Беседа 67

John 12:25–26. He who loves his life will destroy it; But he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me... 1. About the one who, loving his life, destroys it. – 2. The cross as a path to glory. – Expulsion of the devil from the world by death as the path to glory. – The expulsion of the devil from the world by the death of Jesus Christ. – 3. Prediction of Jesus Christ about his resurrection and victory. – Against greed that seeks to ruin others. 1. Real life is sweet and contains many pleasant things, but not for everyone, but only for those attached to it. If someone looks at heaven and sees the blessings there, he will soon begin to neglect this life and regard it as nothing. After all, physical beauty, while there is no other better one, excites surprise; and when better beauty appears, the former begins to be neglected. Likewise, if we begin to look at that beauty and contemplate the splendor of the kingdom there, we will soon free ourselves from real bonds, since attachment to the present is indeed a kind of bond. This is what Christ leads us to when he says: “He who loves his life will destroy it; But he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant also be” (John 12:25–26). These words seem to resemble a riddle; but they are not a mystery, they contain great wisdom. How can “he who loves his life destroy it”? When someone fulfills her inappropriate wishes, when someone pleases her more than she should. That is why someone gives this instruction: “do not follow the lusts” of your soul (Sir.18:30). Through this you will destroy her, because (lust) moves her away from the path leading to virtue. In the same way, and vice versa, “he who hates his life in this world” will save it. What does it mean: “he who hates his own life”? This means someone who does not listen to her when she suggests something harmful. But he did not say: he who does not listen to her, but: “he who hates” her. Just as we cannot hear the voices of those we hate, nor see their faces indifferently, so we must also be extremely disgusted by the soul when it inspires us with something displeasing to God. Since (Christ) already intended to talk with his disciples about death, and specifically about His death, and foresaw their sorrow and despondency, he uses intense speech, saying: what can you say about what you cannot endure with the firmness of My death? After all, if you yourself do not die, there will be no benefit for you. But look how He softens His speech. It was very difficult and sad for a man who loved his soul to hear that he had to die. And is it necessary to talk about ancient times, when even today we find many people who, despite the fact that they are convinced of the future, willingly decide to endure everything just to enjoy the present life - who, looking at buildings, at inventions and works of art, say with tears: how much a person plans, and yet - turns to dust! The attachment to real life is so strong! So, in order to resolve these bonds, Christ says: “he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.” And that He said this to the disciples in order to encourage them and remove fear from them, this is evident from the further words: “whoever serves Me, let him follow Me.” Here He speaks of death and demands to be followed by the very deed. The servant must certainly follow the one he serves. And notice at what time He talks to them about this; not when they were persecuted, but when they were completely calm - when, enjoying honor and services from many, they considered themselves in complete safety - when they could be cheerful in spirit and hear: “and take up your cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24), i.e., you must always be ready for danger, for death, for migration from this life. After He said the regrettable words, He offers a reward. What is this reward? That they will follow Him and be where He is. By this He showed that death would be followed by resurrection. “Where I am,” He says, “there My servant will also be.” Where is Christ? In heaven. So, let us move there with soul and mind even before the resurrection. “Whoever serves Me will be loved by the Father” (John 12:26). Why didn't He say: I will love? Because the disciples did not yet have a proper understanding of Him, but thought greater things about the Father. After all, they did not know that He had to be resurrected: how could they think anything great about Him? That is why He says to the sons of Zebedee: “It does not depend on Me, but on whom My Father has prepared” (Matthew 20:23), although He Himself is a judge. And here He represents His true sonship, because the Father will accept His servants as the servants of His true Son. “My soul is now troubled; and what should I say? Father! deliver Me from this hour” (John 12:27). Apparently, someone who persuades someone to go to death should not say this; but in fact these words are especially fitting for such a person. Lest they say that it is easy for Him to philosophize about death when He Himself is not available to human suffering, it is easy to convince us when He Himself is out of danger - He shows that He, too, fears death, and yet for the benefit (of others) does not refuse to die. However, this refers to the humanity perceived by Him, and not to the deity. Therefore He says: “My soul is now troubled.” (And if not so, then what will be the sequence between these words and the following: “Father, deliver Me from this hour”?) And (His soul) was so outraged that He would even seek deliverance (from death) if only it could be avoided. 2. These are the infirmities of human nature. But I, He says, cannot say anything, asking for deliverance, because “for this hour I have come” (John 12:27). It’s as if He were saying this: although death brings us into trepidation and confusion, we still should not avoid it. After all, I am outraged now, but I am not talking about deliverance from death, because it is necessary to endure what should be. I don’t say: deliver Me from this hour, but what? “Father! glorify Your name" (John 12:28). Although embarrassment forces Me to say those words, I say the opposite: “glorify Your name,” that is, take (Me) to the cross already. This clearly reveals human properties and nature, which does not want death, but is attached to real life. This shows that (Christ) was not alien to human sensations. Just as hunger and sleep do not constitute a crime, so is attachment to real life. Jesus Christ had a body that was only pure from sins, but not devoid of natural needs; otherwise it would not be a body. By the same token, He inspires us with something else. What exactly? So that even when we happen to be in fear and anguish, we do not deviate from what is assigned to us. “Father! glorify Your name." This shows that he is dying for the truth; He calls His death the glory of God. This came true after the cross: then the whole universe had to turn, know the name of God and serve God; and the name not only of the Father, but also of the Son, although (Christ) is silent about this. “Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it and will glorify it again” (John 12:28). When did you glorify it? In previous events. “And I will glorify it again” - after the cross. What about Christ? “This voice was not for Me,” but for your sake. But the Jews thought that it was thunder, or that an angel spoke to Him. Why did they think so? Wasn't the voice clear and distinct? No, they were rude, carnal, careless people, and therefore the voice immediately disappeared for them. Some of them retained only the sound, while others, although they knew that it was an articulate voice, did not know what it meant. What about Christ? “This voice was not for Me,” but for your sake. Why did He say this? To refute what they constantly said that He was not from God. In fact, could the one whom God glorifies and by whom the name of God is glorified not be from God? This is why the voice came down; for this reason He himself says: “This voice was not for Me,” but for your sake; not so that I would learn from it anything that I did not know before—I know everything of the Father—but for you. Since they said that an angel spoke to Him or that it was thunder, but did not hear (the words), then (Christ) says that it was for you, in order to at least in this way force them to ask what was said. But they, being amazed, did not ask even then how they heard that this applied to them. And whoever did not know to whom what was said was referring, naturally the voice might seem incomprehensible. “This voice was for the people.” Do you see that everything that is humiliated happens for them, and not because the Son needed help? “Now is the judgment of this world; Now the prince of this world will be cast down” (John 12:31). What connection does this have with the words: “I have glorified and glorified”? Very close and very tight. Since He said: “I will glorify,” He also shows the very method of glorification. What is this method? He says that he will be cast down. What does it mean: “judgment of this world”? As if he were saying this: there will be judgment and vengeance. How is this and in what way? (The devil) killed the first man, finding him guilty of sin (since death entered through sin). But he did not find this in Me; Why did he attack Me and put me to death? Why did you put the thought of destroying Me into Judas’s soul? Don’t tell me now that God arranged it this way, that this is not the work of the devil, but of God’s wisdom. For now we will consider only the thought of this evil creature. So, how is the world judged in Me? The devil, as if in court, will be told: let you kill everyone, because you found them guilty of sin; but why did he kill Christ? Isn't it obvious that this is unfair? Therefore, through Him you will have vengeance for the whole world. And to make this more obvious, I will explain with an example. Imagine some ferocious tyrant who subjects everyone he comes across to various cruelties. If this person, having met the king or the king’s son, unjustly kills him, then the death of this latter can take revenge on him for all the others. Imagine also that some creditor, collecting from his debtors, will beat them and put them in prison; then, by the same cruelty, he will also imprison someone who does not owe him any debt. In this case, he will be punished for what he did to others - namely, he will kill him. 3. It was exactly the same with the Son (of God). Because of what the devil dared to do to Christ, he will receive punishment for everything he has done to us. And that (Christ) points precisely to this is evident from the fact that He says: “Today the prince of this world” will be overthrown by My death. “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32), i.e. and pagans. And lest anyone say: how will he be overthrown if he defeats You? - says: he won’t win; and can this happen when I attract others to Me? And he does not speak about the resurrection, but about what is more important than the resurrection: “I will draw everyone to Me.” If he had said: I will rise, then it would not yet be clear that they would believe in Him, but having said: they will believe - He expressed both this and that - that He would rise again, because if He had remained dead and was a simple man, then no one would have believed. “I will draw everyone to Me.” But how does He say that the Father attracts? This means that the Father attracts when the Son attracts. “I will attract,” He says, since they are held by the tyrant and on their own they cannot come and free themselves from his hands, because he does not let them in. In another place (Christ) calls this robbery. “No one entering the house of a strong man can plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house” (Mark 3:27), - this is what He says, depicting the power (enemy). Consequently, what He called theft there, He here calls attraction. So, knowing this, let us arise and glorify God, not by faith only, but by life; otherwise it will not be glory, but blasphemy. God is not so much blasphemed by the unclean life of a pagan as by the corruption of a Christian. Therefore, I ask you, try in every possible way to glorify God. Woe, it is said, to that servant by whom the name of God is blasphemed. And when there is grief, then all sorts of punishment and torment will immediately follow. On the contrary, blessed is the one by whom the name of God is glorified. So let us not live as if in darkness, but let us try to avoid all sins, and especially those that tend to cause general harm, because they especially blaspheme God. What kind of forgiveness, in fact, will we receive when, obliged, according to the commandment, to give to others, we will steal someone else’s? What hope of salvation will there be for us? You will be punished if you do not feed the hungry: what kind of mercy will you receive if you strip the clothed one? We say this all the time, and we won't stop saying it. Perhaps those who did not listen today will listen in the next days; if some remain adamant, then at least we will be right in court, because we have done our job. But God forbid that these words do not bring us to shame, and do not force you to close yourself off. May God grant everyone to stand boldly before the judgment seat of Christ, so that we too can boast about you, and for our evils find some relief in your good name, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory forever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: