Vigils Reading – 25th Sunday

THE MOST ESTEEMED BY CHRIST

From a commentary by Theophylact of Ohrid1

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As he was teaching his disciples the Lord said to them: “The Son of man

will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will put him to death, but

after his death, on the third day, he will rise again.”

The Lord always alternated prophecies of his passion with the

performance of miracles, so that he should not be thought to have suffered

through lack of power. Therefore, after imparting the grievous news that men

would kill him, he added the joyful tidings that on the third day he would rise

again. This was to teach us that joy always follows sorrow, and that we should

not be uselessly distressed by painful events, but should rather have a hope that

better times will come.

He came to Capernaum, and after entering the house he questioned the

disciples: “What were you arguing about on the way?” Now the disciples still

saw things from a very human point of view, and they had been quarrelling

amongst themselves about which of them was the greatest and the most

esteemed by Christ. Yet the Lord did not restrain their desire for preeminent

honor, indeed he wishes us to aspire to the most exalted rank. He does not

however wish us to seize the first place, but rather to win the highest honor by

humility.

He stood a child among them because he wants us to become childlike. A

child has no desire for honor; it is not jealous, and does not remember injuries.

And he said: “If you become like that, you will receive great reward, and if,

moreover, for my sake you honor others who are like that, you will receive the3

kingdom of heaven, for you will be receiving me, and in receiving me you will

receive the one who sent me.

You see then what great things humility, together with simplicity and

guilelessness, can accomplish. It causes both the Son and the Father to dwell in

us, and with them of course comes the Holy Spirit.