Conversations of the Gospel by St. Nicholas Velimirovic:Thirty-two week after Pentecost. Gospel of the repentant Zacchaeus

Thirty-two week after Pentecost. Gospel of the repentant Zacchaeus , Luke 19: 1-10.

Whoever wants to see Christ, in spirit, must rise high above nature, for Christ is higher than nature. A high mountain is easier to see from a hill than from a plain. Zacchaeus was a small man, but, overwhelmed by the desire to see Christ, climbed a tall tree.

He who wants to meet with Christ must be cleansed, for he is meeting with the Holy of Holies. Zacchaeus was soiled with avarice and cruelty, but, meeting Christ, he hurried to be cleansed by repentance and works of mercy.

Repentance is the abandonment of all the ways of debauchery, which walked a person’s feet, his thoughts and desires, and the conversion to a new path, the path of Christ. But how to repent to a unsinful man, when he had not yet met with God in his heart and was not ashamed of himself? Before the little Zacchaeus saw Christ with his eyes, he met him in his heart and was ashamed of all his ways.

Repentance is the pain of self-deception, with which a sinful person lulled himself for a long time, long before, namely, until he felt the pain of self-deception. But this pain itself leads to despair and suicide, if shame and the fear of God are not connected with it. Only then this pain from self-deception is not fatal, but healing. St. Augustine first felt the fatal pain of self-deception, which would have killed both his soul and body, if it was not quickly overtaken by shame and the fear of God.

Repentance is an unexpected vision of one’s leprosy and a cry for medicine and a doctor. When a dark-haired man does not look at himself in the mirror for a long time, then suddenly he will stand in front of him - and he is all gray-haired! So a sinner who has not repented thinks for a long time and claims that his soul is healthy and sinless, until one day his spiritual vision suddenly cuts through and he sees that his soul is all leprosy. But how to see your spiritual leprosy, not looking in the mirror? Christ is the mirror in which everyone sees himself as he is. This is the only mirror given to humanity, so that all people would look into it and see what they are. For in Christ, as in the purest mirror, everyone sees himself as sick and ugly, and still sees his beautiful original image, what it was and how it should become again. And sinful Zacchaeus, outside healthy and prominent,

Repentance is the beginning of the cure for self-will, the beginning of the submission of oneself to God's will. Living at will, a man quickly rolls from his royal dignity into a cattle shed and into an animal hole. Never a single person on earth could act on his own will and remain human. The name of a person does not mean self-will; the name of a person, a true person, means complete submission to the highest will, the visionary and infallible will of God.

Headstrong dwell in houses of madness and weeping, in houses of darkness and pitch and gnashing of teeth. Their body is darkness and gnashing of teeth; their soul is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Willfulness opens the gates for an undying worm that wears the sinner's body and soul.

Repentance is the discovery of a worm in oneself. Alas for me, when so many worms have accumulated in me! Alas for me, who will free me from so many disgusting worms that live in me! So a horrified sinner cries out when his eyes open and he will see what lives in him. Today's Gospel Reading describes one of the repentant sinners, a short man of Zacchaeus, who rose to a height to see Christ the Most High; who has repented himself with repentance, to meet Christ the Most Pure;and who was healed from the spiritual leprosy of covetousness and cruelty by the power of Christ the Almighty. The Lord turned many sinners to repentance, he found and saved many who were lost; He called many of the lost and returned to the right path. But Providence was pleased that only a few examples of repentance were recorded in the Gospel, those that are typical and instructive for all human generations. The example of the Apostle Peter shows a fall that has been repeated because of fear from people and a repentance repeated because of God's love. The example of a woman sinner shows the leprosy of fornication and the healing of this leprosy. The example of Zacchaeus shows the leprosy of covetousness and the healing of this leprosy. An example of a robber repentant on a cross shows the power and salvation of repentance of the most inveterate criminals even at the hour of death. These are encouraging examples of repentance leading to life. These are all patterns of repentance shown to us, so that we can choose the path and method of our own salvation, corresponding to our sinful state. But there is a repentance fatal and deadly, hopeless and suicidal. Such was the repentance of Judas the traitor. I have sinned, having betrayed the Blood innocent, - he said, went out, went and hung himself (Matt.27: 4-5). Such repentance, leading to despair and suicide, is not a Christian blessed repentance, but a satanic grudge against oneself, towards the world and life; Satanic disdain for oneself, peace and life.

At that time, Jesus entered Jericho and passed through it. And so, someone named Zacchaeus, the head of tax collectors and a rich man, was looking to see Jesus, who He was, but could not follow the people, because he was small, and ran ahead and climbed onto the fig tree to see Him, because He had to pass by it. This was at a time when the Lord performed another miracle in Jericho, namely, when He returned sight to the blind Bartimaeus. For even that which the Lord hath done with Zacchaeus is a miracle, scarcely less than the healing of a blind man. He opened bodily eyes to Bartimaeus, and spiritual eyes to this Zaccheus.Bartimaeus he cured from the blindness of his eyes, and Zacchaeus - from the blindness of the soul. To Bartimaeus, He opened the windows so that he could see the miracles of God in the material world, and Zacchaeus opened the window to the miracles of God in the heavenly, spiritual world. The miracle of Zacchaeus interprets the miracle of Bartimaeus. The attainment of bodily vision must serve to the attainment of spiritual vision.Each miracle, created by our Lord Jesus Christ, had first of all a spiritual goal, consisting mainly in giving spiritual vision to blinded humanity, that it would see the presence of God, the power of God, and the mercy of God. This goal was achieved in part, for example, in the healing of ten lepers; for only one of them, having healed physically, was healed and with his soul and returned to thank the Lord (Luke 17: 12-20). But in the case of the blind Bartimaeus, as in most others, this goal has been fully achieved. Having come to see with the eyes of the Lord with the eyes of the body, Bartimaeus immediately received his sight and spirit, for immediately he knew the presence of God, the omnipotence of God, and the mercy of God — and he immediately received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God (Luke 18: 43). And not only blind Bartimaeus received his sight, but, seeing the miracle created by the Lord over the blind Bartimaeus, many others saw the spirit; for it is said: and all the people, seeing this, gave praise to God. Probably, this miracle influenced the publican Zacchaeus, opening his spiritual eyes. There is no doubt also that he should have heard a lot before about the wondrous deeds and the wondrous person of our Lord Jesus Christ, since he had such an irresistible desire to see Him, that in order to accomplish it, Zaccheus had to push forward through the crowd of people who were taller than him, and even climb a tree. Tax collectors were considered to be very sinful and unclean people, since, while collecting state tax from the people, they also mercilessly extorted money in their favor. Therefore, tax collectors were equated with the pagans (Matt.18: 17). And if tax collectors generally enjoyed such a bad reputation, what was the reputation of one of their superiors? And one of these notorious chiefs of publicans was this little Zakhey. He was the chief of tax collectors and was a rich man, that is, he was despised and jealous of him. Contempt and envy are always the essence of two closely spaced walls, between which the soul of a rich sinner squeezes through this life. But in the sinner of Zacchaeus, the man Zacchaeus awakened, who rebelled against the sinner in himself and with all his strength rushed forward and upward to see Christ, to see the Man without sin, to see his pure, most pure type. So, the man Zaccheus climbed onto a tall, branchy and gnarled fig tree near the road that the Lord had to go. What was the reputation of one of their bosses? And one of these notorious chiefs of publicans was this little Zakhey. He was the chief of tax collectors and was a rich man, that is, he was despised and jealous of him. Contempt and envy are always the essence of two closely spaced walls, between which the soul of a rich sinner squeezes through this life. But in the sinner of Zacchaeus, the man Zacchaeus awakened, who rebelled against the sinner in himself and with all his strength rushed forward and upward to see Christ, to see the Man without sin, to see his pure, most pure type. So, the man Zaccheus climbed onto a tall, branchy and gnarled fig tree near the road that the Lord had to go. What was the reputation of one of their bosses? And one of these notorious chiefs of publicans was this little Zakhey. He was the chief of tax collectors and was a rich man, that is, he was despised and jealous of him. Contempt and envy are always the essence of two closely spaced walls, between which the soul of a rich sinner squeezes through this life. But in the sinner of Zacchaeus, the man Zacchaeus awakened, who rebelled against the sinner in himself and with all his strength rushed forward and upward to see Christ, to see the Man without sin, to see his pure, most pure type. So, the man Zaccheus climbed onto a tall, branchy and gnarled fig tree near the road that the Lord had to go. Contempt and envy are always the essence of two closely spaced walls, between which the soul of a rich sinner squeezes through this life. But in the sinner of Zacchaeus, the man Zacchaeus awakened, who rebelled against the sinner in himself and with all his strength rushed forward and upward to see Christ, to see the Man without sin, to see his pure, most pure type. So, the man Zaccheus climbed onto a tall, branchy and gnarled fig tree near the road that the Lord had to go. Contempt and envy are always the essence of two closely spaced walls, between which the soul of a rich sinner squeezes through this life. But in the sinner of Zacchaeus, the man Zacchaeus awakened, who rebelled against the sinner in himself and with all his strength rushed forward and upward to see Christ, to see the Man without sin, to see his pure, most pure type. So, the man Zaccheus climbed onto a tall, branchy and gnarled fig tree near the road that the Lord had to go.

When Jesus came to this place, he looked, saw him, and said to him: Zacchaeus! Come quickly, for today I must be at your house. And he hastily come down and received Him with joy. From these words it appears that it was not Zacchaeus who first saw the Lord, but the Lord Zacchaeus. The Savior, having looked, saw him and called. The Lord saw Zacchaeus with his spiritual vision much earlier, and with His bodily eyes he saw him when he came to this place. And although the little Zacchaeus climbed out of the mass of people and climbed onto a fig tree, yet the Lord noticed him from the ground and from the crowd before he was Lord of the height of the tree. Oh, how penetrating the Lord our God is! He sees us even when we are not aware of this. While we seek Him, making every effort to find Him and see Him, He stands beside us and looks at us. He always sees us before we do. If we were to focus our mind on Him, searching for Him, only desiring Him, then He would appear to us and call us by name so that we would also descend from the high and dangerous rocks of carnal wisdom and go down in our heart — go down in prayer mind your heart is your true home. Then the Lord would say to each of us: today I need to be at your house. For when the human mind descends into the heart and, after having washed with tears in the heart, reaches out to the Living God, then the heart becomes a place where God meets man. This is the inner or spiritual meaning of this event. Then the Lord would say to each of us: today I need to be at your house. For when the human mind descends into the heart and, after having washed with tears in the heart, reaches out to the Living God, then the heart becomes a place where God meets man. This is the inner or spiritual meaning of this event. Then the Lord would say to each of us: today I need to be at your house. For when the human mind descends into the heart and, after having washed with tears in the heart, reaches out to the Living God, then the heart becomes a place where God meets man. This is the inner or spiritual meaning of this event.

And he hastily came down and received Him with joy. How not to rush to the voice, quickening the dead and barring the winds, healing the demon-possessed and dissolving the petrified hearts of sinners with tears? How not to accept to come, whom he wanted at least from afar to sneak a peek? And how not to feel the joy unspeakable, seeing Him in his house, in which nobody’s foot dared to step, except for the feet of intimidated sinners? But so the Lord has mercy when He has mercy. So the Lord gives when He gives. The desperate fishermen are so overwhelmed by the net that it breaks through, thousands of hungry people in a deserted place saturate so abundantly that many baskets of pieces remain; those who ask for help give health not only physical but also spiritual; sinners are not forgiven of individual sins, leaving others to them, but forgiving them all. Regal gestures everywhere, royal mercy and royal bounty of gifts! So in this case: Zacchaeus wants only to see Him, and He does not just let him see Him, but hurries first to go to Zacchaeus, and He also enters the shelter of his house. So does the Lord. But how do ordinary sinners, self-satisfied and self-proclaimed "righteous" act:

And everyone, seeing this, began to grumble, and said that He had come to the sinful man. Oh, the unspeakable misfortune of man - a language that is ahead of the mind! Embittered soul and relaxed mind, these people scream, mock and grumble, before thinking about the intention of our Lord Jesus Christ and the possible change in the heart of a sinful Zaccheus. In their short thoughts, our Lord Jesus Christ comes to the house of Zacchaeus because of ignorance of the sins of this man. The Pharisees also judged myopically when the Lord allowed a sinful woman to wash His feet - This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what woman touches Him, for she is a sinner (Luke 7:39). So they judged and so they judge today, all those people who think with the carnal mind and evaluate others in appearance, not knowing the depth of either God's mercy or the human heart. Christ has said many times that he came into this world for the sake of sinners, and most of all for the sake of the greatest sinners. And just as the doctor is in a hurry to visit not the healthy, but the sick, so the Lord hurried to visit not the healthy by the truth, but the sick of sin. The Gospel does not say that the Lord in this case entered the house of some righteous man of Jericho, but He hastened to turn into the house of sinful Zacchaeus. Doesn't every reasonable doctor do the same when entering the hospital? Is he in no hurry to go to the beds of the most painful patients first? The whole earth represents a huge hospital, overflowing with sick people infected with sin. All people are sick in comparison with the health of Christ; all are weak in comparison with the omnipotence of Christ; all are ugly compared to the beauty of Christ. But among people there are more and less sick ,more and less weak, more and less ugly. The first are called righteous the second are sinners. And the Heavenly Physician, descending to the earth not in order to have fun, but to urgently treat and save the plague-ridden, in the first place he hurried to help the most seriously ill. Therefore, He ate and drank with sinners; therefore, He allowed sinners to weep at His feet; and therefore he came under the shelter of sinful Zacchaeus. But, by the way, this Zacchaeus at the moment when he met with Christ was by no means the most plagued man in Jericho. His heart suddenly changed, and at that moment he truly became a much healthier, stronger and more beautiful righteous man than all these grunts and mockers. For he repented of all his sins, and his heart suddenly changed. And that his heart has changed, shows the following:

Zacchaeus, having become, said to the Lord: Lord! I will give half of my estate to a beggar, and if I offended anyone, I will pay four times. Who demanded that of him? No one. Who accused him of kidnapping someone else? No one. The very presence of the most pure and sinless Lord Zacchaeus felt as an accusation to himself, and this very presence, without words, confession and explanation, prompted him to take such a step. A penitential heart understands God without words. God quickly reveals to the repentant what to do next. As soon as a person sincerely repents of his sin, God immediately by His power motivates him to create the fruits of repentance. Still, St. John the Baptist showed people a whole method of true repentance. First he called people to repentance: repent. And immediately after this: create the worthy fruit of repentance (Matt.3: 2-8)! And here is a sinner who hastily studied this method and applied it! Only when he heard about our Lord Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus rebelled against himself, having seen Him, he sincerely abhorred his sinfulness; and now, when the Honorable Doctor has given him such attention and entered his house, he is bearing the fruits of repentance. He knows his main disease and now, he immediately applies the main cure for this disease. Zacchaeus disease is avarice; the cure for it is mercy. Even in antiquity it was said: He who loves silver, will not be satisfied with silver (Eccl. 5:10). Zacchaeus loved silver and spent his entire past life accumulating it in all ways, mostly sinful. This is a disease, irrevocably bringing a person into the abyss. This is fire, the more inflamed, the more wealth increases. There is no amount of money that could satiate a silver fox. How the fire cannot say: " Do not put more firewood in me, enough from me! "- so the passion of avarice cannot pronounce the words:" Enough! "From this passion a person cannot escape himself, with his own forces. Only the presence of God, instills human shame in the heart, can quench it and fear, and besides shame and fear, there is also the knowledge that there is more silver and gold. Outside of the presence of Christ, Zacchaeus would have lived his sinful age, like all other tax collectors, would have been scorned and cursed — and would have been forgotten. would not fit in the gospel on earth and in the Book of the Living to Heaven. But the presence of the living God revived his soul, before killing the passion of avarice, and made him a new man, reborn and resurrected from the dead. This is the immortal lesson to all the people, who teaches.

But see how Zacchaeus confesses his sin. He does not say: "Lord, I am a sinful man!" and does not say: "My disease - avarice!" No, but, bearing the fruits of repentance, he himself confesses both his sin and his illness. I will give half of my estate to a beggar. Is this a clear confession of his passion for covetousness? And, if someone offended, repay fourfold. And is this not a clear confession that his wealth is acquired by sinful ways? He did not say to the Lord before this: "I have sinned and repent!" He silently confessed this to the Lord in his heart, and the Lord silently accepted his confession and his repentance. It is more important for the Lord that a person, with his heart, not with his tongue, recognizes and confesses his illness and cries out for help. For words can lie, but the heart does not lie. Take a look now, how Zacchaeus redeems his sin and what efforts he, for his part, makes to come out of the light from the shadow cast by the accursed passion of avarice! He immediately promises to give half of his estate to the poor - he, with every received coin, admiring and hiding it away from human eyes; he never knew bliss to give! But that's not all. He tries his best to correct and atone for the grievances caused to people and offers to pay back four times to anyone from whom he took something unrighteous. The law of Moses is much softer with sinners than this Zacchaeus did to himself. The law of Moses says: if a man or a woman commits any sin against a man, and through it makes a crime against the Lord, and the soul is guilty, then let them confess their sin, which they have done, and return in full what they are guilty , and they shall add to it the fifth part, and will give to the one against whom they have sinned (Num.5: 6-7). It was prescribed to do this to those who confessed their sin. Zacchaeus, confessing in his sin, thus, should, according to the law, return to everyone who was offended by him, as much as he took away, and moreover one-fifth of this amount. But Zacchaeus refers to himself more severely than the law; he wants to apply to himself the position of the law, which concerned thieves and fraudsters, not confessing their sins, but caught at the crime scene; he wants to give those who are offended to give four times as much (Ex. 22:4). Thus, anyone who truly repents, becomes merciful to others and unmerciful to himself. thus, he would, according to the law, have to return to everyone who was offended by him, as much as he took, and moreover one-fifth of this amount.

Jesus said to him, “Now salvation has come to this house, because he is also the son of Abraham. Such was the response of our Lord Jesus Christ to the little Zacchaeus on his heartfelt repentance, on his spiritual joy, and on the fruits of repentance shown. The following and concluding words: for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost — that was the answer of Christ to the short-sighted sages and grumblers who chided the Lord for coming to the house of a sinful man. While walking down the street to the house of Zacchaeus; while they grumbled and resented this obscene visitation, the Savior was silent and waited. What was he waiting for? He waited for the hearts of the inhuman grumblers to be fully opened, and the heart of repentant Zacchaeus; allowed the demon of their malice to reach the summit of triumph, so that his defeat would be clearer and more obvious to all. Such is the tactic of God's victory. God never hurries at the first meeting with evil to show his weakness and His power, but waits until it rises in its arrogance to the clouds, in order then to destroy the evil only by the breath of His mouth. Evil is so insignificant in comparison with the power of God, that if God did not allow evil to grow, how much it can grow in order to then intervene with His power, people would never have realized the greatness of God's power. Having granted freedom to both hell and earthly forces on Calvary, the Almighty immediately showed Hell and the earth His unprecedented power through the Resurrection. The same method is used by the Lord in this case with Zacchaeus. He calmly goes to the house of Zacchaeus; screamers scream, murmurs grumble, mockers mock, but He is silent and goes. He walks into the house of Zacchaeus; the self-proclaimed "righteous" remain outside the house belonging to the sinner out of fear, as if not to be dirty; and again the screamers, the murmuring of murmurs and the mockers continue to scream even louder. So the triumph of malice reaches its extreme point. All screaming, grumbling, and mocking are already convinced that they are absolutely right, and Christ is wrong; that they know well the sinner Zacchaeus, but Christ does not know him; that they firmly follow the law, and Christ broke the law by crossing the threshold of the house of the sinner; that they do not allow themselves to be deceived, but Christ was deceived! Hence the logical conclusion for them that Christ is not the true teacher, prophet, or Messiah; for if He were all this, or at least one of that, he would know who Zacchaeus was and would not have come under his roof. And it means: "We, the people of Jericho, today caught Jesus Christ in a trap, and now we will save the world from great self-deception, as if He was the Messiah and Son of God!" Here is their triumph. Here is their victory. Here is the rise of evil to the clouds. At the same time, Zacchaeus is growing, becoming more and more kind and newer person. And the Lord, looking less at the hypocritical and evil crowd than at the renewal of Zacchaeus's heart, quietly stands and waits until all is accomplished, and then the time comes for Him to say. And when the anger rises to the clouds, when all the solid mold falls from the sinner’s old heart, then Zacchaeus opens his mouth and says to everyone, except for Christ, the unexpected: I will give half of my property to the poor. Is it not thunder, suddenly dispersed the arrogant cloud? Why are you suddenly silenced, Jericho? Why don't you shout, yell and mock? Why are words stuck in your throat? Who was deceived: Christ or you? Who better knew Zacchaeus: you or Christ? Who is the greater righteous now? Are you or Zacchaeus? At the same time, Zacchaeus is growing, becoming more and more kind and newer person. And the Lord, looking less at the hypocritical and evil crowd than at the renewal of Zakheyev's heart, quietly stands and waits until all is accomplished, and then the time comes for Him to say. And when the anger rises to the clouds, when all the solid mold falls from the sinner’s old heart, then Zacchaeus opens his mouth and says to everyone, except for Christ, the unexpected: I will give half of my property to the poor. Is it not thunder, suddenly dispersed the arrogant cloud? Why are you suddenly silenced, Jericho? Why don't you shout, yell and mock? Why are words stuck in your throat? Who was deceived: Christ or you? Who better knew Zacchaeus: you or Christ? Who is the greater righteous now? Are you or Zacchaeus? At the same time, Zacchaeus is growing, becoming more and more kind and newer person. And the Lord, looking less at the hypocritical and evil crowd than at the renewal of Zakheyev's heart, quietly stands and waits until all is accomplished, and then the time comes for Him to say. And when the anger rises to the clouds, when all the solid mold falls from the sinner’s old heart, then Zacchaeus opens his mouth and says to everyone, except for Christ, the unexpected: I will give half of my property to the poor. Is it not thunder, suddenly dispersed the arrogant cloud? Why are you suddenly silenced, Jericho? Why don't you shout, yell and mock? Why are words stuck in your throat? Who was deceived: Christ or you? Who better knew Zacchaeus: you or Christ? Who is the greater righteous now? Are you or Zacchaeus? becoming more kind and newer person. And the Lord, looking less at the hypocritical and evil crowd than at the renewal of Zakheyev's heart, quietly stands and waits until all is accomplished, and then the time comes for Him to say. And when the anger rises to the clouds, when all the solid mold falls from the sinner’s old heart, then Zacchaeus opens his mouth and says to everyone, except for Christ, the unexpected: I will give half of my property to the poor. Is it not thunder, suddenly dispersed the arrogant cloud?Why are you suddenly silenced, Jericho? Why don't you shout, yell and mock? Why are words stuck in your throat? Who was deceived: Christ or you? Who better knew Zacchaeus: you or Christ? Who is the greater righteous now? Are you or Zacchaeus? becoming more kind and newer person. And the Lord, looking less at the hypocritical and evil crowd than at the renewal of Zakheyev's heart, quietly stands and waits until all is accomplished, and then the time comes for Him to say. And when the anger rises to the clouds, when all the solid mold falls from the sinner’s old heart, then Zacchaeus opens his mouth and says to everyone, except for Christ, the unexpected: I will give half of my property to the poor. Is it not thunder, suddenly dispersed the arrogant cloud? Why are you suddenly silenced, Jericho? Why don't you shout, yell and mock? Why are words stuck in your throat? Who was deceived: Christ or you? Who better knew Zacchaeus: you or Christ? Who is the greater righteous now? Are you or Zacchaeus?

How merciful and meek the Lord! Like a mild lamb, and this time He stands among people angry with invisible wolves. And how calm and confident He is in His victory, now, as always! How calmly He waits for His hour! And when His time comes, He first turns to the patient, for whose sake he turned off the road to his house: now the salvation of this house has come. With these words, the Heavenly Doctor gives the patient a certificate stating that he has recovered and is ready to join healthy people after discharge from the hospital. The blindness fell from his soul, as well as from Bartimaeus's eyes, and now he can freely follow the path of truth and mercy. But in order for this help to be clearer and to everyone standing around, the Lord also adds: because he is also the son of Abraham. The real son of Abraham, in spirit and truth, and not only by name and by blood, like others, their origin from Abraham only by name and by blood praised! Abraham was a man-loving, d, non-addictive, gentle and full of the fear of God, faith and joy about the Holy Spirit. So this was the little Zacchaeus. Abraham, for his high virtues, was honored to become the spiritual ancestor of all the righteous. That is why Zacchaeus, through repentance, becomes his true descendant, his son in spirit. The Lord announces this, Zaccheas for consolation, and his accusers for reflection. And he declares last to them: for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. That is: to exact those sinners whom no one is looking for, but all repel, and to save those who are both the world and they themselves consider to be lost. For the Great Immigrant descended from heaven in order to save not so much the lepers and the blind, possessed, and to resurrect the dead, who live in graves. In another place, the Lord says: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt. 9:13; 1Tim.1: 15). O brethren, do you know that this word applies to us? Do you know that we are also sinners, for the sake of whom the Lord the Blessed One came down to earth? Unshaken love for us brought Him down from heaven to earth, to claim the lost and to save the sinners.Oh, look at the little Zacchaeus, whom his desire to see the Lord has made great. This, and now Christ is approaching us, as He did Zacchaeus, surrounded by masses of people, innumerable masses of the righteous, and murmur. The whole history of man, consisting of a two-thousand-year-old rumble behind and around Him, leans over us. Do not you hear the hubbub and buzz? This whole past is racing towards you and beside you. And in the center of a multi-million crowd, the humble Lord and Savior strides. Hurry up, climb the heights to see the Lord. Everything else, former and existing, is not so worthy of sight. Climb above the muddy road that you still wandered, climb a tall tree: It will certainly pass by. Oh, the one who is called by the sweetest voice, whose sweetness and the angels revel, are everlasting!

Verily, repentance is the first step of the ladder leading into the kingdom of God. No one could ever step on the second step without first stepping on this first. In the emptiness of life, this repentance is the first and only true knock at the heavenly door. You can beat your fists into the walls of a house as many times as you want, no one will hear you and no one will open. But knock on the door and they will open it for you. Repentance is a knock not on the wall, but on the true door leading to light and salvation. He who sincerely repented and wished to enter the house of his Heavenly Father, has already knocked on the only gate through which one can enter this house.

The love of money is blinding; only Christ gives sight to the blind. The love of money makes a man lonely and shackles him with chains of slavery; Christ leads the lonely man out of his loneliness and introduces angels into the assembly, and unchains a slave, and makes him free. And to all who repent, who have risen to see Him, He reveals himself, and to whom he will appear, all the mysteries of Heaven and earth and all the innumerable and everlasting treasures that God, from the creation of the world, prepared for those who love Him, are revealed and made clear. The Lord and Savior of Jesus Christ of this, befits honor and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit , now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.