Drops From The Apostle
by

the blessed bishop Father Augustine Nicholas Kantiotes, pp. 100-103

THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF MATTHEW

Matthew 9:1-8

(July 24, 2011; St. Christine; St. Theophilos Zanchinthou Neo-Martyr)

OMNISCIENCE

Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

Christ, beloved, was in a city of the Holy Land. He was in Capernaum, which He Himself called «His own city,» because this city became the center of His ministry.                                                                                            In that city, then, the following event took place. Some compassionate men picked up and brought a paralytic before Christ. They brought him with the unshakable faith that Christ would be capable of curing him. Christ was, is, and shall be the unique physician of humanity, because He is, as we’ve said in our previous homily, the true God.                                                 When those compassionate people brought the paralytic before Christ, Christ wasn’t alone. Many people were there listening to Him, among them some scribes. The scribes were people who studied and interpreted the law of Moses, which was the only legal basis on which the Hebrews regulated their personal, domestic, social, and national matters. The scribes were the theologian-preachers and lawyers of that time. They had a special place among the people. Whoever saw them on the streets bowed reverently and greeted them with respect. They, along with the pharisees, were considered the holy men of their time.                                                                              These scribes were present when the paralytic was brought to Christ. They stood silently, watching to see what Christ was going to do, so that they—these saints —could find another opportunity to make accusations against Him.                                                                                                      Holy men? Outwardly, the scribes seemed holy, important interpreters and preachers of divine law. But inwardly, what were they? People are ignorant of the inner side of man. Only one person knows the inner workings of man. He is God. And God is Christ, the true God. That’s why, as we see in today’s Bible reading, Christ unmasked the hypocrisy of these people. In one moment, He turned and said to them: «Why do you think evil in your hearts?» When Christ started the paralytic’s healing saying, «My son, your sins are forgiven,» the scribes, without saying a word, thought to themselves that Christ had blasphemed. Christ, knowing their inner thoughts, revealed the evil in their corrupt hearts. It was an astonishing revelation, revealing even more than the miracles of the healings that Christ is the true God. After this revelation, the scribes should have humbled themselves and, with contrite hearts, fallen at Christ’s feet, confessing their sinfulness and asking for God’s mercy. They should have said to Christ: «We are sinners, even though we appear to be holy; forgive us for the hatred and evil we have in our hearts.» But the scribes did not acknowledge their sinfulness; egoistically and haughtily, breathing hatred against Christ because of this public revelation, they allied themselves with the high priests to get rid of Christ.                                                                                                         The words of Christ to the scribes—»Why do you think evil in your hearts»—are fearsome words that we must pay particular attention to. These words, as we have said, prove the divinity of Jesus Christ. Only God knows the depths of the heart of man. And man, no matter how wise or educated he may be, even if he distinguishes himself in psychology, knows the least little bit about himself. Man remains a mystery, as a certain doctor-philosopher of our age says. What man hides in his heart, only God, only Christ, truly knows, just as He knew what was in the hearts of the scribes. People today have opened psychiatric clinics to investigate, they say, the sicknesses of the soul. They try to heal these sicknesses, but in spite of all their shock treatments and medications, the soul of man, in its inner depths, remains a mystery. Even the greatest psychiatrists are fooled. Seeing a temporary calm in the face of their patient, they think he is well and allow him to return to society. But alas! A few days, maybe even a few hours later, the psychologically sick person has committed an awful crime.

The heart of man remains unknown. Next to you your relative may be sleeping—your friend, your husband, your wife—but you don’t know what is going on inside him. Only one person knows the depths of the human heart: He is Christ.

Christ not only knows the depth of the heart of everyone, but also everything else that is happening or will happen, even in the most distant future of humanity. Everything that has happened, everything that will happen today, everything that will happen after centuries and millennia—all this, in detail, Christ knows. As one of the wise writers of the Old Testament, Sirach, says: «The eyes of the Lord are many times brighter than the sun, seeing all of the ways of man and penetrating secret places.»

From the little we have written, it is shown that the Lord is omniscient; He knows everything. The Lord knows everything. What a fearful truth! If people believed this and thought about it, this truth alone—that the Lord sees and knows everything—would be sufficient to prevent people from committing every evil.  It is said that an evil woman tried to tempt an ascetic to sin with her. The ascetic pretended to consent. But he proposed that they sin at noontime in the square of the city. «No!» said the woman, «we can’t do that.»

«Why not?» asked the ascetic. «Because people will see us.»

«But, woman, wherever we go, even if we shut ourselves up in the darkest cave, God sees us. We’re ashamed to be seen by people, yet we are not ashamed to be been by God?»

The sinful woman repented and was saved. She was saved by these words of the ascetic.

Beloved! Yes, there is, in spite of what the atheists say, an eye that sees everything, an ear that hears everything, and a hand that writes everything down. It is Christ Who sees, hears, and knows everything. And one day He will judge the world. «Why do you think evil in your hearts?»