Беседа 84

John 18:37. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world, to testify to the truth; everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice. 1. Jesus Christ teaches us patience. – Pilate first tries to free Him. – 2. Fear took possession of Pilate and prompted him to pronounce an unrighteous sentence – 3. One must always remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ and constantly reflect on them. “They will serve as the best medicine for all our sorrows and evils.” “We must imitate His meekness and the meekness of His apostles in order to win over those who have offended us. – Anger and lies from the devil. – Without practicing virtue, life in this world will be useless and harmful to us. – Faith alone, devoid of good deeds, does not open the doors to heaven, but brings condemnation. – You can die every hour and therefore you need to be constantly prepared for this 1. A wonderful thing is long-suffering! It puts the soul, as it were, in a quiet refuge, saving it from waves and harmful winds. Christ has always taught patience, but especially now, when He is being judged and taken to different places. So, when He was brought to Anna, He answered with great meekness and to the servant who hit Him on the cheek, He said such words that could destroy all pride. From here He went to Caiaphas, then to Pilate and, having spent the whole night in this way, He showed great meekness everywhere and in everything. While they said about Him that He was a villain, although they could not prove it, He stood silently; and when he was asked about the kingdom, then he answered Pilate in order to teach him and raise him to higher concepts. But why does Pilate carry out the interrogation not in the presence of the Jews, but in private, having entered the praetorium? He had a rather high concept about Christ, and therefore wanted, far from the confusion of the Jews, to find out everything exactly. When he asked: “What have you done?” (John 18:35), - Christ said nothing about this in His answer; and what Pilate primarily wanted to hear about, namely about His kingdom, said the following: “My kingdom is not of this world,” that is, I am indeed a king, but not the kind you imagine, but much more glorious. With these and further words He already makes it clear that He did no evil. In fact, Whoever says about Himself: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world, to testify to the truth,” He shows that He has done no evil. Then, having said: “Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice,” He attracts the attention of Pilate and inclines him to become a listener of His words. If anyone speaks truthfully and loves the truth, he will certainly listen to Me. And these few words really captivated Pilate so much that he said: “What is truth?” (John 18:38). However, (Pilate) continued to deal with the matter, which did not tolerate delay. He understood that this question required time, but meanwhile he wanted to save Jesus from the fury of the Jews. That’s why he came out and – what did he say? “I find no guilt in Him” (John 18:38). Look, what prudence! He did not say: since He sinned and is worthy of death, forgive Him for the holiday; but first he acquitted Him of all guilt, and then with full right asks that if they do not want to let Him go as innocent, they would at least spare Him as guilty, for the sake of the holiday. That’s why he added: “You have a custom that I release one to you for Easter,” and then, wanting to bow them down: “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews? Then... everyone shouted...: not Him, but Barabbas” (John 18:39–40). What a vile desire! They ask for people like themselves and the guilty are released, but the innocent are ordered to be put to death! This has been their custom for a long time! But in all this, notice the Lord’s love for mankind. “Pilate... ordered to beat Him” (John 19:1), perhaps thereby wanting to calm and tame the rage of the Jews. In fact, since He could not free Christ by previous means, then, wanting to at least limit the evil, He ordered to beat Him and allowed them to do everything that had been done to Him - to put on Him “a crown... and a scarlet robe” (John 19:2), just to appease their anger. For this reason, he brought Him out to them in a crown, so that when they saw the shame to which they subjected Him, they would calm down somewhat from passion and spew out the poison from themselves. But why did the soldiers do this if, indeed, there was no order from the boss? To please the Jews. So at first, not by his order, they went at night, but they dared to do everything for the sake of money, to please the Jews. Meanwhile, Christ stood silently even during so many and such great reproaches, as he did during interrogation, and did not answer anything. And you not only listen to this, but also constantly keep it in your mind; and when you see that the Lord of the universe and all angels, being abused by soldiers in words and deeds, endures everything in silence, do the same yourself. Pilate called Christ the king of the Jews; That is why they put on Him the garment of mockery. Then he brought Him out and said: “I find no guilt in Him” (John 19:4). And so he came out “with a crown of thorns,” but this did not extinguish the rage of the Jews; they shouted: “Crucify Him, crucify Him” (John 19:5–6). Then Pilate, seeing that all his efforts were in vain, says: “Take him and crucify him” (John 19:6). From this it is clear that he allowed the previous (reproaches) to tame their fury: “for I,” he says, “find no guilt in Him” (John 19:6). 2. See how many means the judge uses to protect Him, constantly declaring Him innocent; but nothing could bend those dogs. After all, these words: “take and crucify” show that he renounces and does not want to have participation with them in a lawless deed. Thus they brought Christ in order to kill Him according to the verdict of the commander; but the opposite happened: according to the commander’s verdict, He should have been released sooner. Being disgraced by this, they say: “We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). But how, when the judge said to you: “Take Him, and judge Him according to your law,” you said: “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31), and now you resort to the law? And note the accusation: “because he made himself the Son of God”! But, tell me, is it really a crime when someone who performs deeds characteristic of the Son of God calls himself the Son of God? What about Christ? And at this time, when they were talking to each other like this, He was silent, fulfilling the prophetic saying: “He did not open His mouth. He was taken from bondage and judgment” (Is. 53:7–8). Meanwhile, Pilate, having heard from them that He “made Himself the Son of God,” was frightened, fearing that what they said would in fact not be fair, and that he might seem like a criminal. And they, although they knew this both from words and from deeds, are not horrified, but kill Him for the very thing for which it would be proper to worship Him. For this reason, Pilate no longer asks Him: “What have you done?” - but, wavered by fear, he again first interrogates, saying: “Are you Christ?” But He did not answer (John 19:9), because (Pilate) had already heard: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came,” and: “My kingdom is not of this world,” and therefore he had to resist the Jews and free Christ, but he did not do this, but, on the contrary, gave in to the fury of the Jews. Then the Jews, refuted in everything, turn to the accusation of a state crime and say: “Everyone who makes himself a king is adversary to Caesar” (John 19:12). Therefore, it would be necessary to carefully examine whether He really sought power and plotted to overthrow Caesar from the kingdom; but Pilate does not make such a thorough study. That’s why Christ didn’t answer him, because he knew that he was asking everything in vain. On the other hand, deeds testified about Him, and therefore He did not want to refute and defend himself with words, showing that He was voluntarily going to death. And since He was silent, Pilate says: “Do you not know that I have the power to crucify You?” (John 19:10). Do you see how he has already condemned himself in advance? And truly, if everything depends on you, then why don’t you, not finding any guilt in Him, let Him go? When in this way Pilate pronounced condemnation on himself, (Jesus) says: “He who delivered Me to you has greater sin” (John 19:11), showing that he is also guilty of sin. And in order to overthrow his arrogance and pride, he says: “I would not have had any power over Me if it had not been given to you” (John 19:11), which shows that all this is not done by chance and not according to the usual order, but mysteriously. And so that, having heard the words: “if it had not been given to you,” he would not think that he was free from all guilt, he added: “he who betrayed Me to you has more sin.” But if in fact “it was given,” then, obviously, neither he (Pilate) nor they (the Jews) are subject to accusation? It is in vain that you say this. The expression “given” here means allowed. Christ seemed to say this: (God) allowed this to happen; however, therefore, you are not alien to crime. With these words He frightened Pilate and presented Himself with a clear justification for why Pilate “sought to let Him go.” But the Jews again began to shout: “If you let Him go, you are not Caesar’s friend” (John 19:12). Since, having presented the accusations from their own law, they did not have time at all, they now maliciously turn to foreign laws, saying: “Everyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.” But where did He appear as the thief of royal power? And how can you prove this? Porphyra? Tiara? Robe? Warriors? But didn’t He always walk alone with the twelve disciples, using everything simple - food, clothing, and shelter? But what cowardice and what inappropriate timidity! Pilate, thinking that he would really be in danger if he neglected this, goes out as if with the intention of investigating the matter (this is exactly what the expression means: “sat down at the judgment seat”); and meanwhile, without making any research, he betrays Him, thinking thereby to bow them down. And why he did this with such intention, listen to what he says: “Behold, your King” (John 19:14). When they said: “Crucify Him,” he again added the following words: “Shall I crucify your king?” . But they cried out: “We have no king except Caesar” (John 19:15), and thus voluntarily subjected themselves to punishment. That is why God betrayed them because they had already rejected His providence and protection from themselves. And since they unanimously renounced His kingdom, He allowed them to undergo their own judgment. What was said, of course, could have already tamed their anger; but they were afraid that Christ, having been released, would not gather the people around Him again, and therefore they tried in every possible way to prevent this. A truly great evil is the lust for power, a great evil that can destroy the soul. That's why they never listened to Him. Pilate, as a result of His words alone, wanted to let Him go; but they don’t stop saying: “Crucify”! But why do they insist on subjecting Him to this kind of death? Because it was the most shameful death. Fearing that subsequently there would be no memory of Him left, they try to subject Him to a shameful execution, not realizing that the truth is elevated by obstacles. And that they assumed this, listen to what they say: “we remembered that that deceiver... said: After three days I will rise again” (Matthew 27:63). Therefore, they set everything in motion and used all measures to denigrate subsequent events; therefore, they incessantly shouted: “Crucify” - that is, the disorderly crowd, bribed by the leaders, shouted. 3. We will not only read about this, but we will also contain all this in our minds - the crown of thorns, clothes, a cane, beatings, blows on the cheeks, spitting, ridicule. Constantly remembering this can destroy all anger. Whether they ridicule us, or whether we endure something unfairly, we will constantly begin to say: “a servant is not greater than his master” (John 15:20), and we will imagine the words of the Jews, which they frantically said to Christ: “You are a Samaritan and you have a demon” (John 8:48); “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24). This is why Christ suffered all this, so that we would follow in His footsteps and patiently endure ridicule. Ridicule irritates incomparably more than curses, and yet He not only endured them, but also did everything in order to deliver those who mocked Him and free them from the punishment that awaited them. So He sent the apostles for their salvation, and that is why you hear them say: (we know) “that you... did this out of ignorance” (Acts 3:17), and with such words they attract them to repentance. We will also imitate this; nothing appeases God more than love for our enemies and doing good to those who offend us. When someone offends you, look not at him, but at the devil, who encourages him to do so; pour out all your anger on the devil, and even feel sorry for him, since he is under the influence of the devil. If lies are from the devil (John 8:44), then much more is unreasonable anger from him. Likewise, when you see someone mocking you, think that it is the devil who is prompting him, because mockery is not a Christian thing. And if the one who is commanded to cry (Matthew 5:4), who has heard the words: “Woe to you who laugh now” (Luke 6:25), if he reviles others, ridicules and gets irritated, then he deserves not censure from us, but tears. After all, Christ was troubled in spirit when he thought about Judas. So, we will try to implement all this in practice. If we do not do this, then we have come into this world in vain and without benefit, or - better said - to harm ourselves. Faith alone cannot lead us into the kingdom of heaven; on the contrary, because of it, those who lead a vicious life will be especially condemned, because “he who knew the will of his master and was not ready... there will be many stripes” (Luke 12:47), and again: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin” (John 15:22). What kind of justification will we have when we are inside the royal palaces, have been honored to enter the very sanctuary, have become partakers of the cleansing sacraments, and, meanwhile, live worse than the pagans who have not been granted any of these gifts? If they, for the sake of vain glory, discovered so much wisdom, then all the more should we, in order to please God, practice every virtue. Meanwhile, we do not even neglect wealth. They repeatedly neglected even their own lives and during the war sacrificed their children to the fury of demons, and despised their own nature to please the demons; but we do not want to neglect even silver for the sake of Christ and anger to please God, but we become inflamed and are no better than those suffering from fever. And just as these latter, being possessed by illness, burn as if in fire, so we, as if tormented by some kind of fire, are never able to restrain ourselves from desire, but on the contrary, we intensify anger and covetousness. That is why I am ashamed and amazed when I see among the pagans people who disdain wealth, but among us - everyone is insanely devoted to it. If there are those who despise wealth, then they are obsessed with some other passion, for example, anger and envy, so that it is difficult to find pure wisdom. And the reason for this is that we do not try to receive healing from Holy Scripture and listen to it not with tenderness, sorrow and groaning, but without any attention when we have free time. That is why, when the rapid stream of everyday affairs runs, it drowns everything and destroys any benefit that may have been acquired. After all, if someone, having a wound, applied medicine to it, but did not tie it carefully, but allowed it to fall away, and allowed water and dust, and heat, and countless other things that could poison his wound to get into his ulcer, then, of course, he would not receive any benefit, but not from the weakness of the medical remedies, but from his own carelessness. This usually happens to us when we pay little attention to divine words, but indulge ourselves completely and continuously in everyday concerns. In this case, every seed is suppressed and everything becomes sterile. So, to prevent this from happening, let us open our eyes, at least a little, look at the sky, look at the tombs and graves of departed people. And the same end awaits us, and this need for relocation often comes to us before evening. Let us begin to prepare for this departure. We need to store a lot for this journey, because there is great heat, great heat, complete desert. You can no longer stay in a hotel there; you can't buy anything; but you need to take everything with you from here. Listen to what the virgins say: “go... to those who sell” (Matthew 25:9); but those who went gained nothing. Listen to what Abraham says: “a great chasm has been established between us and you” (Luke 16:26). Listen to what Ezekiel says about that day: “Noah, Daniel, and Job... would not have saved their sons” (Ezekiel 14:14, 18). But God forbid we hear these words! God grant, on the contrary, that we stock up here with everything necessary for eternal life and with boldness behold our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: