Собеседование 19 на псалом 96

To the words: “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice” (Ps. 97:1), and to the words: “When He gives up the Kingdom to God and the Father” (1 Cor. 15:24), and about the sacrament of baptism 1. Again, the spiritual lyre of blessed David, through the action of the Holy Spirit, brought out heavenly sounds for us, not to delight the ear, but to edify souls. This spiritual lyre tends to sanctify souls. And in general, psalmody is always a triumph for those who rejoice, a consolation for those who are despondent, and some kind of holy spell; it is not like those spells that are presented in fables, but it tames passions like wild animals, curbs intemperance, extinguishes injustice, supports the truth, overthrows blasphemous plans, kills shameful thoughts, proclaims the divine law, preaches God, explains the faith, stops the lips of heretics, builds the Church. Many and varied subjects are sung with this holy lyre. Today, for example, blessed David preaches about the kingdom of God, saying: “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the many islands rejoice” (Ps. 97:1). This is what the psalmody announced to us during the previous teaching. Of course, reading the divine scriptures should be considered teaching; and what we offer is not a teaching, but an explanation of the teaching. And that there is teaching in psalmody, listen to how the prophet himself says: “I will teach the wicked in Your ways, and the wicked will turn to You” (Ps. 50:15). First he learns himself, and then he teaches. Just as a reservoir, if it were not abundantly filled with water, could not supply moisture to the garden and ridges, so the prophet and the apostle, unless divine grace generously endows him with divine streams, cannot have it himself, nor can he give it to others. And that the prophet also accepts teaching, listen to how he himself takes the position of a disciple, saying this: “Tell me Your ways, O Lord, and teach me Your paths” (Ps. 24:4). “Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me your justification" (Ps. 119:12). Do you see how he studies and teaches? No God-loving soul, if it were not taught by God, could be established in the teaching. In fact, what reliable can human reason give? And everything proclaimed by the Holy Scriptures is firm and true. The mind sometimes creates and sometimes destroys; Every person's thought fluctuates between affirmation and denial. The divine voice expresses the most definite judgment about any subject. Therefore, God speaks - and things obey, and His word is a heavenly beckoning. And this is not surprising if God commands, and the existing is subject to change, and the non-existent receives existence. So, today blessed David teaches and proclaims the kingdom of God, saying: “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice.” We need to examine this very saying. What does he mean to say: “The Lord reigns”? It seems that he is not talking about the one who has just assumed the kingdom? After all, no one will say about a king who has reigned for a long time that “he reigned” - because what he has had from a long time cannot be considered a recent acquisition. So, what did David mean by saying: “The Lord reigns”? After all, if He always reigns, it is unnecessary to say - “reigned”; then it would have been said by the way: “The Lord reigns” if he wanted to glorify the reign that had just begun. Meanwhile, when does the kingdom of God begin? Was it recently? Was God ever God without being a king? And how? With God nothing is recent. He does not receive power, does not enter into the kingdom, but from eternity he is the King, from eternity he is the Lord, from eternity he is the Creator, as blessed Moses says: “The Lord will reign forever and ever” (Ex. 15:18). If blessed Moses, many generations before David, announced the kingdom of God, what does blessed David want to say, speaking of the ancient as of the recent: “The Lord reigns”? Isn’t it clear that he means here the economy of the Savior? In fact, the kingdom of the Savior is twofold: one is eternal and without beginning, the other is at the end of the ages, receiving its beginning from the economy. Precisely, being always a king, he becomes a king according to the flesh, having one thing by nature, and receiving another according to human image. So our Savior reigned. It is not in vain that he says: “The Lord reigned,” but because before Christ reigned, other principles reigned in the world; power over creation was seized by illegal rulers, not by natural law, but as a result of increased lawlessness. Demons reigned in the world, not possessing royal dignity, but using their illegal power as royal power. So, proclaiming the destruction of the illegal power of demons and the economy that shone with the coming of the Savior, the psalmist says: “The Lord reigned,” that is, he reigned, expelling the kingdom of demons and laying the foundation for his own, divine, manifested economy. However, from the scriptures themselves it is necessary to show what reigned in the world before Christ. Listen to what Paul says: “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even on those who did not sin” (Rom. 5:14). This means there was a kingdom of death. And on the other hand, sin, as the same apostle says: “Let not sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom. 6:12). Just as sin reigned through one man, so grace reigns through one. So, the apostle showed that before Christ both sin and death reigned; and they were each other's successors as cruel kings and illegitimate rulers. Sin was the first to reign in the world; then, as a person completed the course of his life, he indulged in the kingdom of death; and with the kingdom of death, man, for his part, returned to the power of sin; from violence to violence, from enemy to enemy, the human race passed as prey. Sin reigned, after which death reigned successively, because, he says, “the sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15:56), and the human race remained oppressed. So, it is to these oppressed by cruel rulers that blessed David preaches the coming of the king. Just as for those oppressed by an unlawful ruler, the news of the coming of the king drives away despondency and sadness and revives joyful hopes, so David consoles the land, immersed in sorrow, trampled, oppressed, oppressed by demons, with his own words: “The Lord reigns, let the land rejoice.” And when did he reign? When did his kingdom begin? According to the flesh he began to reign when he became a man; His eternal kingdom had no beginning and will have no end. This is how we explained this saying before; here we need to remind you of it. One cannot, of course, demand that a preacher use a well-known saying only once; but if it is necessary to constantly heal the wound of sin, then it is necessary to return to what was once said. 2. Since the heretics object that the very kingdom that the Savior has, He received from the Father, and has nothing by nature, but by grace, it is necessary to show what is the dispensation given to Him in the flesh and what is the nature of the kingdom inherent in Him by virtue of His eternal dignity? The Savior was not appointed king of heaven and earth by the Father: he did not receive that kingdom by virtue of appointment; He was elevated by God to kings according to His carnal dispensation. “But I,” he says, “have been made king by Him... over Zion, His holy mountain” (Ps. 2:6). When He came to Judea, when He undertook a carnal dispensation, when, being the eternal God, He appeared on earth, then His kingdom began by succession from David, because He acquired for Himself not another kingdom, but the one that the house of David had lost. Therefore, the Archangel Gabriel speaks to the Virgin Mary: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:31): “For He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Pay special attention (to the expressions of the evangelist), (Jesus) has not yet preached, has not yet taught, but (the evangelist is already) saying: “His people” - so that you know that it was not after His suffering that the people became His people, that it was not because of His suffering that He inherited the people, but had His people, as His Lord, even before His suffering, and through His suffering He acquired for Himself the universal Church. “He will save His people from their sins.... And the Lord God will give Him...”. To whom? Begotten by You according to the economy of the incarnation. “And the Lord God will give him a throne.” Which? "David His Father". This means that He does not receive the heavenly kingdom that He had, but acquires this very kingdom, stolen by demons from the house of David. “And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32–33). If His kingdom is eternal and has no end, then what do the misinterpreted words mean: “when He hands over the Kingdom to God and the Father”? But I already said earlier that Scripture calls not only the royal dignity a kingdom, but also the peoples themselves, governed by a king. How could there be a king if there were no ones over whom he should reign? So, a tribe, a people, a universe, subject to a king, is called a kingdom. How can you say: the kingdom of the Persians, i.e. the country of the Persians, the kingdom of the Romans - so here too that which is under the rule of the King is called the kingdom - the human race subject to the King. And that this is true, listen to how Scripture calls the people subject to the king a kingdom. When King Ahab was looking for blessed Elijah the prophet, his steward said: “As the Lord your God lives! There is not a single people or kingdom where my sovereign has not sent to look for you; and when they told him that you were not there, he took an oath from that kingdom and people that they could not find you” (1 Kings 18:10), - instead of saying: he burned all his subjects when he did not find you. You see that the kingdom is called not only the dignity of the king, but also the peoples subordinate to the king. Thus, the Savior transfers the kingdom, i.e. humanity, once subject to sin, once subject to death, in order, having delivered it from this yoke, to be won again and presented to God and the Father. So, that He was appointed King over Zion, that God gave Him the throne of His father David, that in this kingdom He recently acquired - over the house of Jacob - He reigns forever, all this is irrefutably proven from the Holy Scriptures. And that He was a King both before the fleshly incarnation and before suffering, and that before receiving the kingdom of David, His father according to the flesh, He had an eternal throne, Isaiah will testify to this, saying: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the whole church” (Is. 6:1). And then a little lower he says: “Woe is me! I'm dead! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people also of unclean lips, and mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Is. 6:5). Who did he see? Who did he say this about? Ask the Evangelist John, so that nothing is forced upon you, but everything is testified to the truth. What is based on human judgments is refuted by other similar judgments, and what is proclaimed from the Holy Spirit through the mouth of the prophets and apostles has no objectors, and even if those who challenge it appear, it actually wins. So who did Isaiah see? “And mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” How did you see it? "He who sits on a throne, high and exalted." And what was told to Him? “Go and tell this people: You will hear with your ears and not understand, and with your eyes you will see and will not see. For the heart of this people is hardened, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart” (Is. 6:9, 10), and so on. 3. What does the Evangelist John, the great wing of theology, the true son of thunder, who illuminated the matter of salvation like lightning and thundered in theology, say? He talks about the Savior. But remember what has been said, so that you do not use many words in vain, and so that many speeches do not distract your thoughts. “The king, the Lord of Hosts,” says Isaiah, “my eyes have seen. And He said: Go and tell this people: You will hear with your ears and not understand, and with your eyes you will see and will not see” (Is. 6:5, 9). And John says: “He did so many miracles before them, and they did not believe in Him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: and He said: Go and tell this people: You will hear by hearing and will not understand” (John 12:37-38; Isaiah 6:9), and so on. And lest anyone think that he took these words as appropriate, and that only the expression itself corresponded to his thought, and the one whom the prophet saw on the high throne was not the Son, the evangelist adds: “Isaiah said this when he saw His glory and spoke about Him” (John 12:41). What glory? “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the whole church.” Who did you see? “And mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Which king? The one about whom Nathanael proclaimed: “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel” (John 1:49). The amazing thing is that the voice of Nathanael, as those who listened with zeal and attention remember, we found to be in agreement with the prophecy of Isaiah, which reads: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel” (Is. 44:6); the same prophet in another place says: “Thus says the Lord” God, the king of Israel, the eternal God “who redeemed” him (Is. 44:24). They remember, of course, who the Redeemer is, and what the redemption consisted of, and how it was given, and that the body and blood served as a ransom. "Redeemed" him. Since (the Redeemer) seemed to have recently appeared according to His economy, so that people, paying attention only to the carnal appearance, would not remain ignorant of His divine dignity, the prophet says: “He who redeemed” Him is the eternal God. Of course, the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal. Can't a heretic say: "three eternal"? Eternal, he said, is the Father, eternal is the Son, eternal is the Spirit—not three eternal natures, but one eternal nature, revealed in the One Trinity. Listen to what blessed Isaiah says: “the eternal Lord God, who made the ends of the earth” (Is. 40:28). Who arranged it? If a heretic wants to evade the doctrine of the Son as God, he answers: “this is said about the Father,” while forgetting his own words. After all, he says that the Father created only the Son, and the Son created everything else. If the Son is the Creator of everything, then He also created the mountains of the earth; and having created the mountains of the earth, there is the great, eternal God. But in order to expose their ignorance even more clearly, I will bring as a witness the blessed Paul, who calls the Son a great God: He is a great God, since He is the Son of a great Father. As is the one who gives birth, so is the one who is born. If the one who gave birth is small, the fruit of this root is also small; if the Father is great, then the Son is also great. The Son of the Great Father cannot be small. "The eternal Lord God, who created the ends of the earth." Listen to what Paul says: “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13). Saving grace has appeared, he says, instructing us (this is in the epistle to Titus), so that, leaving ungodliness and worldly lusts, we began to live chastely, righteously and piously in the present age, in anticipation of the blessed hope and the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Here is the great eternal God, who founded the ends of the earth, and the great eternal God, who appeared in the world. David says about this: “great is our Lord and great is [His] strength” (Ps. 146:5), since Christ is God’s power, and in Hebrew, strength and power are one and the same. Since God is great and Christ is great, as can be seen from the words: “the eternal Lord God,” and: “the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,” the same thing is sung to Him in other words: “great is our Lord and great is [His] strength.” "The Eternal Lord God". Well, is our Lord one thing, and His strength another? No; but since strength is the same as strength, and Christ is the power of God, then (this means): great is our Lord and great is Christ. So, here you have a great eternal God, and God the Son, a great eternal God. This great and eternal God, having appeared to people, takes on the flesh prepared by the Holy Spirit. “What is born in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). So, did the Spirit take part in His origin? Yes, the Holy Spirit built the church of God the Word in that holy and great Virgin, and He appeared, receiving a body from the Virgin, conceived by her from the Holy Spirit by divine power, invisibly and inexplicably. Then, where is it clear that the Holy Spirit is eternal? Listen to what blessed Paul says: “If the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling, sanctifies the defiled, so that the body may be clean” (Heb. 9:13), i.e. sacrifices offered according to the law of Moses; since sprinkling with blood was once used and this constituted some kind of sacrament, and the appearance was one, but the mysterious meaning was different, then, wanting to explain by this sensual atonement the spiritual, (combined) with true prayer, the apostle says: “if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, through sprinkling, sanctifies the defiled, so that the body may be pure, then how much more is the Blood of Christ, Who by the Holy Spirit offered Himself blameless to God, cleansing our conscience from dead works, to serve the living and true God” (Heb. 9:13-14). What does “by the Holy Spirit” mean? The Holy Spirit is, as it were, a mentor for the Savior’s flesh; not in the sense that God the Word is powerless to control His flesh, but in the sense that what God the Word did is attributed to the Holy Spirit. Who cast out demons? Isn't God the Word? But, however, God the Word says: “If by the Spirit of God I cast out demons” (Matthew 12:28). He attributes his deeds to the Spirit, since their nature is one and their power is inseparable. That His Holy Body was, as it were, led and guided by the power of the Holy Spirit, Scripture testifies to this: “Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Luke 4:1; Luke 3:21; Matt. 3:16). What does “behaved” mean? This means His flesh was instructed. “He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” So we are led in imitation of the Savior, as Paul says: “If you are led by the Spirit, then you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). Therefore, the Savior calls Himself the Source of life, and the Holy Spirit living water. Do you see how He confirms the indivisibility of being? The Savior says: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38), “flowing into eternal life” (John 4:14), and the Evangelist John immediately adds, explaining what this living water is: “These things He spoke of the Spirit, which those who believed on Him were to receive” (John 7:39). 4. Be careful. If the Holy Spirit is living water, and believers receive Him, why did You say: “Whoever thirsts, come to Me,” and did not say: “Whoever thirsts, come to the Holy Spirit?” Of course, when He said, “To me,” He spoke the truth, because there is one source of both: “With You is the source of life; in Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35:10). But since the Savior called the Holy Spirit living water, why does He speak of water as living? So that you know that She is from the source of God. Living water is the Spirit, the source of living water is God, so that when you recognize the source, you understand where the living water comes from. “Out of the belly shall flow rivers of living water.” “These things He said” - waters - “concerning the Spirit, which those who believed were about to receive.” If the Spirit is living water, let us look for its source. What is His source? Let Jeremiah say: “Marvel at this, O heavens, and tremble and be horrified, says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters” (Jer. 2:12-13). Do you see that the source of water is God, and the living water is the Holy Spirit? The source of living water is the Father; river flowing from the earth, Son; the water of this river is the Holy Spirit. “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.” Let the prophet Isaiah say the same about the Son: and the Lord “will be like a fountain of water in the desert” (Is. 32:2). Do you see the source? Do you see the river? Do you see the living water? And just as you cannot call the source, at its base, a river, nor the river, on the other hand, coming out of it, can you call it a source, nor can you call the water separated from the river and irrigating the earth a river, but water of irrigation, and, moreover, the names differ, but the nature is indivisible; and so (I will repeat the same thing again), just as you do not call the source at its beginning a river, nor the source that has spilled into a river, you will no longer call it a source, but an outflow; that source; further, river water, after it has gone for irrigation, is not called a river, but irrigation water, and in all these cases the names fall apart, but the nature is not divided - so the Father cannot be called the Son, nor the Son the Father, so as not to fall into the opinion of Sabelli. Of course, the difference in names does not divide nature, although heretics want to derive a difference in nature from the difference in names. And when you consider these images, which are used (to clarify the Trinity) by comparison, do not get too carried away by them, because nothing visible can represent the invisible with sufficient clarity. (They are good because) they do not contain anything indecent and point to the glorious for comparison. But, of course, the fact that a river is formed (from a source) by flowing out does not mean that the Father begot the Son according to the way of flowing out. And I said this based on Scripture. No one, of course, would dare to present himself as deserving of faith. If I had not heard what the Father says: “I, the fountain of living water, have been forsaken,” if I had not heard the words of the Lord: “out of my heart shall flow rivers of living water: this He said of the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive,” I would not have dared with my mortal human thought to invent something new about immortal nature. But let's move on to a clearer proof. And let no one consider this instruction superfluous. It was precisely when grace was especially close, and after the living water had already revealed its effect, (the evangelist) added “water of the Spirit” in explanation of “waters.” We need to talk about this, so that those who come will learn what gift they are approaching, and those who have already been awarded the gift, and the desire to receive it will be aroused in those who have not yet received it. Holy and living water necessarily comes when it is preached by word and worshiped by faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls living water the Holy Spirit when he says to the Samaritan woman: “If you knew the gift of God and Who says to you, Give Me a drink, then you yourself would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). The prophets Zechariah and Ezekiel also speak about this water. Try to get into it. The Savior says to Nicodemus, an elder of the Jews: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). He, like a Jew, rooted in Jewish views, unable to rise in his thoughts above the carnal, says to the Savior, having heard about the rebirth: “How can a person be born when he is old? Can he really enter his mother’s womb another time and be born?” (John 3:4) Hearing about spiritual things, he imagined sensual things. The Savior tells him: “that which is born of the flesh is flesh”; I am not talking about the flesh, or about carnal regeneration: “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Then he reproaches him: “You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?” (John 3:10) Do you see what a fault it is to be a teacher and remain inactive, not to study the Scriptures? “You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?” But although he was a teacher of Israel, how could he know that You were preaching a new sacrament and a heavenly gift? No one has ever preached such a baptism of immortality. Yes, he says; but the prophets foretold. Haven't you read the prophets? Aren't you a priest? Isn't it a teacher? Haven't you heard about water and spirit from the prophets? What new did I say compared to the prophets? “Who is not born of water and the Spirit”? But it is also Ezekiel who says: “I will sprinkle you with clean water... and I will give you a new spirit” (Ezekiel 36:25-26). Here is the water and the Spirit. “Whoever is not born of water and the Spirit. I will sprinkle you with clean water... and I will give you a new spirit.” Water and Spirit. 5. Blessed Ezekiel speaks just as clearly, describing the revival that was about to take place: “the hand of the Lord was upon me, ... he brought me back to the doors of the church, and behold, from under the threshold of the church water flowed to the east, for the church stood facing east, and the water flowed from under the right side of the church” (Ezek. 37: 1, 47: 1-3). Everywhere - “to the east”, since from there the source of salvation. As His glory went there - along the way to the east (Ezek. 43:2), so the water came from there. “From under the threshold of the church water flows to the east, for the church stood facing east, and the water flowed from under the right side of the church, on the south side of the altar. And he brought me out by the north gate, and led me around by the outer gate to the outer gate, by the way facing the east; and behold, the water flows on the right hand. When that man went east." And it’s not in vain that this is from the unveiled. Nothing is covered, everything is naked, pure, transparent, full of light. “The way facing the east”: and “when that man went east.” It was nothing other than the exodus of her husband. A man came along with the water, and there was a sacrament. One foreshadows the economy of the Savior, and the other the action of the Spirit. Water and husband, the economy of the incarnation and the action of the Spirit. “When that man went east, he held a cord (measure) in his hand.” What measure? (Measure) of the gift. Each of us has been given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. “He held a cord (mer u) in his hand.” I ask you to delve deeply to see the hope of immortality proclaimed from above. “Water flows on the right side. When that man went east, he held a cord (mer) in his hand.” What measure? Grace and the measure of the gift. "And he measured out a thousand in the water." What does “a thousand” mean? He didn’t say cubits, fathoms, but simply “a thousand.” He says one thing and hides the other. “And he also measured out a thousand.” “And he passed over with water, the water of abandonment. And... measure with a measure,” and measure with it, “a thousand... And he passed over with water, the water of forsakenness.” Which water of forsakenness did he cross with water. Since in baptism there is both sensual water and spiritual water, he passed through the sensual water of the water of forsakenness, i.e., through sensual water he came to the Spirit who has forsakenness sins. “And pass through the water, the water of remission.” Where the Spirit is, there is remission of sins, as the Savior says, breathing: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22-23). Then, the prophet, or better - God through the prophet, wanting to show how the sacrament of baptism begins with a few, but spreads to embrace the world, begins from Palestine through the twelve apostles, then filled Palestine, filled Syria, moved to the east, embraced the western countries, reached the very west - this is precisely wanting to show how the knowledge of the sacrament will gradually spread, God says through the prophet: “and the measure is in the hand.” it, and measure a thousand... and pass through the water, the water of abandonment. And [again], measure a thousand... and the waters come up... to the loins" (Ezek.47:3-4). It spread little by little. First the water; then the water was deep, rising to the thigh. “And measure” another “thousand, and it will no longer be possible to pass away,” because “the water has arrived. And the waters flowed out, and a great river (Ezek.47:5). First the water, then up to the thigh, then the river. And he measured it three times: a thousand, a thousand, a thousand. The number is up to a thousand, which indicates perfection in the calling of the Father, and in the calling of the Son, and in the calling of the Holy Spirit. And he measured a thousand, and passed over the water, the water of abandonment. “And [again] you measured a thousand... and the waters came up... up to your loins. And measure the third thousand." When knowledge is complete, then the third measure is laid down. Moreover, one measure, but it is laid down three times. This means that in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit there is one Divinity, one power, one power, preached in three names. And the water, he says, came like an inundating stream. What does it mean - like a stream? This is the action of the Holy Spirit. He calls the abundance of gifts a stream, because a river, constantly flowing, has a smooth course, and a stream, rapidly swelling, carries abundant water and carries away everything in its path. So, the loving God, wanting to show that the gift of grace (will be) water of abandonment for believers, but water of drowning for unbelievers and water that washes away errors and the dominion of demons and the malice of the devil, says: it came out “like an overflowing stream.” What flow? Listen to what God says through Isaiah: “Behold, I am sending peace to him like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream for your enjoyment” (Isaiah 66:12). The river is for believers, the stream is for those who resist. And she came out like a stream to those who resisted. And that water became a flood, drowning. See how the gift is explained. What effect does this water have? The Prophet says: “When I came back, behold, on the banks of the stream there were many trees on both sides. And he said to me: This water flows to the eastern side of the earth, will descend into the plain and enter the sea; and its waters will become healthy” (Ezek. 47:7-8). Why is water healing? Because it brings health. “Behold, you are cured; Sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). “And every living thing that moves where the two streams enter will live; and there will be very many fish, because this water will enter there, and the waters of the sea will become healthy, and where this stream enters, everything will live there” (Ezek. 47:9). What kind of fish? Many nations. “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). “As in a great sea, there will be very many fish” (Ezek. 47:10). This means the coming of Christ will gather all the nations of the universe, like fish in the great sea. As much as the world had, so much did the Church receive. “All kinds of trees will grow” (I return again to the words of the prophet) “along its banks, on both sides,” and will revive the waters and make them healthy. “And their fruits will not fail” (Ezek.47:12). When Christ is preached, a lamp is brought in. Usually the prophets also light a lamp for Christ, as, for example, David says: “I have prepared a lamp for my anointed” (Ps. 131:17). The sensual lamp has distracted our attention. But turn your lamp to what is now being said: “on the banks of the stream there were many trees on both sides, and their fruits would not be exhausted” (Ezek. 47:7, 12). It was not the old trees that bore fruit, but the new ones. New, he says, trees, new fruits. “Having put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new” (Col. 3:9-10). 6. Do you see how grace is foretold? Do you see how rightly the Lord reproached Nicodemus: “You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this?” (John 3:10)? Zechariah also testifies to this: not Zechariah, the father of John, John, who then lived in the desert, but who adorned Palestine and crowned our city. It is fitting for John to cry out after death and to glorify him from the grave, because if he leaped in the womb and preached the Lord, then in the grave he will leap with his holy bones and say: “all my bones will say: Lord, Lord! Who is like You? (Ps.34:10) So, says blessed Zechariah: “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David” (Is.2:2; Zech.13:1). The house of David refers to the kinship of David, since Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, was from the house of David. “Betrothed to a husband named Joseph, of the house of David” (Luke 1:27, 2:4). With the coming of the Savior, every place is open - east, west, south, north. “On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem; living waters will flow out of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 13:1, 14:8). What is living water? “Out of the belly will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). "And living waters will flow out of Jerusalem." Where will they “flow” from? “And the word of the Lord is from Jerusalem” (Is. 2:3), from where Christ is, from Zion. Living water from Jerusalem. Why from Jerusalem? Because from there the manifestation of the Spirit began, because in Jerusalem the apostles received the Holy Spirit, and from there the apostles carried Him to all the ends of the earth. “Living waters will flow from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea” (Zechariah 14:8). What does it mean “to the eastern sea”, and what does it mean “to the western sea”? Does Scripture contain riddles? No, it preaches the truth, explains the mystery, reveals powers. "Living waters will flow." Notice a circumstance worthy of surprise. He does not say: river, but first: “water,” because grace always begins small and then grows into great things. “Living waters will flow from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea.” The “eastern” sea refers to the previously inhabited limits of the universe - to the east, because here the race of Adam initially flourished and from here it spread to the west and filled the universe. So, the prophet calls the first sea the originally inhabited countries of the earth, and the last sea, therefore, the limits of the west. And the east was filled (with grace), and the west was beautified. So, think about this sacrament, which the heretics ridicule, insulting the Holy Spirit and constraining the sovereign power with a slavish order. Let us avoid malice, let us avoid heretical blasphemy, let us avoid the habit of evil deeds. Good deeds are evidence of faith, love of humanity is evidence of faith. Be merciful to the poor. Do good - and use it yourself: after all, you cannot reap what you have not sowed. How do you say to God: “forgive me”? How can you ask for something you didn’t give? How can you take something you haven’t done? At least remember your words in times of need. When you were poor, you answered the requests of the beggars: “I would like to have and give.” When you were poor, you said: “Whoever gives to me, I will give; I would like to give, God sees my readiness.” But God, who often exposes such thoughts and denounces them by his very deeds, gives such a person wealth: and he no longer condemns himself, but forgets his former words. But everyone is condemned based on their words. While we are not judges, we say: if I were a judge, I would do this; if I were a judge, I would arrange it this way; if I were a judge, I would order such and such. Now you have come to the judgment seat: fulfill your promises. While you were poor, you promised alms, you promised justice. Now justify your promises with deeds. But regarding humility, people are like grasshoppers. In winter, the grasshopper is frozen and cannot move: it is numb from the cold, and therefore humble, can easily be caught and taken by hand; Having warmed up a little in the sun, he flies up, unable to continue to sit still, and rushes through the air. So is man: amidst sorrows he is distinguished by humility, piety, meekness, and kindness. But happiness comes, and the person appears in all his nakedness. That is why Scripture says to the Jews, the pious in adversity and the wicked in prosperity: “these locusts will scatter and fly away. Your princes are like locusts, and your commanders are like swarms of midges, which in cold weather nest in the cracks of the walls, and when the sun rises, they fly away, and you do not recognize the place where they were” (Nahum.3:16-17). He calls the people rabble. He is like a locust, like a grasshopper crawling onto a fence on a cold day: the sun warmed him up, and he flew away, not a trace remained of him, i.e. he forgot his humility. So are we: in poverty we are humble; Let's get rich and forget. In the face of death, we philosophize, and when a dead person passes by, everyone gives the correct assessment of human affairs, saying: everything is transitory, and we are nothing. While misfortune is before our eyes, everyone is ready to improve; but the terrifying sight has passed, and he immediately forgets about his decision. That is why Scripture says: “In all your deeds remember your end, and you will never sin” (Sir.7:39). Remember your end, and you will not sin. Always remember death, and your thought will not hesitate. Oh, that we, brethren, would in all circumstances remain faithful to God, to Whom belongs all glory, honor and power, forever and ever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: