Беседа в день Рождества Спасителя. Св. Феодота, епископа Анкирского

A beautiful object of real celebration, bringing common salvation to people. The present congregation, which receives the given grace with thanksgiving, is also praiseworthy. And grace is usually poured out in abundance on those who receive it with thanksgiving, because gifts are given according to the gratitude of those who receive them. When you show gratitude to a benefactor for the gift you receive from him, then you not only reward for what you received, but you oblige the benefactor to greater good deeds. So, accept this offered grace with thanksgiving and make this holiday bright for us. The reason for this holiday is the appearance of God among people, the coming of the always present, the presence of the one who fills everything, the visit of the one who sees everything. When he came, says the word of God, and his own did not receive Him, and again: in the world there was, and the world was, and the world did not know Him (John 1:10, 11). But this ignorance is not held against people. God, by His Divine nature, cannot be grasped by human thought; the human mind cannot contemplate Him: the Divine nature is not accessible to the concept of the human mind; it is higher than what is comprehended by our senses. So we have no knowledge of God, because of the superiority of His nature. To eliminate this great misfortune for us, the invisible takes on a visible nature; the inviolable one takes upon Himself a tangible body; the invisible God becomes visible; The Word of God puts on a body; The only-begotten Son of God is united with His servants by communion by birth so that the nature that transcends human understanding does not remain inaccessible to people. But do not think that a Son was born who was alien to the Divinity. For from ancient times the coming of God was foreshadowed, and the incomprehensible was always visible in human form, with the help of the elements visible to us. Otherwise, let someone who does not believe in the appearance of God in human nature come here and let him say: how did Moses see God? did he see the invisible nature? - no way: it is incomprehensible to the human mind; Moses saw fire burning from a bush, but not burning the bush itself. Why don’t you believe in the One who is born of the Virgin, and who preserved the Virgin unharmed? Or, hearing that God proclaims from the bush and says to Moses: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex. 3:6), and Moses himself gives worship - you believe, meaning not visible fire, but God speaking; when I mention the virgin’s womb, you turn away. Tell me: which is less important, the bush, or the virgin’s womb, pure from all sinful passion? Don't you know that events that happened in ancient times contain images of modern events that have happened now? The mysteries were foretold to the ancients in images. Why does the bush burn, the fire is visible, and yet the action characteristic of fire is not performed? Fire shines, but does not scorch, shines, and does not devour, provides benefits, and does not cause torment. Don't you see the Virgin in the bush? Do you really not see in the fire of love and philanthropy the One who descended to us? The judge turns between the guilty, but no trial takes place; The judge is among the condemned, but the punishment is nowhere to be seen; The judge comes not with condemnation, but with healing. You see how that mysterious fire foreshadowed the mercy shown here. Do not be surprised that God the Word is born from a virgin’s womb: God does not do anything dishonorable in what is born for our salvation. Do not consider the Divine nature humiliated and despised because it was once supposed to be humiliated. Everything weak and perishable, accepted by God for our salvation, does not dishonor His nature: He appropriated earthly things to Himself in order to save our nature. If this low thing does not bring any humiliation to the nature of the blessed God and brings about our salvation, then how dare you say that what is done for our salvation brings dishonor to God? So, God was born today from the Virgin, and the Virgin, having preserved the purity of virginity, became a mother. For he who gives non-corruption does not commit corruption, and the author of non-corruption has not committed any corruption. See how birth leads us to two thoughts about the Born Himself. If He was born like us, then He is a man: if He preserved the virginity of his mother intact, then all sane people recognize him as born of God. For God comes into the world, not moving from place to place, but perceiving my nature, or, as I said, deigning to reveal Himself, invisible by nature. So, at birth He received a beginning, not in order to be God, but in order to be visible to people. Being God, He, out of His mercy towards us, wanted to become human, so that we would assimilate the Creator Himself as already akin to us - so that we, previously burdened with the property of our own works, would through Him Himself receive boldness. When someone brought before the court cannot rely on his own good deeds, he places his hopes on the merits of his relative. So what? God appears as a man, not moving from place to place, but presenting His invisible nature as visible, and, being visible as a man, He also appears related to people, as the Evangelist says: The Word became flesh. Someone will say: “How is it possible for God the Word to become a man?" But if we could understand the incomprehensibility of this image, then the miracle would not be a miracle, but a natural thing: if what happened is a sign and a miracle, then leave the image of what happened to the miracle-working Master. I want you to know what happened and benefit from it by faith; and how it happened, leave it to the Performer. You believe in the instructions and the doctor’s prescriptions, you entrust your health to his art and do not study with curiosity the rules of healing. In the same way, someone ignorant of any other art does not examine the artist’s techniques, but, seeing his work, leaves to art itself how the artist created the work; and you try to study the laws of all Divine miracles, as if you need to know these laws in order to perform the same miracles together with God. I repeat again: the event, the image of which we know, is not a miracle or a sign. Here's an example. An architect builds a house: we know the image of the building, we see the materials put together, we can tell how and from what the house is built, although due to inexperience we are not suitable to be builders. The only begotten Word of God, Jesus Christ, with clay, opened the eyes of the man blind from birth: this is beyond our understanding, and since it cannot be comprehended by the human mind, it is called a miracle; an event that comes out of the ordinary order of things is called a sign; and although we know what happened, we cannot explain the image of it. Only a weak vessel or brick is made from clay, but the graceful shape of the eyes is not formed, thin membranes are not made, the varied and beautiful appearance of the pupil is not created, and artistic roundness with such charming color is not produced. Clay cannot form such a noble organ as the eye. So, the earth perceives a form unusual for it (for it is not fit to take the form of an eye), not because the Performer of miracles Himself served the laws of nature, but because He subjugated nature to His will. Therefore, no longer refer to the weakness of human nature, and do not say: how could human nature contain God within itself? How did God become man? How did God the Word appear in visible flesh? But believe in what has been accomplished, and leave the image of the accomplishment to be known to the Accomplisher Himself. If you want us to explain to you what has been said with some example, then I will show how the incorporeal is embodied, the invisible becomes visible, the intangible becomes tangible, without changing its own nature, but taking on a visible and tangible image. The word that is pronounced by people, which we use in conversation with others and with which we convey our thoughts to each other, is not accessible either to sight or to touch, but is perceived only by hearing. However, when I take our own word as an example of the hypostatic Word of God, no one should think that I am saying that the Divine Word is pronounced with the lips. No. The Son of God is called the Word because Divine Scripture depicts His birth as dispassionate, just as the human mind gives birth to the word dispassionately. Therefore, Holy Scripture calls Him in another place the Son of the Father, and in another - the Word, and sometimes - the Radiance of the Father: each of these names is attributed to Him so that you have a true understanding of Christ, avoiding all blasphemy. The Word of God also assigns other names to Him in order to convey the teaching about the glory of God. So, for example, wanting to express the consubstantiality of the Son of God with God the Father, the word of God calls the Son the only begotten. since your son has an equal nature with you, then Holy Scripture, to express that the Father and the Son have the same essence, calls the Son the only begotten, born of the Father, the Son of the Father. Then, since with the words “birth” and “son” we connect the concept of suffering that accompanies birth, Holy Scripture also calls the Son “Word,” expressing with this last name the impassivity of birth. But since everyone who has become a father, as a person, is indisputably older than his son (for the very name of “patronymic” indicates that the father appears in thought to exist before the son): then, so that you do not attributed this to the Divine nature, but confessed the Only Begotten always with the Father; the word of God calls the Son of God “the radiance of the Father.” For although the radiance comes from the sun, it is not later than the sun; according to our concepts, as soon as the sun appears, the radiance from it also appears. So, calling the Son “the radiance of the Father” shows you His eternal existence with the Father, calling Him “Word” - the impassibility of His birth, calling Him “Son” - His consubstantiality with the Father. But let us return to the subject and clarify with an example how what is invisible by nature becomes visible - and the intangible, by its incorporeal nature, becomes tangible. The word that we pronounce and use in our conversations with each other is an immaterial word, invisible to the eye and not subject to touch; but when this word takes on the form of letters and material objects, it becomes both visible and tangible. Imagine someone talking to another person: do you see the word coming out of his mouth? or, is it possible to touch it with your hand when it is pronounced? If you write what is said orally on paper, then you will see something that you have not seen before, and through paper and letters you will touch the image of speech that you could not touch before. Why is this? - because the immaterial word on the charter took on the substance of paper and took on the form of letters. Having pointed out this clear example, I will use it to show how the only begotten Son of God, God the Word, who existed before all ages with the Father, incorporeal by nature and later on took on human flesh, was born of the Virgin, received the beginning not in order to be God, but in order to appear in human form. Don’t tell me: “If the Only Begotten was born of the Father, how is He born again of the Virgin?” From the Father He was born by nature, and from the Virgin He is born according to the Divine economy; there he is born as God, and here as a man. And your word is also a creation of your mind. But if you want to express this word, born in your mind, in substance and letters, draw it on paper, and write the letters with your hand: then in some way you will give your word a new birth, not because it receives its beginning from the time you write it with your hand, or when your hand depicts the letters (for it was born from the mind even earlier), but because at that time it begins to be visible to the eye through the letters, depicted by hand. So, if this example is clear and intelligible to you, then let’s apply the image to the Prototype itself. In this example you see the mind, and in the Prototype itself, for the clarification of which we took it, understand the Father: there you recognize the word produced by the mind - here contemplate with your thought the essential and hypostatic Word born from the Father; there you see a hand giving birth to words through letters - and here understand the Virgin giving birth to the Word according to the flesh, not as if by this birth She gave birth to the Divinity, but in such a way that she gave birth to God, who became human and appeared to people. And since God became what I am, he was necessarily born just like me, having received my birth along with my nature. Therefore, God the Word took birth for Himself, and, having chosen the Virgin as a mother, passed through the glorious virgin’s womb. God does not turn away from anything created by Him, because in His creation there is nothing unworthy of Him; everything that is created by God is good and, moreover, good, as the Creator Himself found His creations, for God saw everything that was created: and this was great good (Gen. 1:31). Look at everything with eyes unclouded by passions, and if you look the way God looks, you will see that everything is good. Cast aside passions and see the beauty of creation. So, is it surprising that God wanted to dwell in His creation to this day? But you say that it is fitting for God to live in heaven; and you present man as an abode unworthy of God, arguing about the essence of the matter not according to the truth, but according to passion and preconceived opinion. Tell me what is higher - man or the sky? Do not look at the brilliance of the elements, do not prefer the beauty of color to the nature of objects, do not be amazed at the rays of the shining sun. Do not be embarrassed by the fact that, according to the words of the divine Job, I am clothed in skin and flesh (Job 10:11); but pay attention to the superiority of the rational soul, consider the composition of man, and you will be surprised at this creation: it has a mind capable of dominating and controlling all other animals - it has hands that serve its sound mind, with which, as instruments, it produces all kinds of art. Only one of all creatures is gifted with free will (in his actions); God created man alone as the master of his will. Do you not see that the sun rotates according to the law of necessity? Don’t you notice how constantly and always the same way he addresses himself? What is this from? – because it does not have free will; You act freely: you do what you want, you do not tolerate any violent coercion, you were created free at heart. The sun obeys necessity, and man is gifted with free will. Who is better, tell me, a slave or a free one? Is he enslaved to the yoke of necessity, or free from all necessity? So, there is nothing surprising, nothing incredible or new in the fact that God dwelt in man, whom He deigned to clothe with His image at creation. God showed His love for man at the very beginning, when he took dust from the ground and formed him, making him a true image of His Divinity. Why did God, having decided in His advice to honor man so highly, form him from such a perishable substance? Why did God create man not from the shiny matter of the sun, but from the earth, from the dust of the earth, a substance so low and trampled underfoot by all animals? Do you want to know why? God honored man with His image and formed him from mortal matter so that the advantage of honor would not make man proud, so that, being preferred to (visible) nature, he would be kept from falling by the thought of the frailty of his nature and understand that the advantage of honor was granted to him not according to his merits, but according to the goodness of the giver. So, it was also a matter of Creative goodness that the image of God originated by its nature from the earth. This nature is the guarantee of a humble soul. Consequently, man is a high being, although over time he was humbled by the passions that came to him. Do not look at his fall, but appreciate in him the high dignity of the Divine image before his fall. Why do you despise his fallen form, forgetting about his original structure, and not paying attention to the dignity with which he was filled at first, and which God returned to him again and in abundance, reuniting His image with Himself. Nothing was rejected by the goodness of God. It is not humiliating for the good Lord to come into fellowship with a slave in his servile state: through this the Good One is not humiliated, but is recognized by what He is. Don't be surprised by this. If you make yourself a dwelling place for God, then God will also dwell in you, although not in the same way as in Christ, for in Christ lives all the fullness of the physical Godhead (Colossians 2:9). But, lo and behold! All the fullness of the Divinity dwells bodily in one and yet fills everything and rises above all creation, is entirely in one and is not separated from any of the creations. And what has been said should not seem impossible to you. So, for example, I now pronounce a word: this word is all in one, and also becomes present in all: and all this word has been adopted by one, but it is not alienated from many others. So, if a thing, which has a beginning and an end, all exists in one and is all found in all, then what is surprising if God was all in heaven and all is in all? Thus, the reason for the triumph on this day is that God, having become man, took on the human in order to communicate to man the Divine, - assimilated suffering to Himself in order to give us the dispassionate, - underwent death in order to give us immortality. He took upon Himself our infirmities as His own; however, he did not change His own nature, and assimilated them to Himself according to His free will - and this was very decent to do when He determined to save man. Why did He assimilate to Himself the infirmities of human nature? - because he wanted to destroy infirmity with infirmity, to abolish death by death and to overcome like with like. He took upon Himself the cross, endured being strangled, and placed bonds on Himself, so that the suffering, which had become the suffering of God Himself, would receive strength against suffering. As a result, the Divine nature did not suffer damage, it took upon itself infirmities without changing itself, but imparted strength to these infirmities against infirmities. For death, like the death of God Himself, abolished death; By dying, God destroys the dominion of death, because He was God and man together. To make this clearer for you, let’s look again at an example. Let us imagine that the king issues some kind of edict proclaiming freedom or other royal favor to anyone, and, having expressed his will in letters on some charter, sends it to this or that city: let us imagine that this edict was intercepted by some traitor and troublemaker, an enemy of the state and an enemy of the king, and, having intercepted it, tore it up; tell me: what is torn here, is it only the charter, or the royal decree? If you say that there is only one charter, then this act (tearing the charter) can be redeemed at too little a price: the culprit would either not be subject to any punishment at all, or would pay some five ovols. Meanwhile, such a person is subject to the most severe punishment, determined for criminal offenses, not only for tearing up a paper, but also for destroying a royal decree. Despite the fact that the royal word does not tolerate anything from this, remaining that which in its essence cannot be touched, by hand or torn; it, however, seems to be torn apart, because it assimilates what is characteristic of paper and writing. From this you see how that which in itself is not subject to any suffering is subject to suffering because it communicates with an object that is subject to suffering. The word itself cannot be torn into pieces, but it takes upon itself the damage to paper and writing. So, let the Jew not apologize by saying that he nailed a common man to the cross. For that which was visible to the eye was paper; and what was hidden in it invisibly was the royal word, expressed not in language, but in being. The Only Begotten is called the Word, not the word that is pronounced by the lips, but hypostatic and essential, and as the Word, not subject to suffering, He did not suffer in His nature, but transferred to Himself the sufferings of the visible nature, as His own. And just as the royal edict, having appeared in the material form of paper and writing, takes upon itself the damage to the charter: so the only-begotten Word of God took upon Himself the suffering of the body nailed to the cross. Therefore, just as the one who tore up the royal sacred charter is subjected to the most severe punishment, as if he had damaged the royal edict itself, so the Jew who crucified the visible nature of Jesus Christ was subjected to punishment for this, as if he had rebelled against the Divine Word Himself. For God punishes such an atrocity as an insult to Himself. But enough has been said about this... It is necessary to take into account your memory, since the abundance of speech, burdening the thinking of the listeners, leads the listeners to forgetting what was said. May the grace of God ensure that you yourself can embrace in memory what has been said, and benefit others from it, and inherit the kingdom of heaven. May we all achieve this kingdom through the grace of Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen 63. This conversation was said by St. Theodotus, Bishop of Ancyra, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ; it was also read at the third ecumenical council. See “Acts of the Ecumenical Councils,” published in Russian translation at the Kazan Theological Academy. Second edition. Kazan. 1893, vol. II, pp. 96–103; compare "Christ. Reading", part X (1825), pp. 270–294. You might be interested in: