I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people (Acts 23,5)
It’s so sad that nowadays there are many “Christians” who condemn our Lord to death with their pharisaic justice and absence of love. Such a judgemental spirit is reflected and widespread on the net. For instance, there are so many “ultra-Orthodox” sites who judge everything and everybody in the name of God! A person is simply horrified by the vocabulary these “Orthodox” use! It’s almost identical to the pharisaic one. Therefore I humbly ask you to watch yourself against this leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Luke 12,1), as God says in the Gospel. It’s not right at all for any Christian to hide behind the keyboard and publicly judge the synodal and council decisions of the Bishops, or condemn his Metropolitan, and God forbid the Ecumenical Patriarch himself. Remember that when St. Apostle Paul unknowingly offended the High priest, he apologised although this one was a sworn enemy of Christianity: I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people (Acts 23,5). Do you see just how terrible it is to judge the High priest? It’s bad to judge anyone, even if he is the most despised and greatest sinner. That’s what God taught us with today’s Gospel. You are not to judge because if you do, you will surely fall into the same sin, maybe even greater. And it’s much worse if we judge our spiritual superiors, who have taken upon them the pastoral cross and lead the way to our salvation. Have you any idea what it means to be a spiritual father, a Bishop, a Patriarch! God only knows how heavy cross they bear! Huge!
