"And all wept, and bewailed her: but He said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn, knowing that she was dead" (Luke 8:52-53).
The reference here is to the dead daughter of Jarius. Jarius himself said that his daughter had died, and his servants confirmed this. But the Lord, the Giver of life, said: Weep not; she is not dead, and they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. The ignorant pretend that they know better than the Knower. The blind pretend that they see better than the All-seeing One. But when the young girl arose and showed herself alive, the ignorant were astonished with a great astonishment (Mark 5:42).
Even today, the ignorant scoff when they hear the divine truth. Divine truth speaks: There is a Living God! And the ignorant ridicule this as though they know that there is no God. Divine truth speaks: There is a Heavenly Kingdom! And the ignorant ridicule even this as though they know that there is no Heavenly Kingdom. Divine truth asserts: The dead will resurrect! And the ignorant even deny this as though they know that this will not be. And when God appears and the angels of God appear, and the Kingdom of Heaven is made known, and the dead resurrect, then the ignorant ones will be astonished with a great astonishment.
Who can save the world from the ignorant? No one can save the world except Christ the Omniscient, the Omnipotent. By what can the ignorant be saved? By nothing except faith in Christ and and the Christian Faith. Who are the most ignorant ones in the world? They are those who deny whatever Christ affirmed and affirm whatever He denied. In a word: there are those who think that they know something contrary to the knowledge of Christ. They are the worst and the most dangerous ignoramuses, both to themselves and to others.
My brethren, know that everything and everyone can deceive us except Christ, our Lord and Friend. He always knows and we do not, except when we look and listen to Him.
O Lord, merciful and all-merciful, help all the ignorant, that before death and judgment they may be astonished with great astonishment, and that they too may be saved in the Kingdom of Thy holy ones.
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
- From the Prologue of Ohrid
No comments:
Post a Comment