О Предтече ****

These conversations in the Minya edition belong to the category of Spuria, that is, unfoundedly attributed to St. I. Chrysostom. Source: Works of our holy father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in Russian translation. St. Petersburg edition. Theological Academy, 1902. Volume 8, Book 2, About the Forerunner, p. 613–615. Blooming meadows, dotted with golden flowers, decorated with beautiful trees and resounding with the singing of birds, simultaneously delight and enchant both the eyes and ears of people. Here the sun throws its golden rays here, and they scatter in the flowers with countless sparkles. The voices of the incessantly chirping birds merge here in a pleasant melody like a pipe; the zephyrs, entwining the valleys and caressing the ear like zithers, compete with the chorus of birds; and behind them the permanent inhabitants of the fields and meadows - the shepherds, in whose ears the lyrical melodies of songbirds ring, begin to reproduce them on their polyphonic pipes, carefully looking for the best places and the best herbs for their flocks. But there - in the meadows - the source rolls its fast waves, and here - with us - the sweet teaching of divine wisdom shines; there the chirping of songbirds, and here the melodies of sacred psalms; there, a lover of solitude, the turtledove, nesting in the trees, with a gentle coo heralds a beautiful spring, and here John, feeding on locusts and wild honey, with his desert, or better yet, spiritual preaching, stirs up the churches and, like a trumpet, proclaims the appearance of heavenly spring to the world. “In those days,” says the evangelist, “John the Baptist comes and preaches in the desert of Judea and says: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1-2). “In those days” - in the days of the appearance of Jesus God, in the days of the coming of the King of heaven, in the days of the shining of the eternal Light. “In those days John the Baptist comes and preaches in the desert of Judea.” Not in an inhabited country, because that the human race was still a desert, had not yet become the dwelling place of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What did he preach? “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”! Oh, repentance, which in tears itself reaps life and, together with the wedding attire, receives the wedding lamp! O repentance, accuser of the devil, patron of the converted! “John himself had clothing made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist” (Matthew 3:4). Let us clothe ourselves, beloved, in John’s robe! Perhaps this is the mystery of our salvation. It - this robe - serves as an image of people converting from paganism. "He had clothes made of camel's hair". Scripture often likens the camel to the devil because of his pride, deceit and rage. Thus, in the prophet Isaiah, the observer from the watchtower says: “And I saw... riders on donkeys, riders on camels” (Is. 21:7). The rider on a donkey depicts Christ, as He entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, the rider on a camel depicts the Antichrist coming into the world in the last days through the action of the devil. By preaching piety, he converted the pagans to himself, who covered the devil like hair, and thus exposed him, he rallied them into the church and, through the unity of faith, having searched for the body of the Church, he arranged for himself a cover of salvation. "Had... a leather belt around his waist” (Matthew 3:4). Scripture mentions the loins and the girdle to show that natural passion (opposite to chastity) was killed by a girdle of dead skin covering the outside (its container is the loins). This belt was a true witness to the virginity hidden within. They say he ate locusts and wild honey. This points to the Jews who apostatized from the law and commandments, as the Scripture says: “Your princes are like locusts, and your commanders are like swarms of midges, which during the cold weather nest in the cracks of the walls, and when the sun rises, they fly away, and you do not recognize the place where they were” (Nahum.3:17). And wild honey means that the Jews, by breaking the commandments, turned the sweetness of the law into bitterness for themselves. “Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John restrained Him and said: I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? But Jesus answered him: leave it now, you must be a witness of the voice sent down on me today, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:13-15). I must be taught: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Therefore, I must first fulfill myself what I will later teach others, so that the Jews do not have an excuse to say: “Why, while you teach another, do you not teach yourself?” (Rom.2:21). "Leave it now". The words of the courageous sufferer Job must be justified: “Who will be born clean from an unclean? Not one" (Job 14:4); I must cleanse the ancient sin of the flesh; The soul must be renewed with the Spirit and the body with water. "Leave it now". For me first this womb (of water and the Spirit) must open, so that I may become the firstborn of all brothers. This womb served as a temptation for the Jews, whom the prophet denounces with these words: “Sinners withdrew (from God) from (the very) birth, they went astray from their mother’s womb, they spoke lies” (Ps. 57:4). “Then John admits Him” (Matthew 3:15). When Jesus descended into the Jordan, a great miracle, beloved, was presented to the eyes of the spectators: they saw a spring washing itself in a river, and a river plunging into water. After all, Christ is the source, as He himself says: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters” (Jer. 2:13), and as His bride, the Church, says to Him: “The sealed fountain of your branches” (Song. 4:12-13). He himself is also a river, according to the words of the prophet: “The river of God is filled with waters,” “The stream of God is full of water” (Ps. 64:10). He descended onto the waters - and they were sanctified, He sanctified them. If any of you, beloved, has not yet been cleansed by baptism, let him come and behold the Father proclaiming from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). “Listen to Him” (Luke 9:35). The Jordan calls, the Spirit purifies the air, the Father names the Son, the Son cleanses the sky, the Spirit beautifies the earth, leafs the air. Now the ancient prophetic word is being fulfilled: “Day gives speech to day” (Ps. 18:3). Day is the Father, day is the Son. The Father vomits the word to the Son, as Paul says: “Take... the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17). With this verb may he unite us all in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.