hot countries, as in Palestine, a brisk trade is produced, due to the heat of the day, at night. By “selling”, Chrysostom means “the poor”. " Do you see how the poor benefit us? If you remove them, you will lose all hope of salvation. So, here it is necessary to stock up on oil, so that there, when it takes time, you can use it: the present, and not the future, is the time of preparation.". The same idea is repeated by Theophylact. " The foolish go to the sellers, that is, to the poor; this means: they repented that they did not do alms. Only now will they know that we must receive oil from the poor. Therefore, the words that they went to those selling to buy oil means that in their thoughts they went to the poor and began to reflect on what a good deed alms". But the parable does not at all say that the sellers are poor people.

12 (Luke 12: 25-27 there are similar expressions, but in a different connection and we are talking about a different subject.)

thirteen " At the end, Christ speaks no longer as a bridegroom, but as a Judge"(Goltsman). The last words, " into which the Son of Man will come», Not in the important codes, they are added to the original text. Syn. B L 33 C Copt. Sagid. Syro-Sinai and Jerome's text end the verse with the word "hour". But although this addition is inauthentic, it can serve as an interpretation of the words "not a day, not an hour."

Verse 13 explains the whole essence of the parable of the ten virgins. It does not say that people should have various virtues, for example, alms, mercy, etc. - The parable gave rise to the famous disputes between Protestants and Catholics about what should be understood by oil in lamps, faith or good deeds. Protestants, of course, understood only faith, and Catholics - good deeds. But, strictly speaking, it does not speak of either one or the other. They even thought that it was talking about the Holy Spirit. But all such interpretations are of little relevance. The essence of the parable, apparently, is that it is only " illustration for the last part of Christ's speech» ( 24:44-51 ). The parable of the ten virgins can be, in its main outlines, summarized as follows: be personally prepared; be ready at all times; be ready to go straight to Christ. To this we add that both the parable of the ten virgins and the subsequent parable have historically had a tremendous impact on the Christian life. We do not find anything like this in any other religion. In all other religions, so to speak, there is a constant lack of stimulants or stimulants for activity, progress and improvement. From this, in all other religions, except for the Christian, there is constant stagnation, laziness and inertia. In contrast to these shortcomings of the life of the people, Christ urges Christians to constant vigilance, and it is one of the most powerful engines of all progress and improvement. Here the leaven is thrown into the mass of humanity. Here, an unrestrained and constant forward movement is excited, not stopping and not calming down at any dead center. The invitation to constant vigilance is contrary to all stagnation and reaction. But one may ask: where does such power come from? What is its source? The answer of Christ Himself to these questions may seem somewhat strange. Stay awake, do not sleep, be active and reasonable, do not fall into laziness ... because you do not know the day or the hour ... The motive for wakefulness is, therefore, the constant expectation of the coming of the Son of Man, although no one knows exactly the time of this coming does not know. What an amazing motive! Who could put him out, except the true Messiah, who said: stay awake, constantly wait for Me, because you do not know when I will come. Only the enormous authority and dignity of the Messiah who appeared on earth could impart power to such words. Others, perhaps, would only say: stay awake until I come, and I come at such and such an hour. Do not sleep until my arrival; then you can calm down. This is what the masters say to their servants. But the Messiah says otherwise.

Gospel

The word "Gospel" (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον) in classical Greek was used to mean: a) a reward given to the messenger of joy (τῷ εὐαγγέλῳ), b) a sacrifice slain 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 accomplished the reconciliation of people with God and brought us the greatest blessings - mainly founded the Kingdom of God on earth ( Mt. 4:23),

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

c) the whole New Testament or Christian teaching in general, first of all the narration about the events from the life of Christ, the most important ( 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 denote the very process of preaching Christian doctrine ( Rome. 1: 1) Acts. 4:13), albeit literate. Among the Christians of the apostolic time, there were also very few "wise in the flesh, strong" and "noble" ( 1 Cor. 1:26), and for most believers, oral stories about Christ were much more important than written ones. Thus, the apostles and preachers or evangelists “transmitted” (παραδιδόναι) legends 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 alive and giving life. But soon this period of oral tradition had 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 you 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 authentic legends about Christ of those persons who were either among His apostles, or were in close communion with eyewitnesses of Christ's deeds. On the other hand, the need for a written account 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 of the miracles of Christ were thinning out. Therefore, it was necessary to fix in writing individual sayings of the Lord and his whole speeches, as well as the stories of the apostles about Him. It was then that separate records of what was reported in the oral tradition about Christ began to appear here and there. They wrote down the words of Christ most carefully, which contained the rules of Christian life, and were much freer about the transmission of various events from the life of Christ, preserving only their general impression. Thus, one thing in these recordings, 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 narrative. Even our Gospels, as can be seen from the conclusion of the Gospel of John ( Jn. 21:25), did not intend to report all the speeches and deeds of Christ. This can be seen, by the way, from what is not included in them, for example, such a 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 compose narratives about the life of Christ, but that they did not have the proper completeness and that therefore they did not give a sufficient "confirmation" in faith ( OK. 1: 1-4).

Obviously, our canonical Gospels arose from the same motives. The period of their appearance can be determined approximately in thirty years - from 60 to 90 (the last was the Gospel of John). The first three Gospels are usually called synoptic in biblical science, because they depict the life of Christ in such a way that their three narratives can be easily viewed in one and combined into one whole narrative (forecasters - from Greek - looking together). Each of them began to be called the Gospels separately, perhaps as early as the end of the 1st century, but from church writing we have information that such a name was given to the entire composition of the Gospels only in the second half of the 2nd century. As for the names: "The Gospel of Matthew", "The Gospel of Mark", etc., then these very ancient names from Greek should be translated more correctly as follows: "The Gospel according to Matthew", "The 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, the other to Mark, etc.

Four gospel

Thus, the ancient Church looked at the depiction of the life of Christ in our four Gospels not as different Gospels or narratives, but as one Gospel, one book in four forms. That is why the name of the Four Gospels was established in the Church for our Gospels. Saint Irenaeus called them the “quadruple gospel” (τετράμορφον τὸ εὐαγγέλιον - see Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus haereses liber 3, ed. A. Rousseau and L. Doutreleaü Irenée Lyon. Contre les hérésies, 1974 11, 11).

The Church Fathers dwell on the question: why exactly did the Church accept not one Gospel, but four? So St. John Chrysostom says: “Is it possible that one evangelist could not write everything that was needed. Of course, he could, but when four wrote, they did not write at the same time, not in the same place, without interfering with each other, and with all that they wrote so that everything seemed to be pronounced with one mouth, then this is the strongest evidence of the truth. You will say: "The opposite happened, however, for the four Gospels are often denounced in disagreement." This is the very thing that is a sure sign of the truth. For if the Gospels were exactly in agreement with each other, even with regard to the words themselves, then none of the enemies would have believed that the Gospels were not written according to an ordinary mutual agreement. Now the slight disagreement between them frees them from all suspicion. For what they say differently about time or place does not in the least harm the truth of their story. In the main thing, which constitutes the foundation of our life and the essence of preaching, none of them disagree with the other in anything and nowhere - that God became man, worked miracles, was crucified, resurrected, 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 the four countries of the world in which we live, and since the Church is scattered throughout the whole earth and has its confirmation in the Gospel, it ought to have four pillars, from everywhere blowing incorruptibility and giving life to the human race. The all-ordering Word that sits on the Cherubim has given us the Gospel in four forms, but imbued with one spirit. For David also, praying for His manifestation, says: "He who sits on the Cherubim, reveal Yourself" ( Ps. 79: 2). But Cherubim (in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel and the Apocalypse) have four faces, and their faces are the images of the activity of the Son of God. " Saint Irenaeus finds it possible to add the symbol of the lion to the Gospel of John, since this Gospel depicts Christ as the eternal King, and the lion is the king in the animal kingdom; to the Gospel of Luke - the symbol of the calf, since Luke begins his Gospel with the image of the priestly ministry of Zechariah, who killed the calves; to the Gospel of Matthew - a symbol of man, 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). Other church fathers have moved the symbols of the lion and the calf and the first is given to Mark, and the second to John. Since the V century. in this form, the symbols of the evangelists began to be added to the depictions of the four evangelists in church painting.

The 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 already mentioned above, have extremely much in common with each other, and this similarity is involuntarily striking the eye even with a cursory reading of them. Let's say first of all 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 are available for all three forecasters. In modern times, the exegetes have developed an even more accurate numerical formula for determining the similarity of the Gospels and calculated that the entire number of verses common to all forecasters goes back to 350. Matthew, then, 350 verses are peculiar only to him, Mark has 68 such verses, Luke - 541. Similarities are mainly seen in the transmission of the sayings of Christ, and the 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. V. V. S. 173). It is also remarkable that some passages in all three evangelists follow the same sequence, for example, the temptation and speech in Galilee, the calling of Matthew and the conversation about fasting, the plucking of ears and the healing of the withered one, the calming of the storm and the healing of the Gadarene demoniac, etc. The similarities sometimes extend even to the construction of sentences and expressions (for example, in bringing a prophecy Small. 3: 1).

As for the differences observed among weather forecasters, there are quite a few of them. Some things are reported only by two evangelists, others - even by one. So, only Matthew and Luke cite the Sermon on the Mount of the Lord Jesus Christ, tell the story of the birth and the first years of Christ's life. Luke alone speaks of the birth of John the Baptist. Something else is conveyed by one evangelist in a more abbreviated form than another, or in a different connection than another. The details of the events in each Gospel, as well as the expressions, are different.

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

As we have said, the Synoptic Gospels are very different from the Gospel of John the Evangelist. In this way they depict almost exclusively the activities of Christ in Galilee, and the Apostle John depicts mainly the stay 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, misses a lot of the activities of Christ, for example, he cites only six miracles of Christ, but the speeches and miracles that he cites have a special deep meaning and extreme importance about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, while forecasters 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 proceeds along the periphery 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 predominantly spiritual (πνευματικόν), in contrast to synoptic ones, which depict the predominantly human side in the person of Christ (εὐαγγέλιον σωματικόν), i.e. The gospel is bodily.

However, it must be said that the forecasters also have passages that say that, as forecasters, the activities of Christ in Judea were known ( Mt. 23:37, 27:57 ; OK. 10: 38-42), so John also has indications of Christ's continued activity in Galilee. In the same way, forecasters convey such sayings of Christ that testify to His divine dignity ( Mt. 11:27), and John, for his part, also in places depicts Christ as a true man ( Jn. 2 and the next; John 8 and etc.). Therefore, one cannot speak of any contradiction between the synoptics and John in the depiction of the face and deeds of Christ.

The credibility of the gospels

Although for a long time criticism has spoken out 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 at all recognize the existence of Christ), 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 grounds, according to which we recognize the Gospels as quite reliable documents. This is, firstly, the existence of the tradition of eyewitnesses, many of whom survived to the era when our Gospels appeared. Why on earth would we refuse to trust these sources of our gospels? Could they invent everything that is in our Gospels? No, all the Gospels are purely historical in nature. Secondly, it is not clear why the Christian consciousness would want, as the mythical theory states, to crown the head of the simple rabbi Jesus with the crown of the Messiah and the Son of God? Why, for example, is it not said about the Baptist that he worked miracles? Obviously because he did not create them. And from this it follows that if Christ is spoken of as the Great Wonderworker, then it means that He really was like that. And why could one deny the reliability of the miracles of Christ, since the highest miracle - His Resurrection - is witnessed like no other event ancient history(cm. 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. Göttingen, 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. Göttingen, 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. Göttingen, 1907.

Godet - Godet F. Kommentar zu dem Evangelium des Johannes. Hannover, 1903.

De Wette - 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. Göttingen, 1867.

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

Lagrange - Lagrange M.-J. Études 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 Kommentar über das Neue Testament, Abteilung 1, Hälfte 1: Handbuch über das Evangelium des Matthäus. Göttingen, 1864.

Meyer (1885) - Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar 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. Göttingen, 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. Tübingen, 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 / Kommentar zum Neuen Testament, Teil 1. Leipzig, 1905.

Zahn (1908) - Zahn Th. Das Evangelium des Johannes ausgelegt / Kommentar 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. Tübingen, 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 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 - Alford N. The Greek Testament in four volumes, vol. 1. London, 1863.

In the parable of the ten virgins, the Lord compared the expectation of the Second Coming of the Son of Man with the expectation of the bridegroom going to the wedding feast.

« Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like the ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Of these, five were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And, as the groom slowed down, they all dozed off and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry: behold, the groom is coming, go out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise: Give us your oil, for our lamps are extinguished. And the wise answered: so that there is no shortage of both us and you, go better to those who sell and buy for yourself. And when they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the doors were closed; afterward the other virgins also came, and said: Lord! God! open for us. But he answered and said to them: Truly I say to you, I don’t know you."(Matthew 25.1-12).

“Marriage” in this parable means the coming Kingdom of God, “Bridegroom” is Christ, “virgins” are people waiting for Christ; “Oil” means the grace of God, which a person must acquire by faith and good deeds; “Waiting for the groom” is an earthly human life, the purpose of which is to meet Christ. "Foolish virgins" are people who did not care about the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit, therefore the Kingdom of God, like the doors of the bridal chamber, turned out to be closed for them.

The Lord again ends the parable with a call to stay awake, “ because you do not know the day or the hour at which the Son of Man will come "(Matthew 25.13).

The parable of talents

Unlike the First Coming, the Second Coming of Christ will be in glory; the second time the Lord will come to judge the world. Each person will be responsible for the life he has lived, for how he disposed of the gifts (talents) given to him by God. This is evidenced by the parable of talents.

“A certain man, going to a foreign country, summoned his servants and entrusted them with his property: and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, each according to his strength; and immediately departed. He who received five talents went and used them in business and acquired other five talents; in the same way, he who received two talents acquired other two; He who received one talent went and buried it in the ground and hid his master's money.

After a long time, the master of those slaves comes and demands an account of them. And, coming up, he who had received five talents brought other five talents and said: Master! you gave me five talents; behold, I have acquired five other talents with them. His master said to him: good, good and faithful servant! you have been faithful in little things; I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master. The one who had received two talents also approached and said: Master! you gave me two talents; behold, I have acquired two other talents with them. His master said to him: good, good and faithful servant! you have been faithful in little things; I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master.

The one who had received one talent came up and said: Master! I knew you, that you are a cruel man, you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter, and fearing, I went and hid your talent in the earth; here's yours. But his master answered and said to him: Wicked and lazy servant! you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; Therefore you ought to have given my money to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine at a profit. So, take the talent from him and give to him who has ten talents, for to everyone who has it will be given and will increase, but from him who does not have, what he has will also be taken away; but cast out the worthless servant into the outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "(Matthew 25.14-30).

Talents in this parable refer to the spiritual, mental, and physical abilities that God has endowed all people with. The whole earthly life of man is a constant expectation of meeting the Lord. But waiting should not be idle: each person should develop all his abilities to acquire the virtues and grace of God. Lazy and crafty people will be punished and thrown into eternal darkness.

Matthew 25: 1-13:
“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Of these, five were wise and five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And as the groom slowed down, they all dozed off and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry: "Behold, the groom is coming, come out to meet him." Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise: "Give us your oil, for our lamps are extinguished." And the wise answered: "so that there is no shortage of both us and you, go better to those who sell and buy for yourself." When they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready entered with him to the wedding feast, and the doors were closed; afterwards the other virgins also come and say: “Lord! God! Open for us. " But he answered them: "Truly I say to you, I do not know you." So, stay awake, because you do not know the day or the hour at which the Son of Man is coming. "

Barnes' comments give a definition to the lamps referred to in the parable:

“The 'lamps' mentioned, which were used during the marriage ceremonies, were most likely torches. They were made from rags twisted around iron or earthenware, which were filled with oil and was attached to a wooden handle. These torches to give light, periodically dipped in oil". (Emphasis added.)

Thus, all ten virgins had oil in their lamps. This is evident from the biblical text, which says that ten virgins, waiting for the groom, went out to meet him... However, the five foolish virgins did not take with them a supply of oil. Perhaps they were expecting the Lord to appear immediately, therefore, they felt that the extra oil would not be useful to them, or they simply did not care about it. The five intelligent virgins, on the contrary, realizing that they did not know “neither the day nor the hour” at which the Lord would appear, decided to stock up on oil in case their lamps were extinguished. Therefore, they made the necessary preparations. The Lord came at midnight, when no one was expecting Him. The lamps of the foolish virgins were extinguished, and they had no supply of oil. They were not ready at the moment of the coming of the Lord and could not get to the wedding feast. The doors were locked when the foolish virgins approached them, and the Lord, instead of opening the doors for them, said: "Truly I say to you, I do not know you." Jesus Christ told this parable to warn us, as seen in the last verse of this parable:

« So stay awake because you don't know the day or the hour. "

Jesus did not speak to a wide audience or some of the Pharisees, but to His apostles and disciples (see Matthew 24: 4). In other words, the Lord, addressing us, His disciples, says: "Be vigilant, seeing what happened to the foolish virgins!" If it wasn't for us, or if it didn't matter if we kept our faith while on the vine or not, then the Lord would have no reason to tell us, "So watch!" This parable would be useless. However, two days before His crucifixion, the Lord did not address a wide audience of people, but to His disciples, warning them. It is dangerous to be found "without oil" or not abiding in Him. This will inevitably have serious consequences. People who find themselves "without oil" will not hear the friendly voice of the Lord, on the contrary, they will be told the same words as the five foolish virgins: "Truly I say to you, I do not know you."

Hello! Explain, please, why in the parable of the ten virgins, when the foolish asked for oil, the wise did not give it, so that there would be a lack of everyone. Christ says: “Whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer garment ... love for one's neighbor, i.e. in self-sacrifice, dedication. Many saints distributed the entire estate to the end, not leaving themselves a penny. Proceeding from this, the wise virgins (according to the commandment of Christ) would have to give all the oil, and the unreasonable would not have a shortage, this is love. But no, it turns out that taking care of yourself first of all. It turns out this parable is possible, if you do not justify your greed, then although you do not give to your neighbor without remorse. For example, I now serve in the army and it often happens that I need to help out a comrade, but often this can be done only if you give something last and you will no longer have it. Christ calls to give the last. I give the last, my comrade is saved, but now they will punish me, then either make excuses and be hypocritical, they say "no, because I gave the last" or be silent, not self-justify and "suffer for the truth." But instead of giving something, thanks to the parable, I can politely refuse: "I'm sorry, but so that it doesn't work out, that you and I won't have it - go and buy it for yourself." Naturally, the comrade will not have time to buy, he will be punished, but my conscience is clear, because I acted according to the Gospel. But where, then, is love for one's neighbor? Explain where I am wrong. Ilya.

The priest Philip Parfenov answers:

Hello Ilya!

The fact is that a parable is a special allegorical genre, where it is sometimes simply useless to ask the heroes of the story in a Christian way, applying the same evangelical calls to them. Here is an even more striking example: the parable of the unfaithful ruler in Luke (16, 1-9). That stealing or squandering the owner's estate, however, got out of the situation so that the owner praised him. Should we do exactly the same? Of course not. But the parable is not about this, but about the fact that the “sons of this world” are more shrewd than the “sons of light”. Therefore, even if you have unjustly acquired wealth, dispose of it for the good of others, make friends for them, and this will already be the beginning of salvation. This is the basic moral, the thought of this parable.

Now about the parable of the 10 virgins. It is not important here how those reasonable virgins acted (this, however, in life it happens that few people share with others and, moreover, are ready to give their last), but it is important that a person always tries to be ready to meet the Lord if not at the level of the Second Coming of Christ, then at least he would be ready for his own exodus from this life (we here, too, do not know our day or hour). And this means: "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning" (Luke 12, 35). And then Luke, in the same 12th chapter, is just about the same thing as Matthew in the 25th: “Be ready, too, for at an hour you don’t think the Son of Man will come” (12, 40) ... Burning lamps full of oil are an image of our souls, full at every moment of mercy and love (the Greek word "eleon" (oil) is consonant with the word "eleos" (mercy), that is, the oil itself as an emollient is also symbolic). Accordingly, extinguished lamps are “dead” souls, deaf and callous from a lack of love and mercy.

Respectfully yours, Priest Philip Parfenov.