108. Он сделал дело свое – и ушел

We hear that on various occasions one says about another: “He did his job and left.” This is said most often when one asks another: where is such and such a person? Then the other one answers him like this: “He did his job and left.” Christians! We can and must speak these words about Christ our Savior. And even more so when the godless and wicked, who do not know and do not accept Him, ask us. Then we must boldly answer: “He did his job and left.” Although He invisibly and persistently abides with us, and will remain until the end of the age, according to His false promise: I am with you all the days until the end of the age. Amen (Matthew 28:20). His work is the work of our salvation, which He did in the middle of the earth (Ps. 73:12) - and left. He speaks about this work to His heavenly Father: I have completed the work that You gave Me to do (John 17:4). Christian! This matter is great and incomprehensible to our minds. The prophets foresaw this thing from afar, and were amazed and horrified by it, and preached with amazement and horror, and proclaimed to the world: Behold, the Lord is coming (Mal. 3:1), He whose origin was from the beginning, from the days of eternity (Mic. 5:2); He who was before the ages (Ps. 55:20), comes quickly and will not tarry (Is. 14:1), Your Savior comes (Is. 62:11), behold, our God Himself will come and save us (Is. 35:4). The apostles, who from the very beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word (Luke 1:2), saw this matter, preached it to the whole world, and enriched the entire universe with this testimony, like a priceless treasure. What was from the beginning, what we heard, what we saw with our eyes, what we looked at and touched with our hands, about the Word of life - for life was revealed, and we have seen and testify, and we proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us - what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you also may have fellowship with us (1 John 1:1-3). This work of His, great and glorious, proclaims to us and presents to our spiritual eyes His holy Gospel, which He left for us for our enlightenment, for confirmation in faith and consolation - He left through His chosen servants, the apostles. There we see this great work of His, which He Himself, according to His will, accomplished for the sake of our salvation, and ascended to His Heavenly Father. There we see His saving coming to us, His labors and feats, raised up for our salvation, and His departure. Having predetermined His incarnation before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5), our God, for the sake of our salvation, sent His Angel to the Most Holy and Most Blessed Virgin Mary to announce to Her that He would form and receive animate flesh from Her virgin blood. And so it was. We see this matter, which is incomprehensible to us. The Son of God, born before the ages from the Father, was born on earth from the Virgin Mother without a Father. The Angels sang His Holy Nativity: Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14). The shepherds saw the born Baby and bowed and glorified Him. Magi came from the east, guided by a wonderful star, and brought gifts to the born King, and, falling, worshiped Him (Matthew 2:11). With great joy, the holy elder Simeon met Him, brought into the church, and took the eternal Child in his arms (Luke 2:25–32). O blessed womb that bore the Lord of glory! Oh, blessed hands that took and embraced the Lord who bears all creation! Oh, blessed eyes that saw the infant God in the flesh! Kings, prophets, and righteous people wanted to see him, but they did not see him (Luke 10:23–24). Such a phenomenon has never happened in Israel (Matthew 9:33). For He who appeared is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the One who appeared to Moses in a bush, burning and unburnable, and spoke to him. This is the One who smote Egypt with plagues and brought His people out of it. This is the One who parted the Red Sea and brought Israel through it. This is the One who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and gave him His law. This is the One who led His people Israel through the wilderness and fed them with manna for forty years, and smote all their enemies before them. This is the One who brought Israel, His people, into the promised land, into a land boiling with honey and milk, and drove out all nations from before them, and gave them that land as their inheritance. This is the One who sent His prophets into the world. He Himself has now come to us, come in an image similar to us. God appeared in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). You see, Christian, God’s condescension and the honor of man. As much as man is honored by God in creation, so is he who is fallen is exalted in restoration: 1) God Himself came to him to seek and save him. In creation He honored man with His image, and He Himself came to save the fallen and lost. 2) From the human race, God took on animate flesh and, uniting the incompatible, reconciled it with Himself, and became Man. And so our Lord became like us and became our brother, as He Himself says: I will proclaim Your name to my brothers (Ps. 21:23). And he said to Mary Magdalene: Go to my brothers and tell them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God (John 20:17). Oh, God's incomprehensible condescension! Oh, unspeakable human honor! For He does not receive angels, but He receives the seed of Abraham (Heb. 2:16). Hear this, all you nations; Hearken, all you who live in the universe, earth-born and sons of men, rich together with poor (Ps. 48:2, 3). Listen, God Himself came to us, came in our image, became like people and graciously visited us. Come, let us meet Him, and worship Him, and give glory to God who has come to us. Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited His people and created deliverance for them, and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (Luke 1:68–69). Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord in my life; I will sing to my God as long as I exist (Ps. 145:1–2). I sing to You: Lord! I heard Your rumor and was afraid (Hab. 3:2). He came to me, looking for me, lost. That is why I glorify Your great condescension towards me, O Most Merciful One! We see in the Holy Gospel that they were looking for the infant Son of God to kill. And, evading the villainous hands, He fled with His holy Mother to Egypt and hid there for some time. We see that the lawless king Herod, in order to kill the innocent Jesus, who came to save the world, rushed with his anger to kill innocent babies in Bethlehem and throughout its borders (Matthew 2:16) and killed, according to Church tradition, fourteen thousand babies, plotting that the born baby Jesus, the King of the Jews, would also be killed among the other babies. But the lawless murderer failed to achieve this. Babies suffered from the killer and were married as martyrs. Jesus, preserved by God's advice, was carried by His holy Mother to Egypt. And so, while still an infant, the Lord was a stranger in a foreign land and remained there until his return to the land of Israel (see Matt. 2:13–18). 1) What does lust for power do? Herod, fearing to lose his royal honor, rushes at the innocent, newly born King of the Jews, Jesus, and for this he kills so many thousands of innocent babies. Oh, what a terrible and great evil is the love of power! The power-hungry and lawless king was not horrified to shed so much innocent blood?! For what? So as not to lose honor. We see this evil in the world today. Lust for power is not afraid to raise the sword against monarchs and stain their purples with blood, and otherwise kill God’s anointed, and cause great disorder and confusion in society. The King has as many enemies as there are power-hungry hearts surrounding him, although they caress him. 2) The Son of God, avoiding misfortune and death, also gives us an image not to voluntarily plunge into misfortune, but to evade it. He could have protected Himself there, where they were looking for Him to kill Him, but He fled to Egypt, to a foreign land, teaching us that if we are persecuted in one city, we should flee to another (Matthew 10:23). 3) Christ, the Son of God, as soon as he was born on earth, began to endure persecution. From here we see that from His very birth He began to bear the cross for our salvation. He who created the whole earth and everything in it was born in a den and lay down in a cattle manger. He ran, pursued by a murderer, the One who holds the life and death of everyone in his hands. Let human pride be ashamed, which wants and seeks to rest in rich and beautiful chambers, to live in the wealth and glory of this world, and does not tolerate hearing words that are contrary to itself. Let him be ashamed, I say, looking at the Heavenly King, born in a den, and resting in a manger, and giving way to the wrath of a lawless king, and yielding to him. Tell me, tell me, please, Christian, could not Christ the King of Heaven have had for Himself a glorious and magnificent place for His carnal birth and rest? How could he not? He is the Lord of all. His is heaven and earth and everything that is in them. But He chose the den as a beautiful Chamber, and the manger as a valuable bed, to teach us by His example not to seek wealth and glory in this world, but to be strangers and strangers on a foreign earth (Heb. 11:13) and to seek the heavenly fatherland (Heb. 11:14–16), for which we were created. Poor is the Christian who seeks much in this world and stores up for future use. This is an undoubted sign that he only desires and seeks what he sees, and what he does not see, he does not desire and does not seek. Christ could not only protect Himself from lawless murderers, but also, by divine power and His righteous judgment, defeat them, but He did not want to. For he came into the world not to destroy, but to save the souls of men (Luke 9:56). For this reason, He turned away and fled from His enemies, and thus gave us an example of giving room to anger and giving way to those who hate and offend us. The King of glory and the Almighty Lord yielded. What will we do, humble, poor and weak? Will we take revenge, worthy of any punishment? And vengeance is not ours, but God’s work. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Rom. 12:19). 4) From here we see that the world, blinded by delusion, just as it did not love Christ of the Truth, so it hates true Christians. As soon as Christ the Lord appeared on earth from heaven, he began to suffer persecution from the evil world. Likewise, the one who begins to come to Christ and draw closer to Him with faith and love, the world persecutes with hatred and no longer accepts him as one of his own, but expels him. A pious soul in the eyes of the wicked seems to be an enemy and a villain, although it does no harm to them and does not think evil at all. But one thing they don’t like is that a righteous person evades their whims and, with his holy life, their malice, like a lamp, reveals and exposes the darkness. This is what the Lord says: You will be hated by everyone because of My name (Matthew 10:22). And the Apostle Paul wrote: All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). However, pious soul, do not be embarrassed by this, do not be discouraged and do not be afraid. Without God's advice nothing happens to us. God allows sorrow to the pious, but allows it to the extent that they can bear it, and allows it for their great benefit, and does not leave them, like His children, without consolation, which is like cooling during the heat. Indeed, the tribulations of the righteous are many (Ps. 33:20). But the wicked have much more, and even more so in view of their eternal torment in hell. Although they rage here, they will eat the fruits of their pride and wickedness there. But even here they live in all sorts of restlessness and rebellion: they take away from each other, deprive each other, they complain about each other, blaspheme and scold each other, and fill the courts with intricate and caustic complaints. What can you expect in such cases and circumstances other than embarrassment and anxiety? And if you look into their conscience, what else is happening there other than constant judgment, condemnation, rebellion and torment? An evil conscience offends a person more than any sorrow and torments a person more than any tormentor. Outwardly the wicked bloom in their prosperity, but inside they are like wormy flowers. On the contrary, the pious, although outwardly worried, are calm, peaceful and quiet inside. And here they are comforted, and in the next century they will be abundantly and eternally comforted. 5) We see in the Holy Gospel that about those who were looking for the infant Jesus in order to kill, it is written: Those who sought the soul of the Child died (Matthew 2:20). This is how God’s judgment befalls all those who embitter and persecute the pious. Pious souls, like sheep, are humble, meek and unarmed, but God stands for them and protects them and humbles the self-willed and wicked. From here we see that God’s wondrous judgments befall them, and there they fall into a ditch where no one cares, and they prepare the pit that they dig for the pious for themselves. So Absalom, the son of David, sought to kill his holy father and take possession of the kingdom of Israel, but instead he found his own destruction (see 2 Samuel 15:1–18). Haman prepared a gallows for the innocent Mordecai, but he himself was hanged on that gallows (see Esther 3:1–7; 10). Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was chasing after Israel and wanted to embitter them again with his torment, but he recognized the righteous judgment of God and drowned in the sea with all his army (see Exodus 14:5-30). A similar judgment of God even now befalls all the self-willed who embitter and persecute the pious. We see in the Holy Gospel that Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, which for the sake of our salvation he received from the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God, grew (Luke 1:80), like other people, and, having come to perfect age, was baptized (Mark 1:9) in the streams of the Jordan, sanctifying the waters with His touch, and establishing the Sacrament of our saving baptism and the mysterious bath of rebirth ( Titus 3:5) of ours, by which we, defiled, are washed, and those who died are quickened, and those who are lost are saved, and those who are worn out and decayed are renewed, and those who have been separated from God, we return to God again and relentlessly follow Him, and we are reconciled with Him, we become heirs of His eternal kingdom. We see in the Holy Gospel that Jesus Christ, after His Baptism, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1), and was tempted by Satan (Mark 1:3), and defeated the tempter. From here you see, Christian, that everyone who is born of water and the Spirit, that is, every Christian, will face temptation from the devil and a constant struggle with him. If an evil spirit dared to tempt Christ the Son of God, will he really leave Christians? Christ the Lord has given us the image of Himself in everything. He was tempted by Satan - we must also be tempted. He defeated the tempter by His power; we also need to defeat the enemy by His power. Christians are not invited to operas and luxurious banquets, but to battle and spiritual feats, and feats not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his evil spirits. Because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12). This battle begins well if our eye does not slumber (see Matt. 6:22–24). The battle with people is difficult, but it is much harder to fight evil spirits. They see us and notice what we do and say, but we don’t see them. They are trying to take away from us not cities, not borders, not perishable treasure, but eternal salvation, which Christ the Son of God purchased for us with His honest Blood and His death. They are trying to steal this invaluable treasure from us, and they are diligent day and night. They tempt us who are awake, and they also tempt us who sleep; They plot by day, they plot by night. Christians! We also need to stay alert if we want to save ourselves and not be their prisoners. They find their weapons in ourselves. They fight us with our passions and lusts. There is no time for anyone who wants to fight successfully against these enemies to seek wealth, honor and glory in this world. And if someone, having left heavenly things, thinks about earthly things, who pleases not God, but the world and his own whims, then this is a sure sign that he is their captive. Such a one is defeated and captured by them. Every fornicator, and adulterer, and lover of uncleanness is taken captive; a thief, predator and robber was captured; the sorcerer is captured and the one calling him to him; the deceiver, the deceiver, and the seducer are taken captive; the slanderer, the scolder and the slanderer are taken captive; Every lawbreaker who fearlessly destroys the law of God is taken captive. Oh! captive, and his enemy will take him with him to eternal destruction if he does not get rid of his torment and resort to Christ with repentance and repentance. Poor are you, Christian, if you are enslaved to the world and sin! Look around and recognize the charm of the enemy’s murderer and your destruction. The whims of this world amuse you, but captivate your soul. These are devilish snares that trap Christian souls, not bodies. Sin seems sweet to you, but its fruit is bitter - captivity and death of the soul: for the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). You are careful not to be captured by some tormentor and barbarian, who captures only the body, and not the soul. Moreover, one must take care not to be captured by this tormentor, who captivates both soul and body. Therefore, the apostle exhorts us: Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him with firm faith (1 Peter 5:8–9). And one more thing: Submit to God; Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). And again: be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:10–11). Thus, Christians, apostles and messengers of our Savior Jesus Christ arm us against this enemy and his evil spirits. Beware, beloved Christian, of this enemy and his evil spirits. They walk around us invisibly, and one or the other throws arrows at us, and spreads their nets under our feet, and tries to overthrow and capture us. Take care and stand firm, but do not lose heart, because God stands for us, whose name they tremble (Mark 16:17; James 2:19). You just stand armed with faith, beware, be strong, try, pray and call on the name of the Lord in the necessary case, and His help will come to you. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31). God! You are my protector and Your mercy will precede me. You are my helper, I sing to you, for you are God, my Protector, my God, my mercy (Ps. 59:10–11 and 18). We see in the Holy Gospel that our Lord Jesus Christ, after being tempted by an evil spirit, began to preach (Matthew 4:17) the Holy Gospel, which He brought to earth from His Heavenly Father. And having gathered twelve disciples, whom he called apostles, he went with them from place to place and from city to city and preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and sowed the saving seed of the word of God on the earth of human hearts. And he taught everyone to know His Heavenly Father, and to please Him with faith and truth, to do His holy will. He was an image for everyone, and thus taught everyone a heavenly and holy life. He was a visible image of the deepest humility, the most ardent love for the Heavenly Father and all people, compassionate mercy for the poor, inscrutable meekness and long-suffering towards detractors and enemies, and other sweet and divine morals, which clearly show that He was not just a man, but the Son of God and God incarnate, and appeared in human form, and walked the earth. The goodness and love of God, which is depicted throughout the Holy Scriptures, we see everything depicted in Him, as in the living image of the invisible God. Do you want, Christian, to see God’s heart and His most kind disposition? Look at Christ, His only begotten Son. Do you want to see Christ’s disposition and heart? Read His Holy Gospel, listen to it and He will show them to you. This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him (Bar. 3:36). And so, He appeared on earth and lived with people. Your procession was visible, O God (Ps. 67:25). We have seen Your entrance and Your departure (Ps. 120:8). We have seen Your treatment of sinners, whom You came to seek and save. We saw that You, who gives food to all flesh, ate and drank like a man. They saw that You, unapproachable to the Cherubim and Seraphim, were accessible to sinners. Human eyes have seen You, on Whom the ranks of Angels do not dare to look. Your voice was heard as the voice of the Son of God, as the Only Begotten of the Father and our God incarnate. Grace has poured out from Your mouth, most beautiful of the sons of men, Son of God (Ps. 44:3). We have seen Your glorious deeds that You have done on earth. We saw Your divine and beautiful virtues, which You showed and left for us, poor sinners, to imitate. Oh, blessed time in which the righteous Sun dwelt on earth! The people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in the land and shadow of death the light dawned (Matthew 4:16). Blessed are the eyes that have seen God in human form! Blessed are the ears that heard the voice of the Son of God and Heavenly King who appeared on earth! The prophets, the righteous and the kings wanted to see it and did not see it, they wanted to hear it and did not hear it. Christians! Blessed are we too, that we see His image depicted in the Gospel, and hear His voice in the same Gospel, and confess and call on His name, and mysteriously partake of His most pure Body and life-giving Blood. Let us zealously imitate His wonderful virtues, which He left us for this purpose. Let us follow God, who for our sake appeared in human form and walked the earth. Let us love His humility, love, mercy, mercy, meekness, patience and sweet disposition. I am the light of the world; whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). This is how He calls us to follow Him. If we follow Him and love His good disposition, then we will not walk in darkness, but will be enlightened by His light. And if we do not follow Him, if we follow our whims, then we will certainly remain in darkness. He who withdraws from the light remains in darkness, and he who separates himself from life remains in death. For behold, those who remove themselves from You perish; You destroy everyone who commits adultery from You. And it is good for me to be united with God (Ps. 73:27–28). We see in the Holy Gospel that our Lord worked and toiled for the sake of our salvation, and, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and thus accomplishing the work of our salvation, walked on foot from city to city and to various places. Oh, great miracle! The Almighty and Almighty worked and was toil, and He who sat on the throne of His glory walked on foot on the earth. Poor sinner! For your sake, the Lord created this condescension. Bless the Lord, my soul (Ps. 103:1). We sing and worship Your inexpressible love for mankind and Your condescension, O Lord, Your indecent servants and sinners. Our sin abounded before You, but Your goodness and love for mankind prevailed towards us who sinned against You. From here we learn, Christian: 1) Live not in idleness, but in good works. Many Christians, since they have ready-made bread, do not want to get down to anything, but live in idleness and practice in useless and idle conversations, or they know that they are walking and passing from guest to visitor. Such idleness teaches them all evil. Such idle lovers and parasites constantly sin against God, who says: By the sweat of your face you will eat bread (Gen. 3:19). It is a shame for sinners to lie down when the Lord Himself worked for them. 2) Not to live in the pomp and pride of this world, but to live in humility. Many Christians do not want to travel, if not in a train 14: and in tall, rich, gilded English carriages. This is their pomp and pride. Let them see and judge for themselves how far they are from Christ, who walked from country to country on foot. Let human pride be put to shame and let down its exalted horn 15 when the Heavenly King and Lord of glory lived in such humility on earth. Poor man! Look at His humility and, putting aside your pride, humble yourself if you want to follow Him into eternal life. Small is the way and narrow is the gate to eternal life (Matthew 7:14). It is impossible to enter there in a convoy and with wide chariots. We must put aside all this pomp and pride and humbly follow Christ. They enter the kingdom of God not through luxury, but through tribulations, and, moreover, through many tribulations (Acts 14:22). We see in the Holy Gospel that Christ the Lord, while living on earth, did not have where to lay his head, as He Himself testifies: Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20). From here you see, Christian: 1) What was the life of Christ on earth, how great was the poverty. He who created the earth and everything in it had no place to lay his head. He could have everything, as the Lord of all, but He also did not have His own house, did not have where to lay His head. So He humbled Himself, so He who was rich in mercy became poor for our sake. Wonderful is His humility, wondrous and His poverty, just like He Himself, who is God above all, blessed forever! (Rom. 9:5). 2) From here we learn not to desire and not to seek in this world wealth and rich houses, but to be content with what we have and what God has given us from His mercy (Phil. 4:11; 1 Tim. 6:6-8). Many Christians of the present century are trying so hard to collect that they would be glad if all the treasure of this world came into their hands. They are not content with many thousands, but more and more collect and multiply their treasures. They are not content with the land that belongs to them, but are expanding it more and more and calling the lands by their own name. They are not content with the houses of their ancestors, but only know that new ones are being invented, and expanded, and elevated, and magnificently decorated. This is their pomp and pride, and the cause of all evil is covetousness. They see for themselves that their life is contrary to Christ, who was poor and had no place to lay his head. Poor man! Why do you worry and fuss a lot? (Luke 10:41). Whatever you collect and no matter how much you collect, you will leave in the world. Why are you expanding your lands? Look ahead of you and you will see that they are already digging a three-yard hole for you. Why are you expanding your house widely? Soon you will move into a three-arshine coffin that is being prepared for you. Look at him and you will see that all your plans and undertakings are vain. Remember that you are a wanderer and wayfarer on earth: why should a wanderer and traveler store up a lot and burden himself so uselessly? Christ the Lord teaches you by His example. Look at Him and become chaste. Christ does not deceive us, but teaches us the truth. Look at those who lived before us and collected a lot: they left everything here and went into the next century without everything. They now remain in their places and await the general resurrection and judgment of God. They are alone there, but their treasure remains here. Now they see that everything they had here was not theirs, and they know that they were chasing nothing more than the shadow and the winds. The same will happen to you. And you will leave everything, and follow them, and you will see that everything that you are now trying and collecting is not yours. Blessed and wise is he who learns to act carefully from the misfortune of others. Look at the dead, and your death, and your coffin, which is already being prepared for you, and you do not know when your death will lay you in it, and leave vanity before it leaves you. Our nature does not need much: it is content with food, clothing, and a hut. Lust desires a lot and seeks luxury. The whole kingdom is not enough for her. She can never get enough, just as a sick person’s fever cannot be quenched, no matter how much he drinks. Know both lust and natural need, and act according to the demands of nature, and not according to the desire of lust. Beloved Christian! Remember and look around that you are a Christian and not an idolater. Christians are waiting for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century; raise your heart there too. He who then wants to be resurrected into eternal life must be resurrected in soul here. Many Christians say every day: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead” (Creed), but they have become so close to the vanity of this world and live as if there will be no resurrection of the dead. Or maybe they dream like that and say fabulous things!.. But let them dream as they want and say what they want about him. It will certainly happen, only not to their benefit, but to eternal shame and reproach. Then they will know that the word of God is true, which preaches the resurrection of the dead, when it comes to pass on themselves. And those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will come forth into the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:29). Stay away from such epicures 16 as from the plague, and fight the good fight of faith, hold on to eternal life, to which you are called (1 Tim. 6:12), and confess that the inheritance for Christians, wealth, honor, glory and all blessedness is not here, not in this world, but in “the life of the age to come” (Creed), like their fatherland and their home there. There the Heavenly Father prepared for them all the good things, and no eye saw, no ear heard, and no one entered into the heart of man what God had prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). True Christians only try to obtain those blessings, but do not care about worldly things; they are content with what they have, according to the apostolic teaching: For we have brought nothing into the world; It’s obvious that we can’t take anything out of it. Having food and clothing, we will be content (1 Tim. 6:7–8). Be jealous of this holy squad and follow them, or better yet, follow Christ, Who was poor in this world and had no place to lay His head, although He had the whole world, and heaven, and earth, and everything that is in them, in His hand. Deepen in your memory the apostolic exhortation: Set your mind on things above, and not on earthly things (Col. 3:2). This word is spoken to all Christians who want to be true and not false Christians. But don’t look at those who only know that they collect wealth and fulfill their whims, and in increasing wealth, and in the search for honor and glory, and in expanding and decorating houses, and in preparing horses and carriages, and in inventing new clothes, and in presenting various meals, carnivorous servants, and in other such things, they show their whims. They are so far from Christ and have retreated from the word of His saint. And it is clear that they, like animals, only desire and seek what they see, and what they do not see, they do not seek. On their hearts lies a veil like darkness, with which eternal life is hidden from them. That's why they chase the shadow instead of the truth. We see in the Holy Gospel that after Christ, God, who appeared on earth and walked in human form, people of both sexes followed in great numbers, either to hear His holy word, or wanting to be healed of their ailments. And when they had no food in the desert, He fed them miraculously, so that many thousands were satisfied with five loaves, and the remaining pieces were collected into twelve baskets (Mark 8:19). He who created heaven and earth and everything out of nothing, Himself, appearing in human form, was here and multiplied the loaves. The good shepherd appeared on earth. This has never happened in Israel (Matthew 9:33). The lost sheep knew their Shepherd, and heard His voice calling them, and ran to Him. His divine power attracted them to Him. They left their homes, their households, and their affairs, and resorted to a new and unprecedented preacher and miracle worker who had appeared. This has never happened in Israel! (Matthew 9:33). Never has a man spoken like Jesus (John 7:46). Just as He Himself is from heaven, so His word was heavenly, He had the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Christian, let us also follow Christ, not with our feet, but with our hearts and a change of morals, and we will hear His words within us, and He will feed us, hungry in the wilderness of this world, not with corruptible bread, but with incorruptible bread, sent from His heavenly table. With this bread, not our body, but our soul will be strengthened and comforted. We see in the Holy Gospel that all the poor, no matter who approached Him with petition and faith, received what they wanted. The lepers came and were cleansed, the blind came and received their sight, the lame came and were healed. He healed the paralytic, raised the dead, delivered the possessed from demonic torment, gave hearing to the deaf, gave speech to the dumb, and performed other glorious and supernatural miracles. 1) That He is the Messiah and Savior of the world, Who was to appear on earth, Who was promised by God, and was preached by all the prophets, and was expected by all the faithful. He appeared on earth - the wonderful works of God appeared. People saw things that no human hand could do. The blind began to see and the lame to walk, the lepers to be cleansed and the deaf to hear, the dead to rise and the poor to hear the preaching of the gospel with comfort and joy. And these miracles, like a finger, showed that this was the glorious Wonderworker whom the prophets foretold to the world. He appeared then and worked miracles. Therefore, the peoples who saw His glorious and terrible deeds exclaimed with great surprise: We have now seen wonderful deeds (Luke 5:26); such things have never happened in Israel (Matthew 9:33). Indeed, this has never happened in Israel! Because God never appeared in Israel like this. Previously, God appeared to Israel in various forms, but this time God appeared in human form. Previously, God worked miracles through the prophets and His chosen servants, but this time He Himself worked miracles through His word. Previously he spoke through the prophets, but this time he spoke in His own person. Truly this has never happened in Israel! 2) Christ the Lord healed all who came to Him with faith. Christians! May we also approach the heavenly physician, Jesus, with faith. He is our true and faithful doctor. Let us entrust ourselves to Him, let him heal us as he wants. Since we too are poor and weak, and no one except Him can heal weakness. We are blind. The mind is blind in the knowledge of God and His holy will, in the knowledge of truth and lies, faith and superstition, virtue and vice, good and evil, benefit and harm, and so on. Let us also cry to Him from the depths of our hearts, as the blind cried to Him: Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David! (Matthew 20:30). We are deaf. Sin has deafened us; we cannot hear the sweet words of God. Jesus, Son of God! Open the ears (Mark 7:35) of our souls - so that we may hear Your words, the words of eternal life. We are lepers not in body, but in soul. Terrible leprosy is a sin and vile in the eyes of God. Let us also raise our voices to Him with the lepers: Jesus the Mentor! Have mercy on us (Luke 17:13). Our souls are cruelly enraged (Matthew 15:22). Sin is like a strong and evil demon. A fierce demon is pride, a fierce demon is anger and malice, a fierce demon is love of money, a fierce demon is envy, a fierce demon is uncleanness, a fierce demon is cruelty and unmercifulness, a fierce demon is hatred, and so on. These demons torment our souls, not our bodies. Let us, like the Canaanite woman, continually cry out to Jesus: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! (ibid.). And although he hesitates to give us what we ask, we will not stop knocking on the door of His mercy, saying: Lord! Help me! (Matthew 15:25). As we see in the Gospel, all the poor who approached Him received mercy from Him, and we will also receive it. He healed weak bodies, much more will He heal immortal souls. He had mercy on the poverty of the body, much more will He have mercy on the poverty of the soul. He does not regret the distress of the body as much as the distress of our soul. The soul is much more precious to Him than the body. He Himself exhorts us to ask about this: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7). Come to Him, and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed, His prophet exhorts us (Ps. 33:6). 3) Christ did not refuse any of the poor. We will not refuse anyone who asks us, according to His word: Give to him who asks of you (Matthew 5:42). We will not refuse to give what we can, and so we will follow Him in this. If anyone asks us for bread, we will serve the bread. He asks for a drink - we’ll serve him a drink. He asks for clothes - we'll give him clothes. He asks for housing and rest in our house - we will give it to him. He asks for help and protection - we will give it. He asks for advice and guidance – we’ll give it to him. He asks for consolation - we will give it. He asks for deliverance - we will give it. He asks for a favor - we will do it. He also asks for something else - according to the will of God and our ability, we will give it. This is what our Christ demands of us, Christians! He does not require us to perform miracles - this is God’s work, not ours, and it is impossible for us, because it is beyond our strength. But it demands that we love each other, and have mercy on each other, and give each other a helping hand. This is what both the union of Christianity and His holy will want, and this will be of great benefit to us. He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for his good deed (Prov. 19:17). What could be more glorious than to lend to the Lord, and what could be more useful than to give into the hands of the One who has everything in his hands and who will reward the giver with great gain? Oh, the goodness and love of God! Christians, everything that we have or can have, we receive from Him. But His holy word says: He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord. Thus, He encourages us to love and mercy, so that the poor, with whom He, as a loving Father, has compassion, receive consolation in their sorrows, and those who have mercy on them and give them a helping hand do not lose their reward. God, as the omnipotent One, can open His treasures, and with His invisible hand give what is necessary to the poor, and thus fulfill their desires. But he presents them to our eyes, and points to them, and commands us to have mercy on them, and He Himself promises to reward us for them, so that the poor, whom He, as the merciful, takes pity on, will not be left without pleasure and we will receive a hundredfold reward from Him. Let us, beloved Christian, show mercy to our neighbors and give his request to everyone - so that we may hear from Christ the Lord before the whole world a sweet voice: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me (Matthew 25:34–36). 4) Those Christians who do not have mercy and compassion for the poor and do not give them a helping hand in their needs, but spend their property on whims and luxury, do not have a Christian heart and character and are far from Christ. Such Christians regret, for the sake of Christ, clothing the naked, or building a hut for the needy, or giving a little money to someone in need for great need, and so on. But they do not spare for whims and luxury, for dowries for daughters and inheritance for sons, and for gaining honor, and so on; they do not spare, I say, many hundreds or thousands. Such is their faith, such is Christianity! For the sake of Christ they spare taxes, but for the sake of the whims and vanities of the world and for the sake of flesh and blood they do not spare anything. Whoever loves something or someone does not regret anything for that sake and does whatever he wants for his sake. This is an undoubted sign that these Christians also love the world, their flesh and blood, and not Christ, although He died for them. Therefore, before the whole world they will hear His terrible voice: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and they did not visit Me (Matthew 25:41–43). 5) Those Christians who rob other Christians and steal their goods have the worst and most depraved character. This includes lawless judges who judge based on pay and not on truth, and shed tears for the poor. These include gentlemen landowners who burden their peasants with either dues or excessive work, and take away from them what is necessary for their food and maintenance. Among them are gentlemen in power who do not give their subordinates or do not give them the salary that is fully determined by the Sovereign. This includes those unscrupulous people who kidnap from a fire and give the offended owner even greater grief. Among them are merchants who deceive those who buy from them and instead of the proper price, demand a higher price. This also includes mercenaries who, having received a decent wage, do not work for it, or work lazily. This also includes owners who hire people to work, but do not give wages to the mercenaries, or pay them, but not in full. Finally, they include thieves, predators and robbers who somehow appropriate other people's goods for themselves or secretly steal them, and so on. All of them and those like them have a depraved disposition and are far from Christ, and, if we speak the truth, they are opponents of Christ and against Him. He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters, says the Lord (Matthew 12:30). Such people are not with Christ, for what fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? What does light have in common with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14). They are against Christ. This is a scary word, Christian, but true. The judgment will be terrible for them. If those who do not give are sent to hell fire, what will happen to those who steal? Poor Christian! Repent - so that you will not, like matter, burn in fiery Gehenna, but never be consumed. We see in the Holy Gospel that Christ the Lord entered the houses of those people who called Him to them and ate with them. Oh, blessed are those houses which the Heavenly King visited and, who gives food to all flesh (Ps. 136:25), ate food in them! It is a blessing for people to welcome an earthly king into their home. What an incomparably greater happiness is to receive the Heavenly King into the house! Those who then received Christ in their homes thought nothing more about Him than that He was a prophet, a glorious teacher and a miracle worker, but they did not know that He was the Lord of the prophets, although the light of His Godhead appeared from His various miracles and glorious deeds, and His omniscience, and His power, and other things, like the sun from His rays. Oh, if they knew that the Guest Whom they are receiving is the true God, walking in human form on earth, they would receive Him with great fear and inexpressible joy! But then this Divine and eternal light disappeared from them. Christians! That light shone upon us by the grace of God. We now believe and know that Christ is our Lord and God, who came into the world to save sinners. Let us repent and turn to him. Let us open the houses of our hearts and humbly ask Him to come to us - that He may also visit us, humble and sinners. Although we do not see Him, He is still present among His faithful and lovingly visits them, according to His promise: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen (Matthew 28:20). He, as we see in the Gospel, did not disdain anyone, no matter who called Him to them. He will not abhor us, as a lover of mankind, if we cleanse our houses with repentance and humbly ask Him. But He Himself is ready and glad to come to us, if only He sees a place pleasing to Himself in us, for this is what He Himself says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20). The guest is great and glorious, kind and joyful - like God. He will not require a festive table, food or drink from us. He himself will offer us a meal, not the kind of meal that people imagine, but a meal that strengthens, comforts, delights our souls and has the sweetness of eternal life. At this sweet supper we will partly taste the sweetness of the heavenly meal, which His holy angels eat. Let us cleanse the houses of our hearts with true repentance and drive out the noise of the various cares and whims of this world, so that we may hear His sweet voice at our doors, and open the doors to Him, and so the glorious Guest will come to us. Lord, sweetest Jesus, Shepherd and Visitor of our souls! Do not pass me by, Thy poor and wretched servant, but through Thy love for mankind, visit my humble soul, visit that sinner for whose sake You shed Your honorable Blood and endured death on the cross. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready (Ps. 56:8). We see in the Holy Gospel that Jesus was accessible to sinners. All the publicans and sinners approached Him to listen to Him (Luke 15:1). And he did not hesitate to lie down with them and eat bread. And while Jesus was reclining in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined with Him and His disciples (Matthew 9:10). 1) Unapproachable to the Cherubim and Seraphim, and worshiped and glorified by them with fear and reverence, and living unapproachable in the light (1 Tim. 6:16), he became accessible to obvious sinners. O Thy goodness and love for mankind, Jesus our God! Glory to Your goodness, glory to Your love for mankind, glory to Your bounty, glory to Your condescension! Here it is truly timely to be surprised with the prophet and exclaim: Lord! What is man, that You have revealed yourself to him, and the son of man, that You think about him? (Ps. 143:3). Listen, sinners, and understand! The great and incomprehensible God, through His love for mankind, became accessible to us, so that all publicans and sinners approached Him. The sinners knew their Savior, the weak knew their Physician, the lost sheep knew their good Shepherd, those sitting in darkness knew their Light, the lost knew their Life, the poor knew their Bliss - and approached Him. His divine power, and the humane-loving appearance of His holy face, and His heavenly and sweet holy word attracted them. All that was seen in Jesus was humility, meekness, long-suffering, mercy, compassion and love for mankind. Sinners, why are we slumbering, why are we delaying, why do we not come to Jesus? Why are we in darkness? Why don’t we get closer to that light? Why do we remain unhealed and do not seek healing from the heavenly Physician? Come, let us approach Him with boldness and faith, and our faces will not be ashamed (Ps. 33:6). 2) From here it is actually clear that the word is true and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus Christ came to save sinners and became available to sinners. But sinners must also heed what He says: Repent, and also: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matthew 4:17; 9:13). Sinners must repent and correct themselves, and then Christ will save them. 3) From here, sinners who are in true repentance receive consolation. If He came to save sinners, then He came to save you too, since you are one of the sinners. If he came to seek the lost, then he will seek you too, since you are one of the lost. 4) We see that true holiness is not disdained by any sinners. A truly holy person hates sin, not sinners; he abhors sins, not sinners. The scribes and Pharisees, arrogant with their supposed holiness, abhorred sinners, and therefore they reproached the apostles: Why does your Teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? (Matthew 9:11). But Christ, the Most Holy and Source of shrines, did not disdain any sinners. His holy servants also follow this, who turn away from sins, but not from sinners; they hate sins, but they sympathize and have compassion for sinners. Let the arrogant Pharisee pride be ashamed, which abhors sinners like itself! 5) From here shepherds learn how to treat sinners and bring them to repentance in every way, but not to participate in their sins. The shepherd's job is to look for the lost sheep. And good doctors are more often found there, where the sick lie. It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick (Matthew 9:12). 6) From here gentlemen, princes, nobles in power, and other famous people of this world, and all Christians learn not to disdain or despise or humiliate any person, even the most vile. Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, disdained no one and despised no one. Moreover, people, no matter how famous they may be in the world, should not disdain people like themselves. We are all human beings, we all have the same nature, all the noble ones have the same soul and body as the honorable ones. And it often happens, and even for the most part, that an ignorant person is more honest with God than a noble person, and a slave and a peasant are better in the eyes of God than his master, a prince and a nobleman. For human dignity and honesty are judged not by the shine of gold and silver, not by the name and title of this world, but by the honesty of the soul and the dignity of virtue. And God judges by the inside, not by the outside. One pious and God-fearing person is better and dearer to God than thousands of wicked people, even if they lived and were revered as gods in this world. May all Christians look to Christ, their Lord, a living image of humility and condescension, and may they follow Him in everything and not despise anyone. 7) From here the demonic pride of those masters, princes and nobles who consider their servants and peasants to be a mat for their feet, and almost lower than their dogs, is exposed - and those rich people who despise the poor and wretched. That the earth and ashes are proud (Sir. 10:9). What does a sinner despise a sinner? Why does the poor disdain the poor? All people are equal, although not everyone has equal happiness in this world. Princes, nobles, gentlemen and glorious ones! Look at the tombs of your ancestors, and you yourself will recognize the truth that all people, both glorious and low by origin, are equal. The property of a noble soul is to sympathize and sympathize with the poor and sinner, and not to despise or disdain them. We see in the Holy Gospel that Christ our Lord endured much reproach and blasphemy while living on earth, and endured it at the hands of His people, enduring it with all meekness. See here, Christian: 1) God, who sits on the throne of glory and is worshiped and revered by all the heavenly Powers, just as He appeared for us in the flesh, so for our sake He endured blasphemy and reproach from the lips of sinners. Our sins are to blame. For for the sake of our sins, with which we annoyed our God, the merciful Jesus, our Savior, endured all blasphemy. Oh, goodness and philanthropy! Let us be grateful to Him for His love for us. 2) We see that the blinded world does not like truth and truth. Christ the Lord, the eternal Truth, did only righteousness and truth, and did everything for the creation of man, and taught only righteousness and truth. Therefore, the world, blinded by charm, was hated and blasphemed. Sick eyes do not love the light, and untruth hates truth and lies hate truth. 3) From here it follows that shepherds and teachers of Truth and preachers of the heavenly word are subject to hatred and blasphemy of evil people, since their malice, delusion, and dark deeds are exposed by the light of heavenly teaching. Reproof for the wicked is like torture (Proverbs 9:7). The wicked are struck with reproof like with an iron pitchfork. This is evidenced by the examples of the prophets, apostles and all the faithful saints who lived in ancient times, who all endured persecution and reproach for the word of God and the truth. What can preachers of truth now expect from the evil world? If anyone is a God-fearing Christian, I advise him not to believe the blasphemy leveled at pastors and teachers and, moreover, to stop the mouths of those who blaspheme. This is where the devil's trick lies. He teaches his ministers to spread blasphemy against the preachers of the truth, so that people will think badly of them and not believe their word, and thus perish. This is what the evil spirit strives for, and so blasphemy and all slander, based on his evil slander, is brought against the shepherds. Beware of this, Christian! If you hear someone blaspheming and slandering the shepherd, know for sure that through his mouth, as his instrument, the evil spirit spews out its stench. 4) All true Christians are subject to the same reproach and hatred. We see in ancient history that the pagans invented and invented terrible slander against Christians and called them all sorts of defamatory names. This, as can be seen, was done by a devilish act so that Christians would retreat from the Christian faith, and idolaters would be afraid to approach it. But by the wisdom and power of God the evil advice of the evil spirit was scattered. The more slander, slander and persecution he brought against Christians, the more Christians multiplied. Similar slander and slander are now being invented against Christians, no longer from idolaters, but from false Christians and lovers of this world and its charms, and its pomp and pride. From this false brotherhood Christians suffer all kinds of slander and slander; now in one or another garment the insults dress them. And besides the usual and ungodly reproaches, various blasphemies and ridicules are invented against pious souls. If they notice that a Christian is moving away from their luxury and dark deeds, then he is a “schismatic” among them. If someone lives humbly and hates ostentation, then he is a “prude” among them. If he secludes himself for the sake of repentance and to avoid sin (for it is more convenient to repent in solitude and avoid sin than among the people), then they have such a “holy man.” Anyone who repents, laments, laments and sighs because of sins is a “melancholic person”. Whoever gives alms is considered “vain” and a “hypocrite.” If they find out that a Christian often prays to God, then they open their mouths and come up with a nickname: “mantis.” If a Christian, according to the rule of the Gospel, does not take revenge on the offender, then they attack him, call him a “fool,” they say, he does not know how to stand up for himself. If, according to the rule of the same Gospel, he squanders his property and gives it to the poor, then they directly take up arms against him and reproach him: he is mad, they say, because his ancestors collected it, then he wastes it. These and other similar blasphemies and ridicule are spewed out by wicked lips against the souls of the pious. This is what Christ the Lord said for our consolation: If the master of the house was called Beelzebub, how much more of his household? (Matthew 10:25). They hated Christ, the Lord of the house, and they also hate the Christians in His household. They blasphemed Christ and mocked Christ, the Lord of the house - they blaspheme the Christians in His household and mock them. They expelled Christ, the Lord of the house, and they will also expel the Christians who are His household. A servant is not greater than his master (John 15:20). This is the state of Christians in this age! Christians are not of this world, as Christ Himself says about them: They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world (John 17:14). Therefore, the world expels and reviles them as not its own. And this is also done by devilish cunning in order to seduce a pious soul from the good path. This is an all-cunning invention of the evil spirit. But He will not allow your foot to be moved, He who guards you will not slumber; He who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shadow at your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; The Lord will preserve your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from now on and forever (Ps. 120:3-8). 5) It is indecent for Christians to blaspheme and reproach those who reproach, for this is contrary to the Christian faith. Therefore, they should look to the living example of the meekness of their Lord, Jesus, who, being reproached, did not reproach each other (1 Peter 2:23), and, like a lamb before its shearers, was silent (Isa. 53:7). Evil is not defeated by evil and blasphemy, but only becomes even more irritated and ferocious. And Christian victory does not consist in vengeance, but in meekness and patience. Therefore, Christians, as the sheep of Christ, must overcome their detractors with humility and meekness and not repay them with evil for evil and annoyance for annoyance. And we should not be angry with them, but rather feel sorry for them, since the devil has such blasphemers and slanderers, and pray for them so that they do not remain his captives forever. 6) In their suffering, may Christians heed the comforting word of Christ: If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too (John 15:18–20). Strengthen your hearts, beloved! Let the lovers of the world do whatever they want to you: you will be content with this because you are Christ’s. Let them scold you - you are Christ's neighbors. Great is the glory and honor of being Christ's, although this treasure is hidden from the world. Even though the world hates you, God loves you. Let the world curse you - God bless you. They curse, but You bless (Ps. 109:28). Be content and comforted by this. The evil world plans evil for you, but God turns it into good for you. The tormenting Pharaoh became bitter against Israel, but Israel came out of Egypt with silver and gold and treasure. You too endure whatever the world does to you. And you will depart from the world and appear to your heavenly Father with spiritual treasure, treasure not of this world. 7) Scolders and detractors will accept their lot. They rustle like water in spring, but they also disappear like water flowing past; They rise like smoke, but they also disappear like smoke. This is their property, this is their lot. The righteous God hears their blasphemies and reproaches with which they wound the souls of the pious. He hears, and writes down in his book, and will present them in front of them, and will show them the one who was mocked and ridiculed by them, but no longer in the same manner in which he was mocked and mocked by them, but in the glory of His chosen ones and among the sons of God: here is your schismatic, your hypocrite, your melancholic, your rogue and spendthrift! Look at him and notice whether he is the one you laughed at, who you cursed, who you blasphemed, who you cursed at. Oh, what shame and fear will then seize the scolders! What shame will cover their faces! Then the righteous man will stand with great boldness in the face of those who insulted him and despised his exploits; Having seen it, they will be embarrassed by great fear and will be amazed at the surprise of his salvation and, repenting and sighing from the oppression of the spirit, will say to themselves: “This is the one who was once a mockery and a byword for us. Madmen, we considered his life to be madness and his death dishonorable! How is he numbered among the sons of God, and his lot is with the saints? (Wis. 5:1–5). Poor man! God wants you to live in humility and repentance, and thus be saved, and not scold the humble and pious. Repent, and the wrath of God will not fall on you. We see in the Holy Gospel that Christ our Lord, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God in word, showed it in a visible way, in deed, to confirm our faith and consolation: taking His three disciples, Peter, James and John, He led them to a high mountain and there showed them, as far as they could contain, the glory of His kingdom. Beloved Christian! Let us also now ascend with our minds to that holy mountain on which stood the most pure feet of our Savior God, and we will see there a glorious and unheard-of sight from the beginning of the world. There we will see that, like the sun, the face of our incarnate God shines, Who walked the earth just like other people - and His vestments shine like light. There we will see that two most glorious prophets, Moses and Elijah, stand before Him and talk with Him. We will see there that Peter and his comrades were so rejoiced at the vision of that glory that they did not want to leave that mountain, but in the joy of their spirit they exclaimed to Christ: Lord! It's good for us to be here! There we will hear the voice of God from the cloud, testifying about His Son: This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Listen to Him (Matthew 17:1–5). Looking at this glorious spectacle with our intelligent eyes, let us pause here and, for our benefit, reflect, so that our hearts may rejoice at the vision and consideration of this glorious spectacle. 1) Seeing the magnificent glory of Christ our God on Tabor, we also see how He humbled Himself for our sake. The same Christ, whom we see on the holy mountain, walked the earth and suffered, and in human form, similar to us, was among people. The same glory of Him was always with Him, but hidden from the eyes of men. Who could and would have dared to approach Him if He, even in that glory which the saint partially showed on the mountain, had abode and walked on the earth? But He, having hidden His glory under the flesh, walked in humility, like one of the simple people, and thus was accessible to all the poor and sinners. You see that He, being the radiance of the glory of the Father and the image of His hypostasis (Heb. 1:3), and living in the unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16), dwelt and walked on the earth in humble human form. Glory to His humility, glory to His condescension! 2) Two great prophets appeared before Him there, Moses and Elijah: Moses, the lawgiver and leader during the exodus of Israel from Egypt, Elijah, a zealot for the glory of the Lord of hosts, taken by a chariot of fire, as if into heaven. These prophets were considered by both the Jews and all Israel to be the most glorious prophets. They appeared and appeared before Christ on the holy mountain. You see here that Christ is the Lord of the prophets, Who appeared on earth in human form, He is the true Messiah, preached by the prophets. Glory to the Lord who appeared in the flesh and came to save sinners! 3) The glorified flesh of Christ on the holy mountain assures and encourages us that Christ-like glory will be among God’s chosen ones in eternal life, as Christ Himself declared in a word: Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43). And the apostle wrote that He will transform our lowly body so that it will be consistent with His glorious body (Phil. 3:21). And again another apostle says: Beloved! we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2). Christian! Be confident in this and behold this glory. 4) The Apostle Peter, like those who were with him, rejoiced so much, although he only saw a certain part of that glory. What joy will pour into the hearts of God’s chosen ones in the future life, when not part of the glory, but all of it will be revealed! How greatly they will rejoice and rejoice forever when they see God face to face and the glory of Christ, and they will see them without end and satiety! Even now the saints of God on earth feel a small particle of this joy and sweetness, and like the smallest grains falling from the heavenly meal, they taste and delight the throats of their souls. 5) This glory and joy should be an encouragement to pious people to do good deeds and remain in it to the end, according to the word of Christ: Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). Thus, the hope of victory and glory encourages warriors to perform feats against their enemies. Thus, the hope of fruits encourages farmers to farm and work. Thus, the hope of wealth encourages merchants to wander and wander through unfamiliar and dangerous places. Thus, the hope of knowledge encourages students to work in the sciences. Likewise, the hope of future glory and joy should encourage a pious Christian to an indispensable feat for the sake of piety and the desire for a higher calling (Phil. 3:14). Christian! In your anguish and need, raise your mind to the place where Christ’s face shone like the sun, and the vestments were white as light; and where the righteous shine like luminaries, and they see God face to face, and people have a kind friendship with the Angels, and in the joy of the spirit they constantly sing “Hallelujah!” Raise your mind there, and you will be confirmed in your faith and deed. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house: forever and ever they will praise You, O Lord (Ps. 83:5). 6) Raise your eyes to this glory and joy, you too, who think about earthly things and not about things above; you want and are looking for how to become rich in this world, become famous and receive honor; love to live in rich and beautiful houses, travel in trains and high carriages, dress in purple and fine linen, and thus reign in this world. They enter into life not by the wide, but by the narrow gate, and not by the wide, but by the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13–14). We do not enter into the kingdom of God through luxury, but through tribulations, and through many tribulations, as the apostle said: Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). And Saint John heard a voice from heaven testifying about the chosen ones of God: These are those who came out of great tribulation (Rev. 7:14). You see that they come there out of sorrow, and not out of luxury. The luxury and joy of this world lead not to the kingdom of God, but to hell, as evidenced by the example of the gospel rich man, who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted brilliantly every day (Luke 16:19). Look around which way and where you are going. Beloved! You are Christians, you are called by the word of God to eternal blessings, and not to temporary ones; in eternal life all good things are prepared for us by the Heavenly Father. Let us strive for them with zeal, and let us use worldly goods like strangers, with fear and caution, and according to our necessity, and not for luxury. He who desires great things does not worry about small things, and he who seeks eternal bliss does not worry about everything temporary. For we have brought nothing into the world; It’s obvious that we can’t take anything out of it. Having food and clothing, we will be content (1 Tim. 6:7–8). 7) Lift your eyes there also, you who defile your souls and bodies with fornication and adultery; you who kidnap, rob and steal other people's goods; you who flatter and deceive with your tongue; you who slander your neighbor and hurt him with blasphemous words like arrows; and others who fearlessly violate God’s law. Lift your eyes there and see what glory you are losing because of your unrepentant life. And nothing unclean will enter there, and no one devoted to abomination and lies... And outside are dogs and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices iniquity (Rev. 21:27; 22:15). 8) All Christians, let us lift up our eyes and look around how we live in this world. We are called by the word of God and renewed by holy baptism for that great glory. Whether we live worthy of this title, let's look around. It is not confession alone that makes a Christian a true Christian, but also faith and disposition consistent with faith. We confess Christ the Son of God, but do we listen to Christ Whom we confess? We know and believe that God sent His Son to us to save us, but we hear that the same God from His holy heaven tells us about Him: Hear Him (Matthew 17:5). Do we listen to Him if we want to be saved by His grace? Let's look around. We see, as it was said above, that the glory of God’s chosen ones will be consistent with the glory of Christ. Therefore, if we want to receive this glory, then we must be consistent with Him here, in this life. If we want to be with Him there, then we must not be separated from Him here either, but remain here inseparably with Him. If we want to be like Him there, then we must be like Him here, in this life. If we want to follow Him into eternal life and through Him, then we must follow Him in His path and imitate His humility, love, patience and meekness. If we want to be participants in His eternal kingdom, then we must also be participants in His suffering and patience. If we want to be glorified with Him, then we must suffer with Him and bear His reproach on ourselves, according to the Scripture: We suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17). If we want to eat and drink at His table in His kingdom (Luke 22:30), then we must taste the gall of sorrow with Him here in this world. So, if we are conformed to Him here, we will be conformed there also. We saw with our spiritual eyes the glory of Christ at Tabor, and together with the Apostle Peter we were somewhat rejoiced. But if we want to receive that glory, then we will follow Christ even to Golgotha: we will go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach (Heb. 13:13). Everyone wants to reign with Christ, but not everyone wants to endure sorrow with Christ. We see what is written about Christ: Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer and enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26). But we see what is written about Christians: Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). Christians are not called to operas, not to dances, not to banquets, not to the amusements of this world, but to repentance, and sorrows, and crosses. Everyone must bear his own cross and follow Christ, who bore the cross, and so enter the kingdom of God after Him and through Him. Christians will have glory, honor, wealth, inheritance, bliss, consolation, joy, gladness and a great supper to delight them, but in the next century, although even now they will not remain without consolation. And even their tears, which flow from a contrite spirit, instead of cooling and consolation come to them. They mourn and rejoice, grieve and are comforted, cry and have fun. For they have a present Comforter, who, like the one with the heart, kindly comforts them in their sorrows. Therefore, I beg you: imitate me, as I imitate Christ, says the apostle (1 Cor. 4:16). We see in the Holy Gospel that Christ our Lord, wanting to show us the most perfect image of humility, washed the feet of His disciples and apostles. Beloved Christian! Let us now ascend with our minds to that upper room in which the Last Supper took place, and we will see there a glorious miracle. She will show us how the Lord of glory rises from supper, how he takes off His outer garment, how he takes a towel and girdles himself, how he pours water into the laver, how he kneels down and begins to wash their feet, and bows down, and washes their feet, and wipes them with the towel with which he girded, and from one to another, and from another to the third, and so successively approaches and bows to everyone, and places the feet of each in His holy hands. He takes it and washes it with water, and wipes it with a towel, and God, who appeared in human form, performs the most despicable work of slavery (John 13:4-15). 1) How great and lofty is Christ our Lord, so great and deep is his humility. His highness and majesty are incomprehensible, and His humility is incomprehensible. This has never been seen on earth. Nowhere do we hear that a man, a king, washed the feet of his slaves. This has not been heard for ages. God, the Heavenly King, appeared in human form and created this on earth in order to show everyone the image of humility. Hear this, all you nations; Heed this, all you who live in the universe (Ps. 48:2). The Heavenly King and Lord of glory washed the feet of His servants... Oh, glorious and wonderful sight! The Lord serves in the form of a servant. Wonderful and wondrous are all Your works, O Lord Jesus our God! Wonderful are the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them; wonderful are Your works, which we see in Your holy word; but we see the most wonderful thing that You did for us here! There we see Your omnipotence, here we are amazed at Your condescension. Your omnipotence is incomprehensible, and your humility is also incomprehensible. Glory to Your love for mankind, glory to Your descent, glory to Your humility, glory to Your goodness! For our sake, You did this wonderful thing. Lord, who loves the humble and meek! Write this Thy work on my heart, so that I can always look at it and follow it. 2) Highly respected kings, princes, nobles, gentlemen and all the glorious ones of this world! Look into this purest mirror of humility and, when you see the opposite vice in your souls, erase it. The Son of God and the King of Heaven washed the feet of His servants - you, earthly ones, do the same with your earthly slaves and subjects. Do not be afraid, this will not make you less, but will make you even greater; You will not be humbled, but you will be exalted even more; You will not be dishonored, but will be even more honored; You will not be put to shame, but you will be even more glorified. Everyone who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11). This matter seems small and low before the world, but before God it is great and high. He who is truly humble is great with God, the humble One who loves. But even reasonable people will be surprised at this business of yours. This is why we are all amazed at the humility of Christ, Christians, because He, being so great, humbled Himself so much. All who know the power of virtue will truly be surprised when they see you in such humility. 3) Look at this living image of humility, shepherds, and set an example of your humility to your people. Let people look at you and see the humility of Christ in you, and know that you were sent to them as shepherds by the Chief Shepherd Jesus Christ. 4) Look, all Christians, and imitate your Lord. He was not ashamed to serve people; do not be ashamed to serve each other and wash your feet. Show them that you are Christ's. Follow Christ's humility - and you will be Christ's. A servant of Christ is not recognized by anything more than by humility. Heed this too, my soul, and love the humility of Christ above all else. 5) Society is like the composition of the human body. The members of the human body do not despise each other, but serve each other and thus preserve the integrity of the whole body. The head with the mind, the eyes with vision, the ears with hearing, the nostrils with smell, the mouth and tongue with taste and speech, the hands with action, the legs with walking and running, the belly with cooking food - the whole body and each other mutually serve. So it is in society: superiors serve as guidance, instruction and care for subordinates; and the subordinates serve the superiors with work, serving their needs, food, clothing and other things that they require. Thus, by mutual office and mutual service, superiors and subordinates are connected to each other, like members of the human body. The condition of subordinates without superiors can be bad and dysfunctional, but what can a superior do without the service of his subordinates? The head in the human body is considered more important than other members, but what can it do without eyes, without ears, without arms and without legs? Likewise, a boss in society shows himself to be more important than others, but what will he do without the service of his subordinates? Nothing. In order for the head, the most intelligent one, to control the body well, it needs eyes to see, ears to hear, lips and tongue to speak, hands to do, legs to walk, and so on. Likewise, a boss, even the most intelligent one, in order for him to successfully provide for society, needs other people: some as eyes, others as ears, others as lips, others as hands, others as legs, and so on. Then his reign will be prosperous. What is the head without the other members of the body? Nothing. What is a boss without subordinates? Nothing. What is a military leader without officers and soldiers? Like a simple soldier. What is a prince, nobleman and master without servants and peasants? The same simple person. The army defends the integrity of its fatherland, but the fatherland supplies it with weapons, provisions and other necessary needs, and replaces the fallen with new warriors. What can the army do when the fatherland will not give it what it needs? Cities rise above villages and villages, but what are cities without villages and villages? Nothing. Villages and hamlets serve the cities with bread and other supplies. Cities will disappear if villages and villages do not give them their bread. So those considered the most despicable are honest and necessary. This is not being presented so that subordinates will despise their superiors - let that not happen! They must be given the honor worthy of them, according to Scripture: Give everyone their due: to whom to give, to give; to whom quitrent, quitrent; to whom fear, fear; to whom is honor, honor (Rom. 13:7). But those who consider themselves the most honest should not despise their inferiors and be proud of their titles and names. One thing is required of Christian leaders, that they themselves live with the fear of God, and serve Christian society, by virtue of their oath and according to the rule of Holy Scripture. Then they will be truly great, great both here and great in the kingdom of heaven. And if they live here according to their whims, and do not obey the One who gave them power, then their eternal troubles will be great. Their suffering will increase as much as they instilled fear here. For the lesser deserves mercy, but the stronger will be greatly tormented (Wis. 6:6). Beloved, who sits in a high place! Look more often at the humility of Christ, and this will not allow you to be exalted, and to despise your brethren below, and to become maddenedly in this world, and so to fall into disastrous disaster. Who knows whether you or the one you despise is the best and most honest of God, who looks at the heart and judges by the inner, and not by the outward, and by faith and deeds consistent with it, and not by names and titles? 6) God can make both the rich poor and the poor rich, both the high low and the low high, according to what is written: He raises up the poor from the dust, raises up the needy from clay, to set him with princes, with the princes of his people (Ps. 113:7-8). Why does a person exalt himself because today is in his power, and tomorrow may be in the power of another, and why despise that brother who today is lower, and after a while may be higher than him? We see quite a few such examples in this world. Pride is always humbled, and humility is always exalted. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). Look into the mirror of Christ’s humility, and follow Him, and you will always be at your height. 7) We are all, high and low, one. We recognize, and confess, and call on the One Creator. We descend from our one father Adam. One Christ, the Son of God, redeemed by Blood and Death. We have one baptism, we have one faith; called to one eternal bliss by the Word of God; let us approach the one sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; We are all called Christians from one Christ. Oh, if everyone were Christians, then no one would despise anyone else! When we are all one, like members in a body, then why should one despise and humiliate the other? He who despises will be despised, and he who humiliates will be humiliated. 8) All people, from the highest to the lowest, are equal. Shows this day of birth and outcome. There is one entrance into life for everyone, says Solomon, and the same outcome (Wis. 7:6). Everyone is born naked, they bring nothing into the world, and they take nothing away from the world. No one is born a prince, a nobleman, a master, a rich, glorious, but a simple person, a beggar, a wretched, naked, and with tears. Everyone is equally subject to all sorts of changes and troubles. We see this in the world. The high ones humble themselves and the low ones exalt themselves; the glorious are despised, and the despised are glorified; the rich become poor, and the poor become rich. Just as in the sea, the waves rise and fall, so it is in the world: people rise and descend. Death is equal to all. Everyone comes from this world without anything. All wealth, honor, glory, names and titles are left here. The small coffin accepts everyone equally. Likewise, everyone buries himself in a three-arshine hole and covers it with earth. It is equally susceptible to decay. Where is the wealth, where is the honor, where is the glory, where are the names and titles? Look at this, man. I see where the prince is laid, where the noble is laid, where the master is laid, where the glorious is laid, where the rich are laid, and where the slave and the poor are laid. I see that the earth lies here, and in it there are only bare bones. And truly I cannot recognize the master and his servant, the glorious and the noble, the rich and the poor, because I see only the earth. I hear that such and such a gentleman is buried in such and such a place, but I don’t see him, I only see the ground. And how can I call him by his name, if not himself, but I see the earth. Look at this, man, and recognize and recognize that everyone is equal. You too will be the same as those you see here. Why should an equal despise and humiliate an equal? What is the earth and ashes proud of? Look at the humility of Christ. Listen, Christians, to Christ, who says: You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say it correctly, for that is exactly what I am. So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know this, blessed are you when you do it (John 13:13–17). But let us look, Christian, at the saving sufferings of Christ; Let's look at the suffering that Jesus Christ, our Lord, for our sake, of his own free will, endured. Let us look at the suffering in which our glory, consolation, joy and life consist. Let us look at His sufferings, let us focus all our attention on them, so that Christ crucified may be imagined in us (Gal. 4:19). Let us look at His sufferings and join in them, so that we may also be partakers of His glory (1 Peter 4:13). Both here and there we will not be separated from Him. Both in suffering and in glory we will be with Him, as the body with the head, and the bride with the groom, and the slaves with the master. We see in the Holy Gospel that those whom He came to save, who were waiting for Him, to whom He showed great good deeds - those, I say, did not accept Him, as the Holy Evangelist testifies with pity to the whole world: He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him (John 1:11). And not only did they not accept Him, but they also became embittered against Him and tried to kill Him, as we see in His Holy Gospel. See here, Christian: 1) The goodness and love of Christ is invincible by any malice. Christ our Lord knew what His ungrateful people would do to Him, but nevertheless He came to them, came to save them, came to seek them, who were lost, came to call and lead them to His heavenly Father. He lived with them, communicated with them, taught them, showed them the way to eternal salvation, turned them to repentance, exhorted them, showed them with signs and wonders that He was the Messiah who was promised to them by God, preached by the prophets and expected by them. Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor are preached to the good news (Matthew 11:4-5). That is, the time has come in which the prophetic sermons are fulfilled, and you can know who I am from signs, wonders, and deeds. The Jews saw all this, but they did not accept Him, an obstinate and depraved race. He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him. 2) The long-suffering of Christ. If some king came to his city, and his subjects, having become embittered against him, did not accept him and dishonored him, then such annoyance would be great and unbearable for him. The Heavenly King and Lord came to His subjects, the Jews, and they did not accept Him and dishonored Him, and became bitter against Him. But He dealt meekly with them, and was patient with them, and exhorted them, and did good to them, and desired and sought eternal salvation for them. O Thy long-suffering, O Jesus! O Thy goodness and philanthropy! Truly from this you can know, man, that He is the Only Begotten Son of the Heavenly Father, the radiance of the glory of the Father and the image of His hypostasis, the image of the invisible God, who commands His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). The divine and loving disposition of the Father is seen in His Son. What kind of people can tolerate this? Soon human meekness and patience will change. 3) From here we see how envy and malice blind a person. The scribes and Pharisees knew from prophecies what would then come to Christ when the prince became poor from Judah (Gen. 49:10). The prince became poor from Judas, and Jesus Christ came. They knew that He must be born in Bethlehem as a Judah (Mic. 5:2). There Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1). They knew about the Baptist John that he was a prophet (Luke 1:76; John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3–5). John testified about Jesus (Luke 3:16; Matt. 3:11; John 1:6–36). They knew that the Messiah they were expecting would work glorious signs and wonders. Jesus performed unheard-of signs and wonders. Therefore, the people, seeing His glorious miracles, exclaimed: This has never happened in Israel (Matthew 9:33). That’s why Nicodemus said to Christ: Rabbi! we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do such miracles as You do unless God is with him (John 3:2). And they themselves consulted about Jesus Christ and said among themselves: What should we do? This Man does many miracles (John 1:47). But blinded by envy and malice, they did not accept Him. So envy and malice blind! Oh, terrible evil - envy and malice! Christian! Beware of this evil - so that your inner eyes will not be blinded, and finite evil and eternal destruction will not befall you. 4) The scribes and Pharisees and other Jews did not accept Christ, but many did. Peoples who had never heard of Him received them and worshiped Him. Thank God that His light shone upon us. Let us accept Him worthily, and let us love His holy appearance, and serve Him as our King and God, and let us remain in faith and confession of Him to the end. May He also confess us before His Heavenly Father, as He says: Whoever confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Heavenly Father (Matthew 10:32). If we confess Him as the Son of God, God and Lord and our King, then we will listen to Him, and we will serve Him as our King, Lord and God, and we will live according to the rule of His holy Gospel. So, if we are Christ’s here, then there Christ will recognize us as His own before His Heavenly Father. Listen, Christian, what signs the Apostle announces of those who are Christ’s. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24). These are the signs of Christ's people. The apostle also calls the one who has the Spirit of Christ a man of God (Rom. 8:9; 1 Tim. 6:11). Let us, Christians, not only be confession of Christ, but also deed and truth, so that both here and at the Last Judgment Christ recognizes us as His own. The solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His”; and: “Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19). I know Mine, and Mine know Me, says the Lord. And again: My sheep obey My voice, and I know them; and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand (John 10:14,27–28). We see in His Holy Gospel that one of His disciples, named Judas Iscariot, sold Him to those plotting to kill Him, and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and with a flattering kiss delivered Him into their hands. The evil flatterer noticed that the bishops, scribes, and Pharisees were planning to kill Jesus, but he had a heart that loved money. He came to them, thirsty for innocent blood, and said to them: What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you? They offered him thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). And for such a small price the lawless one sold the Priceless One?! You have seen, Jesus, the evil thoughts and plots that your enemies were plotting against You. I saw lawless bargaining, I will buy and agree. I saw that for such a low price, Priceless, you are selling. I saw, but endured the fury of Your lawless people. Glory to Your long-suffering, O merciful One! He was sold, good-hearted, so cheaply - in order to redeem me, sold to sin. I sing and praise Your love for mankind! 1) What a great evil is the love of money. A money-loving soul is not afraid to do anything, it dares to do anything just to get a nasty profit. Lawless Judas was not afraid to sell and betray Jesus, his Lord and Teacher, the One whom he saw doing glorious and wonderful deeds. The love of money blinded his eyes. The root and beginning of his lawless deed was the love of money. So destructive is the evil of the love of money! Christian, beware of the love of money, lest it plunge you into all evil. 2) Lawless military leaders imitate Judas, who betray many thousands into the hands of enemies for silver and thus do unbearable harm to the fatherland. They imitate the lawless judges who sell justice and truth for a bribe and make the right to the guilty and the guilty to the right. They imitate false witnesses who are bribed with money and testify lies in court. Other lawless people also imitate them, who somehow sell the truth for money and make a nasty profit for themselves with lies. 3) Those people imitate Judas who slander their shepherds and vilify them with vicious names; imitated by children, slaves, students, and other people who discredit their parents, masters, teachers and mentors, and their benefactors before others and slander them. All of them seem to sell their benefactors and follow Judas the traitor, who sold his Lord and Teacher and delivered him into the hands of His enemies. It is written about such people: He who repays good with evil, evil will not depart from his house (Prov. 17:13). Beware, Christian, of being an imitator of the traitor Judas - lest you inherit his fate. 4) Judas, betraying his Lord into the hands of the wicked, kissed Him and said to Him: “Rejoice, Rabbi!”, but in his heart he thought evil against his Lord, and betrayed Him with a flattering kiss. He who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whomever I kiss is He, take Him. And immediately approaching Jesus, he said: Rejoice, Rabbi! And he kissed Him (Matthew 26:48–49). Oh, the meekness of Jesus, who endured the flattering kiss of His enemy! Oh, the vile lips of the traitor, who was not afraid to approach and flatteringly kiss the most holy saints and the source of holiness, the Lord! Such deceit is followed and likened to those Christians who treat their neighbors flatteringly, insidiously and cunningly: they pronounce something differently with their tongues, and think differently in their hearts; On tongues there is honey of sweetness, but in the hearts there is gall of sorrow; they bless with their lips, but curse with their hearts; With their lips they say: “Hello,” but in their hearts they think that they can catch the one whom they greet with a word and harm him. Everyone has such a flattering traitor Judas character. Christian! Be careful not to treat your neighbor flatteringly, lest you become a son of destruction, like Judas. God tests the hearts and bellies of everyone (Ps. 7:10) and sees how you act and treat your neighbor, how you speak and think about him. 5) We see how Satan first leads a person into one sin, then into another, and then into other sins. He first put the love of money into Judas’s heart, then the betrayal of his Lord, and then led him into utter despair. That's what he does now. First, he teaches a person to live in idleness and laziness, and in idleness he offers all sorts of evil thoughts to the person living, leading to all kinds of evil and sin. First, the love of money drives a person into the heart, and from that it leads to theft, theft, robbery, violence, lies, robbery, murder and other grave iniquities. The root of all evil is the love of money (1 Tim. 6:10). First, through his efforts, a person becomes arrogant and arrogant, and then he despises, humiliates and condemns his neighbor. He does the same in other sins. Christian! Beware of one sin, lest you fall into another and many other sins and reach the depths of evil. 6) The traitor Judas, falling into despair, hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). He knew the majesty of sin, but did not know the majesty of God's mercy. So now many do and follow Judas. They recognize the multitude of their sins, but do not recognize the multitude of God’s mercies, and so they despair of their salvation. Christian! The heavy and final blow of the devil is despair. He represents God as merciful before sin, but after sin as just. This is his trick. You do the opposite. Before sin, imagine the justice of God - so that you will not sin, but when you stumble and sin, think about the majesty of God's mercy - so that you will not fall into the despair of Judas. As is His majesty, so is His mercy. No matter how many sins you have and no matter how great they are, God has even more mercy and generosity. Just repent and beware of sinning in the future, lest you experience God’s justice on yourself. 7) We see how terrible and severe the torment of an evil conscience is. Judas could not bear the torment of his evil conscience and therefore hanged himself. His evil conscience led him to this. Therefore, he preferred to die rather than endure the torment of his conscience. He preferred death to life. Christian! Beware of irritating your conscience, lest you suffer like Judas. But guard your conscience as you guard your life. There is no worse tormentor than an evil conscience. Beware of hurting her and disturbing her with your sins. Prefer to die rather than sin against your conscience. This is what your Christian position requires of you. 8) If here an evil conscience torments a person so much that he prefers to die for something better than to live, then how will it torment the condemned in the next century, when all the sins they have committed and the wrath of God and eternal despair will be presented to them! What they will want to die from, but will never die. And this is the second death and eternal death! ( Rev. 20:6–14 ). We see in the Holy Gospel that when, wanting to betray his Teacher into the hands of His enemies, Judas with his evil like-minded people came to Christ, who was then in the garden with His disciples, Jesus Christ, our Lord, Himself came out to them and said to them: “Who are you looking for?” And when they answered Him: “Jesus of Nazareth,” Jesus said to them: It is I. And as soon as he said to them: It is I, then at this word and His voice they were afraid and fell to the ground. Jesus, knowing everything that would happen to Him, went out and said to them: Whom are you looking for? They answered him: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them: It is I. And Judas, His betrayer, stood with them. And when he said to them, “It is I,” they retreated back and fell to the ground (John 18:4–6). 1) Jesus Christ our Lord knew the future and everything that would happen to Him. Jesus, knowing everything that will happen to Him... Knowing the future belongs to God alone. We see that Christ is our God, who came into the world to save us and suffered for us. 2) The traitor Judas and other like-minded people were so frightened by the voice of Christ that they fell to the ground. From this they could know how great and strong He was, who struck them with His voice like thunder. However, they did not hesitate to approach and lay their lawless hands on Jesus, and take and bind the Almighty. You see how malice and every sin blinds a person! 3) That Jesus Christ Himself came out to His enemies and said to them: It is I, the One whom you are looking for. From this we see that He, by His will, gave Himself up to suffer for us and endured all the suffering that happened to Him. The Father was pleased that His Only Begotten Son should drink the cup of suffering for our salvation; His beloved Son deigned to Him and drank the cup given to Him by His Heavenly Father. Being obedient even to death, even death on the cross (Phil. 2:8); as he said: Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me? (John 18:11). You see, Christian, the ardent love of the Only Begotten Son of God for us, you also see His Heavenly Father. God loved us unworthy; His Only Begotten Son also loved us. The Father gave up His Son for us to death and suffering - and His Son gave Himself up for us. Glory to God, who was so favorable! Glory to His Divine love for mankind, glory to His goodness, glory to His mercy and generosity! God! What is man, that You have revealed yourself to him, and the son of man, that You pay attention to him? (Ps. 143:3). Jesus Christ our Lord could have evaded the hands of His lawless enemies, but He did not want to, since the time had already come for Him to suffer for us. Christians! We will not run away and will not shy away from the cross of suffering that the Heavenly Father will place on us. Although we may deviate, we will bear it without grumbling and follow Christ even to Golgotha, if it is the will of the Heavenly Father. 4) Christ could have struck all those who came to take Him, but He did not want to, and allowed them to take Him and bind Him. Let us also follow our Leader, Jesus. And although we can take revenge on those who do evil to us and harm them, we will not take revenge or harm them, but we will endure all their evildoing with meekness. Thus we will follow Christ, our Leader, as the head of the body, so we will be conformed to Him, so we will suffer with Him, so that we may be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17). But let us see how and what Christ our Lord suffered for us. We see that He, sold and betrayed by His traitor, was bound, bound, was taken to a lawless council, was abandoned by the disciples: all the disciples, leaving Him, fled (Matthew 26:56). He was tried by a lawless court, he was ridiculed and insulted, he was buffeted and hit on the cheeks, he was condemned to death. They answered: he is guilty of death (ibid., 66). He, who has in his hands the death and life of everyone, was taken to the governor Pilate and slandered before him as a libertine. And they took Him to Pilate, and began to accuse Him, saying: We have found that He is corrupting our people (Luke 23:1-2). The one who taught the truth, and preached the kingdom of God to those who approached, and showed the way to it, was taken from Pilate to the lawless Herod, and before him he was also slandered, and he was ridiculed and desecrated, and again returned to Pilate. And so through the streets of Jerusalem, the Lord of glory was led hither and thither with ridicule. With great persistence, His lawless people asked Pilate for crucifixion: “Crucify Him” (You heard, O Lord, these lawless words and endured them), and was asked to die on the cross (Mark 15:13–15). He was crowned with thorns by the soldiers; was like a King; we congratulate them on their reproach: “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Mark 15–18); The King of Heaven and Lord of Glory was spat on and beaten on the head with a cane. The Lamb of God was led to be crucified and carried the cross, burdened with the sins of the whole world (John 1:29); and two evildoers were led with Him; and a multitude of people followed, and they saw Jesus as a Lamb led to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7); and the Son of God was taken out of the city to be crucified and die on the cross. We have seen Your procession, O God, the procession of my God, my King (Ps. 67:25). Thus, brought to the place of execution, the place of death, and no longer having form or kindness, redder in kindness than the sons of men (Ps. 45:3), he was nailed naked to the cross, and lawless people pierced His hands and feet (Ps. 21:17), and for greater reproach and dishonor, they hung the glory and praise of Israel between the two thieves; and he was numbered among the evildoers (Isa. 53:12) He who is righteous and who justifies us. Thus mocked, and dishonored, and tortured, and suffering, His enemies blasphemed Him. Those passing by slandered Him, nodding their heads and saying: “He who destroys the church and builds it in three days!” save yourself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:39–40). And so the wicked added to His wounds. So the tortured and suffering Son of God in his thirst was given vinegar to drink instead of water, as He Himself says: And they gave me gall for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Ps. 68:22). Finally, all His suffering ended with death, the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8), Jesus Christ our Lord. Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee! From Your suffering we have received consolation; Your death is our life; Your sorrow gave us joy; Your dishonor and reproach brought us honor and eternal glory; Your humility has lifted us up, fallen and humbled; Your wounds healed us; Your bonds, bound by sins, have resolved us. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer you a sacrifice of praise (Ps. 115:7–8). Sold, You have redeemed us, sold to sin; judged and condemned, You saved us from eternal judgment; ridiculed and mocked, You delivered us from the devil's reproach and ridicule. We sing Your love for mankind, we worship Your passions, O Lover of Mankind, we kiss Your mercy, we glorify Your goodness, we thank You, sinners pardoned and redeemed by You, and lost people saved by You. Glory to You, Son of God, with Your gracious Father and Your Most Holy Spirit, amen. What can I say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also freely give us all things with Him? (Rom. 8:31–32) Christians! We see from the Gospel the suffering of Christ our God. Let us stand here and look with our intelligent eyes at the passion of Christ, in which all our bliss consists. 1) Christ our Lord suffered both in soul and body. In my soul I had grief, sadness, melancholy and horror unspeakable and incomprehensible to the mind. And he began, says the evangelist, to be horrified and sad. And he said to them (the apostles): “My soul is grieved unto death” (Mark 14:33–34). Because of this, there was sweat on His most holy body, like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). The dishonor, reproach, reproach, and ridicule that the lawless Jews did to Him hurt His holy soul indescribably, because that blasphemy applied to the entire Person Who is God and Man. Christ is perfect God and perfect Man. His holy soul was so greatly wounded that in Him God was blasphemed and mocked. His body, most holy, pure, immaculate, united with the Word of God, was beaten, wounded, wounded, tormented, strangled, spat upon, bloodied, pierced with thorns, stripped, nailed to the cross, and so on. Look, Christian, at the suffering and illness of Christ. You want to live in the luxury and amusements of this world!.. 2) The illnesses and sufferings of Christ were aggravated by the fact that He suffered from His people, as it is written: He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him (John 1:11). He suffered from those to whom He was promised, who were waiting for Him, whom He came to save, to whom He did great and glorious good deeds - Christ our Lord suffered from such people. Such was their ingratitude towards the Lord their Benefactor. The ingratitude of his people was also painful to Him. Moreover, He suffered in the glorious and famous city of Jerusalem and in front of a multitude of people, then gathered for the Easter holiday from all countries; and to greater reproach and reproach, he was hanged between two villains, and among the villains was counted (Is. 53:12) He who alone is Holy and Righteous. Look, Christian, the dishonor and reproach of Christ! You are called a Christian from Christ, but you insatiably desire and seek the glory and honor of this world. Judge for yourself what is inside you, and whether you are conformed to Christ, and whether you belong to the servants of Christ. 3) Christ our Lord, just as he came into the world for us to save us, so he suffered for us. Our sins were the cause of His suffering; He took our sins upon Himself; took and suffered the execution following sins. He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities (Isa. 53:5). Wonderful is the goodness, mercy and Providence of God for us! We sinned, and Christ our Lord suffered execution for us. The slaves sinned, and the Master was punished. Glory to His love for mankind! We have ascended, but the Lord of glory has humbled himself so deeply for the sake of us who have ascended. We stole the glory of God with our first parents, and for this He paid tribute to the justice of God, as He says through the prophet: What I did not take away, I must give back (Ps. 68:5). Through our disobedience and sins, every calamity, misfortune and damnation entered into us. But through the suffering of Christ, all the bliss that we have and will have has returned to us. Through sin we fell, but through Christ's suffering we rose. We died through sin, but through the suffering and death of Christ we came to life. Christ died for us and by His death made us alive. David, the king of Israel, once wanted to die in place of his son Absalom (oh, ardent love!) And, weeping for him, he said: “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! Oh, who would let me die instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son! (2 Samuel 18:33). So Christ, the Son of God and the Son of David according to the flesh, seeing us dead and lost, wept for us, and wanted to die and suffer for us, and in fact died and suffered in order to revive us who had died. Glory to His ineffable love! He died and we came to life. His death is our life. Through sin we distanced ourselves from God; through Christ’s suffering we returned and drew closer to God. We were corrupted by sin, but we were renewed by Christ’s suffering. The devil captivated us with sin, and triumphed, and raged over us like a fierce tormentor - Christ our Lord, through His suffering and death, defeated and put that fierce tormentor to shame, and by His power abducted us from his hands, and bound that proud enemy of ours, and gave him over to be trampled and ridiculed by His faithful servants. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Sin was the reason that we, having departed from God, became so darkened in mind and lost our way, and were in such delusion that, instead of the living God, idols and, instead of the Creator, the creature was idolized and revered. Man, gifted with reason, man created in the image of God and in the likeness, I say, fell into such a delusion that he worshiped an unreasonable and soulless creature, and revered it as his God, and asked and sought help from her. A great and terrible darkness of the mind is to bow down to a weak creature and idolize it, and seek help from it. So the devil, captivating, seduced us! Christ our Lord, by His coming and suffering, abolished this delusion, and by the preaching of the Holy Gospel and the power of His Cross and suffering we were recovered, and we turned from idols to the living God, and began to glorify the holy name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One Trinitarian God. From east to west the name of the Living God is glorified. Through sin we fell under the oath and its subsequent eternal condemnation. Christian! An oath is terrible: it leads a person to eternal torment. Christ our Lord in His suffering, having become a curse for us (Gal. 3:13), Blessed forever, instead of a curse, God’s blessing was granted to us. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, so that the blessing of Abraham through Christ Jesus might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith (Gal. 3:13–14). By sin we greatly angered God and did not have any boldness or access to Him. Christ our Lord propitiated God with His suffering, and made us access to Him, and gave us boldness. He has reconciled God with us and reconciled us with God, He has made His Father our Father, as He says: I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God (John 20:17). And he taught Him to pray like this: “Our Father who art in heaven,” etc. (Matthew 6:9–13). Heaven and paradise were closed from us by sin, and hell and all eternal misfortune were opened to us. Christ our Lord, through His suffering from hell, redeemed us and opened the doors to the kingdom of heaven, and so on. The saving and sweet fruits of Christ’s suffering and all His consideration for us are abundantly, and to our living consolation, depicted in the Gospel, the Apostolic Epistles and the books of the prophets. But they are only suitable for the faithful and those in true repentance, and will not bring benefit to others, as will be said below. 4) Christ our Lord endured all His sufferings willingly, as stated above. The traitor wanted to sell and deliver Him into the hands of the lawless; did not resist him - and betrayed him. The wicked wanted to take Him and bind Him; did not resist them - and they took and tied Him up. They wanted to lead Him to a lawless gathering; did not resist - and they brought Him. They wanted to judge the Judge of all; did not resist - and was condemned. They wanted to quarrel, laugh and spit on Him; did not resist - and they quarreled, laughed and spat on the Lord of glory. They wanted to torment and hurt; did not resist - and they tortured and wounded him. They wanted to lead him to death like a condemned man; did not resist - and was led to death. They wanted to nail him to the Cross and hang him between two villains; did not resist - and they nailed him and hanged him. They wanted to do other evil to Him; I didn’t resist - and they did it. So He says about Himself through the prophet: I did not resist, I did not step back. I have given My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to the smiters; I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting (Isa. 50:5-6). And in the Gospel he says: Therefore the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life in order to take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but I myself give it. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to receive it again. I received this commandment from My Father (John 10:17–18). And who could have done anything to Him if He had not allowed it? If He is the true God, as indeed He is; then who could torment Him who has the life and death of all in His hands? Truly, with a wave and in the twinkling of an eye, He would have struck down all His enemies if He had wanted to. But he allowed it to happen so that he would see us saved. 5) From Christ’s suffering you see, Christian, what a great and terrible evil is sin. Sin offends and angers the incomprehensible and indescribable majesty of God. There is no greater evil than sin. Man sinned and thereby angered God. But it was necessary for the Son of God to cleanse sins with His suffering and Blood, and to appease God, who was angry with sin, and thus to reconcile man with God, and to deliver him from the eternal punishment that follows sin. For man, having sinned against God and angered Him, subjected himself to eternal punishment. No matter how many diseases, troubles, misfortunes and evils there are in the world, sin is the cause of it all. It is easy for a person to sin, but it is not easy for him to cleanse sin. We must cleanse it with bitter tears and the Blood of the Only Begotten Son of God. Otherwise, a person will experience its bitter fruit - eternal death. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Christian! Beware of nothing more than sin, the all-pernicious evil, if you want to be a true Christian and not perish forever. Choose better, when need demands it, to die than to sin. 6) In Christ’s suffering we see that the three properties of God were revealed in them - truth, mercy and wisdom - and fulfilled. We see that the truth of God does not leave sin without punishment. The truth of God demanded that a person who sinned be eternally executed for sin. God's mercy wanted to have mercy on the sinner. The wisdom of God invented a way in which both His truth and His mercy fulfilled and reconciled. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, fulfilled the truth of God through His suffering and death. And God’s mercy contributed to our salvation. So we see that through the suffering of Christ, satisfaction was created for the truth and mercy of God. The truth has received its pleasure, and we are saved by the mercy of God. Glory to the all-wise God, who was so pleased! Christian! Kiss God's mercy, repent of your sins, and seek eternal salvation with all your heart. Seek while God’s mercy operates, so that you will not experience the judgment of God’s eternal righteousness. 7) From Christ’s suffering we see what ardent and flaming love God has for the human race, so much so that He did not spare His Son for our sake. And we see in practice that Christ the Son of God explained in His word: For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). Just as a child-loving father, seeing his children in captivity or in some other great misfortune, out of love for them sympathizes and has compassion for them (for it is characteristic of love to sympathize), so the philanthropic God, seeing us captive by the devil and in destruction, had compassion for us and had mercy on us. Therefore, it was not so difficult for Him to send His Son into the world and give Him up to suffering and death for us, so as to see us saved. You see, man, God’s love for you. No matter how many times you see the image of Christ’s suffering, or how many times you hear about it, or how many times you remember it, so many times should you remember and be amazed at the love of God. Do not be careless yourself, but try so that both the desire and intention of God for your salvation, and Christ’s suffering, bear fruit in you, that is, eternal salvation. God loved you, and sent His Son for you, and deigned Him to suffer for you - be worthy of His love and holy will and strive for your salvation. 8) The love of God for us, revealed to you - although in all deeds, but most of all in the suffering of Christ - excites us to love Him mutually, as a gracious Father. God is the highest, eternal and unchangeable good, and therefore in Himself is worthy of our love. For who does not love great and unchangeable good? It, by itself and upon knowing it, draws everyone’s heart to love. But His works of love, and even more so the suffering of Christ, in which His incomprehensible love for us was revealed, convince us to love Him mutually. He loved us, He loved the unworthy - we will love Him, worthy of all love. He is our Creator, He is our Provider, He is our Redeemer, He loves us, He is our Father. God! What is man, that You have revealed yourself to him, and the son of man, that You pay attention to him? (Ps. 143:3). We feel His holy love, although in everything, but most of all in His saving glance towards us. Let us also love Him as our highest good and blessedness, and out of love we will show Him obedience and keep His holy commandments, and we will avoid all sin, which He hates. This is how we will show our love for Him if we do His will. Without this there can be no love (John 14:15,21). A lover must certainly do the will of his beloved. Otherwise there will be false and hypocritical love. 9) The same love of God exhorts us to love our neighbor, that is, to love every person. If God so loved us, then we should love one another (1 John 4:11). Do you, Christian, want to hate the one whom God loved so much? Do you want to do evil to someone to whom God does good out of love? Do you want to harm the one for whose sake Christ the Son of God came into the world, suffered and died? Do you want to deceive, deceive, slander, dishonor the one whom Christ the Son of God so honored? Do you want to steal, abduct, take away any good from the one for whom Christ the Son of God shed His Blood? Would you not want to have mercy on the one whom Christ the Son of God had mercy on? Do you want to spare money, clothes, bread, water, house and other substances for the sake of which Christ the Son of God did not spare Himself? If you love God, then you must love the one whom God loves. You don't love God if you don't love man. The source of love for man is love for God. From love for God comes love for one's neighbor. Love for God is connected with the love of one’s neighbor, and one cannot exist without the other. But love for God is known from love for one's neighbor. If you sincerely love your neighbor as beloved by God, then you also love God, who loves him. If you do not love your neighbor, whom God loves, then, without a doubt, you do not love God (1 John 4:19-21). The lover and the beloved must be of the same mind: what the beloved thinks, the lover must also think. God thinks good about man, and loves him, and wishes him every good thing, and does good to him. So a person, if he loves God, should think kindly about a person, and love him, and wish him every good thing, and do good. It follows from this that in every need one should give him a helping hand if one loves him unfeignedly. He who loves his beloved will not refuse help in anything, if only he can, as we see this in action in the example of love between husband and wife, between parents and children, between brothers and sisters, and between other unhypocritical people. If, man, you love Christ, who suffered for you, then show this love to your neighbor, for whom Christ suffered just as for you. God's favorite creature is man. If you love God, then love the creature dear to Him. 10) From here it follows that those Christians who do not love their neighbors and show their dislike by not wanting to help them in need, but deny and abandon them, and often shamelessly say about someone in need: “What do I care about his need?” will be unrequited. This includes all those rich people who spend their property on luxury, on building rich houses, on carriages and horses, on silk and rich clothes, on rich meals and wines, on pleasure gardens and ponds and on their other whims, but do not want to help the poor, for whom Christ suffered and shed His Blood. All such people love their own whims, not Christ. Therefore, they will be unrequited and put to shame at the Last Judgment of Christ. Human! Christ did not spare Himself for you, but you are sparing money for His sake! Every Christian must be prepared not to renounce and die for Christ if necessary. If you spare your money for the sake of Christ, will you be willing and willing to die for Christ on occasion? There is nothing more precious to a person than life. How can you give your life for Christ if you spare money for Christ’s sake? If you regret the little things, will you not regret the great things? Who will believe you in this? 11) Christ our Lord for all people, no matter how many were, and are, and will be, suffered and died. Since God wants all people to be saved and to achieve the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4), He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save everyone. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). It is true and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). All are sinners, Christ Jesus came to save them all. The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost (Luke 19:10). Everyone died, Christ came to seek and save everyone, and Christ suffered for everyone. Christ died for everyone, says Saint Paul (2 Cor. 5:15). For there is no partiality with God (Rom. 2:11). He wants to save everyone, for the sake of everyone he sent His Son into the world. Glory to His love for mankind! However, only those people who receive Him by faith, love His saving manifestation, and heartily thank Him, and listen to His saving words, receive mercy from God and are saved. Others perish in their wickedness and unrepentance. The grace of God saves those who want, not those who do not want. Christ has prepared salvation for everyone, but what is required of everyone is that everyone desire salvation, and desire it truly and truly. And whoever doesn’t want to, already dies on his own. Human! God sincerely desires to save you, as you can see from Christ’s suffering. And you desire the same, and thus you will be saved by His grace. 12) From here follows consolation to every faithful, true Christian. If Christ suffered for everyone, then He also suffered for you. If he died for everyone, then he died for you. If He reconciled everyone with His Heavenly Father, then you too. If He opened access to Him for everyone, then so did He for you. If He created salvation for everyone and opened the kingdom of God, then it is also for you. Be trustworthy and peaceful and expect eternal blessings without a doubt. But just be faithful until death, according to the words of Christ: Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). 13) Consolation for Christians who find themselves in temptations, troubles and misfortunes. If Christ suffered so much for us, will he leave us in our need? Will he leave those for whom he suffered and died? He gave Himself for us and did not deny dying for us. Will he deny his need to help us? Never. His help will certainly come to us, for whose sake He has done such a great deed of His love. He looks and expects heroism and patience in our need, and invisibly gives us help, and conquers in us, and prepares a crown for victory. Stand still, Christian, take courage and be strong in your need, and pray, and call on Jesus, and wait for His help - and you will feel His strengthening hand - the One Whom the devil and all hell tremble. 14) Consolation to those who repent and are troubled in conscience for their sins. It happens that an evil spirit whispers to a repentant person: you have done so much evil, what kind of salvation do you hope for? Through this, the evil spirit intends and wants to bring a person into despair and make him an accomplice to his destruction. Christian! Beware of the evil advice of an evil spirit. Our hope is Christ the Lord. If He suffered and died for you, how will He not accept and have mercy on someone who has converted and repented? This is what He wants, and through His word and through preachers He exhorts, and He expects all sinners to turn to Him and repent and thus be saved. He who desires and thirsts for the salvation of all is He who gave Himself for all, and suffered, and died. This word is true and worthy of all acceptance. And even though your sins were great and terrible, and there would be a great multitude of them, they will all be atone for and destroyed by His grace. Your sins are great, but His mercy is infinite. Your sins are many, but His mercies are also countless. Like a drop of water against the sea, so all your sins are against the mercy of God and the priceless merits of Christ. Christ will gladly forgive you all your sins and will not remember them to you. Because when you repent, His holy desire and the fruit of His passion are fulfilled. And your whole previous life, stingy and nasty, will not harm you, like darkness coming into the light. Darkness is unrepentant life and delusion. Light is repentance and correction. You, having renounced your previous life and started a new one, came out of darkness into the light and, having hated the darkness, loved the light, and therefore became a new person. Take courage and be strong, and expect eternal salvation, as all true Christians do. Just be careful that you don’t return to your former life, just as a dog returns to its vomit and a washed pig goes to wallow in the mud (2 Peter 2:22). Look out, beware of this! Satan is trying with all his might to bring you back to your old self. Stand still and be strong, and complete what you started. Not the beginning, but the end boasts. And whatever weaknesses you see within yourself, correct them with daily repentance and prayer, and so day by day you will become better. And in everything call on the all-powerful helper Jesus Christ, for without Him we can do nothing. The enemy attacks you strongly - stand strong against him with the help of Christ. And so he will be put to shame, and you will be saved. 15) Although we must thank Him for all God’s blessings that we have received and receive freely from Him, but most of all, for the fact that He sent His Son to us who were lost, and was pleased to suffer for us and thus save us. In this, His wonderful and incomprehensible goodness and love for us was revealed. So miraculously we were saved! The Son of God, the King and Son of Heaven, suffered and died for our salvation. Who can condemn a person who is a true Christian? The Son of God died and suffered for him, and with His Blood cleansed him and sanctified him, and God will justify him. Remember, Christian, this great and incomprehensible matter and thank God for it from the heart. Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, that He has visited His people and created deliverance for them, and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (Luke 1:68–69). 16) The suffering and death of Christ teaches us to die for sin and to live in truth for God. This is what the apostle wrote about: But Christ died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again (2 Cor. 5:15). Christian! If you want to live for Christ God, then you must die to sin and to yourself. It is impossible to live both for sin and for Christ. Christ bought you with His own blood, you are His purchased servant. He is your Lord, you are His servant, purchased at the price of His Blood. Decide for yourself for whom you should live - for yourself or for Him, your Lord; whether to live according to your own or His will. You yourself know that a faithful slave pleases the will of his master, and not his own. An unfaithful slave is one who lives not according to the will of the master, but according to his own will and his own whims. Likewise, a Christian is not a true Christian, but a false and unfaithful servant of Christ, if he lives not according to Christ, but according to his own will. Therefore, Christ the Lord says to these: Why do you call Me: Lord! God! - and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46). Die to your will and to sin, that is, to your whims, and you will be a servant of Christ, you will live for Him and work for Him. The fruit of Christ's death and crucifixion is the taking away of our sins. He (Christ) Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, having been delivered from sins, would live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). Where is this fruit in you if you sin and live in untruth? This is a sign that you are still in sins and have not been freed from your sins. And then you have no benefit from the suffering and death of Christ, although it is an omnipotent healing. Repent and put to death your sinful desires, and then the death of Christ will be to your benefit. Christ was crucified for our sins, we must also crucify our flesh with passions and lusts if we want to be Christ’s. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24). These are the signs and signs of Christ’s servants, namely: that they crucified the flesh with passions and lusts. Christ died for our sins, we must also renounce them, and say goodbye to them, and die for them - so that we may come to life through Christ and with Christ. Look around, Christian, whose slave you are, for whom you live, for whom you work, which end you are going to, which part you belong to - Christ or His enemy the devil. Whose will he does, whom he pleases, for whom he works, he is his slave. 17) Christ our Lord was despised, humiliated, ridiculed, mocked and naked in his suffering. From this we, Christians, learn not to seek wealth, honor and glory in this world, but to despise all this, and all for the sake of our needs, and not to use it for the sake of luxury and carnality. It is a shame for a Christian to seek honor and glory in this world when Christ the Lord was ridiculed and mocked for him. It is a shame for a Christian to desire and seek wealth when Christ the Lord did not even have rags in his suffering. It is shameless for a Christian to wallow in luxury and pleasures when Christ the Lord drank the cup of bitter suffering for him. Poor is the Christian who wants to become rich in this world, become famous, gain honor and live in luxury and amusements. This is a sign that he has forgotten that Christ died and suffered for him, and it is clear that he does not consider the suffering and death of the Son of God to be a great thing. Examine yourself, Christian, in this important matter, and turn your mind to the passions of Christ, and you yourself will find out what you are doing that is contrary to the Christian faith. 18) From Christ’s suffering and all His saving providence for man, we notice and see how great the dignity, honor and nobility of man is. God Himself, who surpasses all reason and wonder, God Himself came to man who had departed from Him, and took on human form. Truly a great mystery of piety: God appeared in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16), and moreover, suffered for man. It must be great for him, for whose sake such a great and incomprehensible vision of God was accomplished. It must be dear to that thing for which such a dear price, the Blood of the Son of God, was given. It is evident that man is also dear to our God, for whose sake He Himself came into the world and suffered in His life-giving flesh. God's most wondrous and noble creation is man! He was created by a special council of God: let us create man (Gen. 1:26). Man was created in the image of God and in the likeness of God. But when man fell and perished, God showed a wondrous and incomprehensible Providence about him. In addition to giving him His law, He gave him His word, like a candle shining in a dark place, He sent prophets to him, He commanded His angels to keep it; besides that He supplies him with countless blessings, visible and invisible, - besides all this, He Himself with His heavenly army came to recover this lost drachma (Luke 15:9), and to deliver and free a man captured from the enemy, and to return his royal nobility. Ah, poor man, dear and highly respected, but fallen and lost creature! Look what honor you have received from God, how highly God has honored you! God Himself with His Angels came to you to seek and save you, and suffered for you. See your honor! As much as man was dishonored by his fall, so much is man honored by the incarnation of the Son of God and His saving gaze. Sin plunged him into the most vile state, for the man did not come to his senses in honor; He became like foolish cattle and became equal to them (Ps. 48:13), but by the coming of Christ the Son of God he was exalted above all creation. Oh, when would a person honor God as much as he is honored by God! Recognize, man, your meanness and poverty, which came to you from sin, and humble yourself. Recognize your honor, created for you by Christ’s coming and suffering, and thank Him heartily and with all humility. God! What is man, that You have revealed yourself to him, and the son of man, that You pay attention to him? Man is like vanity (Ps. 143:3–4). The man became vile, but God’s wondrous goodness towards him highly honored and exalted him. Human! You are dear to God - honor His consideration for you as the most valuable thing. God honored you so heartily, and you honor God who honored you. God has poured out wondrous goodness and love on you - kiss this goodness and love of Him. God is truly honored when we repent of sins that offend Him, and we guard against all sin—so that we may not offend Him, but do what is pleasing to His holy will. Repent, and turn away from sin, and do what His holy will wants - and you will honor God, who honored you. 19) From here it follows that we must honor every person. Christ our Lord honored man, we must also honor Him. We worthily give honor to a respected person as an Earthly King, all the more so we should give honor to the one whom the Heavenly King honored. How will you humiliate, despise, slander, scold, slander, laugh at the one whom God Himself honored? Look, Christian, beware of despising and humiliating every person whom the King of Heaven has so highly honored. 20) From this you see that those Christians who despise, humiliate, scold and revile people are grievously sinning. Offense and disrespect are caused to the Tsar himself when honor is not given to a respected person. This is how offense and disrespect are done to the Heavenly King Himself, Jesus Christ, when we despise and humiliate a person honored by Him. Look, Christian, think about what you are doing when you humiliate and revile your brother. He who humiliates will be humiliated, he who despises will be despised, he who scolds will be mocked. 21) Christ our Lord, by His suffering and death from eternal death and all the torment in hell, delivered us and gave us eternal life. From here you see, Christian, what a great disaster is eternal torment and what a great bliss is eternal life. There was nothing we sinners could do to get rid of that eternal evil and receive that eternal bliss except through the suffering and death of the Only Begotten Son of God. Christ our Lord did not spare Himself for this. At the price of His Blood He redeemed us. Glory to His love for mankind, glory to His goodness and His mercy! Great is the evil from which we get rid of ourselves at great cost. And great is the good that is bought at a great and dear price. There must be endless and terrible evil - eternal torment, from which we were redeemed at the priceless price of Christ's death. There must also be bliss that is great and incomprehensible, for which a priceless price is given. Through sin we lost it and fell into that calamity. Beware of sin, Christian, so that it does not plunge you into that disastrous eternal state. 22) From Christ’s suffering and all His saving looks on us, we learn that our first work and effort should be about our salvation. Everything else related to this world and temporary life is the last. God greatly desires, as we see from Christ’s suffering and all His care, for us to be saved. This should be our desire too. If the all-good God thirsts for our salvation, we must also have a thirst for it. Just as a hungry person desires bread and a thirsty person desires water, so we must desire and seek salvation. As we see, the merciful God makes every effort to convert and save us to repentance. Let all our efforts be devoted to this. We need food, clothing, a home, etc., but salvation is so necessary that without it the whole world is nothing. A great price is given for our salvation, the Blood of Christ. May it be precious to us too, dearer than the whole world, dearer than heaven and earth, dearer than all the treasures of this world, for without it everything is nothing. There is no benefit where there is no salvation for the soul. We seek the blessings of this world - all the more must we seek eternal blessings. We care about the health of the mortal body - all the more we must care that the immortal soul recovers. We preserve temporary life, all the more must we preserve eternal life, for the sake of which we must leave everything and temporary life itself, if need requires it. The first thing and effort of all true Christians was and is to desire and seek their salvation with all zeal, as if bought at a price. Christian! Let this be your first task and effort if you want to be a true Christian. Christ the Lord Himself, sacrificing Himself, acquired your salvation. Beware, then, that Satan does not snatch it out of your hands. Every sin and addiction to the world closes the door to eternal salvation. Beware of all this. 23) From Christ’s suffering we learn that Christians in this world should also suffer, be ridiculed, mocked and humiliated, and endure other torment from those who love this world. The body must be with the suffering Head, and His suffering servants must suffer with the Lord. Christians from Christ are servants of Christ, members of the body of Christ, spiritual. The world, darkened by delusion, hated and persecuted Christ the Lord; it also hates and persecutes Christians as Christ’s, those who adhere to Christ, those who love Christ and follow Him. A servant is not greater than his master (John 15:20). They drove out Christ the Lord, what should His servants expect except persecution? This was predicted by God Himself and it is written in Holy Scripture: You will be hated by everyone because of My name (Matthew 10:22). In the world you will have tribulation (John 16:33). If the world hates you, know that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you (John 15:18-19). All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). And the voice of heaven testifies about the chosen ones of God: These are those who came out of great tribulation (Rev. 7:14). Tribulation was predicted for Christians so that Christians would be prepared to endure the tribulation. My son! If you begin to serve the Lord God, then prepare your soul for temptation (Sir. 2:1). Christians have no reason to dream or expect golden days. Tribulation was predicted for them - and we see it. From whom should Christians endure sorrow? Persecution from pagan tormentors has ceased, Christians live among Christians. Indeed, there are no more obvious persecutors and tormentors, and thank God! But the devil, the chief tormentor, still incessantly raises persecution against the godly, according to Scripture: And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 12:17). Here is the first Christian tormentor! Jesus Christ our Lord suffered from His own, as it is written: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). His prophets suffered from their fellow tribesmen, as we see in Scripture (Matthew 13:57; 23:37). Likewise, Christians suffer from their Christians, but false ones. An evil neighbor hates and persecutes a good neighbor; an evil husband hates and persecutes a good wife and an evil wife hates a good husband; brother and sister hate and persecute good brother and sister. And a man’s enemies are his own household (Matthew 10:36). Here are Christian persecutors - lying Christians! This includes masters who either punish and torture their peasants beyond measure, or reproach and scold them with dishonest and obscene words, or keep those for whom Christ suffered and died worse than their dogs, or aggravate them with excessive work and taxes, so that they do not have food and clothing due to poverty; One master devours all their goods. Here are Christian torturers, but more sophisticated! You see, Christian, from whom Christians suffer. Expect suffering yourself and prepare for patience if you want to live piously. An evil tongue is the great Christian persecutor. Just as the body is wounded by a sword and a rod, so the soul is wounded by a defamatory word. But it is said to Christians from Christ as a consolation: Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven (Matthew 5:11–12). 24) From the great patience of Christ we learn to generously endure all suffering that happens to us. Christ did not resist His enemies - neither will we. Christ did not take revenge on His enemies - we will not take revenge either. Christ meekly endured reproach, ridicule and reproach - we too will meekly endure. Christ died for us - we will also die for Him, if necessary. Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we would follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). Christ prayed for His crucifiers: “Father! forgive them” (Luke 23:34). May we also pray for our enemies: “Lord! Do not count this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). So let us deny ourselves, so let us bear our cross, so let us follow Christ, so we will be a new creation in Christ, so we will be like Him. So let us suffer with Him in order to be glorified with Him (Matt. 16:24; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 8:17). Let us be true Christians, let us be His true servants, let us be living members of Him. We will be with Him here - and we will be there; At His second coming we will have a sign and testimony that we were His in this world - and so He will recognize us as His own then. 25) The suffering of Christ and all His saving merits, created for our sake, have infinite importance, power and dignity for the sake of His Face, which is perfect God and perfect man. For this reason, to the repentant and heartfelt believer in Christ, all and all sins, no matter what he has committed, no matter how numerous, grave and terrible they may be, are forgiven, and forgiven only by grace. Because the merits of Christ are higher and stronger than all and any of our sins. It is not heaviness or multitude of sins that destroys a person, but an unrepentant and hardened heart. 26) Christ our Lord, by His suffering for us, lent us forever, since He, who suffered for us, is God, One of the Holy Trinity, and we are sinners and unworthy slaves, for whom He suffered. He lent us forever, because He delivered us from eternal death and torment not with silver or gold, but with His honest Blood. He lent us forever, because He redeemed us for eternal life and opened the door to the eternal kingdom of God. Eternal goodness, created in such a miraculous way and from an infinite person, requires eternal thanksgiving. Therefore, it is fitting that with the entire Holy Church we offer eternal thanksgiving, praise, singing and glorification to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Glory to God, who has so favored us! 27) From the suffering of Christ we learn that both our justification and eternal salvation consist in the single grace of God and the merits of Christ, received by faith. This is evidenced in many places in Holy Scripture. However, we must demonstrate this faith by deeds, according to the apostolic teaching: Show me your faith by your works (James 2:18). True repentance and faith will certainly be followed by correction and renewal of the heart and outer life. True repentance and faith renews and corrects a person, turns him away from the vanity of the world, moves him to desire and seek eternal life, teaches the fear of God, constantly exhorts him to fight against all sin, to do good, and to please God. Christian! Salvation is prepared for you from Christ. Beware of losing him through your negligence. Continue in true repentance and faith to the end, and by the grace of God you will receive salvation, which is what I sincerely wish for you. 28) Christ’s suffering for Christians who live without repentance and correction not only does not benefit them, but will also result in conviction and worse condemnation. Christ, Who died and suffered for the sins of the world, will also judge the world for its sins (John 5:22; 2 Cor. 5:10). If the world saw Christ living on earth as a man, then it will see him as God. If the world saw Christ on earth in humility, then it will see it in Divine and terrible glory. If the world saw Christ on earth in meekness and long-suffering, then He will see His righteous wrath against unrepentant sinners. If the world has seen the love and mercy of Christ for sinners on earth, then it will see His truth. The world saw Christ on earth, remitting the sins of repentant sinners, then it will see Him, rewarding everyone according to their deeds. The world saw Christ on earth, judged by the wicked, then it will see Him judging the wicked. The world heard the cry of the wicked against Christ: “Take, take, crucify Him,” then the world will hear the cry of unrepentant sinners to the mountains and stones: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; For the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:16–17). The world has seen Christ, condemned to death by the wicked, - then it will see Him condemning the wicked to eternal death: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). The world saw Christ nailed to the cross and crucified between two villains, then it will see Him sitting on the throne of glory, surrounded by the heavenly army, and shining with an indescribable light; and everyone will be horrified and tremble from the fear of that glory. Pious souls, rejoice and be glad, for your redemption is drawing near. From Christ’s suffering, just as living consolation flows to the pious and repentant, so to the ungodly and unrepentant sinners there will be greater conviction and condemnation. We see in the Holy Gospel that, after Christ’s resurrection from the dead, traces of Christ’s wounds remained on His holy body (John 20:27). This was done by the providence of God. These plagues at the second coming of Christ will be for consolation and joy to His faithful and saints and for conviction and greater condemnation of the wicked and unrepentant sinners. Because they appeared ungrateful to the One who suffered for their salvation, was nailed to the Cross, and died, and neglected the salvation acquired at such a high price for them. It is written about the Jews who crucified Christ: They will look at Him whom they pierced (John 19:37; Zech. 12:10). Wicked sinners will also look and see the wounds of His hands and feet and His side, and fear, trembling and horror will seize them. And so the suffering of Christ will be a revelation and greater condemnation for them, that they did not want to take advantage of such grace of God and be saved. Among them are fornicators, adulterers and all those who live badly; thieves, predators, robbers, bribe-taking judges; landowners, aggravating their peasants; merchants who deceive in goods, and sell cheap things for dear ones, and sell bad things for good ones; those who withhold the mercenary's wages; slanderers, scolders; deceitful, cunning and crafty; drunkards; those who oppose their parents and authorities; those who cast spells and invoke them, and other lawless people who live in unrepentance and unrepentance. For everyone like them, Christ’s suffering, and His holy Gospel, and Christ Himself, who suffered for everyone, not only does not bring any benefit, but will also lead to greater condemnation and exposure. Repent, Christian, and begin a new life, the opposite of your former lawless life - and Christ will be yours with all His merits and eternal blessings. 29) Do you see, Christian, what benefits come from remembering and reflecting on the passion of Christ. Faithful and diligent reasoning about Christ’s suffering teaches us: to repent and regret the sins that were the cause of the passions and illnesses of Christ our Lord; to know what a terrible and destructive evil sin is; beware of all sin, as a deadly and all-pernicious evil; to despise the world with all its charms and lusts, not to desire the honor, glory, wealth and fun of this world; think about heavenly things, and not about earthly things; to honor the treasure of eternal salvation as dear, as purchased at the greatest price of the Blood of Christ; to know what we have become through sin and what we have acquired through Christ’s suffering, what calamity we have fallen into through sin, and what great and incomprehensible bliss has returned to us through Christ’s suffering, and for all this, to diligently thank God, who has had mercy on us; to know the wrath of God for sins, the unquenchable judgment of God, the unchangeable truth of God, since it does not leave sin without punishment, the incomprehensible wisdom of God, which there invents a way of salvation, where it is not visible, and where it is impossible for us, there everything is possible for God; to know God’s ardent love for the human race, and to love Him mutually, and, according to His word, to love and honor our neighbor, and to do good to him, and so on. Thus, reasoning about Christ’s suffering changes and renews a person and makes him different from what he was before. Christ’s suffering is like a book of salvation, from which we learn all that is good, that is, repentance, faith, reverence for God, love for one’s neighbor, humility, meekness, patience, contempt for the world and all its vanity, and, like spurs, we are encouraged and aroused to a constant desire and diligent search for the future life and its eternal blessings. Turn your heart's eyes, Christian, to the passions of Christ, and remember them often, and reason - and you will be renewed. Whoever loves and honors something is always on his mind and in his thoughts, that is his mind and heart. Through the suffering of Christ we were delivered from eternal destruction and received eternal bliss. And how can a Christian not remember this? It is sweet and favorable to remember the way and image by which we were delivered from a great disaster and received all eternal good. Christ our Lord created this for us through His suffering. The memory of a previous disaster and reasoning about present bliss consoles, enlivens, brings joy and delights a person. We were lost, but through Christ’s suffering we were saved, and we received eternal glory, life, joy and blessings. It’s sweet and joyful to remember this. Just be careful, Christian, so that you don’t fall into the same calamity. The doors of the kingdom of God are opened by the death of Christ. It includes repentant sinners and those who do works of repentance. Beware of closing those doors for yourself with sins and an unrepentant life. People have a custom of depicting in pictures battles, the exploits of warriors against enemies and victories won over them. And, looking at those pictures, they joyfully remember the victories won over their enemies, and thus are consoled. The Holy Church has adopted a fair and soul-saving custom of painting images of the passion of Christ and presenting them to the faithful for great benefit and consolation. Christian! In these pictures you can see the feat that the Son of God accomplished for us. And he fought not with weapons, but with the patience of the cross and suffering; fought against the devil and all our enemies. And he won a glorious and eternal victory over them, and gave it to us in such a way that we hope by His grace to one day triumph and exclaim: Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory? (1 Cor. 15:55). Thanks be to God, who has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Cor. 15:57). It is comforting and joyful to remember and look at this feat of the Son of God and His victory over our enemies. He accomplished that feat for us, and for us He won the victory over our enemies. We ourselves could not in any way defeat our enemies and get rid of them. Christ, our Lord and Protector, stood up for us, and defeated, and trampled on them, and triumphed over them, and so abducted and delivered us from them. Glory to death and hell to the winner, Jesus! We joyfully sing a victory song to Him: gloriously be glorified! (Ex. 15:1). This glorious and soul-saving victory is presented to us by the image of Christ’s suffering. An image is like an everlasting book in which we read what is formed. In the book we read what happened and how. The image and picture represent all this not only to the spiritual, but also to the physical eyes, and vividly depicts it, and so strikes the heart of the beholder. For it is impossible for a person looking at the image of Christ’s suffering not to be touched and shudder, not to feel in his heart fear, or consolation, or contrition, or repentance for sins, especially if he looks with reason and reverence. The written image of Christ’s suffering provides such benefit! If you want, Christian, to have an everlasting memory of Christ’s suffering and to receive benefit from it for your soul, have in your house an image of the passion of Christ, and often look at it with reverence, and they will be for you instead of always reading and visual teaching. Throw out from your house masquerade pictures that seduce, inflame and weaken your flesh, and have for yourself an image depicting the feat and victory of Christ over our enemies, which will build up your soul. You will learn everything good from it. He will always remind you who is your Savior and Redeemer, from what, and for what and with what He redeemed you; remind you of His love for you and your duty to Him; remind you of your past misfortune and present and future bliss, what you were before and what you have now become. This saving picture will introduce you to who you are and how you should live in the world. Looking at this picture, you will not want to get rich, become famous, have fun and be in luxury in this world; but you will consider yourself unworthy of everything that you have. She will always exhort you not to take revenge, but to forgive insults to your neighbor, to do good not only to friends, but also to enemies, and to pray for everyone. In a word, what is written in the Holy Gospel, everything in Christ’s suffering is depicted, and is presented for our imitation. 30) Just as Christ’s whole saving vision, so will you honor His suffering, and the suffering Christ Himself, when you will honor the work of your redemption as the greatest and keep it in everlasting memory, and heartily thank Him for it, and you will live in true repentance and remorse for your sins, since they caused such illness and suffering to Christ, you will shun all sin, and everything that is His holy will You will do whatever you please, and, having hated the vanity of this world, you will strive for Him alone, as our light and life, and you will follow with humility, love, meekness and patience. Thus Christ and His saving vision are truly revered. Many Christians honor Christ's suffering and the suffering Christ with their lips, but turn away from Him in their hearts. The Lord speaks of such people: These people draw near to Me with their lips, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me (Matthew 15:8). 31) From Christ’s suffering we learn to approach the Heavenly Father with humility and faith, and in the name of Christ to ask Him for everything that is necessary and useful for our salvation, that is: remission of sins, grace, renewal and the beautiful fruits of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, mercy, faith, meekness, self-control, finally, eternal life and heavenly blessings (Gal. 5:22–23). If He sent His Son to us, and gave Him up to suffering and death for us, how will He not give everything that is pleasing to His will and useful to us? He who did not spare His Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also freely give us all things with Him? (Rom 8:32). Just let’s not be careless ourselves. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, - Christ our Lord Himself encourages and reassures us (Matthew 7:7). Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my womb. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from Me. Reward me with the joy of Your salvation and strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit (Ps. 50:12–14). 32) We believe that in Christ two natures, Divinity and humanity in one person are united, but not fused, and therefore Christ our Lord is a perfect God and a perfect man, who suffered for us. But he suffered and died according to human nature, and not according to Divinity. For the Divinity is impassive, cannot endure, suffer from illness and die; always without fail in His all-perfect bliss. Christ our God suffered with His soul and His body, as stated above, and His Divinity remained dispassionately in His suffering. Beware, Christian, of attributing illness and suffering to Christ’s Divinity. Read and listen with attention to the church verses read on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and you will see it yourself. Christ our Lord, being God, both when he walked the earth in human and humble form, and when he suffered for us, - and then, I say, on the throne of His glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He was worshiped and glorified by the Angels. “In the grave carnally, in hell with the soul like God, in paradise with the thief, and on the Throne you were, Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, fulfilling everything, the Indescribable One” (Holy Easter Hours). But let’s look further at what Christ our Lord did for us? Christ died for our sins, and on the third day He rose from the dead, and for forty days He appeared to His disciples and apostles, and to His other faithful, and in various ways proved to them His rise, and spoke about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). So He did His work, for the sake of which He came into the world, and in the sight of His disciples He ascended from the Mount of Olives into heaven, from where He came, and sat down on the right side of God the Father (Acts 1 and 12). So He, a Christian, did His work - and left. Kingdoms of the earth! Sing to God, sing praises to the Lord, who walks in the heavens of heavens from everlasting (Ps. 67:33–34). I sing to You: Lord! I heard Your rumor and was afraid! (Hab. 3:2). He came to me, looking for me, lost. In this way I glorify Your condescension towards me, O most merciful one. Christian, let us linger here a little and look at the saving uprising and ascension of Christ. 1) Christ rose from the dead. This is where great consolation and joy flows to us. Christ arose and thereby showed us that He triumphed over all our enemies, the devil, sins, death and hell, as the mighty one in the fortress and gave us victory over them. Now we are no longer afraid of sins, the devil, death and hell. Christ is our justification, sanctification and deliverance, He was delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 4:25). If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31). This consolation and joy is given to us by the rebellion of Christ. Therefore, after His rebellion, He said to the myrrh-bearing women: “Rejoice!” (Matthew 28:9) and preached to the apostles: “Peace be with you!” (John 20:26). As if to say: don’t be afraid. I have cleansed your sins with My Blood; He has reconciled God with you and you with God; I have made My Father your Father. I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God (John 20:17). He defeated and put to shame the devil and stole you from his power; He delivered you from death and hell, and opened the kingdom of God to you. Preach this to all the ends of the earth. And he said to them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mk. 16:15). Let us all share in this joy and consolation. “Oh, great and sacred Easter, Christ! O wisdom, and the Word of God, and power! Give us the opportunity to partake of You in the unfading days of Your kingdom.” 2) Christ has risen. We also need to rise with Christ - and we will ascend to heaven with Him. Rebellion comes in two forms: physical and mental. The bodily uprising will take place on the last day; we speak about it in the Holy Creed: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.” Spiritual rebellion is to lag behind sins, and to turn away from the vanity of the world, and to remain in true repentance and faith, to fight against every sin, to do the will of the Heavenly Father, to live righteously for Him, and to follow Christ the Son of God with humility, love, meekness and patience. This is the new creation about which the apostle speaks: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, a new man, renewed by repentance and faith, a true Christian, a living member of the body of Christ and an heir of the kingdom of God (2 Cor. 5:17). The deeds of this new man: to live humbly on earth, to avoid all glory, honor and luxury, to think about heavenly things and not about earthly things, not to repay evil for evil and annoyance for annoyance; to love his enemies, to bless those who curse him, to do good to those who hate him, and to pray for those who harm him and for those who persecute him (Matthew 5:44), and so on. These are the deeds of a man who has risen from spiritual death and lives in a new life. Thus, whoever rises from the dead today will rise at the last day to eternal life. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection: the second death has no power over them (Rev. 20:6). 3) Christ ascended into heaven, and what He Himself said was fulfilled: the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost (Luke 19:10). He sought and saved a lost man, and ascended into heaven, and brought him to His Heavenly Father, and commanded His heavenly Powers to rejoice in this, saying: Rejoice with me: I have found the lost drachma (Luke 15:9). Like a shepherd, seeing a sheep separated from the flock, he goes out in search of it, and looks for it in the mountains and deserts, and, having found it, lays it on his shoulders, and joyfully returns to his flock, and adds it to it. So the good Shepherd Jesus Christ our Lord, seeing a man separated from the face of the Angels, like a sheep from the flock, and wandering in the desert of this world, condescended to seek him; and He sought, and, putting it on His shoulder, brought it to His Heavenly Father, and counted it among the ranks of the angels, saying to them: Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep (Luke 15:6). Or how a philanthropic and strong King, seeing his captive people, sets out with his army and follows the trail of his captive people and the enemy who captured them, and, having defeated him, kidnaps his people from his hands, and joyfully returns to his fatherland, and then there is joy throughout the whole fatherland for the people returned from captivity. So the Heavenly King, Jesus Christ, the mighty and strong Lord, and the philanthropic King, seeing a man captured by the enemy the devil, went out with His heavenly army, and defeated the captive adversary, and snatched away the captive man from his tormenting hands, and returned him to the heavenly Fatherland; and thus brought joy to all the heavenly inhabitants. The holy prophet sang to Him about this, foreseeing our captivity returned by Him: You ascended on high, you took captivity captive (Ps. 67:19). For this be glory to Him from us, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, amen! 4) Christ ascended into heaven before His holy disciples and showed all His faithful the way there. Christ, the Head, ascended into heaven, and the holy members of His body, true Christians, will also ascend there. The way there was closed for people, but by the death of Christ it was opened. The church veil was torn in the death of Christ, and the path and entrance into the kingdom of heaven was opened for the faithful (Matthew 27:51; Heb. 10:19). Christians! The path to the kingdom of heaven has been shown and opened to us. And Christ our Lord entered there and calls us there to Himself - us, for whom He suffered and died - let us not be careless about our salvation. If we want to ascend there and be with Christ, we must also be with Him here in this world. Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant also be (John 12:26). He who lives on earth must separate himself from this world with his mind and heart, and move to heaven, and hide his treasure there, whoever wants to ascend there, according to the words of the apostles: Our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20). Is this not how Christ had to suffer and enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26). And we, Christians, must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations (Acts 14:22). A Christian must live piously, holy, humbly, lovingly, meekly and patiently on earth, and thus follow Christ, if he wants to enter the kingdom of God. This path is narrow and humble, but it is safe and leads to the kingdom of God. 5) Just as the suffering and death of Christ, so His resurrection and ascension will not bring any benefit to those Christians who live in disarray and have not spiritually risen from death. Arise, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light (Eph. 5:14). We see, Christians, the first coming of Christ, we await the second. Let us try to be partakers of the first, and we will welcome His second coming with joy. With six horses in harness, harnessed in two rows of three. In Holy Scripture the word “horn” means: strength, strength, power, might; here it is used in the meaning: pride, arrogance, arrogance. Epicurus - ancient Greek. materialist philosopher who founded in 306 BC. philosophical school in Athens. He saw happiness and the purpose of life in achieving pleasure, i.e. health for the body, satisfaction of desires and absence of mental suffering, for this he advised living in solitude and without any religion (although he recognized the existence of certain abstract gods who also live for their own pleasure, without interfering in the affairs of people). The teachings of Epicurus and his school existed until the middle. IV century AD and had a significant influence on the entire ancient world. You might be interested in: