Беседа 44

“While He was still speaking to the people, His mother and brothers stood outside the house, wanting to speak with Him. And someone said to Him: Behold, Your Mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak with You. He answered and said to the one who spoke: Who is My Mother? and who are my brothers? And pointing His hand at His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.” (Matt. 12:46–49) Explanation 12:46–13:9. The purpose of the rebuke made by Christ to his mother and brothers. – Kinship according to the flesh does not bring any benefit if there is no spiritual kinship. - Explanation of the parable of the sower. – The seed perishes not through the fault of the sower. – Death and fruiting depend on the will of the recipient. – For salvation, one virtue is not enough. – Harm caused to the body and soul by satiety. 1. The very thing that I spoke about before, that is, that without virtue everything is useless, is very clearly revealed now. I said that age, and gender, and desert living, and the like are useless when there is no good disposition. And now we learn even more: without virtue there is no benefit to carrying Christ in the womb and giving birth to this wondrous fetus. This is especially evident from the words cited. “While He was still speaking to the people,” says the evangelist, “someone said to Him: Behold, Your Mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak with You.” And Christ answers: “Who is My Mother? and who are my brothers? He says this not because He was ashamed of His Mother, or because He rejected the one who gave birth to Him (if He had been ashamed, He would not have passed through her womb); but he wanted to show by this that it would be of no benefit to her if she did not fulfill everything that was due. In fact, her action stemmed from excessive jealousy of her rights. She wanted to show the people her power over her Son, of whom she had not yet thought highly; and therefore she started at the wrong time. So, look at the imprudence on the part of her and her brothers! They should have entered and listened along with the people, or, if they did not want to do this, wait until the end of the conversation and then come up. But they call him out, and in front of everyone, revealing through this excessive zeal for their rights and a desire to show that they command Him with great power. The evangelist speaks reproachfully about this very thing. “When did He yet speak to the people,” he says, hinting at this. Was there really no other time? - he seems to say so. Was it really impossible to talk in private? What did you want to talk about? If it was about true teaching, then they should have offered it openly and spoken about it in front of everyone, so that others would also benefit; if it was about their own affairs, then they shouldn’t have insisted so much. If Christ did not allow His disciple to go and bury his father, so that his following of Christ would not be interrupted, then even more so he should not have interrupted His conversations with the people for unimportant matters. From here it is clear that they did this out of vanity alone, to which John pointed out and said that “and His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:5). He also conveys their unreasonable words, saying how they called Him to Jerusalem solely to be glorified by His signs: “If you do such works,” they say, “show yourself to the world: no one does anything in secret, and seeks to be known” (John 7:4). And Christ himself then reproached them for this, condemning their carnal thoughts. When they, in view of the bad opinion of the Jews about Christ, said: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here, among us” (Matthew 13:55–56; Mark 6:3)? - wanting to hide the baseness of His family, they called Him to show signs - then He resists them, and thereby wants to heal their illness. So, if he wanted to renounce His Mother, he would have renounced her when the Jews reviled Him. On the contrary, He cares about her so much that even on the cross he entrusts her to his beloved disciple and shows great care for her. But now He does not do this out of provident love for her and the brothers. Since they thought of Him as a simple man and were vain, He removes this illness, not, however, offending them, but correcting them. But pay attention not only to the words containing a slight reproach, but also to the inappropriate courage of the brothers, which they dared, and to the one who reproached (this was not an ordinary person, but the Only Begotten Son of God), and with what intention he reproached. He did not want to offend them, but to save them from painful passion, little by little to lead them to the correct concept of Himself and to convince them that He is not only the Son of His Mother, but also the Lord. And you will see that this reproach is very suitable for Him, and useful to the Mother, and at the same time very meek. He did not say to the one who reminded him of the Mother: go, tell the Mother that she is not My mother; but he objects to him: “Who is My mother”? When He said this, He meant something else. What exactly? That neither they nor anyone else should rely on kinship and abandon virtue. Indeed, if there will be no benefit for His Mother in being a mother, since she will not be virtuous, then kinship will save someone else even less. There is only one nobility - doing the will of God, and this nobility is better and superior than that (carnal) kinship. 2. So, knowing this, we should not be proud of either worthy children, if we ourselves do not have their virtues, or noble parents, if we are not like them in life. It is possible, after all, to not be a father without giving birth, and to be one without giving birth. That is why, when one wife said: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nourished You” (Luke 11:27), Christ did not say to this: the womb did not bear Me, and I did not suck the breasts, but: truly, blessed are those who do the will of My Father (Luke 11:28)! You see how, both before and here, He does not reject natural kinship, but adds to it kinship by virtue. Likewise, the Forerunner, saying: “after the birth of vipers! Do not think to say within yourself, “We have Abraham as our father” (Matthew 3:7,9), does not indicate that they (the Pharisees and Sadducees) did not descend from Abraham by nature, but that this descent from Abraham is not at all useful to them if they do not have a moral relationship with him. Christ showed this very thing and said: “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). With these words, He does not take away from them kinship in the flesh, but teaches them to seek a better and more excellent kinship. He wants to inspire the same thing here, but only inspires with great condescension and tenderness; it was about the Mother and He did not say: she is not My mother, they are not My brothers, because they do not do My will, He did not pronounce condemnation on them, but, speaking with His characteristic meekness, He left it to their will to desire a different kinship. The creator, He says, who “does the will of My Father in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50). Therefore, if they want to be His relatives, let them follow this path. Also, when the wife exclaimed: “Blessed is the womb that bore You,” Christ did not say: I have no mother, but if My mother wants to be blessed, let her do the will of My Father. Such is my brother, sister and mother. What an honor! How great is virtue! To what height does she raise those who follow her path! How many wives blessed this holy Virgin and her womb, and wanted to be such mothers, and give everything for such an honor! What's stopping you? So Christ showed us a broad path, and not only wives, but also husbands can achieve such a great honor, and even much greater. By following this path, one can become a mother sooner than by undergoing the pains of birth. Therefore, if carnal kinship is already happiness, then spiritual kinship is as much greater as it is superior to the first. So, do not just desire kinship, but with great care follow the path that leads you to this desire. Having said this, the Savior left the house. Do you see how He rebuked them and fulfilled their desire? He does the same in marriage. And there He reproached His mother, who asked Him untimely, and, however, did not refuse her - with the reproach, healing her weakness, fulfilling the request, showing His love for His Mother. So here too, on the one hand, He healed the disease of vanity, on the other, He gave due honor to the Mother, although her demand was inappropriate. “On that day,” it says, “Jesus left the house and sat down by the sea” (Matthew 13:1). If you want to see and hear Me,” He says, “then I come out and talk. Having created many signs, He again wants to bring benefit with His teaching, and sits by the sea to catch and attract to Him people who are on earth. He sat down by the sea not without intention (which the evangelist hints at, noting this circumstance), but wanting to place Himself in such a position that no one would be behind Him, but everything would be before His eyes. “And a great multitude gathered unto him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat down; and all the people stood on the shore” (Matthew 13:2). When He sat down here, He began to teach in parables. “And he taught them in many parables” (Matthew 13:3). This is not what He did on the mountain: there He did not offer His word in so many parables. And this is because there were only simple and uneducated people, and here there were also scribes and Pharisees. But notice what parable He speaks first, and how Matthew offers them in order. So, which one does He say first? The one that should have been said first of all, and which is more capable of arousing the attention of the listener. Intending to speak in secret, He first excites the minds of the listeners with a parable. Is this why another evangelist says that Christ reproached them for what they did not understand: “You do not understand this parable” (Mark 4:13)? However, He speaks not only in parables, but also in order to make His word more expressive, to imprint it more deeply in memory, and to present the subject more clearly. This is what prophets do. 3. So, what kind of parable is this? “The sower went out to sow.” Where did the omnipresent and all-performing one come from? Or how did it come out? He did not become closer to us by place, but by disposition and providence for us when He took on flesh. Since sins blocked our access to Him and did not allow us to ascend, He Himself comes out to us. And why did you come out? Shall I destroy the land full of thorns? Should farmers be punished? No. He went out to carefully till the land and sow the word of godliness in it. Here, by the seed, Christ means His teaching, and by the field, human souls, and by the sower, Himself. What is the fruit of this seed? Three parts of it perish and only one remains. “And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and birds came and devoured them” (Matthew 13:4). Christ did not say that He himself cast, but that the seed fell. “Some fell on rocky places where there was little soil, and soon sprang up, because the soil was shallow. When the sun rose, it withered and, as if it had no root, withered away; some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew and choked it; some fell on good soil and bore fruit: one a hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:5–9). The fourth part survived, and even that did not bear the same fruit, but there is a big difference here too. From these words it is clear that Christ offered His teaching to everyone without distinction. Just as a sower does not distinguish the field in front of him, but simply and without any distinction throws the seeds, so He does not distinguish between the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, the careless and the caring, the courageous and the timid; but He preached to everyone, doing His work, although He knew in advance what fruits would come from this, so that He could say: What else did I need to do, and did not do (Is. 5:4)? The prophets speak of the people as of grapes: “My Beloved had a vineyard”; and: “You brought the vine out of Egypt” (Is. 5:1, Psalm 79:9). And Christ speaks of the people as of seed. What does He show by this? The fact that now the people will quickly and easily obey, and will immediately bear fruit. When you hear that “a sower went out to sow,” then do not consider this an identity. The sower often goes out for another task, for example: to plow the ground, or destroy unusable grass, or pull out thorns, or do something else similar; but Christ went out to sow. Why, tell me, did most of the seed perish? This did not come from the one who sowed, but from the land that received it, that is, from the soul that did not listen. But why doesn’t He say that the careless took another seed and destroyed it; the rich accepted the other and suppressed it; otherwise weak, and neglected him? He does not want to give them a strong reproach, so as not to plunge them into despair, but leaves the listeners to reprove their own conscience. However, this happened not only with the seed, but also with the net. And there was a lot of useless stuff in it. Christ offers this parable to strengthen and instruct His disciples, so that they do not lose heart, although the majority of those who accept their word will perish. It was the same with the Lord himself; and although He knew in advance that this would be exactly the case, He did not stop sowing. But is it prudent, you say, to sow among thorns, on rocky places, by the roadside? Of course, in relation to seeds and land this would not be prudent; but in relation to souls and teaching this is very commendable. If a farmer began to do this, he would rightly deserve censure, because a stone cannot become earth, and a road cannot be a road, and a thorn cannot be a thorn; but this is not the case with intelligent beings. And a stone can change and become fertile earth; and the road may not be open to everyone passing by and not trampled under his feet, but may become a fat field; and the thorns may be cut off, and the seeds may grow without hindrance. If this were impossible, then Christ would not have sowed. If such a change did not occur in everyone, then the reason for this was not the sower, but those who did not want to change. Christ has completed His work; if they neglected His teaching, then the one who showed such great love for mankind is not guilty of this. Notice also that there is not one path of destruction, but different ones, and one far removed from the other. Those who are like the road are careless, careless and lazy, and the stone represents only the weakest. “Sown on rocky places,” says Christ, “means one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; but it has no root in itself and is fickle: when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, it is immediately tempted. To everyone who hears the word about the Kingdom and does not understand, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart - this is what is sown by the wayside” (Matthew 13:20–21:19). It is not the same thing when a teaching loses its power without any intrigues and oppression, and when it becomes invalid due to temptation. Those who are like thorns are more guilty than all others. 4. So, so that nothing like this happens to us, let us diligently listen to the teaching and constantly keep it in mind. Let the devil be a predator; but it is up to us not to let him plunder. If the seeds dry up, it is not the heat that causes this - it is not said that they withered from the heat, but: “as if they had no roots.” If the word is suppressed, it does not come from thorns, but from those who allowed it to grow. You can, if you want, prevent this worthless plant and use the wealth as it should. Therefore Christ did not say: age, but: “the care of the age”; did not say: wealth, but: “the deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22). So, let us blame not the things themselves, but the corrupted will. You can have wealth, and not be deceived by it, and live in this century, and not be overwhelmed by worries. Wealth combines two opposing evils: one crushes and darkens - this is care; the other is relaxing - it is luxury. And the Savior said well - “the deception of wealth”, because everything in wealth is flattery - only names, not reality. Truly, pleasure, glory, pomp and all the like are just a ghost, and not the real truth. So, having spoken about the various kinds of destruction, He finally speaks about the good land, so as not to lead to despair, but to give hope for repentance and show that it is possible to turn from stone and thorns to the good land. But if the land is good, and there is one sower, and the seeds are the same, then why did one seed bear fruit a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, and a third thirtyfold? Here again the difference depends on the quality of the land, because even in good land you can find a lot of difference. Now you see that this is not the fault of the farmer, and not the seeds, but the receiving earth. This difference does not depend on the nature of people, but on their will. And here the great love of God is revealed in the fact that the Lord does not require the same degree of virtue, but accepts the first, and does not reject the second, and gives place to the third. He says this so that His followers do not think that hearing alone is enough for salvation. Why, you say, did He not speak about other vices, for example, about carnal lust, vanity? Having said: “the care of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth,” He said everything, because vanity and all other vices are the work of this age and the flattery of wealth, such as pleasure, greed, envy, vanity and everything else like this. He mentioned the path and the stone, wanting to show that it is not enough to free oneself from the love of wealth, but one must also take care of another virtue. What good is it if you are not addicted to wealth, but are effeminate and effeminate? What good is it if you are not gentle, but carelessly and carelessly listen to the word? Virtue alone is not enough for our salvation, but we need, firstly, careful listening to the word and always remembering it; then you need courage; further - contempt for wealth, and, finally, dispassion for everything worldly. He places hearing the word above all other things because it is, first of all, necessary. “How will they believe” if they do not hear (Rom. 10:14)? So we too (if we do not heed the word, we will not be able to find out what we should do). Then He speaks about courage and contempt for real blessings. So, knowing this, let us protect ourselves from everywhere, let us heed the word, plant it deeply in ourselves and cleanse ourselves from everything worldly. If we do one thing and neglect the other, then there will be no benefit to us: one way or another, we will die anyway. What difference does it make if we perish not from wealth, but from carelessness, or not from carelessness, but from effeminacy? The farmer still grieves, no matter how much he destroys the seed. Let us therefore not be consoled by the fact that we do not perish in every way, but let us weep no matter how we perish, and let us burn up the thorns, because they choke the word. This is known to the rich, who are incapable not only of this, but of nothing else. Being slaves and captives of passions, they are also incapable of civil affairs. If they are not capable of this, then much less of heavenly things. A twofold plague infects their thoughts: luxury and care. Each of them by itself is sufficient to sink the shuttle. Imagine the excitement when the two unite! 5. Do not be surprised that Christ called luxury thorns. You, intoxicated with passion, do not know this; but those not infected with this passion know that luxury hurts more than thorns, and exhausts the soul more than care, and causes the most painful illnesses, both body and soul. It’s not so much worry that torments you as it is satiety. When insomnia, pain in the churches, heaviness in the head and illness in the stomach torment the satiated, then imagine how many thorns are more intolerable than this! Just as thorns, no matter from which side you take them, bloody your hands, so luxury brings ulcers to the feet, and to the hands, and to the head, and to the eyes, - in a word, to all members; it is lifeless and barren like thorns, and much more harmful than it, and harmful to the most essential parts. In fact, it prematurely brings one closer to old age, dulls the senses, darkens thought, blinds the insightful mind, fills the body with moisture, accumulates pus, causes many diseases and produces great heaviness and excessive obesity, which causes constant falls and frequent crashes. Why, tell me, are you making your body fat? Are we going to sacrifice you? Or offer it for a meal? It is good to fatten birds, or better said, it is not good for them either, because when they become fat, eating them is no longer healthy for us. So great is the evil of satiety: it is harmful even to the dumb. By fattening us, we make them useless both for themselves and for us, because this obesity makes the food difficult to cook and the juices rot. But those animals that are not fed much and that, so to speak, fast, eat food in moderation and do difficult work, are very useful both for themselves and for others, suitable for food and for everything else. Those who eat them are healthier; those who eat fatty animals become like them, become lazy, sick and impose the most severe bonds on themselves. Nothing is so disgusting and harmful to the body as satiety; nothing destroys, burdens and destroys him as much as excessive consumption of food. Therefore, one can only be surprised at those who are insanely jaded, that they do not even want to take care of themselves as much as others take care of their wineskins. Wine sellers do not fill their wineskins more than they should, so as not to break them; and they don’t even want to have that kind of concern for their poor belly, but overburden it with food, fill themselves with wine to the ears, nostrils and very throats, and thus strictly constrain the spirit and the force that organizes animal life. Was your larynx given to you so that you could fill it to your very lips with wine and other harmful substances? Not for this, man, but in order, firstly, to glorify God, send sacred prayers to Him, read divine laws; secondly, give useful advice to your neighbors. And you, as if you only received a larynx for gluttony, do not give it the slightest time for a sacred occupation, but spend your whole life using it for shameful work. Such people act like someone who, having taken a harp that has golden strings and is well tuned, instead of striking it and producing harmonious sounds, fills it with dung and all sorts of rubbish. I don’t call food manure, but satiety and any excess, since what is in excess no longer nourishes, but only harms. One womb is given only for eating, and the mouth, larynx and tongue are given for other, more necessary activities; or better, and the womb is given not just for eating, but for eating in moderation. It itself shows us this, since it always cries out against us when we harm it with such excess; and not only cries out, but, in revenge for injustice, imposes on us the greatest punishment. And, firstly, it punishes the feet that carry us and lead us to luxurious feasts; then he ties the hands of those who serve him because they provided him with so many and such good dishes. And for many it damaged their very mouths, eyes and heads. Just as a slave, when something beyond his strength is placed on him, insults his master in strong indignation, so the womb, which has been violated, often destroys and spoils, along with other members, the brain itself. Therefore, God arranged well by combining such harmful consequences with immoderation, so that if you do not want to act prudently of your own free will, although involuntarily, because of fear and great harm, you learn moderation. So, knowing this, let us run away from luxury, let us take care of moderation, so that we can enjoy bodily health and, having delivered the soul from all illness, be worthy of future blessings, 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: