Tuesday, February 8, 2005
Great-Martyr Theodore the General (Stratelates)
Kellia: 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 2:12-26 Epistle: James 3:1-10 Gospel: St. Mark 11:11-23
St. Mark 11:11-23, especially vs. 11: "And Jesus went into Jerusalem, and into the temple. So when He had looked
around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve." Living in the flow of time, we
move as events bear us along. Inexorably, we leave situations that once seemed permanent to confront new demands and
circumstances. This onward sweep infuses urgency into today's decisions and actions. Always there are pressures not to
delay, but to accomplish, achieve, settle, arrange, decide, fix, or forget. From childhood, we learn that delay compounds
difficulties. Homework must not be put off. The exam is tomorrow. As adults we learn that relationships cannot be
neglected or else we collect bitterness and isolation. Dust and disorder quickly overwhelm us. So the flux of life forces us
to ask: "What must be addressed first? What can be delayed? What is most important? Which task, focus, or effort must
be abandoned so that we may attend to another?"
Today's reading speaks to the flow of time, choices, and the cost of delay. In the opening line quoted above, notice the
phrase, "as the hour was already late." Note that it has a double meaning: that it was late on that particular day; at that hour
of the day to find a place for the night that was at hand. In addition, and more important, the hours of the Lord Jesus' time
on earth were growing late; soon it would be His last tangible hours in Jerusalem among His own. In addition, "it was
late" in another sense: in going into the Temple, He "looked around at all things," and, as He did, He knew that the historic
end of Israel's tradition of worship was very near. "Late now being the hour" (the literal word order of the text), the Lord
knew that soon there would come the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. These truths needed to be
impressed on His disciples. Of great importance also, the impending judgment of God needed to be conveyed to the
wayward Jews and their priests. Delay was out of the question.
"Late now being the hour," the Lord came upon a fig tree. There, for the sake of His disciples, the Lord Jesus expressed the
Divine "hunger" for God's people to repent and to bear fruit. However, there was abundant evidence that the majority of
the Jews were not ready to accept their true Messiah. He was among them, but it was "not the season" (Mk. 11:13). They
would not bear fruit for Him, and neither man nor God would find much fruit of the Spirit within the community of the Old
Covenant. Ancient Israel was bound to reject the Messiah and the Temple would be destroyed. All this the Lord saw as He
looked at a barren fig tree.
A deep urgency filled the Lord. "Late now was the hour." Who could be awakened? In judgment, He went into the
Temple and drove out the moneychangers. The two passages concerning the fig tree, with the intervening account of the
cleansing of the Temple, must be read within the context of the Lord's urgency, for the end of the Old Covenant and the
inauguration of the New Covenant were certain and soon. Especially, He is reminding us not to delay with God.
The present demands of this life and world press for action. At the same time, God's Word calls us to face His claim on
our lives, to seek Him now, to cleanse our lives, to "bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance" (Lk. 3:8). Let us not
delay and make excuses to God. May we have "a good defense before the dread Judgment Seat of Christ," not the claim to
be Orthodox, not the note that we contribute regularly, nor even that we help the needy. Listen to St. Seraphim of Sarov:
"All that is not done for Christ's sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God
in this." Let us not delay to serve Christ!
O Lord, grant us the grace of a right faith in Thee, that without delay we may apply our hearts to acquire the grace of Thy
Spirit and thereby to receive the blessings of the future age.
