Беседа 3

Matt. 1:1. Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham Another reason why Joseph's genealogy is given and not Mary's. – Why doesn’t the evangelist mention Esau? - The mention of vicious ancestors serves to greater glorify the Incarnate One, teaches us not to be ashamed of the evil behavior of our ancestors if we are virtuous, overthrows the pride of the Jews, who boasted of their descent from Abraham, and shows the necessity of the coming of Christ. – Fares and Zara serve as an image of the Jewish people and the Church of Christ. – Rahab and Ruth also serve as examples of the latter. – One should not boast not only of ancestors, but also of one’s own merits. – The virtue of every person is insignificant compared with his sins. – Forgetting good deeds is their safest repository. – Confession of sins is the best way to propitiate and thank God. – Humility is the beginning of all wisdom and the mother of all blessings. – David can serve as an example of humility. 1. This is already the third conversation, and we have not yet finished the preface. So, it was not in vain that I said that these reflections, by their nature, are very deep. Today we will try to explain what remains. What is our question now? About why the evangelist presents the genealogy of Joseph, who was in no way involved in the birth of Christ. We have already indicated one reason; it is necessary to discover another, which is more mysterious and intimate than the first. What is this reason? The Evangelist did not want the Jews to know at birth that Christ was born of a Virgin. But do not be embarrassed if what I have said is scary to you; I speak here not my own words, but the words of our fathers, wonderful and famous men. If the Lord initially hid much in darkness, calling Himself the Son of Man; If He did not clearly reveal to us His equality with the Father everywhere, then why should we be surprised if He hid for the time being His birth from the Virgin, creating something wonderful and great? What's so wonderful here, you say? The fact that Virgo is preserved and freed from evil suspicion. Otherwise, if this had become known to the Jews from the very beginning, they, having interpreted the words for the worse, would have stoned the Virgin and condemned her as a harlot. If even in such cases, examples of which they often encountered in the Old Testament, they revealed their shamelessness (for example, they called Christ demonic when He cast out demons, considered Him an adversary to God when He healed the sick on the Sabbath, despite the fact that the Sabbath had already been broken many times before), then what would they not say when they heard about this? They were also favored by the fact that nothing like this had ever happened before. If even after His many miracles they called Jesus the son of Joseph, how would they have believed, even before the miracles, that He was born of a Virgin? That is why the genealogy of Joseph is written, and the Virgin is betrothed to him. When even Joseph, a righteous and wondrous man, needed many proofs to believe such an event - the appearance of an angel, a dream vision, the testimony of the prophets - then how would the Jews, a rude and corrupt people, so hostile to Christ, accept such a thought? Without a doubt, they would be extremely outraged by such an unusual and new event, when they had never even heard of something similar happening among their ancestors. Anyone who once believed that Jesus is the Son of God would no longer doubt it. But whoever considers Him a flatterer and an adversary to God, how would he not be even more tempted by this and would not have the indicated suspicion? That is why the apostles do not talk about the birth from the Virgin from the very beginning. On the contrary, they often talk a lot about the resurrection of Christ, because there were examples of the resurrection in previous times, although not like this; and they rarely talk about His birth from the Virgin. Even His Mother herself did not dare to announce this. Look what the Virgin says to Christ himself: “Behold, your father and I... were looking for you” (Luke 2:48)! Considering Him to be born of a Virgin, they would no longer recognize Him as the Son of David; and from here many other evils would occur. That is why the angels announced this only to Mary and Joseph; when they preached the news of the birth to the shepherds, they did not add anything about it. But why does the evangelist, having mentioned Abraham and said that he gave birth to Isaac, and Isaac to Jacob, does not mention the latter’s brother, while after Jacob he mentions both Judas and his brothers? 2. Some blame Esau’s evil behavior as the reason for this, and they also say the same about some other ancestors. But I won’t say this: if this were so, then why does the evangelist mention vicious wives a little later? Obviously, here the glory of Jesus Christ is revealed through contrast, not through greatness, but through the insignificance and baseness of His ancestors. It is great glory for a high man if he can humiliate himself to the extreme. So why didn't the evangelist mention Esau and the others? Because the Saracens and Ishmaelites, the Arabs and everyone who descended from those ancestors had nothing in common with the people of Israel. That’s why he kept silent about them, but turned directly to the ancestors of Jesus and the Jewish people, saying: “Jacob begat Judas and his brothers.” Here the Jewish race is already indicated. "Judah begat Perez and Zerah by Tamar". What are you doing, inspired man, reminding us of the history of lawless incest? What's wrong with that? he answers. If we began to list the family of any ordinary person, then it would be decent to remain silent about such a matter. But in the genealogy of the incarnate God, not only should one not remain silent, but one should also announce this loudly in order to show His providence and power. He came not to avoid our shame, but to destroy it. Just as we are especially surprised not by the fact that Christ died, but by the fact that he was crucified (although this is blasphemous, but the more blasphemous, the greater the love for mankind in Him), so we can say about the birth: Christ should be surprised not only because he took on flesh and became a man, but also because he deigned to be vicious people to be his relatives, not being ashamed at all of our vices. Thus, from the very beginning of His birth, He showed that He did not disdain anything of ours, thereby teaching us not to be ashamed of the evil behavior of our ancestors, but to seek only one thing - virtue. A virtuous person, even if he came from a foreigner, even if he was born from a harlot or some other sinner, cannot receive any harm from this. If the fornicator himself, if he changes, is not in the least disgraced by his former life, then much less can a virtuous person, if he descended from a harlot or an adulteress, be disgraced by the depravity of his parents. However, Christ did this not only for our teaching, but also to tame the pride of the Jews. Since they, not caring about spiritual virtue, in any case exalted themselves only in Abraham, and thought to be justified by the virtue of their ancestors, the Lord shows from the very beginning that one should boast not of one’s family, but of one’s own merits. Moreover, He also wants to show that everyone, including the forefathers themselves, are guilty of sins. Thus, the patriarch, from whom the Jewish people received their very name, turns out to be no small sinner: Tamar accuses him of fornication. And David begat Solomon from an adulterous wife. If such great men did not fulfill the law, then much less those who were lower than them. And if they did not fulfill it, then everyone sinned, and the coming of Christ was necessary. For this reason, the evangelist also mentioned the twelve patriarchs in order to humiliate the Jews, who were extolled by their famous ancestors. After all, many of the patriarchs were born of slaves, and yet the difference in those who gave birth did not make a difference between those born. All of them were equally patriarchs and ancestors of the tribes. This is the advantage of the Church; This is the difference between our nobility, typified in the Old Testament. Even if you were a slave, even if you were free, this would neither benefit nor harm you; Only one thing is required - will and spiritual disposition. 3. In addition to what has been said, there is another reason why the evangelist mentioned the story of Judah’s incest. Not without purpose, Zara was added to Fares. Apparently, it would be in vain and unnecessary to mention Dawn after Peres, from whom the genealogy of Christ was to be traced. What is this mentioned for? When the time came for Tamar to give birth to them and the illnesses began, Zara was the first to show his hand. The midwife, seeing this, in order to notice the first-born, bandaged his hand with a red thread. When the hand was bandaged, the baby hid it, and then Peres was born, and then Zara. Seeing this, the midwife said: “How did you break apart your barrier” 3 (Gen. 38:29)? Do you notice a mysterious prototype? It is not without reason that this was written for us, since it would not be worth telling about what the midwife once said and telling that the second-born was the first to put out his hand. So what does this foreshadowing mean? First, the baby's name resolves this issue: Fares means division and dissection. Secondly, the event itself: it did not happen according to natural order that the hand that appeared, being bandaged, was hidden again. There was no intelligent movement or natural order here. To be born to another when one has shown his hand is perhaps natural; but to hide it in order to make way for another is already inconsistent with the law of those born. No, the grace of God was present here, arranging the birth of babies, and predetermining through them for us a certain image of future events. What exactly? Those who have carefully delved into this incident say that these babies prefigured two nations. Then, so that you know that the existence of the second people precedes the origin of the first, the baby does not show himself in full, but only stretches out his hand, but again hides it, and only after his brother has fully come into the world, and he appears in full. This is what happened to both people. First, during the time of Abraham, church life appeared, then, when it was hidden, the Jewish people emerged with a life under the law, and after that a whole new people appeared with their own laws. That’s why the midwife says: “How did you break your barrier?” The coming law suppressed freedom of life. And Scripture usually calls the law a barrier. So the prophet David says: “You have destroyed its fences, so that all who pass along the way tear it down” (Ps. 79:13). And Isaiah: “I surrounded it with a fence” (Is. 5:2). And Paul: “and he broke down the barrier that stood in the midst” (Eph. 2:14). 4. Others argue that the words: “How did you dissolve your barrier”? spoken of the new people, since by their appearance they abolished the law. Do you see that it was not for a few and unimportant reasons that the evangelist mentioned the whole story of Judas? For the same reason, Ruth and Rahab are mentioned, one of whom was a foreigner, and the other a harlot, i.e., to teach you that the Savior came to destroy all our sins, came as a doctor, and not as a judge. Just as they took harlots in marriage, so God combined the adulterous nature with Himself. The prophets of old applied this to the synagogue; but she turned out to be ungrateful to her Husband. On the contrary, the Church, once freed from paternal vices, remained in the arms of the Bridegroom. Look at the similarities in Ruth’s adventures with ours. She was a foreigner and brought to extreme poverty, and yet, when Boaz saw her, he did not despise her poverty and did not disdain her low origin. In the same way, Christ, who accepted the Church as foreign and very impoverished, made it a participant in great blessings. And just as she would never have entered into such a marriage if she had not left her father in advance, and had not despised her home, clan, fatherland and relatives, so the Church, when it left its paternal morals, then became dear to the Bridegroom. The prophet, turning to the Church, says about this: “Forget your people and your father’s house. And the King will desire your beauty” (Ps. 44:11–12). Ruth did this, and through this she became the mother of kings, as well as the Church, because David came from her. So, the evangelist compiled a genealogy and placed these wives in it in order to shame the Jews with such examples and teach them not to be arrogant. Ruth was the ancestor of a great king, and David is not ashamed of this. It is impossible, absolutely impossible, to be honest or dishonest, famous or unknown, through the virtues or vices of one’s ancestors. On the contrary, I must say - even if my words seemed strange - that he is more famous who, being born not from good parents, became good. So, let no one be proud of their ancestors; but, reflecting on the ancestors of the Lord, let him put aside all vanity and boast about his merits, or better yet, not boast about them. Because of his self-praise, the Pharisee became worse than the tax collector. If you want to show great virtue, do not be arrogant, and then you will show even greater virtue; Don’t think that once you’ve done something, you’ve already done everything. If we become righteous when, being sinners, we consider ourselves to be what we really are, as happened with the publican, then how much more when, being righteous, we consider ourselves sinners? If humility makes sinners righteous, even if it was not humility, but sincere consciousness; and if sincere consciousness has such power in sinners, then look, what does humility not do in the righteous? So, do not waste your labors, do not let your sweat be shed in vain, and you, having run thousands of miles, lose all reward. The Lord knows your merits much better than you. If you give a cup of cold water, He will not despise that either. If you give one ovol, if you just sigh, He will accept everything with great favor, and remember, and determine great rewards for it. Why do you consider your virtues and constantly show them off to us? Or don’t you know that if you praise yourself, you will no longer be praised by God? Likewise, if you humiliate yourself, will He continually glorify you before everyone? He does not want to reduce the reward for your labors. What am I saying: reduce? He does and arranges everything to crown you even for little things, and he is looking for all sorts of excuses to save you from Gehenna. 5. That is why, even if you have worked only at the eleventh hour of the day, the Lord will give you a full reward. “Although there is nothing to save you for, He will say, I am doing this for Myself, so that My name will not be defiled” (Compare: “I will not do this for you, O house of Israel, but for the sake of My holy name. It is not for your sake that I will do this, says the Lord God, let it be known to you.” - Ezek. 36:22, 32.). If you just sigh, if you just shed a tear, He himself will immediately take advantage of all this as an opportunity for your salvation. So, let us not be arrogant, let us call ourselves indecent, so that we may be useful. If you yourself call yourself worthy of praise, then you are indecent, even if you really were worthy of praise; on the contrary, if you yourself call yourself indecent, you will become useful, even if you were unworthy of praise. That is why one should forget about one’s good deeds. But you will say: how can you not know what we absolutely know? What are you saying? Do you constantly insult the Lord, live in bliss and joy, and do not know that you have sinned, consigning everything to oblivion, but cannot forget about your good deeds? Although fear is much stronger, the opposite happens to us: insulting God every day, we do not pay attention to it, and if we give even a small coin to the poor, we constantly rush about it. This is extreme madness, and the greatest damage to the one who collects. Forgetting your good deeds is their safest repository. And just as clothing and gold, if we lay them out at the market, attract many criminals, and if we clean and hide them at home, they are kept in complete safety, so if we constantly keep our good deeds in memory, then we irritate the Lord, arm the enemy and incite him to steal, and if no one knows them except Him Who should know, then they will remain safe. So, do not constantly boast about your good deeds, lest someone deprive you of them, lest the same thing happen to you as happened to the Pharisee, who carried them on his tongue, from where the devil stole them. Although he remembered them with thanksgiving and raised everything to God, this did not save him, because it is not proper for one who thanks God to revile others, to show his superiority over the majority and to be proud of himself before sinners. If you thank God, then be content with that alone; don’t talk about it to people, and don’t judge your neighbor, because this is no longer a matter of gratitude. Do you want to know how to express gratitude? Listen to what the three youths say: “We have sinned and acted lawlessly” (Dan. 3:29); “For You are righteous in all that You have done to us” (Dan.3:27), “And everything that You have brought upon us... You have done according to true judgment” (Dan.3:31). Confessing your sins means thanking God; whoever confesses his sins shows that he is guilty of countless sins, and only has not received a worthy punishment. He is the one who thanks God the most. So, let us beware of praising ourselves for good, because this makes us both hateful before people and vile before God. Therefore, the more we do good, the less we will talk about ourselves. Only in this way can we acquire the greatest glory both from God and from people; or rather, God has not only glory, but also reward and great reward. So, do not demand a reward in order to receive a reward; Confess that you are saved by grace, so that God himself will recognize Himself as your debtor, not only for your good deeds, but also for your gratitude. When we do good, He owes us only for our deeds; and when we don’t even think that we have done any good deed, then He remains indebted to us for our disposition, and moreover, than for our deeds - so that our disposition is equal to the virtues themselves, and without it, even the deeds themselves are not important. Likewise, we show favor to our servants, especially when they, while serving us with zeal in everything, think that they have not yet done anything important for us. So, if you also want your good deeds to be great, then do not consider them great, and then they will be great. So the centurion said: “I am not worthy for you to come under my roof” (Matthew 8:8), and through this he became worthy, and deserved surprise more than all the Jews. So Paul said: “I am not worthy to be called an Apostle” (1 Cor. 15:9), and through this he became the first of all. So John said: “Whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie” (Luke 3:16), and for this he was a friend of the Bridegroom, and Christ laid the hand that he considered unworthy to touch the boots on His head. So Peter said: “Get away from me, Lord! because I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8), and for this he became the foundation of the Church. Truly, nothing pleases God more than if someone considers himself among the greatest sinners. This is the beginning of all wisdom: the humble and contrite will never be vain, nor angry, nor jealous of his neighbor, in a word, he will not harbor a single passion in himself. No matter how hard we try, we just can’t lift our broken hand; If we crush the soul in a similar way, then even if a thousand passions, puffed up, lifted it up, it will not rise at all. If he who weeps over the affairs of life drives out all mental illnesses; then he who mourns his sins will become wiser much more. Who, you say, can crush his heart like that? Listen to David, who became especially famous for this, look at the contrition of his soul. When, having already accomplished many exploits, he was in danger of losing his fatherland, home and life itself, and at the very moment of misfortune he saw that one low and despicable warrior was swearing at his misfortune and reviling him, not only did he not respond with curses, but he also forbade the military commander who wanted to kill him, saying: “Leave him, because the Lord commanded him” (2 Samuel 16:11). And another time, when the priests asked him for permission to carry the ark behind him, he did not agree, but what did he say? “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find mercy in the eyes of the Lord, He will return me and let me see him and his dwelling. And if He says this: “My favor is not with you,” then here I am; Let him do to me whatever pleases Him” (2 Samuel 15:25–26). And what he did in relation to Saul, not once, not twice, but many times, what shows the height of wisdom? This behavior was above the old law, and approached the apostolic commandments. Therefore, he accepted everything from the Lord with love, without examining what was happening to him, but trying only to always obey and follow the laws given from Him. And after performing such great feats, seeing the kingdom that belonged to him in the hands of a tormentor, a parricide, a fratricide, an oppressor, a raging man, he not only was not tempted by this, but said: if it is God’s will that I should be persecuted, wander and run, and my enemy should be honored, then I accept this with love, and also give thanks for countless disasters. He did not act like many shameless and daring ones, who, without having accomplished even the slightest part of his exploits, barely see anyone in a prosperous state, and even though they are in slight sorrow, they destroy their soul with countless blasphemies. David was not like that, but he showed meekness in everything. That is why God said: “I have found David,” the son of Jesse, a man after My heart (Ps. 89:21). Let us also try to have such a soul, and no matter what happens to us, we will endure it with meekness, and here, until we receive the kingdom, we will reap the fruits of humility. “Learn from Me,” says the Lord, “for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). So, in order for us to enjoy peace both here and there, let us with all diligence instill in our souls the mother of all blessings, that is, humility. With the help of this virtue, we will be able to sail across the sea of ​​real life without worry, and reach a quiet haven, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. In the Septuagint: “for your sake the barrier was broken” - I.N. You might be interested in: