True love and faith are only meaningful when they come from free choice.

The moment Eve figuratively reaches out her hand to take the forbidden fruit from the tree, she takes it, tears it from the branch, and brings it to her mouth. I ask you, the God who was at that moment could not have said no to her. As soon as he would have said no, Eve would have pulled her hand back, and what happened would not have happened. And yet he does not say it. Why does he not say it so that the man would be tortured later? But first, he himself would be tortured. He knew it. He did not make this whole plan of man's salvation that would have required him to come to become man and go through all this suffering of the cross. Whereas with a no that he would have said to Eve, all this could have been avoided. And yet he does not say it. He does not say it because if he had said it, he would have abolished man's freedom. And a man who does not have freedom has the basic component of his image abolished. So man cannot become God. Because the basic idiom of God is freedom. He does not lose the reins of the world from his hands while leaving people free to do whatever they want. Let the whole world plunge into apostasy, perversion, and immorality. God does not lose his government and his providence from the world. They say Where is God, Where is God, where is the love of God that leaves children to die of hunger? You fool, but okay, you may not be stupid. Don't know these things. What God does to these children, you will see. You know how you will see them in the next life. And of course, what we say, my brothers, only applies to people who believe in God. If we say this outside, they do not believe in the next life. So he will tell you that I am not interested in what will happen in the next life. I am interested here now. Well, if you only see it from this perspective, of course, there is injustice. God is unjust. God is merciless. He is cruel. But if you see it in reality and with the prism of eternity, then you understand what God does. We humans saw God come into the world to save us. He told us, "I came to save you " And we answered him, "We don't want you to save us. We hate you. We don't want you. We will kill you. We don't want you." And God answers, "Kill me. I will save you by killing myself " This is God's providence. That is, God transforms his plan according to our own choices. We want to sin, do whatever you want, God says. You want to leave me, make your free choices. I will transform my plan so that your own choices help your salvation. This whole situation that the world is in today, and if it wants to get worse and worse, becomes an occasion for God to pour out his own mercy on the world even more. Understand what God is doing. You see, my brothers, what a God we have. Where sin reigned, grace abounded. The more sinful the world becomes, the more grace it will receive from God so that the world will have the means to repent. But here now is the personal freedom of man. Someone else will repent seeing all this destruction. And we don't see any signs of the world changing. The gendarmerie is already starting to degrade. We don't see it. The world is outraged. It says, "Enough of this disgrace. Enough of this. This is our God. And God does these things." So, knowing what God we have to understand, my brothers, my brothers. I think that the man who finally understands what God does is crushed. He is crushed. And the practical thing is that for everything, man says, glory to you, God. For everything, everything, the love of God always cooperates for good. Always everything, both good and bad. Ultimately, God's punishment is nothing more than God's favor. It is a favor of God. Let's say it this way with his left hand. Glory to God for everything. And at the slightest thing, I make a sudden movement, and the glass falls and breaks. What do most people say, the first thing that comes out of the mouth will be, "Let's go," or an indignation. We can have the first thing that comes out of our mouth be glory to you, God. Why do I say it? Why do I say it? Because if you say with a damage that will suddenly happen, glory to God, you immediately draw God's grace so that you can deal with the damage that happened in the best way, while if you say the tap, you draw, you draw the devil, you draw an evil spirit, and everything becomes upside down after that, constantly and always, glory to God.

🕊️ Why the Jews Did Not Believe in Christ — Even Though His Resurrection Was Proven

1. Historical Expectations

At the time of Christ, the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah to be a political and military leader, someone who would free them from Roman rule and restore the earthly kingdom of David.

When Jesus came humble, peaceful, and crucified, this image did not fit their expectations. Therefore, the religious leaders rejected Him.

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

— John 5:39–40

2. Theological Explanation

According to Orthodox theology, the blindness of the Jews was not due to a lack of evidence, but due to a spiritual veil covering their hearts.

Saint Paul wrote:

“For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.”

— 2 Corinthians 3:14

This means that their hearts were not open to grace, so they could not see that all the prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

3. The Evidence of the Resurrection

The Resurrection of Christ is one of the best-attested events in ancient history:

• The empty tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers.
• Christ appeared to many after His Resurrection — even to more than 500 people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).
• The Apostles and disciples preached the Resurrection boldly, facing persecution and death without ever denying what they saw.
• The early Christians were willing to die as martyrs rather than deny the Risen Lord.

Yet, the chief priests spread falsehoods to deceive the people:

“His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept.”

— Matthew 28:13

Thus, the truth was covered by lies, and many were misled.

4. The Spiritual Cause of Unbelief

The Holy Fathers teach that unbelief is not caused by lack of proof, but by lack of purity of heart.

Saint John Chrysostom said:

“The truth was not hidden — it was the eyes of the blind that refused to see.”

Faith requires humility and repentance. When the heart is closed by pride, even miracles cannot convince it.

5. The Prophecy of Future Faith

Saint Paul also revealed a mystery — that in the end times, many Jews will return to Christ:

“And so all Israel will be saved.”

— Romans 11:26

The Orthodox Church teaches that before the Second Coming, there will be a spiritual awakening among the Jewish people, recognizing Jesus as the true Messiah.

✝️ Conclusion

The Jews did not reject Christ because there was no evidence — but because their expectations were earthly, and their hearts were not ready for the divine truth.

Yet God’s plan is not finished. The time will come when many from Israel will recognize the Risen Lord and glorify Him together with all nations.

“Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

— Philippians 2:10–11

 

🕊️ 

Orthodoxy – The One True Faith

Orthodoxy is the only true Faith!

All the other so-called “Christian churches” have changed many, many things in Christianity.

Catholicism alters and adjusts dogma continually — a metaphor, of course, but you understand the point.

Orthodoxy, however, has remained pure and unchanged since the Seven Ecumenical Councils, from the very dawn of Christianity.

The Catholics separated from us, and after them the Protestants broke away from them, drifting even farther from the true essence of Christianity. Then came the Anglicans, Pentecostals, Baptists, and many others.

Now there are hundreds — even thousands — of so-called “Christian churches.”

Catholicism is the root of all the sects that exist today.

There is a saying:

“There were three great falls in history:

1️⃣ The fall of Satan,

2️⃣ The fall of Adam,

3️⃣ The fall of the first Pope in 1054.”

But the Truth is only one — and it is found in the only Church founded by the twelve Apostles:

The Orthodox Church.

Orthodox = The Right Faith

• Ortho = Right, Unchanged
• Doxa = Glory, Faith, or Dogma

All the thousands of so-called Christian churches, beginning with Catholicism, have lost Apostolic succession.

They are outside the Truth because they changed the original Faith.