Having said that
the Son of man shall come like the
lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the
other part under heaven (Luke 17:24), the Lord added: But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this
generation (Luke 17:25). It is evident from this passage that this must he suffer will precede the glorious
coming of the Lord. Consequently, all time until that day is the time of the
Lord’s suffering. He suffered in person at a certain moment; since that time,
his suffering continues in his followers: the suffering of their birth, their
spiritual growth and protection from the enemy’s attacks. The unity of the Lord
and his people isn’t a mere abstraction or an unsubstantiated moral claim; it
is real, and therefore everything pertaining to them also concerns him as their
Head. In view of what we have said, it is clear that the Lord suffers a lot,
indeed.
The most painful
for him are the believers’ failures; apostasies make him ache even more. These
are the final wounds; the constant arrows are those of sorrows, temptations,
and hesitations caused by unbelief. Speeches and writings that breathe unbelief
are the burning arrows of the evil one. Nowadays, the evil one has established
quite a few blacksmith’s shops to make those arrows. The believers’ hearts ache
when struck by those arrows; the Lord sees their afflictions and his heart
aches, too. However, the day of the Lord’s glory shall come: the dark mysteries
will be uncovered, and the sufferers will rejoice with the Lord. Until then, we
have to be patient and persistent in prayer.
By St. Theophan the Recluse
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://azbyka.ru/days/2018-12-03
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