Persecution of Israel

The sons of Israel are persecuted again, who yesterday seemed to be triumphant, although they are persecuted not throughout the world, at least not in America, where they are still more likely to triumph, but in Europe, and again in Russia. It is unknown when this persecution will stop and how it will end. But now it is becoming cruel and destructive, and its main inspirers and persecutors are Hitler and the racists. Persecution extends not only to adults, men and women, but also to children who are separated from their parents or taken with them to a camp and exiled, doomed to extermination. Again and again the words of Christ are fulfilled: “Weep for yourself and for your children” (Luke 23:28), “for if they do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry tree” (31). And above all this, the terrible self-sentence of Christ’s crucifiers sounds again and again: “His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matthew 27:25). However, the answer to this is Paul’s word that “hardness has occurred in Israel in part” (Rom. 11:5), for the time will come when “all Israel will be saved” (26). There is a beginning and an end, the election and calling of Israel, as its new rebirth after bitterness, for “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29), and all the promises of God given to Abraham retain all their force. But in the face of this persecution, the question arises again and again about the fate of the chosen people in their rejection. What does it mean for this very people and their children, about whom Christ himself said: “Weep not for me, but... for your children, for the days are coming in which they will say: “Blessed are the barren... and the breasts that have not nursed”? (Luke 23:29). And then for everyone: “Then they will begin to say to the mountains: “Fall on us,” and to the hills: “Cover us.” For if they do this to a green tree, then what will happen to the dry?” (30, 31). Such is the anguish and bewilderment in the face of what is happening, which is a “mystery.” (Rom. 11:25). For they represent, on the one hand, God’s punishment and rejection, the fatal consequence of unjustified chosenness, but on the other hand, a mysterious rebirth. Israel, even in its falling away, does not cease to be a chosen people, a relative of Christ and His Most Pure Mother, and this blood relationship is not interrupted and does not cease after the Nativity of Christ, as it was in force before it - this is a fact that must be thought through and comprehended in all its power, in its dogmatic meaning, in application to the destinies of Israel. This bond of blood is indestructible, just as the gifts and election of God are immutable, and even in a state of rejection, but only temporary - such is the direct testimony of the Apostle Paul. What could be the basis for accepting this truth and what conclusions follow from this? We must understand the idea of ​​the genealogy of Christ as “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1), as the Son of the Mother of God, deeper and broader in application to Israel, as the chosen people, the people of God, the earthly ancestors of the Savior, but also not only ancestors, but also fellow tribesmen, in application not only to the past, but also to the present and future. We must accept the entire inextricability of this connection, from the beginning of the human race, from Adam (according to the genealogy of the Evangelist Luke) to the end of history. And this connection is not broken or abolished by the rejection of Israel, since, according to the Apostle Paul, “if the root is holy, so are the branches” (11:16) of this olive tree of God. This connection of the root and the olive with Christ will appear at that appointed time when “all Israel will be saved.” But here is the main question that arises: if the earthly ancestors of the Savior, participating in the Incarnation according to their humanity, thereby have their share of participation in the redemption and will have compassion with Christ, then his relatives in the flesh after His incarnation retain these connections, this their participation in the redemption? Does Christ separate from His people, after he is at the Birth of God, at the Nativity of the Mother of God, as if he had already completed his work, or does He remain united with them? According to His humanity, Christ is testified by the Evangelist (Matthew 11:1) as “Son of David, Son of Abraham.” Genealogy of St. Luke, presented in reverse, ascending order, also includes both names: David and Abraham, and is therefore no different from the first. Both genealogies, as is known, differ from each other in details, in the total number of ancestors listed, their names, and in general represent a well-known schematic stylization. Of course, both genealogies do not aim at historical accuracy and completeness, and explaining their known differences presents insurmountable difficulties. However, with all this difference in the historical scheme and its special stylization in the first and third Gospels, both genealogies contain certain dogmatic ideas, although expressed in different forms. The first genealogy of Christ, as the son of Abraham, the son of David, expresses the idea that Christ belongs to the chosen people, whose forefather is Abraham, the father of the people, with whom God made a Covenant and gave him the promise that in him “all the families of the earth will be blessed.” This is evidence of the special chosenness of Israel, to which Christ belongs according to humanity! However, in Matthew, this God-chosen people is taken in its own particularity, outside the general context of world history, of the entire human race. Here we can say at most that he is one among others, from many historical peoples, although God's chosen one. The genealogical diagram of 3 parts, each of 14 tribes, is built on the fact of the external historical significance of the Babylonian captivity, before it and after it (namely the second and third 14 generations. Matt. 1:17). This is a national-historical scheme, it gives satisfaction to Jewish patriotism, one might even say, nationalism. A different kind of scheme for the second genealogy (Luke 3:22–38). It is alien to national-historical and chronological facets, as well as to that emphatically royal and patriarchal character characteristic of the Evangelist Matthew. The latter, therefore, in its essence can be expressed in these two definitions: “The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1, 1), and this “sonship” of David and Abraham is revealed in three 14-generation schemes in history. Although both of these names of Christ’s ancestors are named in Luke, they are not highlighted here as the main theme of the genealogy, as in Matthew, but are only included in the general enumeration of the Savior’s earthly ancestors. But this genealogy continues beyond both of these ancestors or, according to its ascending nature, ascends above them. Where to? It is traced back to the post-flood and antediluvian patriarchs, the end of which rests on the first man Adam. Of course, historically this genealogical scheme does not withstand the touch of rational criticism. The very transition from history to the prehistoric (and antediluvian) era is a dogmatic construction based on the obviously unhistorical, metahistorical, mythical (for empirical historicism) chapters of the book of Genesis (1–11). However, what is true is not this controversial or, rather, even the indisputable inaccuracy of this genealogical scheme, but its dogmatic idea. And this idea is that the Jewish people, which has its own special genealogy within the boundaries of history, here, through its inclusion in the history of the entire human tree, is silently proclaimed to be beyond historical or all historical. Although it is in history, empirically manifested only in a certain era, its existence goes far beyond its borders, and in general it is inherent in the existence of the human race from the very beginning in Adam. Although history before Abraham does not know Jewry as a special people, it exists as the main trunk of the pan-human tree; it is, one might say, the very ontology of humanity. This tree has different branches and offspring, but its trunk is one, and in that undivided, undifferentiated state of humanity that precedes history, this trunk contains the direct ancestors of Abraham and David, i.e. Jewry is traced back to Adam as the first man. Thus, the dogmatic idea of ​​Luke's genealogy is that all humanity comes from, or rather includes, the Hebrew root. In this sense, we have to say that the first man Adam himself (of course, together with Eve) was a Jew, not in the sense of belonging to this one of many other tribes and nationalities, but in the sense of his Universal uniqueness: all the people's streams and streams flow into him or emanate from him. Adam is an all-man, but he is also a Jew, which Jewry is revealed in his historical existence, already in the image of Abraham, the father of nations, and King David. Whether we like it or not, this is precisely what is evidenced in the gospel genealogy, including the book of Genesis. The following fact can serve as a historical commentary here. Although historical existence is established for the Jewish people only from the second millennium BC (and in this sense, in this sense, it, of course, represents a real miracle of history in this antiquity), it is not the oldest of those peoples that history knows: the Egyptians and Babylonians chronologically precede it (based on at least existing sources) by a good thousand years. But this historical chronology may, of course, not contradict the structure of the human race, which is hidden in the depths of the metahistory or ontology of humanity. One can, in any case, assume that the historically attested appearance of the most ancient peoples on the arena of history is not yet primordial, but has a prior origin from the primordial root of the first Adam. Here, of course, history is silent, but revelation bears witness. This thought, so to speak, about the Jewishness of the first Adam, and together of all Adam, the all-man, completely and exactly corresponds to the Christological dogma of the Incarnation of Christ. For the humanity of Christ historically and concretely and even empirically unites Him precisely with Jewry; Christ in the flesh, in His humanity, according to the Gospel, was a Jew, and at the same time truly an all-man, who in His humanity unites in Himself, includes in Himself all the nationalities of all mankind. Thus, this speaks equally both about the personal Jewishness of Christ himself, and, at the same time, about the co-Jewishness of all humanity in Him. In Christ, as in the God-Man, a Jew according to the flesh, there is no Hellene or Scythian, but all are united in Christ. But it (historical chronology) goes back in Luke (3:38) even higher, to the very last foundation, namely, that Christ, as the son of Adam, is the son of “God.” In other words, human genealogy is raised to the heavens and established in them. God, as the Creator of man, creates him in His image and likeness. And this is Adam, who appears in his concrete existence as a Jew. From this it is necessary to conclude that the fullness of the image of God in man is given in Judaism, and the heavenly prototype of man on earth is expressed in Judaism. This is what the genealogy of Christ and church dogma, in particular, the Chalcedonian dogma, contain. The said participation of Israel in redemption is evidenced by one gospel event in its church interpretation, this is precisely the beating of the firstborn of the Jews by Herod (Matt. 2:13, 17). This event, according to the evangelist’s reference, was predicted in the prophecy of Jeremiah, which is applicable to this case. This, of course, demonstrates its special importance. Its interpretation by the church, which glorifies infants (December 29) as martyrs for Christ, is also remarkable. What does this interpretation contain? According to this canonization of the murdered infants in the rank of martyrdom, the power of redemption extends to them even before the Passion of Christ: Herod “made them martyrs... and citizens of the higher kingdom”, “the face of the infants was brought with the blood of martyrdom... Thou didst inhabit the abodes of ever-living animals” (verse, on the Lord, I cried out)... “baby, many martyrs, for the Gods of all who suffered, the honors of suffering from him accepts” (canon, canto 4), “peers, children, sufferers of Christ’s incarnation” (canto 2). This canonization contains a thought of enormous dogmatic significance, and precisely in relation to the “Jewish question” that interests us. These babies were victims of Herod’s cruelty, being alien to consciousness due to their age, and also in the absence of connection with Christ in his infancy. Of course, there is a special mysterious chosenness of these babies (a hint is given about it in the church hymn: it is said here about Rachel that she “rejoices, now seeing in the bosom of Abraham”). But, in addition to the mystery of this personal election, there remains a fact of general significance, which relates to the special connection that exists between the chosen people, as those recognized to deliberately serve the cause of the Incarnation, and the incarnate Lord himself. The Jewish people are the living genealogy of Christ the Savior, which is evidenced in the first and third Gospels, as well as in the entire relationship between the Old Testament and the New. Both of them, taken together, represent two parts of the Gospel narrative about the coming of the Son of God into the world, the first part relating to the time before the Incarnation, the second to it itself with all its consequences. Although the genealogy of Christ itself is determined and calculated only among certain individuals and generations, this does not close it; on the contrary, it must be understood as applied to all of Israel, which is clear from the content of the Old Testament prophecies that relate here. The personal ancestors of the Savior are only representatives of their entire people, bearers of the sacred blood, which served as such a terrible secret. The Old Testament holiness of the Savior's ancestors is testified by the church to many who are not included in the list of direct genealogy. Jewry, like all peoples, consists of a collection of different individuals who differ from each other in their personal characteristics, but these individual differences do not abolish the organic unity of blood and fate. Moreover, it is necessary to attribute the belonging of the chosen people, as the genealogy of Christ the Savior, to its entire Old Testament part: all Old Testament Jewry belongs to the ancestors of the Savior, either directly or indirectly. This is evidenced by the fact of church canonization, the canonization of Christian saints by numerous Old Testament righteous men from Adam: patriarchs, prophets, judges and various saints of God, about whom the Apostle Paul narrates in the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews (the church also testifies to this by their liturgical veneration in the month of the month and the Proskomedia rite). Yet the power of Israel's chosenness and holiness finds personal expression in the Ever-Virgin. However, she is also revered by the church as having given humanity to the God-Man, not only in her personal capacity, but also as the New Eve, the Daughter and Mother of the chosen people. Israel, from which the God-Man received His humanity, is the unity and organic connection - bodily, mental and spiritual - of the entire Jewish people. In this, the chosenness of the chosen people is not canceled by all its falls, individual and national. This is indisputably evidenced by the books of the prophets, with their merciless denunciations of the Jewish people, which are connected, however, with the promises irrevocably given to them, the “Covenant” of God with Israel in all its immutability, with such energy attested by the apostle. Pavel. Israel, as the Old Testament church, belongs to Christ, is His body, His Old Testament humanity, which becomes the New Testament, is included in the Church of Christ by the power of the Incarnation itself. From here it is obvious that this inclusion takes place not only here on earth, but also beyond the boundaries of earthly life, by the power of “sermon in hell,” so to speak, baptism beyond the grave. In the context of this organic unity of Old Testament Israel, the meaning of the killing of infants by Herod can only be perceived, who, as if contrary to all external evidence, are recognized by the church as martyrs of Christ, who suffered with Him and for Him. Here the presence of this mysterious connection is indicated that unites Christ with humanity in His chosen people. However, such a connection is not limited to or exhausted by this one case, since the infants of Israel were and are being beaten not only by Herod. Based on the strength of this connection, a general question arises about the further relationship that exists between Christ and Israel in his chosenness, after Christ’s coming into the world and departure from it, after the completion of redemption. Does this connection and this chosenness in the Incarnation end only with the coming of Christ into the world and with the foundation on earth of a church from all languages? Does it go back into the past, into the Old Testament, which has already been abolished, or does its power remain, although in the form of the New Testament, new chosenness? Has it been canceled and can it be cancelled? We have a direct and categorical answer to this question from the apostle. Paul precisely in the sense that “the gifts and election of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). It is precisely this relationship that remains today between the chosen people and the entire Christian world: “if the first fruit is holy, then the whole is also, and if the root is holy, then so are the branches” (16), and “it is not you (says the apostle, addressing the church of tongues) who holds up the root, but the root you” (18). “So I ask: has God really rejected His people? No way. ...God did not reject His people, whom He knew beforehand” (1-2). “Even so at this time, according to the election of grace, there remains a remnant” (5), through which “all Israel will be saved” (26). The apostle testifies to such continuity of the election of Israel; in the light of this testimony, one must understand other instructions that seem to be contrary to him, speaking of the rejection of Israel. What changed, what happened in Christ’s attitude towards the chosen people after the latter denied Him? Let us delve into what is said about this in the Gospel and, first of all, into the words of Christ Himself. After the terrible denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, the spiritual leaders of Israel (Matthew 23), the Lord turns to Jerusalem with the sentence: “How often have I wanted to gather your children together, as a bird gathers its chicks under its wings, and you did not want to. Behold, your house is left to you empty. For I tell you: you will not see Me from now on, until you exclaim: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”" (23, 37-39; Luke 13, 31-35). Is this a rupture and final alienation? Or is this a forced separation, with all its sorrow, but temporary and already containing the promise of a future reunion - in some apocalyptic accomplishment? The latter remains undisclosed in its form, but leaves no doubt about its occurrence, and it is consonant in its meaning with the indicated promise of the Apostle Paul, his apocalypse about Israel, that “the bitterness took place in Israel in part” (Rom. 11, 25) and only “for the time being.” Next comes the terrible story of Christ being handed over to crucifixion at the insistence of the leaders of Israel and the people they instruct: “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” It may seem that this demand is nationwide: Matthew (28:22) says: “They all say to him (Pilate), let him be crucified,” and further, answering him, all the people said: “His blood be on us and on our children.” However, it is necessary to weigh all the words of this terrible and fatal text, which sounds like a self-sentence against Israel: is this really the complete self-awareness of the entire people, in which, however, the future Judeo-Christianity of the Apostolic Church is hidden, or is it the voice of a part of it, the urban Jerusalem crowd, set up by its leaders. 1 But then - he was not the voice of the whole people, even here in Jerusalem: after all, among him there were so many witnesses and teachings of Christ, crowds who followed Him during His ministry. This is sufficiently evidenced by the Evangelist Luke 2, who talks about the crucifixion in this way: “and all the people who had gathered to see this spectacle returned, beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48). Earlier, this is what is said about the procession to the cross: “and behind him came a multitude of people and women who wept and lamented for Him” (27). And turning to him, the Lord spoke His merciful and at the same time prophetic words: “Daughters of Jerusalem! Do not weep for Me, but weep for yourself and for your children” (23, 27-31). So, first of all, here there is a division among the people, and even to the point of opposites: some weep and weep for Him, others rage: “Crucify Him,” and are ready to take upon themselves the very last responsibility for this: “His blood be on us and on our children.” This same division extends to the future fate of Israel, which for some is an inevitable consequence of the guilt they accepted, like “severity towards those who have fallen away” (Rom. 11:22), and for others a sad and terrible fate, although salutary. These are the common destinies of the one and chosen people of God, “which He knew in advance,” even in its bitterness, which is described by the most difficult features borrowed from the Old Testament prophets (11, 3, 8–10). Their fall is (like the fall of Judas) riches for the world, and the impoverishment of their riches for the Gentiles (11). And although God showed “severity towards those who fell away” (22), “if they do not remain ignorant, they will be grafted in, because God is able to graft them in again” (23), and “the hardening happened in Israel in part, for a time... and so all Israel will be saved” (25-26). Such is the tragic antinomy of the destinies of the chosen people in history. It combines the consequences of guilt, unwittingly accepted in bitterness, but becoming fate and fate (“on us and on our children”). At the same time, according to the word of the Lord, this guilt falls on the shoulders of both those who accepted the guilt and those who did not accept it and even those who are strangers to it. However, this single destiny is also connected with the spiritual conversion of Israel, which, however, can only be a matter of his free will. In his falling away, he is guilty and innocent at the same time, but “the gifts and election of God remain immutable” (29). And the most mysterious side of Israel’s destinies remains precisely its unity. Thanks to him, the guilt of only one part of it, the leaders, is the fate of the entire people, and this part speaks on behalf of its people, calling upon itself the curse of Christ-killing and anti-Christ. But this same unity also has another positive side: all of Israel will be saved by the power of the salvation of its “holy remnant,” although for the time being this remnant is hidden in Israel by falling away. This is how he now faces the world. In his current state, his self-consciousness degenerates into Jewish racism, national idolatry, of which German racism is an envious parody. Godless or Christian-fighting nationalism of the chosen people is, of course, a terrible picture, but its strength still lies in the uniqueness of its chosenness, which remains immutable, even in a state of degeneration or search. So tragic and antinomic is the very existence of Israel, which has not yet fulfilled its calling and has not revealed its holy remnant. Therefore, he is a stumbling block for all nations, a terrible temptation about Christianity for those who Christian besides and without Israel. For the illness of Israel is the illness of all Christianity, which cannot and should not turn away from it, without thereby turning away from the son of David and Abraham. Christianity without Judeo-Christianity does not fully realize itself and remains incomplete. It can find its fullness only by uniting with Judeo-Christianity, as was the case in the apostolic church, for this latter was precisely that. The Lord chose as his apostles and sent them to preach and baptize all languages ​​- namely, his own half-blooded fellow tribesmen, but not anyone else. And the first church in Jerusalem was Judeo-Christian. After this and despite this, the Israel of Christ rejected, and the church turned out to be a church of tongues without Israel. This doomed the world to Christianity without its central core, and Israel, which rejected Christ, to ahasferism and spiritual anti-Christ. The image of Israel in this state is fatal and terrible. On the one hand, he is persecuted precisely by Christian peoples, and this persecution takes from time to time cruel and violent forms of persecution and hatred to the point of extermination, such are the Jewish pogroms even to this day, and on the other hand, he himself remains an open or secret persecutor of Christ and Christianity, to the point of direct and fierce persecution of it, as in Russia. But both are not yet the hardest side of his fate. The worst thing is that Israel, having rejected Christ, arms itself with the instrument of the prince of this world and occupies his throne. All the invincibility of the elements of Jewry, its talent and strength, being directed towards earthly dominion, is expressed in the cult of the golden calf, which was initially known to it as an Old Testament temptation at the foot of Sinai. The power of money, mam-mona, is the worldwide power of Jewry. This indisputable fact does not contradict the fact that a significant, even large part of Jewry to this day remains in deep poverty, need, in the struggle for existence, which does not find a natural outcome for itself due to the absence of its own country, due to ahaspheric dispersion, the state of the “eternal Jew.” Another manifestation of the power of the prince of this world is expressed in false messianic pathos, in anticipation of the future, earthly messiah in the place of the Rejected Crucified One. Due to the strength of this messianism and all its ardor, the sons of Israel are among the inspirers of the godless materialist socialism of our days. The spiritual state of Israel is equally contradictory. On the one hand, in a state of anti-Christianity and anti-Christianity, Israel is a laboratory of all kinds of spiritual poisons that poison the world and especially Christian humanity. On the other hand, this is a people of prophets, in whom the spirit of prophecy never fades and its religious element never weakens. However, in a state of blindness, this is Christianity without Christ and even against Christ, but seeking and desiring Him alone. In this spiritual aberration, the aspiration of the coming messiah is preserved in ignorance of the One who has come. This power and inspiration, living and acting in the chosen people even in a state of rejection, is the Old Testament, continuing under the New and in spite of it. This is a continuing wandering in the desert to the promised land, the search for Christ in the struggle with Him and ignorance of Him. Such is the fate of Israel in its uniqueness and integrity, which combines materialism and the height of prophetic spiritual tension, which has no equal. This is historical and empirical evidence, which has the force of fact. But behind this fact there is a certain higher reality, which is the secret of the destinies of Israel, and with it the whole world. And this mystery is the power of the “genealogy” of Christ, who is one of the same tribes of Israel, and in this oneness of his “was not put off and did not deny.” “To them belongs the adoption and the promises, theirs and the fathers, from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever.” (Rom. 9:4–5). Even in a state of rejection, Jewry is in an indestructible connection with Christianity, in the unity of its ultimate destiny, which, however, cannot be accomplished until this unity is realized and its power is revealed. Christ will not come into the world until he is called by the cry of the whole world: “Hey, come, Lord Jesus,” but Israel must also be included in this cry earlier: “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” But this cannot appear as a sudden and unexpected event that would contradict his entire history and overthrow all his destinies; on the contrary, it will be a ripe fruit that mysteriously ripens on the crown of the natural olive tree. It is this hidden maturation that brings continuity into the history of Israel, which leads to the fact that “all Israel will be saved,” but, therefore, is already being saved today. This is the secret of his salvation. When this secret does not come to the surface, does not become understandable and tangible, its revelation is given. Why, by what and how is Israel saved, what is this “holy remnant”, how can we understand this continuity of God’s election? Let us look for the answer to this question in the Gospel. At the cross, Israel was divided into two parts. “And a great multitude of people and women followed him, weeping and lamenting for Him” (Luke 23:27). On the contrary, others, in evil unanimity, “tell him (Pilate) everything - let him be crucified” (Matthew 27:22), and, “answering, all the people said: His blood be on us and on our children” (25). And he uttered His prophecy: “How many times have I wanted to gather your children, ... but you did not want to ... you will not see Me from now on, until you exclaim: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”” (Matthew 23:39), but they have not yet exclaimed. And this was definitely Israel's fate. And then the Lord, turning to those weeping and sobbing for Him, uttered His word: “Daughters of Jerusalem! do not weep for Me, but weep for yourself and your children” (Luke 23:28). This means that the fate of all Israel is worthy of tears, equally those who crucify Christ and those who weep for Him, for Israel is one, he is one olive tree, about which the Lord further says: “if they do this to a green tree, then what will happen to the dry one” (31). What does this contrast between green and dry refer to? Obviously, the first refers to Christ’s stay on earth and His acceptance, the last to His removal from the earth and rejection, and, however, all the “dry” trees face one common fate, which is depicted with such inexorability in the words of the Lord. For some, those who reject, this is retribution, for others, who are innocent, it is the fatal fate of the united Israel. This division continues even after the coming of Christ in the state of Israel’s rejection, in its struggle against Christ and service to the prince of this world. It contains earthly triumph, earthly victories, but also its fatal fate. We ask ourselves what is hidden in these destinies. If the genealogy of Christ was a precursor to the incarnation of God, which it prepared for, then what is Israel’s participation in it after the already accomplished, but also ongoing, abiding incarnation? Here it is necessary not only to divide, but also to identify this participation of all united Israel. He did not become alien and extraneous to the work of Christ’s incarnation, but retains an unidentified and mysterious connection with Him. If “the light and revelation of tongues and the glory of your people Israel” were revealed to the righteous Simeon, who was holding the already born baby Christ in his arms, then this means that they extend to Israel even after this birth. Such glory, however, is not a free advantage given to this people, but it is its election to participate in the redemption of mankind. This participation is the secret of his fate, taking place in history, in the life of a dry and green tree. In him the “holy remnant” is invariably preserved, “by whose power” all Israel will be saved. How can we understand this antinomy: the redemption of humanity that has already been accomplished through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and the one that is taking place and still ongoing? It reveals the relationship between time and eternity, becoming and being. The fullness of salvation includes not only its power, but also the image of its accomplishment, the Old Testament and the New, and in it the even newest one, “the last times,” the entire sacred history of the New Testament. Christ, glorified and risen and seated at the right hand of the Father, also remains on earth in His people, united with Him through His incarnation, with them He still has compassion and is crucified with them. The resurrection, ascension and glorification of Christ does not mean either His abandonment of humanity or a break with it! Regarding the Dormition and Ascension of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Church directly teaches not only about the incessant prayer of the Mother of God for us, but also about Her weeping for peace and with the world, and even her descent into the world with Her participation in its torments. From here we make an application to the fate of Israel as the special cross of the Mother of God. Does a similar conclusion apply to the Lord? The power of redemption must be understood not only intensively, in its focus in earthly service in the single act of the Gethsemane struggle and Calvary death, but also extensively, in the sense of Christ's compassion with suffering humanity, and to the extent with the chosen people, deliberately associated with him. The main idea of ​​the church year with its times and dates, memories and celebrations lies precisely in this, that the earthly life and earthly passion of Christ not only ended in its completion, but will also be repeated in its repetition or continuation. However, it is so not only as it were, it actually must be understood literally, as the connection of the earthly path of the Lord’s incarnation with His heavenly glory. In a word, redemption continues along with the history of the world, and will continue until it is completed in its entirety. How to understand this union of what has happened with what is happening, of heavenly glory and earthly passion; this is the mystery of God’s vision and God’s life, the kenosis of Christ, in all its breadth and depth. 3 But it must be understood precisely. How else can one understand the self-identification of Christ with each of the suffering and sick, which He himself testifies to at His terrible judgment in relation to all humanity. However, in this last one, according to the direct evidence of revelation, like the Lord himself, the chosen part of humanity is especially highlighted. The Lord testified during the days of His earthly ministry, of course, as after it: “how many times I wanted to gather my children together, as a bird gathers its chicks under its wings” (Matthew 23:37). And, of course, the Lord will deliberately have compassion with this chosen part, sharing its fate until its salvation is accomplished. This is the Christological side of Israel's destinies. The conclusions that can be drawn from here regarding the persecutors of Israel are clear: they persecute Christ Himself in it, just like the Jews themselves, since the latter fight against Christ, opposing their own election... Truly, “God has imprisoned all in disobedience - each in his own way - in order to have mercy on all” (Rom. 11:32). This is how we, Christians, should feel and experience the fate of Israel, feeling here, too, a touch of the incomprehensible mystery of God’s vision, and this should be the unceasing Christian prayer for the salvation of Israel, the image of which was revealed by the Lord himself, who prayed for his crucifiers: “Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). However, in that persecuted and suffering Israel itself, we cannot help but distinguish both those who are blind and, in turn, persecuting the church and crucifying Christ, and that chosen part of the “holy remnant”, which, being persecuted along with Israel, is at the same time persecuted for Christ, like the babes of Bethlehem. We mean that Judeo-Christianity, which already exists in its beginnings, bringing to the world the appearance of the Church of Christ in its power and glory, promised by the prophets and hoped for by Christians who are not blinded by enmity. These deliberate chosen ones of Christ are given the opportunity to bear the burden of a double cross: their Christianity in relation to their persecutors, as well as their Christianity in relation to their own half-blooded, but not brothers of the same faith, to their people who have rejected Christ. Their destiny is truly prophetic, but at the same time martyrdom. It is given to them to be crucified for Christ and with Christ. They do not have a city that abides here, but they seek the one to come. The power of the future is revealed in them. This is directly stated in Matthew (27:20): “but the chief priests and elders stirred up the people to ask Barabbas, and to destroy Jesus.” And it is about this urban mob, the victim of the demagoguery of the leaders, that it is said below: “all the people said: His blood be on us and on our children:”; from the entire general gospel context (Mark and John have no similar data about the people at all), it necessarily follows that “all the people,” both here and below, only means “all those around and present.” This same division among the Jewish people is expressed in the narrative of the procession to Emmaus, during which the disciples say to their companion: “Jesus the Nazarene was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; how the high priests and our rulers handed Him over to be condemned to death and crucified Him, while we hoped that He was the One who was to deliver Israel” (Luke 24:19-21). Isn’t this what the kontakion of the Ascension testifies to: having united the earth with the heavenly, you ascended in glory, Christ our God, never departing, but remaining persistent, and crying out to those who love You: I am with you, and no one is against you.