Слово 8, о заветах и о пришествии Христовом

Now delve into the meaning of the double law, promulgated under the name of the Old and under the name of the New, and given first to the Jews, because they were the first to know the God reigning in the highest, and then to all the ends of the earth. For God the All-Knowing governs man, uttering to him commands that do not contradict, as some ignorant mind does, and do not change, which is blamed even on mortals. This is my concept of the help of God who loved us. The evil enemy, after expelling the first Adam from paradise, seducing him with the harmful fruit of the murderous tree, just as one strikes with weapons an army in which the leader is killed, tried to instill evil and death in the children of Adam. With malicious intent, he distracted man from the heavenly God, turning his gaze to the starry sky, shining with luminous beauty, and to the images of the dead, which love built and brought into glory as a fable, first accepted with faith by kindly friends, then not caught by anyone in a lie, and over the years, constantly acquiring new strength. And the sacred Jewish race destroyed the mind, did not obey the prophets who complained, begged and constantly threatened with the wrath of the King, and in former times even killed them. The kings themselves did not have the fear of God, but for the most part they turned out to be malicious; and groves, mountain heights and bloody sacrifices to demons were not left with them at all. For this the Jews incurred the jealous wrath of the great God and perished; and instead of them, I set out on the path so that, by arousing competition in them, I would force them to return to pious faith in Christ, after late repentance, when they were filled with grief over the preference of the newly introduced people who took their place. But this will happen later. since the Jews despised the law; then the human race was finally awarded the following honor, at the behest of the immortal Father and the action of the Son, Christ, when he saw that soul-destroying sin had destroyed in the human body everything that was heavenly, and the cunning serpent reigned over people, then, in order to regain His property, He did not send other helpers against the disease (because in great suffering weak healing is not enough), but Himself, having exhausted the glory that He had, as the motherless Son of the immortal God the Father appeared without a father as an extraordinary son for me, not even extraordinary, because he came from me; and the Immortal, having become mortal, came through the Virgin Mother to save the whole person. And since the whole Adam fell through the crime of eating; then, according to human and at the same time non-human laws, having incarnated in the honest womb of a Woman who had not known marriage (oh, an incredible miracle for the weakest!), God came and at the same time a mortal, combining two natures - one hidden and the other visible to people, and of which one was God, and the other was born for us in the last days. In two natures there is one God - my King and Christ; because he was united with the Divinity and from the Divinity man became, so that, having appeared among earthly beings as another, new Adam, he could heal the former Adam. But He appeared, covered with a veil from everywhere, because otherwise it would have been impossible to approach my weaknesses, and moreover, it was necessary that the serpent, who considers himself wise, approached Adam beyond his expectations and met God and crushed his malice against His fortress, as a noisy sea crushes against a solid rock. When Christ appeared, the earth and heaven shook at His birth. The heavenly face proclaimed chants, and a star from the east showed the way to the Magi - the servants of the newborn King, bringing Him gifts. This is my word about the new birth of Christ! There is nothing shameful here; because one sin is shameful. But in Christ there is no place for shame; because the Word created Him, and He did not become man from human seed. But from the flesh of the Most Pure, non-brided Mother, Who was previously purified by the Spirit, a self-created Man came forth; He accepted cleansing for my sake. For I also fulfilled everything that was lawful, as I think, in order to give to the law both a reward, as an educator, and funeral honor, as one that has been abolished. But when the Foretold One appeared as the most luminous lamp of the great Light, the forerunner in birth, the forerunner in word, crying out in the midst of the desert that my Christ is God; Then He became the mediator of two nations, one distant, the other near (because He was the common cornerstone for them), and granted mortals a twofold cleansing: one - the eternal Spirit, and with it He cleansed in me the previous damage born of the flesh, the other - our blood (for I call that blood my own, which Christ my God drained), the redemption of original infirmities and the deliverance of the world. If I were not a changeable person, but an irresistible one; then I would only need the commandment of the great God, and it would decorate me, save me and lead me to high glory. But now God did not create me as a god, but placed me in balance, willing to bend here and there; That’s why it supports me with many supports, one of which is the grace of washing for people. How once upon a time Jewish children were saved from destruction by the blood of Christ and cleansed the doors (thresholds - Ed.) of the doors, while in one night all the firstborn of Egypt perished; so for me this is the seal of God, who delivers us from evils, and for infants only a seal, and for adults the healing and most perfect divine seal of Christ the Light-Giver, so that, having been saved from the depths of sorrows and somewhat lightened from the burden, I turn my feet to life. For the traveler, having rested from fatigue, raises his knees strengthened in strength. As the common property of all, the air, the earth, the wide sky and everything that entails the circle of annual times; Thus, the saving font became the common property of people. You might be interested in: