Беседа 8

2 Corinthians 4:1–2. Therefore, having such a ministry by the grace of God, we do not lose heart; but, rejecting secret shameful deeds...:. The error of the Marcionites and Manichaeans. - How the apostles conquered the universe. 1. Since (the apostle) said many great things, and placed himself and all the faithful above Moses, then, realizing all the power and importance of what he said, watch how he again moderates his word. Indeed, he had to exalt himself for the sake of the false apostles, as well as his listeners, and again moderate this height to which he had placed himself, without, however, completely abandoning it, because to refuse would mean to joke. To do this, he uses such a turn of phrase, by which he shows that everything depends not on his own perfections, but on God’s love for mankind, which is why he says: “having... such a service” (“having this service”). “We didn’t bring anything of our own,” he says, “we were only servants of God and executors of the instructions given from Him.” That is why he calls (his apostolic work) not leadership, not leadership, but only “service”; and even with this he is not content, but adds: “by the grace of God” (“as if he had mercy”), that is, “and the very fact that we have been appointed ministers depends only on the mercy and love of mankind (of God).” True, the work of mercy is to deliver from evils, and not to distribute the same blessings as were given (to the apostles); however, this is also characteristic of God’s mercy. “We do not lose heart” (“We do not lose heart”), that is, “and the fact that we do not lose heart should be attributed to His love for mankind.” The expression: “by the grace of God” (“as if he had mercy”) should specifically refer both to the service and to the words: “we do not lose heart.” Look how he tries to soften what was previously said about himself: he says that whoever has been rewarded with such great and many blessings, and has been rewarded only through mercy and love for mankind, does nothing great, no matter how much he works, no matter what dangers he is exposed to, and no matter what temptations he endures. “That’s why we not only do not lose heart,” he says, “but we also rejoice and dare.” Having said precisely: “We do not lose heart,” he also added: “but having rejected the hidden, shameful deeds, without resorting to cunning or distorting the word of God” (“but let us renounce the shame of secret things, not walking in guile, nor deceiving the flattering word of God”) (2 Cor. 4:2). What does it mean: “secret shameful deeds” (“secret shame”)? “We don’t proclaim like that,” he says, “that in words we promise a lot, but in reality we show something else, like the false apostles do,” which is why he said: “Do you look at the person?” ("Do you see before us?") (2 Cor. 10:7) - but we are the same in reality as you see us, because we have nothing ambiguous, and we say and do nothing that should be hidden and left in darkness out of shame." And wanting to express this even more clearly, he adds: “without resorting to cunning” (“not walking in guile”). What those (false apostles) considered praiseworthy, he (the apostle) calls shameful and worthy of laughter. What does it mean “to cunning” (“in deceit”)? Those (false apostles) were famous as non-covetous, and yet they took gifts, only secretly; They were revered as saints and true apostles, but in fact they had many vices. “We,” he says, “rejected all this (i.e., what he calls “shameful deeds”); We really are what we seem to be, and we have nothing hidden either in our life or in the preaching itself.” This is what the words mean: “not by distorting the word of God, but by revealing the truth” (“not by flattering the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth”), i.e., not outwardly and for appearance, but in deed itself. “We present ourselves to the conscience of every man” (“Presenting ourselves to every conscience of mankind”). “We are known not only to the faithful, but even to the unfaithful, because we present ourselves to be judged by anyone who wants to test our deeds. This is how we present ourselves, and not by hiding behind ourselves and showing only a bright face. We say that we do not accept any gifts for ourselves, and we call you yourself to witness this; We affirm that we know nothing bad about ourselves - and in this we again testify to you yourself. We do not do as they do, covering up our deeds in order to deceive others. On the contrary, we offer our lives to everyone for consideration, and we teach the teaching without any cover, so that everyone can understand it.” But since the infidels did not understand the power of this teaching, he adds that “this is not through our fault, but because of their own insensitivity.” That’s why he says: “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, to those who do not believe, whose minds the god of this age has blinded” (“Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing; in them the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers”) (2 Cor. 4:3-4). Here he says the same thing that he said before: “for some there is a smell of death leading to death, but for others there is a smell of life leading to life.” 2. Who is this “god of this age”? The followers of Marcion's error say that this is said only about the just Creator, and not the good: they claim that there is another God, just only, without goodness. The Manichaeans, madly wanting to introduce another creator of creation besides the true one, say that this is talking about the devil, because Scripture often calls God not according to the dignity of the one called, but because of the powerlessness of those subordinate to him. So it also calls “mammon” master (κύριον) (Matthew 6:24); and the belly by God (Phil.3:19). However, neither the womb is therefore god, nor mammon is the Lord, but they are so named because of those who submit themselves to them. We think that this is said not about the devil, but about the God of all. And this passage should be read like this: “God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this age” ( νοήματα), because it is not the future, but only the present age that has infidels. If someone reads like this: “the god of this age” (ο Θεός τού αιόνος τόύτου), then such a reading does not present any difficulty, because it does not yet show that He is only the God of the present age. He is also called the God of heaven; however, the God of heaven alone is not. We also call Him the God of the present day; however, in saying this, we do not limit His power to this day only. He is equally called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and, however, He is not the God of these alone. Many other similar proofs can be found in Scripture. How did He blind them? Not by facilitating this - let it not be - but by abandoning and allowing it. Such expressions are often used in Scripture. So it says: “God gave them over to an unskillful mind” (Rom. 1:28). Since the pagans themselves did not believe first and made themselves unworthy of knowing the mysteries of God, God then abandoned them. What else should be done with them? Forcibly attract and reveal secrets to those who do not want to know them? But they would despise them even more and refuse to know them. That is why (the apostle) added: “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ does not shine for them” (“so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ does not shine upon them”) - not so that they would not believe in God, but so that unbelievers, as incapable, would not see the inner mysteries. The Lord commanded us the same, commanding us not to cast “beads before swine” (Matthew 7:6). Otherwise, if He had revealed it to the unbelievers, the disease (of unbelief) would only have intensified in them. Likewise, if someone was forced to look at the sun with an eye problem, his illness would only worsen. That is why doctors keep such patients in the dark, so as not to worsen the disease. Imagine in exactly the same way here, that is, that the unbelievers became such of their own free will, and, having become unbelievers, they could no longer contemplate the ineffable mysteries of the Gospel, since God had already hidden the radiance of the light of the Gospel from them. (The Lord) spoke to the disciples about this: “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because when they see they do not see, and when they hear they do not hear” (“for this reason I speak to them in parables... because those who hear do not hear”) (Matthew 13:13). But in order to explain even better with an example what I am talking about, imagine some Greek who considers our sacraments to be fables: would he receive more benefit if he came to us and saw our sacraments than if he did not enter at all? In the same sense, (the apostle) says: “lest light should shine on them” (“so that no light should shine upon them”), still continuing to cling to the story of Moses. What exactly happened to the Jews under Moses, the same thing happens to all the infidels during the times of the Gospel. And what is hidden from them and unknown to them, about this listen to (the apostle) himself, who says: “lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shine for them” (“lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shine upon them”) - i.e., that the cross is the salvation of the universe and His glory, that this very One Crucified on it will come again with great glory, and that’s all other, present and future, visible and invisible, the ineffable glory of the expected (goods). That is why he said: “shine,” so that you would not look for everything here in this life, because the glory bestowed now is only a certain radiance of the Spirit. (The apostle) pointed out this above when he mentioned the “fragrance”, as well as the “deposit” - showing that more remains there (in the future life). But all this is hidden from unbelievers; hidden because they themselves did not want to believe it first. Further, to show that those who have not known the glory of Christ do not know not only the glory of Christ, but also the glory of the Father, he added: “Who is the image of God.” It is impossible to stop at Christ alone, because, just as through Christ you see the Father, so, without knowing the glory of Christ, you will not know the glory of the Father. “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; but we are your servants for Jesus’ sake” (“For we preach not to ourselves, but to Christ Jesus the Lord, and to ourselves, your servants for Jesus’ sake”) (2 Cor. 4:5). 3. What is the connection here? And how does this relate to the above? Here he points either to those who were proud of themselves and forced their disciples to call themselves by their names, as he spoke about in the first letter: “I am Pavlov”; “I am Apollosov” (“I am Pavlov, and I am Apollosov”) (1 Cor. 1:12), – or something else that is more important. For what? Since (the false teachers) strongly rebelled (against the apostles) and attacked them from all sides, he says: “Are you arming yourself and rebelling against us, or against the One we preach? After all, we are not preaching ourselves. I am a slave, I am a servant even to those who accept this sermon, I work for another, that is, for the Lord, and I do everything for His glory, so that those who are hostile against us rebel against the Lord. I am so far from seeking any benefits for myself from preaching the Gospel that I do not refuse to be your slave for Christ, when He was pleased to honor you so much, when He loved you so much and did everything for you.” That’s why he says: “we are your servants for Jesus” (“we are your own servants for Jesus’ sake”). Do you see a soul that does not care at all about fame? He says: “Not only do we not appropriate to ourselves what belongs to the Lord, but we even serve you for Him.” “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts” (“For as the river God made light shine out of darkness, he shines in our hearts”) (2 Cor. 4:6). Do you see how he again shows those who want to find superiority in the glory of Moses another glory, shining more abundantly than Moses? He says that as (then the glory) shone on the face of Moses, so (now the glory) shines in your hearts. Of all that was created in the beginning, he first mentions sensory light and tactile darkness, thereby showing their superiority over other creations. But when did (God) command the light to shine out of darkness? At the very beginning of creation, as Moses says: “Darkness was at the top of the abyss... And God said, Let there be light” (Gen. 1:2-3). But then He said, “Let there be,” and it was done, but now He did not say, but He Himself became light for us; not “speech,” but He Himself “shone.” Therefore, in the radiance of this light, we see not sensible objects, but God himself through Christ. Do you see the inseparability of the Holy Trinity here? In fact, about the Holy Spirit (the apostle) says: “But we all with unveiled face... beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (“but we all beholding with unveiled face the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord”) (2 Cor. 3:18); about the Son: “lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, shine upon them” (2 Cor. 4:4); about the Father: “who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (“who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, to shine in your hearts to enlighten your minds with the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). And just as he said: “the gospel of the glory of Christ,” he added: “Who is the image of God,” showing that (those who have not known the glory of Christ) are deprived of the glory of God the Father, so after the words: “the mind of God,” he added: “about the face of Christ,” showing that through Christ we know the Father, just as through the Spirit we are brought to Him. “But we carry this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the exceeding power may be attributed to God, and not to us” (“Imams, this treasure is in feeble vessels, so that the exceeding power may be of God, and not from us”) (2 Cor. 4:7). Since (the apostle) said many great and lofty things about the ineffable glory (of believers), so that no one says: “Why, having received such glory, do we remain in a mortal body?”, he says that this is especially amazing and represents the greatest miracle of the power of God, that a meager vessel can contain such light and store such a treasure. Surprising himself at this, he said: “Let the abundance of power be of God, and not from us”; and again points to those who boast about themselves. Both the greatness of the gifts and the weakness of those who received them show the power (of God), not only by the fact that (God) bestowed such great benefits, but especially by the fact that he bestowed upon weak people. By a meager vessel he specifically means the weakness of our mortal nature and the infirmity of our flesh because our flesh is not at all stronger than a meager vessel - it is just as crushable and just as easily destroyed - by death, and illness, and air changes, and other countless (reasons). And he said this both in order to shame their arrogance, and in order to show everyone that there is nothing human in our affairs. 4. Truly, then the power of God is especially visible when it accomplishes great things through weak instruments. That is why in another place (the Lord) said: “for my power is made perfect in weakness” (“for my strength is made perfect in weakness”) (2 Cor. 12:9). So in the Old Testament, through midges and mice (the Lord) crushed entire hordes of barbarians (Ex. 8 and 10; 1 Samuel 5 and 6), - which is why He called the caterpillars his great strength (Joel 2:25), - and once, through one confusion of languages, he destroyed the structure of the great Tower of Babel (Gen. 11). And in the war at one time three hundred people scattered an innumerable army (Judges 7); in another - with one sound of trumpets he destroyed the city (Joshua 6); Subsequently, through the small and insignificant youth David, he put the entire barbarian army to flight (1 Samuel 17). So in the New Testament, having sent only twelve people, he conquered the universe, and, moreover, despite the persecution and persecution to which these twelve were subjected. So, let us marvel at the power of God, let us marvel at it and worship it! Let's ask the Jews, let's ask the Hellenes: who convinced the entire universe to abandon their fatherly customs and change their way of life? Fisherman or film maker? A publican or an unbookish and simple person? But would this make (reasonable) sense if God’s power did not work through them? What did they say when they convinced? - “Be baptized in the name of the Crucified One.” Which one? One whom they did not know and had not seen. And, however, by saying and preaching this, they convinced the world that soothsayers and the so-called gods according to legend are not gods. And Christ, nailed to the cross, attracted everyone to Himself, despite the fact that His crucifixion and burial were known to everyone, but only a few knew about His resurrection. But even of this they convinced even those who had not seen it, and assured not only that He had risen, but also that He had ascended into heaven and would come to judge the living and the dead. So, tell me: where does such power of persuasiveness come from in these speeches? Nowhere else but from the power of God. And, first of all, the news itself was disgusting to everyone: if anyone introduces something new in this kind of thing, the matter becomes very difficult for him, because he overthrows the foundations of an ancient custom and fundamentally undermines the laws. Moreover, the preachers themselves seemed untrustworthy, because they were from a people hated by everyone, poor and unlearned. How did they conquer the universe? How could they disgrace and depose you and your ancestors, who were famous for their wisdom, even with your gods? Doesn't this clearly show that they had God as their helper? It is not human power to produce such actions, but the ineffable power of God. “No,” they will say, “not to God’s power, but to sorcery.” But if sorcery, then in this case the power of demons should increase even more and the service of idols should spread. Why did false ministries cease and disappear, and why did our ministry triumph over them? Isn’t it clear from here again that all this happened by God’s determination, not only in relation to preaching, but also to life itself (of the preachers). In fact, when did such love for virgin life appear everywhere on earth? When did they begin to despise wealth, life and all sorts of other (goods)? Dishonest people and magicians could not have produced anything like this; they would do the opposite. Meanwhile, the apostles taught us the life of angels; and they not only taught, but also planted and established this life not only in our country, but also among the barbarians, and at the most distant ends of the earth. From here it is clearly revealed that all this was carried out everywhere by the power of Christ, shining everywhere and illuminating the minds of men faster than any lightning. So, having considered all this and in the exact fulfillment of what has been accomplished, having a sure guarantee of the promises that will be fulfilled, worship with us the invincible power of the Crucified One, so that you may avoid severe punishments and inherit the eternal kingdom, which may we all be worthy of by grace and love for mankind (Our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen). You might be interested in: