From the interpretation of the Gospel of Luke

Luke 1:20. And you will be silent and unable to speak, until this day will come to an end: you have not believed my words, which will come to pass in their time. The angel rightly does not forgive the unbelieving Zechariah; because he had as an example those who were barren before him and gave birth, as the divine Scriptures teach. Luke 1:35. In the same way, what is born of You 1 is holy and will be called the Son of God. The Angel does not just say to the Virgin: “what is being born”, so as not to suggest that the body is entering her from the outside, but added: “from You” - to ensure that what is being born will be received from her nature. He will be called holy, not because he will have the Son of God dwelling within himself and will become holy by communion, but because he is truly holy by nature, since he himself is the Son of God, and one at that. Luke 1:36. And behold, Elisavet is Your little girl. Luke 1:38. Behold the servant of the Lord, wake me according to your word The angel called Elizabeth “Yuzhik” of the Blessed Virgin, either because they descended from the same forefather Jacob, or because even before the law was laid down, Aaron, who was from the tribe of Levi, took as his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, from the tribe of Judah. For from that time on, the royal tribe of Judah, from which the Blessed Virgin was, was united by kinship with the priestly tribe of Levi, from which Elizabeth was. Therefore, the all-wise grace of the All-Holy Spirit miraculously arranged that this wife of Zechariah, like Aaron’s wife, was called Elizabeth, so that from the very name we could clearly see that according to Elizabeth, Aaron’s wife is the juxtaposition between the Virgin and the mother of the Forerunner Elizabeth. The All-Holy Virgin, having said: “Behold the servant of the Lord, wake me according to your word,” thus expressed the following: I am the tablet on which the Scribe writes whatever pleases Him. Let the Lord of all write and do what he wants. And the Angel, having received this confession of faith from the all-holy Virgin, “departed from her.” Luke 1:46. My soul magnifies the Lord. Just as the words: “to glorify God” do not mean that glory is attached to God from outside, and the expression: “to sanctify the Lord” does not mean that holiness is attached to Him; so the words: “to magnify God” do not show the addition of greatness to Him. On the contrary, he who magnifies God receives into himself the communion of His greatness. Therefore it is said: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” And this will not seem strange to someone who knows exactly that God does not accept, but gives good things. Luke 1:48. For look upon the humility of His servant: behold, from now on all generations will bless me. How high is virginity! Anyone who wants to strive in other virtues is guided by the law; but virginity, surpassing the law and directing life towards the most important goal, is an indication of the future age, an image of angelic purity. Therefore, much can be said about virginity; but in order not to dwell in words on what is obvious to everyone, instead of saying one thing, I will show them the greatness of this virtue. The Lord of all - God the Word, when the Father deigned to restore and renew everything, wanted only the Virgin to become the mother of the body He had taken upon Himself; and Virgo became a mother. So, the Lord came to us - a man, so that, just as everything came from Him, so also virginity was from Him, and He again gave this grace to people, and continued to grow in them. Therefore, to what extent this serves as praise for the virgins and an indication of His Divinity, one can see from the following. If the parents of the holy martyrs are glorious for the courage of their sons, and Sarah rejoices having given birth to Isaac, and, as the Prophet says, blessed are those who have “the tribe in Zion, and the tribes in Jerusalem” (Isa. 31, 9); then is anyone able to say how much praise there is for the holy Virgin and God-like Mary in the fact that She became and is called the mother of the Word by carnal birth? For this Divine birth is sung by the angelic army; and “the woman lifted up her voice... and said...: Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breast that Thou hast pissed” (Luke 11:27); and the ever-virgin Mary, who gave birth to the Lord, seeing what had happened to her, said: “From now on all generations will bless me.” But what happened to Mary turns into glory for all virgins; because these virgin branches are already held on to it, as if on a root. Luke 2:22. And when the days of her purification were fulfilled, according to the law of Moses, he ascended to Jerusalem and set him before the Lord, Luke 2:23. just as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male child, when he opens his lie, shall be called holy to the Lord. Luke 2:24. and give a sacrifice, according to what is said in the law of the Lord, two turtle doves, or two chicks of a dove. Not in the likeness of other people, the Lord did not put on flesh in order to come into being and come into the world; He became man in order to sanctify the flesh. If someone understands the words: “set him before the Lord” to mean the Lord himself, then in this case he will deviate from the proper meaning. For when was the Lord hidden from the eyes of the Father and could not be seen by Him? Or, is there any place outside His dominion, where, being He was, He would not stand before the Father until He was brought to Jerusalem and brought into the church? But why did they bring educational sacrifices when He was reality itself? Is it not because this was written not for His sake, but for our sake? For just as He, who is God, is immutably made man by nature, and is circumcised in the flesh, and baptized, and endures the rest, not for His own sake, but for our sake, so that we, being men, by grace would become gods through adoption as sons, and be circumcised spiritually, and not according to the Law, and with baptism wash away the stain of sin, and be crucified to the world, and rise up to God: so is what was said. here about their cleansing, about setting Him before the Lord and about the representative sacrifices was accomplished and written not for His sake, but for our sake, so that we learn to cleanse and place ourselves before God, mysteriously and spiritually offering Him “two turtle doves or two chicks of a dove.” And the turtle dove is a symbol of chastity and silence; because this animal is desert-loving and very chaste; and if a male or female turtledove dies, then the remaining one does not mate with another. Pigeon chicks are an image of gentleness and meekness. Therefore, those who through chastity cleanse themselves from carnal pleasures and lusts, and through gentleness and meekness refrain from irritability and anger, actually make good sacrifices, appear to the face of God and place themselves in heavenly Jerusalem. For nothing pleases God more than gentleness and chastity. And indeed, God wants to make us so chaste that we do not even look at a woman with lust; about gentleness he says: “Unless you are converted, you will be like children” (Matthew 18:3), not according to physical age, but in the image of children, representing gentleness; and he presents himself as an example of meekness and humbleness of mind, saying: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). But if someone asks: why did he command to bring the said animals, two and two, and two perfect ones, and two chicks? I answer: since man is two-part, that is, he consists of soul and body, then God requires from us twofold chastity and twofold meekness. If in body I abstain from carnal pleasures, but in soul I desire them; then I am not chaste, but an adulterer. For it is said: “he who has conceived to lust... has already committed fornication... in his heart...” (Matt. 5:28). And also, who outwardly seems meek, but is irritable in his soul; he is not kind, but hypocritical and angry; For him, visible and imaginary kindness serves as a veil for secret malice. Having these in mind, the Prophet says: “I will bless my lips and curse my heart” (Psalm 61:5); and again: “those who speak peace with their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts” (Psalm 27:3). By commanding the bringing of two perfect and two chicks, he makes it clear that in prudence and chastity we must be perfect, but “in malice,” as the Apostle says, “infancy” (1 Cor. 14:20). But let’s see, regarding what, where and when it is said: “every male child, opening his womb, shall be called holy to the Lord,” and that is this the law riddle 2? Luke 2:29. Now do You let Your servant go, O Lord, according to Your word, in peace. Therefore, let us despise death. For even if we become afraid of her, we will die, of course, at the time determined for us by Providence. It is better to meet it valiantly, as something absolutely required, than to yield only to it ingloriously. He who ends his life in godliness does not die. And whoever is called solely for the time being, as one who lived for himself; this must be given an account in time itself; and if he doesn’t give it, he will hear: “You have received good things... in your belly...: but now here... you suffer” (Luke 16:25). Therefore, we must “take courage,” as the Apostle commanded (1 Cor. 16:13), in order to kill for us “the fishes... that are on the earth” (Col. 3:5); We must prepare things for the coming, so that when the end of time comes, or we are called by the Savior, we can say: “Now do you let go of your servant, Master.” And when the Lord himself comes, may he find us awake, and not asleep, and may he not reproach us, saying: “Was it not possible for you to watch for one hour” (Matthew 26:40)? Mental sleep is negligence and failure to remember death. Luke 4:33. And in the crowd there was a man with an unclean spirit of the demon, and he cried out with a great voice, Luke 4:34. saying: Leave what to us and to you, Jesus of Nazareth? You came to destroy us: we know You, Who You are, the Holy One of God. The demon who said: “We know You” did not know Him truly, but spoke hypocritically. But even in what was said to them in truth (for he rightly said: “You are the Holy One of God”), the Lord imposed silence on him and forbade him to speak, so that the demon along with the truth would not sow his malice, and we learned not to listen to the demons, although, apparently, they speak the truth. For we, having in our possession the divine Scriptures and freedom granted by the Savior, it is indecent to learn from the devil, who did not keep his rank and was seduced in his thoughts. Therefore, when he pronounces the sayings of the Scriptures, the Lord forbids him, saying: “But God says to the sinner: “Will you tell me all my justifications” (Psalm 49:16)? Therefore, the Father’s voice itself, proclaiming: “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17), and the Angels who worship Him and the saints who have written about Him are sufficiently able to teach the faithful that He alone is the Son and the Word of God. The Arians, since they do not have pure understanding and cannot listen to divine men and theologians, let them learn from demons like them that they did not proclaim many sons, but knowing this one, they said: “Thou art the Holy One of God” and the Son of God. For the one who instilled heresy in them did not say: You are one of the saints of God, of whom there are many, but says: You are the Holy One of God. Θεῦ), because You are alone. Therefore, it is very opportune that the term (ὁ ᾶγιος) was added here. For He alone is holy by nature, while others are holy as partakers of Him. Likewise, the makers of lies themselves, often forced by evidence, testify to the truth against their will. For the demons did not carry out the work of the Evangelists, but since they could not look at the light of truth, they cried out: “We know You who art, the Holy One of God.” Luke 8:50. Jesus heard it and answered him, saying: Do not be afraid, only believe, and you will be saved. The Lord first of all requires faith from those who call upon Him; Thus, he says to the blind: “Do you believe, that I can do these things for you” (Matthew 9:28), and about the one who is possessed for new months he says: if you believe, you will be healthy (Mark 9:23). The Savior demands this not because He needs the assistance of others, for He is the Lord and giver of faith, but He wants to show us that He is not inclined to accept requests out of partiality, He listens only to believers, and at the same time inspires us to accept blessings not without faith, and not to lose them through unbelief. For he wants, both by bestowing grace, so that it remains, and by healing, so that the healing is immutable. Thus, He warned the paralytic, saying: “Thou art in good health, let him not sin” (John 5:14). And just as a doctor, coming to the sick, first asks whether they want to be cured, so that because of the sick’s resistance to the medical art, if care is taken for them against their will, the healing itself does not become useless: so the Lord asked those being treated, and gave grace to the believers, so that by faith they could retain grace; because faith is a sign of spiritual will. Therefore, he now says: “Just believe, and you will be saved.” Luke 9:57. As they walked along the path, someone said to Him: I will follow You, even if You are walking, Lord. Luke 9:58. And Jesus said to him: foxes have wounds, and birds of the air have nests: but the Son of man has no place to lay his head. The Lord, seeing that this scribe, promising to walk after Him, says this only in words, and does not contain it in thought, and is carried away by other thoughts, shames him with reproof, and does not drive him away from Himself, as if turning away from Him, and is not deceived by his words, as if not knowing what He is like, but as a leader, He reproves, and as one who admonishes, He corrects. The Lord seems to say this: no one, resting in the wordless, can follow the Word; the friend of the dumb is unable to receive the Word; whoever dreams of the wordless is unable to acquire concepts of the Word. Indeed, in the very insolence of the scribe one can see a sign of his rashness and ignorance. For if he had known the power of the Word, he would not have formed a false concept of the spiritual Word. And, being a man, I would not have dared to compare myself with the incomprehensible power of the Savior, saying: “I will follow You, even if you walk.” For to follow the Savior in order only to hear His teaching is still possible for human nature, however, only because of the Savior’s love for mankind; to become equal to Him and follow Him everywhere is both impossible and impudent for one who makes such a promise; because we cannot abide with Him, resting with the Father. And is this possible for those of a different nature? It is impossible for us to accompany the Omnipresent One everywhere; because He is infinite, and we are limited; He is in the whole universe and outside it, and we in the universe have a certain composition. And the Lord, motionless and immutable from one place to another, sets everything in motion everywhere and controls everything; and we humans, moving from the place from which we move, by this leaving the place we show how small we are before the eternal omnipresence of His Divinity. The Lord corrects the scribe in both respects, exposes his unpreparedness to carry out the undertaking, and teaches him the greatness of His Divinity, saying: “Foxes have wounds,” and so on. This is the same as if He said: all created beings are limited and divided among themselves by place, but the Word of God has immense power; therefore, do not say any more: “I will follow You, even if you are walking.” If you want to become a disciple, leave the wordless and approach the Word. For it is impossible for one who remains in dumbness to become a disciple of the Word. Luke 13:20. To whom shall I compare the Kingdom of God? Luke 13:21. Similarly, there is kvass, which the wife took, hide it with three flours, until everything is sour. Let anyone who doubts what has been said pay attention to this, namely, that a person who has acquired even a small leaven of virtue, although he did not have time to cultivate it, nevertheless had such an intention, but was unable to fulfill it either due to carelessness, or negligence, or lack of courage, and because he put it off day after day, will not remain in oblivion of the righteous Judge when he is accidentally caught and reaped; on the contrary, God, after the death of such a person, will arouse his neighbors, direct their thoughts, attract hearts, incline souls, and moved by this, they will hasten to give him help and assistance. And since the Lord touched their hearts, they will make up for the shortcomings of the departed. And whoever, covered entirely with thorns, leads a bad life, full of impurities, who never comes to consciousness, fearlessly and indifferently plunges into the stench of voluptuousness, fulfilling all sorts of carnal desires, not caring at all about the soul, and indulging in a completely carnal way of thinking; If, caught in such a state, he disappears from life, no one, of course, will give a helping hand, and his fate will be decided, so that neither his wife, nor his children, nor his brothers, nor his relatives, nor his friends will help him in the least; because God will not put him at anything. The words “from You,” which are not in the Slavic text, are found in many Greek lists. There is no further information in the text. You might be interested in: