Беседа на слова: В последний же день великий праздника стояше Иисус, и зваше, глаголя: аще кто жаждет, да приидет ко Мне и пиет. Веруяй в Мя, якоже рече Писание, реки от чрева его истекут воды живы (Ин. 7:37, 38). Св. Иоанна Златоустого, архиепископа Константинопольского

Those who approach the Divine sermon and are attentive to faith must show the disposition of those who are thirsty and kindle in themselves the same desire as theirs: through this they will be able to more accurately retain what is being said. Those who are thirsty, having taken the cup, drink it with great desire, and then they only calm down: so those who listen to Divine words, if they accept them with thirst, will never leave them before they are completely satisfied. And what we should always thirst and hunger for, it is said about this: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). And here (in the Gospel reading) Christ says: if anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. These words mean: “I do not attract anyone by coercion or violence; but whoever has great zeal, whoever is burning with desire, him I call.” But why did the Evangelist notice (that it was) on the last great day? - Because the first and last days were great, and the middle days between them were spent for the most part in amusements. Why does (Christ) say: to the last. Because that day everyone was in the meeting. On the first day (the Lord) had not yet come, explaining to His disciples the reason for this. On the second and third days He does not say anything, so as not to waste words in vain, since (the Jews on these days) indulged in amusements. But on the last day, when they were returning home, He gives them instructions for salvation and speaks loudly (those words), partly in order to show His boldness, partly because of the large number of people. And to show that He is talking about spiritual drink, He adds: believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living waters will flow out of His belly. Here he calls the heart “the womb,” just as it is said elsewhere: “And Thy law is in the midst of my womb” (Ps. 39:9). But where does the Scripture say: rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly? Nowhere. What do the words mean: believe in Me, as the Scripture says? The words - rivers will flow from his belly - are the essence of the saying of Christ Himself. Since many said: this is Christ, and also: Christ, when he comes, will do great signs: then He shows that one must have (about Him) right knowledge and be convinced not so much by miracles as by Scripture. Indeed, many, although they saw Him performing miracles, did not accept Him as Christ, but on the contrary, were ready to say: does not the Scripture say that from the seed of David... Christ will come (John 7:42)? Therefore, Christ very often turned to Scripture, wanting to show that he did not avoid evidence from Scripture; That’s why he now refers them to the Scriptures. So, above He said: try the Scriptures (John 5:39), and also: it is written in the prophets: and you will be taught by God (John 6:45), - also: Moses speaks against you (John 5:45). In the same way, here the Lord says: as the Scripture says, rivers will flow from its belly, indicating with these words the abundance and unenvy of grace. He expresses this same thing in another place with the words: a fountain of water flowing into an eternal belly (John 4:14), i.e. (whoever believes in Him) will have great grace. So, in that place He calls it eternal life, and here living water. He calls it living because it is always active: for the grace of the Spirit, when it enters the soul and is established in it, flows stronger than any source, does not cease, does not deplete and does not stop. Thus, in order to show both the inexhaustibility of the gift of grace and at the same time its ineffable effectiveness, He called it a source and rivers - not just one river, but countless. And in that place (John 4:14) He represented the abundance (of grace) under the image of a flow. And everyone will clearly see the truth of what has been said, if one imagines the wisdom of Stephen, the language of Peter, the strength of Paul - how nothing stopped them, nothing held them back (neither the rage of the people, nor the uprisings of tyrants, nor the machinations of demons, nor daily deaths), and how, on the contrary, they, like rivers rushing with great desire, carried everything along behind them. “This is what we are saying about Dus,” says (the Evangelist), “the believers want to receive Him...: forbidden the Holy Spirit (John 7:39). How did the Prophets prophesy and perform countless miracles? The apostles cast out (demons) not by the Spirit, but by the power received from Christ, as He Himself says: If I cast out demons about Beelzebub, whom will your sons cast out (Matthew 12:27)? And He spoke this in order to show that before the cross, not everyone cast out (demons) by the Spirit, but by the power received from Him (Christ). Therefore, when He wanted to send them (the Apostles for worldwide preaching), then He said: receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), as in another place it is said: the Holy Spirit has come on them (Acts 19:6), and then they began to work miracles. And when the Lord sent them (before suffering), then it is not said that He gave them the Holy Spirit, but He gave them power, saying: cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, raise the dead: eat tuna, give tuna (Matthew 10: 1, 8). Regarding the Prophets, it is recognized by all that they had the gift of the Holy Spirit; but this grace became scarce, retreated and dried up on earth from that day, as it was said: your house is left empty (Matthew 23:38). However, even before this day, it had already begun to become rare: for they (the Jews) no longer had a Prophet, and grace did not overshadow their shrines. So, since the Holy Spirit was taken away; and meanwhile, subsequently He had to be poured out abundantly, and this outpouring began after the cross, not only with abundance, but also with great gifts (the ancients, although they themselves had the Spirit, did not communicate it to others - on the contrary, the Apostles filled countless multitudes with the Spirit) - since, I say, (the believers) had to receive such grace, but it was not yet granted, then it is said: He did not have the Holy Spirit. Pointing to this grace, the Evangelista said: He did not have the Holy Spirit, i.e. was not yet given, for Jesus was not glorified (John 7:39), calling the cross glory. We were enemies and sinners, we were deprived of the gift of God and became hated by God; and grace is evidence of reconciliation, and the gift is given not to enemies and hated persons, but to friends and people who have pleased them. Therefore, it was necessary first to make a sacrifice for us, to destroy enmity in the flesh, and for us to become friends of God, and then to receive this gift. If this was the case under the promise given to Abraham, then much more (must have been) under grace. Showing this, Paul says: if they who are of the law, heirs, faith is destroyed...: for the law will do wrath (Rom. 4: 14, 15). His words mean the following: “God promised to give the land to Abraham and to his seed; but the descendants became unworthy of this promise and could not please (God) with their own labors. Therefore, faith has come - it is not a difficult matter, in order to attract grace, and so that the promises do not fall away.” For this reason, from faith,” continues the Apostle, “yes, by grace, even as the promise was known (Rom. 4:16). Because it was by grace that they could not (acquire this) by works. But why (the Lord), having said: “according to the Scripture,” does not give the evidence itself? - because the Jews were infected with false concepts. Some said: this is a Prophet, others - to flatter the nations, others - Christ comes not from Galilee, but from Bethlehem, others - Christ, when he comes, no one knows where he will come from; in a word, opinions were varied, as is usually the case among worried people. Yes, they listened to what was said, not in the proper way and not in order to learn the truth. That is why He does not answer them, although they say: Christ comes from Galilee? And Nathanael, who expressed himself stronger and more strikingly: can anything good come from Nazareth, He praised him as a true Israeli. They, as well as those who said to Nicodemus: test and see, for the prophet does not come from Galilee (John 7:52), said this not in order to find out the truth, but only to refute the opinion about Christ; and he (Nathanael) said this because he loved the truth and knew exactly all the ancient Scriptures. So, since they had only one goal - to refute the fact that He is Christ, He did not reveal anything to them. Moreover, those who contradicted themselves, sometimes saying: no one knows where it comes from, and sometimes - from Bethlehem, would obviously begin to resist even after they learned the truth. Let them not know the place (of His origin), namely, that He was from Bethlehem, since He lived in Nazareth, although this is not excusable for them, for He was not born there; but did they really not know His family, namely, that He was from the house and tribe of David? How did they say: will not Christ come from the seed of David (John 7:42)? But with those words they wanted to obscure this too, because they spoke about everything maliciously. Why don’t they, having come to Him, say: “since we are amazed at everything else in You, but You command us to believe in You according to the Scriptures, then tell us how the Scriptures say that Christ should come from Bethlehem, while You came from Galilee”? But they didn’t say anything like that, but, on the contrary, they all said it with malicious intent. And that they did not seek the truth and did not want to know it, (in explanation of this) the Evangelist immediately adds: no one wanted to eat Him, but no one laid His hand (John 7:44). If nothing else, at least this could bring them to tenderness; but they were not moved, as the Prophet says: they were divided and not moved (Ps. 34:15). Such is the wickedness! She does not want to give in to anything, she strives for only one thing - to destroy the one who has been hated. But what does Scripture say? If you dig a hole for the sincere, he will fall into shame (Proverbs 26:27). This also came true then: they wanted to destroy Christ in order to destroy His preaching, but the opposite happened. Preaching, by the grace of Christ, is flourishing, but for them everything has disappeared and perished: they have lost their fatherland, freedom, security, and Divine service - they have lost all prosperity, and have become slaves and captives. So, knowing this, let us never plot against others, remembering that through this we sharpen the sword against ourselves and inflict the deepest wound on ourselves. But someone insulted you and you want to take revenge on him? Do not take revenge, for only in this way will you truly be able to take revenge. If you take revenge yourself, then you will not take revenge. And don’t think that these words are a riddle; no, this is the truth. How and in what way? - So, when you do not take revenge, then you make God an enemy to him (the offender); and when you take revenge yourself, then this no longer happens. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Rom. 12:19). If we have slaves, and they, having quarreled among themselves, do not give us reprisal and punishment, but appropriate them to themselves, then even after they come to us a thousand times, we not only do not avenge them, but, on the contrary, we are still angry with them, calling them fugitives and bullies. “Everything,” we say, “should have been left to us, but since you first avenged yourself, then don’t bother us anymore.” Moreover, God will say this, Who commanded that everything be left to Him. And isn’t it a shame that we demand such wisdom and obedience from our slaves, but do not provide to the Lord what we demand from our slaves? He who truly philosophizes must forgive and forgive sins, even if for this there is not that great reward - the remission of his own sins. If you condemn someone who has sinned, then why, tell me, do you yourself sin and fall into the same thing? Has anyone insulted you? Don't insult him in return, otherwise you will insult yourself. Did someone hit you? Do not repay him in kind, otherwise there will be no difference between you. Has anyone made you sad? Do not upset him on your part, because there is no profit from this, meanwhile you will again become like him. Only then will you be able to reason with him, when you endure the insult calmly and with meekness, only through this will you shame him and tame his anger. No one heals evil with evil, but evil is (cured) with good. This is how some of the pagans are wise! If foolish pagans have such wisdom, then let us be ashamed to be worse than them. Many of them were offended, and bore (patiently) the insults; many were slandered, and did not take revenge; they were subjected to slander, and they did good. But I am quite afraid that some of them may turn out to be superior to us in life and thereby increase our punishment. In fact, if we, who have received the Spirit, expect the kingdom (heavenly), philosophize about heaven, do not fear Gehenna, have the commandment to be Angels, use the sacraments - if we do not even reach their virtue, then what excuse will we have? If we must be superior to the Jews, for it is said: unless your righteousness comes to pass, no more than a scribe and a Pharisee, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20), then much less the pagans. If (we must surpass) the Pharisees, then much more the infidels. If, even if we do not surpass the Jews in life, the kingdom of heaven is concluded for us, then how will we be worthy to achieve it when we find ourselves worse than the pagans? So, let us remove from ourselves all irritability, anger, and rage. Whereas I speak without laziness, so do you firmly (Phil. 3:1). And doctors use the same medicine several times. So we will not stop instilling the same thing, reminding, teaching, begging about the same thing. After all, we have many everyday worries that can lead us into oblivion, and therefore we need constant instruction. And that we are not gathering here in vain and not without benefit, let us present evidence of this in deeds, so that through this we may be worthy of future blessings, by the grace and love for mankind 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 108. See Conversations of St. Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. apostle and the gospel. (John the Theologian St. Petersburg, 1862, part II, pp. 54–64. You might be interested in: