Беседа 22

John 2:4. What is it for me and for you, wife? My hour has not yet come. 1. Jesus Christ does everything in good time, not because He is subject to time, since He is the Creator of years and the Lord of ages, but out of love for order. – 2. Jesus Christ, by his miracle in Cana of Galilee, proved that He is the Creator of water and wine. – 3. The miracles of Jesus Christ surpass all the forces of nature. “He perfects our rebellious souls.” – The fragility of the blessings of this world: they instantly disappear and flow away with the speed of a stream. - Poverty is the mother of health. – The sweets of the meal are very harmful to the body and soul and produce many diseases. 1. There is some labor in teaching, which Paul also shows when he says: “We must show great honor to elders who are in charge, especially to those who labor in word and doctrine” (1 Tim. 5:17). But it is up to you to make this work both easy and difficult. If you reject our words, or, without rejecting them, do not fulfill them in your deeds, then this work will be painful for us, as vain and futile work. If you are attentive to our words and show this in your very deeds, then we will not feel any difficulty in teaching; the fruit that comes from these labors will not allow you to even notice their burden. Therefore, if you want to arouse jealousy in us, not to extinguish or weaken it, show us, I ask you, the fruit, seeing the flowering fields, feeding on the hope of abundance and hoping for your future wealth, do not become exhausted in these good pursuits. Today we are presented with a not unimportant subject. When the Mother of Jesus said: “They have no wine,” Christ answered: “What do I and You have, Woman? My hour has not yet come." Meanwhile, after such words, He did what Mother spoke about. This subject requires research no less than before. So, having called upon the One who performed this miracle, let us begin to resolve the issue. Not only is it said here: “the hour has not come”; the evangelist further notes: “but no one laid hands on Him, because His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30); and in another place: “and no one took Him, because His hour had not yet come” (John 8:20). Also: “The hour has come, glorify Your Son” (John 17:1). I have collected here all these sayings from the entire Gospel in order to give one solution to everything. Which one? Christ said: “the hour has not come” not because he was subject to the law of time, and not because he actually observed the famous clock. Was this necessary for the Creator of times and the Creator of centuries? But with these words He wants to show that He does everything in its own time, and not suddenly, since from here confusion and disorder could occur if, i.e. He did each of His work at the wrong time and mixed everything together, such as birth, resurrection, and judgment. So note: the creation had to come into being, but not all together; a man and his wife, but not both together; it was necessary for the human race to be condemned to death and to be resurrected, but between the one and the other there is a great distance of time; the law had to be given, but not together with grace, but both had to be arranged at their own specific time. So, Christ himself was not subject to the conditions of time, because He established the very order of times, He and their Creator. But John, citing here the words of Christ: “My hour has not come,” shows that at that time He was not yet known to everyone and did not have a full host of disciples; Only Andrei followed him, and with him Philip, and besides them no one else. And they did not know Him as they should, not even His Mother or brothers. After performing many miracles, the evangelist remarked about His brothers: “For His brothers also did not believe in Him” (John 7:5). Those present at the wedding did not know Him either. Otherwise, in need, they themselves would have turned to Him with a request. That is why he says: “My hour has not come.” Those present don’t know me yet; They also don’t know that there is not enough wine. Let them feel it first. Yes, I shouldn’t have heard about this from you either. You are My Mother and therefore you make the miracle itself suspicious. But those in need themselves should turn to Me with a request; not because I needed it, but so that they would accept this opportunity with great confidence. He who sees himself in need, when he receives what he needs, remains much grateful after that; and whoever does not yet feel the need will not fully and vividly feel the benefit itself. Why, having said: “My hour has not come,” and thus refusing, He nevertheless did what His Mother told Him about? In order especially for people to contradict and consider Him to be subject to the conditions of time, it is enough to show that He is not subject to time. If He had to, how could He have done what He did when the proper time had not yet come? He also did this out of respect for the Mother, so as not to seem to contradict her in everything or be unable to do this, and so as not to shame his Mother in the presence of so many people - and she brought the servants to Him. In a similar way, He said to the Canaanite woman: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26); however, after such words, he granted her what she asked, bowed by her persistence. He also said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), but even after these words he healed the daughter of this woman. 2. From here we learn that, even if we were unworthy, we can nevertheless, through persistent prayers, make ourselves worthy to receive (what we ask for). Therefore, the Mother hoped and brought servants with the goal that the request would come from a large number of people. That’s why she added: “Whatever He tells you, do it” (John 2:5). She knew that He refused not out of weakness, but out of humility and in order not to give the impression that He was in too much of a hurry to perform a miracle; That’s why she brought the servants. “There were six stone waterpots here, standing according to the custom of the purification of the Jews, containing two or three measures. Jesus says to them: Fill the vessels with water. And they filled them to the brim” (John 2:6–7). The Evangelist noted, not without purpose: “according to the custom of the purification of the Jews,” but so that any of the unbelievers would not suspect that there were remnants of wine in the vessels, and therefore, when water was poured in and mixed with them, some very weak wine was formed. That is why the evangelist says: “according to the custom of the purification of the Jews,” showing that wine was never stored in those vessels. Palestine is a waterless land, and springs and wells cannot be found in every place; Therefore, the Jews always filled the vessels with water, so as not to run to the rivers when they became unclean, but to have a means of cleansing at hand. But why didn’t He perform a miracle before the vessels were filled with water - which would have been much more amazing? It’s another thing to change a finished substance only in quality, another thing to produce the substance itself from nothing. Of course, this is more surprising; but for many it would not seem so likely. That is why Christ often voluntarily reduces the greatness of miracles so that they can only be more conveniently acceptable. Why, you say, did He not produce the water himself and then turn it into wine, but ordered the servants to pour it in? Again for the same reason and so that those who drew the water themselves would be witnesses to the miracle and so that it would not seem at all like a ghost. If anyone were to shamelessly deny this, the servants could say: we drew the water ourselves. In addition, by this miracle He overthrows the revived teaching that is contrary to the Church. There are those who say that there is some other creator of the world and that what is visible was not created by Him, but by some other god hostile to Him 19 . Curbing such madness, Christ performed most of His miracles from ready-made substances. If the Creator of the world had been hostile to Him, He would not have used the affairs of others to prove His own power. So now, in order to show that He Himself is the One who turns water into grapes and turns rain into wine through the root of the grape - which happens in a plant after a long time - He does this in an instant at a marriage. Then, as soon as the servants filled the vessels with water, He said to them: “Now draw it and bring it to the master of the feast. And they carried it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine - and he did not know where this wine came from, only the servants who drew the water knew - then the steward calls the groom and says to him: every person first serves good wine, and when they get drunk, then the worst; but you have saved good wine until now” (John 2:8–10). Again, here too, some chuckle, saying: there was a meeting of drunken people, the taste of the connoisseurs was already spoiled, and they were unable to understand or judge what was happening here - thus they could not recognize whether it was wine or water, and that they were drunk, this was stated by the architriclin himself. True, it's very funny. But the evangelist destroys even such suspicion. He says that it was not the guests who expressed their opinion about what happened, but the architriclin, who was sober and had not yet drunk anything. After all, you know that those who are entrusted with the management of such feasts are the most sober of all, because they have only one job - to arrange everything in order and order. Therefore, to witness the miracle, Christ used the sober sense of the architriclinus. He did not say: pour wine to those reclining, but said: bring it to the architricline. “When the steward tasted the water that had become wine - and he did not know where this wine came from, only the servants who drew the water knew - then the steward calls the groom.” Why didn't he invite the servants? In this way a miracle would be revealed. The reason is that Jesus himself did not reveal the miracle that had taken place, but wanted the power of His signs to be known not suddenly, but little by little. And if it had been discovered at the same time, then the servants’ story about Him would not have been believed, but they would have thought, perhaps, that they were out of their minds, since they attributed this matter to one whom many then considered an ordinary person. The servants themselves, of course, knew this matter well from their own experience, and could not help but trust their hands; but they had no opportunity to assure others of this. Therefore, Christ himself did not reveal what had happened to everyone, but only to those who could understand it better than others, presenting the most accurate knowledge of the miracle of the future. After other miracles were performed, this too should have become reliable. So later, when He healed the son of a courtier, the evangelist in the narration of this makes it clear that this miracle had already become more public. The noble especially called Jesus because he learned, as I say, about this miracle. This is what John explains when he says: “Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he turned water into wine” (John 4:46), and not just into wine, but the best wine. 3. Such are the miracles of Christ that their works turn out to be much better and superior than those performed by nature. So in other cases, when Christ corrected any damaged member of the body, he made it better than healthy members. And that what was produced from water was really wine, and the best, not only the servants, but also the architriclin and the groom could testify to this; and that it was produced by Christ, this could be confirmed by the servants who drew the water. Thus, even if the miracle had not been revealed at that time, they could not remain silent about it later. So, Christ left many necessary testimonies for the future. That He turned water into wine, He had servants as witnesses; and that it was good wine, the architriclinus and the groom are witnesses. Probably the groom answered something to the words of the architriclinus; but the evangelist, hastening to the most important matters, touched only on the miracle itself, and passed over the rest. It was necessary, of course, to know that Christ turned water into wine; but what the groom said to the architriclinus, the evangelist did not consider it necessary to add. Meanwhile, many miracles, being at first little known in detail, became better known over time, because they were told in all their details by people who were at first eyewitnesses of them. But just as at that time Jesus turned water into wine, so then and now He does not cease to change the morals of weak and absent-minded people. There are, there are, I say, people who are no different from water - they are so cold, liquid, not solid in any way. It is our duty to bring people in such a state to the Lord, so that He will favor their morals, to impart the quality of the wine, so that they do not scatter, but acquire constancy, to the joy of themselves and others. Who are these cold people, if not those who are busy with the affairs of this life, who do not despise the pleasures of this world, lovers of fame and power? All these are streams, never stopping, but constantly rushing with great speed into the abyss. Rich today, poor tomorrow; today he appears with a herald, on a chariot, accompanied by many staff-bearers, and the next day he often settles in prison, yielding, and against the will, to another this self-delusion. In the same way, one devoted to luxury and satiety, no matter how much he fills his belly, cannot retain this supply within himself even for one day, but, with his bowel movements, is forced to collect new supplies, thus not differing in any way from the stream. Just as in a stream, as soon as one stream passes, another appears behind it, so here, one food decays - and we need another. This is the property of everyday things: they never stop, but always flow and are carried away one after another. As for the pleasures of voluptuousness, they not only flow and pass, but also bring us a lot of anxiety. When one indulges in them with enthusiasm, they weaken the strength of the body and deprive the soul of courage. And the strong current of rivers does not erode the banks and collapse them as much as voluptuousness and satiety undermine all the supports of our health. Go to the hospital and ask about this - there you will find out that almost all diseases originate from here. A moderate and simple meal is the mother of health. This is what doctors call it, recognizing it as healthy - not to eat your fill. Moderation in food, they say, is health; and poor food is the mother of health. If moderation in food is the source of health, then it is clear that satiety is the source of disease and illness and gives rise to such suffering that exceeds the very art of doctors. And indeed, pain in the legs, pain in the head, in the eyes, in the hands, trembling of the whole body, strokes, jaundice, prolonged acute fevers and many other diseases (now is not the time to list everything) are usually born not from abstinence and a prudent lifestyle, but from overeating and satiety. If you want to know the illnesses of the soul that arise from here, you will see that covetousness, debauchery, despondency, laziness, lust and all lewdness originate from here. The souls of people who eat such meals are no better than donkeys: this is how these animals torment them. Need I say more about how many sorrows and troubles those devoted to satiety receive? It is impossible to count them all. I will show everything in one and the most important thing. They never enjoy their table with pleasure, even the most luxurious one. Temperance is the mother of both health and pleasure; and satiety is the source and root of both illness and displeasure. Where there is satiety, there can no longer be a desire (for food); and where there is no hunting, can there be pleasure? Therefore, among poor people we find those who are not only more prudent and healthier than the rich, but also have more fun than them. Reflecting on all this, we will avoid satiety and drunkenness not only at meals, but also in all everyday circumstances. Instead, let us better seek spiritual pleasures and, in the words of the prophet, “Delight yourself in the Lord” (“Delight yourself,” he says, “in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4)), so that we may taste both this and future blessings, the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: