Глава двадцать третья.

Luke 23:1. And the whole multitude of them rose up and led Him to Pilate, Luke 23:2. and they began to accuse Him, saying: We have found that He corrupts our people and forbids giving tribute to Caesar, calling Himself Christ the King. Apparently they contradict the truth. For where did Jesus forbid paying taxes, when He, on the contrary, commanded to pay them as due? It was He who said this: “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Luke 20:25). How does He anger the people? Is he not seeking the Kingdom? But no one believed this. For even then, when the people wanted to make Him king, He, having learned about this, withdrew (John 6:15). Luke 23:3. Pilate asked Him: Are you the King of the Jews? He answered him: You speak. Luke 23:4. Pilate said to the chief priests and the people: I find no guilt in this man. Therefore, Pilate, realizing the slander, openly says: “I find no guilt in this man.” In my opinion, the very question he makes of Christ is a mockery of slander. For saying: Are you the King of the Jews? – he mocks the matter itself. He says something like this: You, wretched, poor, naked, helpless, are accused of striving for royal power. And this, as we said, is a mockery of those who accuse Jesus of this, that they imagine such a helpless and such a poor man to be plotting such a thing, for which both wealth and helpers are needed. Luke 23:5. But they insisted, saying that He was disturbing the people by teaching throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee to this place. And they, having nothing else to support the slander, use their voices and shout against God the Word, “He corrupts,” they say, that is, “he disturbs the people,” and not in one particular place, but began “from Galilee” and, having passed through the middle of Judea, managed to outrage “to this place.” It seems to me that they mentioned Galileo for a reason, but with the intention of bringing Pilate into fear. For Galileans are always like that, rebellious and prone to innovation, just like Judas the Galilean. It seems that they reminded Pilate of him, saying something like this: ruler, compare Judas the Galilean, who caused a lot of trouble to the Romans, outraged a considerable part of the people. Such is this One, Who must be destroyed immediately. Luke 23:6. Pilate, hearing about Galilee, asked: Is He a Galilean? Luke 23:7. And having learned that He was from Herod’s region, He sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem these days. Pilate sends the Lord to Herod, in fulfillment of the Roman law, which commands that everyone be judged by the ruler of his region. Therefore, he sends Jesus, as a Galilean, to the ruler of Galilee. Luke 23:8. Herod, seeing Jesus, was very happy, for he had long wanted to see Him, because he had heard a lot about Him, and hoped to see some miracle from Him, Herod rejoiced at this, not because, however, as if he had any benefit for his soul by seeing Jesus, but since he had heard about Him that He was a wise man and a miracle worker, he had an unreasonable desire, suffering from a love of news himself, to see This strange Man and listen to what He said. Don't many of us still suffer from this disease? He himself wanted to see some miracle from Jesus, not, however, in order to believe, but to satiate his vision, just as we watch at spectacles as magicians imagine that they are swallowing snakes, swords and the like, and we are surprised. For Jesus was considered to be almost of the same kind. Luke 23:9. and asked Him many questions, but He answered him nothing. Herod questioned Him about many things, addressing Him in a somewhat ironic tone and mocking Him in everything; therefore Jesus did not answer him. For the One who created everything by word and about whom David testified that “he will give steadfastness to his words in judgment” (Ps. 111:5) knows when to answer. For what need is there to answer someone who asks not for learning? What need is there to cast pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6)? On the contrary, as we said (see Chapter 22), philanthropy requires silence in such cases. For the spoken word, without bringing any benefit to those who are inattentive, will, moreover, expose them to greater condemnation. However, the Lord answers Pilate, since he was more well-intentioned than Herod, although it is not entirely clear. For he asked, “Are You the King of the Jews?” - and the Lord answers: “you say.” This answer seems to contain a double thought. For it can be understood this way: I truly am (King of the Jews), you have spoken the absolute truth. It can be understood another way: I don’t speak, you speak, you have power and speak. But Herod, as a determined scoffer, does not answer at all. For truly, as Isaiah says (Isaiah 3:4, 12), the seed of the evil one, the sons of the wicked, that is, the Jews of that time, had collectors who oppressed them, and those who ruled them were mockers. Luke 23:10. The chief priests and scribes stood and strongly accused Him. Luke 23:11. But Herod and his soldiers, having humiliated Him and mocked Him, dressed Him in light clothes and sent Him back to Pilate. And that Herod wanted to see Jesus with the intention of scolding and mocking Him, and seeing a miracle from Him, and questioned Him in such thoughts, this was shown by the end. For, having humiliated Jesus and mocked Him, he sent Him away, and not only did he mock, but also his soldiers, which is the most offensive of all; and putting on Him “a light robe, He sent Him to Pilate.” And look, perhaps, how the devil stumbles in everything he does. He arranges such curses and insults against Christ, and from here the truth is revealed more clearly. For ridicule most clearly demonstrates that the Lord is not a rebel or a troublemaker. If He were like that, then they would not joke when such a danger threatens and an uprising of an entire people is expected, and, moreover, a numerous people and very prone to innovation. Luke 23:12. And that day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for before they had been at enmity with each other. Pilate's sending of his subordinate to Herod seemed to be the beginning of friendship, since Pilate does not take credit for Herod's privileges. However, look everywhere how the devil, in order only to prepare the death of Christ, brings into one that which stood apart from each other, establishes unanimity and friendship between those who were enemies. Isn’t it a shame for us when, in order to kill Christ, he reconciled his enemies, but we, for our own salvation, do not keep our friends in friendship with us? Luke 23:13. Pilate, having called together the high priests and rulers and the people, Luke 23:14. He said to them: You brought this man to me as one who corrupts the people; and behold, I examined before you and did not find this man guilty of anything of which you accuse Him; Luke 23:15. and Herod also, for I sent Him to him; and nothing was found in Him worthy of death; When Christ was sent back to Pilate, see how the truth shines again. “You,” says Pilate, “brought this man to me as one who corrupts the people”; but I do not find anything “worthy of death” in Him, nor did Herod. Do you see the testimony of two people, one a ruler and the other a king, completely true? Neither I,” he says, “nor King Herod found any guilt in Him. What will the Jews say to this? The judges themselves testify that this man is innocent; You, prosecutors, have not brought a single witness: who should you believe? It's amazing how truth wins! Jesus is silent, and his enemies testify in His favor. The Jews shout, and no one confirms their cries. Pilate was somewhat weak and stood up for the truth very little. He was afraid of slander, so that he would not be defamed, that he let the troublemaker go. For he did not know how to say: We will not fear your fear, but the Lord Himself will be my fear (Is. 8:12-13). Luke 23:16. So, having punished Him, I will release Him. Luke 23:17. And he needed to release one prisoner to them for the holiday. “So, having punished Him,” he says, that is, having taught Him with whips, “I will let him go.” And the Romans, to please the Jews, were supposed to release one prisoner at a time for the sake of the holiday. For when concluding an agreement with the Jews, they were given freedom to live according to their customs and laws. And the Jews had the custom from their fathers to beg the condemned from the ruler; just as they interceded for Jonathan before Saul (1 Sam. 14:45). If you don't know this story, pick up the first book of Samuel and you will find it. Luke 23:18. But all the people began to shout: Death to Him! “But all the people began to shout,” they say, “Death to Him.” What could be worse than this? The chosen people furiously demand murder; Pilate the pagan turns away from murder: up has become down. Luke 23:19. Barabbas was put in prison for causing outrage and murder in the city. “Death,” they say, “to Him!” “But release Barabbas to us,” who was put in prison as a rebel and murderer. Luke 23:20. Pilate again raised his voice, wanting to release Jesus. Luke 23:21. But they shouted: crucify him, crucify him! Luke 23:22. He said to them the third time, “What evil has He done?” I did not find anything worthy of death in Him; So, having punished Him, I will release Him. Luke 23:23. But they continued with great shouting to demand that He be crucified; and the cry prevailed over them and the chief priests. Pilate offers to let them go for the third time, and for the third time they shout against Christ, so that with this threefold cry they will finally confirm their thirst for murder. And they, as Blessed Peter says, “denied... the Holy and Righteous One,” and asked to be given a murderer (Acts 3:14). For they love this kind of thing (which is why they take part in it), because they themselves rebelled against the Romans, and became the culprits of countless murders and their own destruction. The Lord predicts this through Jeremiah: “I have left My house; I have left My inheritance; He gave the most dear thing to My soul into the hands of his enemies. My destiny has become for Me like a lion in the forest; lifted up his voice against Me: therefore I hated him” (Jer. 12:7-8). And Hosea again: “Woe to them, that they have departed from Me; perdition to them, because they have fallen away from Me! I saved them, but they spoke lies against Me... Their princes will fall by the sword for the insolence of their tongue” (Hos. 7:13, 16). Luke 23:24. And Pilate decided to be at their request, Luke 23:25. and he released to them the man who had been imprisoned for indignation and murder, whom they asked for; and he gave Jesus over to their will. Luke 23:26. And when they led Him away, they seized a certain Simon of Cyrene who was coming from the field, and laid a cross on him to carry after Jesus. They led Jesus away and first they laid a cross on Him, and He walked with this burden. For none of the others would undertake to carry it, since they considered it a cursed tree. Then, having found a certain Simon of Cyrene, they laid a cross on him, forcing this man and, as if some kind of reproach, placing on him a cross, which others shunned. This makes an important suggestion. The cross is mortification, inactivity of passions and immobility. For the one who is crucified is nailed down and becomes inactive. So, the Teacher Christ must first take the cross Himself and nail His flesh to the fear of God, and shine with dispassion, and then lay it on the submissive; for Simon means: “obedience.” In this, the words of Isaiah are also fulfilled: “dominion (in Church Slavonic - authority) is on His shoulders” (Is. 9:6). For the cross is the rulership of the Lord and the kingdom. Paul says: “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him” and so on (Phil. 2:8-9). If the cross became height and glory for Jesus, then it is rightly called His “superiority,” that is, the superior dignity and sign of authority. Just as senators have signs of their dignity, some have belts, others have robes, so the Lord establishes the cross as a sign of His Kingdom. And, having looked closely, you will find that Jesus reigns in us only through suffering, that those who live in bliss are enemies of the cross, and he who practices virtue, who “comes from the field,” that is, leaves the real field - this world and the affairs in it, and strives for the highest, free Jerusalem, can become submissive to Christ and take up His cross (Gal. 4:26). Luke 23:27. And a great multitude of people and women followed Him, weeping and lamenting for Him. That a multitude of people and women followed Christ, this signifies that after the cross a great multitude of Jews and many women will believe in Him. Read the book of Acts (Acts 2:41, 4:4) and you will see thousands of believers. Doesn’t the fact that the women who followed Jesus “cry and weep” serve as a moral lesson for us? A weak soul is a woman; but if through repentance she receives contrition of heart, cries and sobs, then she truly follows Jesus, who was crucified and suffered for the sake of our salvation. Luke 23:28. Jesus turned to them and said: Daughters of Jerusalem! don't cry for me Women, these creatures, capable of sobbing and crying, cry as if some misfortune had befallen the Lord, and thereby express their compassion and lamentation about human injustice. And He is not only dissatisfied with this, but even forbids them. For He suffered voluntarily, and the one who suffers voluntarily, and, moreover, for the salvation of the entire human race, is not due to tears, but approval and glorification. Through the cross, death is destroyed and hell is captured. but weep for yourself and for your children, Luke 23:29. For the days are coming in which they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed! Luke 23:30. then they will begin to say to the mountains: fall on us! and the hills: cover us! Tears bring comfort not to those who suffer voluntarily, but to those who suffer involuntarily. Therefore, He forbids them to cry about Him, but urges them to pay attention to future disasters and cry about these disasters, when women without pity will boil their own children, and the womb that carried, unfortunately, will again take into itself what was born from it. Luke 23:31. For if they do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry tree? For if the Romans did this to Me, a moist, fruitful tree, ever green and forever living by the power of the Divine, and nourishing everyone with the fruits of their teaching, then what will they not do to you, that is, to the people, a dry tree, devoid of all life-giving righteousness and not bearing any fruit? If you had any life-giving power of goodness, perhaps you would have been awarded at least some mercy; and now, like dry wood, you will be burned and destroyed. Luke 23:32. They also led two villains with Him to death. The devil, wanting to form and instill a bad opinion about the Lord, arranges for two thieves to be crucified with Him. But look how he lost one of them and how what the devil was plotting against Him served to the greater glory of the Lord. For no one was looking for the crosses of thieves; on the contrary, the whole world was languishing in anticipation of the cross of the Lord. And from this it obviously turns out that the Lord is not a lawless man, like the thieves, but the misdirector of all righteousness. Luke 23:33. And when they came to a place called Lobnoye, they crucified Him and the villains there, one on the right and the other on the left. They take Him to the place of Execution, where, they say, the forefather was buried, so that where the fall took place through the tree, the restoration through the tree would also take place there. Luke 23:34. Jesus said: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Jesus, showing extreme meekness, prays for them, saying: “Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And, of course, this sin would have been forgiven them if after this they had not remained in unbelief. And they divided His garments by casting lots. Why are His garments divided? Perhaps many needed them, or perhaps (which is more likely) they did it out of insolence and with the intention of outrage. For in their opinion, what was precious in these clothes? So they did it in the form of ridicule and abuse. Luke 23:35. And the people stood and watched. The leaders also mocked them, For what should we conclude about the common people when their leaders mocked them? saying: he saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ, God's chosen one. It is the devil who speaks through them. As on the roof of the church (Luke 4:9), so here he says this, envying salvation through the cross and wanting to stop it with all possible tricks. Luke 23:36. The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him vinegar. Luke 23:37. and saying: if You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself. The warriors brought vinegar for drinking, serving just like a king. Luke 23:38. And there was an inscription over Him, written in Greek, Roman and Hebrew words: This is the King of the Jews. Here is another trick of the devil, turning on himself. Namely: he announces the indignation of Jesus in letters of three languages, so that everyone passing by would know that He was hanged for presenting Himself as a king. But the ingenious one did not understand that this was a sign that the strongest of the nations, such as the Romans, and the wisest, such as the Greeks, and the most pious, such as the Jews, would enter the Kingdom of Jesus and preach Him. However, in the interpretation of the Gospel of John we said more and more sublimely about this. Luke 23:39. One of the hanged villains slandered Him and said: if You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. Luke 23:40. The other, on the contrary, calmed him down and said: Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same thing? Luke 23:41. and we are condemned justly, because we accepted what was worthy of our deeds, but He did nothing bad. Luke 23:42. And he said to Jesus: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! How do other evangelists say (Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32) that Jesus was slandered by both thieves? At first, probably, both slandered Him; and then one of them, who was more prudent, recognized the goodness and divinity of Jesus from those words that He spoke for the crucifiers, saying: “Father! forgive them." For these words are not only filled with perfect love for mankind, but also reveal a lot of their own power. Jesus did not say: Lord, I pray Thee, forgive them, but simply in the same way as with authority: “Father! forgive them." Enlightened by these words, the one who had previously slandered Jesus recognizes Him as the true King, stops the mouth of another thief and says to Jesus: remember me in Your Kingdom. What about the Lord? Luke 23:43. And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” As a man, He is on the cross, and as God, He fills everything everywhere, both there and in heaven, and there is no place where He is not. Others will ask: when the Lord says to the thief, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise,” then how did Paul after this say that none of the saints received the “promise” (Heb. 11:39)? And some answer: the apostle did not say about all the saints that they did not receive the promises, but only about those whom he listed. And he listed many others, but did not mention the robber. For listen to what he says: “all these”; Obviously, he referred his speech to those whom he listed, and this robber was not among them. Others said that the robber had not yet inherited life in paradise; but since the Lord’s promise is immutable and by no means false, that’s why it is said: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” For there are, they say, in the Lord’s speeches such expressions in which He expresses himself about the future as about what has happened. For example, when he says: “He who does not believe is already condemned” (John 3:18), and another time: “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Others distort this saying, namely: after “now” they put a punctuation mark so that the following speech comes out: truly I say to you today, and then they continue: you will be with Me in Paradise. Still others, and, it seems, very successfully, explain it this way: the benefits promised to us are not life in paradise or a return to it, but the Kingdom of Heaven, which is why we pray: “Thy kingdom come,” and not life in heaven. And don’t tell me that heaven and the Kingdom are one and the same. For the blessings of the Kingdom have not been seen by the eye, nor the ear heard, and they have not entered the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9). And paradise was seen by the eye of Adam, and the ear heard about it, for it is said: “You will eat from every tree in the garden” (Gen. 2:16). Although Adam was forbidden one tree, he nevertheless saw it and heard about it. Paradise has come to man's heart. For Adam rejoiced spiritually, since he did not abandon such activity and agricultural joy. Therefore, they say, Paul does not contradict at all. The thief received "paradise", but did not receive the "Kingdom"; he will receive it when all those whom he listed receive it. At least for the time being he is in heaven, which is a place of peace of mind. This has been said many times. We can say that nothing prevents the words of both the Lord and Paul from being true even if the Kingdom of Heaven and paradise are one and the same. For although the thief is in paradise or in the Kingdom, and not only he, but all those numbered by Paul, he does not enjoy the complete possession of goods. Just as the condemned are not in the royal dwellings, but are imprisoned and guarded for their intended punishments, and the honorable ones enter the royal palaces and remain in them, then, when the time of distribution comes, they are rewarded with royal gifts, so the saints, although they have not yet tasted complete bliss, are nevertheless in bright abodes, full of fragrance and, generally speaking, royal, although they have not yet been rewarded the final distribution of royal gifts. Likewise, the thief, although he has now become in paradise, nevertheless does not enjoy perfect bliss, so that “not without us he would achieve... perfection” (Heb. 11:40). And this explanation, in my opinion, is fairest. Not to mention the fact that the gifts of the saints, manifested in everyday miracles, can rightly be called paradise and that all of them, because, having been granted spiritual gifts, they received the deposit of the Spirit in them, are in paradise, although they did not achieve perfection, and received the Kingdom, as Paul says in the same letter to the Hebrews, although they did not receive what was promised. By the word “promise” he obviously meant the fullness of pleasure. So, they have not yet received everything promised, however, they are in the Kingdom and in paradise. I ask you to marvel at this: just as some king, returning from victory with trophies, carries with him the best part of the booty, so the Lord, having stolen the best booty from the devil, takes it with Him, returning to the original fatherland of man, that is, to paradise. He was in paradise not only the Divinity, but also the thinking and rational human soul perceived by Him, and in paradise He was with the spirit and descended into hell with the soul. Having saved the robber, the Lord bound the instrument of evil, according to His prediction: having bound the strong man, he will plunder his things (Matthew 12:29). Luke 23:44. Now it was about the sixth hour of the day, and darkness fell over all the land until the ninth hour: Once the Jews wanted to see a sign from heaven; So, here is this sign for them: extraordinary “darkness”. Luke 23:45. and the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the church was torn in the middle. And the “veil” of the church is “torn.” The Lord shows by this that the Holy of Holies will no longer be inaccessible, but will be handed over to the Romans, trampled under foot and desecrated. Or He also shows that the veil that separated us from the saints living in heaven is being torn, that is, enmity and sin. For this constituted a great barrier separating us from those living there. It also shows that He was not crucified out of weakness. For the one who performed such a sign could dissolve and destroy them. Luke 23:46. Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said: Father! I commit My spirit into Your hands. And having said this, he gave up the ghost. Having cried out with a loud voice, Jesus gives up his ghost. For He had the power to lay down His soul, and “to take it up again” (John 10:18). Luke 23:47. The centurion, seeing what was happening, glorified God and said: Truly this man was a righteous man. This voice and other miracles served as a reason for faith for the centurion. For Jesus did not die as an ordinary person, but as a Master, and He called death a transfer for preservation, since He had to receive the soul again. This is the first voice by which our souls are awarded freedom, since they are no longer held by the devil, but they surrender to the Father. For before the death of Christ, the devil had great right over souls, but since the Son betrayed His spirit not into hell, but into the hands of the Father, those held in hell received freedom. Here we see the event of the words once spoken by the Lord: “When I am exalted..., I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32). For, lifted up on the cross, He attracted the thief, attracted the centurion. Luke 23:48. And all the people who had gathered to see this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their chests. Some of the Jews beat their chests and, reproaching the crucifiers, openly recognized Jesus as righteous. Luke 23:49. Yet those who knew Him, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off and looked on. The disciples fled, but the women, this humiliated and cursed race, remain and look at all this, and yet they are the first to enjoy the justification and blessing that flows from here, as well as the resurrection. And you, perhaps, marvel at the bitterness of the Jews. They say: let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him. And seeing great miracles, they do not believe! For was not the descent from the cross equivalent to the darkening of the sun, the disintegration of stones, a terrible earthquake, the resurrection of the dead, the tearing of the veil and the change of all creation? Therefore, let no one wonder why Jesus did not come down from the cross, but let him accept it without curiosity, realizing that even then they would not have believed it if He had done this, and nothing else would have come of it except that salvation through the cross would have been distorted. For the cross, above all else, is the glory of Christ. So, He, having performed more miracles, while they did not believe, at the same time corrected two things: firstly, He endured to the end and accepted the cross, this great sign of victory; and, secondly, I discovered that they were completely insensitive, had no goodness at all, but were hardened in unbelief. Luke 23:50. Then a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and truthful man, Luke 23:51. not participating in the council and in their business; from Arimathea, a city of Judea, also awaiting the Kingdom of God, Luke 23:52. came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; Luke 23:53. and, taking it off, he wrapped it in a shroud and laid it in a tomb hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever been laid. Joseph did not reveal himself before, but now he is doing a praiseworthy work. Despite the fact that he was a member of the council and a rich man, he boldly asks for the body of the Man Who was crucified as a rebel and troublemaker, and does not pay attention to any danger, although wealth is fearful, but asks for it and honorably buries it in a tomb carved in stone, where no one else was previously laid, so that slanderers would not say that the body of another has been resurrected. Luke 23:54. That day was Friday, and Saturday was coming. Luke 23:55. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee also followed and looked at the tomb and how His body was laid out; Luke 23:56. Having returned, they prepared incense and ointments; and on the Sabbath they remained in peace according to the commandment. And the women, although they had faith in the Lord, it was not the kind they should have, but weak and small. For, considering Him to be a simple man, they prepare ointments and incense according to the custom that prevailed among the Jews, always observed over the dead. However, on the Sabbath, according to the commandment of the Law, they remain quiet.