On the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that every country has angels

1. Truly the grace of Christ has appeared to us and the light of piety has illuminated us; Truly the sun of truth has risen among us and illuminated the ends of the universe. The Lord of heaven appeared and turned the whole earth into heaven as he wished, as was predicted; He who is heavenly, having appeared among you, makes you heavenly, and heavenly things are given to those who are heavenly: from the faithful is the pledge of fidelity to the believers, from the holy is the holy to the holy, from the living is the pledge of life to those who live. To this we initiate you in the sacred and royal chambers of the apostles, when we touch upon the teachings of the prophets, when heaven and earth divided their voices among themselves: the earth has John, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Matthew 3:3); and heaven has the voice of the Father, confirming in fact that “the voice of the Lord is over the waters” (Ps. 28:3). We offered this to you on our own; it will serve as a reminder to the diligent, and to confirmation to the believers. You should know that repeating good things strengthens your souls. Just as we then find the land best cultivated when it is developed with the same plows and the first cultivation is immediately followed by a second, improving the appearance of the first, so the soul cultivated by the word of God, if the reminder of what has already been said, entering the mind, renews it, becomes more capable of producing the fruit of virtue. But it’s time for us to turn to what we should talk about - what we ourselves promised and what you are thinking about. Then I ask all those who love Christ to lend me their ears and minds, so that I can perceive with my ears what is said without missing a beat, and with my mind I can carefully consider and assimilate the teaching. It will be about Christ; and everything that is said about Christ is not simple preaching, but a sacrament of piety. The whole economy of Christ is called a sacrament; and the sacrament is not shown in writing, but is actually proclaimed. Therefore St. Scripture calls the entire economy of Christ a mystery, as, for example, Paul says: “This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" (Eph. 5:32), and also: "a great mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16), and again: "because the mystery was made known to me by revelation... then, as you read, you can discern my understanding of the mystery of Christ" (Eph. 3:3-4), and in another place: "to me, the least of all saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to reveal to all" (Eph. 3:8-9), this is the dispensation of "the mystery, hidden for ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints, to whom God was pleased to show what is the riches of glory in this mystery for the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:26-27). The followers of heretics are mistaken when they subject the mystery of God to human discussions, because it is said: My sacrament is mine and mine. Who are God's people if not believers? When you want to know or hear something about Christ, do not ask reason, do not turn to a sage, but ask a prophet, ask an apostle, find out from an angel; if they do not know, turn to the Father. If you turn to the prophets and ask: who is Christ? - in response, a host of prophets answer you and say: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After this He appeared on earth and spoke among people” (Bar.3:36-38). If you ask who Christ is, and being curious about the divine birth, you ask how He was born, the prophets will silence your boldness and begin to say: what our mind cannot comprehend, do you want to understand? If you want to learn this, first admit that He is God. If you are curious about how He was born, learn from us: “Who can explain His generation” (Is. 53:8)? If you ask an apostle—I mean, of course, the entire apostolic host—he will tell you that Christ is God, in the beginning God, and with God God, and always God: “the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis, holding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). If you ask how Jehovah was born, they will tell you: “he was” - we heard, and we learned that He was, but how Jehovah comes from Jehovah, we accept this by faith, and not by knowledge. Further, when you ask them: if, then, you do not know how He was born, then why do you know that He is the Son of God? - they will answer you: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Then, if, leaving the prophets and apostles, you rush to the angels and say to them: who is this Christ who is being proclaimed? - those who preached the gospel to the shepherds will answer you: we have learned to glorify, and not to be curious: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14)! This is how we proclaim about Him and “the great joy that will be to all people: for today a Savior has been born to you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11). That He is Christ, and Savior, and Lord, we know this. If you say to them: tell us what His nature is, or how He was born, or how He has inseparable power with the Father, they will answer you: Haven’t you heard the prophet say: “Praise the Lord from heaven, praise Him in the highest. Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His armies" (Ps. 149:1-2), "His servants who do His will" (Ps. 102:21)? We are commanded to do the will, and not to be curious about nature. But, if the angels are silent, the prophets do not proclaim, the apostles hide, perhaps the Father Who gave birth reveals how He gave birth to the Son? And the Father himself does not open - not because he does not know, but simply because he does not open. About the fact that He gave birth, He says: “from the womb before the morning, your birth was like the dew” ** (Ps. 109:3), - that He gave birth, He says, but does not reveal the method of that immortal birth, blossoming from the eternal root, according to the testimony of the Father himself, which reads: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17), He says to Himself: “from the womb Your birth was before the morning like the dew,” and He says to the world: He gave birth; announces the birth, but does not reveal the way. Therefore, when we are faced with the need to investigate about Christ, we will not deviate from the apostolic and prophetic sources, but from those immortal rivers and inexhaustible sources we will draw the sacred moisture of divine teaching. When someone speaks about what relates to God, let him draw living moisture from God, in accordance with what is predicted: “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water” (Jer. 2:13), and also: “You will draw water from the fountains of salvation” (Is. 12:3). Of course, if we, leaving St. Scripture, let us serve the desires of the human mind, discussing what comes to mind, then our teaching will not be like the water of a living river, but will be like water in the desert, as blessed Jeremiah said to Jerusalem: “he directed his ways towards the waters of the desert,” and to clarify what was said he adds: “in the lusts of his soul he was carried by the wind” 1 (Jer. 2:24), i.e., he spoke about what his soul desired. him, and not about what God wanted. In the same way, he who now fulfills the desires of his own inventions, and does not explore the things of God, wanders through the waters of the desert. Nothing takes away the beauty from the Church more than those who defend human inventions that please them. That is why Paul said about heretics: “They will heap for themselves teachers according to their own desires” (2 Tim. 4:3). So, let's turn to what we should. And we, out of necessity, have ordered your love so that you seek the exact meaning of everything that is said not among us, not in our reasoning, but in the Divine Scripture. We had to show how Christ renews the world; as a person who became decrepit in paradise as a result of sin, Christ renews him through his economy. 2. We promised to do this in the sacred enclosure of the apostles, but we refrained from presenting it there because not everyone was present. Let us begin, befitting a word, with the doctrine of creation. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). This is the beginning corresponding to what we intend to talk about, that is, the first foundation of the world, the first foundation of creation. “The Lord God..., who created heaven and earth, the sea and everything that is in them” (Ps. 146:5–6). In short, he produced everything else, in a word, without any resistance, without experiencing labor, without being subjected to fatigue, but producing the nature of things according to His word. He created everything, and in the end, the beauty of creation - man. Just as our entire body, excluding our faces, appears to be dead, so everything created, except man, also seems dead; and why exactly - listen. The sun shines, but cannot explain itself; the moon is shining, but it did not study its own turns, but explained the word; many stars shine, but the pattern in their movement is studied only by science; The sea is majestic, but its bays are described by human language. And there is nothing that exists in the world that does not need to be explained in a human voice. From this it happens that a phenomenon that cannot be explained is considered unimportant in itself, and that which can be well expressed is recognized as good in essence. Sight in many cases deceives and misleads the mind; and the word, when touched, reveals nature, communicates power, explains teaching. So, be careful. God created every creature, and at the end of creation He created man in His image and likeness; He gave him His image: not a physical appearance, but a special dignity, mental ability and likeness in his virtues to the Creator. And so man appeared in the image and likeness of God, and the likeness could be developed ad infinitum. Don't think that this is not relevant to our task. The root of what we mean to talk about is revealed precisely now. He created man in His own image and likeness. God wanted man to strive to become like the sovereign dignity, of course, in moderation, consistently and in order. I will give some example (because what is being said should be explained with simple examples): if some master of ours has a slave and notices that he imitates the prudence of the master, then he loves and appreciates him; if a slave imitates the master’s philanthropy, he will love his acquisition; if he notices that a slave goes to church in freedom, is pious, fasts, and gives alms, the owner likes the servant’s excellent imitation. But, of course, when imitation exceeds the limit, when a servant begins to pretend to be a master, gives orders to other servants like a master, distributes work among them like a master, then imitation is no longer commendable, but worthy of blame. It is necessary that the slave imitate meekness, moderation, piety, justice, and not freedom and dominion. So man, having received the opportunity to imitate the goodness of God, crossed the boundaries in imitation and finally wanted to compete with God, however, not in virtue, but in the dignity of power. This is precisely where the serpent deceived him, saying: “in the day that you eat of them... you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). God praises imitation if it is kept in moderation; if the measure is exceeded, the imitator is condemned. Where can you see this? After all, He Himself said: “Let us make man in Our image... according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). And so the apostles became like God, but did not fall under the curse; The prophets became like God, but did not deserve blame. They imitated God, became like Him in love for mankind, mercy, justice, and piety. And whoever decides to equal God in His divine power is immediately punished. This is what Isaiah says to one tyrant in Babylon, who in his madness considered himself equal to God: “And I said in my heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain in the assembly of gods, in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” But you are cast down into hell, into the depths of the pit” (Is. 14:13–15). Do you see how he who exalts himself with pride is punished? But what kind of envy is it to become like the Creator, if you yourself were created in His image and likeness? Truly, in his boundless audacity, he crossed all boundaries and, leaving behind the likeness of virtue, sought to delight the divine dignity. On the contrary, it is said about David: “I have found a man after My heart, David the son of Jesse” (Acts 13:22). Here is the likeness of the image. Since David’s thoughts were turned to God, being full of meekness, humility, concern for truth and love for mankind, “I found a man after My heart, David, the son of Jesse.” He was praised for correctly imitating the heart of God, but he was condemned and even punished by the tyrant who imitated the heart of God not in virtue, but in power. And God says through Ezekiel: “Son of man! say to the ruler in Tire: Thus says the Lord God: because your heart is lifted up and you say: “I am God, I sit on the seat of God, in the heart of the seas,” and being a man and not God, you put your mind on a par with the mind of God, behold, I will bring foreigners against you, the most cruel of the nations, and they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and darken your shine. Eze.28:2,7), and, briefly speaking, adds: “You will die in the heart of the seas the death of those killed. Will you then say before your killer: “I am God”” (Ezek. 28:8-9)? Do you see how imitation is punished beyond measure? Man, turning aside, seduced by this immeasurable imitation, found himself deprived of even what he had. Thus, precisely all mortal nature, striving contrary to the will of God for that which goes beyond the limits of possibility, not only receives nothing, but even loses what it has. And just as the eye, taking advantage of the moderate rays of the sun, rejoices and sees the light, but if it wants to look at the circle itself, it not only does not receive light, but also what it had is deprived as punishment, so mortal nature, striving for the impossible against the will of God, loses its mind. And so a man fell, and after the fall many wounds appeared: idolatry, fornication, adultery, covetousness and the like. And man fell deeply, having lost the seal of the image of God from negligence; fell to such an extent that he was “like the animals that perish” (Ps. 49:13). The creation was divided into two parts: one came out of obedience, and the other remained in slavery, as I said in the previous speech. The lions began to plot against the one who was the image of God, the snakes bit, all dumb nature became furious against its Lord. Since she saw that he had violated the law of God, she herself wanted to avoid his domination. The sun decided not to rise for the criminal, the moon wanted to darken its rays, the stars did not want to show themselves to the creature, the springs wanted to refuse streams, the rivers wanted to flow, the gardens were beautiful, the meadows were full of flowers: everything wanted to abandon man, because he abandoned his Lord. I know that the speech is deep and dark, but for the believers and diners of the Church it is necessary to clarify the meaning of Holy Scripture. Everything created was enslaved to man, not according to his dignity, but because God commanded it, so that the image would not be completely humiliated, even if it fell. Therefore, when all creation was indignant, God commanded him not to resist, but ordered that the sun should emit its rays, the earth should bear fruit, the sea – fish and trade, the stars – radiance. Revealing this very thought, the apostle says: “For the creation waits with hope for the revelation of the sons of God, because the creation was subjected to vanity, not voluntarily, but by the will of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19-21). This means: when God saw man fallen and nature refusing to serve him, the ungrateful one, then he put a bridle on her even despite her desire and ordered that the sun should shine, the earth should bear its fruits, and not refuse to do this, even for an ungrateful criminal, and in order to show the generous benefit of the Lord common to all, he promised creation and renewal together with fallen man; as if God were saying this to the creature: since the image has fallen, and has fallen as a result of a crime and perishes through disobedience, then you share with it the work of corruption into which it has fallen; and when I renew him, My image, My damaged man, then with him I will renew you, my creature, and make you a participant in his glory. You suffer with him during his misfortune, and you will rise together during his glory. And why, brother, does the creature run away from the dominion of man? Because, he says, “the creation has submitted to vanity.” What fuss? Vanity is what is called vanity, as a result of which a person has turned away from God, as David says: “Indeed, every man who lives is complete vanity” (Ps. 39:6). Every person is vain who, having abandoned God, pursues vain things. 3. There were, of course, angels throughout the whole earth, to whom the nations were entrusted, as Moses testifies, saying: “When the Most High gave inheritance to the nations and scattered the sons of men, then he set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God” 2 (Deut. 32:8). This means: God distributed the countries of the universe among the angels; for example, one angel one country, another another, in order to put a bridle on this inanimate nature of the sun, moon, stars, earth and sea for the use of mortal man. Then, the angels suffered, serving unworthy people, and were tormented, seeing how, having abandoned the dignity of the Master, people began to worship idols. The angels were indignant, thinking that another was recognized as the ruler and gratitude was offered to other beings. The earth brought forth wine, and the altars received drink offerings; the earth bore an abundance of fruits, and they were dedicated to idols. The angels did not tolerate violence, seeing how the non-existent was worshiped instead of the Existing. Here is another question that is put forward by the prophet. The angel Gabriel came to him, it is said, and said: “Daniel; from the first day that you set your heart to gain understanding and humble you before your God, your words were heard, and I would come according to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood against me twenty-one days; but behold, Michael, one of the first princes, came to help me” (Dan. 10:12–13). Who is this angel who resisted Gabriel, and why did he begin to resist him? It has already been told to you, brothers, that God has assigned a country to each of the angels for the protection of every creature. Therefore, Saint Gabriel, sent from heaven, is resisted by the angel who patronizes the kingdom of the Persians, i.e. Persia. But here’s the question: if he was sent from God and Gabriel was sent from God, then why does he resist him? After all, if the sent angel were a representative of another ruler, then resistance on his part would be quite natural; but if the same God appointed one to that people, and sent the other to the prophet, then why does one resist the other? Pay special attention to this. The whole world was filled with idolatry; The angels assigned to the pagans were tormented and grieved, seeing how God was despised and idols were revered. When the captive people later came to Babylon, Daniel appeared preaching about God, three youths appeared praising God while the furnace was kindled - then wickedness was put to shame, then the lions closed their mouths and the unbelievers fell silent. Therefore, the angel, the head of the Persian kingdom, rejoiced and triumphed over the fact that a sermon about God was being heard in his domain. The angel saw how the Chaldeans, who once revered fire and worshiped idols, were miraculously taught to honor God and rejoiced, seeing their region, once full of wickedness, turning to piety. The angel saw how King Nebochadnezzar said: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God” (Dan.3:93), and he rejoiced. And so, when blessed Daniel asked God that the people would be returned from captivity after those specific seventy years, and Gabriel was sent to announce to him that the people were again returning from captivity and would receive their land, i.e. Jerusalem, then the angel of the Persian kingdom resists Gabriel, saddened by the fact that again his land will return to its former idolatry and be filled with wickedness, and resists, not fighting him, but contradicting him. Why, he says, are you trying to bring the people back? Did the prisoners harm themselves here? When they were in their country, they worshiped idols, but when they came here, they began to glorify God, and they themselves received benefits, and they became useful to others. What is stopping them from being here? What harm has the people received here that you are in a hurry to free them from captivity? Do you see that God is being revered, the pagans are being enlightened, and you are in a hurry to destroy such a great benefit? Why were you sent? I was sent, he says, to lead the people from captivity to their fatherland. What kind of fatherland does he say? The one they stained with murder while they were in Jerusalem? Isn’t this what Jeremiah accuses them of, saying: “For as many cities as you have, so many gods do you have, O Judah” (Jer. 2:28)? At that time they enjoyed countless benefits from God, but did not abstain from evil, but now they endure countless disasters and do not shy away from God. So, resistance occurred, but not the same as what happens to a bad person in relation to a good one, because it is not said: fought, and: resisted, since it often happens that a just person resists something good. Sometimes it happens that leniency resists the law and, conversely, the law does not agree with leniency. The law punishes the sinner, but the mercy of the king often forgives him. Here the battle takes place not only between enemy and enemy, but between relative and relative, because neither justice lies outside of leniency, nor leniency outside of justice. But this was said in passing; Let's return to the subject. And so, when nature was in such a state and was indignant at the criminal, when the angels were tormented by the ingratitude of the one who was blessed, and when the whole world was corrupted as a result of the crime (after all, what a tree or any other substance endures, the earth also endures, according to what was said: “and God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had perverted its way on the earth” (Gen. 6:12), i.e., saw the earth and it was corrupted), - then the prophets proclaimed to the world that the future age would restore the fallen world and renew the corrupted image. And let no one think that I said a lot of unnecessary things and, moreover, without any order or consistency. All my reasoning is directed towards one goal. If we did not first show how the world was corrupted, we could not show how it was renewed. So the whole earth was completely spoiled, the sky was darkened, and all creation was indignant. The creation was not the same as God created it from the beginning, the sky did not shine with stars, the earth did not abound in fruits, the sea was not conducive to navigation. A criminal appeared and desecrated the earth, desecrated the sky, the air, the sea, springs, rivers, he desecrated everything with his blasphemy: the sky with blasphemy, the air with shameful sounds, the earth with criminal murders, the sea with robbers and robbers, springs and rivers with wicked idolatry, because springs, rivers, forests, trees, and every creature were the subject of deification: he is not a creature like anything. desecrated her as if by deifying her. And so the whole creature was indignant. the Savior of the world comes, or rather, it is announced by the apostles that He will come and renew everything. And not only the apostles preached, but also the prophets predicted that Christ would come. For what? Then, lest anyone think that God acts the same as man: after all, when a person doubts the first aid, he thinks about the second, and when he fails here, he looks for the third, and when he is deceived here, he places his hope in the fourth. And so, so that no one would think the same about God, the prophets predicted about the One who was to come, to show that God does not come to what he wants to do after reflection, but foresees everything from the beginning. We humans think ahead and, if we do not achieve the goal on the one hand, we make an attempt on the other; but God is not like that: He gave the law, the prophets and after that the Gospel, not learning what was needed over time, but knowing from the beginning that creation cannot be left like this, without the appearance of Christ. We, people, when we see illness, then we begin to think about help, and God, even before the appearance of wounds in our nature, foresaw the medicine of salvation. Many people say: Didn’t God foresee that Adam would sin? I say: I not only foresaw, but even before the fall I knew that Christ would redeem and restore him; and he would not have seen the fall before if he had not foreseen the resurrection, but He himself predetermined the healing of the resurrection and then allowed death to enter into man, so that he would learn to know what he tastes thanks to himself and what he receives from God. And just as in Egypt He first determined to be years of fertility, destining these years of abundance to be a means of getting rid of hunger, and then brought on the famine itself, so that medical help prevented the disease itself, so before Adam was created, before the wicked came from him, before the righteous and prophets were born, God foresaw the impossibility of leaving His image in man not restored through Christ. In Adam, God saw Paul, saw Peter. He, of course, did not assume that Adam would remain in paradise and avoid exile, but he saw in him Paul, preaching piety and raptured into paradise, and Peter, who was entrusted with the keys to heaven, and he saw everything in this first man. He has already seen the root and the fruit. 4. Let me introduce into the conversation the conversation of God as if He were addressing His Son and speaking to Him. Let no one think that this is violent speech. After all, just as during the creation of man God resorted to counsel with the only begotten and co-creator (“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”), so, probably, the Son spoke to the Father. Let me finish. Don’t rush to object to me: why are you telling such fables about God, as if this happened to you? you weren't there, were you? If I fail to substantiate my words and prove their consistency with the truth, then it’s a different matter - then you can consider me a liar. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” As the Creator, He spoke, and as a foreseeer, He answered: if Adam sins (and he undoubtedly will sin), will our creation be destroyed? Imagine that this is said either by the Father to the Son, or by the Son to the Father. It is precisely this advice - without contradiction - that should be given to Those whose nature itself is indivisible. But Adam sins, commits a crime, dies, and through him all people perish, our nature is distorted, as if it were created badly. Another meeting: first of all, we need to determine the method of treatment. It is due to You, My Only Begotten, the Son-Word, the radiance of My glory is due to You, if You care about the creation that We, cooperating with each other, formed, You must clothe yourself in a perishing man, You must take the apostles, and just as the devil took advantage of the assistance of the serpent, making him an instrument for deception, so You should use the assistance of Your own creation to renew the fallen. But many, he says, will appear who are the inventors of wicked teachings. The godless error of the Epicureans will appear, a heresy will appear claiming that life goes on without Providence, another heresy will emerge with the doctrine of the divinity of the body, many teachers of error will appear: who will destroy such wickedness? I said this figuratively in order to at the end confirm the reasoning with an apostolic voice. So what? Is this the garment that God, the Word, wears? Should it spread throughout all countries of the universe and enlighten everyone? No, he says, but You will fulfill the divine plan for me, You will have apostles as messengers of the divine word, You will have Paul preaching the gospel, You will have Peter taking possession of Rome, You will have apostles as assistants in Our economy. This was said before the creation of Adam. First, what related to the incarnation of Christ and what concerns the apostles was determined, and then Adam was created. Where is this from? Listen to what Paul says: “the mystery kept hidden for ages and generations” (Col. 1:26), and: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, since He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,... predestining us as sons to Himself through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:3–5). And in another place he says about himself and about those like him: “He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). Not only predestination and election, but also the grace itself, which Paul received after so many generations, dates back to the same time, i.e. as if he received it before centuries. Where can you see this? He says to Timothy: child Timothy, “suffer according to the gospel of Christ, by the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:8-9). He himself chose before the structure of the world, he predestined before the ages, he gave us grace from eternity. And all this is in agreement, because the economy of the Savior was foreseen and predetermined before the creation of man. Of course, I direct my conversations about piety to friends, but I know, however, that sometimes spies get mixed up among friends, who pay attention in the conversation not to what is useful, but strive for one thing, how to catch the speaker; truly I do not hate such people so much as I regret them. However, in accordance with the apostle: “And to the false brethren who crept in, secretly coming to spy on our freedom” (Gal. 2:4), let us open our thoughts. Perhaps the enemy can come out and say: good theology! God ponders and says: what to do when many erring teachers appear? The Father speaks to the Son as if one doubts and the other teaches Him. [To this it must be said that] Holy Scripture, when instructing us about God, does not so much seek words corresponding to divine power as apply it to our weakness. Doesn’t God, as if transferring His case to human judgment, say: “And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more should I have done for my vineyard that I did not do for it” (Is. 5:3-4)? Is this said directly and not as advice? When he says to Isaiah: “Whom shall I send? and who will go for Us” (Is. 6:8), does he speak doubtingly, or not finding a minister? Everything that is said about God must be consistent with church teaching and measured according not to the strength of the speaker, but to the weakness of those listening. Our goal is to show what was determined about Christ before Adam, the pre-election of the apostles and the grace of the Gospel, intended before eternal times. Pay special attention. One expression, misunderstood, can give rise to condemnation of what is being said. God saw not only Adam breaking the commandment, but also the Savior, who appeared in the flesh as the Lord, preparing the way to virtue and drawing everyone to obedience. God saw the rib taken from Adam and transformed into a wife, and also foresaw the rib of Christ, bringing us mysterious gifts, water and blood, one of which is a symbol of purification, and the other a pledge of the sacraments. And He did not so much punish with defeat as He made happy by inventing a cure. There a woman from a husband to sin, here a husband from a wife to salvation. There is a rib that gives birth to the cause of death, here a rib that gives the guarantee of incorruption. There is a serpent on a tree, and here is Christ on the cross. There is food that causes death, here there is food that destroys it. You know what concerns believers, learn about the sacraments. There they received their sight with shame and saw that they were naked, but now we look piously and see that we are clothed. There is insight and nakedness, here is clothing and enlightenment. There are garments of skins that hide shame, here is a robe of glory that covers our weakness, the body of Christ, the clothing of the King himself, because “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). There “you are dust and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19), here he who renews the earth makes a person heavenly, promising not earth, but a kingdom. There is a flaming sword holding Adam, here tongues of fire from heaven enlightening Adam. There they are expelled from paradise, here they are entrusted with the keys of heaven. God foresaw the future before the present. And just as now, before drawing water, a water supply is prepared, and before the waters flow, a reservoir is built, not for the water that is already flowing, but for the one that will flow, so God determined in advance what should be formed in Christ, and knew that in Christ everything would be renewed. And he starts from above, rushing in the sky, according to what was said: “Lord! Bow down your heavens and come down” (Ps. 143:5); walked through the heavens, sanctifying them, cuts through the air to sanctify it from the desecration of shameful songs, walks around the earth to sanctify it from the desecration of murders, walks on the waters of the sea to sanctify the defiled waters, is baptized in the Jordan to sanctify the nature of the water, finds Adam lying in the tomb and takes on his image - Christ becomes both a descendant of Adam and a renewal of Adam; and how - listen. He takes on the image that he created in paradise and adorned it with everything opposite, giving him the means of salvation, as opposed to life in paradise. In paradise, Adam was seduced by luxury, but the flesh of Christ is crowned with fasting; in paradise the first competition, and in the desert the second - with the devil. So the Savior comes, renewing this creation, adorning it with various virtues and being a mediator between God and people; He came to announce to the world that the fallen image is being renewed, that it is being restored, that it is being saved. He could not have announced this if he had not been a mediator. After all, when a trustworthy person promises something to someone who is lower than him, the latter does not dare to demand the fulfillment of the promise; so it is here: since God was invisible, and the world was visible, He gives a reliable mediator: “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). If a mediator had no affinity with those for whom he serves as a mediator, then he could not be a mediator. Therefore, since Christ becomes a mediator between God and people, it is necessary that He be in affinity with God and with people, and would appear as if by some mediating economy, uniting with God in divinity and being in unity with people in humanity. What is He doing? First he teaches, and then he renews, he becomes both a mediator and a guarantor, he transmits what is from God to people, and what is from people to God. The human race was hostile to God as a result of the crime; neither man believed God, nor God believed man due to the change that had taken place in the fallen. And so Christ seemed to say this to people: do not doubt that there is a resurrection; I am the guarantor of this; I take your flesh and put it to death; if I do not restore it, do not believe me. On the other hand, he also inclines God towards reconciliation with people, saying something like this: I undertake to be a representative of man, I will renew him, I will arrange it so that he will renounce error and come to know the truth; accept Me as a mediator for people, so that they themselves may accept Me as a mediator of Your power. 5. The fact that Christ is truly a mediator has been testified by the Holy Scriptures, but that He is also a guarantor who takes upon Himself the guarantee, how can we confirm this, so that it does not seem that we in the Church are offering not church teaching, but our own inventions? If I speak for myself, then why speak? And if I proclaim what is from God, explain what is from the Spirit, then accept this teaching. So, that Jesus is the surety, Paul says: “But this High Priest received a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He was a better mediator of the covenant” (Heb. 8:6); “Jesus became the surety of a better covenant” (Heb. 7:22). Here is a mediator between God and people interceding for a person before God. He said that he would restore us - and he does, he said that he would reward us with immortality - and he rewards us. When He created Adam, then, not being bound by any guarantees, He gave him heaven and earth directly without guarantees: after all, He had not promised him before either earth, or paradise, or anything else, but all this, which He had not promised, He gave him; Will He really not give what He has now promised with guarantee? The Gospel in Holy Scripture is sometimes called the new (καινήν) covenant, sometimes the recent (νέαν) covenant, sometimes the better covenant, sometimes the second, sometimes the eternal. Since one name cannot express the whole meaning, the power of the Gospel is best indicated by different names; but Paul, in whom Christ himself speaks, calls the Gospel primarily the New Testament, as if renewing the old. The meaning of the word new indicates an extraordinary and truly inviolable nature, recent indicates the difference from the obsolete, the best - as opposed to the worst, the second - in contrast to the first, eternal - as opposed to the temporary. The New Testament is called according to the blessed Jeremiah, who says: “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Jer. 31:31); and the Savior, passing on the sacrament, says: “This is My Blood of the New Testament” (Matthew 26:28). Here is the New Testament. And in another place he calls it recent, in consideration of the young gospel having full power. Paul says: we “have come to Mount Zion... and to ten thousand angels, ... the church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, ... and to the Mediator of the new covenant (νέαν) Jesus” (Heb. 12:22–24). “By saying “new,” he showed the oldness of the first” (Heb. 8:13). In another place he calls the covenant better, saying: “he received a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as he was the better mediator of the covenant... For if the first covenant had been without deficiency, there would have been no need to look for a place for another” (Heb. 8:6-7). Here are the first and second. Where is it called eternal? Listen to what Paul says: “Now the God of peace, who raised up from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of an everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). While the first covenant was temporary, this one is called eternal. And in another place it says: “I will give you an everlasting covenant, the unfailing mercies promised to David” (Is. 55:3). The covenant is new, recent, first, second, best, everlasting. Of these covenants, Jesus was the mediator. So, when man had to be renewed, the heavens are made new, not darkened, but renewed for a new creation: a new sun, a new moon, new stars, receiving help and strengthening, because the prophet says: “I am creating a new heaven and a new earth” (Is. 65:17). Thus the creation is renewed and the promiser does not lie. Whatever help a person receives, the elements also receive the same. Where can you see this? Isaiah says: “And the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter” (Isaiah 30:26). Have you seen how God did not refuse the promise, but renewed the creation? And the culprit of renewal is Christ. Followers of heretics, discussing this teaching, raise an objection based on the expression: “begotten first of every creation” (Col. 1:15), not realizing that here we are not talking about the creation of creation, but about its renewal. What kind of creation is being renewed? Listen to what Paul says: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). And to show that He is called the firstborn of the renewed nature, he adds: “the firstborn from the dead, that He may have primacy in all things” (Col. 1:18), among those renewed, called to incorruption, raised from the dead: “in all... taking precedence" not according to deity (because for God it is humiliation to be called first, humiliation is this so-called honor; in the divine and uncreated nature there is no first or second, but everything has a living beginning, a beginningless beginning, an eternal beginning, immense, inexplicable; as for us, if Christ is superior in comparison with Paul or Peter, then our hope is empty, our faith is in vain, if Christ were superior to them in deity), but taking precedence in humanity, as having renewed Adam, as having revived the universe. Therefore he says: “the firstborn from the dead, so that He may have primacy in everything.” I invite you to explore exactly how He is the firstborn from the dead. After all, if I leave this expression without explanation, then the curious mind itself will substitute its own explanation and consider it sufficient. How, you say, is Christ the firstborn from the dead, when even before His coming Elijah raised the son of a widow (1 Kings 17:21), Elisha raised the son of a Somanite woman (2 Kings 4:34), and the Savior himself raised Lazarus, the daughter of Jairus, the son of a widow? In fact, if in both the Old and New Testaments there were cases of the resurrection of the dead, then why is Christ called the firstborn from the dead? How so? Those, although they were resurrected before Christ, but, having been resurrected, they all died again, as if having undergone the experience of resurrection, and Christ, having been resurrected, will not be subject to death and therefore the firstborn, as resurrected and no longer dying. And Paul says: “Christ, having risen from the dead, dies no more: death no longer has power over Him” (Rom. 6:9). Do you see who is foremost among all? Do you see Who renews our race according to His economy? So, finally, having extracted the man, he brought him to heaven and seated him on the right side of God. Oh, our evil and stupid heart! Christ came to us, gave us His Spirit, and took our body, and became our guarantee, and for all this our ingratitude is to be paid by the humiliation of a good deed? He took the image from us and seated us on the right side of God, and we received the Spirit from Him and insult Him, relegating Him to the number of works and creatures? Oh, unfortunate and pitiful! What if Christ said to you on that day: I have honored your body with immortality, but you have humbled My Spirit to the level of created nature? Have you seen that a mortal has been restored, have you seen that he is worthy to be on the throne, have you seen that he is above all principality, and power, and strength, and dominion, and have you not been ashamed? What is ours God honors, but what is from Him we should not honor? 6. And here is another objection that the malice of the heretics contrasts with the truth: yes, they say, the body was taken to heaven, but not so much in order to receive honor, but so that we would have a defender above, pleading with God for us. Shameless tongues and unlearned souls spoke in this way in the square, mocking - I don’t know how - at the shrine. I do not, of course, quote their most blasphemous words, but I convey their meaning. “You,” they say, “Christ, pray to God for us and ask for us,” and at the same time they refer to the words of the Apostle, without understanding their meaning. Didn’t they say that the apostle said: “Christ Jesus died, but also rose again: He is also at the right hand of God, He also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34)? Do they say that we made it up ourselves? Have we distorted divine teaching? Paul said that Christ asks for us. They do not pay attention to what intercession means, that there is a big difference between prayer and intercession. If asking and intercession were the same thing, then Paul would not have said: “First of all, I urge that prayers, petitions, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made” (1 Tim. 2:1). Prayer is when someone asks God for something; it is called prayer when someone glorifies God in songs; thanksgiving is called when someone thanks God for what he has received from Him; petition (intercession) is called when someone turns to God against those who offend, asking for vengeance. That intercession does not mean begging for help, but means asking and receiving an answer, there is evidence of this in the Old Testament: and God said to Elijah the prophet: “Why are you here, Elijah?” God asks the prophet; the prophet answers, saying: “I was jealous of the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel forsook Your covenant, destroyed Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword; I am left alone, but they are also looking for my soul” (1 Kings 19:13–14). There was no supplication here, no prayer, but questioning and answering, in a word – intercession. And how, listen to what Paul says: “Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the story of Elijah? how he complains to God about Israel” (Rom. 11:2). So, intercession is not prayer, but the prophet’s appeal to God [with a complaint] about crimes. And so, since the apostles among the pagans were exposed to dangers, being attracted by leaders and rulers, suffering intrigues from the Jews, he convinces them to despise everything, persecution, scourging, and death, and, as if comforting them, he says: even if you yourself did not say anything against those who offend you, you have an intercessor for you, who has taken your image. “Who will accuse God’s elect? God justifies them. Who is judging? Christ Jesus died, but also rose again: He is also at the right hand of God, and He also makes intercession for us” (Rom. 8:33–34). If He asks, then how does He sit? Or maybe the petitioner is asking without standing? Have you ever seen a petitioner, who appears with a humiliated, slavish request, at the same time sit on the right side of the boss? That is why, they say, His dignity is exposed: “He is also at the right hand of God, He intercedes for us”; as if he were saying this: there is no need for you to worry about what might happen to you. Be, however, attentive to preaching about virtue and do not be distracted by reasoning like this: Lord, how much we have to endure: we are persecuted, persecuted: but there is someone to intercede for us before You, there is someone to intercede for us! But the Son intercedes before the Father not as inferior in order, but as the Son setting out the circumstances before the Father: “those who believe in us are offended, persecuted, persecuted.” To prepare a credible accusation, He introduces the Son as an intercessor. So the Savior says: “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: you have an accuser, Moses, in whom you trust” (John 5:45). Do you think the Son is humiliated since He intercedes with the Father? But if you saw that God seemed to be looking for support from a person against unbelievers, what would you say? Listen to what the Lord says to Jeremiah: “Have you seen what the apostate daughter of Israel did” (Jer. 3:6)? She left me and went after the gods. It is quite natural if a person calls on God for help; but why does God attract a person in such a case? And in another place: “And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more should I have done for my vineyard that I did not do for it” (Is. 5:3-4)? Likewise, Christ, while in the flesh he carried out the economy and was a priest, He offered prayers and glorified the Father for the economy of the incarnation; and when he ascended to heaven, he sits only receiving glorification, but not begging, not interceding; if he turns, then as the Son turns to the Father, just as God turns to the prophet. Therefore, in order to show that Christ does not stand before the throne of God as a priest offering (sacrifices) for himself and for the people, but sits, Paul says: “This is what our High Priest should be: holy, free from evil, blameless, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens, who does not need to offer sacrifices daily, like those high priests, first for his own sins, then for the sins of the people, for He did it once, sacrificing himself" (Heb. 7:26-27). So, why are they mad against piety, if He has no need [to ask for anything]? Do you subject to need the One who is above all need? And further Paul adds: “For Christ entered not into the sanctuary made with hands, which is built in the image of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24). He didn’t say “appear,” because He appeared once, and not many times. And further: “and not to offer Himself often, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary every year with the blood of others;... But He once, at the end of the ages, appeared to put away sin by His sacrifice” (Heb. 9:25-26). The other priests stand daily, serving God and making the same sacrifices, but Christ, having made one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever, waiting for his enemies to be subdued under His feet. After all, He no longer intercedes, but sits: why do you degrade a good deed? 7. I know that I have gone far in the conversation: forgive me for the fact that I went so deep and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, swam across the sea of ​​Holy Scripture, saying not so much what needed to be said, but what I could. This is what I first of all invite you to do, and I beg and will not stop begging you for this, that you study the Holy Scriptures, seek the truth about Christ, learn from Christ, and do not go over to the side of heretical wickedness. The devil now has many serpents instead of the ancient serpent: he sows the tares of sin in order to spread the corruption of wickedness. Please don't listen to anything like that; Let us protect ourselves in every possible way from heretical wickedness. I know that I have already told you about this, but now I repeat it again. The founders of each heresy are known: from Arius the Arians, from Macedonius the Macedonians, from Eunomius the Eunomians, from Marcion the Marcionites, from Savelius the Sabellians, from Manes the Manichaeans, from Montanus the Montanists and other heresies. Now, if the faith of the Church is heretical, as the heretics claim, who is its founder? They will say: your heresy began from such and such a person; let them say if they know. After all, it is the obvious mercy of God that God did not allow the teaching of the apostles to be called by the name of a person: we are not called Macedonians; and although we can be called “of the same essence,” they cannot give us a name, but will only indicate agreement in doctrine. If you asked them: who was the first to say “consubstantial”? - they cannot answer: such and such or such and such, but three hundred and eighteen fathers, having expressed the word of confession in agreement, settled on this pious confession. Notice how this right confession shines. The word “consubstantial” was not uttered by one or the other, but by the entire council of the east, west, south and north. Where truth is found, everything agrees. Ask the heretic what I intend to say. If you ask an Orthodox Christian, even if he is simple and unlearned, he will say the following: I confess the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one kingdom, one power. But tell the heretics, two or three people: what do you think? If they all answer in agreement, then it will, of course, be the truth. But this cannot be expected: one of them calls (the Son) uncreated, another - begotten, another - eternal. If one says: I know that the Father created the Son, and the Son everything else, then the other corrects him, saying: no, not so; The Father created the Son, and through Him he created all things. In this case, we are not dealing with the truth, but only with rotten clothing - and such clothing tears by itself. Old clothes, if you drag them, can easily be torn; and if you decide to lead someone to a conversation, grabbing hold of such clothing, then its deterioration will immediately be revealed and it will tear from your accidental effort; So it is with heresies: one professes one way, and another another; alien heresies, alien and shameful names, names of taverns. The same thing happens to heretics that never happened to Jews. The sacred candlestick according to the law stood in the Holy of Holies, where the veil was, where the table was, where the law was, where the tablets were; and from the time they fell away from the truth, where does the candlestick stand? In the hallway of the innkeepers. Where is the horn of the prophets? In taverns. And they do this not out of love for him, but out of selfish calculations, not in order to display an object of veneration, but in order to attract those passing by, to show that this is Jewish wine. And so, just as there that which was sacred, from sacred became so insignificant, being captured by the unworthy, so here, after Paul and Peter, after such heights (it is a shame to pronounce that nasty name - truly shameful, but there is nothing to do - you will have to name it), after these words: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), after what Paul said: “Are you seeking proof whether Christ speaks in me” (2 Cor. 13:3)? - after Paul and Peter, after the evangelists, preachers, confessors - they call themselves Psathirians and other similar names 3! When did they keep their clothes on? When weren't these worn-out clothes torn apart? Applying the words of the prophet to them, I will finish the word. “Divided and not moved” (Ps. 34:15). But our tunic of the Church is made of whole fabric, not sewn from separate parts. It is woven entirely, from top to bottom, whereas ordinary clothes are sewn from separate parts. Our faith is not made from human reasoning, no, it is a continuous, solid tunic. We fulfilled our promise, although it required long, complex and at the same time sophisticated research. But listeners will, of course, agree that simple thoughts are expressed in simple words, and deep research requires great variety. And you, when you hear a hidden word, arouse your thought; when you see subtle reasoning, dispose your mind to variety. Often the divine teaching is expressed briefly, such as: “Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; don't steal; do not bear false witness” (Matthew 19:18). But when it says: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), and then: “He appeared on earth and spoke among men” (Bar.3:38), then here it is clothed in a variegated garment, according to what was said: “the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph.3:10). For all this, let us glorify the one who appeared, let us worship the one who came, sing the praises of the one who renewed, revived, resurrected, strengthened, enlightened, and gave us an abundance of all the blessings of Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. The text is based on the Slavic translation. To the synod. - “according to the number of the sons of Israel.” – I.N. The Psathirians received their name from Sir. the words psathyropola, which means pie seller. A certain Theoktist, a pie maker, especially zealously defended and spread the teaching - later called Psaphyrian - which seemed to be an offspring of the Arian heresy. Hence the mention at the end of the conversation about taverns, and earlier about the fact that heretics receive their names from taverns. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. According to the translation of the 70: from the womb before the morning star I gave birth to you.