Беседа 16. На слова: «В начале бе Слово» (Ин. 1, 1)

Every gospel saying is more sublime than other instructions of the Spirit, since in the last verbs we received through the servants-prophets, and in the gospels the Master personally spoke with us. The most vocal in the gospel sermon itself, who spoke what is beyond all hearing and beyond all understanding, is John, the son of thunder. And now we have just heard the beginning of his gospel book read. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.” I know that many of those who are not privy to the word of truth and boast of worldly wisdom marveled at these words and dared to include them in their own writings; for the devil is a thief, and he divulges our teachings to his preachers. And if carnal wisdom marveled so much at the power of these words, what will we do, disciples of the Spirit? Will we listen in passing and only conclude that there is some small power in them? But who suffers so much from insensibility so as not to be amazed by such beauty of thought, such incomprehensible depth of dogmas, and not desire their true understanding? However, it is not difficult to be surprised by beauty; to acquire an exact concept of what leads to surprise is difficult and inaccessible. For there is no person who would not extol this sensual sun with praise, looking with delight at its size, beauty, proportionality of its rays and bright shine. However, if he persists with great effort in directing his gaze to the solar circle, he will not only not see what he wants, but will ultimately damage the fidelity of his vision. Something similar, I think, will be experienced by a thought that strives to conduct a similar study of these sayings: “in the beginning was the Word.” Who will formulate a concept of beginning corresponding to the subject? What power of speech will be capable of equivalently expressing what is imagined in the mind? He who intended to convey to us the theology of the Son of God laid out for his word no other beginning than the beginning of all kinds. The Holy Spirit knew those who rose up for the glory of the Only Begotten; He foresaw those who would offer us false ideas, which they would invent to the destruction of the listeners; namely: “If the Son was begotten, he was not; and before He was born, He was not; and: from non-existence came to independence.” Such things are uttered by tongues that are more cunning than any two-edged sword. Therefore, so that no one could say anything like this, the Holy Spirit, prefacing the Gospel, said: “in the beginning was the Word.” If you keep this saying, you will not tolerate anything dangerous from evil people. For if anyone says: “If the Son was begotten, he was not,” you answer: “In the beginning he was.” But, he will say, how was he before he was born? Don’t give up on this “be”; do not leave this “at the beginning”. At the beginning it is impossible to imagine any extreme limit; nothing can be found that is outside the beginning. Let no one deceive you by the meaning of his speech. For many things have many beginnings in this life. But one beginning is above all. “The beginning of the good path,” said the parable (Proverbs 16:6). But the “beginning of the path” is the first movement from where we begin the procession, from which the previous one can be found. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 110:10). And this beginning has something else that precedes it. For in understanding the arts, the beginning is the study of the first foundations. Therefore, the fear of the Lord is the first foundation of wisdom; but there is something more primary than this beginning, namely, the state of the soul in a person who has not yet become wise and has not accepted the fear of God in himself. Civil authorities and the highest virtues are also called principles; but these principles serve as a beginning only for some, and each is a beginning in relation to one thing. For the beginning of a line is a point, the beginning of a surface is a line, and the beginning of a body is a surface. And the beginning of a complex word - letters. But this is not the beginning. For it is not connected with anything, is not subordinated to anything, is not considered in relation to anything, but is free and independent, detached from any relationship to another; understanding does not transgress for him; For him it is impossible to find anything beyond. For if you begin to strive with the idea of ​​your mind to go beyond this beginning, you will find that it itself goes ahead of you and precedes your thoughts. Let your mind go as far as it wants and stretch higher and higher; then you will find that the mind, after wandering a thousand times and after vain efforts, again returns to itself, because it cannot leave the beginning below itself. Therefore, it always turns out that the beginning extends further than the conceivable and is broader than it. So: “in the beginning was the Word.” Oh miracle! How all the sayings are equally related to each other! The word "be" is equivalent to the word "in the beginning." Where is the detractor? Where is the anti-Christ language, saying: “There was a time when He was not?” – Listen to what the Gospel says: “in the beginning there was nothing.” And if it was in the beginning, then when was it not? Is it wicked for me to mourn them or to look with disgust at their ignorance? But “before He was born, He was not”? But do you know “when” one was born, so that this “before” can be attributed to time? For “before” is a saying of time, presupposing the duration of one thing in comparison with another. Is it reasonable for the Creator of time to have a birth that is subject to the names used about time? So: “in the beginning there was no”. If you do not deviate from this “be”, then you will not give any access to the evil blasphemy. For those at sea, when they are supported by two anchors, despise the storm; so you too, if your soul is sheltered under the protection of these sayings, will laugh at this crafty confusion that the spirits of evil create in the world, causing the faith of many to waver. But our thought seeks: who was “at the beginning”? It is said: "Word". What word? Is it a human word? or the word of an angel? Thus, the Apostle revealed to us that Angels also have their own language when he said: “Even the tongues of men and of angels” (1 Cor. 13:1). Moreover, the concept of a word is twofold: there is a word pronounced by a voice, but upon pronunciation it disappears into the air; and there is an internal word, contained in our hearts, mental and other artificial words. Therefore, be careful that you are not deceived by the similarity of the word. For what about the human word at the beginning, when man received the beginning of being only later? Before man there were animals, before man there were cattle, all reptiles, everything living on land and in water, birds of the air, stars, sun, moon, plants, seeds, earth, sea, sky; therefore, the word “be in the beginning” is not human; but not angelic either; because every creature, later than centuries, received the beginning of existence from the Creator. But the word is in the heart, and it is newer than every mental object. On the contrary, understand the Word divinely. For he who speaks with you about the Only Begotten calls Him the Word, just as a little later He calls Him light, and life, and resurrection. And you, hearing the saying: “light,” do not turn to this sensory and visible light; and hearing the saying: “life,” you do not understand this common life that the dumb live; So, when you hear the saying “word,” beware lest, due to the weakness of your thoughts, you be carried away into thoughts that creep on the earth and are base, but examine the meaning of the saying. Why the Word? To show that it came from the mind. Why the Word? Because he was born dispassionately. Why the Word? Because the Son is the image of the One who was born, completely showing the One who gave birth in Himself, not separating anything from Him, and Himself perfect in Himself, just as our word depicts our whole concept. For whatever we thought in our hearts, we spoke the same; and what is spoken is an image of the heart’s thinking, because the word is pronounced from the abundance of the heart. Our heart is like a certain source, and the spoken word is like a certain stream flowing from this source. Therefore, as much flows away as was originally drained; as is the hidden, so is the revealed. So, I called it the Word in order to depict to you the dispassionate birth of the Father, to expound the theological teaching about the perfect existence of the Son, and through this showed the pre-temporal unity of the Son with the Father. For our word is also a product of the mind, born dispassionately; it is not cut off, is not separated, does not expire; but the whole mind, being in its own composition, produces a whole and perfect word; and the word that comes into existence contains within itself all the power of the mind that gave birth. Why, what is pious, from the saying: “word”, take into theology about the Only Begotten; and what you find dissimilar and apparently incongruous, avoid it and try by all means to avoid it. "In the beginning was the Word". And if you had said: “in the beginning was the Son,” then with the name Son you would have had the concept of passion; because what is born with us is born in time, born with passion. Therefore, I first called it the Word, warning against indecent assumptions, in order to keep your soul unhurt. “And the Word was with God.” Again “be”, for the sake of those who speak blasphemously that the Son did not exist. Where was the Word? Not in place, because the infinite is not encompassed by place. Where was it? "With God". The Father is not in a place, and the Son is not contained in any volume, and not in a certain outline; but just as the Father is infinite, so is the Son infinite. Whatever you imagine with your mind, wherever you go with your spirit, you will find that the Hypostasis of the Son is spread out everywhere. “And the Word was with God.” Marvel at the accuracy of each saying; did not say: the Word was in God, but “with God” to depict the distinctive property of the Hypostasis. He did not say: in God, so as not to give rise to the merging of the Hypostasis. For this blasphemy is also evil, when they try to confuse everything, saying that one subject is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but one subject is given different names. This wickedness is deceitful; he should be shunned no less than those who blasphemously claim that the Son of God is not essentially like God and the Father. “And the Word was with God.” By using the phrase: the word to show dispassion in birth, he soon eliminated the harm that could have been derived from the speech itself: “Word”. And as if saving himself from the slander of detractors, he says: what is “the Word?” - God is the Word." Do not be clever in making any distinctions between words and, out of your malicious intent, do not bring any blasphemy to the teaching of the Spirit. You have been given a definition: submit to the Lord. "God is the Word". “This has been with God from time immemorial” (John 1:2). The Evangelist again, in a few utterances, briefly sets out all his theology that he conveyed to us about the Only Begotten. Who is "Sey"? “This” Word is God. For when he had brought the concept of Him to the correctness in you, through teaching he had, as it were, imprinted the unknown in your soul, and instilled the Word of Christ in your heart: then he says: “This.” What is “This”? Do not turn your gaze outward, losing sight of the One who is shown to you by this indicative saying; but enter into the mystery of your soul, and about Whom you have been taught that He is God who exists in the beginning, who came into existence as the Word, and who exists with God, having known Him, having marveled at Him, and having worshiped your Master, established in you through the teaching, know that “He is from the beginning,” that is, always with God His Father. Keep a few sayings as a seal in your memory. They will be an indestructible wall against the aspirations of those who slander; they are a saving barrier for souls from attackers. Will someone come to you and say: “He who is not was born; for if he was, how was he born?” - You, like a demonic voice, run away from this blasphemy against the glory of the Only Begotten; and return yourself and resort to the Gospel sayings: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the word. This would have been with God from time immemorial." Say “wasn’t” four times, and you will reflect it back to them: “I wasn’t.” Let these foundations of faith be unshakable. God willing, they will build on them and so on. For it is not possible to talk with you suddenly about everything: otherwise, by the length of the word, we will make useless for you what you have laboriously collected. The thought, not having the strength to embrace everything at once, will undergo the same thing that the belly endures, which, due to excess saturation, is not able to digest what is communicated to it. Therefore, I wish you to enjoy the taste and take advantage of what is offered. And I am ready to serve you and others, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: