Беседа на слова: И видехом славу Его, славу яко Единородного от Отца, исполнь благодати и истины (Ин. 1:14). Святого Иоанна Златоустого

And we saw His glory. We would not have seen the glory of the Lord if He had not appeared to us in a body similar to ours. If the Israelites were not able to look even at the glorified face of Moses, who was of the same nature as us; on the contrary, this righteous man had to veil the greatness of his glory, so that, inaccessible to the eyes of the people, his face would thus become visible: then how could we, created from the dust of the earth, endure the appearance of the purest Divinity, Which is inaccessible even to the highest Powers? That is why the Divine dwelt among us, so that we could fearlessly approach Him, talk with Him, and be present with Him. What does the expression mean: (and seeing) glory, like the Only Begotten from the Father? - Many of the prophets were glorified, such as, for example, Moses (whom we mentioned), Elijah and Elisha, of whom the first was taken to heaven on a fiery chariot, and the last had an ordinary death, - after them Daniel and the three youths, and many others who performed miracles. The Angels, who appeared to people and revealed to them the brilliant Radiance of their nature, were also clothed with glory; and Cherubim and Seraphim also appeared to the Prophet with great glory. But the Evangelist turns our gaze away from all these glorified ones: he lifts our mind above the beauty of created beings and beings similar to us, and directs it to the most extreme heights of perfection. He (the Evangelist) seemed to say this: “we did not see the glory of the Prophet, not the glory of an Angel, or an Archangel, or the highest Powers, or any other being (unless there is any other kind of glorified being); but they saw the glory of the Lord Himself, the King Himself, the truest and Only Begotten Son, the Lord Himself of all.” The particle: yako expresses here not likeness or similarity, but confirmation and complete certainty. As if it were said: “we have seen the glory that is fitting and worthy to have for the true and Only Begotten Son of the King of all, God.” This way of speech is also common among the people. Many, having seen the Tsar in the most beautiful attire, as soon as they begin to tell others about the Tsar’s decoration, greatness and glory, then, having listed both, if they cannot depict all the glory of the Tsar, they conclude their speech like this: “And why say too much? in one word, like a Tsar” - Particle: how they express it is not that the person they are talking about is only similar to the Tsar; but that he is the true King. In the same way, the Evangelist used the particle: as if to express the highest and incomparable glory of Christ: since all other beings - Angels, Archangels, and Prophets did everything according to the command given to them; and Jesus Christ acted with the authority characteristic of a King and Ruler. That is why the people marveled that He (Christ the Savior) taught as one having authority (Matthew 7:29). So, Angels appeared on earth (as I said) with great glory, for example, to Daniel, David, Moses, but they did everything as slaves, according to the command of the Lord. On the contrary, Jesus Christ created everything as the Lord and Almighty, and although He appeared in a humble and humiliated form, however, in this form the creation knew its Master. How is this? - a star that appeared in the sky led the Magi to worship Him; hosts of heavenly Angels descended to earth to serve Him and glorify Him; At the same time, other heralds of Christ appeared. All of them conveyed the joyful gospel of the unspeakable mystery: Angels to the shepherds, shepherds to the inhabitants of Bethlehem, Gabriel to Mary and Elizabeth, Anna and Simeon to those in the church. From this gospel not only men and wives were filled with joy, but also the baby, who had not yet come into the world (I mean the inhabitant of the desert, the same name as the Evangelist - John), leaped in his mother's womb; Then everyone turned their gaze to the future with hope. These were the circumstances of the very birth of Jesus Christ! When He revealed Himself to the world, even greater miracles were revealed. It was no longer the star and the sky, not the Angels and Archangels, not Gabriel and Michael, but the Father Himself from heaven, and, with the voice of the Father, descending on Jesus and remaining on Him, the Comforter testified about Him. And here, as the Evangelist says, truly, we saw His glory, as the Only Begotten of the Father! However, this is not only why the Evangelist said so, but also because of what followed: for it was not only shepherds, not only widows and elders who preached to us about Jesus Christ; The deeds He performed, louder than a trumpet, proclaimed Him - everything proclaimed to everyone, everything and everywhere preached that the King of heaven had come to earth! Demons ran away from everywhere and moved away, the shamed devil retreated, death itself was first gradually feared, and then completely abolished. Diseases of all kinds were healed, coffins emitted the dead, demons left the possessed, illnesses left the sick. Then those wondrous and wondrous deeds were visible, which the Prophets truly desired to see, but did not see. Then (people) saw the most desired miracle for everyone - the creation of the eye; and in this small and noblest member of the human body was shown an example of how God created Adam from the earth. Then they saw how the weakened and disintegrated members were strengthened and again united with one another, how the dead hands received movement - the weakened legs suddenly jumped up, the imprisoned hearing was opened, and the tongue, hitherto bound by muteness, clearly spoke. Just as a skilled architect restores a building that has fallen apart over time, so He, our Lord, having assumed human nature, filled up the missing members, tied together the parts that had separated from each other, and restored those completely weakened again. What can we say about the restoration of the soul, which is incomparably more wonderful than the physical? Physical health is precious, but mental health is much more precious: it is as much more precious as the soul is superior to the body. The bodily nature, without any resistance, is everywhere led by the wave of the Creator: on the contrary, the soul, being sovereign in itself and free in its actions, does not always submit to God. He does not want, by force and against the will, to make the soul virtuous and holy (for where there is no will, there is no virtue). It is necessary to convince the soul so that by free will it becomes good. And this is why healing the soul is incomparably more difficult than healing the body! But the Lord did this too, driving out all evil from the soul. Just as He not only restored health to sick bodies, but also placed them in perfect well-being: so He not only freed souls from extreme corruption, but also raised them to the very heights of virtue. The publican became an Apostle; the persecutor, blasphemer and harasser appeared as a preacher of the universe, the Magi turned out to be teachers of the Jews, the thief became a resident of paradise, the harlot became famous for the greatness of her faith, the Samaritan woman (another harlot) revealed herself as a preacher among her fellow citizens, and, having gathered them all, led them to Christ; The Canaanite wife, through faith and prayer, asked for the soul of her daughter to be freed from the evil demon. Likewise, other, even worse people, as soon as they joined the host of Christ’s disciples, were immediately delivered from bodily and mental ailments, and together they received health and a fiery love for good. Moreover, not just two or three, not five or ten, not twenty or a hundred people, but entire regions and nations, with great readiness, became preachers of the faith of Christ. And who can depict the high wisdom of commands, the perfection of heavenly laws, the holiness of life equal to the angels?! The Lord has prescribed such a way of life for us, laid down such laws for us that, by fulfilling them, we can, as much as is natural for us, become like the Angels, and even God Himself, even though we were previously more sinful than all men. So, the Evangelist, having embraced with his gaze all the miracles performed by the Lord over bodies, souls and elements, imagining in his mind the commandments, these ineffable and heavenly gifts, laws, morals, instructions, promises, and, finally, the suffering of Jesus Christ, uttered these wondrous and significant words: and we saw His glory, the glory as the only begotten from the Father, filled with grace and truth. Thus, we revere Jesus Christ not only for the sake of the miracles He performed, but also for the sake of His suffering, i.e., for the sake of the fact that He was nailed to the cross, suffered blows, spitting and strangulation from those who were favored by Him: for about these apparently inglorious sufferings the same saying must be uttered (St. Evangelista). Jesus Christ Himself called the feats of His suffering glory, since in them not only His love and goodness, but also ineffable power was truly revealed. By the death of Jesus Christ, death was abolished, the oath was destroyed, demons were put to shame and cast down, the handwriting of our sins was nailed to the cross. And while these miracles were performed invisibly, at the same time other visible events showed that the Crucified One is truly the Only Begotten Son of God and the Lord of all creation. For when His holy body was nailed to the cross, then the sun hid its rays, the earth shook and was covered with darkness, the rocks were split, the tombs were opened, and many dead arose and entered the holy city. Then He Himself, despite the fact that a great stone was rolled against His tomb and guards surrounded it, rose from the dead. After His resurrection, having filled His eleven disciples with invincible, Divine power, He sent them to all ends of the universe, so that they would become doctors of all people, teach them the right way of life, spread the knowledge of heavenly truths everywhere, crush the dominion of demons, show people great and ineffable benefits, announce the immortality of the soul, the eternal life of the body and those rewards that are in the present century for us inconceivable, and in the future they will be endless. All these and other most numerous deeds, which the blessed Evangelist himself saw, but could not describe, because the whole world could not contain them [as he himself said: even if they were written in one, I could not contain the whole world to write the books (John 21:25)], - all the deeds of the Savior, imagining in his mind, the Evangelist exclaimed: and I saw His glory, glory, as The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He who has been worthy to see and hear such wonderful things, and to receive such high gifts, must lead a life in accordance with the teachings of faith, so that he may be worthy of future blessings. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth for this purpose, so that we might see His glory, not only revealed here, but also to come, as He Himself said: I will, that where I am, they also may be with Me: that they may see My glory (John 17:24). And if His very earthly glory was so bright and brilliant, then what can we say about the future? This glory will be revealed not on the corruptible earth, not in our meager bodies, but in the immortal and eternally youthful creation, it will appear in such splendor that it is impossible to imagine it with the mind. So, blessed, a hundred times blessed are those who are worthy to contemplate this glory, about which the Prophet says this: let the wicked be taken, and not see the glory of the Lord (Is. 26:10). But let it not happen that any of us will be deprived of the contemplation of the glory of God: since if we are not worthy of this contemplation, then it will be fitting to say about us: “It would have been better for us not to have been born at all.” Really, what do we live for? Why do we have breath? Why do we exist here if in the future life we ​​are not worthy of contemplating the glory of God, and we will not be granted the gift of beholding our Lord? Of course, those who do not see the light of the sun lead a life more sorrowful than any death: what will be the suffering of those deprived of the light of heaven? For the former, the entire disaster lies in one blindness, and the suffering of the latter will not be limited to the deprivation of the light of God (although this punishment alone is severe, and without any comparison painful, since the Sun there is incomparably superior to ours); no, they are threatened with another punishment. He who is unworthy to look at the heavenly light will not only be cast into darkness, but will also forever be scorched and dried up by fire, will begin to grind his teeth and endure other countless torments. Let us not be indifferent to our fate, so as not to fall into eternal punishment for short-term carelessness and idleness. Let us be cheerful and sober; Let us strive to fulfill all our duties in order to be worthy of Divine vision and to be saved from the fiery river flowing with great noise before the terrible judgment seat: since whoever is once cast into it will remain there forever; and no one will save him from this torment - neither his father, nor his mother, nor his brother. The Prophets testify to this. David says: a brother will not deliver, will a man deliver (Ps. 48:8)? And Ezekiel, with even greater force, speaks about it this way: and if Noah and Daniel and Job... these three men are in the midst of it (the earth), neither their sons nor their daughters will be saved (Ezekiel 14:14, 16). There will be one protection there - from affairs. Whoever does not have it will not find salvation for himself anywhere. Constantly remembering and reflecting on this, let us purify our life and make it bright, so that we may never have the boldness to contemplate God and receive the promised good things, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen 21. Christ. Read 1835, II, 25–40 pp.; compare Demon. St. Chrysostom on the Gospel. John, ed. 1862, part I, pp. 133–143. You might be interested in: