Беседа 47

John 6:53–54. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life... 1. Continuation of the discussion about the meaning of St. Eucharist. – 2. The disciples find the Teacher’s word cruel. – 3. Reproaches and reproaches should be done with simplicity. – 4. Prediction of the betrayal of Judas. – Our salvation, like our destruction, depends on our free will. – 5. The example of Judas should serve as a warning to those in higher positions. – Greed, which was the cause of Judas’s betrayal, can be the cause of death for each of us. – To despise the poor is to betray Jesus Christ. – The uselessness of wealth and its abuse. – One must despise everything temporary and seek only the eternal. 1. When we talk about spiritual subjects, let nothing worldly be in our souls, nothing earthly; but let all this be removed, all this be removed, so that we can devote ourselves entirely to listening to the divine words. If when the king enters the city all noise subsides, then much more while the Spirit is talking to us, we must delve into it with deep silence and great fear. And what is read today is truly worthy of fear. What exactly, listen. Truly I tell you, says Christ, unless anyone eats My flesh and drinks My blood, he will not have life in himself. Since the Jews had previously said that this was impossible, He shows that it is not only not impossible, but also very necessary. Therefore he adds: “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” His words: if anyone eats from this bread, he will not die forever, could easily seem strange to them, just as when they said: Abraham died, and the prophets died, how can You say: “He will not taste death” (John 6:52)? Therefore, in order to resolve such confusion and show that He really would not die forever, He mentioned the resurrection. Often he speaks about the sacrament (communion) to show how necessary it is and that it must certainly exist. “My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink” (John 6:55). What do these words mean? With them He either wants to say that His flesh is true flesh, saving the soul, or to assure them of what was said, so that they do not consider His words a riddle and a parable, but know that they must certainly eat His body. Further he says: “He who eats My flesh abides in Me” (John 6:56); this shows that such a person is united with Him. The following words, if you do not delve into their meaning, seem to have no connection with the previous ones. What is really the sequence, they say, to first say: “He who eats My flesh abides in Me,” and then continues: “Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live by the Father” (John 6:57)? However, there is a great correspondence between these words. Since (Christ) spoke many times about eternal life, in confirmation of the same he added: “abides in Me.” If he abides in Me, and I live, then it is clear that he will also live. Then he says: “as the living Father sent me.” This is comparison and likening. He seemed to say this: I live like the Father. And so that you would not consider Him unborn, He immediately added: “I live by the Father”; but this does not show that He needs any assistance for His life. Even earlier, He refuted this idea, saying: “Just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). If (we assume that) He needs assistance, then it will follow that the Father did not give so (i.e., the Son to have life in Himself), and that means those words are false; and if he gave, then the Son no longer needs any outside assistance. What does it mean: “I live by the Father”? Here Christ indicates only the reason, saying as it were: as the Father lives, so I live. And “whoever eats Me will live by Me” (John 6:57). Life here does not mean ordinary, but glorified. And what He says about life is not ordinary, but about that glorious and indescribable life, this is clear from the fact that everyone - both unbelievers and uninitiated - lives the same, although they do not eat that flesh. You see that we are not talking about this life, but about that one. He seems to say this: he who eats My flesh will not perish by death and will not be punished. And he is not talking about a general resurrection, since everyone will be resurrected equally, but about a special, glorious resurrection, associated with a reward. “This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers ate manna and died: whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:58). He constantly repeats the same thing in order to impress it on the souls of his listeners (since the teaching about this was almost the last), and in order to confirm faith in the dogma of the resurrection and eternal life. So, (Christ) speaks about the resurrection, partly because he spoke about eternal life, and partly in order to show that this life is not now, but will be after the resurrection. Where, you say, can this be seen? From Scripture. In any case, He sends the Jews to him, commanding him to verify this. And with the words: “He gives life to the world” (John 6:33) He arouses competition in them, so that, in this way, they do not deprive themselves of this gift, at least out of jealousy that others enjoy it. He often mentions manna in order to show the difference between it and heavenly bread, and to lead them to faith. If it was possible for Him to preserve the lives of their ancestors for forty years without a harvest, without bread and other drugs, then even more so it will be possible now that He came to do great things. On the other hand, if these were some images, and yet then they collected food without sweat and labor, then all the more will this be now, when there is a greater difference in everything, when there is no longer death and we enjoy true life. It is also good that Christ often mentions life, because life is desirable for people and nothing is so pleasant as not dying. And in the Old Testament there was a promise of longevity and longevity, but now the promise is not just longevity, but life without end. At the same time, Christ wants to show that He cancels the punishment that was the consequence of sin, destroys that death sentence and, contrary to the previous definition, introduces not just life, but eternal life. “These things He spoke in the synagogue, teaching in Capernaum” (John 6:59), where He performed many miracles, and where therefore He had to be listened to with special attention. 2. But why did He teach in the synagogue and in the temple? Both in order to catch the people gathering in them, and in order to show that He does not act contrary to the Father. “Many of His disciples heard this and said, “What strange 32 words” (John 6:60). What does “strange words” mean? It means: harsh, difficult, painful (to hear this). But He didn’t say anything like that, because He didn’t talk about life and activity, but about dogmas, often mentioning faith in Him. So what does it mean: “strange words” that He promises life and resurrection? Was it that he said: “I came down from heaven” (John 6:38)? Or that it is impossible for one who does not eat His flesh to be saved? Is this, tell me, cruel? But who will say this? So, what does “strange” mean? This means: inconvenient, exceeding their weakness, causing great fear. They thought that He was saying something that was beyond His dignity and far beyond His powers; That’s why they said: “Who can listen to this” (John 6:60), wanting, perhaps, to justify themselves, because they intended to lag behind Him. “But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples grumble about this (and such knowledge of secret thoughts is proof of His deity), says: Is this tempting you?” (John 6:61). “Well, if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before” (John 6:62). He did the same with Nathanael, saying: “You believe because I told you: I saw you under the fig tree; you will see greater things than this” (John 1:50), and with Nicodemus: “no one ascended into heaven except... the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13). So what? To the perplexities He adds new perplexities? Not at all; on the contrary, with greatness and many dogmas he wants to keep them to himself. By simply saying, “I came down from heaven,” and adding nothing more, He would all the sooner seduce them; but by saying: My body is the life of the world, just as the living Father sent Me, and I live by the Father, and also: “I came down from heaven,” He thereby resolves their bewilderment. Whoever says one great thing about himself can, of course, still be suspected of lying, but whoever then says so much destroys all suspicion. Yet He does and speaks in order to remove them from the idea that His father is Joseph. This means that He spoke this way not to increase temptation, but, on the contrary, to destroy it. Whoever considered Him to be the son of Joseph would not accept His words; and whoever was convinced that He had descended from heaven and would ascend there again could more conveniently listen to His words. After this, Christ adds another solution to their perplexity, saying: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). This means: what is said about Me must be given spiritual attention; and whoever listens sensually (σαρκίκώς) gains nothing and receives no benefit. To doubt how He came down from heaven, and to think that He is the son of Joseph, and to ask: “How can He give us His flesh to eat” (John 6:52)? - was a matter of carnal hearing, while all this should have been understood mysteriously and spiritually. But how, you say, could they understand what it means to eat flesh? That is why they should have waited for a convenient time and asked, and not left Him. “The words that I speak to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63), i.e. divine and spiritual, do not contain anything carnal, and are not subject to the natural order, but are alien to any kind of necessity and above the laws operating on earth, and have a different, special meaning. Thus, as here he said: “spirit”, instead of saying: “spiritual” (verbs), so when he said: “flesh”, he meant not “carnal” (objects), but carnal hearing, hinting at the same time at the Jews, who always desired carnal things, while it was necessary to desire spiritual things, because whoever begins to understand spiritual objects sensually will not gain any profit. Well, isn't His flesh flesh? Without a doubt, flesh. How did He say: “the flesh profiteth nothing”? He said this not about His flesh - far from it - but about those who understand His words sensually. What does it mean to understand sensually? To look at objects simply and not imagine anything else - this is what it means to understand sensually. But this is not how we should judge what is visible, but rather we should look into all its secrets with our inner eyes. This is what it means to understand spiritually. For whoever does not eat His flesh and drink His blood has no life in himself; How can the flesh be of no use when it is impossible to live without it? Do you not see that the words: “the flesh profiteth nothing” were spoken not about His flesh but about carnal hearing? “But there are some of you who do not believe” (John 6:64). Again, according to His custom, He attaches importance to His words, foretelling the future and showing that He said all this not because He sought glory from them, but because He cared for their good. Having said: “some,” He thereby excluded the disciples, because at first He said: “You have seen Me and do not believe” (John 6:36), and now: “There are some of you who do not believe. For... from the beginning he knew who the unbelievers were and who would betray Him. And he said, “For this reason I told you, that no one can come to Me unless it is given to him from My Father” (John 6:64–65). Here the evangelist points us to the voluntary dispensation (of salvation) accepted by Christ and to His kindness. And the word: “from the beginning” is not put here without a purpose, but so that you would know His foreknowledge and the fact that He was even before these words, and not after the Jews complained and were tempted, but even before that, He knew the traitor - which was proof of His deity. Then he added: “if it is not given to him” from above “from My Father,” convincing them to consider God as His Father, and not Joseph, and showing that believing in Him is an important matter. He seemed to say this: the unbelievers do not disturb, do not confuse, do not surprise Me. I know this long before it happened. I know to whom the Father gave (to believe in Me). 3. But when you hear: “given,” do not think that it was distributed simply by lot, but believe that the one who turns out to be worthy to receive receives. “From that time on, many of His disciples departed from Him and walked no more with Him” (John 6:66). It was not without reason that the evangelist did not say: they departed, but: “I went back” 33. By this He showed that they, having separated (from Christ), interrupted their progress in virtue and lost the faith that they previously had. But this did not happen to the twelve (disciples). That’s why He says to them: “Would you like to go away too?” (John 6:67) - which again shows that he does not need their service and obedience, and does not lead them with Him for that reason. Otherwise, would He ask them like that? Why didn't He praise them? Why didn't he exalt? Partly in order to maintain the dignity befitting the Teacher, and partly in order to show that He could more quickly attract them to Himself in this way. If He praised, they might think that they were doing Him a favor and succumb to some human weakness. When he showed that he did not need them to follow Him, he thereby kept them more with Him. And look with what wisdom He speaks. He didn’t say: move away, because that would mean driving away, but he said interrogatively: “would you like to leave too?” - which shows that He eliminates all violence and coercion and wants them to remain with Him not out of any shame, but out of a feeling of gratitude. And by not reproaching them openly, but touching them imperceptibly, He showed how one should be wise in such cases. But the opposite happens to us, and this is understandable, because we do everything for the sake of our glory. That’s why we think that our well-being decreases when those who serve us leave. But Christ did not flatter or drive away, but only asked. And this is not because He despised the disciples, but because He did not want to keep them with Him by force and coercion - after all, staying for this reason is the same as leaving. What about Peter? “Who should we go to? You have the words of eternal life: and we have believed and known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68–69). Do you see, it was not the words of Christ that were the cause of temptation, but the inattention, carelessness and ingratitude of the listeners? Even if He had not said (those words), they would have been tempted and would not have calmed down, because they constantly thought about bodily food and were nailed to the ground. After all, these (apostles) listened along with them; however, they expressed something completely different from what they said when they said: “To whom should we go?” . This answer reveals great love. He shows that for them the Teacher is dearer than everything - fathers, mothers, and estates, and that, having left Him, They could no longer find where to resort. But so that it would not seem as if Peter said the words: “to whom should we go” because there was no one who would accept them, he immediately added: “You have the words of eternal life.” Others listened (to the words of Christ) sensually and with human reasoning; and they (the apostles) spiritually, leaving everything to faith. That is why Christ said: “the words that I speak to you are spirit,” that is, do not assume that the teaching contained in My words is subject to the ordinary order of things and the laws by which everything is done. Spiritual objects are not like that: they cannot be subject to earthly laws. Paul points to this, saying: “Do not say in your heart: who will ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ together. Or who will go down into the abyss? that is, to raise Christ from the dead” (Rom. 10:6–7). Now they have already accepted the doctrine of resurrection and future reward. Look, what kind of brotherly love and what kind of love Peter expresses, being responsible for the whole person (of the apostles). He does not say: I have known, but: “they have known.” Pay especially attention to how he adapts to the very words of the Teacher, saying something different from what the Jews said. They said: “This is the son of Joseph,” and Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and also: “You have the words of eternal life”; (and he said so), probably because he often heard the words of Christ: “he who believes in Me has eternal life.” Having thus recalled the very words, he showed that he contained (in memory) everything that was said. What about Christ? He did not praise or exalt Peter, although he did this on another occasion; but what does he say: “Have I not chosen you twelve? but one of you is the devil” (John 6:70)? Since Peter said: “and we believed,” Christ excludes Judas from this face. Elsewhere, Peter did not say anything about the disciples, but in response to Christ’s question: “Who do you say that I am?” - answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:15–16). But since he said here: “and we believed,” then Christ, in fairness, does not leave Judas among his disciples. And He did this with the intention of averting in advance the treachery of the traitor; and although he knew that it would be useless, he nevertheless did his work. 4. And look with what wisdom (Christ acted)! He did not completely reveal the traitor and did not leave him completely unknown, so that, on the one hand, he would not become more shameless and stubborn, and on the other, thinking that he remained unknown, he would not fearlessly dare to commit an atrocity. For this purpose, continuing His conversation, he exposes him more clearly. In fact, at first He included him among the others, saying: “There are some of you who do not believe.” And that here He meant a traitor, the evangelist showed this with the words: “for from the beginning he knew who the unbelievers were and who would betray Him.” But since Judas remained with Him, He exposes him more strongly, saying: “one of you is the devil,” and thus instills fear in everyone in general, wanting to cover him up. At the same time, bewilderment may rightly arise: why now the disciples do not say anything, but later they come into fear and look at each other in bewilderment and ask: “Isn’t it me, Lord?” (Matthew 26:22). and Peter gives a sign to John so that he finds out about the traitor and asks the Teacher who it is (John 13:24). So what is the reason for this? Peter had not yet heard: “Get behind Me, Satan” (Mark 8:33), and therefore did not have any fear. When he was reproached, and despite the fact that he spoke out of great affection, he not only did not deserve approval, but also heard the name of Satan, then at the words: “one of you will betray Me” (John 13:21) he rightly became afraid. On the other hand, Christ now does not say: “one of you will betray Me,” but: “one of you is the devil.” Therefore, they did not even understand these words, but thought that He was only reproaching them for their wickedness. But why did He say: “Have I not chosen you twelve? but one of you is the devil"? To show that His teaching is free from flattery. Since at the time when everyone left Him, they alone remained with Him and through Peter confessed Him as Christ, so that they would not think that He would flatter them for this, He removes them from such a thought. He seems to be saying this: nothing can turn Me away from rebuking evil people; Do not think that I will flatter you because you remained with Me, or that I will not rebuke the wicked because you followed Me. Even something that could incline a teacher much more strongly will not incline Me to this. Whoever stays with the teacher by himself provides evidence of his love for him; and the one chosen as a teacher is considered by foolish people to be insane and is rejected by them. But this will not keep Me from denunciation. Meanwhile, even now the pagans accuse Christ of this, but in vain and unreasonably: God never makes people good through violence and coercion, and His election of those who are called is not violent, but is accomplished through exhortation. And so that you can be sure that when He calls He does not force you, look at how many people who were called died. From this it is clear that both salvation and destruction are in our will. 5. Hearing this, let us learn to always be sober and watchful. Judas was counted among that holy rank, was honored with such a great gift, performed miracles (because he, along with others, was sent to raise the dead and cleanse lepers), and despite this, as soon as he was enslaved by a serious illness - the passion of the love of money, he betrayed his Master. And nothing brought any benefit: neither good deeds, nor gifts, nor being with Christ, nor serving, nor washing feet, nor fellowship at meals, nor keeping the reliquary; but all this even turned into a reason for his punishment. Let us be afraid lest through our love of money we too become imitators of Judas. You are not betraying Christ; but when you despise a beggar who is fading from hunger or perishing from the cold, you bring upon yourself the same condemnation. Also, when we unworthily partake of the mysteries, we perish along with the murderers of Christ. When we kidnap, when we oppress the poor, we bring upon ourselves the greatest punishment - and very justly. In fact, how long will the love for real things - superfluous and useless - possess us like this? And wealth belongs to superfluous things, from which there is no benefit. How long will we not look to heaven, not be sober, not know satiety in the enjoyment of these earthly and transitory blessings? Do we really not know from experience their insignificance? Let's imagine the rich people who came before us. Are all their blessings a dream? Isn't it a shadow and a color, isn't it a flowing stream? Isn't it a story and a fable? So-and-so was rich: where is his wealth now? Bent and decayed. But the sins committed because of him, and the punishment for sins, remain. But even if there were no punishment and no kingdom was forthcoming, even then we should respect (in the poor) the same tribe and homogeneity with us, and be ashamed of the fact that he is servile to us. Meanwhile, we feed dogs (many feed wild donkeys, bears, and other various kinds of animals), but we despise a person who is dying of hunger; Thus, for us, what is alien is more valuable than what is native, and our own is worse than that which is not ours and is not related to us. But isn’t it nice, you say, to build magnificent houses, have many slaves and, resting on a bed, look at the golden vault? Yes, this is unnecessary and useless. There are other buildings much more magnificent and better than these. You need to amuse your eyes with them, and no one will prevent that. Do you want to see the most beautiful vault? When evening comes, look at the sky dotted with stars. But this, you say, is not my vault? On the contrary, this one is even more yours than that one. He was created for you and belongs to you along with your brothers. And that one is not yours, but your heirs, after your death. Moreover, this (the vault of heaven) can bring the greatest benefit, because with its beauty it leads to the Creator; and he will cause you the greatest harm, becoming your formidable accuser on the day of judgment, because he was clothed in gold when Christ did not have the necessary clothes. Let us not fall into such great madness; Let us not chase after what is fleeting and run away from salvation, but let us hold on to the hope of future blessings - the old men, as surely knowing that they do not have long to live, - the young men, as they are fully convinced that (for them too) there is little time left, because the day of the Lord will come like a thief. At night. So, knowing this, let wives beg their husbands, let husbands persuade their wives, let us teach young men and virgins, and let us all instruct one another, to despise present blessings and seek future ones, so that we may be worthy of them, according to the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” The original contains the Greek word “skliros”, i.e. the result is “hard, cruel” words. – I.N. This is a more accurate Slavic translation, which is in the synod. represented by the word “departed” – I.N. You might be interested in: