Слово в день честного и животворящего Креста. Преподобного Иоанна Дамаскина

The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18): for he who is spiritual strives for everything: but a natural man does not accept even the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:15, 14). This is madness for those who do not accept with faith and do not think about the goodness and omnipotence of God, but investigate divine affairs through human and natural reasoning (since everything that belongs to God is above nature and reason and thought). In fact, if someone begins to weigh how God brought everything from non-existence into existence and for what purpose, and if he wants to comprehend this through natural reasoning, then he will not comprehend, since this knowledge is spiritual and demonic. But if someone, guided by faith, takes into account that the Divine is good and omnipotent, wise and righteous, then he will find everything smooth and even, and the path straight. Of course, every act and miracle-working of Christ is extraordinary, Divine, and wondrous, but most amazing of all is His honest cross. And truly, not through anything else, but precisely through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, death was overthrown, the sin of the ancestors was destroyed, hell was abolished, the resurrection was given, the power was given to us to despise the present and even death itself, the entrance to ancient bliss was prepared, the gates of paradise were opened, our nature was seated at the right hand of God, and we became children and heirs of God. All this is accomplished by the cross. As we were baptized into Christ, says the Apostle, we were baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3); and those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ (Galatians 3:27); Christ, further, is God's power and God's wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24). Thus, the death of Christ, that is, the cross, clothed us with the hypostatic Wisdom and Power of God. The power of God is the word of the cross (1 Cor. 1:18), or because through it the power of God was revealed to us, i.e. victory over death, or because just as the center of the cross binds and unites its four ends, so the power of God contains both height and depth, and length and breadth, that is, all both visible and invisible creation. The cross was given to us as a sign on the forehead in the same way as circumcision was given to Israel: for through it we, the faithful, are distinguished and recognized from the unbelievers. He is a shield and a weapon, and a monument to victory over the devil. He is a seal so that the destroyer will not touch us, as Scripture says (Ex. 12:13). He is for those who lie down - rebellion, for those who stand - a support, for the weak - a staff, for those who flock - a rod, for those who convert - guidance, for those who advance - bringing to perfection, the salvation of soul and body, the reflection of all evils, the author of all blessings, the destruction of sin, the grain of resurrection, the tree of eternal life. This truly honorable and venerable tree, on which Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, as consecrated by the touch of both the holy body and the holy blood, must be worshiped; in the same way to nails, copies, clothes and sacred places, such as: a manger, a cave, the saving Calvary, the life-giving tomb, Zion - the head of the Churches, and similar things, as the Godfather David says: let us enter into His villages, let us worship in the place where His nose stood (Psalm 132:7). And that here he means the cross is clear from the following verse: rise, O Lord, into Thy rest (Psalm 132:8): for the resurrection follows the cross. If we desire the house, the bed and the clothes of those whom we love; then how much more precious should be for us everything that belongs to God and the Savior and through which we are saved! But we also worship the image of the honest and life-giving Cross, no matter what substance it is made of, honoring not the substance (let that not be), but the image, as a sign of Christ. For Christ Himself, making a testament to His disciples, said: then the sign of the Son of Man will appear (Matthew 24:30), meaning the cross. That is why the messenger of the resurrection said to the wives: You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth crucified (Mark 16:6), and the Apostle wrote: We preach Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23). Although there are many Christs and Jesuses, there is one crucified. The angel did not say: “pierced with a spear,” but: “crucified.” That is why we must worship (the Cross, as) the sign of Christ: for whenever there is a sign, there He Himself will be. But the substance from which the image of the cross is made, whether it be gold or precious stones, should not be worshiped if the image is destroyed. However, we worship everything that is dedicated to God in such a way that we pay respect to God Himself. This honorable cross was typified by the tree of life, planted by God in paradise (Gen. 2:9): for since death entered through the tree, it was fitting that life and resurrection should be given through the tree. Jacob, bowing to the end of Joseph's rod, indicated the cross through an image and, blessing his sons with alternating hands, he very clearly inscribed the sign of the cross (Gen. 47:31; 48:13, 14; Heb. 11:21). The sign of the Cross was also very clearly delineated: the rod of Moses, which struck the sea in the shape of a cross and saved Israel, and drowned Pharaoh (Ex. 14:16); hands stretched out crosswise and put Amalek to flight (Ex. 17:11); bitter water sweetened with wood (Ex. 15:25); a rock pierced with a rod and pouring out water (Ex. 17:6); Aaron's rod, which signified the dignity of the priesthood (Num. 17:8–9); the serpent on the tree, lifted up in the form of a trophy, as if it had been killed when the tree healed those who looked with faith at the dead enemy, just as Christ, in the flesh that knew no sin (Num. 21:9), was nailed for sin. The great Moses, crying out, says: Your life is hanging on a tree before your eyes (Deuteronomy 28:66); and Isaiah: I have stretched my hands all day long to people who do not repent and speak against people (Is. 65:2). Oh, that we who worship the Cross would receive a part with Christ, Who was crucified! Amen 15. See Christian. Reading 1840, 1 hour, pp. 340–345; Wed “An exact exposition of the Orthodox faith” - St. I. Damascus,” in translation. A. Bronzova, St. Petersburg, 1894, pp. 213–216. You might be interested in: