Слово второе в Великий Понедельник

“In the morning I will return to the city, hunger. And having seen a single fig tree along the way, you came to it, and found nothing on it except one leaf, and said to it: Let there be no more fruit from you forever. And abiye izshe fig tree." (Matthew 21:18–19). Such, brethren, is the power of the Divine verb! Like an omnipotent: “let it be!” gives existence and life to nothingness itself; so omnipotent: “Let it not be!” everything kills and destroys. But what is this change with our Lord and Savior? Throughout His ministry, He only taught, forgave, nourished, healed and resurrected; and now, at the end of the service, he utters a curse! Why and why was the fig tree punished in this way? - Because she did not satisfy the hunger, as one might think, hearing the words: “hungry”, and when you come to her, “and you will find nothing in her”? - But Who spent forty days in fasting and, despite the famine, indignantly rejected the tempter’s offer to turn stones into bread. He could now endure hunger for several more hours until he reached the city; and least of all could he turn His miraculous power to take revenge on the innocent tree. And didn’t He Himself say to the disciples when they invited Him to refresh themselves with food at the source of Shechem: “I am meatless to eat, of which you do not know... My food is to eat, that I may do the will of Him who sent Me”! (John 4:32, 34). Was this Divine mess really missing now, when the most difficult part of the determination of this all-holy will had to be completed on Calvary? And how, finally, when teaching his disciples an instruction about faith and prayer on the occasion of the curse of this fig tree, could the Savior say to them: “When you stand praying, let go, if you have anything against anyone” (Mark 11:25), if He Himself had cursed the fig tree in anger and out of personal displeasure against it? All this, not to mention other circumstances, clearly shows, brethren, that the curse of the fig tree did not follow as revenge or punishment on the tree (such an act would be incompatible not only with the Divine dignity of the person of Jesus, but also with the nature of the tree), but for a higher purpose. This was one of those symbolic actions with which the Savior, instead of words, sometimes expressed the lofty truths of His teaching. The fig tree could now be used as a symbol all the more conveniently because it had already served them once in one of the Savior’s parables. Do you remember this parable? Here she is! “There is a certain fig tree,” the Lord once said to the people, “I planted it in its vines; He answered and said to him: “Lord, leave her this summer, until I dig around her, and sprinkle her with pus, and even if he produces fruit, or else, I will cut her off in the future” (Luke 13:6-9). This parable, as you can see, does not have a final conclusion. It is not clear what happened after the coming summer with the fig tree: did it improve and begin to bear fruit? Or remained barren? If she remained barren, was she really flogged? - I can’t see it, I say. And to see this, that is, that Divine threats are not idle words, is very necessary for us. For our flesh and blood love to deceive and lull our spirit, among other things, with the false hope that the Lord is merciful and therefore will not fulfill his threats against us. The real curse of the fig tree overthrows this deception of sensuality, showing decisively that just as there is a time of mercy and long-suffering, so there is a time of judgment and condemnation; that the very fullness of love with which the Divine appeared on earth in the person of the God-man, serving as a refuge for repentance, is not a defense for unrepentance, and that the same love can not only ascend to the cross for the redemption of the repentant, but pronounce condemnation on the unrepentant. This is the meaning of the fig tree symbol! This is the purpose of her curse! The fate that befell the barren fig tree primarily expressed the fate of the people of Judah. Yesterday was the most decisive day for him: the expected Messiah appeared before him in the form of a meek King, predicted by the prophets; it was necessary to recognize and recognize Him in this capacity; everything depended on it. Why did the Savior Himself, upon entering Jerusalem, say with tears: “Oh, if only in this day you would understand what serves for your well-being!” (Luke 19:42) Jerusalem did not understand this; except for the cry of innocent children: “Hosanna to the Son of David”! (Matthew 21:15) - everything else, great and small, old and young, remained indifferent and motionless: they closed their eyes so as not to see, they closed their ears so as not to hear. Therefore, tomorrow, at the conclusion of the last final speech to the people in the church, the Lord will say: “Behold, your house is left empty”! (Matthew 23:38) That is, he will say to the whole people something similar to what was said now to the fig tree: “from now on, let there be no fruit on you”! But, depicting the fate of the people of Judah, the cursed fig tree expresses the fate of every sinful and unrepentant soul. All of us, brothers, are like trees, which are planted by the heavenly Vertogradar, watered, cleansed, dug in, so that in their time they can bloom and bear fruit. Virtuous souls correspond to this holy destiny; why the very word of God likens them to trees standing by the outgoing waters, which always turn almost green and are very fruitful; and sinful and unrepentant souls are barren trees, which with a multitude of leaves only show the appearance of life, but in fact do not reward the work put upon them. What should the heavenly Vertogradar do with such trees? – And He, like an earthly heli-grader, uses various means to correct them. But when these means, worries and labors remain without effect on an unrepentant sinner, heavenly justice finally pronounces a formidable decision - to cut down the barren tree and throw it into the fire! – The Angel of Death sometimes fulfills this determination over a poor sinner with such suddenness and zeal that even the unwilling one remembers the words of David: “I passed by, and behold, I sought... and his place was not found!” (Ps. 36:36) And sometimes the sinner, marked by heavenly rejection, remains alive for some time (just as the cursed and withered fig tree, no doubt, still occupied its place for some time); but this life is worse than death itself. For those who have eyes to see, there is nothing more pitiful than the sight of these living dead. Despite the luxury and splendor that often surrounds them, they apparently bear the stamp of judgment and rejection; there is coldness and deadness around them; near them there is despondency and secret fear. The withered fig trees for their barrenness are afraid of rebuke, brothers; let us bring fruit worthy of repentance to Christ, who bestows upon us great mercy. Amen. You might be interested in: