Thursday, May 23 (10), 2024
Acts 8:26-39; Jn. 6:40-44                                  

St. Philip the Apostle asked the Ethiopian man: “Understandest thou what thou readest?” and he answered: “How can I, except some man should guide me?” [Acts 8:30-31].

How often this happens with those who read the word of God and Patristic writings!  We read and do not comprehend; our mind fails to perceive this or that, as if the subject is foreign to us.  For that reason, we need someone to guide us, someone who is familiar with the subject matter.  St. Philip had the same Spirit that had spoken in the ancient Prophets, and thus he could easily explain the difficult passages in the Scripture. 

Presently we have just the same.  We ought to find someone whose level of life and knowledge is sufficient for understanding of a given passage, and he will explain it to us without a problem, because spiritual vantage points are different on every level.  If we stand on a lower level, we do not see as much as those on a higher level: we can only make guesses about it.  If, however, the Scripture passages which we are concerned about require a higher level of spiritual understanding than that of our guide, he would not be able to explain it properly, but would rather view everything from his own vantage point, and clarify nothing.

It is amazing how certain people speculate about Scriptural subjects, being totally foreign to the realm of the Scripture.  They can do nothing right, but never fail to take pride in their “interpretations”.

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