Diakon Christian Azarias

The Sins of the Tongue and Eternal Damnation – St. John Chrysostom

“Since then “He hath purged our sins,” (Hebrews 1:3), let us continue pure; and let us receive no stain, but preserve the beauty which He hath implanted in us, and His comeliness undefiled and pure, “not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” ( Ephesians 5:27). Even little sins are “a spot and a wrinkle,” such a thing, I mean, as Reproach, Insult, Falsehood.

Nay, rather not even are these small, but on the contrary very great: yea so great as to deprive a man even of the kingdom of Heaven. How, and in what manner? “He that calleth his brother fool, is in danger” (He saith) “of hellfire.” (Matthew 5:22.) But if it be so with him who calls a man “fool,” which seems to be the slightest of all things, and rather mere children’s talk; what sentence of punishment will not he incur, who calleth him malignant and crafty and envious, and casteth at him ten thousand other reproaches? What more fearful than this?

Is the Eucharist only a Symbol? The Testimony of Abba Daniel the Pharanite

This is what Abba Daniel, the Pharanite, said, ‘Our Father Abba Arsenius told us of an inhabitant of Scetis, of notable life and of simple faith; through his naivete he was deceived and said, “The bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol.”

Two old men having learnt that he had uttered this saying, knowing that he was outstanding in his way of life, knew that he had not spoken through malice, but through simplicity. So they came to find him and said, “Father, we have heard a proposition contrary to the faith on the part of someone who says that the bread which we receive is not really the body of Christ, but a symbol.”

The old man said, “It is I who have said that.” Then the old men exhorted him saying, “Do not hold this position, Father, but hold one in conformity with that which the catholic Church has given us. We believe, for our part, that the bread itself is the body of Christ and that the cup itself is his blood and this in all truth and not a symbol. But as in the beginning, God formed man in his image, taking the dust of the earth, without anyone being able to say that it is not the image of God, even though it is not seen to be so; thus it is with the bread of which he said that it is his body; and so we believe that it is really the body of Christ.”

Sermon: “Whose Name is On the Coin?”

When our Lord was teaching in the temple (Matthew 21:23), He was interrupted by the chief priests & elders who had lots of envy and hatred towards Him. One way by which they had shown this was by calling into question His Authority (Matthew 21:23). In an attempt to discredit Jesus, and even “ensnare Him in His speech” as the Bible says (Matthew 22:15), the Pharisees have sent spies to Jesus from a group known as the Herodians. The gospel of Matthew says:

“Then the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to insnare him in his speech. And they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians” (Matthew 22:15-16).

The Herodians are believed by scholars to have been a Jewish political group that favored giving taxes to the Romans, their colonizers, who had control over all Judea. They were called Herodians because they were named after Herod the Great who was appointed by the Roman Empire as being the regional king of Judea. The Pharisees despised the Herodians because they were regarded as being sell-outs, or traitors of the Jewish people given that they were in favor of taxing their own kind on behalf of the Roman Empire, which was regarded as a form of humiliation. However, the Pharisees have collaborated with this group which they despised since, as discussed previously, they wanted to ensnare, or trap Jesus with a question regarding taxes which was the Herodian’s expertise.