Беседа 14

“When Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee.” (Matthew 4:12) Exposition 4:12–24. Why does Christ retire to Galilee? -What is Galilee? – Why does Christ begin preaching after John? – The calling of Peter and Andrew. – An example of obedience to Christ shown by them. – Why did Christ perform miracles at the beginning of his sermon? – Christ still heals mental illnesses – the source of physical illnesses. – To ask for absolution, you need to feel your sins. – Unrepentance angers God the most. – After death, a sinner cannot receive forgiveness. 1. Why does He leave again? In order to teach us not to go towards temptations ourselves, but to retreat and evade them. It is not the one who does not rush into danger who is guilty, but the one who does not have courage in danger. So, in order to teach this and tame the hatred of the Jews, Christ retires to Capernaum, fulfilling the prophecy, and, together, hastening, like a fisherman, to catch the teachers of the universe who, practicing their art, lived in this city. Notice here how Christ, every time he intends to retire to the pagans, takes incentives for this from the Jews. So in the present case, the Jews, having plotted evil against the Forerunner and put him in prison, drive Jesus himself into pagan Galilee. And that the name Galilee means neither just any part of the Jewish people, nor all the tribes in general, you can see from the words with which the prophet defines this country: “the land of Naphtali; will exalt the seaside route, the Transjordanian country, the pagan Galilee. The people walking in darkness will see a great light” (Isa. 9:1–2). Here he does not call sensual darkness darkness, but delusion and wickedness, which is why he added: “on those who live in the land of the shadow of death the light will shine” (Is. 9:2). And so that it can be seen that he is not talking about sensory light and darkness, for this, speaking about light, the prophet calls it not just light, but great light, which in another place he calls “true light” (John 1:9); and, speaking of darkness, he calls it the shadow of death. Wanting, then, to show that the inhabitants of this country did not themselves seek and find this light, but God showed them from above, the evangelist says: “the light shone upon them” (Matthew 4:16), that is, the light itself shone and illuminated them, and not they themselves came to the light in advance. In fact, the human race before the coming of Christ was in the most disastrous state; people no longer walked, but sat in the darkness; which means that they did not even hope to be free from this darkness. They didn’t even know where to go, and, enveloped in darkness, they sat, no longer able to stand. “From that time Jesus began to preach and say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). “From that time”: when is this? From the time John was put in prison. Why didn't Christ preach to them first? Why did He need John when the very deeds clearly testified about Him? On the one hand, so that His dignity can be seen from here, when He, just like the Father, has prophets, about which Zechariah said: “And you, a child, will be called a prophet of the Most High” (Luke 1:76); on the other hand, in order not to leave any excuse for the shameless Jews. Christ himself pointed out this last thing when he said: “John came, neither eating nor drinking; and they say: he has a demon. The Son of Man came, eating and drinking; and they say: here is a man who loves to eat and drink wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom was justified by her children” (Matthew 11:18–19). Moreover, it was necessary for someone else to speak about Christ in advance, and not He himself. If, even after so many and such strong proofs and testimonies, they said: “You testify about Yourself, Your testimony is not true” (John 8:13), then what would they not have said if John had not said anything about Him, and He Himself had first begun to testify about Himself to the people? That is why He did not preach before John, and did not perform miracles until the latter was put in prison. He did not want to create divisions among the people with His preaching. For the same reason, John did not perform a single miracle, so as to bring to Christ the people attracted to Him by the power of His miracles. And indeed, if already, and after so many and great miracles, John’s disciples, both before and after his imprisonment, looked at Jesus with jealousy, and if many revered Christ not as Him, but as John, then what would have happened if things had been different? This is why the Evangelist Matthew shows that Christ “from that time began to preach”; and at the beginning of His preaching, He taught the same thing that John preached, but he did not yet say anything about Himself, but continued only the preaching of the Baptist, because they still did not have the proper concept of Him; it would be good if this teaching was accepted. 2. For the same reason, at the beginning of His sermon, Christ does not offer anything painful and regrettable, like John. He mentioned the ax, the cut tree, the shovel, the threshing floor, the unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:10, 12); on the contrary, Christ begins His sermon with the joyful gospel of heaven and the “kingdom of heaven” prepared for those who listen to Him. “And as He passed near the Sea of ​​Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, and He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately left their nets and followed Him” (Matthew 4:18–20). Evangelist John describes their calling differently. From his words it is clear that this was already his second calling, which can be concluded from many signs. Namely, John says that they came to Jesus when John had not yet been put in prison; and here - that they came after his imprisonment. There Andrew calls Peter (John 1:41–42), and here Christ himself calls both of them. Moreover, John says that Jesus, seeing Simon coming to Him, said: “You are Simon, son of Jonah; You will be called Cephas, which means Peter the Stone” (John 1:42). And Matthew claims that Simon was already called by this name; It is he who says: “I saw Simon called Peter.” The same thing is shown by the very place from which they were called, and many other circumstances - for example, the fact that they easily obeyed Him, and the fact that they left everything: this means that they were well prepared for this even before. And indeed, from John’s narrative it is clear that Andrew came to Jesus’ house and heard many things from Him (John 1:39); Here we see that they, having heard only one word, immediately followed Him. It is likely that they, having first followed Jesus, then left Him, and seeing that John was put in prison, they withdrew and again returned to their occupation; That's why Jesus finds them fishing. He did not first prevent them from leaving Him when they desired, and He did not completely abandon them when they departed; but, having given freedom to move away from Himself, He again goes to return them to Himself. Here is the best way of fishing. See what their faith and obedience is like. They were busy with their own business (and you know how tempting fishing is); but, as soon as they heard the call of the Savior, they did not delay, did not postpone until another time, did not say: “let’s go home and consult with our relatives”; but, leaving everything, they followed Him just as Elisha followed Elijah (1 Kings 19:20). Christ desires such obedience from us that we would not delay even for the slightest time, even if the most extreme necessity required it. That is why, when someone else came to Him and asked permission to “bury his father” (Matthew 8:21), He did not allow him to do this either, showing that following Him should be preferred to everything else. You will say that they were promised a lot. But that is why I am especially surprised at them, that they, without having yet seen a single sign, believed such a great promise, and preferred following Christ to everything. They believed that they too would be able to ensnare others with the same words with which they themselves had been ensnared. And this was promised only to Peter and Andrew; but James and John were not told even this; only the example of obedience of the first paved the way for them; however, they had heard a lot about Jesus before. Next, look at the detail with which the evangelist points out their poverty: Jesus found them mending their nets (Matthew 4:21). They were poor to such an extent that they had no money to buy new networks, and therefore they repaired dilapidated ones. Meanwhile, no small proof of their virtue is the fact that they easily endure their poverty, are nourished by righteous labors, are connected with each other by bonds of love, live with their father and serve him. When, in this way, Christ has caught them, He begins to perform miracles in their presence, confirming with deeds what John said about Him. He begins to frequently visit synagogues, teaching His disciples that He is not an opponent of God or any deceiver, but came according to the will of the Father; and when visiting synagogues He not only preached, but also performed miracles. 3. Whenever anything special and unusual happens, or when any new way of life is introduced, God usually gives signs, as if as a guarantee of His power for those who are to accept His laws. Thus, intending to create man, He first created the whole world, and then gave him a well-known law in paradise. So, when he wanted to give the law to Noah, he again performed great miracles, changed the entire creation, in its foundations, commanded a terrible flood to hold the earth for a whole year, and in the midst of such a great storm, he preserved the righteous unharmed. So he protected Abraham with many signs; granted him victory in battle, struck Pharaoh with blows, and delivered his forefather from danger. So before promulgating the law to the Jews, He showed wondrous and great miracles, and then gave the law. So here, intending to give the highest rules of life and offer people something they have never heard, He confirms His words with miracles. Since the kingdom He proclaimed was not visible, He made the invisible things visible with visible signs. And notice what brevity the evangelist observes; he does not speak in detail about each person who was healed, but in a few words he mentions many signs: “they brought to Him,” he says, “all the weak, those possessed with various diseases and seizures, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and the paralytic, and He healed them” (Matthew 4:24). But the question arises: why did Christ not demand faith from any of these healed people? Why didn’t he tell them what he said later: “Do you believe that I am able to do this” (Matthew 9:28)? This is because He had not yet shown evidence of His power. However, their considerable faith was proved by the fact that they approached Him and brought the sick. They would not have brought them from afar if they did not have great faith in Him. Let us also follow Christ. And we have many mental illnesses, and it is these illnesses that he primarily wants to heal. This is why He heals physical illnesses in order to destroy mental illnesses as well. Let us approach Him and ask not for any worldly blessings, but for the remission of sins; He still gives us (everything we need) if we ask diligently. Then the rumor about Him spread throughout Syria, and now throughout the entire universe. At that time, people from different countries flocked to Him, hearing that He was healing the demon-possessed, but you, having before your eyes much more numerous and important experiences of His power, don’t you want to rebel and rush to Him? They left their fatherland, friends, and relatives, but you don’t want to leave home to come to Him and get something much better? But we don’t demand that from you either. Give up only evil habits, and you can, staying at home with your own, comfortably escape. Having some kind of physical illness, we try with all our might to free ourselves from it, and, suffering seriously from mental illnesses, we hesitate and refuse treatment. That is why we do not get rid of bodily illnesses, because we consider what is necessary for us to be unimportant, and what is unimportant to be necessary, and, leaving the very source of evil, we want to cleanse the streams. And that the depravity of the soul is the cause of bodily illnesses, proof of this is provided by the paralytic who was ill for thirty-eight years, and by the one who was lowered onto his bed after dismantling the roof, and, above all, by Cain. And many other examples show the same. So, let us destroy the source of evil, and then all the streams of diseases will dry up by themselves. Not only bodily relaxation is a disease, but also a sin; and the latter is even greater than the first, since the soul is better than the body. So, let us now approach Christ, we will ask Him to heal our weakened soul, and leaving everything worldly, we will care only about the spiritual. Having acquired this, you can then worry about the rest. Do not consider yourself safe if you do not grieve for your sins; but especially moan about this, that you do not feel remorse for your iniquities. Your peace of mind does not come from not being bitten by sin, but from the insensibility of a soul given over to sin. Imagine how those who feel the weight of their sins are tormented, how bitterly they cry out - more sadly than those who are cut or burned! What do they do, how do they suffer, how many tears do they shed, how much lamentation do they let out in order to free themselves from the torment of their conscience? They would not have done this if they had not suffered greatly in their souls. 4. It is best not to sin at all; and if someone has sinned, then you need to feel your sin and correct yourself. If this does not happen, then how will we beg God and ask for forgiveness of sins when we do not give ourselves any account of them? When you yourself, having sinned, do not want to know that you have sinned, then what sins will you ask God for forgiveness of? About those you don't know? And how can you know the greatness of a good deed? So, confess all your sins in detail in order to find out how great the debt is that is forgiven you, and thus arouse in yourself gratitude to your Benefactor. Having insulted a person, you beg friends, neighbors, and the gatekeepers themselves, spend money, waste many days, going to him and begging for forgiveness. And, even if the offended person drives you away once, and another time, and a thousand times, you do not lag behind, but the more zealously you intensify your prayers. And, having irritated the God of all, we neglect about it, remain cold, luxury, get drunk and do everything we are used to: when will we appease Him?... On the contrary, by continuing to live like this, aren’t we irritating Him even more? And indeed, unrepentance for sins arouses His anger and indignation much more than the sin itself. We should hide underground, not see the sun, and not even use the air because, having such a merciful Master, we irritate Him and, irritating, do not even repent of it. Even in His anger, He not only does not have hatred and disgust towards us, but He also becomes angry in order, at least in this way, to attract us to Himself; After all, if He, being insulted, repaid you with only good deeds, then you would begin to despise Him even more. To prevent this from happening, He turns His face away from you for a while in order to unite you with Himself forever. So, let us be inspired by the hope of His love for mankind, let us bring zealous repentance before the day comes in which repentance itself will not bring us any benefit. Now everything depends on us; and then the verdict over us will be in the power of one Judge. So, “let us come before His face with praise” (Psalm 94:2), we will weep and weep. If we appease the Judge before the Day of the Lord so that He will forgive us our sins, then we will not be subject to judgment. Otherwise, each of us, in front of the entire universe, will be brought to judgment, and we will have no hope of receiving forgiveness. No one living on earth, having received remission of sins, upon transition to the future life, can avoid being tortured for them. But just as here criminals from prison are brought to trial in chains, so after departing from this life, all souls will be brought to the Last Judgment, burdened with various bonds of sins. Truly, real life is no better than prison. Just as, when entering a prison house, we see everyone burdened with shackles, so now, if, having eliminated all external splendor, we enter into the life of everyone, we will see that the soul of everyone is surrounded by bonds heavier than iron, and especially if we enter the souls of the rich. Truly, the more wealth they have, the more they are bound. Just as when you see a prisoner whose neck, arms, and often even legs are in iron, you consider him extremely unhappy, so when you see a rich man who owns countless treasures, do not call him happy, but for that very reason consider him the most unfortunate. In fact, in addition to the fact that he is in chains, there is also a cruel prison guard with him - evil covetousness, which does not allow him to leave prison, but prepares for him thousands of new shackles, prisons, doors and locks; and having plunged him into an inner prison, still makes him enjoy his bonds, so that he cannot even find the hope of freeing himself from the evil that oppresses him. And if you penetrate with your thoughts into the inside of his soul, you will see it not only bound, but also extremely ugly, defiled and filled with worms. The pleasures of a voluptuous life are no better, but even more disgusting, because they corrupt both body and soul, and afflict them with countless diseases. Imagining all this, let us pray to the Redeemer of our souls, that He would break the shackles, and drive away that cruel guard from us, and, freeing our spirit from heavy iron bonds, make it lighter than a feather; and with prayer to Him let us combine our own diligence and zeal and good readiness. Thus, we will be able in a short time to free ourselves from the evil that possesses us, and to recognize our previous state, and to accept the freedom previously given to us, which may we all be worthy of, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: