“Truly “God is glorious in his saints” (Ps. 68:35 Lxx). Let us call
to mind the martyrs’ superhuman struggles, how in the weakness of their
flesh they put to shame the evil one’s strength, disregarding pain and
wounds as they struggled bodily against fire, sword, all different kinds
of deadly tortures, patiently resisting while their flesh was cut,
their joints dislocated and their bones crushed, and keeping the
confession of faith in Christ in its integrity, complete, unharmed and
unshaken. As a result there were bestowed on them the incontrovertible
wisdom of the Spirit and the power to work miracles. Let us consider the
patience of holy men and women, how they willingly endured long periods
of fasting, vigil and various other physical hardships as though they
were not in the body, battling to the end against evil passions and all
sorts of sin, in the invincible inner warfare against principalities,
powers and spiritual wickedness (Eph. 6:12). They wore away their outer
selves and made them useless, but their inner man was renewed and
deified by Him from whom they also received gifts of healing and mighty
works. When we think on these matters and understand that they surpass
human nature, we are filled with wonder and glorify God who gave them
such grace and power. For even if their intentions were good and noble,
without God’s strength they could not have gone beyond the bounds of
their nature and driven away the bodiless enemy while clothed in their
bodies.
“That is why, when the psalmist and prophet declared, “God is
glorious in his saints”, he went on to say, “he giveth strength and
power unto his people” (Ps. 68:35 Lxx). Carefully consider the force of
these prophetic words. Whereas God, according to the psalmist, gives all
his people strength and power – for He shows no partiality (cf. Acts
10:34) – He is glorified only in His saints. The sun pours down its rays
abundantly upon all alike, but they are visible only to those with open
eyes. Those with clear-sighted, pure eyes benefit from the pure light
of the sun, not those whose vision is dimmed because illness, mist or
something similar has afflicted their eyes. In the same way, God richly
bestows His help on all, for He is the ever-flowing, enlightening and
saving fount of mercy and goodness. But not everyone takes advantage of
His grace and power to practise and perfect virtue or show forth
miracles, only those with a good intent, who demonstrate their love and
faith towards God by good works (cf. Jas. 2:20-26), who turn away
completely from everything base, hold fast to God’s commandments and
lift up the eyes of their understanding to Christ the Sun of
righteousness (Mal. 4:2). He not only invisibly holds out a helping hand
from above to those who struggle, but we also hear Him speaking to us
and urging us on in today’s Gospel. “Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men”, He says, “him will I confess also before my Father which
is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32).
“Notice that we cannot boldly proclaim our faith in Christ and
confess Him without His strength and assistance. Nor will our Lord Jesus
Christ speak out on our behalf in the age to come, recommend us to the
heavenly Father and make us His kin, unless we give Him reason to do so.
To make this clear, He does not say, “Whosoever shall confess me before
men”, but “Whosoever shall make his confession in Me” (Matt. 10:32),
that is to say, whoever is able, in Christ and with His help, to declare
his faith with boldness…”
Source- diakonima.gr
