Беседа на Вознесение Господа Бога и Спаса нашего Иисуса Христа. Святого Григория Паламы, архиепископа Фессалоникийского

Do you see the common triumph that the Lord Jesus Christ bestowed upon those who believe in Him by His ascension into heaven? This triumph came through sorrow. Do you see life or, better yet, immortality? It shone for us through death. Do you see the heavenly height to which Christ ascended, and the high glory with which He was glorified? He received it through humiliation and disgrace. And the Apostle said about Christ that He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, death on the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name above every name: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth: and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:8). So, if God exalted His Christ because He humbled Himself, that He endured disgrace, that He was tempted, that for our sake He lifted up the cross: then how will He glorify us if we do not love humility, if we do not show love to our brothers, if we do not gain our souls by patience in temptations, if we do not follow our Leader, who leads us into eternal life through the narrow gate and the way? We are called to this: for this,” says the Supreme Apostle Peter, “and quickly, Christ also suffered for us; He left us an image, so that we may follow His footsteps (1 Pet. 2:21). . Why did the Christ of God go through such great suffering? Why did God exalt Him for this and call us into the union of the sufferings of His Son? God Himself is one and the same, always and forever remaining without change, Himself changing everything for the better as He pleases, Himself allowing everything that desires it to change for the worse. So, a creature, visible and invisible, possessing freedom, can change for the better or worse - or, adhering to the Divine will, receives from it what it needs in order to ascend to the better - or, opposing the Divine will, it is rightly abandoned by God and falls into a worse state. Having been created by God, two rational natures, the nature of spiritual angels and people involved in the flesh, they did not retain obedience to the Creator and Lord of nature; but the oldest of all spiritual angels, the primordial one, was the first to fall away from God. Those of the spiritual angels who remained above this fall are light and are filled with light and always shine with the brightest light, rejoice in the first light, and, as the leaders of the light, send luminiferous grace to those who are illuminated by the lower light. And the incessantly warring Satan, abandoning obedience to God, leaving the light, was condemned to eternal darkness, and became a vessel of darkness, its inventor and servant, first for himself, then for the allied angels of crime, and then (oh misfortune!) and for us, who, not trusting God, believed him (the devil). But all the angels of shame are the very darkness, they are the beginning and fullness of unbelief, the bitter root and source of all sin, they serve as the perpetrators of sin for us, and therefore are unworthy of any forgiveness. And we are given punishment from God out of mercy; although we are condemned to death, we must not submit to it (unless time has been given for repentance). This wisely indicates that our salvation is not hopeless, and that we have no reason for despair: for our whole life is a time of repentance, since God does not want the sinner to die, but to turn back and live for him (Ezek. 18:23). Indeed, why did not death (of man) immediately follow the fall? Or how would we sinners deserve to live if there was no hope of conversion (repentance)? On the contrary, Adam's son, Abel, immediately received a testimony from God that he appeared pleasing and pleasing to Him (Gen. 4:4); a short time after the fall, Enoch began to call on (the name of) the Lord with faith (Gen. 4:26), and Enoch not only pleased, but was even translated by God (Gen. 5:24) and, thus, was an obvious proof of God’s mercy towards sinners. Sin increased again, and again our race fell away from God: righteously we were given over to the general flood, and again - more than one anger, more than one condemnation without mercy. But, as if the second root of our race, God miraculously preserved Noah, finding him righteous in His race, as if cutting him off from a world immersed in passions, but not completely destroying the human race. After him, Abraham became faithful and acceptable in the eyes of God (having received testimony from Him Himself), then Isaac, Jacob and the patriarchs descended from him, to whom the promise was given that the great Shepherd Himself would come from the holy heavens to restore life to the lost flock. Now Christ has appeared, the eternal Word of God Himself, who created us to renew and restore the stricken. Truly, He wisely and mercifully accomplished our renewal in the form of man, strengthening us by connecting with us to turn to Him, even opening for us the path to heaven through turning to Him, through His teaching given to us. But since the opposite is cured by the opposite, since we died according to the evil intention of the evil one, then we came to life again according to the good intention of the Good One; and since He who conceived of death revealed the pleasures and lusts by which our race is cast into the abyss, He who conceived of true life revealed to us the narrow and cramped path leading to life. Enter through the narrow gate,” says the Lord, “for the wide gate and the broad path lead into destruction. Enter the narrow gate and the strait path into the belly (Matthew 7:12,14). In another place, turning away from this destructive path, He says: woe to you rich! woe to you now! Woe, when all men speak well unto you (Luke 6:24, 25, 26)! also: do not hide for yourself treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19). Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be burdened with gluttony and drunkenness and the sorrows of this life (Luke 21:34). How can you believe, if you accept glory from one another, and do not seek glory that is from one God (John 5:44)? With these words, the Lord turns away from the path that leads to death; and He points out the path of life in another place, saying this: blessedness are the poor in spirit, blessedness is mercy, blessedness is the exile of righteousness for the sake of (Matthew 5:3, 10)! Sell ​​your possessions and give to the poor: and you will have treasure in heaven (Matthew 19:21). And everyone who leaves a house, or brethren... or children, or a village, or anything else on earth, for the sake of My name and the Gospel, will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29). The Lord proclaims even vain anger to be equal to murder and, condemning to the same punishment the one who, in anger, cruelly attacks his neighbor; He said that such a one is worthy of hell fire (Matt. 5:22). The Lord not only called meekness blessed (Matthew 5:5), but also bestowed the greatest rewards. He so condemned intemperance that even looking at a woman with lust called adultery (Matthew 5:28). And calling the one who loves purity (of heart) blessed, He adds that such a one will see God (Matthew 5:8). He was so far from condemning perjury that he even says: everything beyond “yes, yes” and “no, no” is from the evil one: be your word to her, to her, neither, nor: but I sow too much, out of hostility (Matthew 5:37). But what is this doubling for? - so that the agreement of what we are talking about, either “yes” or “no”, is affirmed in practice: for in this case, indeed, “yes” will be “yes” (statement by affirmation) and “no” - “no”; otherwise, “yes” will be “no” and “no” will be “yes”: this will obviously be from the evil one, for when he speaks a lie, he speaks his own way and does not stand in the truth (John 8:44). Thus, the Lord clothed all our words and actions, our entire life in truth, justice, meekness, and chastity. What about those who, angry against us, oppress us, either by words or deeds, and attack us, how should we behave towards them? Conquer, He says, with good evil (Rom. 12:21): do not repay evil for evil (1 Pet. 3:9) or dishonor with dishonor; but love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who harm you and those who drive you out (Matthew 5:44). What is the purpose of this oppressed life? That you may, He says, be sons of your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:45), heirs with God, and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17), living and reigning with God forever and ever. You see, what a narrow and thorny path - why is it required of us?! Do you see to what glory and joy, to what gain it leads those who strive to walk on it?! If someone promises you a temporary life so that you obey him, will you not obey (except, of course, for the case when he demands something beyond your strength)? If, in addition, he promises you healing, fame, pleasures in addition to temporary life, then why won’t you bear it for this? And if he annexes the kingdom and the kingdom without war, without offense, with a long, painless life, then won’t you pay attention to this and consider the time that will lead you to this kingdom easy, feeding on hope and rejoicing in the promised kingdom, as if it were a real one (if we think that that kingdom is true)? So, do we desire temporary life, but value eternal life at nothing? A kingdom (true, great, but) that has an end - glory and joy (true, great, however) transitory - the riches connected with this life we ​​strongly desire and work for them, but we do not seek much more excellent blessings, incorruptible, endless, and do not even use little effort in order to achieve them. It would be in vain for us to imagine a kingdom without war, which is not found on earth, or a life without labor, which cannot be found anywhere except in heaven. But if anyone desires this (kingdom), let him rush to heaven and, whether the path leading to it is easy or thorny, let him blaze a path along it, rejoicing in hope, enduring toil. You know why people usually give themselves up to work and death. Is it not for a small reward that warriors expose themselves to danger and even defeat? Is it not for the slightest increase in wealth that the merchant neglects the storms, winds and cruel people who make both the sea and the land dangerous? Is it not because of a small piece of bread that many of the powerful often become servants of masters? Shall we not serve the man-loving God? Shall we not move away from the abundance of riches in order to achieve heavenly riches? Can we really not endure reproach and shame from people in order to achieve divine glory, exchanging mortal for immortal? Shall we not hunger and thirst a little, that we may eat the bread of life that comes down from heaven, and drink the truly living waters, which whoever finds it worthy to eat and drink will no longer hunger or thirst for ever? Shall we not cleanse our spiritual eyes, abstaining from all spiritual and bodily impurity, in order to see a light brighter than the sun, or better, to be children of the highest light? Let it not be, I pray to you, brethren, that we prefer darkness to light, divine and eternal joy - the pleasure of death and service to hell, rich love - the luxury of corruption, the substance of fire, with which those who sought evil will forever be burned, as the Lord showed us in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). But we will live as He Himself lived, as He Himself taught us, becoming like us and bearing the cross - we will follow Him, crucifying the flesh with passions and lusts, in order to glorify with Him, and after the resurrection be taken to Him, as He was now taken to the Father. Standing among His disciples, He (the Savior) gave them the commandment to preach and the promise of the Spirit, adding that He would remain with them until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20); Having said this and raising His hands, He blessed them and stood up in their sight, indicating that whoever obeys Him will ascend to God the Father after the resurrection. So, the Lord left them - the apostles in body: for He was inherent in their Divinity, and, as He told them, the exalted one sat down at the right hand of the Father with our image. Therefore, just as He was resurrected and ascended, so we will all be resurrected; But we will not all achieve the ascension, but only those for whom Christ lives and die (for His sake) gain (Phil. 1:21). Those who, before death, crucified sin through repentance and Gospel conversion - only after the resurrection will they be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. After the Lord ascended, the apostles contemplated Him with the eyes of their souls and worshiped together. And we, ascending to the highest level of our soul, will cleanse ourselves from vicious and earthly thoughts. For in this way we will receive the coming of the Comforter, and we will worship in spirit and truth the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. 100 In Abbreviation. Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, Tom. CLI, col. 285–296; 65 conversations. and other articles by Gregory, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Palamas - handicraft, XV century, Moscow. 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