Our Venerable Father Isaac, Hegumen of the Dalmatin Monastery (406-25)
Acts 21:8-14; John 14:27-15:7
Read Acts 21:8-14
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
I am sure that every one of us would do and say everything and anything to dissuade a most beloved and cherished friend from any circumstance and situation that would lead to the death of that friend. The affection that one can have for their friend can be, well, almost overwhelming. We can affirm this of Paul and his friends in Caesare’a. When confronted with what we can assume to be prophecies of Paul’s arrest and death by the four daughters of Philip, and especially with the prophecy of Ag’abus, symbolic as it is like that of Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 18:1-6), Paul’s friends try to convince Paul not to go to Jerusalem. It is not wrong for them to do so. The love that a person has for another is a great good. Our Lord’s disciples tried to dissuade Him from going to Jerusalem for His trial and death. Like our Lord to the Father, Paul follows through with obedience to the will of the Lord. And like the disciples, Paul’s friends let him go agreeing that this is the will of the Lord despite that pain that it may cause in their hearts. It is for a greater good. Paul could have been selfish and stayed and received all that love from his friends. But he did not – he chose love that serves. True love is always in service to the other. Everything that a man does for his wife ought to be for her growth and salvation. Everything that a woman does for her husband ought to be for his growth and salvation (see Ephesians 5). Everything that parents do for their children ought to be for their growth and salvation. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).