Let’s consider what the attitude to murder (with defensive motives, liberating, etc.) was in the Fiery Church (in the time of the apostles, when there were many Spirit-bearers in the church). “And He sent messengers ahead of Him; and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?’ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them’” (Luke 9:52-56). And in the Gospel icon according to the testimony of the evangelist Matthew, we read: “And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. But Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword’” (26:51-52)25. So, whoever takes the sword (to kill) – will perish by the sword (regardless of the purpose: whether to defend (defensive war; and Peter wanted to defend Christ! And every person is Christ (see the parable of the Last Judgment)), or to attack (holy liberation war)). And why the Lord forbade defending Himself, we read in the Gospel of John: “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here’” (John 18:36). “He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Rev. 13:10). Never forget that all quotes must be read in their native context if we want to understand the essence, the meaning that the “father of the word” (author) put into these words26. Because we often rape foreign texts, imposing on their authors meanings they did not even suspect! By the way, all heretics enlisted the apostles and evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and other holy fathers into their camp, because to confirm their heresies, they cited quotes from the Holy Scripture of the Church (they said: look, the apostles say the same thing as we do; and cited a whole bunch of quotes from the Scripture). Any most sacred text can be interpreted heretically!!! The word is a vessel into which any liquid can be poured: either Living Water or deadly poison! So, the heretics, false teachers, took, and take, the authors of the Holy Scripture as their advocates. Therefore, let’s be very careful when we see someone quoting someone (or want to quote someone ourselves – to call as a witness to the truthfulness of our experience-knowing)! We should always be interested in: what will you say about this or that issue, problem, task; you yourself, not what you heard from others; what do you know; because when you yourself have nothing to say (have nothing to say – see above), then what does the quote
of someone else mean in your mouth?! Let’s remind what we constantly repeat: to quote someone is to call someone (the one you quote) as a witness to your experience-knowing: I know reality-truth this way, look: he knows the same way, his experience-knowing coincides with mine! Therefore, the content (essence, meaning of these verbal instructions-calls, what the speakers called for, what they pointed to with these words) of the apostles and saints should be known eucharistically-parochially (in the Holy Spirit), and if in the flesh, then read it in its native context, taking into account where this verbal form-indication-call was taken (very often forcibly torn out and raped, adapted to oneself, one’s ideology).
Let’s provide another epigraph from which we will take the tone for our discourse: “And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth… And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 11:3, 7-10). (To understand the essence of the quotes from the books of the New Testament, what they meant, what they indicated in the mouths of the apostles, discuss with the men (experts on this matter) listed in the section “Friends-Advisors”: Archimandrite Januarius Ivliev, Prot. Georgy Chistyakov…).
“The great city” in Revelation (11:8) refers to any city and any place in the world. The world is Sodom, for in it, God’s will and commandments are trampled upon and despised. It is also Egypt, for the sinful world is a foreign land and a land of bondage. In this God-hostile (God-opposing) world, Christians have no homeland: “they are strangers and pilgrims on the earth… they seek a homeland” (Heb. 11:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11). In this world, “our Lord was crucified.” Christians must be ready to share the fate of their Lord (not crucify, kill, torture, defend by killing the offender…). Christians are prophets in this world (and their share (fate) is the fate (share) of these two prophets mentioned in Revelation). They are not of this world, but from Heaven (born of the Holy Spirit) and sent into the world to testify to the Truth, to the coming of the Kingdom of God. And the catechumens are those who are returning home, going to the Kingdom of God, preparing for baptism (acceptance of citizenship in the Kingdom of God) by the Holy Spirit. Christians strive in everything to become like the Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit (“let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, having the love of God (loving with the love of Christ, by the Holy Spirit)”). The Lord Jesus Christ did not kill anyone, did not defend anyone (though He could!!!), and did not divide estates or lands among warring people (countries) – “My Kingdom is not of this world.” The Church (the Kingdom of God) is present in this world as a parish (Eucharistic eschatological community, which is in diaspora and on the way back to the homeland). Therefore, in the mouths of the apostles (Spirit-bearers) sounds a strict uncompromising pacifism. The fiery early Church lived in Heaven and by Heaven (the Eucharist), and was persecuted by this world (with interruptions) for three centuries. But over time, the heavenly, fiery church began to become earthly, secularized, and mixed with this world (Sodom, spiritual Egypt) and the attitude towards the issues we are considering (murder, defensive war, liberation war, etc.) changed (from extreme early Christian pacifism to missionary militarism, and up to national militarism, where there is no hint of mission, but only national, earthly interests of the state, nation dominate, defended by national Orthodox churches of the XX-XXI centuries (e.g., UOC KP, ROC, etc.)).