The Holy Prophet Habakkuk (Avvakum); Athansius the Recluse (1176); Passing into Eternal Life (1973) of Blessed Ivan Sleziuk, Catacomb Bishop of Ivano-Frankivs’k and Confessor.
Nativity Fast.
Galatians 5:22-6:2; Luke 10:19-21.
Read Luke 10:19-21
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Today we reflect on the very short passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke that more properly has to be read in the context of two preceding verses, 17 and 18. There seventy apostles who returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” This bumped into a very odd remark made by Jesus saying that he “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” At first sight, it is hard to find a connection between these two statements—they do not seem to correspond to each other. However, various Bible commentators give at least two explanations regarding Jesus’s mentioning about the fall of Satan.
On the one hand, Jesus was trying to reassure his disciples by saying that Satan has been defeated a long time ago by the Archangel Michael and will be defeated again on the cross. Yet, on the other hand, Jesus could also be warning his disciples against pride which was precisely the reason for which Satan felt from heaven like a lightning. Jesus saw the joy with which his followers returned from their missions, but he wanted to make sure that this joy is for the right reason. The authentic reason for Christian joy should not be based on the fact that we are equipped with special superpowers, but on the fact that “our names are written in heaven.” Our biggest honour is not in what we have done, but in what God has done for us. Our greatest joy and glory is to be sons and daughters of the living God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Even the greatest of the greatest should not attribute their discoveries exclusively to their own talents and skills, since, as we sing in the Divine Liturgy, “all gifts are coming from above.” When the inventor of the first modern anaesthetic, Sir James Simpson, was asked about his biggest finding in life, instead of saying, “Chloroform,” he said that his “greatest discovery was that Jesus Christ is his Saviour.” Pride impedes us from holiness while humility is able to open the Royal Doors to Heaven.
Bible References