О последовательности евангельских событий

Historical and theological research Bringing to your attention the Gospel story in its present form, of the many things that can be said on this occasion, I consider it urgently necessary to explain only to you in full detail why I chose this particular order for the Gospel events, and not another order of their succession one after another. 1. Main sections of the Gospel history First of all, I will indicate the general order of action of the Lord Savior. After thirty years of hidden life, the Lord reveals Himself to the world and for three and a half years Divinely acts among people, showing God in Himself - embodied by Divine wisdom in teaching, Divine power in signs and wonders, Divine wisdom, goodness and holiness in life and manner of action, and Divine omniscience in the knowledge of the heart's thoughts and future things. The beginning of such action, after Baptism, a forty-day fast and a short stay in Galilee, is laid down by the Lord in Jerusalem, on the feast of Easter, and here, or generally in Judea, it continues for about two-thirds of the year; as can be seen from the fact that when the Lord, returning from Judea to Galilee, talked with His disciples at Jacob’s well in Samaria, he mentioned among other things that in four months there would be a harvest, and this means that in four months there would be another Passover, because there the harvest coincides with Passover. Consequently, from the first Easter to the time as it was said, eight months, or two-thirds of the year, passed. If we add here the time from the Baptism of the Lord to the first Easter, then everything up to now, or until the Lord’s entry into Capernaum, must be considered to have passed a whole year, from His revelation of Himself to the world. The end of this action also takes place again in Jerusalem, or in Judea in general, starting with the Feast of Tabernacles until suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. For the Lord, having descended from Galilee to Jerusalem and Judea, no longer left there, but remained there to the end; Only once did He cross the Jordan for a short time. This is still a little over six months - from the end of September to the beginning of May. The middle of this action takes place entirely in Galilee. Upon His return from Judea to Galilee, the Lord settled in Capernaum, lived here and from here set out to preach throughout Galilee. He went to Jerusalem only once, on the second Easter, and did not hesitate here, but after healing the thirty-eight-year-old paralytic, solemnly declaring His equality with God the Father, he immediately returned again to Galilee. The action in Galilee thus lasted for about two years continuously - and everything went in such a way that the Lord, having been in Capernaum, set off with his disciples to walk around Galilee preaching and performing beneficent miracles, and, having finished the destined walk, returned again to Capernaum, so that, having stayed in it for some time, he would again begin a new walk through Galilee; so that all this time of the Lord’s action can be divided into His stay in Capernaum and walking through Galilee, giving the latter names for the most convenient remembering after some particularly remarkable action of the Lord during it. 2. Rules for establishing the sequence of events of the Gospel As the subject of my speech to you is to indicate methods for establishing the order of the Gospel events, I will first note in general that at the beginning and end of the Lord’s action, establishing the order of the Gospel events does not present any difficulties. Here and here, for the most part, the properties of events and direct indications of legends about them oblige us to accept for them this and not another order of their occurrence. Not so in relation to the middle of the Lord’s action. Here the legends do not give specific indications of this, and the properties of the events are not such that they themselves determine their place. Therefore, here it is necessary to first establish some rules and then be guided by them when ordering the events of the Gospel. The indication of these rules is the main thing in my word to you. For as soon as you agree to recognize their legality, you will no longer refuse to recognize that the order of the Gospel events, in which the present Gospel history offers them, stands on a solid foundation. These rules are not complicated, and even it is one, with some necessary additions to it, namely: one must adhere to the order of the Gospel events that the two evangelists adhere to. For as soon as two agree, then on the other side there remains only one, who must yield to the two, according to the word of the Lord, that with two witnesses every word will become. Only three evangelists are taken into account because the entire middle of the Gospel story is conveyed by only three evangelists: Saint Matthew, Saint Mark and Saint Luke. The Gospel of John is included here only with the story of the Lord’s presence at the second Easter, which is the only one he has, and with the story of the Lord’s miraculous feeding of five thousand in the desert, in agreement with the other evangelists. In addition to this rule, the following should be added: 1) as soon as, by the direction of two evangelists, we reach an event that is conveyed by only one evangelist, and that evangelist comes after the last one, determined by the direction of two, then it is only appropriate for him to be placed here; 2) giving place to an event at the direction of two evangelists, it is necessary to bring here the legend about it from the third evangelist and at the same time borrow from him, whatever additional features there are, for a more complete depiction of the event. This goes without saying and is done, as soon as the legend drawn from the third evangelist harmoniously enters with its peculiarities into the legend of the two. But 3) since these features are of such a kind that they cannot be introduced into the story of the two without upsetting it, then the event must be recognized as having been repeated with such features, and the story about it is special and given another appropriate place, guided either by the first additional rule, or by any considerations arising from the relationships of the event; 4) the same should be said about the words of the Lord Savior, that since they, in content touching on the same subject, contain significant features in the depiction of one evangelist, then they should be considered repeated in the special circumstance in which they stand, and given their place according to the guidance of the first or third additional rule. These rules, although adapted for the middle of the Gospel story, are, however, applied in the legends about the initial and final events of this story. 3. Revision of all Gospel stories in order to establish, according to the rules set out, the course of Gospel events Who will say: it turns out that the course of events is determined by the eyes, and therefore, combining them together is mechanical work. – Not entirely mechanical, but mostly like that. And this is the most reliable way. It would be possible to construct the Gospel story according to some idea. But how many heads - so many minds and how many minds - so many ideas and theories: which, of course, no one would wish for the Gospel story. It could be constructed based on considerations, based on some indications in the properties of events, or their relationships, or in legends about them. The initial and final events are ordered in this way, but for their middle, as has already been noted, there are no such indications. In this case, they will have to be invented and invented, and there is a wide field for arbitrary assumptions. Therefore, this is also an unreliable path. Of course, you cannot do without considerations, but they must be inserted into a certain frame, otherwise they, like free birds, will fly away in different directions. The rules outlined above serve as this framework. For considerations, the law is intended to come only to the aid of the work of ordering events according to those rules, and at the same time not to expand beyond the limits indicated by them. In the proposed Gospel story this is how things go. The main figures here are the eyes, but consideration is also called upon to help them. In both ways, a consistent history is built, in which each event has its own basis. Since the indication of such foundations in the Gospel history itself would be riddled with extraneous additions - which is not entirely pleasant to encounter - it occurred to me to review with you all the Gospel stories first, in order to accurately determine the place of each event according to the indicated rules, calling in some cases for help and some considerations, so that later in the very presentation of the Gospel history we no longer have to refer to this. In this regard, I find it necessary for you to do the same thing that I did for myself. For myself, I made a detailed table of contents of the contents of the Gospels, placing them one against the other, in special facets. Here you can immediately see where the legends agree, where they diverge, where all the evangelists agree, where three or two apparently disagree with one - and the eye can easily determine the order of events. I will present this table of contents to you in three sections, one for each part of the Gospel story: the first will be for the initial events of the Gospel story, - before the Lord’s settlement in Capernaum; the second - for the midst of them - until His exodus from Galilee to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles; the third is for their end - from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Ascension. 4. Revision of the first part of the Gospel stories and determination of the course of events for the first part of the Gospel story Having looked through the first section of the table of contents of the Gospels, you can easily see that the events indicated here are divided into two halves: some constitute the hidden life of the Lord, before His revelation to the world; others took place in the Lord’s revelation of Himself to the world, or were His initial actions in the incarnate economy. The hidden life of the Lord lived in Galilee in Nazareth, but its deeds remained unknown. What is known from the early years of the Lord’s incarnate stay on earth, everything happened in Jerusalem and Judea; in Galilee there was only the Annunciation. Likewise, the Lord’s revelation of Himself to the world, and His first actions in this order took place primarily in Jerusalem and Judea; in Galilee there was only a miracle in Cana and a short stay of the Lord in Capernaum before the first Easter. The return of the Lord from Judea to Galilee through Samaria constitutes the transition to the second part of the Gospel story. Let's review everything now in parts. Let us first highlight three prefaces, or introductions, to the Gospel story. The first is given by the Evangelist Luke in the first verses of his Gospel. This is a historiographical introduction. With him, anyone can bring to mind all the arguments about the authenticity of the Gospels and, if desired, all the disputes about this. The second is given by the genealogies of the God-man, transmitted by the Evangelist Matthew and the Evangelist Luke. This introduction to the Gospel story is historical - everyday. Genealogies bring to mind all the prophecies and prototypes that predicted and indicated the appearance on earth of God - embodied for our salvation; and are introduced to the contemplation of the New Testament Gospel in the Old Testament. When, having reached the end of the genealogy of the Evangelist Luke, we read: God, we cannot help but bring to mind the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and not think that at the basis of the universe lay the mystery of the incarnate economy, especially since the end of the world is determined by the achievement of its goals. The third is given by the Evangelist John the Theologian in his divinely enlightened view of the mystery of the incarnate economy. This introduction to the Gospel story is dogmatic. Here is the seed of all Christian theology. All of them have a special place in front, as befits introductions or prefaces. The hidden life of the Lord Savior The events that took place here are established in their order, as has already been noted, by themselves - by their properties and the indications of legends. All that remains is to retell them. The beginning of the Gospel events is laid by the Archangel's announcement to the righteous Zechariah the priest about the birth of the Forerunner of the Lord, John, who, after this, begins. Six months after this, the same Archangel preaches to the Most Pure Virgin Mary about the birth from Her of the Son of God and God. The joyful Holy Virgin hastens to share this joy with Her relative Elder Elizabeth, the Mother of the Forerunner, who is the first to confess Her to this Mother of God. From here the Virgin - Mother of God returns to Her home after three months. Following this, Saint John the Baptist is born, circumcised and receives a name with wondrous prophecies about him from the lips of his father Zechariah. Meanwhile, in Nazareth, Joseph, confused by perplexities, receives a revelation about the birth of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary and calms down. The time has come for Him to be born. The census brings righteous Joseph and the Most Pure Virgin to Bethlehem, where the Lord is born, as had been predicted long ago. The born Lord is glorified by the Angels and receives worship from the shepherds. Then He is circumcised and, like a person, receives a name ordained from above, and in due time is presented before the Lord in the church with the testimonies and prophecies about Him of the righteous Simeon and Anna the prophetess. After completing everything according to the law, the Mother of God and Her righteous betrothed Joseph prepared to return again to Nazareth; but they were first stopped by the arrival of the Magi from the east for the divine worship of God incarnate, and then completely temporarily turned away from this by flight to Egypt, by command from above, due to bad intentions against the newborn King-God from Herod, who issued the command to kill all babies in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. They had to make this return from Egypt, when the danger from Herod with his death had passed. Then, having received a command from above, they, with the Eternal Child in their arms, returned to their city of Nazareth, without going to Jerusalem. Here the Lord then stayed, hiding His Divine greatness in humble humanity, until the time of revealing Himself to the world as the God-man. Only once, when He was twelve years old, He, being with His parents in Jerusalem at the Passover holiday, in the church of the learned Jews amazed with His extraordinary wisdom, and He announced to His parents that He had another Parent, in Whose spirit and intentions He should abide and act. This is all that it pleased the Holy Spirit to inspire the holy evangelists to tell us about the hidden presence on earth of God - incarnate, until the time of revealing Himself to the world as He is. The sequence of events retold is one and not another and does not require confirmation. Only one circumstance needs explanation, namely: the Evangelist Luke says that, having finished everything according to the law, the parents of the Lord according to the flesh returned to Nazareth. But if they immediately returned to Nazareth after presenting their newborn firstborn before the Lord, then there was no time for the worship of the Magi. It must be placed before the Presentation; and then the flight to Egypt must be represented as undertaken from Nazareth, or for it the parents and the Lord must be brought back to Bethlehem, of course, a year later, and from here sent to Egypt, assuming, of course, that the godless command of Herod about the beating of infants in Bethlehem and the surrounding area was given a year after the removal of the Magi or that the very arrival of these Magi took place a year after the birth of the Lord. – These are all unnecessary assumptions. The words of Saint Luke do not give any compelling reason for them. Having no intention of talking about the worship of the Magi and the flight to Egypt closely connected with it, he said: having completed everything according to the law, they returned to Nazareth. And it was necessary to tell him this. This is what the Evangelist Matthew would have said if he had not spoken about the worship of the Magi and the flight to Egypt: for then this would have been all that remained for him to say. But, having decided to talk about these two events, he could only talk about returning to Nazareth after them: which is what he did. The words of Saint Luke will not cause any confusion if we insert one word into their midst: they set out, or gathered. And it will happen: having completed everything according to the law, the parents of the Lord set out, gathered, and were ready to return to Nazareth; but the wise men came and restrained them; and upon their departure, the Angel of the Lord commanded them to hastily retire to Egypt, and upon returning from Egypt they had to fulfill their desire to return to Nazareth. Moreover, such assumptions also impose great inconveniences: after the worship of the Magi, going to Jerusalem, as the Presentation requires, means putting oneself into the hands of Herod. Also, if you flee to Egypt from Nazareth, you will not escape his hands, because you will have to pass through his region. And a certain strangeness emerges here: danger threatens the Lord-Child in Bethlehem, and escape is undertaken from Nazareth. To the assumption that the worship of the Magi and the flight to Egypt took place a year later after the birth of Christ, we have no hint in the legends of the Gospels; on the contrary, we encounter circumstances that do not allow this. His parents could only arrive in Judea a year after the birth of the Lord for some holiday and stop in Jerusalem, without going further to Bethlehem. The worship of the Magi took place in Bethlehem; From there the flight to Egypt began. The Lord's Revealing Himself to the World The time has come for the Lord to reveal Himself to the world. Since this was not some ordinary human act, but a divine providential one, it was preceded by signals and testimonies from above and the solemn dedication of humanity in the God-man to participate in the fulfillment of the embodied economy of our salvation. And we see that, according to a voice from above, the Forerunner of the Lord John comes out of the desert and angles the way of the Lord to human hearts with preaching and the baptism of repentance, convincing everyone to follow their right paths and instilling in them that someone stronger than him is coming after him. The Lord Himself comes to him, and while he humbly accepts the baptism of repentance, he is solemnly dedicated in His humanity to His work by the visible descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him, and a voice from above testifies that He is the Son of God, in whom all the good will of the Father rests. Since, having appeared to the world, the God-Man was to act humanly and among men, He was pleased to undergo human preparation before that. And he went through it in a forty-day fast, in the struggle with the devil-tempter and his victorious defeat. Then the very appearance of the Lord to the world did not suddenly reveal itself in all its power; but first the priesthood and the people prepare to receive Him through testimonies and direct instructions to His people from St. John the Baptist - then the Lord performs certain actions that can properly be called the threshold to His entry into the world with His work, such as: the designation of some disciples - a designation, because their election followed much later; and designating and inspecting a new residence; among whom the miracle in Cana happened by chance, having been begged from the truth by mercy; for it is recognized as one for whom the hour has not come. And finally, the Lord’s revelation of Himself to the world has already taken place, in Jerusalem at the Easter holiday. There He had to begin His work in the incarnate economy, and then finish it there. Here we see the Lord acting first in Jerusalem, then throughout the entire land of Judea. Of the many things that were accomplished here, of course, Saint John conveys to us only a few actions. By clearing the church of traffickers, the Lord only wanted to draw attention to Himself. But with an in-depth explanation of the power by which He does this, He showed the way to those who love to delve deeper into the ways of God, by which they could come to understand His whole work. Then the Lord taught and performed signs. Both aroused faith among many, but it was not such that one could consider it durable and rely on it. The nobles also believed, and one of them, Nicodemus, came to the Lord at night to talk with Him. The Lord, in His conversation with him, explained to him the essence and mystery of the new economy of our salvation. When later, leaving Jerusalem, the Lord walked through the land of Judea, everyone went to Him, as John’s disciples complained. The Lord received everyone and commanded His disciples to baptize them. This gave Saint John the opportunity to give new testimony about the Lord, that He is from above, that He is the Son of God, into whose hands the Father has given everything, and that only he who believes in Him has eternal life. All this aroused the dangerous envy of the Pharisees. This trouble, increased by the imprisonment of Saint John the Baptist, gave the Lord a reason to leave Judea and move to Galilee for a long stay and action there. He headed there through Samaria, where, first arousing faith in a certain Samaritan woman during a conversation with her at Jacob's well, and then in the inhabitants of the city of Sychar, he stayed with them for two days, to strengthen the faith of those who believed, as if to reprove and admonish the weak-faith Jews; and then entered Galilee to the joy of the Galileans. Here, having passed Nazareth and passed through Cana, in which he performed a new miracle - the absentee healing of the sick son of a certain courtier who lived in Capernaum - he arrived in Capernaum and settled there for permanent residence, according to prophecies about that. This transition of the Lord from Judea to Galilee serves as a transition to the second part of the Gospel story. Let us note about the sequence of events in this department: 1. The events from the time of the departure of the holy Forerunner from the desert to preach and preparatory baptism of the people until the defeat of the tempter by the Lord are successively conveyed by the first three evangelists. Then they all say that after this the Lord retired to Galilee for permanent residence and activity there. Saint John the Evangelist also speaks about this removal of the Lord to Galilee; but before that, he conveys a whole series of events that took place either in the Jordan, then in Galilee, then in Jerusalem and Judea - starting with the Forerunner’s testimony about the Lord to those sent from Jerusalem to his testimony about the Lord before the disciples and the people, after the disciples told him about the actions of the Lord in the land of Judea, after the first Passover. It is obvious that all these events occurred between the defeat of the devil and the departure of the Lord to Galilee. This is where we put them. At the same time, let it be taken into account that after the first of these additional legends of the Evangelist John about the embassy to the Forerunner of the Lord from Jerusalem and about his testimony about himself and the Lord, he follows with a legend about indicating to the people the Lord as the promised Savior. Just as the Lord, after Baptism, directly withdrew into the mountain and desert to be tempted, this instruction to His people could only take place after His descent from the mountain or return from the desert. And, consequently, the testimony of the Forerunner to those sent from Jerusalem was given before this descent. The Lord had not yet left the mountain when it was given. When, having descended from the mountain, He approached the Jordan, the holy Forerunner, seeing Him, pointed out to the people in Him Whom everyone was looking forward to. Also: Saint Matthew and Saint Mark say that the Lord withdrew to Galilee after John the Baptist was imprisoned; and the Evangelist John says that this was after the Lord heard about the envious speeches of the Pharisees against Him, following the last testimony of the Forerunner about the Lord. This testimony was given on the Jordan before the disciples and the people, therefore, before the Forerunner was imprisoned; the rumor about the hostile factions of the Pharisees could have come after the testimony of the Forerunner and reached the Lord along with the news of his imprisonment, which, perhaps, happened soon after the said testimony. – And one more thing: it goes without saying that the simple word of the first evangelists: the Lord retired to Galilee, should be supplemented by the story of the Evangelist John about the Lord’s stay in Samaria. 2. In what order the Lord’s actions took place upon coming to Galilee, it is considered best to follow the Evangelist Matthew, who is followed by Saint Mark, and Saint John does not contradict. Saint Matthew says that the Lord, having come to Galilee, passed by Nazareth and moved into Capernaum - and here he already began His gospel sermon: repent; The Kingdom has come. And the Evangelist Mark says that the Lord, upon coming to Galilee, began His preaching with the same words. Although he does not speak about the entry of the Lord into Capernaum, but as he follows this with the call of four fishermen from catching fish to catch people and preach, like the Evangelist Matthew, then there is no doubt that he judged the beginning of the preaching of the Lord in the same way as the Evangelist Matthew, namely, that it was laid in Capernaum; because the fishing took place somewhere near Capernaum. Saint John only says about the Lord’s entry into Galilee that the Galileans received Him with joy, which does not indicate any action of the Lord. The words of the Evangelist Luke - that when the Lord returned to Galilee, the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding country and that He taught in the synagogues - may suggest that the Lord, immediately upon entering Galilee, went around it preaching. But such news could not spread without some out-of-the-ordinary actions of the Lord. Evangelist Mark explains it this way. And he talks about the news about the Lord spreading everywhere, but the reason for this is the amazing miracles performed by the Lord in Capernaum. Consequently, this message was preceded by the Lord’s entry into Capernaum. “Then Evangelist Mark says that the next day, after performing miracles, the Lord went through Galilee preaching and preached in synagogues. Consequently, this sermon in the synagogues took place after the Lord entered Capernaum during His first walk through Galilee. Thus, the quoted words of the Evangelist Luke cannot prevent us from recognizing the order of the Lord’s first actions in Galilee, as defined by the Evangelist Matthew, as the most real. You just need to insert into it the miracle at Cana, about which St. John speaks. And this is established by itself. Having passed Nazareth, the Lord went to Capernaum. On this path lies Cana. The Lord entered into her and performed a new miracle in her. 3. One more word. So, preaching in the synagogues took place during the Lord’s first walk through Galilee. As the Evangelist Luke, having said that the Lord preached in the synagogues, as an example of this, speaks of the Lord’s visit to Nazareth and preached in its synagogue, and therefore puts both of these events in direct connection, then, having recognized that the sermon in the synagogues of Galilee took place during the Lord’s first walk through Galilee, we must admit that the visit to Nazareth also took place during this same walk. And this must be admitted all the more willingly because the words of the Lord in the synagogue of Nazareth: ... you will say: do in your own country, which, as we hear, happened in Capernaum, directly point to the miracles performed previously in Capernaum, after which the Lord went preaching throughout Galilee. The news of this soon came to Nazareth, and the Knower of Hearts knew that the impression of this was still alive in the souls of the Nazarenes and occupied everyone; that’s why I mentioned this. Judging by this, we can assume that in his first walk through Galilee, the Lord, upon leaving Capernaum, went straight to Nazareth. 5. Revision of the second part of the Gospel stories and determination of the course of events for the second part of the Gospel story The second section of the table of contents of the Gospels is before your eyes. Here are tales about the events that make up the middle of the Gospel story. I will not repeat what has been said about this in the general indication of the main sections or parts of this history, and I will begin to directly determine the course of events that should constitute its content. The Lord's first stay in Capernaum, after moving into it In this sojourn, the Evangelist Matthew and the Evangelist Mark give first place to the calling by the Lord of the famous four fishermen to follow Him. After this, the Evangelist Matthew goes his own way in the legends; the Evangelist Mark is joined by the Evangelist Luke, after the story of the Lord’s visit to Nazareth, to whom another place is given, and both of them, in complete agreement, put the following events in a row: the teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum with the healing of a demoniac in it; healing of Simon's mother-in-law in his home; in the evening the healing of many; removal to an empty place and in the morning departure to preach in Galilee. Of these events, only the calling of the fishermen attracts attention. Those called here to follow the Lord had already been called by Him and accompanied Him to the first Easter and back. But, returning to Capernaum, they, having free time, took up their usual occupation - fishing. The Lord now recalls them from this occupation, with the intention of soon taking a march through Galilee with preaching. – Evangelist Matthew and Evangelist Mark put this event first after the Lord’s entry into Capernaum. And the Evangelist Luke also describes fishing and a reminder of the purpose of fishermen to catch people. But, although his fishermen are the same, nevertheless, catching fish and addressing speech to the fishermen is framed by him with such features that make it impossible to compile one legend - from his legend and the legends of the evangelists Matthew and Mark, as is obvious to anyone who reads them one after the other. Therefore, the fishing of the Evangelist Luke and the word to the fishermen that accompanied him should be considered a different event, different from the similar real event according to the Evangelists Matthew and Mark, and give it a different place. Which, we’ll talk about this below. Let us also note that the legend about the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law and in the evening of many others by the Evangelist Matthew is brought here as completely similar to the legends of the Evangelists Mark and Luke, in one legend. The Lord's first walk through Galilee By the miracle of the exorcism of a demon in the synagogue, the hopes of the people were raised. Why, as soon as the legal limit of the Sabbath rest had passed, everyone flowed to Him with their sick, and He healed many. In the morning He went to a deserted place to pray. The disciples and people, having found Him, called to the city, but the Lord, telling them that it was necessary to preach the gospel to other cities, went with the disciples through Galilee. To this walk we include the Lord’s visit to Nazareth and the healing of the leper. Of course, there were many other things; but so much is devoted. The Lord had previously passed by Nazareth in order to believe that, having performed wondrous miracles on the side, the news of them would incite the Nazarenes to believe in Him. Now the news about the impressive signs that happened in Capernaum, of course, has already reached Nazareth, and the Lord hurries there before others, so as to please his compatriots with the same. But the Nazarenes did not understand the Lord’s way of acting and did not properly accept Him. For this reason they were not awarded what happened in Capernaum. Why the place is given here for the Lord’s visit to Nazareth is discussed above. Let us add one more remark to this. Evangelists Matthew and Mark place the Lord's visit to Nazareth much later, almost before the third Easter. Shouldn't the present tale of the Evangelist Luke be included there as well? No. Although these legends are very similar, there are circumstances in them that make it extremely difficult to compile one legend from all of them. Here the Nazarenes are obviously not peaceful towards the Lord, it is not visible there; here they make an attempt on the life of the Lord, there at least a few believe in Him, and He performed several healings through the laying on of His hands. Why can’t the Lord’s visit to Nazareth be considered the same thing? Considering them to be different, having existed at different times, we place the legends about them each in its own place: this is here, and those there. The healing of a leper is also described by the Evangelist Matthew. But this and that legend, similar in many respects, differ both in the place of action and in what these healings were accompanied by: there it takes place on the way from the Mount of Beatitudes, here in a certain city; there it ends peacefully, here it is accompanied by a strong movement of the people. Why do we consider the healing of the leper according to the Evangelist Matthew different from the real similar healing according to the Evangelists Mark and Luke - and we give each its place. We’ll put this here, otherwise we’ll put it there, after the Sermon on the Mount. The real healing in the Evangelist Mark is immediately behind the legend of the Lord’s descent into Galilee to preach; and in the Evangelist Luke, between this descent and the healing of the leper, there is a legend about a miraculous catch of fish - one that is recognized above as different from a similar event according to the Evangelists Matthew and Mark and which should be given its place. The question is, should we leave it here or move it to another place? He can't stand here. Ahead is the coming of the Lord from Capernaum, behind is the healing of the leper in a certain city, also outside Capernaum. It will turn out that the wonderful fishing took place outside Capernaum. And this cannot be outside of it. The fishers for the catch must be at home, that is, in Capernaum, which could only take place after the Lord’s return from His first walk through Galilee. The Evangelist Mark announces this return that it took place a few days after the healing of the leper. After this healing, there is a place for a new fishing - wonderful. So, we have: in his first walk through Galilee, the Lord visited Nazareth, healed a leper in a certain city, and a few days after that he returned again to Capernaum for his second stay in it, where His first work was preaching from the sea and miraculously catching fish. The Lord's Second Sojourn in Capernaum Here a miraculous fishing took place after a sermon from the sea, the healing of a paralytic and the calling of Matthew-Levi. The first is placed here according to the above consideration, the second and third by agreement of the two evangelists - Mark and Luke. When the Lord returned to Capernaum, His disciples returned to their usual occupation of fishing. They probably did this during other stays of the Lord in Capernaum; even after the resurrection of the Lord we see them fishing as soon as they found themselves in their city. After staying at home for a while, the Lord himself headed to the sea. The people followed Him, and He taught them. When they approached the sea, the people pressed towards the Lord to hear His word. The Lord got into the boat and ordered to sail a little from the shore. Then he sat in the boat and taught. Having finished the teaching, He ordered the fishermen to cast the bait and gave them a wonderful catch, accompanied by an inspiring word to Peter. Someone will say: again a calling; and this is already the third, because they were also called at the Jordan. – There will also be a fourth before the Sermon on the Mount; and that will already be final, but these were only preparatory, only an outline. As before, after settling in Capernaum, He called them to go with them through Galilee, so now He calls, intending to soon go with them to Jerusalem for His second Easter. When the Lord and the invited disciples came to the house, those who needed His help found out about this and brought the paralytic to Him. The Lord healed him. After the healing of the paralytic, the calling of Matthew-Levi followed. Both of these events: the healing of the paralytic and the calling of Saint Matthew - stand together in the Evangelist Matthew and are told completely in accordance with the Evangelists Mark and Luke. Why does the story of these two attract the story of the evangelist Matthew here, even though it stands between other events, preceding and following? It occurred to me to place the legend about the healing of the paralytic before the miraculous catch of fish. But the Evangelist Mark, after healing the paralytic, says that the Lord again went to the sea. Therefore, He was already there recently. When? The closest thing is before the healing of the paralytic, that is, when he gave a wonderful catch of fish. After the words: the Lord went to the sea, Saint Mark says that He, passing, called Matthew. This is how he defines the study of all three events. The second walk of the Lord: to Jerusalem for the second Passover and on the return journey through Galilee Following the call of the Evangelist Matthew, the Evangelists Mark and Luke follow the story of the disciples plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath and the Lord defending their actions before the Pharisees who reproached them for this. This Saturday was the second Saturday. Since this Saturday was the Saturday after the second day of Easter, on which we usually brought the first sheaf from the harvest to the church, the plucking of the ears of grain, indicating that the harvest at that time was already ripe, obviously took place in conjunction with Easter. This is the basis why, between the calling of Saint Matthew and the plucking of the ears of corn, is placed the legend of Saint John about the stay of the Lord Savior at Easter in Jerusalem, where He, having healed a thirty-eight-year-old paralytic, then offered in the church a clear teaching about His equality with God the Father. On the first Easter, when the Lord was just beginning His work on the incarnate economy, He, through His miracles and teaching, revived among those who had faith only the conviction that God is with Him: which can be said about every prophet. Now He raises them higher, definitely saying that He is the Son of God, equal in everything to God the Father. The time had to come when it was necessary to speak about this publicly. The Jerusalemites with their church princes were the first to hear about this, and then, in due time, the Galileans. The Lord probably stayed in Jerusalem for a short time; and, it seems, His only intention was to speak clearly about His equality with God the Father. The healing of the paralytic was only a pretext for a conversation about this. Having accomplished what was intended, the Lord returned to Galilee. On the way, perhaps while crossing the Ezdrilon Valley, He justified before the Pharisees the plucking of ears of grain by His disciples on the Sabbath. Then on another Saturday in the synagogue He justified His own action of healing the withered hand, right there in the synagogue in front of everyone. These two actions on the Sabbath and their justification before the Pharisees, with their own reproach, greatly irritated them against the Lord, and they, together with the Herodians, began to plot something against Him. But the Lord moves away from them to the sea, probably to Capernaum, for Third, brief stay in it It is not just the fact that the Lord withdrew to the sea that makes us believe that He withdrew to Capernaum at that time, but especially the fact that at that time there was an extraordinary flow of people to the Lord. This confluence assumes one place; and most likely this place was His place of residence. The people rushed here to Him; and here the Lord showed the most abundant beneficial miracles for him. At this time there was an extraordinary excitement among the people of a hopeful desire for the Lord. All these events: the plucking of ears of corn, the healing of the withered man, the irritation of the Pharisees, the removal of the Lord from them and the most abundant healings - in the proposed relationship with previous and subsequent events, are described by two evangelists - Mark and Luke. The Evangelist Matthew speaks about all of them and in the same order; only what precedes and what follows is not the same. Since his legend about these events is similar to the legends of St. Mark and St. Luke, they are all brought together here to compose one legend. With this code, the evangelists complement each other. To the irritation of the Pharisees, they all talk about everything. From this same incident, the Evangelist Mark speaks in more detail about everything, namely: that the Lord withdrew to the sea, that many people followed Him, and on the spot the flow of people to Him increased even more. And He healed very many sick people of all kinds. In all this, the Evangelist Matthew agrees with him, saying where it is more detailed, where it is shorter. Evangelist Luke does not speak about these cases, but, having spoken about the irritation of the Pharisees, goes straight to the Lord’s ascent to the mountain - the one at which or from which the Lord delivered the Sermon on the Mount. The Evangelist Mark also speaks about this ascent to the mountain, but after the above mentioned references. From this it is clear that Saint Luke, by omitting those cases about which Saint Mark speaks, does not put us in difficulty, because instead of him the Evangelist Matthew joins the Evangelist Mark. After these incidents, the Evangelist Mark again converges, however not for long, with the Evangelist Luke. The Lord's Third Walk through Galilee Obviously, the legends approached the Lord’s Discourse on the Mount. All three evangelists speak about the circumstances preceding this conversation; The very conversation is conveyed by two people - the Evangelist Matthew and the Evangelist Luke. Evangelist Matthew, starting to present the Talk on the Mount, says that the Lord Jesus walked through Galilee, accompanied by many people, and performed many healings. Evangelist Luke says that before this conversation the Lord went up the mountain and spent the whole night in prayer. Then in the morning he chose twelve Apostles and performed many healings. And then he started the conversation. Evangelist Mark speaks only about the ascent of the Lord onto the mountain and the election of the Apostles. From all this taken together, the following order of circumstances preceding the Talk on the Mount is formed: the Lord sets out from Capernaum to preach in Galilee, accompanied by a multitude of people. In those days, as the Evangelist Luke says, that is, during this walk through Galilee, He ascended the mountain and spent the whole night there in prayer. In the morning he chose twelve Apostles, and then, having performed many healings, he began the conversation. These healings, one must assume, are the same ones that the Evangelist Matthew speaks about before the Talk on the Mount. Therefore we put them together into one legend. We reached the moment when the Discourse on the Mount was delivered by the continuous instructions of the two evangelists. That's why her place should be here. Evangelist Mark stopped just before the conversation; but just as this cannot mean that he did not know about this conversation, it does not mean that, according to him, it took place in other circumstances. In addition, he is replaced in this matter by the Evangelist Matthew. Because his circumstances preceding and subsequent to this conversation, as well as the content of the conversation, agree with how all this is in the Evangelist Luke. The only difference is that the conversation itself in the Evangelist Matthew is presented, perhaps, in its entirety, while in the Evangelist Luke it is conveyed in a rather abbreviated form. As in the Evangelist Luke, some instructions are conveyed in slightly different words and even from other sides, it is very inconvenient to merge such instructions into one speech, as well as to place them separately under the corresponding instructions. Why do we prefer to place the entire conversation, as it is in the Evangelist Luke, especially after the presentation of this conversation, as it is set out in the Evangelist Matthew. In addition, we pose the question: was not the abbreviated Talk on the Mount of the Evangelist Luke pronounced by the Lord himself in abbreviation in some other circumstances different from those in which we are now posing it? The answer to this can be affirmative, without worrying about determining these other circumstances. At the end of the Talk on the Mount, the Evangelist Matthew stands with the healing of a leper on the way from the mountain to Capernaum. This healing is not the same as what happened in a certain city during the Lord’s first walk through Galilee, as noted above. Why are we giving him a place here? The Lord's Fourth Sojourn in Capernaum Having entered Capernaum, the Lord, according to the legend of the evangelists Matthew and Luke, healed the centurion’s servant, who asked Him for this not personally, but through the elders of Judah and his friends, and thereby showed such faith in the Lord as the Lord had never seen among the children of Israel. There is some difference in the stories of the evangelists Matthew and Luke about this healing. Evangelist Matthew does not remember the centurion’s elders and friends’ message to the Lord—insignificant circumstances. He cared to say only the essential - that in which the centurion’s faith was especially expressed. Why do the elders and friends combine everything that was said on behalf of the centurion in a few words, forcing the centurion himself to say them? In compiling these two legends into one, we had to follow the Evangelist Luke, which forced some of the words of the Evangelist Matthew to apply to this legend. The Fourth Walk of the Lord Jesus in Galilee After the healing of the centurion's servant, the Evangelist Luke tells of the Lord's resurrection of the widow's dead son in Nain. Since only the Evangelist Luke mentions this resurrection, this is the only place for it. The Lord, having spent some time in Capernaum, again left it for preaching and signs and went straight to Nain, with the disciples and people accompanying Him. Approaching the city, He met a funeral procession and, taking pity on the mother’s grief, resurrected her only son. Next, the Evangelist Luke follows the embassy of St. John the Baptist to the Lord from prison. Saint Matthew also speaks about this embassy. But he has it in connection with the sending of the twelve Apostles to preach. With this same circumstance, two evangelists, Mark and Luke, relate the confusion of Herod, who, having heard about the glorious deeds of the Lord, could not explain them otherwise than by the fact that it was John the Baptist, who was beheaded by him, resurrected and working miracles. Consequently, at the time the holy Apostles were sent to preach, the holy Forerunner was no longer alive and he could not arrange an embassy to the Lord. Why should there be another place for this embassy during the events of the Gospel? Since, besides the Evangelist Matthew, only the Evangelist Luke speaks about it in this place, we have no choice but to recognize this place as the real place of John’s embassy to the Lord. Here we place it, bringing here also the legend about this of the Evangelist Matthew and from both making up one legend about John’s embassy to the Lord with the addition of everything that both evangelists say on this occasion, namely: the Lord’s conversations after the removal of the disciples sent by John, which contains: praises to John the Baptist; denouncing the unbelief of the Pharisees; denunciation of the cities in which the Lord of hosts was most manifest; thanksgiving to God the Father for revealing the truth to humble babies, bypassing the proud sages. For this, finally, in the Evangelist Luke, the Lord, in the house of a certain Simon, has mercy on a tearfully repentant sinner and continues His walk through Galilee, accompanied by some wives - and with this concludes His fourth walk through Galilee. Since these last events are commemorated only by the Evangelist Luke, this is the only place for them. The Lord's Fifth Sojourn in Capernaum After this, the Evangelist Luke follows a collection of some parables. The evangelists Matthew and Mark also have a collection of parables. Having examined them, we find that in both of them, before the parables, there is the word of the Lord about: who is His mother and brothers; and above this is the reason for such a word. The reason for this was the notification conveyed to the Lord that His mother and brothers were standing outside and wanted to see Him. What made them come was a rumor spread by the Pharisees that the Lord Jesus was casting out demons about the prince of demons and that something was happening to Him; which rumor was spread by the Pharisees after the Lord healed the demoniac, the blind and the dumb, in order to overshadow the glory of this miracle and all others. Hearing about this, the relatives came to take the Lord, not so much believing the Pharisees’ blasphemy as fearing their deceit. All these events, so closely connected with each other, must be placed before proceeding to the parables, after the already mentioned walk of the Lord through Galilee, accompanied by his wives. Since the healing of the blind and dumb, the subsequent speech of the Lord in denouncing the Pharisaic blasphemy, and especially the coming of relatives to the house where the Lord was, show that all this happened in Capernaum, it is believed that the Lord returned from walking through Galilee to His city for his fifth stay in it. Let us retell what happened during this stay. There was: healing of the demonic, the blind and the dumb; the blasphemy of the Pharisees: about Beelzebub; reproaching them for this by the Lord, indicating the irreparable harmfulness of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and the source of all evil speech in general; refusal to those who asked for a sign; a notice of how an unclean spirit comes out of a person and returns to him again; and an indication of who the Lord’s mother and brothers are. During the same stay in Capernaum, the Lord also spoke parables. Having finished his speech, the Lord left the house and headed towards the sea. The people are behind Him. He got into the boat and began to speak to him in parables. The parables are told by the first three evangelists, but not all of them. Let's put them all together. When retelling the parables, it is said that the Lord spoke them to the people at sea, and then in the house he explained some of them to the disciples at their request. Saint Mark in general testifies that the Lord spoke to the people about His Kingdom in parables, which he then explained to His disciples. Based on this, we allowed ourselves to present the stories about the parables in this order: first comes the saying of all the parables told in this case; then follows an explanation of some of them, with the resolution of the question of why the Lord speaks to the people in parables, and the application of a suggestion to heed the word of God. Some of the parables are repeated in other circumstances. They should be considered repeated and given a new place there. With the repeated changes in those who heard the word of the Lord, the repetition of instructions and parables was very appropriate. Even some events could be repeated. The fifth descent of the Lord from Capernaum Having finished the word in parables and about parables, the Lord headed towards the sea with the intention of crossing to the other side. On the way he gave answers to those who wanted to follow according to their heartfelt mood. Having reached the shore, he got into the boat and ordered to sail to the other side. As they were crossing, a storm arose. The Lord tamed her with a word. Upon reaching the opposite shore, He healed two demons, driving out 3 legions of demons from them; and again returned to his home in Capernaum. These events in their present relationship to others are conveyed by two evangelists - Mark and Luke. In the Evangelist Matthew they stand in different relationships, but are presented in accordance with them; why the legend about them is drawn here, bringing with it its own peculiarity. This peculiarity is that the Evangelist Matthew conveys the Lord’s answers to those who wanted to follow Him, something that the other two evangelists do not have here. The Evangelist Luke conveys similar answers, but in a different course of events and somewhat different from the Evangelist Matthew, in the number of those who asked and in the presentation of the legend about this. Why do we consider this incident to be repeated and give it the place where Saint Luke places it. 4 The Lord's sixth sojourn in Capernaum When the Lord stepped onto His shore, His people met, and from among them a certain Jairus asked the Lord to come and heal his sick daughter. The Lord went to him and on the way healed the bleeding woman, and raised up his daughter, who died while he was following the Lord. Returning from here to the house, the Lord healed two blind men and one dumb demoniac. These events are presented in such relation to others according to the evangelists Mark and Luke. The Evangelist Matthew also speaks about them in the same connection with each other, but not in connection with the healing of the demon-possessed Gadarenes. His story about them, as being consistent, is, however, taken here into one general story and brings with it its own addition here too, namely: after the story of the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, the Evangelist Matthew has the healing of two blind men and the healing of a demonic mute. Since these cases are described only by the Evangelist Matthew, they should be given a place here. The Lord's sixth walk through Galilee Saint Matthew, after the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, speaking about the healing of two blind men and a dumb man, says that the Lord went through Galilee preaching and, seeing the lack of shepherdism of the people, sent his twelve Apostles to preach. And Saint Mark, after the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, speaks of the Lord’s walk through Galilee; but at the beginning it is placed by the Lord’s visit to his native city of Nazareth, and after this - the sending of the Apostles to preach. Evangelist Luke, after the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, directly speaks of sending the Apostles to preach. All three evangelists obviously agree with each other and complement each other. From comparing them, this order of events emerges. After the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter and the healing of two blind and dumb people in Capernaum, the Lord undertook a new walk through Galilee. He went straight to His own city of Nazareth. Having stayed in it, he then walked around Galilee, and, seeing the people without shepherds, he regretted them, and, prompted by this, sent His Apostles to preach. Saint Matthew, who did not have the opportunity to rename the Apostles before, gives their names here. But Saint Mark and Saint Luke, who passed on their names before, no longer do this here. The Lord's Seventh Sojourn in Capernaum Having released the Apostles to preach, the Lord Himself went through the cities - to Bethsaida, Capernaum. This is His seventh stay here until the return of the Apostles, whom He received here when they returned. It must be assumed that the Apostles were sent to preach from some place during the previous walk of the Lord through Galilee. While this was happening, Herod, hearing about the wondrous deeds of the Lord, fell into confusion. He thought about the Lord that it was John the Baptist who had been beheaded. The evangelists Mark and Luke speak about this confusion of Herod in connection with the sending of the holy Apostles to preach. Saint Matthew also speaks about him, but in a different combination of events; however, only the previous ones, the subsequent ones are the same for him as for those. Having mentioned Herod's confusion, Saint Matthew also describes the beheading of the head of the Forerunner of the Lord John, which was the cause of Herod's confusion. Saint Mark does the same. Probably, John the Baptist was beheaded shortly before this. This is also indicated by Herod’s still-living turmoil, and especially by the fact that, according to the Evangelist Matthew, the Lord only now heard about this; John's disciples told Him about this immediately after the burial of Saint John. This notice, together with the need to give rest to the Apostles upon their return, was the reason for the Lord’s quick departure to the desert of Bethsaida. We place the story of the beheading in connection with the confusion of Herod, as it stands among the evangelists. The Lord's seventh walk through Galilee The Apostles returned and told the Lord how they acted while preaching in Galilee. The Lord at first sent them alone to the Bethsaida desert, but then He Himself wished to go with them. And they all sailed there together. They wanted to be unnoticed. But the people saw and guessed what was going on. He rushed on foot into that desert and forestalled the arrival of the Lord and the Apostles there. Having arrived in that desert, the Lord stayed for a while on the mountain. But, seeing that the people were waiting for Him, he went down to him and taught him a lot, until the evening, and healed everyone who needed healing. Then, not wanting to let them go hungry, he fed them all with five loaves of bread and two fish. The people were five thousand, besides wives and children. Then he ordered the disciples to get into the boat and sail to the other side, and He Himself, having dismissed the people, went up the mountain to pray. A storm arose at sea, and the disciples were in distress. Seeing this, the Lord, having finished his prayer, walked towards them on the waves. When the disciples saw Him, they were confused. Having calmed them and taken Peter out of the water, who threw himself into the sea with Him at His permission and, after a short walk on the waters, began to drown out of fear, the Lord entered the boat, and immediately the boat landed on the shore. But the place was not Capernaum, where they were heading, but Gennesaret, which lay below Capernaum. They were carried there by a storm. It was already in the morning. The people flocked, but the Lord, having blessed them with all kinds of healings, headed to Capernaum, where he arrived that same morning. The Eighth Sojourn of the Lord in Capernaum This stay was marked by a lengthy conversation about the bread of heaven, to which the Lord’s action here was limited. All four evangelists speak of the feeding of the five thousand; about walking on water - St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. John; about going ashore in Gennesaret and miracles there and on the way from there - the evangelists Matthew and Mark. The conversation after this in Capernaum is reported by Saint John alone. The Eighth Walk of the Lord in Galilee Having finished his presentation of the Lord’s conversation, Saint John says: after this the Lord Jesus walked through Galilee. During this walk, nowhere, the Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, who had arrived here, probably from the third Passover, at which the Lord was not present, turned to Him with a reproachful speech against His disciples because they ate bread without washing their hands. Why do not your disciples keep the traditions of the elders? - said the Pharisees. - In response to this, the Lord explained what defiles and what cannot defile a person. Then the Lord went to Syrophenicia, where he healed the demon-possessed daughter of a Canaanite woman. From there He crossed to the eastern side of the sea, bypassing it from the north and through the Decapolis. Here, having healed a deaf tongue-tied man, he taught the crouching people for three whole days and finally, having performed numerous healings, he fed everyone with seven loaves of bread and several fish. There were four thousand men who ate, besides wives and children. Having released the saturated people, the Lord crossed to the other, western, side of the sea, to the borders of Magdala and Dalmanutha, which were even lower than Gennesaret. The time of His stay here is indefinite, and of what was here, only His answer to the Pharisees who asked for a sign is given to us. Following this, the Lord crossed again to the other side, only not to the east, but to the north, towards Bethsaida and Caesarea Philippi. On the way of the voyage, He warned the disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: which suggests that before this there were many speeches with the faces of one and the other leaven. Upon leaving the shore, the Lord healed a blind man in Bethsaida, and in the villages of Caesarea Philippi he hears from the disciples what they say and think about Him among the people, and accepts their own confession through the mouth of Peter that He is the Son of God, the promised Savior. All these events that took place during the eighth walk of the Lord are conveyed in agreement in the proposed order by the evangelists Matthew and Mark, complementing each other, but not leaving agreement. Saint Luke, who left them even after the feeding of the five thousand, joins them again, only now in the tale of the disciples’ confession of the Lord, and follows them inseparably until the end of the Lord’s last sojourn in Capernaum and His rich conversation there with His disciples, so that he can then alone convey a whole series of events and instructions of the Lord during His last walk through Galilee, as we shall see. Having accepted such a confession, the Lord announced to the disciples that He would face suffering and death, after which, however, He would resurrect. Having then reproached Peter for contradicting this, He added that suffering and crosses await all His followers and that this is the only way to follow Him. After this, six full and eight incomplete days, the Lord was transfigured on the mountain in glory before His three chosen disciples, who here again heard from those who talked with the Lord, Moses and Elijah, and from the Lord Himself about His suffering, death and resurrection. Having descended from the Mount of Transfiguration, the Lord healed a demon-possessed young man whom the disciples could not heal; then in the house alone He explained to them why they could not do this and how such spirits could be cast out in general. Having then completed a short walk through Galilee, in which he especially tried to instill in his disciples the idea that He would face suffering and death with resurrection after it, the Lord entered Capernaum for the last time for a short stay there - the ninth. The Ninth Sojourn of the Lord in Capernaum Upon coming here, the Lord commanded Peter to pay the tax demanded of Him for Himself and for Peter with the contribution of a stater, miraculously taken from the mouth of a caught fish. After this, He had an edifying conversation with His disciples about various subjects: He resolved the question that some of them had begun on the way and remained unresolved: who is sick in the Kingdom? – pointing to the child as the norm of greatness in His Kingdom; regarding the words of John that they rebuked someone who cast out demons in the name of the Lord and who did not follow them, he explained to them who was against and who was for; then he spoke about the inevitability of temptations and woe to the seducers, indicating the way to suppress them; he added a lesson about not seducing children and also showed how dear the salvation of everyone is to the Lord; showed how to act when a brother sins against someone, indicating the final judgment on everything in the Church, and with the parable of the unmerciful servant he explained how important it is for us to forgive offenses. Having taught such instructions, the Lord began His last, ninth walk through Galilee, quite long and edifying. It deserves a special mention. The ninth walk of the Lord in Galilee - the last After the Lord’s conversation with the disciples in Capernaum, the evangelists Matthew and Mark say: the Lord is coming to Judea through the Transjordanian country. And then they actually talk about events that happened outside Galilee: talk about divorce, blessing of children and others. Evangelist Luke also says something similar: the days of the capture of the Lord are approaching, and He is going to Jerusalem. But after this he continues to talk about the events and instructions of the Lord, which all took place in Galilee. It is not difficult to verify this by looking at the table of contents of this section of the Gospel of St. Luke. After the title verse: the days of capture are approaching - he goes to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), recounting several incidents, the evangelist writes: he passes through villages, heading to Jerusalem (13, 22). A little lower, in the same chapter, they say to the Lord: Herod wants to kill you, get out of here (13:31). Towards the end of this section, it is described how between Samaria and Galilee the Lord healed ten lepers (17, 11-19). Apparently, throughout these legends the Lord remains in Galilee, although he is moving to Jerusalem. This section ends with the parable of the publican and the Pharisee (18:9-14). After this, he also writes about those events that the evangelists Matthew and Mark remember as being outside Galilee: the blessing of children and others. This is new confirmation that the events that are higher than this did not take place outside Galilee. We place all of them in the middle part of the Gospel story, which contains the events that took place in Galilee. This will be the ninth and last walk of the Lord through Galilee before His departure to Judea and Jerusalem, never to return from there. Let us note about this section of the Gospel tales that since it represents one continuous legend about the movement of the Lord through Galilee with the direction to Jerusalem, it should not be torn apart, but everything should be presented as it is, without inserting anything and without taking anything away from it. Even, I believe, it should retain those events, parables and instructions that have already been mentioned, considering them to be repeated. Having indicated the place for this entire department and said that it must all be contributed without interruption during the course of the Gospel history, we have said everything that is required and expected of us. Only about some special cases it is necessary to say a few words of explanation. The first event here is that the Samaritans of one village did not accept the Lord. – Since further in the legends it is not clear that the Lord was in Samaria, it must be assumed that in this case the Lord and his disciples had no intention of passing through Samaria to Judea. He wanted to enter the village of Samaritan only because he needed rest and this village was nearby. Having retreated from him, He again headed to Galilee. The second circumstance here is the desire of some to follow the Lord and His answers to them. A similar circumstance occurred before the Lord’s departure to the country of the Gadarenes, as stated by the Evangelist Matthew. But as there are some peculiarities in the local legend, this case can be considered repeated, although their peculiarities are not entirely significant. That the words of the Lord are the same is because the subject is the same and the speech is tributary, which, once coming from the mouth, automatically enters the word in such cases. What follows is a message from the 70 to preach. That this was not a simple message to warn of the arrival of the Lord, but a real apostolic sermon, this is clear from the instructions sent, which are similar to the instructions given before to the twelve Apostles when they were sent to preach, and that, returning, they give an account of how they acted and what happened to them. What is said about their return immediately after the message is so that later they will not return to this subject. In reality, of course, they did not return suddenly. Perhaps they walked ahead of the Lord throughout His last walk through Galilee: for this is why they were chosen, to go before the face of the Lord into every city where He Himself wanted to go. After this, having shown the lawyer the way to eternal life and, with the parable of the one who fell among the thieves, explaining who is his neighbor, the Lord visited the house of Martha and Mary. These names immediately bring to mind the sisters of Lazarus and give rise to the question: how to visit them in Galilee when they lived in Bethany near Jerusalem? – It is possible that only the names are the same, and not the same faces. How many Marys, for example, followed the Lord from Galilee to Jerusalem? Mary and Martha are very common names. But even if they are the same faces; they could also have land and a house in Galilee, where they lived from time to time; for the holidays they arrived in Bethany, where we see them on the last Easter. Following this, it is said that the Lord prayed in a certain place, and when he finished his prayer, one of the disciples asked Him: Lord! teach us to pray. The Lord repeated to them the already familiar prayer: Our Father! – He spoke this prayer in the Discourse on the Mount. But as new disciples of the Lord arrived, it was necessary, like many other instructions, to repeat this prayer more than once: for the Lord wanted His disciples to all be of one mind and pray the same way. The healing of the dumb demon follows; the blasphemy of the Pharisees, as if the Lord casts out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons; and rebuking them for this by the Lord. The evangelists Matthew and Mark believe a similar circumstance in a different combination of events, as they already saw in the fourth walk of the Lord through Galilee. Despite this, however, we give him a place here too. We are guided in this by the example of Saint Matthew, who, having spoken about the healing of a dumb demon, the blasphemy of the Pharisees and their denunciation, in the same combination of events as Saint Mark, speaks in another place about the healing of a dumb demon and the blasphemy of the Pharisees, without citing the conviction of the Pharisees (Matthew 9: 32-34). This gives rise to the idea that the Pharisees repeatedly instilled in the people such a blasphemous interpretation of the Lord’s casting out of demons and that the Lord sometimes heard these blasphemies, sometimes not - and, hearing, sometimes denounced the Pharisees, and sometimes left their lies unattended. The speech could always be the same, because it concerned one subject, and, moreover, it was an influx of speech; the parable speech, having once been uttered, as has already been noted, returns to the word immediately as soon as there is a need to talk about the same thing. Considering it therefore very plausible that the event told here by the Evangelist Luke was special from other similar events, we give it the place it occupies here. After this, starting from dinner with a certain Pharisee until the end of this section, which begins with the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, there are varied instructions from the Lord, which do not raise any questions. The fact that some instructions that are already known are repeated here should not confuse anyone. Let's say about them in general: all these sayings are pronounced here in other circumstances, sometimes in a different flow and correlation of thoughts, they are almost all of an adjunctive nature, and in their content they are such that there could not be a shortage of occasions to repeat them many times. Why was it considered appropriate, and even obligatory, to present them here in their proper places, despite the fact that they have already been read above. The question may arise: how is it that the Lord’s sayings often appear unexpectedly, far removed from the previous speech? – In order not to succumb to such perplexities, we must bear in mind that the sayings of the Lord were caused not only by verbal questions, but also by the heartfelt moods and thoughts of those around Him, like miracles. Having answered verbal questions, the Lord offered answers to those thoughts that occupied and confused others. Just as these thoughts were far removed from the thoughts of those who asked, the sayings of the Lord turn out to be far removed from one another in content, although they were spoken and delivered sequentially one after another. 6. Revision of the third part of the Gospel stories and determination of the course of events for the third part of the Gospel story We enter the last section of the Gospel tales, which speak about the last events of the Lord Savior’s activity in the incarnate economy during His stay in Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan in His last half-year. Here we encounter three groups of legends and events: the first defines the presence of the Lord at the Feast of Tabernacles and the renovation of the temple in Jerusalem; the second is His stay beyond the Jordan; the third is the last days of the Lord on earth. The legends themselves indicate such a distribution. The evangelists Matthew and Mark, having said that the Lord went from Galilee to Jerusalem through the Trans-Jordan country, then speak about some events that happened before the Lord moved to Jerusalem, as already indicated; after them they talk about the movement of the Lord to Jerusalem to suffer. Having finished the story of the Lord’s ninth walk through Galilee, the Evangelist Luke joins them, speaking with them about the events before the Lord’s movement to Jerusalem, and this movement itself, and His suffering and death that followed. Thus, it is obvious that the Lord’s movement to Jerusalem to suffer was preceded by a number of events. But where and when did they take place? Reading the evangelists Matthew and Mark, one might think that these events were accomplished by the Lord in passing during His transition from Galilee to Judea through the Trans-Jordanian country. But, taking into account the legends of the Evangelist John, we will have to think about this a little differently. Saint John says that the Lord crossed the Jordan from Jerusalem from the feast of the renewal of the church, on the occasion of the extreme irritation of the Jews against Him, and here he taught and healed, always surrounded by a multitude of people who had revered Him since the time of the testimony of John the Baptist about Him. Then, having stayed here for a certain time, He headed towards Jerusalem, on the occasion of the death of Lazarus. This movement towards Jerusalem was the same as the movement of the first three evangelists, namely: a movement towards suffering and death. Just as these evangelists closely associate the Lord’s movement to Jerusalem with the legend of the events that preceded it, we must assume that they were committed by the Lord beyond the Jordan, in the period of time from His crossing the Jordan from Jerusalem from the feast of the renewal of the church to His movement to Jerusalem on the occasion of the death of Lazarus, and not in passing during His transition from Galilee to Judea, and serve as an indication of what was said by the Evangelist John, that the Lord Jordan taught and healed. Thus, we have two groups of events: the events of Trans-Jordan and the events of the last days of the Lord on earth; for the moving of the Lord to Jerusalem was the beginning of these days. What happened before the Lord crossed the Jordan from Jerusalem will form the third group—namely, the events at the Feast of Renewal and Tabernacles. All that remains for us to do is to add a beginning to all this. The beginning of this is laid by the Evangelist John with the speeches of the brothers to the Lord. The Lord answered them: I will not go with you. And then he went alone and secretly. The words of the evangelists Matthew and Mark are conveniently attached here: the Lord went to Judea through the Transjordanian country. And He passed through this country, stopping nowhere, until He reached Jerusalem, and appeared in the church at half-time of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is how all the stories of the last section of the Gospel stories are distributed. Feast of Tabernacles and Renewal All the events on these holidays are so connected in the legend of St. John that they seemed to flow continuously. The Lord was in the church at half-time of the holiday and taught; was on the last day of the holiday and also taught; came the next day after this, had mercy on the sinner and also taught. The Jews were so irritated by this teaching that they wanted to stone Him, but He passed through their midst unnoticed by them and withdrew. Saint John further says: passing by, the Lord saw a man born blind and healed him. This was followed by an investigation of this miracle by the Pharisees and a conversation with the Lord about the shepherd and the sheep. The feast of renewal arrived, at which the Lord began His teaching word again with a speech about sheep and, continuing it, again irritated the Jews to the point that they rebelled against Him. This forced the Lord to withdraw beyond the Jordan. So, the story goes on continuously. Did events happen continuously? This cannot be said; because between the feasts of tabernacles and renewal there are two months. There were, of course, other events during these days, but the Holy Spirit was not pleased to inspire Saint John, who supplemented the stories of the other evangelists in his Gospel, to convey them to us, just as He did not initially inspire him to convey to us everything that happened on the first Easter in Jerusalem and in Judea, although about two-thirds of the year passed there. We can, it seems with certainty, only determine the interval between the events at the Feast of Tabernacles and between the events at the Feast of Renewal. To the Feast of Tabernacles the legend obliges us to include what happened at half-time of the feast, what happened on its last day, and what happened before it, when the Lord, threatened with stoning, withdrew. The healing of a man born blind should be included in the festival of renewal. We base this on the fact that the Lord’s conversation, inextricably linked with the healing of the man born blind, continues at the Feast of Renewal. It is obvious that this healing took place just before the feast of renewal. The interval is thus indicated between the removal of the Lord from the church and, probably, from Jerusalem and the healing of the man born blind. In this case, the words: passing by should be given a general meaning: “once” or “once passing by” - the place where the man born blind sat; once, and not on the day he left the church. Pointing out, however, such a gap, we cannot admit in any way that it would be permissible to fill it with any events from the stories of other evangelists, and specifically from the last section of the Evangelist Luke, which contains a description of the Lord’s ninth walk through Galilee. There is no reason for this and there is no indication of what events could be inserted here. The Lord's stay beyond the Jordan Why the events that stand before the Lord’s movement to Jerusalem to suffer in the first three evangelists relate to this stay, this has already been discussed. The course of events one after another is definitely indicated by the legends themselves. What took place here was: an answer to the Pharisees’ question about divorce; advice on celibacy; blessing of children; advice to the rich young man to give everything away and follow the Lord; promises to the disciples who left everything for the sake of the Lord; parable of the laborers in the vineyard. – Then follows the legend about the movement of the Lord to Jerusalem, with which the last days of the Lord began. The Lord Himself inspires that with His first step towards Jerusalem at this time His last days began: for as soon as He headed along this path, He began to say: Behold, we are ascending to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed, and so on. But the first events that took place here were only the beginning of the last days; The very last days began with the triumphal entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The events that took place in these last days are told by all four evangelists, and their succession one after another is determined either by the properties of the events themselves, or by the indications of legends, or by both together. Before the solemn entry of the Lord into Jerusalem they flowed in this order. At the end of his stay beyond the Jordan, the Lord learns about the death of Lazarus and decides to go and resurrect him. At the very beginning of this movement, He again announced to the Apostles about the sufferings that lay ahead of Him and then gave the sons of Zebedee and their mother an answer to the desires they expressed, and all the Apostles a lesson on this matter. On the way to cross the Jordan stood Jericho, through which it was necessary to pass. When entering this city and leaving it, the Lord performed healings of the blind. The stories about these healings are as follows: the Evangelist Luke speaks of the healing of one blind man at the entrance to Jericho; Evangelist Mark - about the healing of one person also upon leaving it, with the remembrance of the name of the healed; Evangelist Matthew - about the healing of two when leaving the city. The fact that there were healings at the entrance and exit should not be surprising when it is known how, at the appearance of the Lord, the people rushed to Him with their infirmities and infirmities, seeking only to touch Him, and that all who touched Him in faith were healed. The fact that at the exit the evangelist Matthew speaks of two healed blind men, and the evangelist Mark about one, is explained in the same way as the fact that the evangelist Matthew speaks of two demonic Gadarenes, when the other evangelists speak of one, precisely by the fact that one of them was generally known, which is why his name has been preserved. He alone predominantly remained in the attention and memory of everyone; Saint Mark exhibits it. Moreover, it can be said that with the numerous healings, attention was not strictly focused on the number of sick people of one kind or another that were healed. In Jericho itself, the Lord, by paying attention to Zacchaeus, disposed him to correct his faults with a zeal worthy of all imitation; then in the parable of Mnasi 5 he depicted the destinies of His Kingdom and the called sons of this Kingdom; and then headed on his way. We arrived in Bethany. The Lord raised four-day-old Lazarus here. The amazing impression of this miracle forced the Jewish authorities, who were concerned about the salvation of the people, to pronounce a death sentence on the Savior of the world. This forced the Lord to retire for a while to the borders of Ephraim. Six days before Easter, He returned from there again to Bethany, where those devoted to Him arranged a supper for Him, at which Mary anointed Him with precious myrrh, thus arousing indignation in souls who did not understand this action, disapproved by the Lord. The very last days of the Lord began with the day of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Here the legends go day after day and definitely establish the course of events in them. All that remains is to list them. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which took place the day after the supper given to the Lord in Bethany, was marked not only by the rejoicing of the people, but also by a voice from above, about which the Lord, in a lengthy speech, interpreted the work of His incarnate economy. The movement towards the city began early that day. Approaching the Mount of Olives, the Lord sent to a village visible ahead, standing at the foot of the Olivet, to bring from there, at His direction, a donkey with a foal, and when they brought it, he sat on the foal and continued the procession. The people accompanying Him became incredibly excited: they spread clothes and tree branches on the path of the Lord and cried out: Blessed is He who comes! Those gathered for the holiday in Jerusalem heard about the movement of the Lord, went out to meet Him and, in turn, spread clothes and tree branches along the way. Everyone cried: Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes! And the Lord shed tears about the fate of the city and the people. Having entered the city, shocked by this extraordinary event, the Lord went to the church, cleared it of traffickers, performed many healings, received praise from the children and, when the Greeks asked to see Him, with the proclamation: now the Son of Man has been glorified, attracted testimony about Himself from above and spoke to everyone the word about the power of His incarnate economy. The Lord returned to Bethany at night. The next day, after the solemn entry into Jerusalem - on Holy Monday - the Lord again went to the church; on the way he uttered a symbolic curse on the fig tree, and to the disciples - a word about the power of faith when they expressed their amazement at the effect of the curse; in the church - again cleared it of traffickers. Probably these traders, after their expulsion yesterday, again settled in their places, because the church authorities did not forbid them to do so; The Lord Jesus was a third party for them. He acted on the conscience, which they were already accustomed to calming about their own, irreverence towards the house of God, denouncing, acting. In the evening the Lord again departed to Bethany. Of course, a lot has been said and done to this day. But it was not pleasing to the Lord that this should be communicated to us. On the third day - on Holy Tuesday - during the procession from Bethany to Jerusalem, the disciples, seeing the withered fig tree, again expressed their amazement and again heard the word of the Lord about the power of faith. And on the last day, amazement was expressed by the disciples, and the word of the Lord about the power of faith was spoken. Nowadays both are repeated. The astonishment of the disciples was now excited by the degree of dryness - to the root. And yesterday there were obvious signs of drying out, but that was the beginning, but now it is all dried up to the roots. And the Lord’s word about the power of faith more clearly indicates the properties of such faith. Then, throughout this day, the Lord held many conversations in the church with the church authorities, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, and outside on the Mount of Olives with the disciples. In the church, the Lord first gave an answer to those who asked Him by what authority He acts. Then He began to admonish the church authorities with parables; and spoke a parable: about two sons, of whom, at the father’s invitation to go work in the vineyard, one answered: I don’t want to, and then he went; and the other: I am going, and did not go; about the winegrowers who first beat the servants of the owner of the grapes, and then killed his son; about those invited by the king to supper, on the occasion of the marriage of the king’s son, and those who refused due to everyday matters. Then he resolved some of the confusion of those who asked: whether to give tribute to Caesar or not; how to reconcile the law of life with the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 6; and what is the first commandment? After this, silencing the co-questioners with the question: how is Christ the son of David, when David calls Him Lord? - He spoke many accusatory reproaches to the scribes and Pharisees. And finally, valuing the widow’s insignificant material contribution more than all the contributions, He withdrew from the church and the city. Passing by the church, He uttered a prophecy about its fate; having ascended the Mount of Olives, he predicted the fate of the city and the people, and finally, the fate of the whole world. Having then called upon His disciples, and in their person and all of us, with several tributary sayings, to beware, watch and pray in anticipation of His second coming, the Lord concluded His conversation with the image of the Last Judgment. Having finished His conversation with the disciples, the Lord said that Easter would be in two days. Ahead lay the fourth and fifth days, after the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem - Wednesday and Thursday were clean. The Lord may have retired to Bethany for the night, or spent it right there on the mountain, in a famous garden. On Wednesday there was a meeting of the Sanhedrin about the destruction of the Lord, probably in the morning; in the evening a supper was held for the Lord in Simon's house; and at night, as is more likely, Judas sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Of these events, only the supper raises questions. A similar supper was already described by Saint John and laid down by him six days before Easter. Isn't this the same thing? No. The two evangelists offer supper on this day; and it cannot be denied that she was not there on that day. But, according to the testimony of Saint John, there was a supper four days before this; and there is no reason to think that she did not exist then. The supper, as a friendly treat for the Lord, could take place every day, in the same place, and even in the same house; Moreover, one cannot hesitate to admit that there were two suppers four days apart from each other and, it seems, not in the same house. The anointing with myrrh is not the purpose of the supper and is not necessarily associated with it. It came by chance. A feeling of reverence and gratitude to the Lord was aroused and compelled to show this before Him by anointing His feet, or head, or both with myrrh. And this could be done by persons who did not at all belong to the family in which the supper was held, even unknown to Him and not enjoying His favor, as happened in Galilee in the house of another certain Simon. It cannot be denied, therefore, that the anointing with myrrh could have taken place at both suppers. As for the similarity between the legends and the words of the Lord about the meaning of anointing, both are not at all literally similar. In addition, the same objects are naturally described similarly and evoke similar judgments about themselves. The farewell conversation, presumably, was delivered entirely in the Easter room. Although at the end of the 14th chapter of the Evangelist John it says: ... get up, let us go from here; but the great importance of what is offered to those spoken after that, especially the concluding prayer to God the Father, forces us to admit that even after those words the Lord still remained in the upper room and continued speaking, perhaps while standing. On the way, it was inconvenient for everyone to hear everything that was said, but it was absolutely necessary for everyone to hear it. And it was especially inconvenient to say a prayer to God the Father on the way. Finally, having said a few words at the end of the entire supper, the Lord made the transition to the Garden of Gethsemane. From that moment the suffering of the Lord began. The foundation was laid on this night, from Thursday to Friday. Everything here: the prayer for the cup, the taking of the Lord, His transfer to the house of the high priests and His presence in this house at night - follows the instructions of the legends themselves. To eliminate confusion when reading the legends about this last thing, we must remember that the houses, or dwellings, of the high priests Annas and Caiaphas were in the same courtyard. This eliminates the questions of why the Lord was brought to Anna and into which house John and Peter were brought. After bringing the Lord to the high priestly court, it was necessary to wait a little while the members of the Sanhedrin gathered. As Anna wanted to see the Lord, he ordered Him to be brought to her, instead of standing for Him in the courtyard. Then the transition from Anna to Caiaphas was a transition from one wing to another. What happened to Caiaphas ended with the condemnation of the Lord and the mocking of Him; after which He was taken out into the courtyard and guarded until the morning, continuing the abuse. While the Lord was being tried and condemned, in the same courtyard the threefold denial of Saint Peter took place, according to the word of the Lord. The evangelists insert stories about these renunciations into the stories about what happened to the Lord. In order not to distract attention, we offer everything that happened with the Lord, especially, without interruption, and then, also without interruption, and what happened with Peter. The stories about the abdication of Saint Peter by the evangelists Matthew and Mark are similar; in the Evangelist Luke it is somewhat different; it also has its own characteristics in the Evangelist John. Each evangelist has three renunciations. If from these three distinct legends we begin to bring three legends about each renunciation together, so that from the first three one is made up of one first, from three second - a second, from three thirds - a third, then we will encounter insurmountable difficulties. Why are we forced to use another technique in depicting the three renunciations of Saint Peter, namely: to recognize the three renunciations of each of the three different legends as one renunciation in the thought that each of the three renunciations became complete after repeating it three times. It is assumed that there were three attacks on Saint Peter, or three attacks on him, with questions: are you one of His disciples? - and were you with Him? - your conversation reveals similar things - and that every time those who asked were not content with one answer, but immediately repeated the question again and again. Saint Peter, only repeating his renunciation three times each time, got rid of the attackers; but this was only for a while: after a little time, other persons came forward with the same questions and also repeated them three times, and only after three times the renunciation were they satisfied and retreated, in order to give room a little later for other persons to make a similar attack and cause a similar renunciation. But each time there was only one renunciation; and regarding three attacks - three renunciations. We consider the first renunciation to be the one described by Saint John. It began at the entrance gate and ended at the fire, where Saint Peter landed, having come from the gate. This happened during those minutes that the Lord spent with Anna. When the Lord was transferred from Anna's building to Caiaphas, or to where the Sanhedrin had gathered, Saint Peter thought to take advantage of the movement that was happening and leave the courtyard, but one maid took over from him, pestered him with a question and forced him to renounce. Saint Peter, however, did not give up on his intention and headed towards the gate that led from the inner courtyard to the front. Then another maid met him with the same question, and he denied it before her. As soon as he went out into the front yard, those who were there pestered him with the same question; the need lay 7 to renounce before them. This second denial is conveyed by the evangelists Matthew and Mark; and it is characteristically different from the first: it began at the gate and ended at the fire, and this began at the fire and ended at the gate. For some reason, Saint Peter was unable to go out into the street, and he again returned to the courtyard and sat down by the fire. Here they attacked him again with questions: first a maid, a little later someone else, an hour later - someone else. Saint Peter again persistently renounced - and this is the third renunciation. Immediately the petel cried out, and the Lord, having already been led out of the Sanhedrin and standing in the courtyard, looked at Peter. - And Saint Peter went out, weeping bitterly. After this, everything in the yard became quiet until the morning. Only the guards from time to time did not stop mocking the Lord. On Friday morning, the church authorities met again and again questioned the Lord, hoping to discover something more, but they received only confirmation of what they had previously found out. And this was very enough for their conscience. Then the Lord was handed over to the hegemon Pilate in order to receive from him the condemnation of the Lord to death. Here they have a different speech, everything is in a political tone. Pilate immediately saw that the accused was not mortally guilty. But, not wanting to condemn the Lord or do anything unpleasant to the Jews, as soon as he saw the case, he hastens to reject the judgment and conveys the Lord to Herod. However, this one did not find mortal guilt on the one brought to him and let Pilate know about this, dressing Him in a white robe. Pilate again had to decide the matter himself. He did not want to condemn the Lord, recognizing His innocence of death. But he was weak in his love for the truth and, instead of relying on the power of this truth, he turned to third-party aids that did not produce the expected effect on those accusing. The comparison of the Benefactor with the villain served no purpose to induce them to choose to absolve the former; The testimony of the wounded and bloodied man did not produce any effect in order to arouse pity and induce them to be satisfied with this execution. Bear the friend of Caesar - finally took away from Pilate all energy to defend the Righteous One - and he condemned Him to crucifixion. The people take the blood of the Lord upon themselves; Pilate washes his hands; everything is settled in this way. - And the Lord is led to death with two villains. On the way, blessed Simon of Cyrene is honored to bear His cross for the Lord; Crying wives receive a lesson to cry about themselves, instilling fear for everyone. On Calvary they crucify the Lord, divide His vestments and mock the Crucified One. For this, seven words of the Lord are heard from the Cross, which began with a prayer for crucifiers and blasphemers, and ended with the surrender of His spirit into the hands of the Heavenly Father. From the sixth hour to the ninth there was darkness; at nine o'clock the Lord gave up the ghost with the amazing signs that accompanied it, which forced the people, beating the Persians, to return to themselves. Then everything became quiet. Only the anger of the enemies did not find peace. They asked permission to break the legs of the crucified people, so that, having brought them to death, they could remove their bodies. But in relation to the Lord it was not according to their desire. In fulfillment of the prophecies, His legs were not broken—he was alive, but the rib of someone who had already died was perforated; and His body was removed not as the body of evildoers, but as the body of a person reverently honored and worshiped by Joseph and Nicodemus, no doubt, not without the participation of other persons close to Him. “The wives watched as they laid the Lord in the tomb. We place the repentance of Judas with his despair and destruction at the end of the events of Friday, so as not to stop the legends about what happened to the Lord. Moreover, in his despair, he turned to the high priests, who until the evening were busy with the unrighteous condemnation of the Lord and had no time for Judas. All events of Good Friday are determined during their course by the instructions of the legends about them. Saturday has come - a day of rest. The Lord rested carnally in the tomb, but with His soul, like God, He descended into hell, in order to kill the saints who had been there since time immemorial and bring them into heaven. When the legal limit of rest had passed, the church authorities asked permission to place a guard at the tomb. While this was happening, some wives came to the coffin to see if anything special had happened there. When they departed, a guard was assigned to the coffin, and the coffin was sealed. The wives, having returned to the city, still had time to buy aromas so that in the morning they could come to Golgotha ​​and anoint the body of the Lord. At what moment and how the resurrection of the Lord took place, the evangelists do not say. They only confirm the event of the resurrection, talking about the multiple appearances of the Lord after the resurrection. The first spectators of His resurrection and the evangelists of His resurrection were the holy wives, and after them the Apostles and other persons. The appearances of the Lord after the resurrection are determined by the stories of the evangelists. We have two general listings of them - from the Evangelist Mark and from St. Paul; We also have special legends about some of them. But not everything is listed there, and not everything is described here. For the Lord, as Saint Luke attests, appeared to the Apostles for forty days, speaking to them about the Kingdom of God. There are ten of all described and mentioned phenomena. The last, tenth, concluded with the ascension of the Lord to heaven. Of all these events, only the walk of the holy women to the tomb on the day of the Resurrection requires some explanation. The holy myrrh-bearing women did not all go to the tomb together, but in parts and at different times. There were three times when they came to the tomb. The very legends about this oblige us to admit this. From them you can find out which wives came at what time. The stories about this by Saint Matthew (28:1-10) and Saint Mark (16:1-11) are similar and speak of the same arrival of wives at the tomb. Saint Matthew begins like this: On the evening... of the Sabbath, having gathered together from the Sabbaths, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came and saw the tomb. - On the evening... Saturday... - on Saturday evening, when the peace required by law ended. - Swinging means not when it dawned, but when it got dark, or when the first day of the week began. Here is a clearer example of the use of this word in this sense: Saint Luke, speaking about the position of the Lord’s body in the tomb, writes: that day was Friday, and the Sabbath was bright - the Sabbath began (Luke 23:54). For the Jews, as with our church liturgical rites, the day began in the evening: Saturday began on Friday evening, and ended on Saturday evening, when at the same time the first day of the week began. On Saturday evening... Sabbath, coming together from the Sabbaths... - it will be: on Saturday evening, when the first day of the week began, - Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb - they came to Golgotha ​​to see if everything was the same there as they saw on Friday evening, with the position of the Savior in the tomb. And Evangelist Mark also presents wives as active on Saturday evening. But with him they are not going to Golgotha, but to the shops to buy aromas, so that later, that is, the next morning, they can go to anoint the body of the Lord. St. Mark obviously complements St. Matthew. Let's combine both and we get: on Saturday evening, when according to the law the Sabbath ended and the first day of the week began, famous wives went to Golgotha ​​to see the tomb and, returning to the city, went to buy spices so that in the morning they could go to anoint the body of the Lord. Mary Magdalene and another Mary, who St. Mark calls Jacob’s, went to Golgotha; and Salome also went with them to buy fragrances. - Those two wives, returning to the city, entered the house and, taking Salome with them, went to get some aromas. They all probably stayed in the same house. Next, Saint Matthew says what happened on Golgotha ​​at night, invisible to anyone. An angel, he says, of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. This action was accompanied by a shaking of the earth, from which the guards became afraid and probably immediately fled from Golgotha. After this, in Saint Matthew, the wives appear at the tomb in the face of an Angel sitting on a stone rolled away from the door of the tomb. Evangelist Mark does not talk about the Angel rolling away the stone from the tomb, but complements Saint Matthew here, talking about the movement of the women to the tomb and what bothered them along the way. In the morning, he says, the day after the evening purchase of aromas, the wives went to the coffin, and on the way they fearfully thought who would roll away the stone from the door of the coffin for them, for it was very large; but, looking at the coffin, upon leaving the city, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. They approached and entered the tomb, where they saw an Angel. In the story about the vision of Angels, the evangelists complement each other, and it turns out: the wives saw an Angel on a stone, who said to them: the Lord has risen; come and see where His body lay. They entered and were amazed. The same Angel, invisibly transported here, or another who was here, said to them: this is the place, and so on. Then he added: now hurry to the Apostles to please them with this good news. The same words were spoken to him and the Angel on the stone; here they are repeated again. Upon leaving the tomb, the wives do not see the Angel on the stone, but rush to the Apostles. Both evangelists speak about this in the same way. But then Saint Matthew complements Saint Mark, saying what happened to the wives on the way. Namely, when they hurried to the Apostles, the Lord met them on the way, allowed them, who bowed to Him, to touch His feet and, dispelling their fear, commanded them to hurry to the Apostles. How they were with the Apostles and conveyed what was commanded, both evangelists do not talk about this; because, of course, it already goes without saying. Which wives exactly took part in this coming to the tomb, described by the evangelists Matthew and Mark? - Judging by what was said about what happened on Saturday evening, it was Mary Magdalene, Mary Jacobleva and Salome. But it was so in the evening that they acted together. Was it like this in the morning? This cannot be stated simply because they appear to have been together on Saturday evening. Ten or more, maybe hours, have passed since then. And they could be separated arbitrarily, and something strong could happen to force them to separate. But the evangelists do not say which wives went to the grave in the morning. Because in the morning these were the same wives who are spoken of in the evening, this will be our assumption, which must be subject to verification. Reading the stories of these evangelists in this place, you involuntarily come to such an assumption, and no one would have thought of separating these wives if there had not been incentives to do so in other gospel stories. Evangelist Mark, making a list of the Lord's appearances after the resurrection below, puts the Lord's appearance to Mary Magdalene in the first place, saying that the Lord, having risen, appeared to Mary Magdalene first of all. To her alone, or when she was alone, the risen Lord appeared, and, moreover, before everyone else. Consequently, at that moment of the Lord’s appearance to her, she was separated from the other wives - and this separation must be recognized as having taken place before the arrival of the wives, about whom we are now speaking, at the tomb, and before the subsequent appearance of the Lord to them. How the resurrected Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene is described in detail by the Evangelist John. It shows that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb when it was still dark, and those wives came at dawn. Consequently, she forestalled them alone. Then, what happened to Mary that morning, as Saint John testifies, does not allow us to assume that she could unite with the wives who were with her in the evening, before they came to the grave and were met by the Lord. From all that has been said, we have to conclude that only Mary of Jacob and Salome took part in the arrival of the wives at the tomb, described by the evangelists Matthew and Mark. One more note about this walk to the tomb. When the wives go to the coffin, they worry about who will roll away the stone, but they don’t even mention the guard. Consequently, they did not know about her placement. How could this happen when they were at Calvary on Saturday evening at the tomb? – When the legal limit of the Sabbath rest had passed, the church authorities went for permission to assign a guard, and the wives went straight to Golgotha ​​and, while they were busy with the guard, managed to inspect everything and return to the city. The guard was assigned after they were removed from the Holy Sepulcher and from Golgotha. The wives did not meet her; that's why they didn't know about it. The story of Saint Luke about the arrival of wives at the tomb is such that according to it, the arrival he describes must be recognized as special, different from that described by the evangelists Matthew and Mark. – And his wives, when they came to the tomb, saw the stone rolled away from the tomb, which leads us to assume that these wives were also worried about the stone falling away, without worrying about the guard. But they don’t see the Angel on the stone, which is why they directly enter the tomb. The body of the Lord was not there, and this led them to extreme bewilderment. When they were thus extremely perplexed as to what this meant, two men appeared to them in shining clothes: men, not youths, and two, not one. These were Angels. The words they spoke had the same content as those spoken to the wives by the evangelists Matthew and Mark, only they expressed the same thing as there in a little more detail. But here the Angels do not give the wives the command to go to the Apostles and announce the resurrection of the Lord. They did it of their own accord. Based on these features of the legend of the Evangelist Luke, we believe that it speaks of a different coming of wives to the tomb than the one about which the Evangelists Matthew and Mark speak. Let us remember at this point the testimony of the Emmaus disciples to the risen Lord - that some women, having been early at the tomb, came to the Apostles and told them that they had seen angels who told them that the Lord had risen (Luke 24:22-23). Only the wives who participated in the coming to the tomb described by the Evangelist Luke could speak this way. For they only saw some Angels, while other wives, according to the Evangelists Matthew and Mark and the Evangelist John, saw not only Angels, but also the Lord Himself. Thus, this testimony, confirming the peculiarities of the legend of the Evangelist Luke, also confirms the peculiarity of the arrival of wives at the tomb, different from the arrival of other wives. But if it was a different parish, then the wives who participated in it were different. What are these? The wives of the Evangelist Luke watched as the body of the Lord was laid in the tomb. They have this in common with the wives of the evangelists Matthew and Mark. But then these wives buy fragrances that same Friday evening, but on Saturday they don’t move; whereas the wives of the evangelists Matthew and Mark do not move on Friday and buy fragrances on Saturday evening. This means that the former have separated themselves from the latter. This is not due to any discord, but because both of them stayed not in the same house, but in different ones. But for the same reason, they could come to the coffin separately from each other, although for the same purpose. This is how it happened, as the legend of the Evangelist Luke makes clear. But who are they? And we will find the answer to this in the same legend. At the end of it, Saint Luke renames all the wives who gathered with the Apostles with the good news of the resurrection of the Lord: These were, he says, Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary of James, and other wives, among whom, of course, was Salome (Luke 24:10). Let us subtract from here, for the story about the arrival of the wives according to the evangelists Matthew and Mark, Mary of Jacob, combining with her Salome, and for the story about this according to the Evangelist John, Magdalene; for the legend according to the Evangelist Luke, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, remains with some other wives. We will consider them participants in the coming of the wives to the tomb according to this legend. As for the arrival of Mary Magdalene at the tomb according to the Evangelist John, its features are so obvious that it is unnecessary to ask about it. Here there are special persons and special circumstances, not in any way repeated in the legends about the arrival of other wives. “She comes to the tomb alone very early, still in the darkness, and, seeing the tomb empty, runs to the Apostles, saying nothing to them except: They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid Him.” As a result, the Apostles Peter and John go with her to the tomb, examine it and, without coming to any decisive conclusion, return to their house. Mary remains at the tomb and first sees the Angels in the tomb, and then the Lord Himself in Vertograd 8. Delighted, she then hurries, at the command of the Lord, to the Apostles, to share her joy with them. – Is there anything similar in the legends about the arrival of other wives at the coffin? Let us note at the same time that, judging by the movements of Mary Magdalene, first to the tomb, then to the Apostles, then again to the tomb and again to the Apostles, she had no opportunity either to be among the wives who came with Joanna, or to join Mary of Jacob with Salome. And there was no longer any need for it. Once separated from the other holy women, she no longer met with them until they all gathered with the Apostles, as we will see. Thus, we have three legends about the arrival of holy women at the tomb and three of their arrivals, each with its own characteristics in the circumstances and with the special wives who participated in them. In what order these arrivals took place is determined by the moments of time indicated in the legends. Mary Magdalene comes to the darkness, John - to the deep morning, when it was light; Mary of Jacob with Salome - when it was dawn, before sunrise. In this order they came: Magdalene first; after her Joanna with other wives; after all - Mary of Jacob and Salome. How did it happen that they came separately? “It is very likely that, after preparing everything necessary for anointing the body of the Lord, they agreed on Saturday evening not to gather somewhere in the city in the morning to go together to Golgotha, but to go there as best they could, and wait there until everyone gathered, so that they could all begin to anoint the body of the Lord together.” They did not stay in the same house; why couldn’t they know which ones came out when? Mary Magdalene, it seems, was with Mary of Jacob and Salome, but she did not have the patience to wait until her companions gathered - and she went out alone while it was still dark. Having arrived at the tomb and seeing that the Lord was not in it, she no longer saw the need to wait here for other wives: for there was no one to anoint, and she rushed to the Apostles. Also, John and her family, having received news from the Angels about the resurrection of the Lord, did not wait, but hurried to the Apostles. The last wives did the same. The entire course of these events can be presented in this form. When the body of the Lord was laid in the tomb on Friday evening, the wives were all on Calvary and watched where and how the body of the Lord was laid. Upon returning to the city, some of them (this is John and hers) immediately bought spices and remained in peace on Saturday. Some people did nothing on Friday evening; rested on Saturday until the legal term; but when the Sabbath rest passed, they went to Golgotha ​​to see if everything there remained as they had seen on Friday, and upon returning from there they bought spices. Then, that same evening, they communicated with Joanna and agreed on how to act in the morning, deciding not to gather together in the city in the morning, so as not to draw attention to themselves, but to wait for each other on Calvary in order to begin to anoint the body of the Lord when everyone had gathered. So having agreed, they waited for the morning. Mary Magdalene rose before everyone else and rushed to the Holy Sepulcher, still in the darkness, leaving her roommates to gather there as soon as they could. Not finding the body of the Lord in the tomb, she ran to the Apostles. While she went to the Apostles and went with them again to Golgotha, she came to the tomb of John with her family and, having received assurance from the Angels of the resurrection of the Lord, went to the Apostles. After the Apostles Peter and John, having been at Calvary, went home, and then Magdalene, who remained there, having seen the risen Lord, also went to them, Mary of Jacob with Salome and, perhaps, with some other wives came to Calvary and, seeing first the Angels, then the Lord Himself, they also ran to the Apostles. Thus, all the wives sought to share with the Apostles the joy of the resurrection of the Lord. First of all, Joanna probably came with her people, but she could only tell them that she saw Angels who told her that the Lord had risen. For the Apostles this was the first message. It was both joyful and desirable that it should be so, but they couldn’t believe it. They were still talking about this when Saint Magdalene came and said that she had seen the Lord, conveying the words that the Lord commanded her to convey to the Apostles. But even after listening to her, the Apostles did not lose faith. As soon as Saint Magdalene finished her speech, Mary of Jacob and Salome came and said that they saw Angels at the tomb and in the tomb, and then on the way - the Lord Himself, conveying to them a command from the Lord the same as Magdalene had conveyed. The apostles did not believe them either. So now all the wives gathered with the Apostles - the evangelists of the resurrection of the Lord (Luke 24:10). How many eyes have seen the Lord! Behold, a cloud of witnesses! And yet, it seemed to the Apostles that their words were lies; and they did not believe them. The only fruit of this was that Saint Peter decided to run to the tomb and see if anything would be revealed to him. He went, but did not encounter anything new compared to what he had seen before and returned, only marveling at what had happened. His state of spirit at that time, one must assume, was very difficult from the thought that it was not through his fault that the door of the revelation of the Lord was closed for him and the Apostles. And was it not at this time that the merciful Lord appeared to him to console and pacify his heart? - All this phenomenon took place between this coming of the Apostle Peter to the tomb and the return of the Emmaus disciples to Jerusalem. Because when they came back, they were greeted with joyful news that the Lord had truly risen and appeared to Simon. The order of the Lord's other appearances is determined by itself. The Lord's appearance to Saint Peter obviously preceded His appearance to the Emmaus disciples. About these disciples it should be assumed that they were with the Apostles early in the morning, probably to let them know that they needed to leave Jerusalem for a while, that they heard Joanna telling the Apostles about her being at the tomb and the appearance of Angels to her, informing about the resurrection of the Lord, and immediately left before Magdalene arrived there. That's why they only knew what Joanna was saying. What they said to the Lord: some of our people went to the tomb and found its position in the same form as the wives conveyed, but did not see the Lord Himself - this should be considered to refer to Saints Peter and John, who conveyed this to them before John came. Then in the evening the Lord appeared to all the disciples, except Thomas, with the doors closed... out of fear for the sake of the Jews. Eight days later, the Lord again appeared to all the disciples and with Saint Thomas, who, having received tangible confirmation of the Lord’s resurrection, confessed: ... My Lord and my God! When the Easter holidays ended, the Apostles returned to Galilee and here they had the consolation of seeing the Lord at the sea, with a wonderful catch of fish. Saint Paul remembers the appearance of the Lord to more than 500 brethren. – This is probably the same one that the evangelists Matthew and Mark write off. When describing this event, they, not having the idea of ​​writing about other appearances of the Lord, combined in it what can only be attributed to the last appearance of the Lord on the day of the Ascension, with speeches that were obviously farewell. But since this, according to the Apostle Paul, was not the last phenomenon, then in describing it we leave such words of the Lord that can only relate to the last, final appearance of the Lord, and we introduce into it only those that are of a general nature. The appearance of the Lord on the mountain in Galilee of 500 brethren, of course, and with the eleven Apostles, perhaps, should be placed before His appearance on the Sea of ​​Tiberias. The Lord commanded that they go to Galilee to the mountain, where they would see Him. Therefore, in Galilee the first apparition should be considered to be the apparition on the mountain with 500 brethren. The appearance of the Lord to Saint James is placed after this, according to the instructions of Saint Paul. The appearance of the eleven disciples, about which Saint Paul speaks after this, is the last appearance of the Lord at the Ascension. After such a presentation of the course of events of the Gospel history, all that remains for us is to offer a corresponding synopsis, indicating its main parts and all divisions, which we place after this. In the very presentation of this story in the words of the evangelists, we will no longer introduce such designations. There, only at the top of the page there will be a title for each legend, indicating its content, with its own paragraph. Those wishing to find out in what relation each event stands in the general flow of legends, this paragraph will indicate. He refers to the general summary, which has the same paragraphs against each legend - where it will be seen. In the first edition of 1885, “To the Readers” preceded the text of “The Gospel Story about God the Son.” – Ed. Inde (Ts.-Slav.) - in another place. – Ed. It should read: “from one of them.” Another feature is that the Evangelist Matthew speaks of two demons, and the Evangelists Mark and Luke speak of one. This agrees in that since one of the demons was especially fierce, he was more in the attention of everyone, overshadowing the other, not so fierce. The evangelists Mark and Luke describe his healing alone, since the Lord was especially concerned with it. This refers to the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11–27). – Ed. The law of cohabitation is a marriage that is obligatory due to the family connection between the parties. A childless widow had to be married by the brother of the deceased, and the firstborn born from this marriage was considered by law to be the son of the deceased, “so that his name would not be blotted out in Israel” (Deut. 25:5-10). – Ed. Imposes (ts.-slav.) – compels. – Ed. Vertograd (Ts.-Slav.) – garden. – Ed. You might be interested in: