Father Gavril (Galev): On Death and the Terrible (Eternal) Judgement
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Refer to: Matthew 25, 31-46
We often know in our lives to avoid some questions that we do not want to hear, we do not want someone to ask us, or to ask ourselves. One of those questions is the question of death and the terrible judgment. Whether we like it or not, that is the most realistic question in this life. The question of death and the terrible (eternal) judgement is the greatest reality. This Sunday is dedicated to that very existential question.
No one who was born escaped death, except Enoch and Elijah, who, according to the holy tradition, will come to taste death before the second coming of Christ. If anything cannot happen to anyone born, it is that we will not die and because of sin we must die.
We must leave this world and present ourselves before Christ, so that on the last day He may resurrect us. Before we are resurrected, a judgement will come upon us, at which all our deeds will be brought to light. Nevertheless, the question is: how will we present ourselves before God? Will we be able to look Christ in the face with our deeds or will we be ashamed and cover our head? That is the real question, because all people will be judged for their deeds. Good or bad, according to how we treated others: “inasmuch as you did to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me …, or you did not do it to Me.” (Matt. 24:40; 45).
There are also those who deny God, they deny Christ. For them we will answer again that God and Christ are reality. God created us, and Christ saved us. I would rather doubt the reality of my own existence than the reality of God. If I am reality, then God is even greater reality. God created me, a man in His image and likeness. Not as I willed, but as He most wisely intended for my own good. Therefore, our lives should be in harmony with God’s providence for us people.
God created Adam, He created him good, He created him with good passions, with good habits, with great potential to be even better, that is, to become the likeness of God. We know, however, that instead of looking upward, Adam began to look at the material, the earthly, and the sinful things. He fell into the temptation of the devil and fell away from God. The Lord clearly emphasizes that the Kingdom of Heaven is prepared for man, eternal and graceful life in communion with the good God (Matt. 25:34), not death, suffering and eternal torment. That (everlasting punishment) is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Therefore, we should strive to live the life of God, not to live the life of the fallen angels.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory; All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left” (Matt. 25: 31-33).
Now we wonder, what kind of criterion will be used for separating the good from the bad (sheep from the goats)?
It will not be according to our personal subjective criterion, I will decide for myself whether I am good or bad. It does not refer to the criteria of any worldly kingdom, of any worldly philosophy, of any moral norm, of anything earthly, because that which is human, by itself is fallen and variable. The world persecuted Christ, man crucified Christ, condemned Him and killed Him. And how we can trust the world now and put it as a criterion. That is why we need to direct whole our effort and attention on the heavenly philosophy, on the heavenly teaching, on the Gospel, i.e. on Christ, Who is the criterion for our life, and in accordance to that criterion we need to arrange our actions and thoughts. This is the self-sacrificing love expressed through good deeds toward our neighbour (fellow man).
Christ came, even though He didn’t have to, He was incarnated and became Man and He identified Himself with all of us and He was given to judge, because He is the Son of man. He came to restore our fallen nature, to raise the fallen image of man, and to give us an example, to give us a way in which we humans should live. He did this for us and set an example for us to love and live for one another and even to suffer for others and thus become resemblance of Christ.
He received a human body and become Human. He lived among us. He suffered and was crucified. And on the third day He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He sat at the right hand of God the Father and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
By helping people who are suffering and are in need, we are doing this to Christ. Or if we have not helped, according to His words, we have not helped Christ. That is why our sin is against Christ, against God and accordingly we will be judged. Also, it does not matter under what circumstances we committed the sin and whether anyone incited us to sin, the truth is that we did it. The first sin was also instigated by the demon, by the devil, but Adam was the one who sinned, man sinned, and thus the whole of nature, the whole human race, was pushed into hell, suffering, torment, and death. We cannot justify his fall in anyway, thus we cannot justify our sins. When we present ourselves before God, we will be judged according to our deeds. The one who has done good will stand at the right hand of the Father, the one who has done evil at the left.
Our life in the world can also be walking on the wide road, and God has commanded us to walk on the narrow one. Therefore, those questions that we mentioned at the beginning should not be evaded. On the contrary, remembering death can be beneficial for us. Because, at some point of time that path will narrow to one point. Death is the point at which I will see myself, face to face, with Christ. With the One I was supposed to compare myself with and become likeness of Him. With the man, the real man. And according to that criterion, as I am compared to Christ, so I will be judged.
In one Church song from the Morning Prayers it was said that when we come face to face with Christ, the light will illuminate us, and we will be enlightened. All our secret deeds, all our hidden passions and even thoughts, will be revealed and opened. We can hide here before our neighbours, before the authorities, before our Spiritual Father, but when that moment comes, we cannot hide anything before Christ, before the truth, and the truth will expose us.
Let us learn to live the truth, to be light, to be bearers of that light right here on earth. Let us correct our lives in accordance to the life of Christ, that is, in accordance to the Gospel and the commandments of God, and let us confess. It would be better now to be ashamed shortly before the spiritual father than there before Christ, forever.
This is what proper Lent is – Striving in the struggle of purifying the heart from the passions and enlightening of the mind. Striving to love God and to fear Him. Striving to love all people and to humble ourselves before them. To maintain our life pure before God and to have a good relationship with everyone. In other words, to live a cross-resurrectional life, in order to stand with the righteous at His right hand, and not to be exposed for the eternal torment. My we hear the words: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! “ Amen.
Father Gavril (Galev)
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
07 / 03 / 2021
