Слово первое в Великий Понедельник, на утрене

The Great Week has finally arrived! The divine field of the Passion of Christ has opened! There is so much light here for the mind, the most inert, so much fire for the coldest heart, that we, the servants of the word, could already become silent, and at the same time become spectators of what is happening, listeners of what is said. But, since the Church itself does not stop speaking, we cannot leave it either. We will open our mouths to show you what to especially pay attention to every day. This is all the more necessary, especially in the early days, because although the Church itself reminds us every day of certain subjects with the daily Gospel and hymns, they, I don’t know why, have not yet come to general public knowledge. How many, for example, know that today they observe the memory of the righteous Joseph and the cursed fig tree? And the memory of them is precisely assigned to the present day because they contain much instructive things for us. So let us now turn our attention to St. Joseph; and in the midst of the liturgy we will consider the fate of the cursed fig tree. Why does Saint Joseph appear today? Because he was a prototype of our Savior. For it is necessary to know, my brethren, that our Savior, in addition to what was predicted by the prophets, was also typified by persons and things. So, for example, the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham prefigured the sacrifice of Calvary. The stay of the prophet Jonah for three days in the belly of whales prefigured the three-day stay of the Savior in the tomb. Moses' ascension of the serpent in the desert to the cross for healing formed the ascension of Jesus to the Cross for the salvation of all. The command to bake the Passover lamb whole on fire, without breaking its bones, foreshadows that on the cross the legs of the Crucified Savior will not be broken. But of all the Old Testament prototypes of the Divine Passion of Christ, there is none more complete than in Joseph. This righteous man typified not just one circumstance in the Lord’s suffering, nor just one side of His Cross, but many. In general, in his life, two states apparently differ: humiliation and glorification, and the latter came out of the first in such a way that if there had been no humiliation, then there would have been no glory. So it is in the life of the Lord: first humiliation, suffering, death and burial, and then resurrection, ascension and seating on the throne of the Father, and all this because He was obedient even to death on the cross. In particular, every single thing in Joseph’s life is similar to the life of the Lord, and especially to His suffering. Thus, Joseph was his father’s favorite son: the Savior is the beloved Son of the Heavenly Father. Joseph was sent to visit his brothers who were outside their father's house; but instead of love he was met with hatred, imprisoned in a ditch and sold to strangers. The Savior was also sent from heaven to visit us in the land of wandering; came to his own, to his brethren, to the people of Judea, “and his own did not receive him” (John 1:11), they tied him up as a villain and handed him over to the pagans - the Romans. Joseph suffered in Egypt innocently, and yet they thought that he was guilty: Jesus did not commit sin, and yet those who betrayed Him said: “If this villain had not been, they would not have betrayed Him...”. (John 18:30). From prison, from extreme humiliation, Joseph ascended to the heights of honor, became the savior of Egypt and was seated at the right hand of the king: from the Cross and from the tomb, Jesus ascended to heights, brought salvation to the entire human race, and was seated at the right hand of the Father. The similarity in the fate of righteous Joseph with the fate of the Savior of men extends to such detail. That is why he is now remembered, so that at the very beginning of the race of the cross we would remember that all the circumstances of the suffering of Christ were not only predicted by the words of the prophets, but also depicted in the life and deeds of the righteous of the Old Testament. What of this? - someone will ask. So that you do not look at the suffering of Christ as something accidental, so that it either depends entirely on a miracle or on Pilate. No, although people also acted, everything mainly depended on God. People, the most evil, in this case - only what was destined - for the good of the whole world - to be the wisdom of God. Therefore, the Savior Himself will say to Pilate: “Have no power in Me except it be given from above” (John 19:11). Secondly, marvel and revere the greatness of the mystery, which for thousands of years has been predictable and foreshadowed. This is how it should be, by its very greatness, that everything was directed towards it, openly and secretly, in the Old Testament - both the entire moral law, which forced us to seek and expect an Intercessor and Redeemer with inexorable severity, and the ritual law, which made it possible to see in all our sacrifices what would happen on Golgotha. But it seems to me that it won’t be much if we say that everything in the world, even inanimate nature, with its laws and phenomena signified the same thing. That is why on Golgotha, at the hour of the Lord’s death, all creation will show its participation. The very life and fate of Joseph is very instructive for us. This is an example of purity, innocence, patience, then humility in happiness and generosity towards one’s persecutors. Having been sold from your brothers, taken to a foreign country, being in slavery, how not to lose your spirit? But Joseph did not lose. Why? Because he firmly believed in the God of his fathers. The slave's share did not humiliate either his thoughts or his feelings, but one might say, it even elevated him, at least it showed him and revealed him in all his glory. What a temptation for a young man is the beauty of a woman! This woman was, moreover, Joseph’s mistress, and it was up to her to both sweeten his fate and make him sad to the last extreme: Joseph the slave did not look at either one or the other. He had one thing - that over masters, as well as over slaves, there is equally a supreme Master, Whom, where conscience is concerned, one must listen alone. “How can I create this evil verb and sin before God”? (Gen. 39:9). The thought of God, therefore, always surrounded him and protected him from everything evil. Here is an example for you, who by the lot of birth are placed in a state of slavery! – Raise your thoughts to the One who lives in heaven, be true to your conscience. He, like Joseph, will not allow you to be tempted more than you can bear. Behold, Joseph is in prison! “His purity and innocence soon shone in this darkness. Being himself a prisoner, he becomes, because of his integrity, the chief and, as it were, the caretaker of the other prisoners. The miraculous interpretation of dreams to two unfortunate courtiers, accompanied by faithful execution, brings him to the knowledge of the ruler of Egypt, and the explanation of his own dreams not only takes him out of prison, but brings him into the trust and love of the Pharaoh to such an extent that the previously poor prisoner becomes the first king and assumes power over the entire country. What a favorable opportunity to take revenge on his persecutors, the gullible Pentefry, his cold-free wife: but Joseph does not even think about it. It’s as if they don’t exist for him. The same thing happened to his brothers, who treated him so mercilessly by selling him to the Ishmaelites! Not only not a single punishment, not even a single reproach. Joseph, on the contrary, consoles and encourages them, saying: “You plan evil against me, but God plans good for me” (Gen. 50:20) This is what the servants of God do! In misfortune they endure and are content; in happiness they humble themselves and do good. Why? Because they are confident in the Providence of God, convinced that happiness and misfortune, although they depend on people, are sent and allowed by order from above. This consoles them in misfortune, causing them to look at it as a gift from God. But I am especially touched by the words of Joseph, which he says to his brothers, as the reason why they should not fear him: “Do not be afraid, for I am God’s” (Gen. 50:19) That is, as if he were saying this: you do not need to fear me, for I am not your own, but God’s; I have no will other than God’s: my personality, therefore, and my offense are nothing to me. And certainly, there is no reason to fear the man of God: those who are not God’s, who are driven by self-love, are terrible and dangerous. Oh, such people, no matter how gentle and humane they may seem, are terrible! Their passions can always flare up like fire and burn you. Also especially touching are the words with which Joseph confesses to his brothers who did not recognize him: “I am Joseph, your brother”! - So one day the Lord will say to His persecutors, and to those of Calvary and to all who crucified Him afterwards - some with their freethinking, others with their sins; He will say, I say, to all those who do not recognize His Divinity: “I am Joseph, your brother!” (Gen. 45:4). But, alas, these words, although they are spoken with meekness, will not produce what Joseph’s words produced in his brothers. All such, like them, recognize Jesus as their Savior; but salvation will already be alien to them: for the time of mercy has passed. They will look at Nan, who has perished; but this gaze will only serve to shame and torment. Then they will cry to the mountains: “fall on us, and to the hills, cover us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne” (Rev. 6:16). And the mountains will not fall, and the hills will not be covered. My brothers, if anyone has previously had the misfortune of betraying Jesus, not recognizing His Divine face; Let him repent of this now, while he is on earth. Now everything will be accepted, everything will be forgotten, everything will be forgiven; but after leaving here and going there, the conversion itself will be in vain. Amen. You might be interested in: