Беседа 60

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone; If he listens to you, then you have gained your brother.” (Matthew 18:15) How one should reprove those who sin. – Why does the Savior send the offended person to the offender and commands him to rebuke him, and not anyone else? - The purpose of reproof. – Why the prayer of those who live in agreement is not always heard. – Love for neighbors must have Christ as its basis. – The fickleness of love that stems from worldly benefits, and the firmness of love for Christ’s sake. 1. Since the Savior pronounced a strict reproof against the seducers and struck them with fear, so that, in view of this reproof, those who were seduced in turn would not fall into carelessness and, considering everything not to concern them, out of the false hope that everything should serve them, should not fall into insane pride - see how He restrains them too. He commands them to reprove, but to reprove them only in private, so that the reproof in the presence of many witnesses does not seem too severe and the person exposed, instead of correcting himself, does not become even more impudent. That’s why he says: “Convict him between you and him alone; If he listens to you, then you have gained your brother.” What does this mean: “if he listens”? If he condemns himself, if he confesses his sin. “Then you have gained your brother.” He did not say: you have taken sufficient revenge on him, but: “you have gained your brother,” showing that enmity causes harm to both. He didn’t say: he benefited only for himself; but: you, for your part, acquired it. And by this he showed that both of them had previously lost a lot - one lost his brother, and the other lost his own salvation. He taught the same thing when he sat on the mountain; then He sent the offender to the insulted one, and said: if you, standing at the altar, “there you remember that your brother has something against you, ... go first and be reconciled with your brother” (Matthew 5:23–24); then he commanded the offended person to forgive his neighbor: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12), - this is how He taught to speak in prayer. Here he also uses another method: He does not send the one who insulted to the insulted, but the last to the first. Since the offender, out of shame, would reluctantly go to ask for forgiveness, he sends the offended person to him, and sends him with the very intention of correcting the disorder that has occurred between them, and does not say: accuse, or reproach, or demand trial and punishment against him; but just expose it. The one who insulted you, out of anger and shame, is as if in a state of sleep; and you, healthy, must come to the sick, and in order for your healing to be accepted more quickly, you must conduct the trial not in public. The word: “reprove” means nothing else here than: remind him of sin, and tell him what you suffered from it. If this is done as it should, then you will do two things: you will justify yourself, and you will persuade others to reconcile. But what if he doesn't listen and persists? “Take with you one or two more, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Matthew 18:16). The more shameless and daring he is, the more we should resort to healing, and not to anger and indignation. And the doctor, seeing that the disease does not stop, does not leave the patient and is not angry with him, but even more so takes care. The Savior commands us to do the same here. You were weak when you were alone; be stronger with the help of others. Two can convict a sinner. Do you see how the Savior seeks the benefit not only of the offended, but also of the one who offended? It is the one who is overwhelmed by passion who is offended; he is sick, and weak, and infirm. That is why the Savior sends the offended person to him, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. If even then he persists, he sends along with the Church: “Say,” he says, “to the church” (Matthew 18:17). If He were only looking for the benefit of the offended, He would not have commanded the repentant to forgive up to seventy times seventy times and would not have indicated so many doctors for his illness, but since he remains stubborn after the first reproof, he would have ordered him to be left; on the contrary, He commands him to be healed once, and twice, and three times, and then alone, then with two, then, finally, with many. When it came to some external ones, He did not command anything like that, but said: “But whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39), but here it is not so. Paul teaches the same thing, saying: “Why should I judge those who are outside” (1 Cor. 5:12)? And the same Paul commands both to reprove and convert the brothers, and to cut off the disobedient, so that they may be ashamed. And the Savior does the same here when he prescribes such a rule regarding the brothers; He gives three to the offender, teachers and judges, who would enlighten him about what he did during his intoxication. Although he himself said and did all the obscenities, he needs outside admonition, just like a drunk. Anger and sin lead a person into a stronger frenzy than any drunkenness. Who was wiser than David? But when he sinned, he did not feel anything; lust took over his entire mind and, like smoke, filled his soul. That is why he needed a prophetic lamp and those words that would bring to his memory what he had done. That is why here, too, the Savior brings people to the sinner who would tell him about his act. 2. Why does he command to reprove the offended person, and not someone else? Because the offender can more easily endure reproof from him, as from the offended, insulted and harmed. It is not the same to hear reproach from others who stand up for the offended, and from the offended one himself, especially when he is the only one who is the accuser. In fact, if someone who would have the right to demand satisfaction from him for an insult appears before the offender with concerns about saving him, then he can most likely bring him to shame. You see that the reproof here is not done to offend, but to correct. For the same purpose, the Savior commands that two people be taken for reproof not suddenly, but when the offended person himself no longer has success; and even then he does not command to suddenly expose many, but commands to take only two, or one; and when the accused despises even these, then he submits him to the court of the Church. Thus, the Savior takes great care to ensure that the sins of one’s neighbor are not disclosed. Although He could have given the right to tell the Church to the offended at the very beginning, so that the sin would not be disclosed, He commands this to be done after one or two denunciations. What does it mean: “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word was confirmed”? This means that you did everything on your part and did not omit anything that you should have done. “If he does not listen to them, tell the church,” that is, its representatives; “And if he does not listen to the church, then let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.” Such a person is terminally ill. Remember that He everywhere presents the publican as an example of the worst sinner. And above He said: “Do not the tax collectors also do the same” (Matthew 5:46)? And in another place: “Publicans and harlots go ahead of you into the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 21:31), that is, the most despicable people. (Let those who seek unrighteous growth and demand interest on interest listen!). Why did He place a man who disobeyed the Church alongside the tax collectors? With the intention of comforting the offended and intimidating him. But is this only punishment? No; but listen further: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). He does not say to the head of the Church: bind him; but if you also tie (the whole matter is left to the offended), then the bonds will also be insoluble. So he will undergo extreme misfortune; but it is not the one who binds who is to blame, but the one who does not want to submit. Look at what troubles he exposes the stubborn: both here punishment and future torment! And with this he threatens not so that this will happen, but so that, frightened by the threat, that is, both cutting off from the Church and the danger of being bound in heaven, he becomes meek and, knowing that, if not at the beginning, then at least after many condemnations, he leaves his anger. Thus the Savior established the first, second and third judgment, and did not suddenly reject the sinner, so that if he did not listen to the first judgment, he would submit to the second, and if he despised this one, he would be afraid of the third, and if he did not respect the last, he would be horrified by the future punishment - the determination and judgment of God. “Truly I also say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). See how He also destroys enmity, destroys petty calculations and reconciles those at war - not only by announcing execution, but also by presenting the benefits that flow from love. After the above threats against enmity, He announces great rewards for harmony. Those who are unanimous bow down to the Father for what they ask, and Christ dwells among them. But what? Are there really not two anywhere living in agreement with each other? There are, of course, in many places, and maybe everywhere. Why don't they get everything? Because there are many other reasons that prevent you from receiving. For example, they don’t get it because they often ask for useless things. And why be surprised if this happens to others, when Paul experienced the same thing: “My grace is sufficient for you,” he was told, “for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9)? They do not receive it because they are unworthy of being listened to, without doing on their part what is required of them; and the Savior is looking for those praying who would be like the apostles, which is why he says: (two) from you, that is, virtuous and leading an angelic life. Or because they bring prayers against those who have offended, demanding revenge and punishment for them, which is prohibited, it is precisely said: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you... and pray for those who offend you” (Matthew 5:44). Or because unrepentant sinners ask for mercy, but it is impossible for them to receive it, even if not only they themselves asked, but even another, who has boldness towards God, interceded for them. And Jeremiah, who was praying for the Jews, heard in response: “You do not ask for this people and do not offer prayers and petitions for them; for I will not hear” (Jer. 11:14). If all these requirements are fulfilled, that is, if you ask for useful things, and do everything that is required of you, and lead an apostolic life, and are in harmony and love with your neighbors, then you will receive according to your prayer, because the Lord loves mankind. 3. Further, since the Savior said: “from My Father,” then, in order to show that He himself is the giver, and not the Father alone, he added: “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:19). So what? Doesn't it happen that two or three gather in His name? It happens, but rarely. Christ does not just talk about meeting, and not only demands it, but mainly, as I said above, at the same time another virtue; and then it certainly demands this too. His words have the following meaning: if someone puts Me as the first basis of love for one’s neighbor, and if, moreover, he has other virtues, I will be with him. But we see that many have other motives for love: one loves because he himself is loved; another because he is respected; another because his neighbor was useful to him in some everyday matter; and the fourth for some other reason. But it is difficult to find someone who would love his neighbor sincerely and as he should - for Christ. Most are connected to each other only by everyday affairs. Paul did not love like that: he loved for Christ; That’s why, although he was not loved as much as he loved, he did not weaken his love, but allowed it to take root in himself. This is not what love is today. If we examine all the reasons for love, we will find that for the majority they differ from the one indicated. And if someone allowed me to carry out such a study in this crowded meeting, then I would show that very many are connected to each other by everyday forms. This is revealed from the causes that produce enmity. Since they are united by transitory benefits, their love has neither ardor nor constancy; on the contrary, every insult, or loss of money, or envy, or love of vanity, or anything similar easily destroys their love, which has no spiritual root. If there were such a root, then nothing worldly could destroy the spiritual. Love, which has Christ as its foundation, is firm, constant, invincible; Nothing can terminate it - neither slander, nor danger, nor death, nor anything else like that. He who loves in this way, even if he suffers a thousand defeats for his love, will not leave it. He who loves because he is loved, if trouble happens to him, will interrupt his love; and whoever is united by that love will never leave it. That is why Paul said: “Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8). What will you tell me in your defense? Why did he offend you who was honored by you? Or that the one who benefited you wanted to kill you? But if you love for Christ, then this very thing disposes you to greater love. What in others serves to destroy love, here the same thing serves to strengthen it. Why? Firstly, because such a person is the source of rewards for you; secondly, because he needs more help and care for him. That is why, whoever loves so much does not consider either clan, or fatherland, or wealth, or mutual love for oneself, or anything else like that. But even if he was hated, offended, killed, he does not cease to love, having a sufficient reason for love - Christ. Looking steadily at Him, he remains firm and unchanging. And Christ in the same way loved enemies, ungrateful people, offenders, slanderers, haters, who did not even want to look at Him, who even preferred wood and stones to Him - He loved them with the highest love, which cannot be found similar. He says: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Look how he cares for those who crucified Him, and who showed so much fury against Him! This is what He said about them to the Father: “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)! And subsequently he sent more disciples to them. So, let us also be jealous of this love, and we will look at it, so that, having become imitators of Christ, we will be worthy of both this and 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: