Беседа 2

Matt. 1:1. Book of the kinship of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham Repeating the exhortation given at the end of the previous conversation. – Description of the heavenly city. – The inexplicability of the birth of the Son of God, both heavenly and earthly. - The greatness of the incarnation. – The Son of God became incarnate to make man the son of God. – Christ united the old covenant with the new. – The meaning of the name “Jesus”; its Old Testament prototype. – Why did Matthew call his gospel “the book of the kinship of I. Christ.” – Why does he put David before Abraham? – Evidence of the descent of Joseph and the Virgin from David. – Why is the genealogy of Joseph given, and not of Mary? – An exhortation to engage in spiritual teaching. - Reading Holy. The Scriptures are necessary especially for those living in the world, as a medicine against idle talk and foul language. - The effect of God's word on man. – And just listening to Scripture is beneficial. 1. Do you remember the instruction that we recently gave you, asking you to listen to everything that is said with deep silence and reverent silence? Today we must enter the sacred vestibule; That’s why I remind you of this instruction. If the Jews, when they had to approach the burning mountain, “fire, darkness, gloom and storm,” or better yet, not even begin, but see and hear everything from afar, were ordered for three more days to abstain from communicating with their wives and wash their clothes, if they themselves, as well as Moses, were in fear and trembling, then all the more should we show the highest wisdom when we are supposed to hear such great the words did not appear from afar as a smoking mountain, but ascended to heaven itself; We must not wash our clothes, but cleanse the garment of our soul and free ourselves from all worldly impurities. You will see not darkness, not smoke, not a storm, but the King himself, sitting on the throne of His ineffable glory, the angels and archangels standing before Him, and the host of saints with countless darkness of the armies of heaven. Such is the city of God, containing within itself the church of the firstborn, the spirits of the righteous, the triumphant assembly of angels, the blood of sprinkling, through which everything is united, heaven has received the earthly, the earth has received the heavenly, the long-desired peace has come for the angels and saints. In this city is hoisted the brilliant and glorious banner of the cross: there is the spoils of Christ, the firstfruits of our nature, the acquisitions of our King. We learn about all this with certainty from the Gospels. And if you follow us with due calm, we will be able to take you everywhere and show you where death lies nailed (to the cross), where sin is hanged, where there are numerous and wondrous monuments of this war, this battle. You will see there the bound tormentor, accompanied by a crowd of captives, and that stronghold from where this vile demon in former times carried out his raids everywhere; You will see the robber’s refuges and caves, already destroyed and open, because the King came there too. Don't get tired, beloved! You cannot listen enough if someone tells you about an ordinary war, about trophies and victories, and you would not prefer such a story to food or drink. If you like this story so much, then mine is much more pleasant. Imagine, in fact, what it’s like to hear how God, having risen from heaven and royal thrones, descended to earth and into hell itself, how He took up arms in battle, how the devil fought with God - not with the undisguised God, however, but with God hiding under the cover of human flesh. And, what is surprising, you will see how death is destroyed by death, how an oath is abolished by an oath, how the torment of the devil is overthrown by the very thing through which he acquired power. So, let us wake up and not indulge in slumber! I can already see how the gates are opening before us. Let us enter with complete decorum and trepidation. Now we are entering the very threshold. What kind of threshold is this? Matt. 1:1. Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham What are you saying? You promised to talk about the only begotten Son of God, but you mention David, a man who existed after thousands of generations, and you call him father and ancestor? Wait, don’t try to find out everything at once, but learn gradually and little by little. You are still standing on the threshold, at the very threshold: why rush to the sanctuary? You haven't taken a good look at everything outside yet. And I am not yet telling you about the first - heavenly birth, or better yet, I am not even talking about the second - earthly, because it is inexplicable and ineffable. The prophet Isaiah also told you about this before me, when precisely, proclaiming the sufferings of the Lord and His great care for the universe, amazed by the vision of who He was and what He became, and where He descended, he loudly and clearly exclaimed: “Who will explain His generation” (Is. 53:8)? 2. So, now we are not talking about that heavenly birth, but about this earthly birth, which had thousands of witnesses. Yes, and we will talk about him as much as we can according to the grace of the Spirit we have received. It is impossible to imagine this birth with all clarity, since it is also full of mystery. So, when you hear about this birth, do not think that you are hearing about something unimportant; but rise up in your mind and be horrified when you hear that God has come to earth. It was so wondrous and wonderful that the angels, forming a celebratory crowd, gave glory for it to the whole world, and the prophets long before were amazed that God “appeared on earth and spoke among people” (Bar. 3:38). And it is truly, extremely wonderful to hear that the ineffable, ineffable and incomprehensible God, equal to the Father, came through a virgin’s womb, deigned to be born of a wife and have David and Abraham as ancestors. And what do I say – David and Abraham? What’s even more amazing are those wives I mentioned earlier. Hearing this, perk up and do not suspect anything humiliating; on the contrary, especially marvel at this, that the Son of the beginningless Father, the true Son, deigned to be called the Son of David in order to make you the son of God, deigned to have a servant as His father, so that you, a slave, could make the Master a father. Do you see how the gospel is at the very beginning? If you doubt your sonship with God, then be confident in it by hearing what happened to Him. According to human reasoning, it is much more difficult for God to become a man than for a man to become the son of God. So, when you hear that the Son of God is the son of David and Abraham, then do not doubt that you, the son of Adam, will be the son of God. He would not have humbled Himself in vain and without purpose to such an extent if He did not want to exalt us. He was born according to the flesh, that you might be born according to the Spirit; born of a wife, so that you may cease to be the son of a wife. That is why His birth was twofold: on the one hand, similar to ours, on the other, exceeding ours. By being born of a woman, He became like us; by the fact that He was born not of blood, not of the will of man or flesh, but of the Holy Spirit, He foretells the future birth that exceeds us, which He had to bestow upon us from the Spirit. It was the same with everything else. This was the case, for example, with baptism. And there was something old in it, there was also something new: baptism from the prophet showed the old, and the condescension of the Spirit signified the new. Just as someone, standing between two standing separately, stretches out his hands to both and joins them, so did the Son of God, uniting the Old Testament with the New, the divine nature with the human, His own with ours. Do you see the shine of the city of God? Do you see how the brilliance shone upon you as you entered? Do you see how he immediately showed you the King in your image, as if in the middle of a camp? And here on earth, the king does not always appear in his greatness, but often, having put away his purple and diadem, puts on the clothes of a simple warrior. But the king of the earth does this so that, having become famous, he does not attract the enemy to himself; The King of Heaven, on the contrary, so that, having become known, he would not force the enemy to flee from fighting with Him and not lead His own into confusion, since He wanted to save, and not to frighten. That is why the evangelist immediately called Him by the corresponding name “Jesus.” This name "Jesus" is not Greek; He is called Jesus in Hebrew, which in Greek means Savior (Σωτηρ); He is called Savior because He saved His people. 3. Do you see how the evangelist lifted up the listener, how he, speaking in ordinary words, revealed in them to all of us that which is beyond all hope? Both of these names were well known among the Jews. Since the events that were about to take place were marvelous, the names themselves were preceded by images, so that in this way any reason for grumbling about the innovation would be eliminated in advance. So the successor of Moses, who led the people into the promised land, is called Jesus. Do you see the image? Consider also the truth. This one led into the promised land, this one into heaven and to heavenly blessings; the one after the death of Moses, the other after the end of the law; this one is like a leader, this one is like a King. But so that you, hearing “Jesus,” would not be misled by the similarity of names, the evangelist added: “Jesus Christ, the Son of David.” That Jesus was not the son of David, but came from another tribe. But why does Matthew call his Gospel “the genealogy of Jesus Christ,” when it contains not only one genealogy, but the entire economy? Because the birth of Christ is the main thing in the entire economy, it is the beginning and root of all the blessings given to us. Just as Moses calls his first work the book of the existence of heaven and earth, although it tells not only about heaven and earth, but also about what is between them, so the evangelist called his book after the main thing done (for our salvation). The most amazing thing, beyond all hope and aspiration, is, indeed, that God became man; and when this has happened, everything that follows is both understandable and natural. But why didn’t the evangelist say first: “Son of Abraham”, and then: “Son of David”? Not because, as some people think, he wanted to present the genealogy in an ascending line - because then he would have done the same as Luke, but he does the opposite. So why did he mention David first? Because he was a man on everyone’s lips, both because of the celebrity of his deeds and because of his time, because he died much later than Abraham. Although God gave promises to both of them, little was said about the promise given to Abraham, as ancient, and the promise given to David, as recent and new, was repeated by everyone. The Jews themselves say: “Isn’t it said in the Scripture that Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, from the place where David was” (John 7:42)? And no one called Him the son of Abraham, but everyone called Him the son of David, because both by the time of his life, as I have already said, and by the nobility of his reign, David was more remembered by everyone. That is why all the kings who lived after David, who were especially respected, were called by his name not only by the Jews, but also by God himself. So Ezekiel and other prophets say that David will come to them and rise again; they do not mean the dead David, but those imitating his virtue. This is what God says to Hezekiah: “I will guard this city to save it for Myself and for the sake of David My servant” (2 Kings 19:34); and he told Solomon that for David’s sake he did not divide the kingdom during his lifetime (1 Kings 11:34). The glory of this man was great both before God and before people. That is why the evangelist directly begins the genealogy with the most noble, and then turns to the most ancient ancestor - Abraham, but finds it unnecessary for the Jews to build the genealogy further. These two husbands aroused particular surprise; one as prophet and king, the other as patriarch and prophet. But where is it clear, you ask, that Christ comes from David? If He was born not from a husband, but from only one wife, and the evangelist does not have the genealogy of the Virgin, then why can we know that Christ was a descendant of David? There are two questions here: why is the genealogy of the Mother not given, and why is Joseph specifically mentioned, who was not at all involved in the birth? Apparently, the latter is unnecessary, while the former would be required. What needs to be decided first? The question of the Virgin's descent from David. So how can we know that she comes from David? Listen: God commands Gabriel to go “to the virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, from the house and country of David” (Luke 1:27). What do you want more clearly than this when you hear that the Virgin was from the house and fatherland of David? 4. From here it is clear that Joseph came from the same family, because there was a law that commanded that a wife should not be taken other than from his own tribe. And Patriarch Jacob predicted that Christ would rise from the tribe of Judah, saying this: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Conciliator comes, and to Him the submission of the nations” (Gen. 49:10). This prophecy, you say, really shows that Christ was from the tribe of Judah; but that He also came from the line of David does not yet show this. Was there not a single clan in the tribe of Judah other than David? No, there were many other clans, and one could belong to the tribe of Judah, but not yet come from the clan of David. So that you do not say this, the evangelist resolves your doubt by saying that Christ was from the house and fatherland of David. If you want to verify this in a different way, then we will not hesitate to provide other evidence. The Jews were not allowed to take a wife not only from another tribe, but also from another clan or tribe. Therefore, whether we apply the words: “from the house and fatherland of David” to the Virgin, what was said remains undoubted; Whether we apply it to Joseph, what was said about him will also apply to the Virgin. If Joseph was from the house and fatherland of David, then he took a wife not from another family, but from the same one from which he himself came. But what if he broke the law, you say? The Evangelist forestalled this objection, testifying that Joseph was righteous, so that, knowing his virtue, you can be sure that he would not have broken the law. Being so meek and alien to passion that even motivated by suspicion he did not want to punish the Virgin, would he really have broken the law for the sake of carnal pleasure? Thinking above the law (since letting go, and letting go secretly, was characteristic of a person who thought above the law), would he really have done something contrary to the law, and, moreover, without any incentive? So, from what has been said it is clear that the Virgin came from the family of David. Now it should be said why the evangelist gave not Her genealogy, but Joseph’s. So why? The Jews did not have the custom of conducting genealogy through the female line; therefore, in order to observe the custom and not be found to be a violator at the very beginning, and on the other hand, to show us the origin of the Virgin, the evangelist, keeping silent about Her ancestors, presented the genealogy of Joseph. If he had presented the genealogy of the Virgin, it would have been considered an innovation; if he had kept silent about Joseph, we would not have known the ancestors of the Virgin. So, so that we would know who Mary was, where she came from, and that the custom would not be violated, the evangelist presented the genealogy of Her betrothed and showed that he comes from the house of David. And since this is proven, it is also proven that the Virgin was from the same family, because this righteous man, as I said above, would not allow himself to take a wife from someone else’s family. It is possible, however, to point out another reason, more mysterious, why the Virgo’s ancestors are kept silent; but now is not the time to open it, because much has already been said. So, having finished the analysis of the questions here, let us try to remember with precision what was explained to us, namely: why David was mentioned first, why the evangelist called his book the book of kinship, why he added: “Jesus Christ”, in what ways the birth of Christ was similar to ours, and in what ways it was not similar, how Mary’s descent from David is proven, why the genealogy of Joseph is presented and is silent about the ancestors of the Virgin. If you keep all this, you will arouse in us greater zeal for further explanations; and if you are careless and forget, then we will be less willing to explain the rest. After all, even the farmer will not want to take care of the seeds if the soil destroys what he sown before. So, I ask you to address what has been said. From such activities comes a great and saving benefit for the soul. By taking care of such activities, we can please God, and our lips, when we exercise them with spiritual conversations, will be clean from reproaches, obscenities and curses. We will be terrible for demons when we arm our tongues with such conversations; let us attract to ourselves the grace of God to a greater extent; Our gaze will become more insightful. God gave us eyes, and lips, and hearing, so that all members would serve Him, so that we would say what is pleasing to Him, so that we would do what is pleasing to Him, so that we would sing unceasing songs of praise to Him, so that we would send thanksgiving and thus clear our conscience. Just as the body, enjoying clean air, becomes healthier, so the soul, nourished by such activities, becomes wiser. 5. Have you noticed that even from the eyes of the body, if they are constantly in the smoke, tears always flow, but in the fresh air, in the meadow, at springs and in gardens they become healthier and sharper. The same thing happens with the eye of the soul. If it feeds on the meadow of spiritual teachings, then it becomes pure, clear and insightful, and if it plunges into the smoke of everyday worries, then it will constantly sharpen and shed tears both in this and in the future life. Truly, human deeds are like smoke. That is why someone said: “My days are gone like smoke” (Ps. 101:4). But the prophet wanted to express with these words only the idea of ​​​​the brevity and impermanence of human life, and I would say that they should be understood not only in this sense, but also as an indication of the rebelliousness of life. Indeed, nothing depresses and disturbs the spiritual eye more than a crowd of everyday worries and a swarm of wishes; this is the firewood of the mentioned smoke. Just as an ordinary fire, engulfing a damp and wet substance, produces thick smoke, so a strong fiery passion, taking possession of a sluggish and weak soul, produces great smoke. That is why the dew of the Spirit and His light breeze are necessary to extinguish this fire, dispel this smoke, and give wings to our minds. It is impossible, impossible in any way, to soar to the sky, burdened with such evil. No; we need to be well girded in order to complete this journey, or rather, it is impossible to do so if we do not take the wings of the Spirit. So, if we need both a light mind and the grace of the Spirit in order to ascend to this height, but we have none of this, if, on the contrary, we drag with us only the opposite and satanic weight, then how can we soar when such weight drags us down? If someone were to weigh our words on the right scales, then in a thousand talents of everyday conversations he would hardly find even a hundred denarii of spiritual words, or rather, he would not find even ten ovols. Isn’t it a shame, isn’t it ridiculous to the extreme, that we, having a servant, usually use him for necessary things, but having mastered the language, we don’t even treat our own member like a servant, but use it, on the contrary, for useless and vain things? Yes, if only for vain! And we make a nasty and harmful use out of it, from which we have no benefit. If what we say were useful for us, then our speeches would, of course, be pleasing to God. Meanwhile, we only say what the devil suggests: sometimes we mock, sometimes we make wit; sometimes we curse and offend, sometimes we swear, lie and break oaths; sometimes we don’t want to say a word out of frustration, sometimes we talk idle talk and chatter worse than old women, talking about things that don’t concern us at all. Which of you present here, tell me, if asked, can read at least one psalm or some other place from the Holy Scriptures? None! And not only is this surprising, but also the fact that you, being so lazy in spiritual matters, turn out to be faster than fire in satanic matters. If anyone decides to ask you about the songs of the devil, about the melodies of debauchery and voluptuousness, he will find that many know them perfectly and will sing them with complete pleasure. And how do you justify yourself if you start blaming them? They say I am not a monk, but I have a wife and children, and I take care of the house. This is precisely where all the harm comes from, that you think that reading the Divine Scripture belongs only to monks, while you yourself need it much more than they do. He who lives in the world and receives new wounds every day, especially needs healing. Therefore, considering reading Scripture unnecessary is much worse than not reading it. Such a thought is a satanic suggestion. 6. Do you not hear how Paul says that all this was written “for our instruction” (1 Cor. 10:11)? And you, who do not dare to take up the Gospel with unwashed hands, don’t you think that what it contains is extremely important? That's why everything goes topsy-turvy. If you want to know how great the benefit of Scripture is, watch yourself what happens to you when you listen to the psalms, and what happens when you listen to a satanic song; in what position you spend time in church, and in what position you sit in the theater. Then you will see the difference between one and the other state of the soul, although the soul is the same. That is why Paul said: “bad talk corrupts good morals” (1 Cor. 15:33). This is why we constantly need spiritual chants. This is where our superiority over dumb animals lies, although in other respects we are significantly inferior to them. This is the food of the soul, this is its decoration, this is its protection; on the contrary, not listening to Scripture is hunger and destruction for the soul. I will give them, says the Lord, “not the hunger of bread, nor the thirst of water, but the thirst of hearing the words of the Lord” (Am. 8:11). Could anything be more disastrous when you bring upon your own head the evil that God threatens as punishment, tormenting your soul with terrible hunger and making it weaker than anything in the world? Usually the word both spoils the soul and heals it; the word arouses anger in her, and it again tames her; a shameful word incites lust, a decent word disposes to chastity. If the word has such power at all, then how, tell me, do you neglect the Scripture? If simple exhortation is so powerful, then exhortation accompanied by the work of the Spirit is much more effective. A word spoken from Divine Scripture softens a hardened soul more powerfully than fire and makes it capable of all that is beautiful. By this means, Paul, when he learned about the Corinthians that they had become proud and arrogant, humbled them and made them more humble. They were proud of what they should have considered shame and disgrace. But listen, what a change took place in them when they received the message. The teacher himself testified about it when he told them: “For the very fact that you were saddened for the sake of God, look what zeal has produced in you, what apologies, what indignation [at the guilty party], what fear, what desire, what jealousy, what retribution!” (2 Cor. 7:11). By this means we can control servants, children, wives, and friends; We can make enemies friends. In this way, great men, friends of God, achieved perfection. So David, after committing a sin, as soon as he heeded the word, immediately showed in himself the most beautiful example of repentance (2 Sam. 12:13) and the apostles, with the help of the word, became what they were later, and through the word they converted the entire universe. But what, you say, is the benefit when someone listens and does not do what they tell him? There will be considerable benefit from just one hearing. At the very least, a person will recognize himself, grieve, and someday he will come to the point where he will fulfill what he has heard. And who does not even know that he is sinning, will he ever stop sinning? Can one come to knowledge of oneself? So let us not neglect listening to the Holy Scriptures. This is the devil's intention - not to allow us to see the treasures, so that we do not become rich. He is afraid that our hearing will turn into action; That’s why it inspires us that listening alone has no meaning. So, knowing this evil plan of his, let us protect ourselves on all sides, so that, defended by the weapon of the word of God, we not only ourselves will not be taken captive, but also crush his head, and, thus crowned with signs of victory, achieve future blessings by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. In the Synodal translation “community”, but “conversations”, or “communication” is more consistent with the understanding of Chrysostom. – I.N. You might be interested in: