To the words: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down,” and: “The devil takes Him to a very high mountain” (Matthew 4:6, 8), and so on

You who are in love for the resurrection of the Lord, truly accept the peace pleasing to Christ of the recently read testimony. Mary is already anointing, and the church is fragrant; the vessel is already emptied, and the altar is filled with incense. Mary anoints, Martha serves, and the resurrected one reclines with the Lord. The race of husbands is honored, since the husband is created in the image of God, and the wife in the image of the husband - she glorifies the husband, but does not represent Christ. And who is the witness of this, so that we can use it perfectly? Listen to the words of Paul: “A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God; and the wife is the glory of the husband" ("the husband... must not eat his head, this is the image and glory of God: but the wife is the glory of the husband") (1 Cor. 11:7). A wife is the glory of her husband, (and) not of strangers; (glory) not due to ancient vain advice, but due to perfect, true procreation. This true childbearing freed the wife from the curse. And who is the witness of this? The same apostle: “It was not Adam who was deceived; but the wife, deceived, fell into crime; however, he will be saved through childbearing” (“Adam was not deceived: but the woman was deceived and quickly committed a crime. She will be saved again for the sake of childbearing”) (1 Tim. 2:14–15). You see that the wife is saved through childbearing; not because Eve cast out Cain, but because the glorious Virgin carried Christ with her womb. So, Mary anoints, Martha serves, and Lazarus reclines with the Lord, as you just heard. Mary depicts the church: the church’s inexhaustible myrrh; Martha means synagogue: she has little faith and is a lover of earthly things; Lazarus wears the scepter of resurrection, as you just heard from the words of the evangelist: “Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had died, whom He raised from the dead. There they prepared a supper for Him, and Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those who reclined with Him. Mary, taking a pound of pure precious ointment of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment" ("Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was..., whom he raised from the dead. He made that supper for him, and Martha served: Lazarus alone was from those who reclined with him. Mary took a liter of the ointment of spikenard pistika, anointed on the nose of Jesus, and withdrew her hair...: the church was all filled from the stench of the world") (John 12:1–3). Have you seen the wife’s occupation, and how she prefigured the church? Mary distracted many wives from their evil occupation, and taught them to bring a liter of peace, and not cut off the head of the Baptist; Anoint the Lord with myrrh, and not steal with Judas; let down your hair, not tie up your sins; to be called the sister of Lazarus, and not to be called the daughter of the devil. I said this about the Jewish synagogue, which did not anoint the Lord, but gave him vinegar and gall to drink, about the lover of blood, who always acted hostilely against the Lord Christ, trying to kill Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. And who is more reliable: the Lord who resurrects, or they who kill? Now you have heard the words of the evangelist: “Many of the Jews knew that He was there, and they came not only for Jesus, but to see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead” (“knowingly the people were many of the Jews, as Jesus is: and they came not only for Jesus’ sake, but also for Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead”) (John 12:9), - many of the Jews came for the sake of him and believed in Jesus. Do you see how the Jewish synagogue, the murderer, the prophet-killer, came to the point of killing the Lord? The Lord personally said to her, as one who loved murder and was a robber: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you!” ("Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you have killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to you") (Matthew 23:37), how long will you kill and not turn? “You are drunk without wine, blood lover!” And so that you may know that these words are not in vain, listen to the Lord speaking through the prophet: “Hear this, the heads of the house of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and distort everything that is right, who built Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity” (“hear this, all the elders of the house of Jacob, and those who are left behind the house of Israel, who abhor judgment, and all that is right corrupters, building up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with wickedness" (Mic. 3:9-10); and again: “And when you stretch out your hands, I will close My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear: your hands are full of blood" ("if you stretch out [your] hands to me, I will turn my face away from you; and if you multiply your prayer, I will not hear...: for your hands are full of blood" (Is. 1:15). What about the evangelist? “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany.” The Lord who came to Bethany will be here too. The real house is truly called Bethany, since Bethany means “house of peace,” and the house of peace is the real house of the Lord, in which we, its inhabitants, daily cry out to the Master of the House: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”) (Luke 2:14). He who comes to Bethany also arrives here; arrives not as not present, but as existing, and present, and going. Foreseeing this arrival of the Lord, the prophet said: “Behold, the Lord God comes with power, and His arm with power” (“behold... he comes with might, and his arm with power”) (Is. 40:10). “Behold, the Lord God comes with power.” This word is true: with power (“strength”) the Lord comes. With what strength? As one who devastated hell, as one who gave Lazarus a taste of the resurrection, as one who filled the world with countless blessings. “Behold, the Lord God comes with power” (“Behold, the Lord comes with might”). Who is stronger than the one who said: “Lazarus, come out?” Goes not absent; You heard: “Let us go out to meet those who are present and those who are coming, (we will go out) not by marching across the earth, but by cleansing the soul, improving morals.” Let us go out to meet those present with gratitude; let us do what Moses' sister did; Let us use voices stronger than she, since the devil, even covered by the sea, is more burdensome than Pharaoh. Let us take with love the signs of victory, not hand-made timbrels, but fronds, date branches; Let us exclaim with our fellow believers what we recently heard: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” ("Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord") (John 12:13). The prophet Isaiah, foreseeing this royal coming of the Lord, said: “Behold, the Lord God is coming with power,” as the resurrector of the dead, and not just the dead, but those who have faded away, scattered, (like) the resurrector from the tomb of the four-day-old Lazarus, which you heard from the words of the evangelist: “Six days before Easter Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was dead, whom He raised from the dead.” What did Moses do that was similar to our Lord Christ? Moses put to death, (but) did not bring to life. Let the children of the Jews be ashamed for glorifying Moses and blaming the Lord Christ! But the Jew now hastily objects: “And among us the dead have not been raised? Didn’t the prophet Elijah resurrect the son of the widow of Sarepta? Meanwhile, Elijah is a man. Why do you think a lot about your Teacher - proving His divine power from the fact that He raised Lazarus from the dead?” What are you saying, Jew? Comparing Elijah and the Lord Christ? Another thing is the state of slavery, and another thing is divine power. If you do not know in advance how this resurrection happened, then you will not understand the work of divine power. Listen carefully: dead under Elijah, the son of the Sarepta widow, if he was put to death, it was not, however, due to a lack of nature, but for the education and grief of Elijah, in order to persuade Elijah from hard-heartedness to compassion. Once Elijah - as you well know - was angry with the house of Ahab and the people of Israel for the iniquity of Jezebel, and declared with an oath: “As the Lord God lives... in these years there will be neither dew nor rain, except at my word" ("As the Lord God lives..., if in these years there be dew or rain on the earth, it will come from their mouth...") (1 Kings 17:1). The God of all was not satisfied with this decision of Elijah about the lack of water, but fulfilled the decision of the servant, since He himself wanted him, who had bound the clouds for sterility, to be freed from the misfortune of lack of water. But Elijah did not heed this reconciliation. Otherwise, God will be compassionate, and otherwise a person will become hardened. The Lord wanted to beg the cruel slave to give rain to the earth according to his word. It is not characteristic of God to ask a person; because, as God, He used another means. Which? Listen carefully. With the increasing lack of rain (for three years and six months the clouds did not give rain), Elijah began to neglect thirst, (and) with firmness endured the lack, doing it out of competition; wished (better) to destroy himself than to reconcile with the house of Ahab. What about the Lord? He deals subtly with His servant - He does not ask, but says: “Get out of here and turn to the east and hide by the brook Cherith, which is opposite the Jordan; you will drink from this stream, and I commanded the ravens to feed you there" ("get up from here... and go to the stream of Horath in front of the Jordan, and... drink water from the stream, and I command the crows to feed you there") (1 Kings 17:3-4). The Lord said this not in order to feed Elijah, but to put him to shame; not in order to to honor, but to attract him to compassion through shameful food. It was not typical for the prophet to eat through ravens, and to use a meat meal for him, who first performed ascetic labors. The Lord was able to feed the righteous either through doves, or through the supply of manna, like the children of Israel, or, following the example of Daniel, to present the husband of Habakkuk with lentils; The Lord was able to respectfully feed Elijah, just as He respectfully fed him (another time). When, fleeing from Jezebel, at another time Elijah reached the desert, and slept in the desert, with severe hunger and thirst - since the path of flight was great - (then) the Lord places bread and water at his head, and then pushes him in the side, and not in another part (of the body). Why? Listen carefully: He pushes him in the side as he avoided the threat of the side. And the Lord said to him: “Elijah, get up, eat...; for a long road is before you. And he arose, ate and drank, and, refreshed by that food, walked for forty days" ("Arise and eat and drink, for the journey is long for you.... And Elijah set, and having eaten and drunk,... went to the fortress of that food forty days and forty nights") (1 Kings 19: 7-8), not as one who is hungry, but as one who is full. Such is God-given food. So, there he who fed worthily was strong and in the present (case) to feed him from heaven; but He provides him with an unsuitable meal in order to incline him to compassion and pity through shameful food. But he remained adamant. It was necessary that Elijah, having heard the words of the Lord: “from this stream you will drink, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there,” fell down, begged and said: “No, Lord, I have never eaten anything bad or unclean” (“nothing, Lord, has ever come into my mouth anything foul and... unclean”) (Acts 10:14). “You provide me with ravens, treacherous for Noah, - (for me), who was first brought up in ascetic habits, do you arrange a meat meal, like a pagan and a foreigner?” Elijah needed to say these words as a request. But Elijah (didn’t say) anything like that. He knew that if he complained about an unsuitable meal, the Lord would say to him: “What are you saying, Elijah? Don't you dare drink dirty water when you haven't let the rain fall? You have scorched the land of Israel; It is not possible to find a drop of water in a well, nor in a source of moisture. Accept what you've done! Don't you take meat food from the crows? It is not possible to find bread, ears, or herbs, since neither rain nor dew has yet fallen to the ground, according to your conclusion; nothing can be found except meat, and that is carrion, since the animals died due to lack of nutrition. Why don’t you take the meal of your labors?” To avoid hearing any of this, Elijah took an inappropriate meal. He preferred to endure long-term lack of rain rather than lend a rainy word. What about the all-wise Lord? When he saw that he remained with (his) cruelty, he turned to another means, stronger than the first. Which one? The stream dries up, the ravens are detained, a voice turns to him: “Go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there; I commanded a widow woman there to feed you” (“Go to Zarephath of Sidon...; behold... the commandment of the widow woman to feed you there”) (1 Kings 17:9). Do you see how the Lord tried to persuade him to compassion? He did not send him to the ruler's house, or to the king's house, or to some wealthy woman, but to a widow who was not enough to incline him to compassion. But here too he remained adamant. He needed to hear the words of the Lord: “Go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there; I commanded a widow woman there to feed you,” to fall down, cry out, beg and say: “Master! Don't bring me to humiliation! Do you send me to the Sidonians, and command me to be a burden to a widow woman, whose bread is full of tears, whose table is full of lamentations, whose bed is headed by a curse?” But Elijah (didn’t say) anything like that. He knew that if he refused the widow’s meal, the Lord would say to him: “What are you saying, Elijah? Do you refuse the widow’s meal (you), who sterilized the entire land of Israel, making her a widow, barren and childless, bearing no fruit—do you refuse the widow’s meal?” In order not to hear anything like this, Elijah immediately set out on a journey to the Sidonians, rather with joy than with sorrow. Listen again. Received by the widow as a guest, Elijah found an inexhaustible meal, true, convenient, ascetic - water, oil and flour, and two logs. Did the widow only have two logs? Yes. Why? Listen and I'll tell you. This mentioned widow represented the church, which is why the prophet is sent to her. Entering the widow's house, the prophet found (with her) truly the pledge of our church: water, oil and flour, and two logs of wood; water - baptism, oil - anointing, flour - bread, two logs - the feat of the cross. Elijah exclaimed to the widow: “The jar of flour will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail” (“the vessel of food will not run low, and the water pot of flour will not run low”) (1 Kings 17:14). The grace of the Orthodox faith is not insufficient. So, Elijah, having found the widow’s inexhaustible meal, rejoiced, rejoiced, saying to himself: “Here I will finally live, here I will spend all my time; I have found a comfortable meal; the house of Ahab, the people of Israel and the madness of Jezebel mean nothing to me; You all know how a widow, who had two legitimate and half-born sons, gets out of bed in the morning and sees one of her sons dead. What is typical for a widow to indulge in next to her grown-up son who has passed away, each of you knows. She values ​​her son's life above all wealth in the world. The woman did not, according to custom, fall to the dead, did not bury, and did not worry about carrying it out; but, leaving him, she went up to Elijah, held him, made noise and shouted in front of everyone: “What is it to me and to you, man of God? You came to me to remember my sins and to kill my son" ("What do you and I, man of God? You came to me to remember my iniquities and to kill my son") (1 Kings 17:18), i.e., "You killed him!" Do you see how Elijah's joy turned to sorrow? He is held back like a murderer, since the widow said: “What is it to me and to you, man of God? You came to me to remind me of my sins and to kill my son.” You killed him; your arrival did it. You did not find my son sick; he was not sick even for one day; your arrival brought death to my son. Why do you thank me with flour when there is no one to eat? Give me my son; You killed him, wanting to inherit my house. Take your flour and give my son. You feed me, but you kill my child. I will starve with my own people, and not live in wealth with strangers: “What is it to me and to you, man of God? You came to me to remind me of my sins and to kill my son.” You killed my son; I think you are kind of cruel; your coming is wrong. Tell me what did you do? Are you running away from your God? Have you not done the works of Jonah? I think you're kind of callous. You breathe fire, you strive to kill, you bring with you waterlessness, you burn fifty leaders; I know your affairs. It’s not enough for you that you strangle your fellow tribesmen, but you came here to do the same. You made fun of many, but you won’t make fun of me; give me my son!” What about Elijah? He immediately bowed down because he recognized the blow of the Lord. With great lamentation, as if defeated, he exclaimed with the words: “Lord my God! Will You really do evil to the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” ("Woe is me, Lord, the witness of the widow, who is not with me... I am, you have embittered the hedgehog to kill her son") (1 Kings 17:20). Your business; She found out, Master! Behold, I am oppressed by a widow; You always send me to the cruelest women. I avoided Jezebel and came across this one. I have withstood many trials, but I cannot bear this language. You told me, Master: “Go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there; I commanded a widow woman there to feed you.” And so she destroys and does not feed. I am held as a murderer, and legally held; when I arrived, my son was flourishing; I don’t know how he was immediately put to death. Free me, Lord, from this burden; You surrounded me with spectacle, clothed me with shame, and brought me great torment. Give your soul and I will bring rain; satisfy the widow, and I will water the country; revive the boy, and I will ask for the gift of rain.” This is about the previously said resurrection of Lazarus, and the objections of the Jews; (precisely) otherwise the Lord rules over himself, and otherwise the slave resurrects. Elijah raised the dead, but did not exercise self-rule; he was much distressed, tormented and oppressed. Therefore, he cried out in prayer with the words: “Woe is me!” Where “woe is me,” there is sorrow of the soul. So you will find everywhere: the prophet laments and says: “Woe is me! for with me now - as in the gathering of summer fruits, as in the harvesting of grapes" ("woe is me, for I was forsaken, as if I had gathered the slime of the harvest, and like a fool in the embrace of the grapes") (Mic. 7:1); and again another prophet: "Woe is me, woe is me in the day! For the day of the Lord is near... and it is like trouble" (Joel 1:15); still another prophet: “Woe is me,” because he perished from the earth. There is sorrow everywhere - woe is me! So Elijah is here: “Lord my God! Will You really do evil to the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son? And prostrating himself over the youth three times, he cried out to the Lord and said: Lord my God! may the soul of this lad return to him” (“woe is me, Lord, the witness of the widow,... you have embittered the hedgehog to kill her son. And I will blow on the youth three times”) (1 Kings 17:20–21). See here how the sacrament of grace is depicted in the law. Namely, “I will blow l... three times” denotes the entry of the indivisible Trinity. “And... he cried to the Lord and said: Lord my God! may the soul of this youth return to him! ... and the soul of this lad returned to him, and he came to life" ("And the car called to God and said: let ... the soul of this lad return to him: and so quickly") (1 Kings 17:21-22). What are you saying, Jew? It is not at all that the Lord (did) what Elijah did, nor that Elijah did what the Lord did. The Lord did not bow his knee; did not offer prayers. Every prayer is sent to Him; He only exclaimed: “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43), like a Master calling a servant. What then? He went out like a slave who obeyed the Master. He went out, did not hesitate, hell did not hold back, death did not resist, the underground forces did not delay, but were rather defeated. Hell was carefree, having within its borders, for four days, a completely decomposed Lazarus, like an unbroken ship; the underground forces did not think that Lazarus would be rescued from the underworld. When the voice of the Lord, descending into the grave with great light, immediately began to plant hair on Lazarus’s head, put the brain into the empty bones, fill the veins with living blood, the amazed underground forces shouted to each other: “Who is this calling? Who is this autocratic? Who is it that recreates the scattered ashes? Who is it that awakens the dead as if from sleep? Who destroys the indestructible gates? Who cries: “Lazarus, come out”? The voice is human sound, but the power of God. Who's calling? (It's) not a person; the appearance of man, but the voice of God. We will send Lazarus, we will carry him out quickly, so that whoever calls him will not come down here if he slows down.” The dead began to worry and move. “We’ll tolerate a loss on one,” they say, “so as not to lose everyone.” So Lazarus quickly emerged from the bosom of hell, praising, blessing and glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we will seal our word: with date fronds we will go out to meet the Lord, with the words: “Hosanna! blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" ("Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"). To him be glory and power forever. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – AB.