St. Theodore the Commander and Great Martyr

Ephesians 2:4-10

Brethren, God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Matthew 10:16-22

The Lord said to His disciples, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

In honour of the great martyr, we hear in today's Gospel the Lord preparing the disciples for their own trials and martyrdom. Rather fittingly, in St. Matthew's Gospel this follows the events we read in St. Mark's Gospel on Wednesday. The Lord assures them by saying that it is He who sends them out, they are not venturing out on their own authority or counting on their own strength. The path to salvation, the way of the Cross, although narrow and difficult, has already been laid out for us. As St. Paul says, God has already prepared it beforehand, all we need to do is walk down it. He sends us, not as attackers, but as sheep, weak and defenceless, for "when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:9). "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"(v.10). Yet He makes sure to add "wise as serpents," lest anyone think that by calling us sheep He is praising stupidity or thoughtlessness as virtues. St. Theophylact adds that "just as the serpent allows the rest of its body to be struck but guards its head, so let the Christian give all of his belongings and even his body to those who would strike it; but let him guard his Head, which is Christ and faith in Him. And just as the serpent squeezes through a narrow hole and sheds its old skin, so too let us traverse the narrow way and shed the old man." But while we should be wise as serpents, we should be innocent and pure in all things, without the venom of aggression, hatred, and so on. 

St. Peter tells us that we must always be "prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you"(1 Peter 3:15), showing us how important it is for us to study and learn about our faith. To those persecuted and attacked, however, the Lord gives His own words to speak. And this is really the point of what we hear St. Paul saying in today's Epistle. When we were fallen and weak, God, in His love, became man and raised our fallen nature and freed it from the death of sin. He has prepared for us not just the 'immeasurable riches' of the coming age for 'the one who endures to the end' but by His grace has already prepared for us everything we need to get there: the way in which we should walk, the things we should do, and the words we should speak. 'This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God', all we have to do is accept it. The martyr, who does not rely on his own strength, but who lays down his life like a sheep, bears witness to his complete trust in the God who, in His love, conquered death and shall bring us all to eternal life.