Беседа 7

Col.2:16–19. So let no one judge you for food or drink, or for any holiday, or the new moon, or the Sabbath: this is a shadow of the future, but the body is in Christ. Let no one deceive you with self-willed humility and the service of angels, intruding into what he has not seen, recklessly puffed up with his carnal mind and not holding fast to the head, from which the whole body, being united and held together by joints and bonds, grows with the age of God. About ritual decrees. – In baptism there is both birth and decay. – The vanity of wealth and the dishonor it sometimes causes. - The anger of Emperor Theodosius against the Antiochians. - Condemnation of luxury. 1. Having said first mysteriously: “Be careful, brethren, that no one deceives you according to the tradition of men” (Col. 2:8), and even before: “I say this so that no one deceives you with insinuating words” (Col. 2:4), and thus predisposing their soul and making it attentive, then mentioning the benefits (of God) and even more intensifying their attention, finally, (Paul) begins the reproof and says: “Let no one therefore judge you for food or drink, or for any festival, or for the new moon, or for the Sabbath.” See how he destroys it. If, he says, you have achieved such (greatness), then why do you subject yourself to unimportant things? Further softens (the reproof) by saying: “Or for some holiday,” since they did not keep everything as before. “Either the new moon, or Saturday.” He did not say: do not save, but: “Let no one condemn you”; showed that they were transgressing and allowing it, but he laid the blame on others. Do not obey, he says, those who condemn you. No, however, this is not the case: he only reasons with them, and does not block their lips, does not forbid them to reason. He didn't touch it. He did not say: (in distinguishing between) clean and unclean, he did not say: (in observing the holiday of) tabernacles, or unleavened bread, or Pentecost, but: “For some holiday,” since they did not dare to preserve everything, and if they did, it was not as holidays. “For some,” he says, indicating that most of it has already been left. And if they kept the Sabbath, it was not completely. “This is the shadow of the future,” of the new covenant, he says. “The body is in Christ.” Some put signs in this way: “The body is in Christ,” but the truth was in Christ; and others put it this way: “the body is in Christ. Let no one deceive you” (χαταβραβευέτω), that is, deprive you; the word: χαταβραβευδήναι is used in the case when one wins and the other receives a reward - when the winner is deceived. You have become above the devil and sin: why are you submitting to sin again? That is why he said: “That he must fulfill the whole law” (Gal. 5:3), and also: “Is Christ really the minister of sin?” (Gal. 2:17). He said this in Galatians. Having aroused in them with the word: “let him deceive” a feeling of indignation, he then begins: “With self-willed,” he says, “the humility and service of Angels, invading what he did not see, recklessly puffed up with his carnal mind.” How – “humility”? How – “puffed up”? Shows that all this comes from vanity. What do all these words mean? Some said that we should be brought (to God) not through Christ, but through angels, because you will bring through Christ more than what is needed for us. Therefore (Paul) explains from all sides what was said about Christ: we are reconciled “by the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20), “because... he suffered for us” (1 Peter 2:21), “who loved us” (Eph. 2:4). Moreover, they also sinned in the very fact that (the apostle) did not say “bringing,” but “Serving, intruding into what he did not see.” He (such a teacher) did not know the angels, and yet he thought that he knew. That’s why he says: “Reasonably puffed up with your carnal mind.” He is puffed up not by something real, but by his own opinion, and covers himself with the robe of humility. (Paul) said something like this: human reasoning is a matter of the carnal, not the spiritual mind. “And not holding on to the head,” he says, “from which the whole body,” that is, from where (the body) receives being and health. How can you have members if you have renounced your head? As soon as you separated from her, you died. "From which the whole body" Everyone, he says, owes the head not only his life, but also his very union with her. The whole church, while it has a head, grows; this is not an act of recklessness and vanity, not an invention of the human mind. The expression “from which” is used about the Son. “By compositions and connections,” he says, “being united and fastened, it grows with the age of God”: (returning) according to God, he says, according to the best order of life. “So if you have died with Christ.” This he places in the middle; and what is stronger is in front and behind. “So if you and Christ died to the elements of the world,” he says, “then why do you, as those who live in the world, hold fast to the decrees” (Col. 2:20)? There is no consistency here. One should say: why do you submit to the elements as if you were alive? But leaving that aside, what does he say? “Thou shalt not touch,” “thou shalt not taste,” “thou shalt not touch” (which all decays by use), according to the commandments and teachings of men?” ( Col. 2:21–22 ). 2. You, he says, do not belong to the world: why do you submit to the elements? Why (submit) to what keeps the world? And look how he ridicules them: “Don’t touch,” “don’t taste,” “don’t touch,” as if he was keeping them from something important. “That everything decays from use”; He put to shame the arrogance of many, and added: “According to the commandments and teachings of man.” What are you saying? If you talk about the law, then for some time it has also been human teaching. Paul said this either because (the Jews) perverted the law, or he alludes to (the teaching of) the Greeks. Everything, he says, is human teaching. “This has only the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility and weariness of the body, in some neglect of the saturation of the flesh” (Col. 2:23). “View,” says, and not force, therefore not truth. Therefore let us turn away from him who has the “form” of wisdom. After all, some seem to be pious, and modest, and despise the body; but in reality he is not like that. "In some neglect of the saturation of the flesh". God gave (the body) honor; but they did not use it in honor. Thus, when there was a determination (of God), he knew how to call it honor. They, he says, dishonor the flesh, depriving it of what it should, taking away its strength, not allowing it to act without compulsion. God gave honor to the flesh. "So if you are risen with Christ". Having previously proven that He died, He now convinces them, and therefore says: “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are above” (Col. 3:1). There is no compliance. “Seek the things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God.” Oh, where has he taken our minds! What a great thought he filled them with! He was not content with saying “the things above”, nor with the words “where is Christ”; but he added: “he sits at the right hand of God,” making it clear that one should not look at earthly things from there. “Set your mind on things above, and not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2). “For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). Real life, he says, is not yours; your life is different. He is already in a hurry to transfer them (from earth), trying to show that they are in heaven, that they have already died, making it clear from both that they should not look for things here (earthly). If you are dead, then you should not seek (here); if you are in heaven, you should not seek (earthly). Christ is not; This means that your life has not yet come - it is in God, in heaven. So what? When will we live? When Christ, your life, appears, then seek glory, life, and joy. This is said for the purpose of keeping them from entertainment and idleness. (Paul) usually does this - having proved one thing, he moves on to another. So, for example, speaking about those who preceded the meal, he suddenly moved on to the observance of the sacraments. After all, reproof is stronger when it is unexpected. “Hidden,” he says, from you. “Then you also will appear with Him.” Therefore, now you are not. Look how he carried them into the sky. He, as I said, always tries to show that they have the same thing as Christ. In all his epistles he talks about this to show that they (believers) have fellowship with Him in everything. To do this, he speaks about both the head and the body, and does everything that serves to explain this. So, if we appear then, we will not grieve if we do not now enjoy glory. If real life is not life, if life is hidden, then we must spend real life as dead. “Then,” he says, “you too will appear with Him in glory.” Not without purpose he said: “in glory” - and the pearl is hidden while it is in the shell. So, whether they insult us or suffer something else, we will not grieve, since real life is not our life: we are strangers and strangers. “So, kill,” he says. Who is so foolish as to buy slaves for a dead and buried body, or build houses, or prepare costly garments? Nobody. That's why we shouldn't do this. We usually want only one thing: not to be naked; and here too we will look for only one. Our first man is buried; not buried in earth, but in water; it was not death that defeated him, but he was buried by the Conqueror of death; not by the law of nature, but by the command of a power stronger than nature. What happens according to the laws of nature, someone else can destroy, but no one can destroy what happens according to His command. There is nothing more blessed than this burial. Everyone rejoices over him: angels, people, and the Lord of the angels. For this burial, no clothes, no coffin, or anything like that is needed. Do you want to see the prototype? I will show you the font in which one was buried and the other arose. The Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, and the Israelites emerged from it. From the same thing can occur the burial of one and the birth of another. 3. Do not be surprised that in baptism there is both birth and decay. Isn't decomposition the opposite of union, tell me? This is obvious to everyone. And fire produces both: it melts and destroys wax, and it melts gold-bearing ore and turns it into gold. So it is here (in baptism): the fiery force, having melted the wax statue, discovered a golden one in its place. In fact, before baptism we were clay, after baptism we are gold. Where can you see this? I listened to what (Paul) himself said: “The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second man... is from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47). I said what is the distance between clay and gold, I find that there is still a great difference between heavenly and earthly; It is not so much the difference between clay and gold as between earthly things and heavenly things. We were wax and clay, and we melted from the flame of desire much more than wax from fire, and the temptation we encountered crushed us much more than stone - clay things. Let us depict, if you like, our former life. Wasn't everything in it earth, and water, and wind, and dust, impermanent and transient? Let us consider, if you like, not the past, but the present. Shall we not find that all that exists is dust and water? What else would you like to tell you? About principalities and powers? In real life, it seems, nothing is sought with such diligence as this. But you would rather see dust standing motionless in the air than constancy in this, especially in our time. Who do they not report to (bosses)? To those who love them, to eunuchs who do everything for money, to the anger of the people, to the wrath of the stronger. The one who yesterday stood on the upper steps of the throne, had heralds calling out in a loud voice, many advanced servants proudly speaking in the square, is today small, low and deprived of all this; everything disappeared, like dust raised by the wind, like a wave carried away. And just as our feet raise dust, so those who have money in their hands produce rulers; All their lives they do the same thing as our feet (raising dust). The rising dust takes up a lot of space in the air, but itself is small; so is power. Just as dust blinds the eyes, so the pride of power darkens the vision of the mind. So what? Do you want me to consider the coveted item - wealth? Perhaps, let's look at it in parts. There are pleasures, there are honors, there is power. First, if you wish, let us explore pleasures. Aren't they dust? Don't they pass by faster than dust? The sweetness is pleasant while it is on the tongue; and when the stomach is full, then it is not on the tongue. But the honors are nice, you say. But is there anything more unpleasant than the honor that is acquired through money? If honor is acquired not by effort of will, not by spiritual valor, then it is not you who enjoy honor, but wealth: such honor makes the rich man more dishonorable than anyone else. If you, having a friend, enjoyed general respect, and everyone openly said that you yourself are worthless, that they are forced to respect you because of your friend, tell me: could they dishonor you in any way? Consequently, wealth, when it is honored more than its owners, is the cause of our dishonor, evidence of weakness, not power. Isn’t it stupid, in fact, if we are not considered worthy of this earth and ashes, and such is gold, to receive respect for us because of it? Truly, it is better not to use honor than to acquire it in this way. But this does not happen to those who despise wealth. If someone were to say to you: I do not consider you worthy of any honor, but I respect you for your servants, tell me, what dishonor would be worse for you than this? If it is shameful to acquire honor through slaves who have the same soul and nature as us, then it is even more shameful (to acquire it) through something that is much more insignificant - I mean the walls of houses, courtyards, golden vessels, clothes. This is truly ridiculous and shameful! It is better to die than to enjoy such an honor. Tell me: if you, proud of your greatness, were exposed to danger, and some insignificant and despicable person wanted to save you from it, what could be worse for you than this? What you tell each other about the city (Antioch), I want to tell you the same. Our city once insulted the emperor, and the emperor ordered it to be destroyed completely, including husbands, children, and homes. So kings get angry! They use power as they want. Such is the evil of power! So (our city) was in extreme danger. A neighboring seaside town sent intercessors to the king on our behalf. And the residents of our city said that this was worse than the destruction of the city. Such honor is worse than dishonor. Look where honor has its root. We are made honorable by the hands of the cooks, whom we are obliged to thank for this, and by the swineherds who provide a rich table, and by the weavers, and the day laborers, and the metal workers, and the cake makers, and the organizers of the meals. 4. So, isn’t it better not to enjoy honor than to owe gratitude for it to such people? But even without this, I will try to clearly show that the acquisition of wealth is associated with great dishonor. It makes the soul vile - and what is more dishonest than that? Tell me: if wealth came to a handsome and beautiful body and declared that it would make it vile, instead of healthy - sick, instead of well-built - swollen, and, filling all its members with water sickness, it would swell its face, stretch it in all directions, swell its legs and make them heavier than logs, swell its belly so that it would be larger than any barrel, and then declare that if anyone wants to heal him, - it will not allow, - this is his will, - if, finally, it came to such self-will that it would punish everyone who approaches the body to heal it - tell me: what cruelty could be greater than this? If wealth does this to the soul, what kind of good is it? But his power is heavier than his illness. If a patient does not obey doctors’ orders, this is worse than the disease. And this is exactly what wealth does, inflaming the soul from everywhere and not allowing doctors to get close to it. Let us not consider the rich blessed for their power, but let us pity them. If I see someone possessed by water sickness, drinking the drinks and harmful meats he wants, and no one can forbid him, I will not call him happy for his power. Power, like honors, is not always good, because they puff up the soul. You, without a doubt, will not agree for the body to receive such a disease with wealth: how can you neglect the soul, which receives (with wealth), in addition to illness, another punishment? Fever and inflammation burn from everywhere, and no one can extinguish this heat; wealth does not allow this, considering as gain what is in fact loss, that is, not obeying anything and doing everything according to one’s own will. No one's soul is filled with so many and so unreasonable desires as (the souls of) those who want to get rich. What extravagances do they not imagine? Everyone will agree that they invent much more than those who invent hippocentaurs, chimeras, animals with snakes instead of legs, skills and monsters. If you want to imagine any of their wishes, you will see that it is such a monster, in comparison with which the skill, the chimera, and the hippocentaur are nothing; you will find that it combines all the animals. Someone will probably think that I myself had great wealth when I so faithfully depict the life of the rich. They say that some - in support of my words, I will first cite something from Hellenic chants - they say that some king of theirs was so maddened by luxury that he ordered a plane tree to be made of gold higher than the sky, and sat under it while he was fighting with enemies skilled in military affairs. Isn't such a whim worth hippocentaurs or skill? Another threw people inside a wooden bull. Isn't this a skill? And one of the most ancient kings and warriors (wealth) made a woman instead of a man - why am I saying a woman? - a senseless beast, and even worse, because animals, when they are under the trees, retain their natural inclinations and desire nothing more, and he has surpassed the nature of animals. So, is it not extreme madness to collect wealth? And the reason for everything is the immoderation of desires. But, you say, many people are surprised at the rich man? Yes; for this reason they are subjected to the same laughter as he. It is not wealth that appears to the eye here, but madness. Isn't a plane tree growing out of the ground much better than that golden one? Everything that is in accordance with nature is more pleasant than that which is contrary to nature. What did you want the golden sky for, madman? Do you see how great wealth drives people crazy? How does he puff up them? I think that it does not yet know the sea, and will soon want to walk on it. Isn't this a chimera? Isn't this a hippocentaur? There are still those today who are in no way inferior, even more insane. How, tell me, do those who make golden jugs, pots and vessels differ in madness from the golden plane tree? How are those women different from him who - it’s a shame, but it must be said! – do they make silver chamber pots? You should be ashamed for doing this. Christ is hungry, and you are so luxurious, or, better said, you are mad. What punishment do they not deserve? And you still ask, why the robbers, why the murderers, why the disaster, when the devil took such possession of you? And it is not typical for a wise soul to have silver dishes - all this is a luxury - but to make unclean vessels out of silver is not a luxury? I won’t say luxury, but madness, and not madness, but madness, even worse than madness. 5. I know that many people laugh at me for this. But I will not stop talking, just to do some good. Indeed, wealth makes (people) mad and frantic. If they had such power, they would wish that the earth was golden, and the walls were golden, and perhaps that the sky and air were made of gold. How crazy! What lawlessness! What a fever! Another, created in the image of God, dies from the cold, and you start such (whims)! Oh, pride! Can a madman do more than this? You honor your eruptions so much that you collect them in silver! I know that you are horrified by my words; but wives who do this, and husbands who indulge such ailments, should be horrified. This is unbridledness, ferocity, inhumanity, brutality, arrogance. What skill, what chimera, what dragon, or better yet, what demon, what devil would do this? What benefit does Christ have to you? What is the use of faith when another Hellenic (pagan) is more tolerable, not even a Hellenic, but a demon? If the head should not be decorated with gold and stones, then can one expect forgiveness who uses silver for such dirty needs? Isn’t it enough that other things - although this is intolerable, chairs, benches - are all made of silver? This is crazy too; and everywhere there is excessive pomp, everywhere vanity; nowhere (there is no correspondence) to need, everywhere there is excess. I am afraid that women, by continuing such madness, will become like monsters. You can expect that they will want to have golden hair. Can you say that you do not sympathize with anything that is said, that it does not touch you, does not arouse desires? If shame didn't hold you back, you wouldn't open the door. If you allow yourself to do more ridiculous things, then all the more I can think that there is a desire to have gold hair, lips, eyebrows, and cover everything (members) with melted gold. If you don’t believe this and think that I’m saying this jokingly, then I’ll tell you what I heard, which even now exists. Glory to you, Christ! Каких великих благ исполнил Ты нас! How You arranged everything so that our health (soul) could be preserved! From what monstrosity, from what madness You delivered us! Now I warn you, I no longer exhort, but I command and declare - whoever wants, let him listen, and whoever doesn’t want, let him not obey: if you continue such a life, I will not tolerate it any longer; I will not accept you; не позволю переступить этот порог. Что мне до того, что больных много? What will happen if, while teaching you, I do not prevent your whims? Paul prohibited both gold and pearls. The Hellenes laugh at us; Our teaching seems like a fable to them. I instill this in my husbands. Have you entered the school, studying spiritual philosophy? Stop this pomp. I instill this in both husbands and wives. Let someone act differently; I won't endure it any longer. There were twelve disciples; but listen to what Christ says to them: “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:67). If we indulge everyone, when will we correct you? When will we be useful? But there are, you say, other heresies; go there too. These are empty words. Better is one who does the will of the Lord than a thousand wrongdoers. And you yourself, tell me what you would like: to have a thousand servants of fugitives and thieves, or one prudent one? So, I exhort and command: these facial ornaments and these vessels should be broken and distributed to the poor and not be so mad. Let whoever wants to leave (from me), whoever wants to condemn, I will not favor anyone. When I am judged before the throne of Christ, you will stand aside; your love will not help me when I give an account. Everyone spoils these words: as long as, they say, he does not retreat, does not move to another heresy; he is weak; show him mercy. But until what? Until what time? Once, twice, three times; but not always the same. Итак, я опять объявляю и свидетельствуюсь словами блаженного Павла, что «Что, когда опять приду, не пощажу» ( 2Кор. 13:2 ). When you correct yourself, you will then know what is the gain, what is the benefit (in this). Да, советую вам, прошу вас, я не отказался бы обнять колена ваши и умолять об этом. What pampering! What luxury! What impudence! Yes, this is not luxury, this is precisely arrogance! What madness! What a frenzy! There are so many beggars standing near the church; а церковь , имя столько чад и столько богатых чад, не может помочь ни одному бедному. One starves and the other gets drunk; one uses silver even for his uncleanness, and the other does not even have bread. What kind of fury, what kind of atrocity! Пусть же мы не будем доведены до искушения наказывать непослушных и делать это с досадой, но пусть они все это выполнять добровольно и с терпением, чтобы жить нам в славе Божьей, избежать будущего наказания, и сподобиться благ, обещанных любящим Его, благодатью и человеколюбием (Господа нашего Иисуса Христа, с Которым Отцу со Святым Духом слава, держава, честь, ныне и присно, и во веки веков. Amen). The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: