A Word for the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (22)

Today at the Liturgy there was read, my beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, the Gospel from Matthew, of the Lord’s casting out of demons from two demon-possessed men, exceedingly fierce. Word for word, this Gospel reads thus in the Russian tongue: at that time (in those days), when Jesus Christ arrived at the other shore of the Lake of Gennesaret, in the country of the Gergesenes, He was met by two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, that is, out of the caves where the dead were buried, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, saying: what have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? You have come here to torment us before the time. Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying: if You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine. And He told them: go. So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled, and went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city (Mt 8:28-34,9:1), that is, Capernaum. Here ends the Gospel of today’s Sunday.

What does it teach us, brethren? — First, this truth: that the Lord Jesus Christ is the almighty Creator and Master of all creatures, seen and unseen, angels and men, every living creature, and even the demons themselves, who were in the beginning created good, but afterward themselves fell into malice and cunning, fell away from God, and were cast down from heaven into the abyss; second, it teaches this truth: that without God’s permission the demons cannot do any harm to any creature, and if it is permitted them by God to torment people, it is permitted for the punishment and correction of sinning people, for their various wrongs and sins, and for their amendment, as is seen from the Lord’s own instruction to the demon-possessed man, after healing him, according to the account of the Evangelist Luke; third, it teaches this truth: that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a dread judgment from the Lord upon all people, living and dead, and upon all the evil spirits, and a fitting recompense to all—for the evil spirits, an eternal fire, suited to their spiritual, bodiless nature, as also for all unrepentant sinners; but for righteous and truly repentant people, eternal life. The demons say to the Lord, through the demon-possessed men: what have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? You have come here to torment us before the time (Mt 8:29). See—even the demons believe in Him, as the Son of God and as their own future fearsome and righteous Judge, who has prepared eternal torment for them; but the nihilists of our own day surpass even the demons in their madness, because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, nor in the Church, nor in the immortality of the human soul; they do not believe in the resurrection, or in the judgment to come; they do not even acknowledge the existence of angels and evil spirits—which is why they are such desperate people, capable of every evil—of murder, arson, plunder—and do not acknowledge the God-established earthly authorities, and do only their own devilish and ruinous will. Fourth, the Gospel teaches that the power over every breath, every life, is in the hands of God; and to whomever the Lord wishes, He grants life; and from whomever He wishes to take it, He takes it away. Thus the demon-possessed men could have perished, in a single instant, from the malice of the demons, but the Lord did not allow the demons to destroy them, but only to torment them, for their own correction and amendment—while He permitted the swine to be destroyed, perhaps as a punishment for the unbelieving inhabitants of the country of Gadara, just as now, for instance, the Lord permits a plague among cattle, for the punishment and correction of people, that they might repent. Fifth, the Gospel instructs us to flee, with all our strength, from all-ruinous passions—pride, envy, hatred, intemperance, drunkenness, foul speech, gluttony, fornication, love of gain, hardness of heart and miserliness, and the whole army of passions; for every human passion, every vice, is a form of possession; every one who hates, is proud, envious, a drunkard, a glutton, a fornicator, an extortioner, a miser, is demon-possessed, a plaything of demons, and if he does not repent and amend, he will inherit the eternal torment prepared for the demons; depart from Me, you cursed, the Lord will say to sinners, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41). But it is not enough, brethren, to flee sin; we must also earnestly strive to acquire every virtue: for the Lord created us for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10); we must not only refrain from sin, but strive to be holy, as befits Christians, children of God, called to holiness and incorruption. Be holy, as I the Lord your God am holy (Lev 19:2), says the Lord; or: be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48), says Jesus Christ. Let us remember, then, brethren, the lesson set before us by today’s Gospel, and apply it to our life; for this is why the Gospel is read—that we might learn and amend ourselves, while we still have time to learn and to amend. Amen.

Delivered in Moscow, in the house church of Prince V. A. Dolgorukov.