The Russians' Secret: What Christians Today Would ... - GOD'S WORD

tried to insult him, and in the end he was wounded for your sake.Yakov, in a letter to Dmitry his “spiritual son” described the sufferings of Christ:He was almighty. Angels carried him. But look at him now in bonds, withsoldiers leading him around. In heaven he sat at his Father’s right hand. But lookat him now, standing before the archpriest and the Roman governor . . . He hadshone, on the mountain, more brightly than the sun. But now the ungodly beathim and spit into his face!The fact that Christ never fought back deeply impressed Russian believers, and hispatience in suffering—turning the other cheek—became their ideal. Two of PrinceVladimir’s sons were among the first to live up to it.Before his death, Prince Vladimir dispatched his twelve sons to the twelve mainsettlements of Russia. He hoped they would become Christian leaders for theRussian people and show them how to live. But his hopes could not have resultedin greater disappointment.Svyatopolk, the oldest son who took his father’s place at Kiev was a scoundrel. Asa young man he already got into trouble, but Vladimir punished him lightly andforgave him. The second son, Yaroslav, a kind and thoughtful man, went toNovgorod. Every­one left home, even the two youngest sons, Boris and Gleb.Boris and Gleb particularly liked one another. Boris loved to read and entertainedGleb with stories from the Bible and early Greek Christians during winterevenings. When he married in his mid-teens and had to leave for Rostov, and Gleb(still an adoles­cent) for Murom, they missed one another.Soon afterward they learned of their father Prince Vladimir’s death—and on theheels of it that Svyatopolk, the new prince, intended to kill all his brothers. Boriswas already traveling to Kiev when he discovered that a party of murderers wasalready on its way and about to fall upon him. “What shall I, as a Chris­tian, donow?” Boris asked his companions. “Now that we know, shall we defendourselves?”For a long time at night, in their camp by the Alta River Boris struggled withtemptation. He went out to stand under the stars alone. He prayed, until he