Беседа 10

2Cor.5:1. For we know that when our earthly house, this hut, is destroyed, we have a dwelling from God in heaven, a house not made with hands, eternal. The doctrine of the resurrection. – Image of the Last Judgment. 1. (The apostle) again arouses the jealousy of the Corinthians, amid their many sorrows. And it was easy for them to weaken among them due to the absence (of the apostle). What is he saying? “We should not be surprised that we suffer tribulations, nor should we be troubled by this, because we receive great benefit from them.” What this benefit is, he said earlier, namely: “(enduring tribulations), we bear the death of Jesus (2 Cor. 4:10), and present in ourselves an incontestable testimony of His power,” namely, he says: “so that the exceeding power may be attributed to God” (“that the exceeding power of God may be”) (2 Cor. 4:7), and a clear proof of the resurrection: “so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in death.” our flesh" (“so that the life of Jesus may appear in our dead flesh”) (2 Cor. 4:11). But since he said, in addition, that through sorrow our inner man becomes better: “even if our outer man decays, yet our inner man is renewed day by day” (“even if our outer man decays, yet the inner man is renewed all the days”) (2 Cor. 4:16), then, in order to show again how useful it is to endure scourging and persecution, he also adds that when suffering reaches its final limit, then for those who have endured it Countless blessings grow. So that you, hearing that your outer man is decaying, do not begin to grieve, he says that when this happens completely, then you will rejoice most of all and move on to a better lot. Thus, the one who is now partially decaying should not only not grieve, but, on the contrary, should also desire this corruption to its fullest extent, because it most of all leads you to incorruption. That is why (the apostle) says: “For we know that when our earthly house, this hut, is destroyed, we have from God a dwelling in heaven, a house not made with hands, eternal” (“we know that if our earthly church of the body is destroyed, the creation of God is an imam, a church not made with hands, eternal in heaven”). Since (the apostle) again reveals the doctrine of the resurrection, regarding which they were especially lame, he adds as a basis the judgment of the listeners themselves about this, and thus confirms this (teaching), - however, not directly, as before, but as if led to this reasoning by other reflections, because they had already been previously instructed (in this teaching). “For we know,” he says, “that when our earthly house, this hut, is destroyed, we have from God a dwelling in heaven, a house not made with hands, eternal.” Some by an earthly church mean this world, but I think that (the apostle) rather hints here at our body. Look how he shows by his very names the superiority of the future over the present. Having said: “earthly house” (“earthly church”), he contrasted it with the heavenly one; saying: “church of the body” (“hut”), thereby indicating its destructibility and short-term nature, contrasting it with the eternal church. The word “hut” indeed often means short-term, which is why the Lord said: “In My Father’s house are many mansions” (“in My Father’s house are many mansions”) (John 14:2). If Holy Scripture sometimes calls the places of rest of the saints huts, it is not simply, but with the addition (of some other word). So the Lord did not say: “so that they may be taken into their shelters” (huts - σκηνάς), but: “into eternal shelters” (εις τάς αιωνίους σκηνάς) (Luke 16:9). (The Apostle) called our future church “not made with hands,” which, as it were, indicated a church made with hands. So what? Is our body truly man-made? No way. But he points either to the local houses made with hands, or, if not so, then he called the future body a church not made by hands, not for the sake of opposition, but in order to further elevate its dignity and deepen its glory. “For this reason we groan, desiring to be clothed with our heavenly habitation” (2 Cor. 5:2). Tell me which house? Into an incorruptible body. Why are we sighing now? Because that body is much better. He calls it heavenly because of incorruptibility. With this word he does not express that this body will descend on us from heaven, but indicates only the grace sent from heaven. So, not only should we not grieve when certain temptations befall us, but we should, on the contrary, desire all kinds of temptations. As the apostle would say: “You groan because you are being persecuted, because your outer man is decaying. Sigh that you are not being persecuted with all cruelty, that your outer man has not yet completely decayed.” You see how he gave the speech the opposite direction, showing that it is not about what we need to groan about, that some temptations befall us, but about the fact that they are insufficient. (The Apostle) did not call (our future body) a hut, but a “dwelling”; and very fair, because the hut is easily destroyed, but the dwelling lasts forever. “If only we would not be found naked even though we are clothed” (“Even if we have put on 5, we will not be clothed”) (2 Cor. 5:3). That is, even though we lay aside this body, we will not appear there without a body, but with the same body, which will then become incorruptible. Some read: “even if we do ( είπερ) and having clothed ourselves, we will not find ourselves in the Nazis” - and very judiciously. So that not everyone would rely on the resurrection, (the apostle) says: “even if (είγε) and having put on” - that is, in incorruption, and having received an incorruptible body - “we will not find” - the glory and fame of salvation. He speaks of the same thing in the first epistle, that is, that although we will all be resurrected, “each in his own order”; and: “there is a heavenly body, and a body earthly" (1 Cor. 15:23, 40). The resurrection will be for everyone, but the glory will not be for everyone. Some will rise in honor, and others in dishonor; some for the kingdom, and others for torment. He wanted to show the same thing here when he said: “Even if I have put on the Nazis, I will not find it. For we who are in this body groan... because we do not want to be deprived of ourselves, but to be clothed" (2 Cor. 5:3-4). 2. Here he clearly and completely stops the lips of heretics, showing that he is not simply talking about this or that body, but about corruption and incorruptibility. “We are not sighing,” he says, “to be freed from the body (because we do not want to put it off ourselves), but we passionately desire only to be freed from the corruption that is in it.” That is why he says that we do not want to be stripped of the body, but only to clothe it with immortality. Then he himself explains his words: “so that the mortal may be swallowed up by life” (“let the dead be devoured by the belly”). Since separation from the body seemed painful to many, and he went against the general voice, saying that we groan because we do not want to be freed from it (“If the soul,” they could tell him, “suffers and grieves so much, being separated from the body, then how can you say that we groan because we do not free ourselves from it for a long time?”), then, forestalling such an objection, (the apostle) says: “And I do not claim that we groan about this, how to lay it down (no one lays it down without sorrow, which is why Christ says about Peter: “and another will gird you and lead you where you do not want” (“they will take you and lead you, even if you did not want”) (John 21:18), but about how to clothe him with incorruptibility. That is why we are burdened by the body, that is, not because we carry the body, but because that we carry a corruptible and passionate body. This is what produces sorrow in us. But the coming life will destroy and destroy corruption, not the body.” “But how,” you say, “will this happen?” 2 Cor.5:5). With these words he shows that this was previously determined about us. Not only now did this become pleasing to God, but in the beginning, when He formed us from the earth and created Adam, and created him not so that he would die, but to make him immortal. Then, to further confirm this, he added: “and he gave us the pledge of the Spirit” (“who also gave the betrothal of the Spirit”). Just as He then created man for this (immortality), so now through baptism He recreated him for the same purpose, and to certify this he gave us an important guarantee, the Holy Spirit. The apostle often mentions the pledge - both in order to show himself as a debtor, and in order through this to give greater credibility to his words in the opinion of weaker people. “Therefore we are always in good spirits” (“Always being bold and knowing”) (2 Cor. 5:6). “We are in good spirits” (“Daringly”) - that is, amidst persecution, bitterness and constant dangers of death. He seems to be saying this: “Whether someone persecutes you, persecutes you, or kills you, do not lose heart. All this is for your good. Don't be afraid, go for it. That for which you sigh and mourn, that is, that you work for corruption, this very corruption will snatch you from the midst of corruption, and the sooner it will free you from this slavery.” That is why he says: “we are always in good spirits” (“always boldly”), that is, not only in favorable times, but also in times of sorrow. “For we walk by faith, and not by sight, we are well pleased and desire rather to leave the body and be at home with the Lord” (“And knowingly, because we live in the body, we depart from the Lord: for we walk by faith, and not by sight: we are bold and willing rather to depart from the body and be brought to the Lord”) (2 Cor. 5:6-8). What is most important and highest, he put at the end - because to be with Christ is better and higher than to receive incorruption. His word has the following meaning: “He who persecutes and kills us does not take our life; Therefore, do not be afraid, but dare even when they cut you into pieces. This not only frees you from corruption and the burden that weighs on you, but also immediately sends you to the Lord.” That is why he did not say: “being (όντες) in the body,” because we are in it, like travelers in an inn. “And since we know that, being at home in the body, we are removed from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight, then we are content and wish rather to leave the body and dwell with the Lord” (“Knowing that we live in the body, we depart from the Lord: we dare and deign rather to leave the body and come to the Lord.”) You see how he, keeping silent about the unpleasant names of death and death, he replaced them with the most desirable name - “residence with God”; and on the contrary, leaving the name that seems pleasant, namely, life, he used the unpleasant, calling this life “elimination” (“removal from the Lord”) so that no one would not only enjoy the present, on the contrary, would even be burdened by it; and so that no one, approaching death, would grieve, but, on the contrary, would rejoice, because moves on to better blessings. But lest anyone, hearing that we (being in this body) are “departing from the Lord,” say: “What are you saying? Are we living here at a distance from Him?”, he rejected this objection, saying: “We walk by faith, not by sight.” And here we have knowledge of Him, but not so clear, but rather “as through a glass darkly” (“in a mirror and in divination”), as he says elsewhere (1 Cor. 13:12). “We are pleased and willing” (“We are bold and willing”). This is what he brought his speech to! Until the strongest desire for death: the word “we favor” for him means the same as “we strongly desire.” What do we want? “Coming out of the body and being with the Lord” (“Depart from the body and come to the Lord”). This is what he always does, which I have noticed before - he turns the words of his opponents in the opposite direction. “And therefore we earnestly strive, whether we go in or go out, to be pleasing to Him.” “In the same way, whether we go in or go out, we may be pleasing to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9). “But whether we are there or here,” he says, “our business is only to take care of living in accordance with His will, because this is our main responsibility. Thus, with this favor you are already without a doubt the heir to the kingdom.” But so that (the believers), having acquired such a passionate desire (to depart to the Lord), do not complain about the delay in this departure, (the apostle) here already gives them what is the main thing of all blessings. What is this? That is to please (the Lord): not just leaving here is good, but leaving having pleased; through this the latter also becomes good. Likewise, it’s not just hard to live here, but it’s hard to live while offending (God). 3. So, do not think that separation from the body alone is enough for eternal life. Virtue is needed everywhere. That is why, just as, speaking about the resurrection, he did not give reason to rely on it alone, saying: “If only we would not be naked even though we are clothed” (“even if we have clothed ourselves, we shall not be clothed”), so exactly, speaking about separation (from the body), so that you would not think that this alone is enough for you to be saved, he added that you must also be pleasing to God. Thus arousing jealousy with many different benefits, (the apostle) did not forget to motivate them with the fear of threatening evils, since our bliss consists both in the acquisition of goods, that is, the kingdom (of heaven), and in the avoidance of evils, that is, Gehenna. But the desire to avoid torment is more powerful, and if the harm was limited only to the deprivation of eternal goods, then many would easily agree to this if it is combined with torment, then hardly (who would agree, of course, the first should be considered more); unbearable, but for many, due to their weakness and attachment to earthly things, the latter seems more difficult. So, in view of the fact that the majority of listeners are not so much excited by the promise of benefits as by the threat of punishments, (the apostle) considered it necessary to conclude his speech here like this: “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (“for it is fitting for us all to appear before the judgment seat of Christ”) (2 Cor. 5:10). But again, having frightened and aroused the listener with a reminder of this judgment, he did not leave grief without consolation here either, and added something pleasant, saying: “so that everyone may receive, according to what he did while living in the body, good or bad” (“let everyone receive either good or evil for what they have done with the body”). With these words (the apostle) he strengthens those who live virtuously, and yet those who are persecuted, with hope, and those who are weakened, more zealous with fear of punishment; at the same time, he also confirms the doctrine of the resurrection of bodies. “The body,” he says, “which served virtue or vice, will not be excluded from participation in rewards: together with the soul, some bodies will be given over to torment, while others will be crowned with rewards.” Meanwhile, some of the heretics say that the body will rise not the same, but different. How is this, tell me? One body sinned, and the other will be punished for it? One lived chastely, and the other will be crowned? And what will you say to Paul in response to his words: “we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed” (“we do not want to be clothed, but to be clothed”)? How is the perishable absorbed into life? He did not say: “so that the mortal or corruptible body is swallowed up by the incorruptible body,” but “so that corruption is “life” (“life”).” And this will happen when the same body is resurrected. If the former body is abandoned, and another is built in its place, then corruption will not be consumed, but will remain in full force. Therefore, this will not happen, but “this corruptible” - that is, the body - “must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (“it is fitting for this corruptible to put on incorruptibility”) (1 Cor. 15:53). The real body is between (corruption and incorruption): now it is perishable, but afterwards it will be incorruptible. And now it is in this state (of corruption) because destruction is not characteristic of incorruption: “and corruption,” he says, “does not inherit incorruption” (“corruption does not inherit incorruption”) (1 Cor. 15:50), - otherwise how will incorruption be? But, on the contrary, corruption is swallowed up by life. Corruption is overcome by incorruption, but the latter is never the first. As fire melts wax, but wax does not melt fire, so incorruption destroys and consumes corruption; but corruption cannot in any way win victory over incorruption. So, hearing Paul say that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (“we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ”), let us mentally imagine this judgment and imagine that it is already taking place now and that an account is required. I intend to depict it in more detail, since Paul, as he spoke about sorrows and did not want to arouse in them even new sorrows, did not continue his words (about this judgment), but having briefly expressed a severe sentence: “everyone will receive according to what he has done” (“everyone will receive what he has done”), and immediately moved on (to another reasoning). So let’s imagine that this judgment has already arrived. Let everyone examine his conscience and imagine that the Judge has already come, and everything is revealed and made clear - because we will not only stand before us, but will also be exposed (at the trial). Are you blushing? Aren't you embarrassed? But if even now, when the day of judgment has not yet arrived, when we simply recalled it and only mentally imagined it, we are executed by conscience, then what will happen to us when it really comes, when the whole universe appears for judgment, all the angels and archangels, and other (heavenly) powers, when people will flock from all ends of the earth, admired in the clouds, when everyone will be overcome with fear, when trumpets will sound everywhere and incessant sounds will be heard sounds? Truly, even if there had been no Gehenna, to be rejected in the presence of such a bright assembly and to depart in dishonor - what a great punishment it would be! If now, when the king appears with his retinue, each of us, aware of our wretchedness, receives not so much pleasure from this spectacle as sadness from the fact that we cannot at all participate in the splendor surrounding the king and are not near him, then what will happen then? Do you really consider it an unimportant punishment not to be included in this host, not to be awarded unspeakable glory, to be excommunicated somewhere far away and for a long time from this triumph and unspeakable blessings? But when darkness, and gnashing of teeth, and insoluble bonds, and an undying worm, and unquenchable fire, and sorrow, and oppression, and a tongue suffering in the flame - as happened with the rich man - will be the lot of man; when we let out screams and no one will hear us, we groan, suffer from unbearable illnesses, and no one will listen to us, we look around everywhere and receive no consolation from anywhere - then with what can we compare the lot of those in need in this way? What could be more miserable than these souls? What could be more deplorable? 4. If we, entering a prison and seeing some withered in it (from sadness), others burdened with shackles and suffering from hunger, others imprisoned in darkness, are horrified, frozen and in every possible way careful not to get here, then what will happen to us when they forcibly drag us for torture into Gehenna itself? The fetters there are not made of iron, but of never-quenching fire; and our guardians will not be of the same kind with us there, whom we can often bring to compassion, but angels, whom it will be scary to even look at, because they will burn with great anger at us for our disobedience to the Master. It is not the same there as here: to alleviate your misfortune they will not bring you silver, another food, another comforting and encouraging word; everyone there will be strangers. Even Noah, Job and Daniel, even if they saw one of their relatives suffering, would not agree to intercede for the unfortunate. Then all compassion that is now characteristic of our nature will be taken away from us. Since pious parents sometimes have wicked children, and pious children of wicked parents, so that the joy of the righteous is always pure and so that those enjoying blessings are not outraged by compassion - for this, I repeat, compassion itself will be taken away, and they, together with the Lord, will flare up with anger even against their own blood. In fact, if even now the most ordinary parents sometimes abandon their children and exclude them from their kinship when they see them living dissolutely, much more will the righteous do the same then. Therefore, let no one hope to have consolation in that life if he has not done anything good in this life, even if he had countless righteous ancestors: “everyone will receive according to what he did while living in the body” (“everyone will receive what he did with the body”) (2 Cor. 5:10). It seems to me that (the apostle) here also means fornicators, and he wants to bring both them and all other sinners into fear with the punishments awaiting them. Let's listen too! If the fire of carnal lust burns you, oppose it with that fire (Gehenna), and the fire of your lust will immediately go out and disappear. If you want to say something vile, think about that gnashing of teeth, and fear will bridle your tongue. Do you want to commit any kind of theft, listen to what the Judge commands and says: “having tied his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness” (“bind his hand and nose, and throw him into the outer darkness” (Matthew 22:13) - and thus you will drive out this passion too. If you are given over to drunkenness and lead an intemperate life, then listen to what the rich man said: send Lazarus, so that with the end of his finger he may refresh my tongue burning in the flame, and you will not receive help (Luke 16:24-25), and you will lag behind passion (intemperance). If you love fun, talk about the hardships and sorrows that are going to happen there; after that you won’t even think about them. If you are cruel and unmerciful, then remember those virgins who, because their lamps went out, found themselves outside the palace of the Bridegroom, and you will soon become philanthropic. Are you careless and careless? Think about the fate of one who has hidden his talent, and you will become faster than fire. Are you consumed by passion to take possession of your neighbor's property? Imagine a constantly undying worm - and you will easily free yourself from this disease and correct all other (weaknesses). (God) did not command us anything difficult or difficult. Why do His commandments seem heavy to us? From our relaxation. Just as the most difficult things become easy and manageable with our effort and jealousy, so the easy things become difficult because of our laziness. So, in discussing all this, let us look not at how some indulge in luxury and intemperance, but at what their end will be. (Their end) in this life is pus and fattening of the flesh; and in the future - a worm and fire. Likewise, let us look not at how some are predatory, but at the end of their lives; in their present life they are consumed by anxiety, fear and torment of conscience, and in the future they are faced with insoluble bonds. We will not talk about (people) loving fame, but about what follows the love of fame; but it will be followed by groveling and hypocrisy here, and there unbearable torment in eternal flame. If we reflect with ourselves in this way and contrast such and similar (reflections) with our evil desires, then we will soon drive out of ourselves both the love for present goods and instill in ourselves a love for future ones. So, let's kindle, ignite this love. If one thought about the blessings of heaven, even a vague one, gives us so much pleasure, then think how much joy the very enjoyment of them should bring. Blessed are, and thrice and innumerably blessed, those who enjoy those blessings; on the contrary, those who endure torment are worthy of pity and thrice unfortunate. So, that we may be among the first and not the last, let us love virtue. Thus, we inherit future blessings, which we all may be worthy to receive through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Ενδυσάμενοι; Apparently, Chrysostom read here - Εκδυσάμενοι, as further words of the conversation show You might be interested in: