On the parable of the prodigal son

Always, of course, brothers, we must preach about God’s love for mankind (after all, we “live and move and have our being” - Acts 17:28); but especially at this time we are obliged to do this, both out of common duty and for the sake of (His) good deeds to those stars that have to rise from the baptismal font. After all, they too will shine thanks to His love for mankind, and we are saved and are being saved by it: it was given to us as an inheritance by our Creator God and our Father. Let us say about him what the Lord Christ, the man-loving Son of the man-loving Father, the only reliable Interpreter of the Father’s being, said. Let us reveal the entire parable of the prodigal son in order to learn from it how one should approach the unattainable and how to ask Him for forgiveness of sins. Luke 15:11. A certain man had two sons. The Savior speaks positively, not positively. Therefore, He speaks of His Father as a certain person, and speaks of slaves as children, thereby giving the concept of God’s love for people. “A certain man,” he says, “had two sons.” Who is this man? “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). What kind of two sons are these? Righteous and sinners - those who abide by His divine commandments and those who transgress the commandments of the Master. Luke 15:12. And the youngest of them said to his father. Who is this "younger" son? A man who has no stability in his soul and is swayed by the winds of youth. Nature recognized its Creator as the Father, although the will did not honor its Creator. Father! give me the next part of the estate. It is good that he asked God for what belongs to Him, but the bad thing is that he squandered what he received. And the father divided the estate for them. Gave them the whole world as their home; He gave them, as the Creator, all creation; He gave them rational souls along with bodies, so that, guided by reason, they would not do anything unreasonable; He gave them His law, natural and written, as a divine mentor, so that, educated by Him, they would fulfill the will of the Lawgiver. Luke 15:13. After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything (as could be expected from a young man), went to the far side He left God, and God left him, because He does not rape someone who does not want to serve Him. After all, all virtues are a matter of free will, not necessity. and there he squandered his property, living dissolutely. There he destroyed all the wealth of his soul; there, drowning in pleasures, he was shipwrecked; there, in a quick change of amusements, he became a poor man; there, buying soul-destroying pleasures and trading in fun, he made himself a flood of tears; he lost the virtues that he had, and instead of them he was enriched with vices that he had not known before. Luke 15:14. When he had lived through everything (it is, in fact, unnatural for a person leading a shameful life to have the wealth of grace left), a great famine arose in that country, Where the bread of chastity is not cultivated, there must be great famine; where the vine of self-control does not grow, there is famine; where the grapes of purity are not squeezed, there is a raging famine; where there is no heavenly wine, there is terrible hunger; where evil is born abundantly, there will be no good born at all; where evil deeds flourish, there is a complete lack of virtue; where the oil of philanthropy does not flow, there is severe famine. Then There was nothing left for him except acts of intemperance, after he had done all the shameful things. Luke 15:15. And he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, The inhabitants of the country where the immigrant ended up were demons. And he to whom he clung sent him into his fields to feed pigs; This is how demons honor those who serve them; so they love those who love them; This is how they benefit their followers! Luke 15:16. And he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate... What does it mean - “horns”? Rozhtsy are sweet in taste and at the same time rough and heavy. But such is sin by its nature: it amuses a little, but punishes a lot; pleasure is momentary, but torment is eternal. “Having come to my senses,” he compared his previous bliss and subsequent miserable situation, and realized who he was when he was in obedience to God and the Father, and who he became when he submitted to the demons. Luke 15:17. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger; How many catechumens now enjoy the sacred scriptures, while I languish from the hunger of divine words? How many benefits have I deprived myself of? How many disasters have I exposed myself to? Why did I leave that blissful state? Why did you rush into this destructive life? All that I suffered is a lesson to me: do not abandon God; now I have learned to cling to Him who always protects those who cling to Him; I learned not to believe unclean demons who inspire all kinds of uncleanness and destruction. So what does he say? Luke 15:18. I will get up and go to my father I will return good to where I left for evil; I will return to my Father, Creator, Master, Trustee and Provider; I will return to the One who has been waiting for a long time and is ready to receive those returning to Him. and I will say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you; Luke 15:19. and is no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants. These words are enough for my salvation; The name of my Father will serve as a reliable intercession for me: it is impossible for my Father, hearing this name from my lips, not to show himself to be the Father in deed; he cannot help but move his heart, being well-behaved; he cannot, having heard: “I have sinned,” not show mercy to my repentance; Having heard my voice, He cannot help but forget His just anger. I know what power repentance has before him; I know what His tears can do; I know how every sinner, falling to Him with warm tears, like Peter, receives forgiveness of his sins; I know the goodness of my God; I know the gentleness of my Father. He will have mercy on me who repents, just as He did not punish the sinner. Luke 15:20. He got up and went to his father. A good decision was followed by a good deed. And rightly so: it is not enough to strive for the useful only in words; It is necessary to confirm your good intentions with deeds. While still far from the Father, but striving for Him with his heart, he either breaks his hands, or strikes his chest with blows, as a source of bad desires, or falls face down to the ground, or sheds streams of tears from his eyes to support his request, or seeks an excuse for himself; finally, through tears, he loudly calls out: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you! I know I have sinned, O Lord and Master Christ: You alone know my sins; I have sinned, have mercy on me, as God and Master do. I am not worthy to raise my eyes to heaven and beg You, my good Lord; my guilt is great and unbearable; my sins have no number! But have mercy on me, for You are always good. “I am not worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:19). Thus, asking from the depths of his heart, he was seen by the One who grieves for the lost, looks upon those who sin and expects their repentance - his Father saw him and had mercy on him. Of course, He was the Father by grace, being by nature God. OK. 15:20. ...and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. He didn’t wait until he came up and began to beg him, but he readily rushed towards him. And he did not disdain his neck, defiled and stained with the dirt of vice, but with His clean arms he embraced him and kissed him without counting the one whom he had been expecting for a long time. Oh, ineffable and immeasurable compassion! Oh, extraordinary philanthropy! Oh, wonderful reconciliation! He immediately convinced God to descend into tears in an instant and overcome such a great multitude (of sins). Are you surprised to see that God has lovingly accepted a sinner? Oh, what fatherly love! The sinner on earth began to cry, and the only sinless one from heaven bowed down to love for mankind. Who has ever seen a sinner blessed by God? Who has ever seen a judge serve a defendant? Who has ever seen the accused being caressed? Meanwhile, God calls, as Israel once did: “My people! What have I done to you and how have I burdened you?” (Mic. 6:3) And now the same thing happens, and it happened, since it is usual for the Father of bounties and the God of all joy to be overcome by himself. But this prodigal son was not satisfied with such a meeting from the Father, but even in good (deeds) of repentance, being a prodigal, with the multitude of his sins, he did not consider such philanthropy sufficient for salvation; therefore, what exactly he came up with to say to the Father, when he met him, he expressed it in a decent way: Father! If only it is permissible for me to call You Father, if, by calling You Father, I do not thereby increase my guilt before You, if I do not offend with this call the name of an unattainable name, if my conscience does not close my lips, if the weight of my sins does not bind my tongue, if my former life does not hinder me: accept, Holy Father, from unclean lips an unclean prayer! Father by grace and Creator by nature, Luke 15:21. ...father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. I have sinned, I confess my sins, I do not hide what you see, I do not deny what you know; as a defendant I stand before You, as a lawless person I condemn myself: but You, as a Judge, have mercy on me. “I have sinned against heaven and before you”! I am afraid to raise my eyes to heaven, I am afraid of the very sight of the firmament of heaven, like the voice of an accuser, I am afraid to turn my gaze to the radiance of the Divine, having unclean eyes of my heart. “I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” So I betray myself, I condemn myself, I pronounce judgment on myself. There is no need for a court to determine a verdict, or witnesses for evidence, or accusers for conviction. I have a seated conscience inside me, I carry an inexorable judge in my soul, a terrible judgment seat; in my conscience I bear witnesses, in my eyes there is an accuser; the spectacles accuse me, the horse lists cry out against me, the searches of wild beast hunters cry out against me. Debauchery triumphs over me, my deeds are immortalized as if in a pillory, my real nakedness exposes me, the very rags in which I am now clothed shame me and I am no longer worthy to be called Your son, “take me among your hired servants.” Do not drive me out of Your house, Lord, lest the enemy again, finding me lost, drag me to Himself as a prisoner of war, but also do not draw me close to Your terrible and mysterious meal, because I do not dare to look at the Holy of Holies with unclean eyes. Leave me with the catechumens in the vestibule of the church, so that, contemplating the sacraments performed in it, I will desire to receive them little by little again; so that, caught by the divine waves, I would wash away the shame of shameful songs, erase this dirt lying on my ears, so that, contemplating Your treasures stolen by pious men, I myself would wish to have hands worthy to receive them. When the prodigal poured out such requests and begged with tears, Luke 15:22. the father said to his servants: What slaves? Listen: to the priests and ministers of His commandments. Bring your best clothes and dress him up, Bring clothes woven from above, renewed by spiritual fire, bring clothes that are woven in the waters of the font. Bring clothes made from spiritual fire and dress him. Clothe him, who stripped himself, clothe the new Adam, whom the devil exposed, clothe the king of creation; adorn him for whose sake I have adorned the world. Decorate My son's dear members. It is unbearable for me to see him devoid of beauty, it is unbearable for me to leave My image naked; I consider the disgrace of My son a disgrace to Myself; I place my honor in his honor. give the ring to his hand, so that he carries the pledge of the Spirit and, wearing it, is guarded by the Spirit, so that, having My seal, he is terrible to all enemies and opponents, so that from afar it can be seen what kind of father he is the son of. Give him shoes for his feet; so that again the serpent would not find his bare heel and would not bite him with its sting, but rather that he would trample on the head of the serpent, destroy the sting of the enemy and walk in safety along the path of God. Luke 15:23. and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Which calf does He call fat? Which one? Whom the heifer Mary the Virgin gave birth to. Bring a calf untamed, not lifted up by the yoke of sin, virgin and of the Virgin (born), following those who follow Him, not under compulsion, but voluntarily; not resorting to force or horns, but willingly bowing His neck to those who wish to slay Him. So, slaughter the One who voluntarily slaughters himself; slay Him who gives life to those who slay; slay the one who is being slain and not dying, slaughter the One who is torn into pieces and sanctifies those who separate Him; slay the one who is eaten by those who know Him and is never destroyed; Slay Him who makes those who eat Him blessed. And he tasted Him, we will all rejoice, Luke 15:24. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they started having fun. You are familiar with this spiritual joy, you have tasted it and remember how, during terrible mysteries, the ministers of the divine rite, imitating the wings of angels with narrow pieces of linen lying on the left shoulder, go around and cry: “Yes, no one from the catechumens,” and no one who is unable to see the Lamb being eaten, and no one who is unable to contemplate the heavenly blood poured out for the remission of sins, and no one unworthy alive victims, and no one unclean, and no one who is unable to touch terrible secrets with unclean lips (does not dare to come here). Then the voices of angels from heaven join, saying: holy is the Father, who gave as a sacrifice a well-fed calf who knew no sin, as the prophet Isaiah says: “he committed no sin, and there was no lie in his mouth” (Is. 53:9); holy is the Son, the Lamb, always sacrificed by will and always living; Holy is the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who makes the sacrifice. When all this was happening, the eldest son, returning from his absence, heard singing and faces, and calling one of the slaves, asked him what was happening, what noise was filling my ears. He speaks, and David the prophet inside the house sings: “Then they will lay bulls on Your altar” (Ps. 50:21). He again offers those present a treat and says: “Taste and see how good the Lord is” (Ps. 33:9). There Paul, the explainer of divine mysteries, calls out and says: “Our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). The Church triumphs and rejoices with joy. And he says to the servant: Yes, while I was away from home, others, in my absence, share my sacraments in my house. Yes, he answers, your brother came and your father killed the fat calf, rejoicing that he returned safe and sound. Then the righteous man became angry and did not want to enter. The righteous man became angry and fell into the slavery of envy; trampling on the pleasures of life, he himself was overcome with envy. But how does Paul say: “I would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers who are related to me according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3)? The Savior did not use such a turn of phrase, of course, for the purpose of presenting the righteous as envious, but to proclaim the excessive riches of His Father’s mercy. This is clearly revealed from what follows. Luke 15:28. His father came out and called him. Oh, ineffable wisdom! Oh, God-loving providence: he had mercy on the sinner and pleased the righteous; and he did not allow the standing one to fall, and he aroused the fallen one, and he enriched the poor man, and he did not allow the rich man to fall into poverty through envy. Luke 15:29. But he said in response to his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; I walk “in sheepskin, goatskins, enduring hardship, sorrow, bitterness (Heb. 11:37), Luke 15:30. When this son of yours came, who had despised you and spent your estate through fornication, you immediately killed a fat calf for him. and did not reproach him with a word, without showing him your displeasure, you immediately received him hospitably: you adorned him all with your clothes, adorned him with a gold ring, strengthened him with boots, brought him into your house, and prepared a meal for him, and filled the cups, and slaughtered the fat calf, and called the faithful to a feast, and made the angels rejoice, and arranged a strange feast heaven and earth. And you lavish such gifts on those who despise Your kindness and dishonor Your holy name. What can we say about the depth and abyss of Your generosity? How can one be amazed at the sea of ​​Your complacency? You have mercy, Lord, on everyone, because you can do everything and neglect the sins of people for the sake of their repentance. OK. 15:31. His father said to him: My son! You are always with me, and everything that is mine is yours. You have never been separated from My bosom, you have never left My Church, you have always listened to the psalms and hymns, you are inseparably with the angels, you stand before the altar and boldly cry out: “Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). And your brother came to Me condemned, ashamed, with his face drooping to the ground, and in a contrite and sad voice crying out: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants!" What could I do in response to these words? Could I have mercy on My son who came to Me? Condemn Me if you are angry. I, being a philanthropist, could not allow anything inhumane to be done. I cannot help but have mercy on the one to whom I gave life, I cannot help but have pity on the one whom I gave birth from my bowels. “My son! You are always with me, and everything that is mine is yours.” The sky is yours, the firmament is yours, the sun is your torchbearer, the moon is your minion, the stars are your candles, the air is your feeder, the air is yours, the earth and everything in it is yours, the sea and everything in it is yours, the universe is yours, the Church is yours, the altar is yours, the fat calf is yours, the sacrifice is yours, the angels are yours, the apostles are yours, the martyrs are yours, the present is yours, the future - yours, the resurrection is yours, immortality is yours, incorruptibility is yours, the kingdom of heaven is yours, everything visible and intelligible is all yours. I took nothing from you to give to him; didn't undress you to put it on. Was it not with my goodness that I was generous to him? Am I not equally your father and his? And I honor you for your virtue, and his dear for your wonderful return; I love you both for your life, and for his correction; both you dear for your behavior, and him for his repentance; both you for your patience, and him for returning to me. OK. 15:32. And in this you had to rejoice and be glad, that this brother of yours was dead and came to life, was lost and was found. Whoever, seeing the dead risen, will not rejoice, and whoever, having found what he lost, will not triumph. Come, my son, rejoice with us, and rejoice with the angels and embrace your brother with me and sing with David this spiritual song, befitting a real celebration: “Blessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered!” Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin” (Ps. 31:1–2). You have heard the divine parable, learned its meaning and seen its meaning. We understood how loving your Lord is, how kind He is. So, let us resort to Him with a pure heart, let us sing to Him unanimously: Master, Lord, Lover of Mankind, Only Begotten Son of God, we have sinned in heaven and before You, we are no longer worthy to be called Your sons, but we trust in Your generosity, we have as a guarantee of Your love for mankind Your honorable cross, which You endured for our sake, we have mediators of Your compassion, the former a harlot and a former robber. Through them, we and all sinners will hasten to resort to Your love for mankind. Just as You made them glorious and blessed, O Lord, so have mercy on us who fall before You. Just as You raised the dead by being crucified on the cross, so also resurrect us, killed by sin, according to Your great love for mankind, so that we may be together with those redeemed at the price of Your resurrection. Saying this, let us expect our Lord Christ to say to us: “According to your faith, be it done to you” (Matthew 9:29). And you, who have been granted the gifts of baptism, having cast aside every foreign thought, and having directed your souls to the Heavenly Bridegroom, taste the grace of the Holy Spirit. “The Lord is near”, “do not be anxious about anything” (Phil. 4:5–6). The Redeemer is at the door, the Physician is near the believers, the clinic is open, the medicines are ready, the font awaits everyone, grace has been revealed, spiritual clothing is being prepared by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Blessed are those who are worthy to wear this garment! All that remains for you now is to light the lamps of your faith, and generously pour in the oil of piety, so that at night, when the voice is heard: “Behold, the bridegroom comes” (Matt. 25:6), you could go out to meet Him with shining lamps, rejoicing and rejoicing and crying: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:9) To him be glory and dominion, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria.