Hieromonk Ignaty (Shestakov)
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Today we are once again recalling the event that awaits all people, regardless of whether they believe in Christ and His Church or not, regardless of who they were in this life, how they fulfilled themselves, what wealth they possessed or in what poverty they languished, what health they had or what illnesses they suffered from. There is not a single person in this world among those who were born or have already died, who will be born and who live now, who will not be affected by the event we remember today: the Last Judgment of Christ.
When the Lord comes in His glory with the angels and sits on His glorious throne, He will judge all the nations. All the nations of the world will come to Him. Even those who did not know about Him or pretended not to know will come, and at that moment they will have to stand before Him, the Righteous Judge. And the Lord will divide all mankind, putting some on His right side and the others on His left side.
Today we heard in the Gospel: the Lord shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left (Mt. 25:33). Why will He separate the goats from the sheep? There are different interpretations of this, and they all deserve our attention. Christ always appears as a Shepherd of sheep. And many times we find Him speaking about His flock precisely as the flock of Christ’s sheep. And, of course, goats in this fold of sheep are absolutely alien. So the Shepherd separates His children, the true disciples of Christ, who lived according to the Gospel commandments, from these goats. However, it seems to them, too, that they knew who Christ was and lived properly.
And He will say to the righteous: For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me (Mt. 25:35-36). And the righteous, perplexed, will ask Him: “When was it, O Lord?” And let me draw your attention to one point in this question and this perplexity. Perhaps these people who are called righteous did not regard themselves as such. But by their deeds they were genuine disciples of Christ, and He will accept them as the righteous and address them with the following words: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Mt. 25:34).
V. Vasnetsov. The Joy of the Righteous in the Lord. Sketch of the painting of St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Kiev
And, having learned that they are not going to the Kingdom of God prepared from the foundation of the world, the others will be perplexed as well, but the Lord will tell them: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not (Mt. 25:42–43). And they will say to Him: “How is that? We didn’t see Thee, we didn’t know. If we had been told on TV or on the internet that Christ was at the Botkin Hospital (in Moscow), we would surely have gone and made some repairs there, maybe even with our own hands.” But He will say to them very harsh and just words filled with boundless Divine love: Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me (Mt. 25:45). And those who will find themselves on His left side will go to eternal torment, to hell.
Christianity is a faith that is incomprehensible in many ways. Indeed, when we venture to study theology, buying various literature and reading, we realize that there are many things we cannot understand. The Holy Fathers and great modern Christian scholars, theological university rectors and vice-rectors and theology professors very often argue about certain matters of Divine nature, the nature of the Church, and various dogmas. The nature of man himself is sinful and limited—we cannot fully comprehend all the dogmas. There are very complicated things to understand, such as the dogma of the Holy Trinity. And the whole history of the Church is filled with arguments, reflections, and attempts to unravel these mysteries. Meanwhile, Christianity, the faith and the truth that Christ, the God-Man Who was crucified for us, brought into this world, are very simple…
During Lent we will perform a very serious prayerful and spiritual labors, and we will commemorate some of the greatest ascetics of the Church: Sts. Gregory Palamas, John Climacus, and Andrew of Crete with his beautiful Great Penitential canon. We will immerse ourselves in these unattainable peaks of theology with our souls and minds. But we must never forget that all our labors are nothing if we do not see Christ in people around us, if we pass by people who are having a hard time, who feel bad, and do not find the love in ourselves to do the simplest good deeds.
It is very important for each one of us to do something simple and truly important with our own hands, so that our hearts and souls can change and so that we can do something good for the Creator of this world and the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. To feed the hungry, give the thirsty a drink, clothe the naked, or just visit someone who is in trouble right now, who is sick, who is injured, wounded or disfigured, who does not have a family and friends who could take care of him. There are plenty of such people in the world today, and there is such a huge field for serving Christ, and for our conscience not to tremble when He comes in glory with the angels to judge the human race.
As it is written: if we are afraid of the Last Judgment, we are not Christians. Of course, even the most virtuous people often feel fear in the face of death, believing that their lives have been too sinful. But still, for a Christian who lived according to the Gospel, the Last Judgment is not terrible. Firstly, he knows what awaits him there; and secondly, after all, he directed his life according to the Word of the Savior, performing simple and at the same time great good works of mercy. In general, when a person begins to do these things, even forcing himself, he is freed from everything superfluous that he has in his life.
Before the beginning of Lent let each one of us promise ourselves to do at least three simple good deeds: buy something for someone, give something to someone, find out who is having a hard time and warm them up with our love. It’s not difficult, but it’s really saving for us. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ will ask from us when He comes in glory with the holy angels to judge the human race. Amen.
