28. О покаянии

Divine Scripture not only prohibits lawlessness, but also heals those wounded by it. For he abhors the cruelty of Novatas and condemns the shepherds who did not take such care of the sheep. God Himself says: “O ole shepherd, you did not feed the weak, and did not heal the sick,” and did not fatten the emaciated, “and did not turn back the erring, and did not seek out the lost” (Ezek. 34:3-4). He who condemns those who do not think about this, obviously wants the sick sheep to be honored with healing. And therefore he said to this Prophet: “I have given you as a watchman to the house of Israel, and you will hear a word from My mouth, and you will warn him against Me.” “Whenever I speak to a sinner, you will surely die: and you will not say to the sinner, “Save yourself to the wicked, and turn from your evil way,” and live to be him: “That wicked man shall die in iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand” (Ezek. 33:7-8); and in a few words: “As I live, says the Lord Adonai, I do not want the death of the sinner, but to turn” him “from his evil way,” “and I live to be him” (Ezek. 33:11); then, in the form of advice, he continues: “By conversion, turn from your evil path: you are also dying, O house of Israel!” After this, he commands the Prophet to convey to them the following word: “And you, son of man, speak to the sons of your people: the righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him, in that day he will be deceived: and the iniquity of the wicked will not kill him, in that day he will turn from his iniquity” (Ezek. 33:12), “and he will do justice and righteousness, and he will give the pledge, and he will return the rapture.” If “the wicked man walks in the commandments of life, without committing unrighteousness, he will live by life and will not die. All his sins, even those he sinned, will not be remembered: until he has done justice and righteousness, he will live in them” (Ezek. 33:14-16). And Blessed Daniel taught Nebuchadnezzar the medicine of repentance. For he says: “For this reason, O king, let my advice be pleasing to you, atone for your sins with alms and your iniquities with the bounties of the poor” (Dan. 4:24). The prophecy of the divine Jeremiah is filled with this same teaching. For in one place he says: “turn back, you backsliding sons,” and I will turn to you, “says the Lord God” (Jer. 3:14); in another he exhorts: “Wash your heart from wickedness,” O Israel, “that you may be saved,” and that “the thoughts of your labors” may not be found in you (Jer. 4:14); and again: “does food not rise when falling? or will he turn away and not be converted?” (Jer.8, 4) But you can find a lot of other similar advice. And the all-wise Isaiah calls out: “When you return to breathe, then you will be saved and understand where you were: when you trusted in vain things” (Is. 30:15). And if at the beginning, having enumerated the many iniquities of the people, showing the incurability of the disease, he said: “there is no plaster to apply, lower than oil, lower than duty” (Isa. 1:6), then in a few words he offered them the medicine of repentance, about which he said: “Wash yourself, be clean, take away the wickedness from your souls before My eyes, cease from your wickedness, learn to do good, seek judgment, deliver the offended” from the hand of the offender (Isa. 1:16-17). Then he promises to make them like white waves and snow, even if they were scarlet and crimson in color. And this is possible only for God, because although dyers transform white into other colors, they cannot transform any other color into white, but for the Creator everything is convenient. We will extend the word beyond measure if we collect all the admonitions of the Prophets, because they are filled with both the prophetic sweetness of those mentioned by us and the predictions of other Prophets. But the successors of Novatov’s arrogance say that it is not necessary to give medicine to sinners after baptism. They should know that the Old Testament also had sprinklings and divine sacred rites as a prototype of the divine sacraments. To expose their foolishness, with a great abundance of evidence, we will bring Aaron out on Wednesday. For he, having been anointed, was the first to be ordained as a Bishop and having received the grace of God's Spirit, he yielded to the evil requests of the lawless people, making the likeness of a calf, and with the other Levites made sacrifices, but was forgiven and continued to serve as a bishop until his death. And the great David, the prophet, who achieved that the grace of God’s Spirit dwelt in him, committed two grave iniquities, but these wounds were healed by repentance, and was not deprived of the grace of the Spirit, and after the sin he foretold much about the future. What can we say about the one who fell into fornication in Corinth? He was not only honored with divine sacraments, but even had the gift of teaching. Therefore, the divine Apostle condemned those who, standing under him, thought highly of him, as a wise and learned man, and said: “And you become proud, and no more than a poster, let him who has done this deed be removed from among you” (1 Cor. 5:2). However, the Apostle, who was a teacher and dared to commit the greatest lawlessness, betrayed him to Satan, then snatched him out of his hands and returned him to the body of the Church. He writes in the Second Epistle like this: “If you give him anything, and I: for if you give anything; given to him for your sake” (2 Cor. 2:10). And so that no one would think of him as if he did this out of man-pleasing, he added: “about the face of Christ,” that is, because the Lord of all sees, and I know that what was done was pleasing to Him; why he also gives the reason: “Let us not be offended by Satan, for we do not understand his plans” (2 Cor. 2:11). “Much more, let you give and comfort, so that such a one will not be consumed through much sorrow” (2 Cor. 2:7). The teachers of the Church had so much mercy! They were spiritual doctors, protecting the health of the healthy and reflecting the ailments of the sick. With this in mind, the Apostle added the following in his letter: “Let my God, who has come, humble me among you, and weep for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and fornication that they have committed” (2 Cor. 12:21). Thus, the Galatians, who strayed from the faith, by a grace-filled calling and the communion of the divine sacraments, accepted circumcision and loved the maintenance of legal rites, the Apostle leads them to salvation, offers them the medicine of repentance and proclaims with maternal tenderness; “My children, even as I am sick, until Christ is imagined in you” (Gal. 4:19). The Lord Christ taught us this teaching in His parables, because both the lost sheep and the lost drachma teach us to take care of those who have sinned. Yes, and the prodigal son clearly means a violation of the law, committed after baptism, because he returned, having received the proper part of his father’s property, and squandered it, living fornication; however, he was rewarded with the same robe, received the image of God with a ring, ate a well-fed calf, and suddenly gave his father a great holiday. The whole teaching and all the works of the Lord, and the called tax collectors, and the harlot who came, and the thief who believed, and these words of love for mankind teach us how to heal sinners: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance: ... they do not require the health of a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12-13). If they say that this happened before baptism, then let them know that the first foundation of the Church was shaken and confirmed by the grace of God. For the great Peter, who denied himself three times, was healed by his own tears and remained first. The Lord commanded him not to deprive his brothers of this healing. For he says: “And you...turn and strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32). And while teaching his students a model of prayer, he commanded them to say: “forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). This prayer was taught not to those who have not yet been sanctified, but to those who are secretly taught, because none of the unsanctified, unless he has yet received the gift of sonhood, dares to say: “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9), but he who has been worthy of the gift of baptism calls God Father, as one who has entered into the number of the sons of grace. Therefore they are commanded to say: “Forgive us our debts.” Therefore, ulcers that occur after baptism are healed, and they are healed in such a way that healing is given not for faith alone, as before, but for many tears, lamentations, groaning, for fasting and prayer, for labors, in quantity commensurate with the sin committed. For we have been taught: to those who are sick with sin, both not to forbid, and not to recklessly communicate the divine. For it is said: “Thou shalt not give the holy thing to a dog, neither castest thy pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). The Church also has these laws regarding repentance. You might be interested in: