Orthodox believers honor Great Tuesday today - the second day of Holy Week, the last week of Great Lent.

According to legend, on this day one should remember Jesus and the conversations that he had with his followers and with ordinary people. In particular, we recall the denunciation of the Pharisees and scribes by Christ, as well as the parables uttered in the Jerusalem Temple - about the resurrection of the dead, about the Last Judgment, and some others.

Great Tuesday of Passion Week of Great Lent, history

According to the Gospels, on Tuesday morning Christ came to the Temple in Jerusalem, where he preached to the people for the last time. He made a diatribe about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who, with cunning and flattering words, wanted to “confuse” Jesus and give a reason to report him to the Roman authorities. They asked, “What do you think? Is it permissible to give tribute to Caesar or not? (John 8:49). If Christ answered "yes", the Pharisees would accuse him of supporting the Roman authorities, the answer "no" could serve as a pretext to declare Jesus a rebel. But Christ asked to bring a Roman coin, a denarius, on which the image of the emperor, Caesar, was minted, and said: “Give therefore what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God” (Matthew 22:21). The theological meaning of these words was that secular authorities should not interfere in the affairs of faith, and the teachings of Christ are outside politics.

After leaving the temple, Christ told his disciples about future events - about the destruction of Jerusalem and about the Second Coming of the Savior. The prophecy about the fate of the capital of the Jews came true in 70 AD. e., when the city of Jerusalem was taken by storm and destroyed to the ground by the emperor Titus. When asked by the disciples exactly when to wait for the Second Coming, Christ answered evasively and advised at any moment to be ready to meet God, “because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come” (Matt. 24:42).

Of all the gospel instructions uttered by Christ on Tuesday, the Church especially reveres the parable of the ten virgins. The parable tells how ten virgins, taking their lamps, went out to meet the Bridegroom. The five wise virgins took a supply of lamp oil with them, while the other five virgins did not think about it. At midnight, it turned out that the five foolish virgins ran out of oil and the lamps stopped burning. The wise virgins took advantage of the supply of oil - their lamps did not go out. While the rest of the virgins were buying oil, the doors of the house where they were supposed to enter to meet the Bridegroom were already closed. In this parable, virgins symbolically represent Christians, lamps symbolize human souls, and oil for lamps symbolize good deeds. The bridegroom in this story is Jesus Christ himself. The moral of the parable is that wise Christians should “stock up” in advance with good and good deeds, and the fire of their souls will not go out until the Savior (the Last Judgment) arrives. When exactly this event is coming, Christ again does not mention directly, but only instructs: “Watch, because you do not know the day or the hour when the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 25:13).

The second parable of the talents is, as it were, a continuation of the parable of the ten virgins. Talents are the coins of that era. The parable tells how the Master (symbolically - Jesus Christ), going to another country, called his slaves (the prototype of the disciples and followers of Christ) and entrusted them with his estate. One got 5 talents, the other two, the third got only one. After He left, the one who got five coins used them for business and acquired five more coins, the second slave did the same - and received two more coins. The last slave who got one talent buried it in the garden in the ground. When the Master returned, he demanded a report on the talents entrusted to the slaves. Those who increased his gifts, He praised, and those who buried the talent in the ground, He punished with expulsion from their possessions. The Church cites this parable as an edification to those who decided not to multiply God's gifts (which was symbolized by talents), not to use them for works of mercy, but to "bury them in the ground", thereby dooming themselves to exile from the Kingdom of God after the Last Judgment.

Chants from the Tuesday Service of Holy Week of Great Lent

Having slumbered with mental laziness, not gaining, Zhenishe Christ, a burning lamp, like from the virtues, and became like virgins, mocking while doing; Do not close the wombs of Thy bounties to me, Lord, but shake off my darkened dream, raise up, O Merciful One, and with the wise bring the virgins into Thy chamber, where the voice of those who are celebrating and crying out unceasingly: Lord, glory to Thee!

Lulled by spiritual laziness, I did not acquire, Christ the Bridegroom, a burning lamp, which is the virtues, and became like unreasonable virgins in my senseless life activity, Master! Do not close Your loving heart for me, but, driving away my sleepless sleep, rise and lead me with the wise virgins into Your chamber, where the joyful voice of those celebrating and crying out incessantly: Lord, glory to You!

Traditions for Maundy Tuesday

In Rus', in the morning, Orthodox believers set about making juicy milk. For this, linseed and hemp seeds were crushed in a mortar with the addition of water. Juiced milk was given to livestock to prevent diseases. They also sprinkled their homes with it in order to protect themselves from evil spirits, the evil eye and illness. Only women were allowed to prepare juiced milk on Maundy Tuesday, because it was believed that otherwise the milk would lose its wonderful properties. It was noted that if the cattle did not drink juicy milk, then they did not expect any use from such living creatures. It was believed that such cattle are either sick or smoothed.

Parables of the Unfaithful and Discreet Servants

On Good Tuesday, Christ told the Jews how one master, leaving his house, left two slaves on the farm. One slave prudently managed the affairs of his master, the other, on the contrary, behaved inappropriately and beat his own kind. The owner suddenly returned. The prudent slave became the steward, and the second slave was put to death.

The bottom line is that people should be ready to worthily stand before the Lord, strengthen their faith, do good deeds, because then it will be too late to change anything, and the clergy call for this in their prayers offered on Great Tuesday.

Every day of Holy Week is full of deep meaning and filled with memories that are important for all Christians. These days, services are held in churches that help believers to touch the great events of the last days of the Savior's earthly life and prepare for the most important holiday in the Christian Church - Easter. Therefore, it is very important to visit the temple these days in order to get rid of the pre-holiday fuss and feel the significance of the events that took place more than two thousand years in Jerusalem and its environs.

Maundy Tuesday Events
Thanks to the stories of the evangelists, we know quite a lot about the events of each day of Holy Week. The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew tells that on Tuesday night the Savior was in Bethany, in a village located not far from Jerusalem. In the morning Christ returned to Jerusalem, where he taught the people in the temple, and this sermon was so strong and bright that, according to St. Theophan the Recluse, it alone was enough to believe in the Divine origin of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees, who had long wanted to get rid of Him, wanted to use this sermon to turn either the people or the Roman authorities against the Savior. Wishing to provoke Him, the teachers of the people ask a question, which, it would seem, cannot be answered without causing indignation of the people. The Pharisees asked Christ: “Teacher! we know that you are just, and you truly teach the way of God, and do not care about pleasing anyone, for you do not look at any person. So tell us: what do you think? Is it permissible to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Mt.22, 16:17) With an affirmative answer, one could accuse the Lord Jesus Christ of supporting the Roman invaders, which would have angered the people. When denying the tax, the Pharisees could say that He is a rebel protesting against the power of Caesar. The Lord commanded to bring a denarius, a Roman coin, and pointing to the fact that Caesar is depicted on it, he said: “Give therefore what is Caesar’s to Caesar, and what is God’s to God” (Matthew 22:21). The words of the Lord, in addition to a direct answer to the question of the Pharisees, contained the deep meaning that secular authorities should not interfere in the affairs of the Church, and for believers, Divine teaching should be above all. Ashamed by this answer, the Pharisees turned away from Christ.
After leaving the Temple in Jerusalem, the Lord foretold to His disciples the fate of this city and the temple itself. The Evangelist Matthew writes: “And going out, Jesus walked from the temple; and his disciples came to show him the buildings of the temple. Jesus said to them, Do you see all this? Truly, I say to you, no stone will be left here on stone; everything will be destroyed." (Matthew 24, 2:3). This prediction was fulfilled in the year 70 from the Nativity of Christ, when the capital of the Kingdom of Judah was almost completely wiped off the face of the earth by the Romans.
Further, the Lord begins to speak to the disciples about the end of the world and about the Second Coming, calling upon His disciples to be constantly awake and in anticipation not only of these great events, but also to be ready at every moment to stand before God.

Parables of Holy Tuesday
At the Liturgy of the Most Reverend Gifts on this day, the parables of the ten virgins and the talents are read. The parable of the ten virgins is found in the Evangelist Matthew. In it, the Lord tells how ten virgins were preparing to meet the bridegroom with lamps. This image was close and understandable to the contemporaries of the Savior, since at that time in the east there was a custom according to which the groom came to the bride's house accompanied by relatives and friends. Since this arrival often took place at night, the bridesmaids met the dear guest with lamps. In the parable, the five girls were sensible and they prepared the butter beforehand, but the five other girls did not take care of it. When they went to the merchant for oil, the bridegroom came, and the doors to the wedding feast were closed. The Lord Himself interprets this parable to the disciples, saying that no one knows the time of the coming of the Son of Man. By oil, the holy fathers understand the virtues that the soul of a Christian must take care of before the coming of the Lord.
In the parable of the talents, the Lord also speaks allegorically about His Second Coming and the need for every person to be prepared for this event. In this story, the master, leaving, gives each of his slaves one or more talents, that is, coins, so that they use this money to good use. Returning, the owner of the house demands an account from them, and each of the slaves tells how he used what was given to him with benefit. Only one slave could not increase the talent entrusted to him, for which he was expelled from home in disgrace.

Troparion, tone 8:
Behold, the Bridegroom is coming at midnight, and blessed is the servant, whom the vigilante will find him: he is not worthy of the pack, he will be found in the despondent. Watch over me, my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, but you will not be given over to death and the Kingdom will be shut up outside, but rise up, calling: Holy, Holy, Holy Thou, God, have mercy on us with the Theotokos.

Kontakion, voice 2:
Hour, soul, thinking of the end and fearing the cutting of the fig tree, diligently work the talent given to you, accursed, vigilant and calling: let us not abide outside the chamber of Christ.

Prayer (Great Compline, Canto 8):
Angels and heaven, on the throne of glory sitting and like God unceasingly glorified, bless, sing and exalt him forever.
Thou hast heard every soul how Christ proclaimed His divine disciple, saying the end: having understood thy end, prepare the rest: the time of the exodus is coming.
Thou hast known a barren soul, a crafty servant, a parable;
May the light be clear, may this oil and oil be poured out, as if compassion for the virgins, may you then open the chamber of Christ to my soul.
On Saturday, flight and in the winter the Teacher speaks, the seventh storm predicts the present century, in it he will find death like winter.
Like the speed of lightning is transient, so then there will be a terrible coming of your Lord, my soul: you heard, you are ready to be the rest.
When the Judge comes with thousands, and darknesses of angelic ranks and powers, then what fear to my soul, what trembling, alas! All standing naked.
Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord.
There is only one God, the Trinity, who did not step into sonship with the Father, changed below to the Son in the procession, but characteristic, and both Light, God, Three I glorify forever.
Through the prayers of God, Mother of God, accept our prayer, grant Thy mercy to all richly, and give Thy peace to Thy people.

Today, Christians remember the day when Jesus Christ in the Temple in Jerusalem told the disciples about His second coming and told the parables of the ten virgins and the talents.

At Matins on Great Tuesday, the Church remembers the events described by the Evangelist Matthew in chapters 22 and 23. The content of the service is borrowed from the parables of the ten virgins, about the talents, and from the continuation of the story of the second coming of Christ.

On Tuesday night, Jesus Christ also spent in Bethany, and in the morning he again came to the temple of Jerusalem and taught a lot in the temple and outside the temple. The chief priests and elders, hearing His parables, and realizing that His reproofs were against them, wanted to seize Him. But they were afraid to attack Him openly: the people revered Jesus as a prophet.

Caesar - Caesar's. Dialogue with the Pharisees and Sadducees

The expulsion of the merchants from the Temple and the parable of the evil vinedressers angered the representatives of the Jewish religious and political elite, the Pharisees and Sadducees. In order to undermine the authority of Christ, they approached Him with tricky, as it seemed to them, trap questions.

The first question was: is it permissible to give tribute to Caesar, that is, the Roman emperor? If Christ had answered in the affirmative, it would have given the Pharisees an excuse to undermine His authority in the eyes of the people. At the time of Christ, the Jewish people saw the Messiah as an ideal earthly king who would achieve independence and prosperity for the Jews. A person who approved the payment of tribute to the Roman emperor lost his messianic dignity in the eyes of the people.

If Christ had answered in the negative, He could have been accused of separatism before the Roman authorities. The Lord's answer startled the questioners and silenced them. Jesus Christ separated religion and politics, service to the state and service to God, calling to give "to Caesar what is Caesar's, and what is God's to God."

The next question to Christ was asked by the Sadducees. They denied the resurrection of the dead and therefore simulated an absurd family situation. In Jewish family practice, the law of levirate was in force: in the event of the death of her husband, the widow, if the marriage was childless, was obliged to marry the closest relative of her husband, most often a brother. The firstborn born from this marriage was considered the child of the deceased first husband.

The Sadducees described the situation when a woman had seven husbands according to the law of the levirate, and asked Christ, whose wife would she be after the resurrection? Such a situation was in principle impossible, since superstitious Jews would not marry a woman whose two husbands had already died.

Christ pointed out to the Sadducees that after the resurrection from the dead, the old forms of human relationships would die out. The life of people will be like the life of angels who do not know friendship and family ties.

The lawyer addressed the third question to Christ. Lawyers in Judea were people who specialized in the study and interpretation of the Law of Moses. He asked Christ about the greatest commandment in the Law. Perhaps with this question the lawyer was trying to draw Jesus into a theological dispute. However, the Lord pointed to the dual commandment of love for God and neighbor, from which all the other commandments of Moses and the instructions of the prophets flow.

After that, Christ addressed the leaders of the Jewish people with a diatribe. He pointed out that, observing external, largely ostentatious religiosity, the leaders of the Jewish people consigned to oblivion the fundamental foundations of religious life - sincere faith and mercy towards one's neighbor.

The Savior ended his speech with formidable words addressed to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and in their person to all the Jews: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you! How many times have I wanted to gather your children together, as a bird gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want to! Behold, your house is left to you empty.”

Jesus knows that Jerusalem will reject her Messiah and will be ravaged and devastated in return. The prophecy of Christ will be fulfilled in the year 70 AD, when the city will be completely destroyed during the suppression of the Jewish uprising by the Romans.

Parables of Holy Tuesday

In the evening, Christ and his disciples sat on the slope of the Mount of Olives. The apostles asked Christ about the signs of His second coming and the end of the world. They were convinced that the end of the world would come after the destruction of Jerusalem. The Lord did not give the disciples a direct answer to their question. Christ put his instructions in the form of a parable. He told the disciples four parables: about a faithful servant, about ten virgins, about talents, about sheep and goats.

All parables are united by a common theme: the call for Christians to live a virtuous life, so that at any moment they are ready to give an answer to God about the life they have lived, like a faithful and prudent slave who was not taken by surprise by the unexpected return of his master.

In the parable of the sheep and the goats, the Lord gives Christians the highest motive for doing good deeds - pleasing God Himself. He who does good, thereby helps not only his neighbor, but also does what is pleasing to God. To serve the Lord and neighbor, each person receives from the Creator some gift - a talent, and the task of a person is to reveal it and use it for service in this world.

The parable of the talents tells of a ruler who, when leaving, distributes talents (an ancient measure of weight; - site) of silver to his servants. The servants use the silver and return the property to the returned master with a profit. But one servant, who got only one talent of silver, digs it into the ground and only returns it to the ruler, explaining that he understood that the owner would take everything from him anyway. The ruler generously endows the first servants, and severely punishes the latter for negligence.

However, the practice of virtue is not the end in itself of the Christian life. The parable of the ten virgins speaks of this.

The parable describes the ritual associated with marriage, adopted during the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The bridesmaids waited at night for the arrival of the groom. The groom entered, behind closed doors the marriage contract was signed and the wedding feast began. Those who were late to meet the groom were not allowed to the feast.

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov explained the meaning of this parable in this way: “Some say that the lack of oil among holy fools marks a lack of lifelong good deeds. This understanding is not entirely correct. What is their lack of good deeds? After all, virginity is the highest virtue, as a state equal to the angels, and could serve as a substitute, in itself, for all other virtues ... I, poor Seraphim, think that they lacked the grace of the All-Holy Spirit of God. While doing virtue, these virgins, due to their spiritual folly, believed that this was only a Christian thing, to do only virtues. We, de, will do virtues and so, de, and we did the work of God, but before they received the grace of the Spirit of God, whether they achieved it, they didn’t even care.”

On the Tuesday of Holy Week, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.

On the evening of Maundy Tuesday, Great Lenten Compline is served for the last time.

Troparion, tone 8:

Behold, the Bridegroom is coming at midnight, and blessed is the servant, whom the vigilante will find him: he is not worthy of the pack, he will be found in the despondent. Watch over me, my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, but you will not be given over to death and the Kingdom will be shut up outside, but rise up, calling: Holy, Holy, Holy Thou, God, have mercy on us with the Theotokos.

Kontakion, voice 2:

Hour, soul, thinking of the end and fearing the cutting of the fig tree, diligently work the talent given to you, accursed, vigilant and calling: let us not abide outside the chamber of Christ.

At the end of April 2016, Orthodox Christians are preparing for the meeting of the brightest holiday - the Resurrection of Christ, Easter of the Lord. the site continues to follow the Holy Week - the most important week in the history of Christianity. Next in line is Holy Tuesday: on this day, we remember the preaching of Christ in the Jerusalem temple and the teachings given by the Savior in the form of parables and answers to questions ..

History of the day: Sermon within the walls of the Temple

On Tuesday morning, Jesus Christ came from Bethany to Jerusalem and taught the people in the Jerusalem temple. The chief priests and elders tempted Christ with questions, wanted to arrest Him, but were afraid to do it openly because of the people who revered Jesus as a prophet, admired His teachings and listened attentively.

From the gospel instructions uttered by Christ on Tuesday, the Church chose for the edification of believers on this day mainly the parable of the ten virgins, as especially appropriate for the time of the Great Week, in which we should be most awake and pray.

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 these, five were wise and five were foolish. The foolish, taking their lamps, took no oil with them. The wise, along with their lamps, took oil in their vessels. And as the bridegroom slowed down, everyone dozed off and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry: behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. Then all the virgins got up and adjusted their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, Give us your oil, for our lamps are going out. And the wise answered: so that there is no shortage for us and for you, it is better to go to the seller and buy yourself.
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. Then other virgins also come and say: Lord! God! Open to us. And he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour when the Son of Man is coming.”

The wedding feast was chosen as an example as an event understandable to Jesus' contemporaries: according to the ancient eastern custom, the groom, accompanied by his relatives and friends, came to the bride's house. Since this was usually done at night, the bridesmaids, not knowing the exact time of the groom's arrival, stocked up on lamp oil and waited for the participants in the celebration. After the arrival of the groom, the doors of the house were closed, the marriage contract was signed and the wedding feast began.

With the parable of the ten virgins, the Church inspires the everlasting readiness to meet the Heavenly Bridegroom by chastity, almsgiving, and the immediate performance of other good deeds depicted under the name of oil prepared by wise virgins. According to interpretations Theophylact of Bulgaria, under the image of the virgins, the Lord offers a parable about almsgiving - the dream of the virgins means the physical death of a person, and the arrival of the groom symbolizes the second coming of Jesus.

Feofilakt calls lamps human souls who need oil - alms. With regard to the foolish virgins, he says that “they went to the sellers to buy oil, which means that they turned in their souls to the poor and began to think about what a good deed is alms and how they sinned against this virtue in their folly. ". When they returned and saw the locked door, this, according to his interpretation, means that after death there is no time for repentance.

About tribute to Caesar

The episode with "Caesar's denarius" is described in three books of the Gospel - in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Pharisees tried to compromise the Savior: testing the wisdom of Christ, the religious leaders of Judea asked whether it was necessary to pay taxes to the Roman emperor (Caesar, in the old Slavonic form - Caesar). At that time, this question was painful for the province conquered by the Romans: the answer "yes" would discredit Christ before the patriotic Jews and would turn out to be blasphemy, since the emperor was written on the coins as a god. However, not everything is clear: the answer "no" could be regarded as a call to rebellion and used to accuse the rebellion.

However, Christ asked to bring Him a coin - a Roman denarius, which then went to the provinces, and naturally, had an image of the emperor, and wisely reasoned:

“Whose image and inscription is this? They said to Him: Caesareans. Jesus answered and said to them: Give what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God. And they marveled at Him."

This was interpreted as follows - Christians are obliged to obey all earthly authorities, since they were appointed by God and disobedience to them is equated with disobedience to God. In addition, it is necessary to distinguish: the power of the earth comes and goes - and the power of God is unchanging over the world.

Good Tuesday: customs and traditions

On Tuesday of the last week of Great Lent in the villages, flax and hemp seeds are usually collected from the bins together, crushed in a mortar, and then juiced milk is prepared from them with water. All this is done in the morning, before dawn. Such milk is given to all domestic animals at dawn, as a precaution against future diseases.

Here is the main condition: men should not know this business, otherwise it will be useless. According to the remarks of the old women, it is known that if an animal does not drink juicy milk, then no good can be expected in it; it is then already either sick or enchanted.

Often on Good Tuesday, the end of work with clothes was carried out - washing, ironing and darning, so that nothing would distract from preparations for the bright Easter holiday. Particular attention is paid to the outfit for the Holy Resurrection - on this day, the dress in which Easter is celebrated must be completely finished.

The main sign on Good Tuesday is that if the day turned out to be damp, then the mushrooms will spring up in the summer. Also, the ancestors noted this day as the most useful for treatment: those who suffer from pain in the joints and lower back need to Holy Week stand on the threshold of your house and say a prayer three times:

“God, help me! Holy Mother of God, bless!
I pronounce my pain from all the joints,
I drive away my sickness with holy prayer.
Get the sickness out of my arms and my legs.
Cross my pain, my threshold.
Be you, my words, Strong and sculpting,
To the body of my tenacious.
Key, lock, tongue.
Amen. Amen. Amen".

Orthodox table and fasting on Tuesday of Holy Week

On Tuesday and Thursday of Holy Week, it is allowed to eat hot food without vegetable oil. On this occasion, accept advice from the fasting staff of the editorial site: again, as on Good Monday, you can use frozen mixtures of vegetables and fruits. However, now the possibilities are somewhat wider: you can safely add rice or buckwheat as a side dish to some of the vegetables. A special item - potatoes: the simplest, boiled or baked in foil, potatoes with herbs are the perfect solution for those who want to be energized for the whole day.

Tuesday of Holy Week is one of the most important days of the liturgical year full of deep spiritual meaning. On this day, as many as four chapters from the Gospel are read in churches, the content of which is comprehended, first of all, in relation to the life of every person, humanity and the Church as a whole, in canons and hymns, masterpieces of ancient Christian poetry.

On Great Tuesday, we remember the Lord’s denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, His conversations and parables spoken on that day in the Jerusalem temple: about the tribute of Caesar, about the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and the end of the world, the parables of the ten virgins and the talents. The parables depict the unexpectedness of the coming of the Lord (about ten virgins) and the righteousness of God's judgment (about talents).

The Son of God came down to earth, incarnated for each of us. The Lord suffered a lot in this world, he did not even have where to lay his head. And then something happened that is difficult to explain in words: the Judge Himself was put on trial for the condemned, the Worthy of Glory suffered reproach from the unworthy, the Immortal accepted a shameful death on the cross from mortals. And today our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can exterminate all our sins, completely destroy sin, if we work on our souls, work spiritually, bring sincere repentance.

It is difficult, but if desired, it is possible - to become white with all your heart, to purify yourself, to become at least a little worthy of the high title of a Christian. Only without the help of God we cannot cope in a difficult battle. God will not reject a single heart that calls to Him for mercy and cleansing. After all, we remember how the Lord Himself taught: ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Luke 11:9).

What should we ask God first of all? What do we want from Him? The answers to these questions can be found in the words of our Savior: Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Here, it turns out, what is the point! God has prepared heavenly blessings for us. From the addition of the world as an inheritance to people, a blessed eternity is assigned. But there is also a condition: our salvation is impossible without true and sincere faith, without love for the Lord and sincere repentance of our countless sins. We can become true children of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven only when we are imbued with the spirit of fiery repentance, we acquire Divine love and the fear of God, we learn not to doubt our mercy, trusting in the will of the Creator.

The last sermon in the Jerusalem temple: "Caesar's is Caesar's"

Approaching the days of His suffering, the Lord was especially close and frank with His disciples. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I called you friends, because I told you everything that I heard from My Father (John 15, 15), the Savior said to the apostles that day.

Now He no longer secretly, but with particular clarity, announced to them that He needed to suffer in order to prepare them for His sufferings in this way: You know that in two days it will be Easter, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified (Matt. 26 , 2).

At the same time, on Maundy Tuesday, Christ preached to the people for the last time in the Temple of Jerusalem; accordingly, His sermon was of particular importance. thinking about gospel reading On this day, St. Theophan the Recluse remarks: “It was enough just to listen to all this with attention in order to be convinced that He is the true Savior of the world - Christ, and to submit to His commandments and teachings.” We can only briefly dwell on some points of this gospel narrative.

On Tuesday night, Jesus Christ also spent in Bethany, and on Tuesday morning he again came to the temple of Jerusalem and taught a lot in the temple and outside the temple (Matt. 24: 1). The Pharisees, who had already finally decided to kill Christ, did not fail to seize the moment and catch the Savior in words, provoking Him into an answer that would inevitably either lead to the indignation of the people, or would become an occasion for a political denunciation to the Roman authorities.

At the same time, their hypocrisy reached an almost caricature form: not only did they, the zealots of the Law and nationalists, not disdain to implement their plans by an alliance with representatives of the most odious sect of the Herodians, in fact, accomplices of the Roman invaders, the Pharisees began their speech with surprisingly false and flattering words: Teacher! we know that you are just, and truly teach the way of God, and do not care about pleasing anyone, for you do not look at any person (Matt. 22, 16).

The same people recently spoke about Christ: He is not of God (John 9:16), He deceives the nations (John 7:12); and even: You are a Samaritan, and a demon is in You (John 8:48), but now it seemed to them that they had come up with a question that, with any answer, would destroy Jesus, and with flattering words they tried to make sure that He would not evade the answer.

The Pharisees asked Christ: What do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? (John 8:49). The slyness of the question was that if the Savior had answered: yes, then the Pharisees would have accused Him before the people of supporting the Roman occupiers, and if: no, then they would have reported Him to the authorities as a rebel. Jesus answered very wisely and simply: He asked for a Roman coin, a denarius, on which the image of the emperor, Caesar, was minted, and said his famous phrase: give what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God(Matthew 22:21). In addition to deep spiritual meaning, these words also had an undeniable worldly truth: since Judea allowed Roman coins to circulate on its territory and was actually part of the Roman Empire, naturally, it had to obey Roman laws and pay taxes.

And the denarius itself, according to ancient legal consciousness, in a sense, really belonged to the emperor: the image of Caesar is a sign that the coin was minted on his behalf, and he, accordingly, is the supreme owner of the entire money supply of the empire. It would be even more strange for a Jew to seek to keep coins with a pagan image of the deified emperor. Human cunning once again failed to resist divine wisdom.

The intrigues of the Pharisees gave the Savior a reason to address the people with a very important speech. In his sermon Christ pointed to terrible flaws in the religious life of the Israeli people, first of all, in relation to its leaders, the same Pharisees, which will lead to the Jews rejecting their true King and Savior and betraying Him to be crucified.

It should be noted that in words the Pharisees were indeed zealots of piety: they demanded from the people the strict observance of God's commandments and themselves claimed to be an example of following the Law. The Savior Himself called His listeners: whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do (Matt. 23:3).

However, such zeal was by no means fed by sincere faith and love for God, but by banal lust for power, greed, vanity and hypocrisy, i.e. desire, instead of living a true life in God, to put on some kind of pious mask, behind which you can hide your face, distorted by all too human passions.

We see how such an internal attitude will lead to outright deicide. The temptation of hypocrisy threatens every believer, which is why Christ is so harsh in His words to the Pharisees: He compares them with painted coffins, blind leaders, vipers , killing them), and does not spare them and other, no less cruel words.

Unexpectedly, the Savior ends His formidable speech with surprisingly touching and bitter words: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, beating the prophets and stoning those sent to you! How many times have I wanted to gather your children together, as a bird gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want to! Behold, your house is left to you empty (Matthew 23:37-38). Christ showed that, despite all the iniquities of Israel, He still loves His people and mourns for their imminent fall, just as He loves every person and mourns for his sins.

Immediately after the denunciation of the Pharisees, leaving the temple, the Savior predicts to his disciples the fate of Jerusalem. Pointing to the majestic buildings of the Jerusalem temple, Christ said: Do you see all this? Truly, I say to you, no stone will be left here on stone; everything will be destroyed (Matthew 24:2). The prophecy was exactly fulfilled in A.D. 70, when Emperor Titus stormed and razed to the ground the capital city of Judah.

The speech about the mournful future of Jerusalem gradually turns to prophecies about the fate of the whole world and the coming Second Coming of the Savior. The eschatological predictions of Christ have as their goal not the satisfaction of idle curiosity about the last days of the universe, so characteristic of man in all ages, but a specific moral task: to convince the disciples to always be spiritually awake and at any moment be ready to meet God, because you don’t know when hour your Lord will come (Matthew 24:42). We are talking here not only about the Second Coming of the Savior and the Last Judgment following it, but also about the inevitable death for every person, the day and hour of which is also not given to anyone except God.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are dedicated to remembering the last conversations of the Savior with the disciples and the people. On each of these three days, the Gospel is read at all services, it is supposed to read all four Gospels. But whoever can, he must certainly read these passages from the Gospel at home, both for himself and for others. An indication of what to read can be found in church calendar. When listening in church, due to the large amount of reading, much can escape attention, and home reading allows you to follow the Lord with all your thoughts and feelings.

With careful reading of the Gospels, the sufferings of Christ, coming to life, fill the soul with inexplicable tenderness... Therefore, while reading the Gospel, you are involuntarily transported in your mind to the place of events, you take part in what is happening, you follow the Savior and suffer with Him. It is also necessary reverent contemplation of His sufferings. Without this reflection, even the presence in the temple, and hearing, and reading the Gospel will bring little fruit.

But what does it mean to meditate on the sufferings of Christ, and how to meditate? First of all, imagine in your mind the suffering of the Savior as vividly as possible, at least in the main features, for example: how He was betrayed, judged and condemned; how He carried the cross and was lifted up on the cross; how he cried out to the Father in Gethsemane and on Golgotha ​​and gave his spirit to him: how he was taken down from the cross and buried... Then ask yourself why and why He suffered so much suffering, Who had no sin, and Who, like the Son of God , could always abide in glory and bliss.

And also ask yourself: what is required of me so that the death of the Savior does not remain barren for me; what must I do to truly participate in the salvation gained at Calvary for the whole world? The Church teaches that this requires the assimilation of the mind and heart of all the teachings of Christ, the fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord, repentance and imitation of Christ in a good life. After that, the conscience itself will already give an answer whether you are doing it ... Such reflection (and who is not capable of it?) Surprisingly soon brings the sinner closer to his Savior, closely and forever binds him with the union of love with His cross, strongly and vividly introduces into the participation of the one who what happens at Calvary.

The path of Holy Week - the path of fasting, confession and communion, in other words - fasting, for worthy communion of the Holy Mysteries in these great days. And how is it possible not to fast in these days, when the Bridegroom of souls is taken away (Matt. 9:15), when He Himself is hungry at the barren fig tree, thirsting on the cross? Where else to lay down the weight of sins through confession, if not at the foot of the cross? At what time is it better to take communion from the Cup of life if not in the coming days, when it is served to us, one might say, from the hands of the Lord Himself?

Truly, whoever, having the opportunity to approach the Holy Meal these days, evades it, evades the Lord, flees from his Savior. The path of Holy Week is to render, in His name, help to the poor, sick and suffering. This path may seem distant and indirect, but in fact it is extremely close, convenient and direct.

Our Savior is so loving that everything that we do in His name for the poor, the sick, the homeless and the suffering, He personally appropriates to Himself. At His Last Judgment, He will demand from us especially deeds of mercy towards our neighbors, and upon them He will establish our justification or condemnation.

Keeping this in mind, never neglect the precious opportunity to alleviate the sufferings of the Lord in His lesser brethren, and especially take advantage of it during the days of Passion Week - by dressing, for example, the needy, you will act like Joseph, who gave the shroud. This is the main thing and accessible to everyone, with which an Orthodox Christian in Holy Week can follow the Lord who is coming to suffering.

Parables of the Unfaithful and Discreet Servants and the Ten Virgins

The master leaves his house and entrusts the management to two servants. One, thinking that the master will not return soon, begins to beat his comrades and eat and drink with drunkards (Mt. 24:49); the other does its job well. The master will return unexpectedly and will make the prudent slave the manager of the estate, and he will deal harshly with the unbeliever: he will dissect him, and subject him to the same fate with the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 24:51).

In the second parable, the situation for the characters is even more tragic. Ten virgins are waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom: five of them are wise, they have prepared everything in advance: they took lamps with them and stocked up with oil for them; the rest, foolish, hoped that they would not have to wait for the groom, and they did not take oil with them.

The bridegroom slowed down, the foolish virgins fell asleep, their lamps went out, and when the bridegroom came at midnight, they rushed to look for oil, were late and found the doors already closed. So any person must always be awake so that the light of his faith does not go out, so that he can worthily meet the coming Savior. With all the apparent fuss, despite the fact that so many people are now physically deprived of sleep, spiritual hibernation is perhaps the most distinctive feature of our time.

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) remarkably said about this: “In our time, more than ever, this warning must be remembered, for now there are especially many who are dozing and sleeping. Spiritual sleep is not a bodily sleep that strengthens the body, but, on the contrary, an unhealthy sleep, a painful hibernation in which people chase after vanity and think that they are living a real life, forgetting about the soul, about God and about the Future Eternal Life.

The same is sung about in the troparion of the first three days of Passion Week: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is that servant whom He finds awake; but whoever he finds despondently sleeping is unworthy. Look, my soul, do not be burdened with sleep, so that they do not put you to death and close the doors of the Kingdom before you, but rise, crying out: Holy, Holy, Holy, You are the Lord. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, have mercy on us!