On Holy and Great Friday for the Holy Passion of the Lord

Today I want to fulfill yesterday’s promise, beloved. I ask where we ended the word then. We said that the Jews made plans against Jesus in order to kill Him. And so, when they gathered together, Judas appeared before them and said to them: “What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you” (Matthew 26:15)? They got up and followed him with swords and daggers. And “he gave them a sign, saying: Whoever I kiss is the same, take Him” (Matthew 26:48). And when they came to the place where Jesus was with His disciples, Judas stepped forward and kissed him with the words: “Rejoice, Rabbi” (Matthew 26:49). The Lord said to him: “friend, why have you come” (Matthew 26:50)? Do what you came for. O treacherous kiss, heap of lawlessness and destruction! Oh, bitter kiss, destruction of the soul, the path to Gehenna! The harlot who kissed the feet of the Lord called out her soul from uncleanness. And this one, with a kiss, was blotted out of the book of life. O wisdom of a woman! O foolishness of the disciple! When she kissed the feet of the Lord, the angels rejoiced and prepared a crown for her. When he kissed this one, the demons rejoiced and wove a rope for hanging. "Rejoice, Rabbi". He rejoices, but you will suffer, because you are rejected from joy. “Rejoice, Rabbi. And he kissed Him” (Matthew 26:49). And they grabbed Him and led Him to the bishops Annas and Caiaphas. They looked for false testimony against Him, and found none. Then they led Him (to Pilate) and installed Him. Pilate asked Him: “Are you the King of the Jews?” The Lord remained silent, as it is written: “Mute, ... He opened not His mouth” (Is. 53:7). Pilate sat, judging, and the One who will judge the living and the dead stood, the Sun of righteousness stood, and the Lord endured judgment on himself for the salvation of the world. Pilate, convinced from the case itself that He was betrayed out of envy, took water and washed his hands before the people, saying: “I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous One; look you” (Matthew 27:24). Judas, seeing that He was condemned, gave the silver to the bishops with the words: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:24). “And throwing away the pieces of silver in the church, he went out and hanged himself” (Matt. 27:25). And what was written was fulfilled: “his anger will turn on his head, and his wickedness will fall on his crown” (Ps. 7:17). Pilate said to the Jews: “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4). And wanting to release Him, he said to them: it is your custom to release one of the prisoners on holiday. So listen: I will release to you one in whom I do not find any guilt. And they, shouting, demanded to release the murderer, and about Him who justifies the wicked, they shouted: “Crucify” (Luke 23:21). Then Pilate handed Him over after the scourging to be crucified. The Lord was scourged to deliver us from the bonds and scourges of the devil; He wore a crown of thorns to solve the curse that was upon us. The earth was commanded to produce thorns and thistles for a crime: it brings a crown of thorns on its head to resolve the curse that weighs on us. He was crucified on a tree to resolve the sin that occurred through the tree: through the tree Satan expelled Adam from paradise, and through the tree the Lord made the thief an inhabitant of paradise. And here’s the amazing thing, beloved. On the sixth day the Lord created Adam, and on the sixth day he was expelled from paradise. Therefore, on the sixth day, the Lord opened the doors of paradise and brought the robber there. Adam, who disobeyed the commandment of the Lord, was expelled from paradise in the evening. In the evening, the robber, who obeyed the voice of the Master, was led into paradise. So, when the devil saw that everything happened according to God’s economy, he saw the signs that were at the cross: the sun darkened, the earth shaking, the veil of the church torn, the rocks opening and himself being disgraced, he fled to hell and said to him: “Woe to me, the unfortunate one, I am disgraced; help my powerlessness; Let us lock the doors so that He does not enter here; Let us strengthen them with bars, and with all our might we will resist, so as not to receive Him.” So, he ran to hell, locked the doors and strengthened the iron bars. And so the Lord goes to hell, pursuing the devil, and the powers of heaven follow before Him. But the gates are locked. And the heavenly powers exclaimed: “Lift up, O gates, your heights, and be lifted up, O eternal doors, and the King of glory will come in” (Ps. 23:9). And hell says in response from within: “Who is this King of glory”? And again the powers say: “The Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory” (Ps. 23:10). Hell answered, “Who is He of whom you speak?” And if He is like that, what does He need here? Why did He leave heaven and come here?” And the powers answer: “since He is the King of glory, He came to bind and hand over to you the one who is condemned for rebellion, and to summon and bring out His soldiers from you.” Hell says to the devil: “three-headed Beelzebub, cast out from the angels, a mockery of the saints, powerless, hidden from the light, didn’t I tell you - don’t fight with Him? Now what I predicted for you is coming true. What are you doing, you unfortunate thing? Why didn't you listen to my words? So He came to demand you and bind you, because of you I too will become a prisoner. Go out if you can and fight Him, but I can’t help you.” The devil tells him: “Have mercy on me, don’t open (the doors); sometimes He turns back, fight for me for now, although I am put to shame; and who will not be put to shame by such words of Him? Once, fearing death, He said: “My soul grieves unto death.” And another time He begged the Father, saying: “My Father! if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:38, 39). These words deceived me.” He said in response: “And I, the unfortunate one, also assumed that He was suffering, afraid of death.” When they said this, the powers did not cease to cry: “Lift up your heights, O gates, and be lifted up, O eternal doors, and the King of glory will come in.” And the prophets, hearing the voice of the King of glory, rejoiced and rejoiced. John said, “Did I not tell you that He would come and bring us out?” Everyone rejoiced and said to hell: “Open your gates, let the King of glory come in.” But hell did not obey. And the prophet David said: “Leave him, because my prophecy must be fulfilled. When I was on earth, I foresaw what would happen, namely, that it would not open by itself, and said: “For He has broken in pieces the gates of brass and broken the ropes of iron” (Ps. 107:16). And immediately, coming, the Lord crushed the gates and broke the locks, and trampled the forces of hell, and resolved the torments of death, and dulled the sting of hell. And the Scripture was fulfilled: “Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory" (1 Cor. 15:55)? The prophets came out to meet him with joy and jubilation, chanting and saying: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest" (Matt. 21:9). Then the Lord took the devil and bound him with insoluble bonds; He sent him to the pit of hell and prepared for him unquenchable fire and undying worms; there he is imprisoned, weeping and groaning. And the Lord brought all the prophets out of hell and said to them: “Follow to heaven,” and they joyfully left hell. David was the first, striking the strings of the cithara, and exclaimed with joy: “Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout to the rock of our salvation” (Ps. 94:1), because the King who fought for us has won.” And everyone answered: “Halleluya.” David again exclaimed: “Clap your hands, all nations, shout to God with a voice of joy” (Ps. 47:2), because the King who fought for us has won. So rejoicing, they reached paradise and, entering there, found a robber there. In amazement they said to him: “Who brought you here? Who opened the doors for you? For what deeds did you enter here before us? Didn't he come here to rob? Didn't he come here to rob? Earthly things were not enough for you, do you want to steal heavenly things too? Tell us - who brought you here? We don’t envy you for coming here, but we want to know the reason.” He answered them: “Because of my deeds, I am not worthy to enter here, but the humane and merciful Master brought me here. I have nothing good, which is why the Jews condemned me to death along with the immortal King; but, wanting to kill me, they gave me more life by crucifying me with Christ. Having seen the signs that happened at the cross, and realizing that He was the Son of God, I exclaimed in a loud voice the following words: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42, 43). And immediately accepting my prayer, He says to me: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). He gave me the sign of the cross, saying: take this and go to heaven; If the flaming sword does not allow you to enter, show him the royal sign, and he will open the doors for you. I went, but the flaming sword that guards paradise, as soon as it saw me, locked the doors. Then I said that the Tsar, now crucified, himself sent me here, and showed him the sign of the cross. He immediately let me in. When I entered, I did not find anyone and, mentally surprised, I said to myself: “Where are Abraham, Isaac and the rest of the multitude of holy prophets”? And so, when I was surprised and pondering, two men appeared to me from the right side of the east, ancient in days, wonderful in appearance and extraordinary in face. They asked me, saying: who are you? You are not Abraham, because he has a sacred robe; You are not Moses, because he is humming and slow-tongued, but you have clear speech. Who are you? You seem to us to be a robber, since your clothes are that of a robber. Then I admitted that I was a robber, and that the Lord of Paradise brought me here, since I accompanied Him until the death that He suffered for us. Then I asked them: “Who are you?” One of them answered me: “I am Elijah the Thesbite, I was carried here on a chariot of fire and have not yet seen death, but the one with me is Enoch, who was brought here by the word of God.” Hearing this, the prophets glorified God for such mercy given to sinners. And the Lord, having disarmed death, trampled down hell, healed the tree with wood, destroyed the gates and crushed the constipations of hell, bound the devil and freed the world, and ascended everyone to heaven, rising from the dead. Therefore, let us sing to the one who became incarnate, let us glorify the one who was crucified, let us give thanks to the resurrected one, so that He will deliver us from the darkness of our sins and make us heirs of His kingdom. He is due honor and worship with His beginningless Father and the All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith”