Беседа 40

“And He departed from there and entered their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand." ( Мф. 12:9–10 ) Exposition 12:9–24. The mercy of the Lord and the inhumanity and malice of the Jews. – The benefits shown by Christ especially aroused the hatred of the Jews against Him. – Envy is the worst of evils. – Means of liberation from envy: awareness of its great sinfulness, the harm it causes to the envier himself and the insignificance of external advantages that arouse envy. 1. Again Christ heals on Saturday, and thereby justifies the actions of His disciples. Other evangelists say that He called a man into the middle and asked the Jews whether it was possible to do good on the Sabbath (Mark 3:4; Luke 6:9)? Notice the mercy of the Lord. He called the man into the middle to soften them with the sight of him; so that they, moved by this spectacle, leave their anger and, being ashamed of the man, cease to rage. But the indomitable and inhuman would rather darken the glory of Christ than to see the sick person healed; they purely show their malice, that is, by enmity and resistance to Christ and such stubbornness against Him that they even blasphemed His benefits to others. Other evangelists say that Christ himself asked the question; and Matthew says that He was questioned. “And they asked Jesus,” he says, “to accuse Him: is it possible to heal on the Sabbath?” . It was probably both. The Jews, being wicked, and knowing that He would certainly begin to heal, hastened to warn Him with a question, hoping to thereby prevent Him. That’s why they asked: “Is it possible to heal on the Sabbath?” , with the intention not to learn from Him, but to accuse Him. Although the case itself was enough for accusation, they tried to catch Him in words in order to have more pretexts for accusation. But the Lover of Humanity performs healing and responds, teaching us modesty and meekness, and turns everything against them, showing their inhumanity. He calls a person to the middle not because he is afraid of them, but wanting to bring benefit and win over compassion. And when he could not soften them with this, then he became sad, says the evangelist (Mark 3:5), and was angry with them for the hardness of their hearts, and said: “Which of you, having one sheep, if it falls into a pit on Saturday, will not take it and pull it out? How much better is a man than a sheep! So you can do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:11–12). He admonishes them with this example so that they leave their shamelessness and do not accuse Him of a crime again. But look how differently and decently Christ everywhere defends the violation of the Sabbath. When He made clay for the blind man, He did not defend himself before them, although even then they accused Him, because the very image of the miracle-working sufficiently showed in Him the Lord of the law. When they accused Him for healing a paralytic who carried his bed, He was justified both as God and as a man. He is justified as a person when he says: “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses may not be broken,” (he did not say, so that the man may benefit), then why “are you indignant at Me... because I healed the whole man on the Sabbath?” (John 7:23)? He is justified as God, saying: “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). Being accused on behalf of the disciples, he answers: “Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread” (Matthew 12:3–4)? And he presents priests as an example. So here he says: “Should one do good on the Sabbath, or do evil? save your soul or destroy it? Which of you has one sheep” (Mark 3:4–5)? He knew that they were more selfish than humane. And another evangelist says that Christ, proposing this question, looked at them in order to soften them with his very gaze; but even that did not make them better. Here He performs a miracle with one word, and in many other cases He heals by the laying on of hands. However, neither one nor the other made them meek; but while the person received health, their healing only made them worse. Before he withered his arms, he wanted to heal them, and used countless means of healing - both previous deeds and words; but since their illness was incurable, He began the actual work. “Then he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched out, and she became healthy, like another” (Matthew 12:13). What are the Jews doing? They go out, says the evangelist, and consult on how to kill Him. “The Pharisees went out and had a council against Him, how to destroy Him” (Matthew 12:14). Not being offended by anything, they wanted to kill Him. 2. What evil is envy! Not only against strangers, but also against his own - he is always at enmity. Mark says that they planned this with the Herodians (Mark 3:6). What does the quiet and meek Jesus do? Having learned about this, He leaves: “Jesus, having recognized” their thoughts, “departed from there” (Matthew 12:14). So, where are those who say that there should be signs? He showed through this that a hardened person is not convinced by signs, but at the same time he made it clear that in vain they accused His disciples. But it is worthy of note that the Jews were especially embittered by the benefits shown to their neighbors, and they blamed Christ more and were furious against Him when they saw someone delivered from illness or sin. So they slandered Him when He wanted to save the harlot, when He ate with the publicans, and in the present case, too, when they saw the healed hand. But look how He does not cease caring for the weak, and at the same time tames the envy of the Jews. “And a great multitude followed Him, and He healed them all, and forbade them to declare Him” (Matthew 12:15–16). The people everywhere marvel at Him and follow Him; but the Pharisees do not abandon their anger. Then, so that you are not amazed when you hear about what happened and about their extreme fury, the evangelist brings the prophet who predicted this. The prophets predicted everything about Christ in such detail that they did not omit this either, but described all His ways and transitions, even the very intention with which He did this, so that you would know that they all spoke according to the inspiration of the Spirit. If it is impossible to know human secrets, then it was even more impossible to comprehend the purposes of Christ without revelations from the Spirit. So, the evangelist here adds what was said by the prophet, saying: “That what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, who says: Behold, My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My spirit on Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the nations; He will not contradict, He will not cry, and no one will hear His voice in the streets; he will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, until he brings victory to the court; and the nations will trust in His name” (Matthew 12:17–21). The prophet glorifies the meekness and ineffable power of Christ, opens a great and wide door to the pagans, predicts the misfortunes that will befall the Jews, and shows the like-mindedness of Christ with the Father. “Behold,” he says, “my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights.” If Christ is chosen by God, then He breaks the law not as an adversary or enemy of the Lawgiver, but as one who thinks and acts in accordance with Him. Further, proclaiming His meekness, he says: “He will not contradict, he will not cry.” Christ wanted to heal their sick; but when they rejected Him, He did not oppose them in this either. Further, showing His strength and their weakness, he says: “He will not break a bruised reed,” but it was easy for Christ to crush them all, like a reed, and, moreover, already a bruised one. “And it will not quench the smoking flax.” Here the prophet depicts the inflamed anger of the Jews and the power of Christ, which can tame this anger of theirs and very easily extinguish it. And this shows His great meekness. So what? Will it always be like this? And will He endure to the end those who plot and rage against Him? No! When He completes His work, then He will begin to punish. This is what is expressed in the words: “until the court achieves victory; and the nations will trust in His name." In the same way, Paul says: being ready to “punish all disobedience when your obedience is complete” (2 Cor. 10:6). What do the words mean: “until the court achieves victory”? When He has completed all His deeds, then He will take vengeance, and complete vengeance; then they will be exposed to misfortunes when He erects a resplendent trophy; when His truth will triumph over them and will not leave them even an excuse for shameless contradiction. Scripture usually calls truth judgment. But the affairs of the divine economy will not be limited only to the punishment of the infidels; on the contrary, the Lord will still draw the whole world to Himself, which is why it is added: “and the nations will trust in His name.” But so that you know that this is also in accordance with the will of the Father, the prophet at the very beginning confirmed this, together with the previous one, with the words: “My beloved, in whom my soul delights.” The Beloved obviously does this also according to the will of the Beloved. “Then they brought to Him a demon-possessed man, blind and dumb; and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb man began to speak and see” (Matthew 12:22). 3. Oh, the devil's anger! She blocked both entrances through which this person could receive faith - sight and hearing. But Christ opened both. “And all the people marveled and said, Is this not the Christ the son of David? The Pharisees, having heard [this], said: He does not cast out demons except by [the force of] Beelzebub, the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:23–24). It would seem that what the people said was important? However, the Pharisees could not bear even that. So, as I noted above, they are always tormented by the benefits shown to their neighbors, and nothing upsets them more than the salvation of people. Although Christ withdrew and allowed their anger to calm down, evil flared up again as soon as a new benefit was shown, and the Pharisees were more annoyed than the devil. He left the body, walked and ran away, without saying anything; and they either try to kill Him, or try to slander Him; when they failed to do the first, they want to darken His glory. Such is envy! There is no evil worse than her. The fornicator, for example, at least receives some pleasure, and in a short time commits his sin; but the envious one torments and torments himself before the one he envies, and never abandons his sin, but always remains in it. The pig loves to wallow in the mud, demons love to harm us; So the envious person rejoices at the misfortune of his neighbor. When something unpleasant happens to a neighbor, then he is calm and cheerful, considering other people’s misfortunes to be his happiness, and the well-being of others to be his misfortune, and he seeks not what might be pleasant for him, but what might sadden his neighbor. Are such people unworthy of being stoned and tortured like mad dogs, like evil demons, like the furies themselves? Just as beetles feed on dung, so they, being in some way the common enemies and adversaries of nature, find food for themselves in the misfortunes of others. Others feel sorry for a dumb animal when it is killed, but you rage, tremble and turn pale, seeing a person prosperous. Could there be anything worse than such rabies? That is why fornicators and publicans could enter the kingdom of God, and the envious people who were inside it were expelled, according to the words of the Savior: “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out” (Matthew 8:12). The first, freed from their vices, received what they never expected; the latter lost even the benefits they had. Yes, and quite rightly so. Envy turns a person into a devil, and makes him a fierce demon. From her the first murder occurred, from her nature was despised, from her the earth was desecrated, from her the living Dathan, Korah and Aviron were subsequently swallowed up by the opening of the earth, and all that people perished. But perhaps someone will say: it is easy to condemn envy; but we need to take care of how to get rid of this disease. How can we free ourselves from this vice? When we think that both the fornicator and the envious person are not allowed to enter the Church, and, moreover, much more the latter than the former. But now envy is not considered a vice, which is why they do not bother to get rid of it; but if it turns out that she is evil, then we will easily leave her. So, weep and groan, weep and pray to God; learn to treat it as a grave sin and repent of it. If you do this, you will soon be cured of this illness. But who doesn’t know, you’ll say that envy is a vice? True, everyone knows this, but not everyone puts this passion along with fornication and adultery. Has anyone ever condemned himself for indulging in cruel envy? Has anyone ever begged God to have mercy on him for this illness? Nobody ever. On the contrary, someone possessed of the most vile passion of all, if he fasted and gave a small coin to a beggar, then he thinks that he did nothing bad, even if he was envious a thousand times over. Why did Cain become such a criminal, why Esau, why the children of Laban, why the sons of Jacob, why Korah, Dathan and Abiron with their accomplices, why Miriam, why Aaron, why the devil himself? 4. At the same time, imagine that you are not harming the person you envy, but you are striking yourself with a sword. Indeed, what harm did Cain cause to Abel? Against his will, he hastened his entry into the kingdom, and subjected himself to countless disasters. How did Esau harm Jacob? Didn’t he get rich and enjoy countless blessings, and this one, after his malicious intent, was forced to leave his parents’ house and wander in a foreign country? What harm did the sons of Jacob do to Joseph, even though they almost shed blood? Did they not suffer famine and were not in extreme distress, while he became king of all Egypt? The more you envy, the greater benefits you deliver to the one you envy. God watches over everything, and when he sees someone who is not offending being offended, he elevates and glorifies him even more, and punishes you. If He does not leave without punishment those who rejoice in the misfortune of their enemies, it is somehow said: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls... the Lord will see, and it will be displeasing in His sight” (Prov. 24:17–18), then all the more will he not leave unpunished those who envy those who have not caused them any harm. So, let us cut off from ourselves the many-headed beast: there are many types of envy. If the one who loves the one who loves him has no advantage over the publican, then where will the one who hates someone who has not offended him in any way stand? How can he escape Gehenna, having become worse than the pagans? I am deeply saddened by the fact that we, who are obliged to imitate the angels and even the Lord of the angels, are jealous of the devil. There is a lot of envy in the church, and more in us than in those governed by us, which is why we ourselves need admonishment. Why, tell me, do you envy your neighbor? Is it because they respect him and speak well of him? But don't you realize how much harm honors to the careless bring? They drive such people to vanity, to pride, to arrogance, to arrogance, they make them the most negligent, and in addition to these evils they quickly wither, and, worst of all, the evil that comes from them remains forever, and pleasure, as soon as it appears, flies away. So, does this make you jealous, tell me? But the one you envy is in greater confidence with the boss, does whatever he wants, takes revenge on those who insult him, does good to flatterers and has great power. This is how it is common for worldly people to speak, chained to the earth. Nothing can upset a spiritual person. What harm would he really do to him? Will he be defrocked? So what? If it’s fair, it will still benefit him. Nothing, after all, irritates God more than unworthy priesthood. If it is unjust, then condemnation again falls not on him, but on the offender himself. He who suffers unjustly and endures generously, through this acquires greater boldness from God. So, let us be concerned not about achieving power, honor and authority, but about being distinguished by virtue and wisdom. Power encourages you to do many things that are displeasing to God, and you must have a very courageous soul in order to use power as it should. He who is deprived of power, willy-nilly, philosophizes; and the one endowed with it endures the same thing as a man who, living with a good and beautiful girl, pledged himself never to look at her with lust. Such is power! That is why, even against their will, it makes many offenders, arouses anger in many, removes the bridle from the tongue and opens the doors of the mouth, as if blowing the soul with the wind, and plunging it like a boat into the very depths of evil. So, why do you marvel at a man in such danger and call him happy? What madness! In addition, think also about how many enemies and slanderers, how many caresses, as it were, keep him under siege. Can such a state, tell me, be called blissful? And who will call? But such a person is in glory among the people, you say? Well? The people are not God to whom they must give account. Therefore, when you point to the people, you only talk about new shallows, underwater rocks, rocks and cliffs. People's respect, the more famous it makes it, the more it is associated with dangers, worries and sorrows. Such a person, having such a cruel master, cannot rest or pause at all. What am I saying – pause or rest? Such a person, having thousands of merits, enters the kingdom with difficulty. Truly, nothing humiliates people so much as the glory of the people, making them fearful, vile, flatterers and hypocrites. Why, for example, did the Pharisees call Christ mad? Is it because they wanted national glory? Why did the people pronounce the correct opinion about Him? Is it because He did not suffer from this disease? Nothing, truly nothing, makes people more criminal and senseless than the desire for national glory. Likewise, nothing makes one more glorious and courageous than contempt for her. That is why it is necessary to have an extremely courageous soul for someone who wants to withstand such a storm, the force of the wind. He who loves fame, when he is in happy circumstances, puts himself above everyone else, and when he is in unhappy circumstances, he is ready to bury himself in the ground. This is both Gehenna and the kingdom for him when he is consumed by this passion. 5. So tell me, is this worthy of envy? On the contrary, is it not worthy of sobs and tears? This is obvious to everyone. Envying one who has such glory, you act like one who, seeing him bound, punished with scourges and dragged by countless beasts, envies his wounds and ulcers. Truly, as many people as there are in the people, there are so many bonds for the ambitious, so many rulers, and what’s worse is that each of them has his own special opinion and each gives a verdict about the servant, whatever happens, without examining anything; and whatever one or two think, they all approve. Isn’t this more terrible than any disturbance, any storm? He who seeks glory suddenly rises up with joy, then easily sinks again, is always in anxiety, and never at peace. Even before going to the spectacle, and preparing to give a speech, he worries and trembles, and after the spectacle either dies of despondency, or, again, indulges in immeasurable joy - which is worse than sadness itself. And that joy is no less harmful than sadness is obvious from its effect on the soul. Joy makes the soul frivolous, arrogant and fickle. This can be seen in ancient men as well. When, for example, was David kind: was it when he was happy, or when he was in difficult circumstances? When were the Jewish people virtuous: was it when they groaned and called on God, or when they rejoiced in the desert and worshiped the calf? That is why Solomon, who knew better than anyone what joy is, says: “It is better to go to a house of mourning for someone who has died, than to go to a house of feasting” (Eccl. 7:3). That is why Christ pleases those who mourn, saying: “Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4); and considers those who rejoice to be miserable: “Woe to you who laugh now! for you will mourn and lament” (Luke 6:25)! And quite fair. During fun, the soul is weaker and more delicate; and during grief it strengthens, becomes chaste, frees itself from all passions, becomes more elevated and courageous. So, knowing all this, let us flee from the glory of the people and the pleasure that comes from it, in order to achieve true and eternal glory, which we all may be worthy of through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: