Беседа 25

“And when Jesus had finished these words, the people marveled at his teaching.” (Matthew 7:28) Exposition 7:28–8:4. The power of Christ's teaching. – Why teaching is followed by performing miracles. – Why Christ heals the leper with the touch of his hand. – One must have God in one’s thoughts not only during illness, but also when in health. – Why does Christ sometimes keep the law, and sometimes not. – Christ does everything for his part to attract people to faith. – Gratitude to God is the best way to maintain His favor. – We must thank God for the blessings given not only to us, but also to others. - Every gift of God is great. – God often does good against the will of the person himself. – Humility makes you grateful to God. 1. Judging by the severity of the proposed commandments and the loftiness of the commands, the people should be sick and despondent; but such was the power of the Teacher that He captivated many and led them into the greatest surprise, and by the sweetness of His words convinced them not to deviate from Him even when He stopped speaking. Even when He had already descended from the mountain, the listeners still did not leave, but everyone followed Him: that’s how great He inspired love for His words! But they were most amazed at His power, since He did not speak on behalf of another, like the prophet Moses, but showed everywhere that He Himself had power. Thus, while prescribing laws, He constantly added: “But I say to you”; and, recalling the last day, presented Himself as a Judge, both in relation to punishments and in relation to rewards. All this, it seems, should have led the listeners into confusion. In fact, if the scribes threw stones at Jesus Christ and drove them out then, as He was already proving His power by His very deeds, then how could the people not be tempted now, when He proved this power with words alone, and especially when these words were spoken at the very beginning, before He showed His power in experience? And yet, nothing like that happened to the people. Thus, when the heart and mind are of a good disposition, then they are easily convinced by the words of truth. That is why the scribes were tempted even when the signs announced His power; and the present listeners, and listening only to His teaching, obeyed and followed Him. The evangelist also makes this clear in his words: “Many people followed Him”; that is, not any of the rulers and scribes followed Him, but only those who were alien to guile and had a sincere disposition. Throughout the Gospel one can see that only these latter cleave to Him. So, when He spoke, they listened silently and did not add anything to His words, did not interrupt them, did not tempt Him and did not look for an opportunity to catch Him, like the Pharisees; and at the end of the sermon, they followed him in surprise. Pay attention to the wisdom of the Lord, with what variety He arranges the benefit of those who are coming, when He moves from miracles to words, then from words to miracles. Before ascending the mountain, He healed many, paving the way for preaching through it; and after the end of this long conversation, he again returns to miracles in order to confirm in action what He said. Since He taught “as one having authority” (Matthew 7:29), so that such an image of His teaching would not be considered full of vanity and arrogance, He confirms the same thing by deeds, and, as one having authority, heals diseases, so that those who saw Him teaching in this way would not be embarrassed after He performed miracles with the same authority. “When He came down from the mountain,... a leper came up and, bowing to Him, said: Lord! if you want, you can cleanse me” (Matthew 8:1–2). Great is the prudence and faith of the one who came! He did not interrupt the teaching, did not try to force his way through the meeting, but waited for a convenient time, and arrived already when Christ came down from the mountain. And not simply, but with great fervor and, as another evangelist says, “falling on his knees before Him” (Mark 1:40), he asks Him, asks with sincere faith and with appropriate thoughts about Him. In fact, the leper did not say: if you ask God; or: if you pray to Him; but: “if you want, you can cleanse me.” He also did not say: Lord, cleanse; but he entrusts everything to Him, grants healing to His will, and testifies to His highest power. What if the leper’s opinion, they say, was sinful? In this case, Christ would have to refute it, expose it and correct it. But did He do it? No, but on the contrary, He confirms and confirms all the words of the leper; That’s why he didn’t say, “Cleanse yourself,” but “I want, cleanse yourself,” so that this concept of the power of Christ no longer becomes the opinion of the leper, but the thought of Christ himself. The apostles did not say so; how? When all the people were amazed, they said: “Why do you look at us, as if we had done this by our own strength or godliness, that he walks” (Acts 3:12)? The Lord, although he often spoke with modesty, and, moreover, many things that are lower than His glory, here, in order to confirm the thought of His power, He speaks before the listeners, amazed at His power: “I want, be cleansed!” Although he had previously performed many great miracles, as is known, he never spoke in this way. 2. But here, in order to confirm the opinion of His power both of the leper and of the entire people, He added: “I want,” and He did not leave His word unfulfilled, but confirmed it by the deed that immediately followed. If He had unjustly spoken and uttered blasphemy, then the matter would have been destroyed. But now nature, having received the command, obeys, and obeys with due and even greater speed than as the evangelist says. The word “immediately” does not express the speed with which the matter was accomplished. Further, the Savior not only said: “I want, be cleansed,” but also “stretched out his hand and touched him,” which is especially worthy of study. Why did the Savior, purifying him with will and word, still touch him with his hand? It seems to me, for no other reason than to show that He is not subject to the law, but above it; and that for the pure there is nothing unclean. So Elisha did not even look at Naaman - and even then, when he found out that he, by not going out to Naaman and not touching him, thereby led him into temptation, and then, strictly observing the law, he himself remained at home, and he was sent to wash himself in the Jordan. But the Master, to prove that He heals not as a slave, but as a Lord, touches. The hand did not become unclean by touching the leprosy; Meanwhile, the leper’s body became clean from the holy hand. Christ came to heal not only the body, but also to lead the soul to true wisdom. Just as, introducing the high law of the indifference of food, he no longer forbade eating with unwashed hands, so here he teaches, among other things, that one must take care of the soul and, leaving external cleansing, must cleanse it and fear only mental leprosy, which is sin. Bodily leprosy does not in the least hinder virtue. He himself is the first to touch the leper, and no one accuses Him. The trial was impartial, and the spectators were not obsessed with envy. Therefore, they not only did not humiliate the miracle, but with surprise they recognized it as true, being excited to reverence before His invincible power - and His teaching and deeds. Further, having healed the body of a leper, Christ commands not to tell anyone about this, but to show himself to the priest and bring the gift “which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Matthew 8:4). Some argue that for this reason the Savior commanded not to tell anyone anything, so that they would not, with insidious intentions, begin to investigate whether the leper was truly cleansed of leprosy. But it is very foolish to think this way. The leper was not cleansed so that the cleansing was doubtful; no, Christ commanded the leper not to tell anyone, in order to prevent him from vanity and curiosity. Although Jesus knew that the leper would not listen and proclaim the Benefactor, he did his own thing. How, you ask, does He command the healed in other places to tell about their healing? Through this He does not contradict Himself, but teaches them to be grateful, because even in such cases He did not command to glorify Himself, but to give glory to God. Through the leper, about whom we are now speaking, the Savior protects us from pride and vanity, and through others instills in us a sense of gratitude, and teaches us to praise the Lord in all matters. Since people usually, when in severe illness, remember God, and having received healing from it, indulge in carelessness, He, commanding both during illness and during health to constantly keep the Lord in mind, says: “Give glory to God” (John 9:24). Why did the Savior order the mentioned leper to appear to the priest and bring a gift? To fulfill the law. Just as he did not violate it everywhere, he did not preserve it everywhere; but sometimes he acted one way, sometimes another. Did not keep the law in order to pave the way to future higher wisdom; He kept it in order to curb the shameless tongue of the Jews for the time being and condescend to their weakness. And is it surprising that Christ acted in this way at the very beginning of His gospel, when the apostles, having received the command to go to the pagans, to open the doors of the gospel teaching for the whole universe, to abolish the law, to renew the commandments and to put an end to everything ancient, sometimes appear to be keeping the law, and sometimes to transgressing it? But how, you say, do the words “Show yourself to the priest” relate to keeping the law? And they are very respectful. The ancient law required that a cleansed leper should not give himself a certificate of cleansing, but that he should appear before the priest and present to him proof of his cleansing, and that by the priest’s court he should be accepted as one of the clean. Until the priest announced that the leper had been cleansed, until then the latter remained with the unclean, outside the camp. Why did the Savior say: “Show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded” (Matthew 8:4). He did not say: Bring the gift that I command; but for the time being he refers to the law, in order to thus stop the lips of the Jews in all cases, namely, so that they would not say that He anticipated the glory of the priests, for this He accomplished the work himself, and left the test to the priests, and appointed them as judges of His miracles. Thus, the words of Christ contain the following thought: I not only do not want to resist Moses or the priests, but I also force those who have been blessed by Me to obey them. 3. But what does it mean: “for a testimony to them”? For denunciation, for accusation and for proof, if they don’t want to come to their senses. Precisely, when they say: we persecute Him as a seducer and a deceiver, as an opponent of God and a lawbreaker, then, says Christ, you testify about Me that I am not a transgressor of the law, because, having healed you, I am sending you to the law and to the judgment of the priests; and to act in this way is characteristic of one who reveres the law, respects Moses and does not oppose the ancient decrees. If such observance of the law could not bring them any benefit, then from this we must conclude even more about His respect for the law, since, although He foresaw that they would not take advantage of this opportunity, nevertheless, he fulfilled everything that depended on Him. And that He foresaw this is clear from His words; He did not say: to correct them, or to teach them, but: “as a testimony to them,” that is, as an accusation, as a conviction and as proof that I have done everything for you; and although I foresaw that they would not correct themselves, despite this, I did not leave without doing what I had to do, and they remained in their wickedness. In like manner, in another place the Savior says: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14), - that is, as a testimony to all tongues that will not listen and will not believe. Why, they will tell Him, should He preach to everyone if not everyone believes? For this, He answers, so that it can be seen that I, for My part, have fulfilled everything that concerns Me, and so that after this no one can accuse Me of what he did not hear. The very sermon will testify against such, and it will no longer be possible to say to them: we did not hear, because the word of piety will reach all the ends of the universe. So, imagining this, we will begin to do everything on our part in relation to our neighbors, and always thank God. It would be criminal if we, in fact, enjoying His benefits, did not confess His grace, when, moreover, this confession brings us great benefit. It is not He who needs anything from us, but we need everything from Him. Gratitude does not add anything to Him, yet it brings us closer to Him. If, remembering the good deeds of people, we become more inflamed with love for them, then all the more, by constantly remembering the good deeds of the Lord towards us, we will be zealous for His commandments. That is why the Apostle Paul says: “Be grateful” 12 (Col. 3:15). Remembering the good deed and constant gratitude is the best way to maintain goodwill towards yourself. That is why the terrible and so saving sacrament performed during our meetings is called the Eucharist (ευχαριστια, thanksgiving) - because it serves as a remembrance of many benefits, and points to the most important action of God's providence, and through all this excites us to gratitude. In fact, if the birth of the Lord from the Virgin is a great miracle, and the evangelist says with amazement: “But all this happened” (Matthew 1:22), then where, tell me, should we place His slaughter for us? If only His birth is called “all this,” then what can we call the fact that He was crucified and shed blood for us, and offered Himself to us as food and a spiritual feast? So, let us thank Him unceasingly, and let this gratitude precede our words and deeds. Let us begin to give thanks for the benefits not only shown to us, but also to others; in this way we will be able to destroy envy, and establish love and make it more sincere. You will no longer be able to envy those for whom you thank the Lord. That is why the priest, during the offering of that sacrifice, commands us to thank God for the entire universe, for those who are absent, for those in the church, for those who were before us, and for those who will come after us. Such thanksgiving frees us from earth, moves us to heaven and turns people into angels. And they, having formed a choir, thank God for His benefits to us: “Glory to God in the highest,” they sing, “and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14)! And what, you say, do those who do not live on earth and do not belong to the number of people have to do with us? Their example should be especially instructive for us. We learn to love our fellow slaves so much that we consider their goods to be ours. 4. Therefore Paul, in all his epistles, gives thanks for the blessings of the whole universe. So we too will continually thank God for our own and for others’, for small and great blessings. Even if the gift were small, it becomes great because it is given by God; or better, not a single one of His gifts is small, not only because they are communicated from Him, but also by their very nature, and, not to mention all the other blessings of God, which in their multitude exceed the sand itself - what can be compared with the economy of our salvation? For us - His enemies - God betrayed Him who was most precious to Him, His only begotten Son; and not only betrayed him, but after the betrayal he also offered Him to us as food. He himself did everything for us: he gave us his Son, and made us grateful for it (through the sacrament of the Eucharist). Since man is mostly ungrateful, God takes upon Himself everything that relates to us and accomplishes it. And just as He reminded the Jews of His good deeds through places, times and festivals, so He did the same here, through sacrifice, instilling in us a constant remembrance of His good deeds. Thus, no one tries as hard to make us perfect, great and grateful in everything as God who created us. That is why He often does good against our will, and even more often without our knowledge. If this seems surprising to you, then I will show you how this happened not over someone unknown, but over blessed Paul. This blessed man, being in great poverty and suffering, often asked God to remove temptations from him; however, God did not look at his requests, but at the benefit, and showing this, said: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). The Lord, before revealing the reason to him, benefited him, despite the fact that the apostle did not want and did not know this. So, is His demand great when He commands us to be grateful for His care for us? Let us be submissive to Him and always observe this commandment. Nothing destroyed the Jews so much as their ingratitude; and nothing else but this very ingratitude subjected them to so many and frequent executions; and what is most important, she corrupted their souls even before these executions: “The hope of the ungrateful,” says the Wise, “will melt like winter frost” (Wis. 16:29). Ingratitude makes the soul insensible and dead, just as cold makes the body. This comes from pride and from the fact that they consider themselves worthy of good deeds. The humble person will thank God not only for blessings, but also for what is considered disgusting; and no matter what he endures, he will not think that he suffered undeservedly. Likewise, the more we succeed in virtue, the more we will humble ourselves, because this also constitutes great virtue. The sharper our vision, the more we know how far we are from the sky. Likewise, the more we succeed in virtue, the more we learn to recognize how great the distance is between God and us. And there is considerable wisdom when we can realize what we are worth. He knows himself best who considers himself to be nothing. That is why both David and Abraham, when they ascended to the highest degree of virtue, then especially showed the virtue of humility: Abraham called himself earth and ashes (Gen. 18:27), and David called himself a worm (Ps. 21:7). Like them, all saints consider themselves insignificant. On the contrary, he who is carried away by pride knows himself least of all. That is why we have become in the habit of talking about the proud: they do not know themselves, they do not know themselves. And who does not know himself know? Just as he who knows himself knows everything, so he who does not know himself cannot know anything else. Such was the one who says: “I will exalt the throne above the stars of God” (Isa. 14:13). Without knowing himself, he did not know anything else. But Paul did not think like that: he called himself a monster and the last of men, and after so many and such great deeds performed by him, he did not even consider himself worthy of the title of apostle. We will be jealous and imitate him. We will be able to imitate him only when we free ourselves from the earth and from earthly worries. Truly, nothing prevents a person from knowing himself so much as clinging to everyday things; and vice versa, nothing encourages him to cleave to everyday affairs so much as ignorance of himself. This ignorance and worldly attachment depend on each other. Just as someone who loves external glory and has great respect for real goods, no matter how hard he tries, cannot know himself, so, on the contrary, he who despises earthly things conveniently knows himself. And he who knows himself through this will also succeed in all other virtues. So, in order for us to acquire this good knowledge, let us free ourselves from everything temporary that so strongly inflames us, and having recognized our poverty, let us begin to show all possible humility and wisdom, so that we may receive both present and future blessings through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, power and honor, with the holy and good Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. To the synod. translated as "friendly". You might be interested in: