Wednesday of the 33rd Week

1 Peter 4:1-11

Beloved, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

Mark 12:28-37

At that time, one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.’ David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

Asked what is the most important commandment of all, Christ answers that one must love God and ones neighbour. As St. John teaches us, we cannot have one without the other: "If anyone says, “I love God”, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). Prefacing "these two commandments" on which "depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 11:13) is what the Jews call the 'Shemaʿ' (the Hebrew word 'hear'): Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Monotheism precedes all other things, it is the first of the Ten Commandments - "You shall have no other gods before me" *(Ex. 20:3) - and the Orthodox Symbol of Faith, which we recite thrice daily, opens with the words "I believe in one God." Having established as His starting point the truth that God is One, Jesus proceeds to say that the Christ shall not be a mere man, but the Lord of David; in other words, Christ is God. He says that David spoke these words in the Holy Spirit, thus revealing to us that the one God is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Contrary to both the Great Commandments is love of self. This is why the doctrine of the Trinity is so important. Were God a monad, He could only have loved Himself before He created the world, and yet self-love is no love at all. The fact that God by His very nature is a communion of love, a relationship of Persons, means that selfless love of the other is part of His very being. We who are created in the image of God are called to reflect this selfless love: Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another

The indulgence in human passions St. Peter warns us against in today's Epistle is contrary both to love of God and to love of neighbour, stemming from a selfish desire for instant gratification. How familiar our present society is to the pagan world described by St. Peter, where the only things that seem to matter are drinking to excess and sexual promiscuity. We sin against the image of God in us when we abuse ourselves through alcohol, we abuse and sin against one another when we see each other as objects for our own sexual gratification, rather than using sex to strengthen the bond of love established with someone in marriage and to bring forth children, parenthood being the greatest example of selfless love most of us will ever experience. As in those days, people now are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you, mocking anyone who tries to keep chaste until marriage and excluding those who do not feel comfortable spending their weekends binge-drinking. Our selfishness is not limited to the examples mentioned by St. Peter. We buy unnecessary products to gratify ourselves, not caring that they were produced in sweatshops by slave labourers. We happily destroy the environment around us, polluting the earth, air and water, often for no other reason than for convenience. The rich continue to amass unthinkable wealth while millions of poor die of starvation and preventable diseases. The lawless idolatry of today might not take the form of religious ritual, but we have created countless secular forms of idolatry, such as the pursuit of wealth, the cult of celebrity, fashion, among the many other useless things which distract us from God and the reality in which we live. If we followed the two great commandments, becoming living images of the Holy Trinity, such an unjust world could not exist. We will all give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead, so let us live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God that Christ will also say to us, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."