Беседа 24

The power of temptation. – The holiness and integrity of the Body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:13. No temptation has befallen you other than that of man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but when you are tempted, He will also provide relief, so that you can endure it. 1. (The Apostle) sufficiently aroused fear in them (the Corinthians) by pointing out ancient examples and fear with the words: “If anyone thinks that he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12): but since they had already endured many temptations and were often exposed to them: “I was with you,” he says, “in weakness and in fear and in great trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3 ), - so that they do not say: why are you frightening us and warning us? We are not unknown to disasters, we were persecuted and persecuted, we were exposed to many different and frequent dangers - he again humbles their pride and says: “No temptation has overtaken you other than that of man,” i.e. small, brief, moderate. He uses human instead of small, as for example in the words: “I speak according to human reasoning because of the weakness of your flesh” (Rom. 6:19). Do not be arrogant, he says, as if you withstood the storm; you have not yet seen a danger that could threaten death, or a temptation that could destroy. He says the same to the Jews: “You have not yet fought to the point of blood, struggling against sin” (Heb. 12:4). Having frightened and instilled humility, then look how he again encourages them: “And God is faithful,” he says, “who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability” (1 Cor. 10:13). This means that there are temptations that cannot be endured. What are these? We can say everything, because the ability to endure them depends on God’s help, which we acquire through our own disposition. Therefore, so that you are fully convinced that we cannot endure not only (temptations) beyond our strength, but also human ones, without help from above, he adds: “but with temptation he will also give relief, so that you can endure it.” Even moderate (temptations), as I said, we cannot endure on our own, but even in this case we need help (from God) in order to overcome, and before we overcome, to endure them. God gives both patience and quick release, so that temptation becomes bearable. The apostle means this when he says: “He will also give relief, so that they can bear it”; attributes everything to Him. “Therefore, my brethren...flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14). Again he expresses his affection for them, calling them by a related name, and encourages them to quickly abandon sin; not just said: leave me alone, but: “run”; and calls the matter idolatry, so that they will leave it, not only because it causes harm to their neighbor, but also because it in itself is very destructive. “I speak to you as if you are sensible; Judge for yourselves what I say” (1 Cor. 10:15). Since he said a lot and strengthened the reproof, calling it idolatry, so that it would not seem that he was speaking to them too harshly and reproachfully, he gives it to their judgment and, having praised, makes them judges: “I tell you,” he says, “as prudent.” You must be completely confident in your own rightness in order to make the accused himself the judge of the case. This greatly encourages the listeners when someone talks to them, not as a ruler or legislator, but as an adviser awaiting their own judgment. With the Jews, who were foolish and childishly weak-minded, God did not talk like that and did not everywhere reveal to them the reasons for the commands, but only commanded; but here, since we have been awarded great freedom and are able to participate in the council, (the apostle) talks as with friends and says: I do not demand other judges, you yourself pronounce this judgment, I take you as judges. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the Blood of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16). What are you saying, blessed Paul? Do you want to shame the listener and remind them of terrible secrets, but you call this terrible and formidable cup a cup of blessing? Yes, he says, what was said is not unimportant; When I say: blessing, I remember all the treasure of God’s blessings and great gifts. Truly, when we approach the cup and partake, we remember the ineffable blessings of God and all that we have received, and we thank that He delivered the human race from error, that He brought those who were far away near, that He made those who had no hope and atheists in the world His brothers and joint heirs. For this and all the like we thank Him and thus proceed. And you, Corinthians, he says, don’t you do the opposite when, blessing God that He has delivered you from idols, you again resort to their meals? “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the Blood of Christ?” He expressed himself very correctly and terribly; and the meaning of his words is as follows: what is in the cup is the very thing that flowed from the side of the Lord: of that we partake. He called it a cup of blessing because, holding it in our hands, we glorify Him, we are surprised and amazed at the indescribable gift, blessing us for the fact that He shed it to deliver us from error, and not only shed it, but also gave it to all of us. So, he says, if you desire blood, then stain not the altar of idols with the shedding of the blood of the dumb, but My altar with My blood. What, tell me, is worse than this? What's more loving? 2. This is what lovers do: when they see that those they love desire someone else’s and are alienated from their own, then they give them what is theirs in order to distract them from what is someone else’s. However, those who love show such generosity in money, in clothes, in property, but in blood no one ever; but Christ also proved his care and ardent love for us. In the Old Testament, when people were imperfect, He deigned to accept the same blood that (the pagans) brought to idols in order to turn them away from idols - which also proved His inexpressible love; and now He taught a more terrible and perfect ritual, changing the sacrifice, commanding that instead of slaughtering the dumb, He Himself should be offered. “Is not the bread that we break a communion of the Body of Christ?” Why didn't he say: communion? Because I wanted to express something more, to show great unity. By communing, we not only become participants and accomplices, but we unite with Christ. Just as the body (of Christ) is united with Christ, so through this bread we are united with Him. Why did he add: “which we refract”? Because this is done in the Eucharist; but on the cross this was not, but there was even the opposite: “let not his bone,” says Scripture, “be broken” (John 19:36). What He did not endure on the cross, He endures in the offering for you, and allows Himself to be broken in order to fulfill everyone. Further he said: “communion of the Body”: since what is participated is different from that to which it is participated, it destroys this apparently small difference. Precisely, having said: “communion of the Body,” he wants to express even closer intimacy and says: “there is one bread, and we, who are many, are one body” (1 Cor. 10:17). What am I saying: communion? - he continues, - we constitute His very Body. What is this bread? Body of Christ. What do those who receive communion do? The body of Christ, not many bodies, but one body. Just as bread, being composed of many grains, becomes one, so that, although there are grains in it, they are not visible, and their difference is inconspicuous due to their union, so we are united with each other and with Christ. We feed not one on one thing, another on another, but all on the same body. That’s why he adds: “for we all partake of one bread.” If we feed on one thing and all become one, then why don’t we show the same love and become one in this regard? In ancient times, this is exactly what happened among our ancestors: “the multitude of those who believed,” says (Scripture), “had one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). And now it’s not like that, but quite the opposite: there are a lot of different kinds of fights between everyone: we - members - are disposed towards each other worse than wild animals. Christ united you with Himself, who had been so separated from Him; and you do not even want to unite with your brother in the proper way, but you separate from him, having been awarded such love and life from the Lord. He not only gave His body, but instead of the former flesh, which, by its nature coming from the earth, was killed by sin and deprived of life, He brought, so to speak, a different composition and another leaven - His flesh, which, although by nature the same, is alien to sin and full of life, and He taught it to everyone, so that by feeding on it and putting aside the former dead (flesh), we would be prepared through this meal for life. immortal. “Look at Israel according to the flesh: are they not partakers of the altar who eat the sacrifices?” (1 Cor. 10:18). And this is proven again from the Old Testament. And since the greatness of what was said far exceeded their understanding, he convinces them with previous and ordinary examples. And he says well: according to the flesh, because they are according to the spirit. And the meaning of his words is as follows: learn at least from the roughest (examples) that those who partake of the sacrifices become participants in the sacrifice. Do you see how he proves that those who are considered perfect do not have perfect knowledge, if they do not even know that from such communication many develop a certain friendship with demons when they little by little acquire the habit of doing so? If among people the communication of salt and food is an occasion and a sign of friendship, then the same can be true in relation to demons. Notice how he did not say about the Jews that they were partners with God, but: “participants of the altar,” because what was offered was burned; but not so about the body of Christ, but how? There is fellowship of the body of the Lord, because we become fellow members not of the altar, but of Christ himself. Having said: “participants of the altar,” and fearing that no one would think that he was talking about idols, as if they had some power and could cause harm, look how he further rejects this thought and says: “What am I saying? Is it that an idol is something, or that something sacrificed to idols means something?” (1 Cor. 10:19). 3. I say this, he continues, and turn you away from idols, not because they could cause any harm or have any power; they are nothing; but I want you to despise them. If he wants, you say, for us to despise them, then why does he turn us away from them with such effort? Because (their sacrifices) are not offered to your Lord. “But what the pagans sacrifice,” he says, “offer to demons, and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20). Do not turn to what is disgusting (God). If you were the king’s son and, having participated in your father’s meal, wanted to leave it and take part in the meal of criminals and prison prisoners, would your father allow it? On the contrary, he would strictly prohibit it, not because this meal could harm you, but because it dishonors your nobility and the royal meal. So these too (those who offer sacrifices to idols) are low slaves, criminal and condemned prisoners, reserved for severe punishment and worthy of thousands of executions. How are you not ashamed, like gluttons and slaves, to strive for the meal that these criminals offer and to participate in what is offered? That's why I'm turning you away from this! The purpose of those who offer sacrifices and the nature of those who receive them make what is offered unclean. “But I don’t want you to be in communication with demons.” Do you see the love of a caring father? Do you see how his very words express great goodwill? I don’t want, he says, for you to have any communication with them (the infidels). And since he spoke in the form of advice, so that one of the most stubborn would not disobey and consider himself right (not to do this), after the words: “but I do not want,” judge for yourself, then he pronounces a decisive definition and says: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the demon; You cannot be partakers in the table of the Lord and in the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21). These expressions alone are sufficient to bring understanding. Then he says reproachfully: “Do we really dare to irritate the Lord? Are we stronger than Him? (1 Cor. 10:22). That is, do we really dare to tempt Him, can He punish us, and irritate Him by going over to the side of His opponents and standing alongside His enemies? Here he recalls Old Testament events and the iniquities of his ancestors; Therefore, he uses the same expression that Moses once used, on behalf of God, denouncing the Jews for idolatry: “They,” he said, “have angered Me because they are not God; they have upset Me with their vain things” (Deut. 32:21). “Are we stronger than Him?” Do you see how strongly, how terribly it strikes them, shaking their very nerves, driving their judgments to the point of absurdity, and thus destroying their pride? But why, you say, did he not say this at the beginning, in order to quickly reject them? This is his custom: to confirm his teaching with many arguments, putting the strongest at the end, and thus win completely. So (here too), starting with the smaller things, he reached the most important thing; the latter could much more likely be accepted after the souls of the listeners were softened by previous arguments. “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial; everything is permissible for me, but not everything edifies. Let no one seek his own, but each one the benefit of another” (1 Cor. 10:23–24). Do you see his great wisdom? Since one of them could say: I am perfect, I have power over myself, I eat what is offered without harm to myself, then he says: let’s assume that you are perfect and have power over yourself; but look not at this, but at whether your behavior is causing any harm or some kind of disorder. He expressed both in the words: “not everything is useful”, “not everything is edifying”, meaning the first about himself, and the second about his brother; the expression: “not useful” indicates his own destruction, and “does not edify” - the temptation of his brother. That’s why he adds: “do not look for anyone who is yours.” He reveals this throughout the epistle, as well as in the Epistle to the Romans, when he says: “for Christ did not please himself” (Rom. 15:3); and again: “just as I please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit” (1 Cor. 10:33). He doesn't talk about it here either. Above, he argued at length and proved that he never sought his own benefit, he was for the Jews as a Jew, for those without the law, as without the law, he not only used his very freedom and power, but (sought) the benefit of everyone, serving everyone; therefore, here he is content with a few words and stops speaking, reminding them with these few words of everything that was said before. Knowing this, beloved, we too will care for the brethren and maintain unity with them. That great, terrible and terrible Sacrifice encourages us to do this, commanding us to approach it with perfect unanimity and fiery love, to take wings like eagles, and thus soar to the sky itself. “For where the corpse is,” says the Lord, “there the eagles will gather” (Matthew 24:28). He calls the dead Body a corpse, since if He had not died, then we would not have been resurrected; and he calls those who approach this Body eagles and inspires that they should rise up, have nothing in common with the earth, not remain down and not grovel, but constantly fly to the mountain, strive for the Sun of Truth and have a sharp eye of the soul. After all, this is a meal for eagles, not jackdaws. Those who receive communion worthily now will then meet (the Lord) coming from heaven; and (those who partake) unworthily will suffer destruction. 4. If no one will accept a simple king, what do I say: a king? - if no one simply dares to touch the royal clothes with unclean hands, even in a secret place, even in private, even if there was no one else, then the clothes are nothing more than the fabric of worms, and the dye, which you are surprised at, is the blood of a dead fish, and yet no one dares to take it with unclean hands; if, I say, no one simply dares to touch human clothing, then how dare we accept with disrespect the Body of all God, the immaculate, pure Body, united with the divine nature by which we exist and live, by which the gates of death were broken and the vaults of heaven were opened? No, I beg you, let us not destroy ourselves by shamelessness, but let us approach Him with trembling and with all purity. When you see Him offered, then say to yourself: through this Body I am no longer earth and ashes, no longer a captive, but free; through him I hope to reach heaven and the blessings prepared there - immortal life, the lot of angels, union with Christ; death did not resist when this Body was nailed and vulnerable; the sun hid its rays when it saw this Body crucified; At that time the curtain was torn, the stones fell apart, the whole earth shook; it is the very Body that was bloodied, pierced by a spear and released saving springs - blood and water - throughout the universe. Do you still want to see his power? Ask the bleeding woman, who touched not him, but the garment in which it was clothed, and not even the whole garment, but the edge of it; ask the sea that bore him on its ridge; ask the devil himself and tell him: where did you get this incurable wound? - Why don’t you have any power anymore? - How did you get captured? - Who held you back when you gave in to flight? - and he will point you to nothing other than the crucified Body. By him his sting was dulled, by him his head was crushed, by him his principalities and powers were put to shame: “he has brought to shame, says (Scripture), the principalities and powers, and brought them to shame with boldness, having overcome them in himself” (Col. 2:15). Ask also death and say: with what is your sting destroyed? -What ruined your victory? - How has your strength been crushed? - Why have you become the laughing stock of maidens and youths, whereas before you were terrible to all rulers and even the righteous? - and she will point to the same Body. When it was crucified, then the dead rose, then that prison was destroyed, the copper gates were broken, and the dead were resurrected, and all the guards of hell were horrified. If it were one of many, then the opposite would have to happen: death would prevail; but that is not what happened, because it was not one of many; that is why it (death) was defeated. Just as those who take food that they cannot hold in themselves, throw out with it what they had previously taken, so it was with death: having accepted the Body, which it could not crush, it also threw out what it had in itself; Having accepted it, she experienced birth pain and suffered until she returned it. That is why the apostle says: “having broken the bonds of 42 death” (Acts 2:24). Not a single wife giving birth to a child suffers as much as she suffered and was tormented when she took into herself the Body of the Sovereign. What happened to the Babylonian serpent, who, having taken food, disintegrated himself (Dan. 14:27), the same thing happened to her. Christ came back not through the mouth of death, but having torn and torn apart the very belly of this serpent, He thus emerged from its entrails with great glory, shedding its rays not only to the sky, but to the very throne on high, where He took His Body with Him. He gave this Body to us to possess and eat, which is how he showed his strong love; after all, whom we love very much, we often bite. So Job, expressing the love of his servants for him, said that out of strong love for him they often said: “Who would give us our fill... with his flesh” (Job.31:31)? So Christ gave us to be satisfied with His flesh in order to arouse in us the strongest love. 5. So, let us approach him with ardent love, so that we do not suffer punishment, since the more we are blessed, the more we will be punished if we turn out to be unworthy of blessings. This body was honored by the Magi as it lay in a manger. People who did not know the true God and were foreigners, leaving home and fatherland, took a long journey, and when they came, they bowed to him with great fear and trembling. Let us, though we, citizens of heaven, imitate these strangers. They, seeing Him in the hut and in the manger and not seeing anything like what you (see) now, approached with great trepidation; and you see him not in a manger, but on an altar; you see not a wife holding him, but a priest coming and the Spirit overshadowing what is offered with great generosity; and not only do you see this Body, as they (saw), but you know His power and all the economy, you know everything that was accomplished through Him, having been carefully taught all the mysteries. Therefore, let us approach with trembling and show more reverence than those strangers, so that by approaching Him simply and inattentively, we will not heap fire on our own heads. However, I say this not so that we do not begin, but so that we do not approach unworthily, because just as it is dangerous to begin without reasoning, so not to partake of this mystical supper means hunger and death. This meal is strength for our soul, strength for the heart, the basis of hope, hope, salvation, light, life. Having gone there with this sacrifice, we will enter with great boldness into the sacred monasteries, as if fenced on all sides by golden weapons. But what am I talking about the future? This sacrament makes the earth heaven for you here too. Open the gates of heaven and look, or better yet, the gates not of heaven, but of the heaven of heavens, and then you will see what has been said. What is most precious there, I will show you the same on earth. Just as in royal palaces the most important thing is not the walls or the golden roof, but the body of the king sitting on the throne, so in heaven it is the body of the King. But you can see the same thing now on earth, see not angels and archangels, not heavens and heavens of heavens, but the Lord of all this himself. Isn’t it true that you see on earth what is most important, not only do you see, but also touch, not only touch, but also taste, and, having tasted, you go to your home? Cleanse your soul, prepare your heart to receive these mysteries. If you were entrusted with holding in your arms the royal son in all the splendor of purple and diadem, then you would undoubtedly reject everything else earthly. And now you accept not the son of the king of man, but the Only Begotten Son of God himself, and how do you not tremble, tell me, how do you not give up your passion for everything worldly, and instead of admiring this one jewel, you bow down to the earth, indulge in passion for money and love for gold? Can you have any excuse, any justification? Or don’t you know that your Master turns away from all worldly splendor? - that is why He deigned to recline in a manger at His birth and chose the poor Mother? - why did He answer to the one devoted to worldly benefits: “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20)? And what about His disciples? Didn’t they also observe the same commandment, stopping to live in the houses of poor people, one with a tanner, the other with a skin-maker and a purple-seller? They were not looking for noble houses, but for virtuous souls. Let us also compete with them: let us begin to admire not the beauty of columns and marbles, but strive for the heavenly abodes, despise all local splendor and addiction to money, and be exalted by our thoughts of grief. If we judge sensibly, then this world itself is unworthy of us, not just the porticoes and galleries. Therefore, I exhort you, let us decorate our souls, build this house, which we will take with us when we move from here, so that we may be worthy of eternal blessings, grace and love for mankind (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). These conversations were delivered by the saint in Antioch around 390. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Gr. ωδινας – birth pangs – I.I. You might be interested in: