Arabic original here.
Light has Dawned upon Us
Today we take leave of the Feast of Theophany, where we commemorated the Savior's baptism in the River Jordan. The Church saw fit that this passage from the Gospel of Matthew be read to us, in which there is a discussion of light where the Evangelist Matthew mentions a passage from the Book of Isaiah, where he says of Galilee of the gentiles, the region where the Lord lived, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
There is an outpouring of light with the coming of Jesus. In Orthodox dogma, we say that the Church is based on what the Apostles have given us, by which we remain in the light. There are many bad ideas in the world and they assault us day after day in various forms: strange doctrines, strange ideas, and strange social behavior in all fields attack the Church and people are confused between the Gospel and these bad things that we are exposed to every day. But the firm believer does not deviate from the good doctrine he has received in the Holy Church, what the Apostle Paul summarized when he said that our belief is that Christ died and rose. We preserve this faith so that we may live secure from sin and error.
Therefore today's Gospel reading ends with the words "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is what I would like to alert you to: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This does not primarily mean that the end of the world has come since Jesus was not talking about the end of the world then, but rather He was talking about His coming. "Repent, for I will be king over you if I am raised upon the cross and escape the tomb." This is the kingdom of heaven, that Christ is king over souls and that we ourselves enter into His possession, into His sovereignty, and that we allow Him to govern us. Jesus governs us in obedience if we obey Him. At that point, we are in the kingdom of heaven.
We will not wait years and years to enter the kingdom of heaven. We will not wait for death to enter the kingdom of heaven. Today we are in the kingdom of heaven if we make Christ king over our hearts. Wherever a person is, he is in God's kingdom if he makes himself a slave of God, obedient to God and to the Gospel in everything, preserving every evangelical virtue and desiring virtue. God's kingdom exists and is not far from any of us, but we nevertheless must enter it. This means that one enters himself into the kingdom or he withdraws himself from the kingdom. He enters himself into virtue or he withdraws himself from virtue.
For this reason He said, "repent." That is, repent so that you may witness God's kingdom. The blind man does not see the light, but the light exists. We do not witness God's kingdom if we are in sin or in false doctrine. Therefore we must change. He says: change, change your minds, change your thoughts. This is the meaning of repentance. Profound repentance is that a person changes his bad thoughts. We are required to change our thoughts in order to enter God's kingdom.
The Gospel challenges us by saying "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," repent, for now you are in the kingdom. If you want to be in the kingdom, be as nothing. "And if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Open your hearts so that Christ alone may become king over you, that you may be in His possession.
Light has Dawned upon Us
Today we take leave of the Feast of Theophany, where we commemorated the Savior's baptism in the River Jordan. The Church saw fit that this passage from the Gospel of Matthew be read to us, in which there is a discussion of light where the Evangelist Matthew mentions a passage from the Book of Isaiah, where he says of Galilee of the gentiles, the region where the Lord lived, "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
There is an outpouring of light with the coming of Jesus. In Orthodox dogma, we say that the Church is based on what the Apostles have given us, by which we remain in the light. There are many bad ideas in the world and they assault us day after day in various forms: strange doctrines, strange ideas, and strange social behavior in all fields attack the Church and people are confused between the Gospel and these bad things that we are exposed to every day. But the firm believer does not deviate from the good doctrine he has received in the Holy Church, what the Apostle Paul summarized when he said that our belief is that Christ died and rose. We preserve this faith so that we may live secure from sin and error.
Therefore today's Gospel reading ends with the words "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is what I would like to alert you to: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This does not primarily mean that the end of the world has come since Jesus was not talking about the end of the world then, but rather He was talking about His coming. "Repent, for I will be king over you if I am raised upon the cross and escape the tomb." This is the kingdom of heaven, that Christ is king over souls and that we ourselves enter into His possession, into His sovereignty, and that we allow Him to govern us. Jesus governs us in obedience if we obey Him. At that point, we are in the kingdom of heaven.
We will not wait years and years to enter the kingdom of heaven. We will not wait for death to enter the kingdom of heaven. Today we are in the kingdom of heaven if we make Christ king over our hearts. Wherever a person is, he is in God's kingdom if he makes himself a slave of God, obedient to God and to the Gospel in everything, preserving every evangelical virtue and desiring virtue. God's kingdom exists and is not far from any of us, but we nevertheless must enter it. This means that one enters himself into the kingdom or he withdraws himself from the kingdom. He enters himself into virtue or he withdraws himself from virtue.
For this reason He said, "repent." That is, repent so that you may witness God's kingdom. The blind man does not see the light, but the light exists. We do not witness God's kingdom if we are in sin or in false doctrine. Therefore we must change. He says: change, change your minds, change your thoughts. This is the meaning of repentance. Profound repentance is that a person changes his bad thoughts. We are required to change our thoughts in order to enter God's kingdom.
The Gospel challenges us by saying "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," repent, for now you are in the kingdom. If you want to be in the kingdom, be as nothing. "And if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Open your hearts so that Christ alone may become king over you, that you may be in His possession.
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