222. Слово в день восшествия на Всероссийский престол Благочестивейшаго Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the cathedral church of the Chudov Monastery, November 20; printed in the Works of the Holy Father of 1848 and in the collection of 1861) Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and the things that are God's to the Gods. (Matthew 22:21). Every time the revolving circle of summer returns to us the day of the accession or royal wedding of our Most Pious Autocrat, and when the duty and heartfelt feeling of our faithful subjects gathers us to prayer, grateful for this gift of Providence, and asking for the continuation of this gift, the Church allows us to hear the Pharisaic debate and Christ’s teaching of duty to the Tsar, in accordance with duty to God. Thus, she now offers this subject to our reflection: but if I talk about it, will I not be repeating a lesson that has been repeated? So that this thought does not stop my words and does not weaken your attention, let the example of the Apostle help this, who wrote: “When I write to you, I am not lazy, but to you it is firm” (Phil. 3:1). We need the actual teaching of Christ: but how does the Gospel lead us to it through Pharisaic debate; then we will not avoid this path. This was not just a verbal dispute, but a malicious enterprise. The Pharisees, jealous of the glory of the Lord Jesus, and being irritated by the accusations from Him and the predictions unfavorable to them, decided to destroy Him; and at a general meeting they invented a means for this. “The Pharisee,” writes the holy Evangelist Matthew, “took the advice that they would deceive Him with a word” (Matthew 22:15). And Saint Luke adds: “Let them have Him in word, so that they may deliver Him over to the rulers and the rulers of the region” (Luke 20:20). Let us compare this beginning of the enterprise with the end, the intention with the consequence, and see above the ugliness of human affairs the majestic image of the active Providence of God, which turns skillfully conceived but ill-intentioned enterprises into shame for the inventors, and even produces good out of evil. The Pharisees thought how to catch Jesus with a net, a cunning and hypocritical word, and inevitably drag him into destruction: but the attempt ended in the fact that His word revealed their weakness, and their ignorance was put to shame. The primordial enemy of the human race thought through them to destroy Christ, and to destroy barely the foundation of the Church of Christ: but instead, he gave only Christ the opportunity to proclaim a teaching that would forever affirm the union between the Church and the State, favorable for the peace of the Church, essential for the good and strength of the State. The cunning and ill-intention of the Pharisees is revealed before words in the faces of their messengers to Christ. “Their disciples sent to Him from Herodian” (Matthew 22:16). Why didn’t you go to Him yourself? - Without a doubt, based on the calculation that if they act successfully through the disciples, they will enjoy success in the same way as if they acted themselves; and in case of failure, it is better to let shame fall on the face of the students, and let the teachers stand aside. But why do they send not only their disciples, but also add Herodian to them? – This is where the art of malice comes in. When Judea, previously independent, was conquered by the Romans: then the unpleasant, due to the new and alien dominion, the obligation to pay taxes to the Roman Caesar made for many an interesting question: “Is it worthy to eat kinson to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17) The Herodians and Pharisees had opposing opinions about this. The Herodians, who borrowed their name from Herod, who received his power from Caesar of Rome, argued that taxes should be paid to Caesar, and opponents of this opinion were considered rebels. On the contrary, the Pharisees, in agreement with the Zealots, the imaginary “zealots” of the law of God, believed that the Jews, as the people of God, should, unlike the pagan peoples, pay only one tribute - to God, to His temple, half a shekel per soul, as prescribed in the Law of Moses, and that to pay tribute to the Roman Caesar, an idolater, means to offend the true God. How can these people, with opposing opinions, unite now to act as one? “They put aside their enmity for a while in order to jointly do harm to the Teacher of Truth who is hated by both. Here is their calculation. If He says that “it is worthy to eat kinson” to the Roman Caesar, then the Pharisees will proclaim that He has betrayed the people of God and God, and thus will refute in His person the dignity of the messenger of God and the faith of the people in Him. If he says: “It is not worthy to eat kinson” to Caesar, then the Herodians will denounce Him to the Roman governor as a rebel, and will subject Him to death judgment. Isn’t it true that the net is tightly tied and cleverly spread, “that they may have His word?” (Luke 20:20). At the same time, one cannot help but pay attention to the sad image in the Jews of a people and society divided into rumors and complicities. By forming separate compounds, they damage the unity of the whole, the first condition of social life; reduce the overall force, cutting it into private, mutually opposing forces; weaken public trust; they worry about the thoughts of the people, instead of arranging for their well-being through correct activities, in calm obedience to authority; shake the building of society, turning into questions and disputes what was recognized at the establishment of societies, laid at their foundation and approved by necessity; They wage an internal war in society, of course, not for its peace or security, and sometimes even more disastrously they conclude a feigned truce among themselves, for the strongest rebellion against truth and justice. Good for the people and the state in which the King stands as a single, universal, bright, strong, all-attracting, all-moving focus, like the sun in the universe, freely limiting his unlimited autocracy by the will of the Heavenly King, wisdom, generosity, love for the people, desire for the common good, attention to good advice, respect for the laws of his predecessors and for his own, and in which the relationship of his subjects to the supreme power is established not on questions that arise daily, and not on disputes that never end, but on the sacredly preserved tradition of the forefathers, on hereditary and acquired love for the Tsar and the Fatherland, and even deeper, on reverence for the King of kings and the Lord of lords. God! You have given us this blessing. It remains for us to give thanks, preserve and pray: “establish, O God, this which you have done in us” (Ps. 67:29). Let us turn to the Pharisees' net to see what the catch will be. As a bait to attract people into the network, the question is posed: “Is it worthy to eat the dati kinson of Caesar?” But He Whom they want to catch sees not only the bait, but also the net hidden behind it, not only the question, but also the hearts and intentions of those asking. To lay a tangible basis for resolving the issue, He demands a “kinson gold coin”, a coin that must be used to pay taxes, and, in response to a mutual question: “Whose image and writing is this?” Having received the inevitable answer that this is the image and inscription of Caesar, and therefore his right to the coin is obvious, he pronounces a decision that breaks the net, and at the same time catches the catchers themselves: “render therefore Caesar's to Caesar, and God's to the Gods” (Matthew 22:19-20). What will the zeal of the Pharisees now complain about? It is said: “Render unto the Gods of God.” – What will the Herodians report to Hegemon? It is said: “Render unto Caesar the one who is Caesar.” Both should be ashamed that they proposed what seemed to be an unusually difficult question that could be resolved with one glance at the coin. But the Pharisees and Herodians are ashamed, and the whole world receives a saving lesson: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto the Gods that are God’s.” Servants of the Heavenly King and zealots of His glory! The Heavenly King does not remove you from your duties to the earthly King, but He Himself proclaims them, and He Himself commands to fulfill them, because through Him “kings reign” (Prov. 8:15), and “there is no authority except from God” (Rom. 13:1). "Render unto Caesar the Caesar." Subjects of the King of the earth! Submitting 681 to Him, the Heavenly King does not exclude you from His all-encompassing dominion, but from both you and Him, He demands obedience to His laws: “render unto God the things of God.” And the church “let Caesar repay Kecapevi,” offering prayers for the Tsar and the State, instilling in its children loyalty to the Tsar, the Fatherland and the laws, and strengthening this loyalty with an oath in the name of God. And the State “may it reward the Gods of God,” together with its Autocrat, reverently before the Almighty, agreeing its laws with His commandments, helping the Church with its protection, just as it helps the state through teaching and prayer, “so that we may live a quiet and silent life in all godliness and purity” (1 Tim. 2:2). It is worthy of special note that, although the question of the Pharisees was proposed only about the obligation to Caesar, and although this question, by indicating the kinson and the commandment: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” was resolved sufficiently and invincibly: the Lord, however, was not satisfied with this, but extended His answer beyond the limit of the question, and directly added another commandment: “and the Gods of God,” meaning this union of both commandments and incompleteness of the first without the last. Likewise, in other cases, the word of God directly connects the duty to the King with the duty to God. This is what the Old Testament sage says: “Fear God, son, and the king” (Proverbs 24:21). So does the Apostle Peter: “Fear God, honor the king” (1 Pet. 2:17). Brethren, children of the kingdom of earth, and, by faith and hope, children of the kingdom of heaven! Without a doubt, the one who follows the beck of heaven in earthly affairs will not sin. Why does the word of God present to us the thought of the King in close proximity to the thought of God? - Without a doubt, so that these thoughts are friendly and inseparable in our hearts, and in our activities, and so that the heavenly thought is an earthly support. Reverence and love for our King are natural to us: but the thought of the King of the reigning most likely gives these feelings full strength, perfect purity, unshakable firmness and directness of action. In the light of the thought of God, we fulfill the duties of subjects and subordinates, I will say in the words of the Apostle, “in simplicity of heart, not working in front of others as people pleasing, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul, serving with prudence as the Lord, and not as men” (Eph. 6:5-7). Amen. You might be interested in: