Беседа 39

John 5:22–23. The Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. 1. One must fear the Last Judgment. – 2. Why Jesus Christ uses simple words. – 3. Jesus Christ often talks about judgment and resurrection. – 4. Two wills in Jesus Christ. – 5. In the study of the Holy Scriptures, every detail must be carefully examined. – We must forgive others as Jesus Christ forgave us. – What you need to do to receive eternal life. - An exhortation to almsgiving. 1. We, beloved, need to have a lot of care in everything. After all, we will give the strictest account both in our words and in our deeds. Our affairs do not end with this life, but another life will meet us, and we will appear before the terrible judgment seat. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,” says Paul, “so that each one may receive according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Let us always think about this judgment seat, and in this way we can constantly remain in virtue. Just as one who rejects the thought of this day from his soul rushes into the abyss, like a horse that has thrown off the bit - “at all times,” says Scripture, “his ways are disastrous,” and indicating the reason for this, adds: “Your judgments are far from him” (Ps. 9:26), - so he who constantly has this fear in himself leads his life chastely: “remember,” says Scripture, “your end, and never you will sin” (Sir.7:39). He who forgives our sins now will then sit at the judgment seat. He who died for our sake will appear again - to judge the entire human race: “the second time,” says Scripture, “he will appear not to cleanse sin, but to those who wait for Him for salvation” (Heb. 9:28). That is why here He said: “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father.” So, should we not, they say, call Him Father? No way. This is why He said: “Son,” so that we would honor Him who remains the Son, just like the Father; and whoever calls Him Father no longer honors the Son as Father, but confuses them. Since people are motivated not so much by good deeds as by punishments, He speaks here so threateningly that at least fear will force them to honor Him. And when he says: “the whole court,” he expresses by this that He has the power to punish and reward, to do both as He pleases. The expression “gave” was used so that you would not consider Him unborn and would not think that there are two Fathers. Everything that is in the Father is also in the Son, only He was born and remains the Son. And to make sure that the expression: “gave” here is equivalent to the expression “begot”, listen to the explanation of this from another place: “just as,” He says, “the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). So what? Did the Father really give birth to Him first, and then give him life? After all, the giver gives something to someone who already exists. So was He already born without life? But even the demons cannot think of this, because it is not only wicked, but also insane. Therefore, just as the expression: “gave life” means that He begot Him as “Life,” so the words: “gave judgment” mean that He begot Him as a “Judge.” So that you, hearing that the Son has the Father as the culprit, do not think that the Son has a different being from the Father and is of lower dignity than Him, behold, He Himself is coming to judge you, proving in this way His equality. He who has the power to punish and reward whomever he wants, certainly has the same power as the Father. Otherwise, if the Son, after His birth, subsequently received this honor, then one might ask, for what reason was He honored so subsequently? By what success did He achieve that He received such dignity and was elevated to such dignity? Aren’t you ashamed to so boldly attribute these human and humiliating properties to an immortal Being who has nothing that has surpassed time? Why, you say, does He talk about Himself like that? So that what is said is acceptable and paves the way to higher concepts. This is why He mixes both in His words (both the sublime and the humiliated), and look how; By the way, let's look at this first. He said: “My Father works, and I work,” thereby showing his equality and equivalence with the Father; but the Jews “sought to kill Him.” What does He do after this? He softens his expressions, but keeps the same thoughts, and says: “The Son cannot do anything of Himself.” Then he again exalts the word: “for whatever He does, the Son also does also”; again he says humbly: “For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself does; and will show Him greater works than these”; again sublimely: “for just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whomever He will”; and again humbly and at the same time sublimely: “for the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son”; and even more sublimely: “so that everyone honors the Son as they honor the Father.” Do you see how He diversifies His word, using names and expressions in it, sometimes exalted, sometimes degraded, so that for the people of that time it could be acceptable, and future ones would not lose anything, from the sublime expressions receiving the proper understanding of others? Otherwise, if His words were not spoken out of condescension towards people, why were such sublime expressions added? Whoever has the right to say something lofty about Himself, and at the same time says something humiliating and humble, he, of course, has a plausible reason for this and some special intention; and who should speak about himself humbly, and meanwhile says something great, why will he begin to use expressions that surpass his nature? This is no longer any special good intention, but extreme wickedness. 2. Therefore, we can say that Christ’s humble expressions about Himself have a just and worthy reason for God, namely: condescension towards us, the intention to teach us humility, and through this the arrangement of our salvation, which He himself explains in another place when he says: “I say this so that you may be saved” (John 5:34). It was when He resorted to the testimony of John, abandoning his own, which could seem unworthy of His greatness, that, citing the reason for such humiliation in words, He said: “I say this so that you may be saved.” And you, who claim that He does not have the same power and strength as the One who gave birth to Him, what will you say when you hear His own words, with which He expresses the equality of power, authority and glory with the Father? Why does He demand equal honor for Himself, if He, as you say, is much lower than the Father? And He, without stopping at these words, adds: “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:23). Do you see how the honor of the Son is united with the honor of the Father? What of this, you say? This also applies to the apostles: “whoever receives you,” He says, “receives Me” (Matthew 10:40). But there He says so because He assimilates everything concerning His servants to Himself; but here because He has one being and one glory with the Father. Moreover, He does not say about the apostles: “let them be honored.” And He says well: “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father.” If there are two kings and they dishonor one of them, then dishonor is inflicted on the other, especially if the person being insulted is the king’s son; The king is insulted even when his squire is insulted, but not like that and not directly; and here he is offended by himself. That is why Christ warns with the words: “so that everyone honors the Son as they honor the Father,” so that then, when he says: “he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father,” you mean the same honor. He doesn’t just say: “whoever does not honor,” but: “whoever does not honor,” just as I said, “does not honor the Father.” But how, you say, can the sender and the sent be one and the same being? Again, you transfer the word to human relationships and do not understand that all this is said only so that we might know the culprit and not fall into the illness of Sabellius, so that the weakness of the Jews would be healed in this way, and they would no longer consider Him an adversary to God; for they said: He is not from God, He did not come from God. And it was not so much His sublime as His debased words that contributed to the destruction of such a thought: that is why He often said in different places that He was “sent,” not so that you would take such a word as an expression of disparagement of Him (before the Father), but to stop the lips of the Jews. That is why He often turns to the Father, expressing at the same time His own power. And if He had spoken everything about Himself in accordance with His own divine dignity, then they would not have accepted His words, since even for a few such expressions they persecuted Him and often wanted to stone Him. On the other hand, if, applying himself to them, He spoke about Himself only humbly, then this would subsequently serve to the detriment of many. In this way He mixes and diversifies His teaching about Himself, and with humble expressions, as I said, He stops their mouths, and with words consistent with His dignity He removes the sensible from a debased understanding of His expressions and shows that such an understanding is not at all befitting of Him. To be sent expresses a change of place, and God is omnipresent. Why does He say about himself: “sent”? He uses sensual expression to show His like-mindedness with the Father. He directs the following words to the same goal: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life” (John 5:24). Do you see how often He repeats the same thing in order to correct the opinion of the Jews, so that with these and subsequent words, and with fear and the promise of good things, he can overcome the stubbornness against Him - how much here again he descends in expressions about Himself? He does not say: “he who hears My words and believes in Me”; they would consider this pride and extreme vanity in words, because if, after a long time, after countless miracles, they attributed arrogance to Him when He spoke in this way, then even more so in the present case. So they said to Him later: “Abraham and the prophets are dead, but You say, Whoever keeps My word will never taste death” (John 8:52). So, so that now they would not become angry, He says this: “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life.” Because of this, His word became much more acceptable to them, that is, because of the admonition that those who listen to Him believe the Father. Having willingly accepted this, they could more easily accept other things. Thus, using humiliating words about Himself, He prepares and paves the way to higher concepts. Then, having said: “has eternal life,” He adds: “and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Thus, He disposes one to accept His teaching with two remarks - the fact that through Him they believe the Father, and the fact that the believer will be worthy of great blessings. And the words: “does not come to court” mean: not subject to punishment. And “death” here, of course, is not temporary, but eternal. Just like life is immortal. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming, and has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live” (John 5:25). He confirms His words with evidence from works. When He said: “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whomever He will,” so that this would not seem like vanity and arrogance, He also presents evidence of His words from works and says: “The time is coming”; then, so that you do not assume a distant time here, he adds: “and it has already come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, having heard, will live.” Do you see here independence and indescribable power? As it will be at the time of the resurrection, he says, so it will be now. Then, having heard the commanding voice, we will rise, because it is said: “at the proclamation” of God, “the dead... will rise” (1 Thess. 4:16). And how can it be seen, someone might ask, that what has been said is not mere vanity? From the words He added: “and it has already come.” If He had only spoken about the future, His teaching might have been suspicious to the Jews; but He provides proof of this. While I am still with you, He says, this will come true. If He could not do this, then He would not have promised for such a time, so that, otherwise, the promise would not expose Him to even greater ridicule. Then he adds an explanatory argument to His words, saying: “For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). 3. Do you see what kind of equality is revealed here, with the only difference that one is the Father and the other is the Son? The word “gave” alone expresses difference, but in everything else equality and unity are shown. And from here it is clear that He does everything with the same authority and power with which the Father, and does not borrow His power from anyone else. He also has life in Himself, just like the Father. Therefore, further he immediately adds such words from which we can understand the previous ones. Which ones exactly? “And he gave Him authority to execute judgment” (John 5:27). But why does He repeat so often about resurrection and judgment? “As,” he says, “the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whomever he wants.” Again: “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” And again: “just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself.” Also: “they will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live.” And here again: “and he gave Him authority to execute judgment.” Why does He so often touch upon these subjects, i.e., judgment, life and resurrection? Because this can have the greatest effect on the most intractable listener. Whoever is convinced that he will rise again and then give an account of his sins, even if he has not seen any other sign, by this conviction alone will soon turn and try to appease his Judge, “because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this” (John 5:27–28). Pavel Samosatsky does not read this passage that way, but how? “He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” But such reading has no consistency. He did not receive judgment because He was a man; otherwise, what would prevent all people from being judges? But because He is the judge, He is the Son of the ineffable Being. That’s why it should be read like this: “because He is the Son of Man.” Do not marvel at this." Since His words could seem inconsistent to the listeners, because they revered Him as no more than a simple man, and meanwhile, His words were higher than man, even higher than an angel, and could only be characteristic of God alone, then, resolving such bewilderment, He adds: “Do not be surprised... that He is the Son of Man: for the time is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and will come out.” those who did good into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil into the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). But why didn’t He say this: “Marvel not that there is a Son of man; He is also the Son of God,” and mentioned the resurrection? He already expressed this above: “they will hear the voice of the Son of God.” And don’t be surprised that he kept silent about this here. Speaking about such a thing, which is characteristic of God, thereby gives the listeners reason to conclude that He is both God and the Son of God. If He often repeated this, the listeners would get tired of it, and by proving the same thing with wonderful deeds, He made His teaching not so hateful. Likewise, those who draw up conclusions, having laid down known grounds that firmly prove the sought-after truth, often do not draw a conclusion from them, but in order to better convince the listener of this and win a more brilliant victory, they leave it to the opponent himself to draw the proper conclusion, so that those present at the same time agree with them all the more when the opponents pronounce judgment against themselves. Further, Christ, mentioning the resurrection, added that “those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation.” In a similar way, John convinced his listeners with a reminder of judgment and the fact that “he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). So Christ himself said to Nicodemus: “he who believes in the Son is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned” (John 3:18). So here too He mentions judgment and punishment for evil deeds. Above He said: “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me does not come into judgment”; and lest anyone think that this alone is enough for salvation, He also touches on the works of life and says: “those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation.” But since He said that the whole universe will give an account to Him and everyone will be resurrected according to His voice - a new and extraordinary thing, which even today many still do not believe, even among people who apparently believe, not to mention the Jews of that time - then listen to how He explains this, again condescending to the weakness of the listeners. “I,” he says, “cannot create anything on my own. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous; For I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). He gave no small proof of the resurrection in the fact that he healed the paralytic; That’s why he didn’t begin to talk about the resurrection before he had performed the healing, a matter that was not too far from the resurrection. He also hinted at the judgment then, saying after the healing of the body: “Behold, you have recovered; Sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). But He foretells here together the resurrection of both Lazarus and the entire universe; and predicting about these two resurrections, about Lazarus, which was soon to take place, and about the universal one, which was to happen later, after a long time, He assures of the first by the healing of the paralytic and the very proximity of this event, when he says: “the time is coming, and it has already come,” and in the truth of the latter he convinces by the resurrection of Lazarus, as if presenting before his eyes what has not yet happened through what has already happened. It is clear that He did this in all cases, i.e., He connected two or three predictions together and, through the fulfillment of one, confirmed other future events. 4. However, having said and done such great things, He is not yet satisfied with that; but, since His listeners were still too weak, He crushes their stubbornness with subsequent words, saying this: “I can do nothing of Myself. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous; for I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.” These words might seem strange and inconsistent with the prophets, who said that God is the judge of the whole earth, that is, the human race: this is how David preaches everywhere, saying: “The Lord judges the nations in righteousness” (Ps. 95:10); and again: “God is a righteous judge, mighty and long-suffering” (Ps. 7:12); also all the other prophets, and Moses; and Christ said: “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son”; So, this could confuse the then listener - a Jew, and again inspire the idea that He is an opponent of God; Therefore, He here is very condescending in the word about Himself, to the extent that the weakness of the Jews required, in order to completely eradicate such a destructive opinion, and says: “I can do nothing of Myself,” i.e., you will not see anything strange, ungodly, something that the Father does not want, in My deeds and you will not hear in words. As before, having said: “because He is the Son of Man,” He showed that they considered Him a simple man, so here he adds similar words. As He said above: “we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen” (John 3:11); and Evangelist John: “What He saw and heard, He testifies to; and no one accepts His testimony” (John 3:32), - in both places meaning accurate knowledge, and not just hearing and seeing; so here, speaking of hearing, he expresses only that He cannot desire anything other than what the Father wants. Only He did not say it so clearly (because if they heard it directly, they would not have endured it), but how? Very humbly, and humanly: “as I hear, so I judge.” He also does not speak here about learning, he did not say: “as I learn,” but: “as I hear”; and not because he speaks as if he needed to listen - He not only has no need to study, but also to listen - but by this he expresses like-mindedness (with the Father) and the identity of judgment. Thus, His words mean the following: I judge as if the Father himself judged. Then he adds: “And My judgment is righteous; for I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.” What are you saying? Therefore, You have a will different from the will of the Father? And in another place You said: “as We are one” (John 17:22); and also, speaking about unity of will and like-mindedness: “And they may be one in Us” (John 17:21), i.e., by faith in Us. Do you see how what seems most humiliated hides a higher meaning? And by this He makes it clear this: the will of the Father is not another, and mine is another; but just as one soul has one desire, so it is with the Father. Do not be surprised that He speaks of such unity with the Father. Paul uses the same example regarding the Spirit when he says: “What man knows what is in a man except the spirit of man which dwells in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). And so He says only this: I have no other desire, separate from the Father, but what the Father wants, so do I, and what I want, so does He. Because no one can contradict the Father when He judges, so neither can I; judgment is pronounced by both with the same thought. And don’t be surprised that He talks about this in a human form: after all, the Jews still considered Him a simple man. Therefore, in such cases, one must pay attention not only to His words, but also keep in mind the concepts of the listeners and accept His words as an adaptation to their concepts; otherwise many absurd consequences may occur. Look, He says: “I do not seek My will”; therefore, (one might think) He has a different will (than the Father’s) and, moreover, much more imperfect, and not only imperfect, but also not so beneficial - since, if it were saving and in agreement with the will of the Father, then why are you not looking for it? People could rightly say this because they have many desires that disagree with the will of God; why do you say this, you who are equal to the Father in everything? Such words, one might say, are unusual even for a perfect man who has crucified himself. If Paul so combined his will with the will of God that he said: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20), then how could the Lord of all say: “I seek not My will, but the will of Him who sent Me,” as if they were different? So, what do His words mean? He speaks humanly and adapts to the concepts of his listeners. Just as in the previous conversation He used expressions that were either God-appropriate or human-like, so here He does the same and says as a man: “My judgment is righteous.” Where can you see this? “For I do not seek My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Just as among people one who is devoid of self-love cannot be accused of an incorrect judgment, so now you cannot blame Me for this; whoever wants to do things his own way can rightly be suspected by others that for this reason he is violating justice; and whoever does not have his own will in mind, what reason can he have to judge unjustly? Reason in the same way regarding Me, because if I said that I was not sent from the Father and did not attribute the glory of My deeds to Him, then perhaps some of you would rightly suspect that I only want to glorify Myself and am not speaking the truth. If I impute My deeds and assign them to others, then why and for what reason would you begin to cast suspicion on My words? Do you see what He brings the word to and how He proves the correctness of His judgment - by what anyone else would say in his own defense? Do you see how clear it becomes what I have often said? What did I say? The fact that extreme humility in words is what most inspires sensible people not to degrade the meaning of sayings as it seems at first glance, but in their understanding it rises to the height of the thoughts contained in them. Thus, this humility in words little by little and conveniently and creeping to the ground elevates grief. 5. So, keeping all this in mind, we will not, I convince you, ignore the sayings, but we will carefully examine everything and everywhere pay attention to the reason for what was said. Let us not think that our ignorance and simplicity can be a sufficient excuse for us; Christ commanded us to be not only simple, but also wise. Therefore, let us take care to combine prudence with simplicity, both in teaching and in the affairs of life; Let us judge ourselves here, “lest we be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). And in relation to our servants we will be the same as we wish our Lord to be towards ourselves. “Forgive us,” we say, “our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). I know that an offended soul does not easily endure insults; but if we think that by forgiving an offense we are doing good not so much to the offender as to ourselves, then we will easily spew out the poison of anger. And the one who did not forgive his debtor a hundred denarii did not offend his brother, but made himself a debtor of a thousand talents, which had previously been forgiven him. Thus, when we do not forgive others, we do not forgive ourselves. Let us not only say to God: do not remember our sins, but let everyone say to himself: let us not remember the sins of our brothers against us. You yourself are the first judge of your affairs, and then God judges them. You write for yourself the law of forgiveness and punishment and pronounce upon yourself the sentence of one or the other; Thus, it depends on you whether God will or will not remember your sins. That is why Paul commands to forgive “if anyone has a complaint against anyone” (Col. 3:13), and not just to forgive, but so that no trace (of anger) remains. And Christ not only did not point out our sins, but also did not remember that we had sinned, and did not say: you sinned in this and that, but forgave and destroyed the handwriting, without imputing the crimes to us, as Paul explained it (Col. 2:14). Let us do the same and erase everything from our memory; unless something good was done by those who insulted us - this is one thing we will remember. And if he did something offensive and hostile, then let’s leave it and erase it from memory, so that no trace remains. If there was nothing good for us from him, then the greater the reward for us, the greater the praise, if we forgive. Others blot out their sins by vigils, lying on the ground and countless deeds; and you can destroy all your sins in a much easier way - by not remembering evil. Why do you raise the sword against yourself, like those who are raging and crazy, and deprive yourself of a future life, when you need to achieve it by all means? If real life is so desirable, then what can we say about the one where there is no illness, no sorrow, no sighing? There you no longer need to fear death or fear the loss of the benefits there. Blessed, and most blessed, and many times blessed are those who have been granted this blessed lot; on the contrary, those who deprive themselves of bliss are unhappy, and extremely unhappy, and innumerably unhappy. But what, they will say, can bring us such a life? Listen to how the Judge himself talked about this with one young man. When the young man asked, “What good thing can I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) - then Christ, recalling the commandments of the law, focused on love for others. And perhaps now one of the listeners, like that rich man, will say: we have kept all that: we did not steal, we did not kill, we did not commit fornication. But you cannot yet say that you have loved your neighbor as you should love. For example, you either envied someone, or slandered someone, or did not help the offended, or did not share your property, and therefore did not love your neighbor. But Christ commanded not only this, but also something else. What is it? “Sell,” he says, “what you have and give to the poor... and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). He calls following by imitation of Him in deeds. What do we learn from here? Firstly, the fact that it is impossible for someone who does not have all this to achieve the benefits of the future lot. When the young man said that he had done everything, then Christ, as if something important was still missing for complete perfection, says to him: “if you want to be perfect,... sell your possessions and give to the poor... and follow Me." So, first of all, this is what we have to learn. Secondly, we see that the young man exposed himself in empty complacency; after all, if he lived in such abundance, and despised others who were in poverty, then how could he say that he loved his neighbor? This means that what he said (that he fulfilled the commandments) was unfair. So, let's do both; Let us try to spend our property in such a way as to acquire heaven. If someone often gives up all their property for worldly greatness - greatness that will remain here and cannot even last for a little time, since many were deprived of power long before death, others sometimes paid for it with their very lives, and yet, despite this, sacrifice everything for it - if, I say, people do so much for this, then is it possible to be more unhappy than us, for the sake of endless and inalienable glory, not devoting even a little, not wanting to give even what through Should we leave a little time here? What madness is it - not to want to voluntarily give and take with us what we can lose against our will? After all, if we were led to death, and then offered to get rid of death at the cost of all our property, we, of course, would consider this a mercy; and now, when we are carried away on the way to Gehenna and could get rid of it by sacrificing half of our property, we agree rather to undergo torture, and want to keep with us what does not belong to us, and thus we lose what truly belongs to us. What kind of justification will we have, what kind of forgiveness, if such a convenient path to life has been laid out for us, and we rush along rapids, follow a fruitless path, depriving ourselves of everything here and there, then how could we truly acquire everything both here and here? So, if not before, then at least now, let us come to our senses and, having come to our senses, let us use present blessings as we should, in order to more conveniently receive future ones, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: