Commentary For the Fifth Sunday :: Ⲛⲓⲥⲏⲟⲩ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲛⲓⲭ̀ⲣⲟⲛⲟⲥ ⲛⲁⲕ :: طرح للأحد الخامس

Watos:

To You, O Lord, belong times and ages. You are the Master of all ages because everything worships You, O Savior of the whole world.

Your dominion endures forever in heaven and on earth and all the works of Your hands bow before You.

You are the all-knowing of all hidden things and the examiner of the hearts with Your wisdom because You created them all. You are He who existed from the beginning, the creator of everything. You know the secrets and all the unrevealed things.

O Matthew the Evangelist, tell us about your testimony and the secrets of our Savior’s hidden sayings. He said that the Lord was walking with His saintly apostles in the temple, so they informed Him about its construction and splendor and the arrangement of its stones. So He replied, “Look at all these because not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.” He perceived their thoughts because they said, “Let us ask Him when will this happen and what will be the sign of His coming and the end of time?”

So He sat on the mountain as was His custom while teaching in front of the temple, east of Jerusalem. And the disciples who had these questions came to ask Him who knows the thoughts of the heart. As for Him, He revealed to them what will happen on earth and commanded them to remain patient. He informed them about the many wars and the rising up of kingdoms and the suffering that will befall the people on earth and the ruin of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. He also spoke to them about His Second Coming in the glory of His Father and also His Resurrection and the appearance of His cross which is the sign of victory and about the tribulation that will occur. He gave them the parable of the fig tree saying, “When its branch puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.”

Let the reader understand the time when all these things will occur. So blessed is he who perseveres to the end. Your years, O Lord, will never fade while ours vanish and Your days never end while ours disappear. And praise be to God.

Praise be to God forever. Amen.

Adam:

All you inhabitants of Jerusalem, come, let us go to the Mount of Olives to see Jesus of Nazareth, the son of David, the Word of the Father, sitting there and His disciples around Him asking Him first about the building of the temple, its great stones and the splendor of its adornment. As for Him, He showed them the perfection of all things and the hidden mysteries saying, “Do you not see all these things? I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” So when the disciples heard this, they talked among themselves then asked Him, “Teacher, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your Coming? Tell us also about the end of this age and the end of the world.”

Listen my brethren and understand my beloved, and contemplate upon what I am about to say to you. Our Savior, the abundant in mercy and the guider of all those who trust Him and depend upon Him, said to them with piety and knowledge, strengthening and confirming their hearts about what will happen, “Take heed that no one deceives you lest you fall into temptation. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes and plagues in various places, and there will be sufferings and tribulations on earth. Know that nations will kill you and hate you. This they will do to you for My name’s sake and whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.”

So let us adhere to these ways and commandments which are full of grace, and cry to Him in our sufferings and call His name in our tribulations. When we observe all this, we call upon the name of Christ our Savior for He is our weapon, our victory, our steadfastness, our power, our help and our consolation. And if we fall into temptation we ask for His help for He is our hope in our sufferings and He is our eternal salvation.

Let us escape, brethren, from the evil one who is the portion of the hypocrites. Give us help, O our God, at the appearance of the opponent, the destroyer of people. And grant us understanding to know the parable of the leaves of the fig tree and the time of harvest to wait for Your Coming and Your appearance when the sign of victory of Your cross, that glorious sign, precedes You. So that when we, Your people, see it we may raise up our heads to the heights and we may know that our salvation is at hand and our pride may appear before all people. And at that time the nations will feel shame and disgrace and cry with sighing. As for us the believers, we will triumph and rejoice and be delighted with our Creator, to whom belongs the praise and worship now and forever. Amen.