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“One of you who eats bread with Me, he will betray Me (cf. Mark 14:18), and behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me at the table (cf. Luke 22:21), and: “The Son of Man comes, as it is written about Him” (Matthew 26:24). With these words I mourned with mercy this wicked destroyer. “It would have been better for him not to have been born” (cf. Matthew 26:24). But if the Lord wanted to ascend to the Cross, then to what do we attribute this (His) saying: to (His) foreknowledge, to ignorance or to deceit, since he said: “It would have been better for him not to have been born”? What (could) prevent the repentance (of the traitor) from being accepted? [In this place, Saint Ephraim is referring to the objection of some heretic, perhaps Marcion, who saw a contradiction of Himself in the words of the Lord. If the Lord wanted to ascend to the Cross, then how could He say that it would have been better for a traitor not to have been born, without whom He would not have ascended to the Cross? On the other hand, couldn't the traitor repent?] If such are your ridicule and your mockery, then take the serpent as an example and do not blame or accuse me, that is, me for my Teacher. For if Adam himself wanted to break the commandment, then what kind of boasting will you see in the blasphemies of the one who filled the mouth of the serpent with dust and tamed him, and deprived him of the ability to walk 257? If Adam could not transgress (the commandments) without a seducer, then the punishment rightly fell on the head of the serpent. And although we agree that Adam was prepared for sin by the one who was the cause of sin, yet Adam also justly suffered punishment, since he first yielded to this preparation. Even if the serpent did not provide a reason (to sin), still Adam, because of this weakness that appeared in him during the temptation, would have fallen into other crimes without being exposed to this temptation. Thus, the One who ascended the Cross may have wanted to ascend the Cross apart from this accidental reason [besides the betrayal of Judas], although this is incredible, since the Scriptures of the Hebrews and much else do not allow us to believe this. Love revealed the secret and communicated it to fear (which John revealed to Peter; John 13:21-26), since while love reclined on the chest of the Lord, fear often nodded its head to it. Just as it is true and true that the Lord, in distributing bread to His disciples, gave them the Sacrament of His Body, so one must also believe that the bread given by the Lord to His murderer was given as a sacrament of the mortification of His Body. And he dipped him (John 13:26), in order to thus name the participation (of Judas) in the already decided murder of Him, in which the Body was dipped in His Blood. Or he soaked the bread so that along with the bread he would not also give the Testament. First he washed the bread and then gave it to him. The old covenant was washed away from this bread, since it was prepared by the New Testament. Covetousness separated Judas from the perfect members of the Lord, just as the Savior meekly taught that he (Judas) was not from the body of His Church, but dust that stuck to the feet of His disciples. Therefore, on that night, when he separated him from them, he washed away the uncleanness that stuck to their feet, in order to teach us that Judas, who, as the last of the twelve apostles, turned out to be like the feet of the body, was washed by Him with water from the feet of the apostles, like dirt destined for fire. In the same way, the Lord separated Judas from the disciples through water when he gave him bread dipped in water, because he was not worthy of the bread that was distributed to the twelve apostles along with the wine. For it was indecent for the one who handed Him over to death to receive through bread the One who saves from death. From the time He broke His Body to His disciples and gave His Body to the Apostles, those three days of His are counted during which He was numbered among the dead, like Adam, who after eating from the tree lived for many years, although because of the transgression of the commandment he was numbered among the dead, since God said this: “On the day that you eat, you will die” (cf. Gen. 2:17), and as in the following place: “four hundred "Your seed will be in Egypt for many years" (cf. Gen. 15:13) - because these years are counted from the day when this word was spoken. The same must be said about the Lord. Or the sixth day (Friday) is counted as two days, and Saturday as one. Having given His Body to be consumed by them in the mystery of His death, He entered their womb, as He later (entered) the earth. And since Adam did not bless when he plucked the fruit in disobedience, “the Lord blessed and broke it” (cf. Matt. 26:26). And the bread entered [cf.: “...sin entered into the world” (Rom. 5:12)] and blotted out the condemnation of lust, by which Adam transgressed the commandment of God. Or three days are counted from the descent to the ascent (from burial to the resurrection from the dead), that is, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And he said: “From now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until the kingdom of My Father” (cf. Luke 22:18), in order to show that the time was near when He would have to leave them. “Until the Kingdom of My Father,” that is, until My resurrection. Simon teaches this in the Acts of the Apostles, saying: “after the resurrection, for forty days we ate and drank with Him” (cf. Acts 10:41), namely, on the first day of the week, as there: “they will not taste death until they see the Kingdom of God” (cf. Matt. 16:28), which happened six days later (Matt. 17:1). “Behold, Satan has received permission to sow you like wheat, and I prayed the Father for you, so that your faith would not fail” (cf. Luke 22:31,32). He did not say: I begged for you, so that you would not be tempted, but so that your faith would not fail. “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (cf. John 14:8). Philip wanted to see the Father bodily, that is, with bodily eyes, like the former righteous who saw Angels and Archangels. Therefore, the Lord gave him an answer about the vision of the Divinity, which is perceived by the eyes of the mind, for he did not say to him: “You have not seen,” since He Himself revealed Himself to him in external form, but says: “You did not know Me” (cf. John 14:9), because His greatness was hidden, that is, if they had known Me, although since I am not manifest, they would have seen My Father, Who is not revealed (outwardly). And the apostle, speaking about the Lord, testifies: “He is the image of the invisible God” (cf. Col. 1:15). “He who believes in Me, the works that I do will he do also” (John 14:12). Where is it (said): “a student is never greater than a teacher” (cf. Luke 6:40)? But Moses destroyed only three kings, and Jesus killed thirty, and he did not enter the promised land, although he humbly asked (for this), but Jesus entered and divided the inheritance. Samuel was greater than all his contemporaries. Elisha received double (the power) of his teacher after his departure, and this happened in the likeness of the Lord our Savior, whose disciples, through their signs, did twice as much. The enemy had his part in all people; only he did not have (it) in the Lord, who said: “He will not find anything of his own with Me,” and: “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). But the disciples also participate in the gift of Judgment that the Lord received. For he said that they would judge (Luke 22:30), in order to show that not only God won and judges, but people also won and judge those who could not win like them, but retreated; “Righteous men,” he says, “will judge them” (Ezek. 23:45). “He who does not have his own sword, let him buy himself a sword” (cf. Luke 22:36), - he said this in order to teach humility. Behold, Simon had one of these swords, so that when he wanted to show his zeal with the sword, the Lord taught him the words of Scripture: “whoever strikes you on the cheek” (cf. Matthew 5:39). For Simon, in his love, forgot these words. Or he said this in order to show him that not only when we do not have this kind of things or when we cannot have (them), we should abstain from them, but even less should we use them when we have them and they are ready, like a sword in your hand. And to make it clear that for the sake of exhortation, and not because of war, he started talking about swords, (for this) he added: “two are enough” (cf. Luke 22:38). After all, if he said this about the struggle, then everyone would have to take up arms. He said this because among the Jews there were those who thirsted for the sword and blood like two of them (James and John) (Luke 9:54). Seeing that the anger of their fathers was hidden in them, He took the opportunity to make their secret anger obvious and vile to them and to expel (it) from their hearts. Since the days of His work in Judea were over, He turned to go to Jerusalem, and rejected those two angry ones from Himself, just as He said to Judas Iscariot in warning: “Woe to that man” (Mark 14:21). After all, if he had repented, like Simon Peter, and accepted the admonition, like those two, then, freed from this curse, he would have inherited his place and throne. Then from the fact that the Lord mentioned swords, let them understand that He knows the day and hour when He will be betrayed, and let His friends learn humility, and let His enemies (know their) violence [i.e. By the example of Christ, who voluntarily gave himself up to death, let His friends learn to imitate His humility, and let His enemies be convicted of their cruelty]. “This is My commandment” (John 15:12). Is there really only one commandment? She is enough, and only her alone, because she is of great importance. Although she is alone, she also says “do not kill,” because whoever loves does not kill; She also said “don’t steal,” for he who loves even gives his own; She also said, “Do not deceive,” because the one who loves speaks the truth instead of a lie. “I give you a certain new commandment,” he says, “(cf. John 13:34). And if you do not understand the words: “This is My commandment,” then call an apostle who will explain them to you, saying: “The purpose of this commandment is love” (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5). What is the meaning of this commandment? Without a doubt, this: “in everything that you want the sons of men to do to you, do so you yourselves” (cf. Matthew 7:12). “Love,” he says, “one another,” and set this measure: “as I have loved you.” But this is impossible, because You are the Lord and love Your servants, but we, being comrades to each other, how can we love each other as much as You love us? However, since the Lord said so, let's see how this happens. “No one,” he says, “can have greater love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (cf. John 15:13). His love is seen from the fact that he called us friends. But if we lay down our souls for You, does our love become equal to Your love? If we die for You, then we are mortal. You, being (eternally) alive, took upon yourself the passion of our death. So, how can we interpret this (commandment): “as I have loved you”? “We will die,” he says, “one for the other.” But we, of course, do not want to live one instead of the other. If,” he says, “I, your Lord and God, die for you, then much more should you die one for another.” “Behold, I am sending you a Comforter” (cf.: John 15:26), for he says: “I am sending you another Paraclete (Comforter)” (cf.: John 14:16). Just as He Himself is God, so He is God and the One who is sent. If He were greater than the Spirit because He sent Him, then the Spirit would also be greater than Him because He led Him into the wilderness to be tempted (Matthew 4:1). And how did he say: “It is good for you if I go, because if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you and will not reveal to you all the truth” (cf. John 16:7, 13)? How was it good that the Lord left and, since He could not show the whole truth, the servant [the Holy Spirit, whom the heretics call creation] came to give what the Lord did not give? And why did not the first Comforter (Christ) reveal the whole truth, but the second (Holy Spirit) revealed it to us according to the word of the First, since this (Christ) is the whole truth? And that the Spirit is called Lord, Scripture testifies to this in the following words: “Simeon received a command from the Holy Spirit that he would not taste death until he saw the Lord Christ, and when he took the Lord in his arms, he said: now, Lord, you are releasing your servant according to your word into the world” (cf. Luke 2:26,28,29). So, he received a command from the Holy Spirit and said: “You, Lord, let your servant go,” as there: “until you see the Lord Christ.” “And no one,” he says, “knows what is in a person, except the human spirit that is in him; so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (cf. 1 Cor. 2:11). Not that His Spirit was His creation, but through this (place) Scripture teaches us that our spirit is not something alien to our nature. “Except for the Spirit,” he says, “which is from him, so no one knows God except His Spirit, and He tests His depths.” If they say that the Spirit tests for (its own) teaching, then let them judge that the one whom someone tests is less than the one who tests. When he said: “Go into all the earth and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (cf. Matt. 28:19), he did not say: “in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son and in the name of the Spirit,” in order to show that they are of the same nature, since he called three persons by one name. “You,” he says, “are the church of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you” (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16). If we are a church, then how are we the abode of the Spirit? This explains the following saying: “you are the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you” (cf. 1 Cor. 6:19). And in the Acts of the Apostles he says: “because you wanted to tempt the Spirit of the Lord” (cf. Acts 5:9), and: “You lied not to men, but to God” (Acts 5:4). So, the Spirit is God, since He is from God. Of course, the name of God is also applied to people, some of whom are called gods, just as we, by grace, receive the name of the Father and the Son. The name of God is applied to man, as (for example) Moses is called "the God of Pharaoh" (Ex. 7:1). But Moses is nowhere called the living Spirit. Scripture does not say that Eve was Adam's sister or his daughter, but that she was from him. So about the Holy Spirit it should be said not that He is a son or a sister, but that He is from Him and is consubstantial with Him. And if the one who tests is less than the one whom he tests, then it is written: “He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:27). If so, then is God, who tests the Spirit, less than the Spirit 258? “But about judgment, because the prince of this world is condemned” (cf. John 16:11), - that is, not because Satan accepts the punishment of his condemnation for the second time, (but) since from now on he is condemned forever. “Give Me Your glory, which You gave Me before the world was” (cf. John 17:5), - at the time when the Father created everything through the Son, as the psalm explains: “He was clothed with glory and greatness” (cf. Ps. 103:1), and then brought creation out of nothing and formed (them) without a prophet. “Lord God,” says (the Psalmist), “You have become wonderfully great, clothed with glory and majesty and clothed with light like a robe, stretching out the sky like a tent...” (cf. Ps. 104:1-2). Since, as a result of the death of Adam, the creatures were clothed with his humiliation, according to the testimony of the Apostle: “the creation was subjected to vanity” (Rom. 8:20), then the Son of the Creator came to save them, in order to destroy their shortcomings by the baptism of death at His coming, as He Himself said: “The hour is coming and has come, glorify Your Son, and Your Son will glorify You” (cf. John 17:1). He asked for this not as needing to receive it, but having in mind to bring to perfection the original order of creation, he demanded the glory with which he was invested at the time when the creation was clothed with glory. For just as by grace he ordered the first (creatures) to be without blemish in the glory and splendor with which he was clothed, so let their last dispensation also be, by mercy, without blemish in the glory with which he was clothed. So, this is precisely what he meant when he said, “Give Me,” precisely what you had before creation with the Father and with the Father, since Scripture affirms the same thing and clearly says: “Glorify Me with the glory that I had with You before the creation of the world.” But also through the words: “glorify Your Son, that Your Son also will glorify You,” he did not indicate His need, but his needy free will. So, the Father does not receive glory from the Son as being in need (of it), and if the Son is glorified by the Father, then he does not at all need this glory. “My soul is sad” (cf. Matthew 26:38). He was not ashamed to say this, because he was a true man, and did not hide anything alien (to man) under the guise of His clothing, and he said this in order to show that he had clothed himself with weak flesh and united himself with a soul that could suffer. So, he said what was true, so that it would not be subject to distortion, and hid it [according to another reading, “did not hide”; which reading is more correct is difficult to decide, since the meaning of this entire passage is unclear], so that it would not be stolen by thieves: he taught the faithful not to be vain about their behavior, and (since) this means rejecting the truth. And he also says: “Whoever denied Me, I will deny him” (Matthew 10:33), and in this there is fear and trembling for the unbelievers. So, according to the strength of one (commandment), we confess, so that error does not tear us away from His love, and according to the strength of the other, we do not confess, so that pride does not deprive us of the fruit of His goodness. “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). Whoever knew that the disciples would be tempted, Simon would be rejected, Judas would hang himself, and the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed and the people would be scattered, He could not help but know that after three days the cup (this) would pass from (Him). “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” says He who, when he wanted to correct Him, said to Simon: “Get behind Me, Satan... for you are not thinking about the things of God, but about the things of men” (Matthew 16:23). Why now has the Lord Himself abandoned the things of God and thought about the things of men? Why were you angry with Simon when he said: “Let this not happen to you, Lord!” (Matthew 16:22). “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” He knew what he said only to the Father; He also knew that the cup could pass, but for that purpose he came, to drink it for everyone and through this cup to pay off the debts of everyone, for which the prophets and saviors could not pay with their death. “Father, let this cup pass from Me.” Whoever described His death through His prophets and depicted the mystery of His death on His righteous ones, He, when the time came for Himself to fall into death, could not, of course, reject death and refuse to drink its cup. After all, if he had not wanted to drink it and had a desire to reject it, he would not have compared His body to a church, saying: “Destroy this church, and on the third day I will raise it up” (cf. John 2:19), and would not have said to the sons of Zebedee: “Can you drink the cup that I will drink” (Matthew 20:22), and in another place: “The baptism with which I must be baptized lies before Me.” (cf.: Luke 12:50), and: “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so will the Son of Man be lifted up” (cf.: John 3:14), and: “as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth” (cf.: Matt. 12:40), and: “He must die and rise again” (cf. Luke 9:22), and: “I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffered” (cf. Luke 22:15), and: “The Son of Man comes, as it is written about Him” (Matthew 26:24). Even on the evening of that night, when He gave Himself up, He divided His Body among His apostles and distributed His Blood to His disciples and gave them the commandment to do this in remembrance of His suffering. The One who commanded His disciples not to fear death, saying: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body” (Matthew 10:28), how did He Himself fear death and ask that this cup pass from Him? Who voluntarily raised the number of months in the womb and the number of years on earth, did He really want His cup to pass, and His entire appearance to become futile at a time when days, months and years passed and only a few hours remained? When he was in Jerusalem and proclaimed His admonition, then, wanting to show the greatness of the gifts of His mercy, he said: “If those powers that were manifested in you had been manifested in Sodom, then it would still have remained a dwelling place” (cf. Matt. 11:23). However, Sodom was destroyed, although it could have been preserved if He had come. Who, despite this, did not cancel the time of His appearance, how, at the time when He came, He Himself wanted to reject the gifts flowing from His suffering, which, if given in the days of Lot, then Sodom and the neighboring cities, as He Himself said, would still have flourished? And if he wanted to renounce the cup for the sake of His people, so that they would not perish at His (second) coming, (that is, as the culprit of His death), then He had to destroy any (other) people to whom He would come, since this people would also have to betray Him to the death of the Cross. But since they (the Jews) did not heed His signs and wonders, they did not perish as a result of His crucifixion, because they perished even before He was killed, for they did not believe His signs. “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.” He said this because of the weakness with which he was clothed, because he was not clothed with it falsely, but truly. And if he was truly weak and clothed with infirmity, then it was impossible for infirmity not to be afraid and not to be embarrassed. Since he took on the flesh and was clothed with infirmity, he was strengthened by bread in hunger, tired in labor and seemed powerless in sleep, and when the time came for His death, it was necessary that then also that which is characteristic of the flesh should act; after all, the embarrassment of the impending death attacked Him in order for His nature to become clear, namely, that He was the son of that Adam over whom, as the Apostle says, death reigned (Rom. 5:14). “And He said to His disciples, Watch and pray, so that you do not enter into temptation. “This spirit,” he says, “is willing and ready, but this flesh is weak” (cf. Matthew 26:41). And if, when you are afraid, it is not your spirit that is afraid, but the weakness of your flesh, then how would I fear death, if not to show you the fear of death, which affects the flesh with which I am clothed? For if Simon, whom one maid brought into fear (Matthew 26:69), was not afraid of all the Romans, but with a strong spirit conjured them to crucify him with his head turned to the ground, and if the apostle, knowing that he would die an unnatural death, said: “I already desire the end and the time of my rest is coming for me” (cf. 2 Tim. 4:6), then how can the Lord help Whom the apostles despised their death, according to His word: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul” (cf. Matt. 10:28), how, I say, could He Himself fear death? After all, he would have turned out to be (moreover) untimely in the fear that was attributed to Him. If he was afraid, then he should have been afraid at the hour when he was taken, and not at another time; but then He healed the murderer's ear (Luke 22:51). He ordered to take the sword, and when the need for a sword appeared, he said: “return your sword to its original place” (cf. Matthew 26:52). Or [in a number of the following thoughts it is explained why Christ prayed like this: “Not Mine, but Thy will be done"] since through the Son the debts that had been incurred were destroyed, and (through Him) the conversion of the nations was accomplished, the Son did not want to assimilate to Himself that grace that was before the world. As at the beginning (of the existence of the world), although everything was created through Him, however, it passed through in silence and through the mouth of Moses indicated another figure, saying: “And God saw everything that... he created, and, behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31); he said this so that all creation would become debtors to His Father; so at the hour of their renewal he renounced everything through death and said: “Thy will be done,” so that all who were to be converted through the death of the Only Begotten would become debtors to the Father. Or he said this because at the time of bodily death he gave to the body what belonged to him. body. For it is clear that all the sorrows testified to His body, so that its truth could be seen. But the sect of heretics, seeing all these indications of His body, did not convince themselves of it. Or he suffered this so that people on earth could not be told that without suffering and heroism our guilts were blotted out by Him. Or to teach His disciples so that they would entrust their life and death to God. After all, if the One who is wise, for the sake of knowing God, prayed on his knees for what was supposed to be, then all the more should unbelievers give their will to the Omniscient. Or, in order to instill consolation in His disciples through His suffering, He adapted itself to their minds in order to become a model for them, and took their fear upon Himself, in order to show them by His example that before death one should not be arrogantly vain about death. For if He who did not (could) be afraid was afraid and asked for liberation, although he knew that this was impossible, then much more let them pray before temptation, in order to be saved from it during temptation. Or, since during temptation our thoughts are usually scattered and our thoughts are scattered to the sides, He Himself prayed in order to teach us that prayer is needed against the tricks and machinations of evil, and that scattered thoughts should be gathered together with many prayers. Or, wanting to strengthen them who were afraid of death, he showed that He, too, was afraid of it, in order to teach that fear cannot destroy them if they do not become rigid in it. This was meant by the words: “Not Mine, Father, but Thy will be done,” that is, I will die to save many. Or do it to cheat death. Or he was afraid of suffering so that death (not only) would decide to devour Him, but would also hasten to spew Him out. To overcome death, all this happened that was hidden in You, Lord, against it. Your Divinity was not accessible to death, and it could not touch Your secrets. Although the name of Your Divinity was proclaimed, yet for a while You covered it, as it were, with a garment, because You covered Your Divine name with the veil of the human name. For whoever had the sign of the first Adam on his body, his body became the food of death, and whoever bears the sign of the second Adam is the lord of death and its conqueror. That first one. Adam, by eating, destroyed his will, subordinating it to the body, and weakened and destroyed the body, so that it became the food of death; the second (Adam), with His vigorous will, strengthened the body in order to remove it from the mouth of death. Wed. Saint Ephraim's interpretation of the book of Genesis (3:15). The meaning of these words is this: if Adam had sinned on his own, without temptation from the devil, then what could Satan boast about, who filled the mouth of the serpent with dust and deprived him of his feet? In this place, the holy interpreter refutes those heretics who said that the Spirit tests God for its own teaching, and that the one who tests is less than the tested. Based on the above saying (Rom. 8:27), the holy father shows that the one who tests should not necessarily be less than the one being tested, for if God tests the thoughts of the human spirit, is God really less than the human spirit? You might be interested in: