Слово первое в Великую Субботу

Among the sacred laws given to the people of Israel through Moses, there is a law for the case when the body of a murdered man was found somewhere in the field, and yet it would not be known who the murderer was: - in this case, the elders of the city closest to the dead man were to gather to his body, and, after sacrificing the young woman, wash their hands over her head, and then say over their murdered brother: “Our hands are not You have shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen: ...let there not be innocent blood on your people Israel!” (Deut. 21:1–9). And before us, my brothers, as you see, the body of the Murdered One was carried out; but the killer is not with him! We have gathered, apparently, to mourn the martyrdom of this Sufferer. But this is not yet proof of our innocence. What about the murderers? Don’t they sometimes do the same thing, don’t show regret, don’t even shed tears over the victim of their malice? Can we, then, stand at this tomb and, calling God as a witness, say: our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see? They didn’t shed this blood?.. And what did these hands do when they weaved slander against their brother, or a network to deceive innocence? “You didn’t shed this blood?” What else did they do when they signed a sentence as a criminal to someone who is pure in hand and heart, or when they composed forgeries and lies in obligations and wills? – They didn’t shed this blood? And what did they shed when they rose up to threaten the poor and orphaned, to strangle those who could not answer us with anything except sighs and tears? The Divine Sufferer was betrayed, tortured and killed by none other than the untruths and passions of man: He was lifted up on the Cross as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. So, in order to be innocent of His wounds and death, one must be clean from sin and iniquity. But where and in whom is this purity? We ask Saint Job - he answers: “Who will be clean from filth; no one else, even if he lived one day on earth” (Job 14:4–5). Let's ask Saint David - he cries out: “everyone has turned aside and ... failed to turn: do no goodness, not even one!” (Ps. 13:3). Let's ask Saint Paul - he repeats the same thing: “all... have sinned and come short of the glory of God!” (Rom. 3:23). Let us ask our conscience: it says even more, that is, that we ourselves, who ask about this, are, if not the first, then far from the last of sinners. After this, there is no need for us and the elders of Israel to testify to our innocence. It is necessary to use the same words over this murdered Sufferer, only in a different sense, that is, to stand at this tomb and say: ours, our hands inflicted these ulcers and shed this precious blood! “This one bears our sins and suffers for us”! (Isa. 53:4). – In Judas our greed sold Him; in the disciples who left Him, our frivolity betrayed Him; in Pilate our injustice and partiality condemned Him; in the robber and the scribes our freethinking and blasphemy mocked Him; Our fierceness and violence pierced Him in the soldiers; in Caiaphas our wickedness and bitterness sealed His tomb: “This one bears our sins and suffers for us”! Without a doubt, our Savior, having taken upon Himself our untruths, will never cast them back upon us: no, His love and mercy for us are unrepentant! But when we, freed by His death from the oath and execution for our sins, again indulge in lawlessness; then they themselves fall back on us with all their weight, and we are again enemies of God, guilty of the death of His Son, of the blood and suffering of our beloved Savior, even more guilty than the judges who crucified Him. For when they crucified Him, they probably did not know His Divine dignity: “If they had understood,” says the apostle, “they had not crucified the Lord of glory” (I Cor. 2:8). And we completely know who the Crucified is - that He is the Only Begotten Son of the beloved Father, the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis. Therefore, despising His death, raised for us, we are subject to answer as His murderers. To be held accountable for the murder of the Son of God! - Do you feel, sinner, all the horror of this thought? To explain this to you, imagine that a murdered man is found near your house: that this man is so important that the whole kingdom is not worth him alone. Imagine that suspicion (only suspicion) of his murder has fallen on you, and justice is preparing to prosecute you as a murderer. How afraid you would be at this! And what measures would he not use to prove either his innocence, or to compensate, if possible, for what he had done? - But he was killed, and who was killed? Not an ordinary person, but the Son of the Heavenly King: we ourselves cannot help but recognize our participation in His martyrdom, and what do we do as a result of this? We don’t even feel the importance (gravity) of our crime! For if they had felt at least a little, they would have long ago ceased to be distracted spectators of these wounds and this crown of thorns. If we had felt at all, we would have long ago used all our strength and means to free ourselves from the sins that make us guilty of the Blood of our Savior. But, with all my desire, I, you say, cannot return the past: the sins I have committed will forever remain sins. It is true, beloved, that you and I cannot bring back the past; but we can have the present, even the future, insofar as it has the ability to move into the present. So let's do what we can. The sins and passions of man tortured and lifted our Savior to the Cross: let us therefore cease to sin and be slaves of the passions: let us establish our will and desire in the law of the Lord; let us begin to serve the living and true God, with the same zeal with which we have hitherto served the world and our passions; let us, I say, do all this, and the Blood of the Son of God, shed on the Cross, although shed from us, that is, from our sins, will not be against us, but for us - for our justification, for our salvation, for our virtue and merit; our sins will remain sins even then, but the difference is that as soon as we stop sinning, they will become, as it were, alien to us, for our Redeemer will take them upon Himself, accept them and blot them out with His Cross. And without this - a cruel ruler, no matter how much you bow to this Sufferer, the fierce scourging He endured is from you, who, according to the blind arbitrariness of your fierce heart, so mercilessly scourge those under your control. And without this - this crown of thorns is from you, proud and unreasonable sage, who places your pitiful mind and knowledge in madly mocking the objects of Christian faith and morality, only because they are above the concepts of your poor mind. And without this - this wound in the heart of the Divine Sufferer - is from you, unworthy shepherd of the Church, who, having the right to enter the Holy of Holies, brings there with you the abomination of spiritual desolation, with your lips and hands you make the mystery of salvation, and in your heart and thoughts you make the mystery of untruths and lawlessness. And without this, that is, without correcting life and conscience, without surrendering ourselves to the will of our Redeemer, without conforming ourselves to the Gospel and His example, no matter what we do, no matter how pious we may seem, we are all found before the court of God’s truth as the murderers of this Divine Sufferer: the Blood of this Righteous One is upon us all! Now this thought can easily seem unimportant to many: no one will seek this blood; we come to our sacrifice and leave as if innocent. But it won't always be like this. The time will come when this same Divine Sufferer will appear as an almighty judge, when these hands, instead of the Gospel, will receive lightning and thunder against the unrepentant. What will happen to you then, poor sinner? What are you saying? How will you justify it? Where will you hide? Where will you find cover and protection? “It’s scary (is) ... to fall into the hands of the living God”! (Heb. 10:31). It is a hundred times more terrible to fall into these hands for the Blood of the Son of God! Let us recognize, my brothers, the beneficial power of this holy and terrible mystery! Let us fear the very abundance of God’s love for us who are unworthy. Sprinkled with the blood of the Eternal Covenant, let us reject sin and all uncleanness, so that we may be partakers of eternal life! Amen. You might be interested in: