Поучение на усекновение честной главы святого Иоанна Предтечи, месяца августа, в 29 день в 1701 г. («При окончании же поприща своего Иоанн говорил: «За кого почитаете вы меня?» (Деян. 13:25))

Beloved listeners! The honest and glorious prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, whose beheading of his honorable head we now remember, was once asked: who is he? “The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him: Who are you?” (John 1:19). Now John himself, ending his life, sealing his sermon with his blood and bowing his honorable head under the sword of Herod, asks about himself: how does everyone think about him? “Who do you think I am?” Let everyone think about him as he wants, but I, bearing in mind this Friday the day of the cross, the day of the Lord’s free suffering, and seeing on this day two deaths: the death of Christ the Lord - on the cross, and the death of His Forerunner by the sword, I will say that Saint John was an imitator of Christ, according to what he who bore the wounds of his Lord on his body tells us: “Imitate me, as I am Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16). And if about anyone, then about Saint John the Baptist, first of all, the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews can be said: “He was likened to the Son of God” (Heb. 7:3), for he was the first of the saints about whom the apostle says: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). Let's see how and in what ways Saint John was conformed, like the Son of God, Christ our Savior? Interpreters of Divine Scripture, considering the above-mentioned apostolic words: “those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,” explain how one can be conformed to Christ: “By the cross,” they say, “we are conformed to the Son of God, Christ crucified, and in this is our great honor and benefit. For just as here we are conformed to Christ in sorrows, so we will be conformed to Him in the blessed life. Therefore, who would not want to bear the cross with Christ? In order to be conformed and like Christ our Lord, we must be His imitators not in working miracles, not in raising the dead, but in spiritually bearing the cross, that is, in patiently enduring all troubles, sorrows, persecutions and death itself for the sake of God. It is by this cross, if we bear it well, that we will become conformed, like the Son of God, and will be glorified with Him, according to the words of the Apostle: “If only we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17). The natural Son of God, desiring that the sons of God communed with Him on earth in nothing other than suffering, showed this desire at His Nativity. For, having descended from heaven to earth to raise the human race from earth to heaven, and being born of the Most Pure Virgin in Bethlehem, he immediately bestows salvation on fourteen thousand infants like Him in infancy, and bestows it only by martyrdom, so that those who will be like Him in heavenly glory will first of all be like Him on earth in suffering. The now celebrated Saint John the Baptist showed himself to be like the Savior in suffering, which is well indicated by the very real day of Friday - the day of remembrance of those two deaths. And when you combine the memory of two deaths into one place, you see, as it were, one truth. Christ was taken and bound: “They took him and bound him” (John 18:12). Saint John was taken and bound, for “Herod, having taken John, bound him and put him in prison for Herodias” (Matthew 14:3). John dies in prison; and at the time of Christ's death darkness was over all the earth (Luke 23:44). Christ bowed His head on the Cross, John bowed his head under the sword; and both shed their blood. John suffered for the truth with joy. Christ, the Truth Himself, suffered for our iniquities: “He bore our sins” (Isa. 53:4). Thus, conforming to each other in death, the Lord and the servant, Christ and the Forerunner, converse with each other according to Scripture: “My beloved is mine, and I am to him” (Song 2:16), Christ says: “My beloved John, my servant and my Forerunner is like me, and I am like him.” John answers: “Jesus Christ, My Lord, “Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Acts 13:25), is like me, for He took upon Himself my image, and I am like Him, dying from the lawless Herod, as He did from the synagogue of the Jews.” Is it possible to discern the difference between them only in that Christ died on the Cross, and John was beheaded by the sword. But this happened so that the words spoken by John would come true: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Christ grew high, exalted above all others on the Cross, but John humbled himself with the sword and with his head falling from his body to the ground, he bowed down to the feet of Christ his Lord, to the feet standing on the Cross, which he foresaw with his prophetic eyes. But not only in suffering, but throughout his entire life, starting from birth, Saint John was partly conformed and similar to Christ, his Lord. About his birth, Saint Ambrose says: “It was fitting that the Forerunner, the predecessor of the Lord, should have some similarity with the Lord in his birth.” What was this similarity? In the following: the same Archangel Gabriel announces the conception of both - first to Zechariah, then to the Most Pure Virgin Mary. One God the Father sends both into the world: he sends the Forerunner: “Behold, I send My angel” (Mark 1:2), and sends Christ: “when the fullness of time had come, God sent His only begotten Son” (Gal. 4:4). Christ is born from a virgin virgin, John is born from a barren, aged mother, and many rejoice at the birth of both. The Lord fasted in the desert, and John remained in the desert until the very day of his appearance before Israel. One beginning of the preaching of both: “Jesus began to preach and say: “Repent” (Matthew 4:17), and John “preached in the Judean wilderness and said: “Repent” (Matthew 3:1–2). Thus, John, being conformed to the Lord both in his birth and in his life, showed himself to be conformed to Him in his suffering death. For the Lord was killed by the malice of the Jews, and John by the malice of Herodias. Both suffered for human sins: John for the sins of Herod and Herodias, and Christ for the sins of the whole world. The only difference is that the death of John did not bring salvation to Herod and Herodias, but destruction, while the death of Christ granted deliverance to everyone who wanted it. John suffered because of Herodias, but Christ because of the foremother Eve. The real Friday afternoon secretly tells me: do you know why they both suffered? Don't know. They suffered for one human sin. For which? For unclean sin, the sin of nasty carnal deeds. Look and you will see if this is so. I, listening to Friday, remember that the ancient astrologers or fabulists-poets dedicated this day to a certain heavenly sign, a certain planet called Venus or Aphrodite, and this name was once called the pagan goddess, the goddess of carnal deeds, which the apostle described: “The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness” and so on (Gal. 5:19). And when I see two suffering people on the same day, a slave and a Master, I firmly believe that both of them suffer for one sin - for the uncleanness of carnal human deeds. Didn’t Saint John suffer for the uncleanness of Herod and Herodias? Why did Christ suffer? Will you say that He suffered because of the intemperance of our first parents, who transgressed the commandment of God and ate from the forbidden tree? I will say: was it not from that apple that the seed of corruption and the lust of the flesh originated among our first parents? For they immediately recognized their nakedness, felt in their members another law, the law of the flesh, warring against the law of the spirit, and they began to be ashamed of each other and cover their nakedness with fig leaves. And for this sin, and most of all for carnal uncleanness, God punished the people of the first world either with a flood or with sulfur fire. Then He Himself, as having bore the sins of all, accepted the death penalty. Now, especially by this sin, that is, carnal uncleanness, he is crucified a second time by those who live fornication, who “make members of Christ members of a harlot.” For both deaths - Christ's and John's - there is one reason: human uncleanness. John died once, but Christ also dies in us. For every time someone dares to commit vile carnal iniquity, he crucifies Christ in his members. By desecrating his members, he defiles not his own members, but Christ’s, for they are redeemed by the Blood of Christ, as the apostle says: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Christ ascended to the Cross to abolish the power of the devil. But in what, if not in carnal, lustful sin, was all the power of the devil established? For this passion conquers everyone, but rarely can anyone overcome it. Everyone serves her: the wise, the strong, and the rich. Let me remember here one ancient Hellenic fable that suits our conversation. All the Hellenic gods once gathered in one assembly for a competition, each wanting to show his strength as best he could, and each appeared with a sign of his strength. Dius, or Zeus (Jupiter) came with lightning, which he held in his hand as a sign of his wisdom or royal light power and honor, for he was considered a king over the gods. Apollo appeared with a bow and arrows, which he carried as a sign of his well-being. Hercules came with a spear as a sign of his strength. Ares (Mars) - with a sword as a sign of courage, Hermes (Mercury) came or, better yet, flew in on golden wings, and this - as a sign of his wealth. Others appeared with other signs and instruments of their power, and each of them boasted that one could do this, the other could do that. After everyone, a certain young man came in to them, called Cupid, that is, the god of carnal lust, with his eyes covered with a scarf. Standing in the midst of them, he suddenly rushed at them with boldness, despite the fact that he saw nothing, and took away from everyone the signs of their strength in which they boasted. He took away the lightning from Zeus, the bow and arrows from Apollo, the spear from Hercules, the sword from Ares, the golden wings from Hermes, and from others he uncontrollably took away other signs of their powers, and no one could resist him, everyone obeyed. Seeing this, others standing outside exclaimed: carnal love prevails over everything. The meaning of this fable is this: although the Greeks, who did not know the True God, boasted about their numerous vain gods, calling them strong, strong and invincible, they were not ashamed to openly speak the truth about them - the truth that their gods were conquered by Cupid, that is, carnal lust, and everyone served this passion. Although this fable is Hellenic, it is very appropriate for exposing our evil morals. Doesn't the same thing happen to us Christians? Are not all conquered by this passion, the wise and the strong, the brave and the rich? One, like Zeus, is prudent, shines with wisdom, glory and honor like lightning, but as soon as he gives in to carnal lust, it takes away that lightning from him, makes his mind darkened, discredits his glory and turns honor into dishonor. The other is prosperous like Apollo, strong like Hercules, brave like Mars, rich like Hermes. But when it is conquered by Cupid, that is, by bad carnal lust, it destroys everything, for it contains all the demonic power, and nothing can resist the power of lust. Cupid, or carnal lust, has his eyes covered with a handkerchief because he who gives himself over to it, as it were, loses his eyes and sees nothing. He sees neither his dishonor nor his glory. He doesn’t see that everyone is insulting him; he does not see that his mind, his strength of health, and his property are being depleted and destroyed. Finally, he does not see his eternal destruction. Many fought against this enemy with various weapons, various, I say, exploits, fasts, prayers, all-night vigils, labors and indescribable mortifications of their bodies and could hardly repel it. Wanting to expel and destroy in people the power of this demon, the sin of nasty carnal deeds, the Lord and His servant, Christ and His Forerunner, both suffered and suffered on that day, which was dedicated by the ancients to the filth of Venus, in order to show that it was not for anything other than our sinful carnal filth that the Son of God and His great prophet died. O our carnal uncleanness, accursed! How strong is your malice if you bring to death even the Source of purity, Christ God, and His servants, innocent in hands and pure in heart (see Ps. 23:4)! Carnal lust has closed and blindfolded eyes because it does not see itself or anyone else, for the unclean fornicator does not see either his abomination or the terrible Judge of God, and does not remember the terrible judgment of God. And there is hardly anything that drives God out of the mind and into oblivion like the vile lawlessness of lustful acts. In church history we read that the wicked, who hated our Lord Jesus Christ, wishing to destroy His holy name on earth so that it would not be known to future generations, buried His honorable Cross, and with it two crosses of thieves, deep into the ground there, on Calvary, and, throwing earth and stones in that place, made a grave on that mountain, as if another mountain. And on the spot where our Lord was crucified, the wicked Roman king Hadrian built an idol church, in which he placed an idol of Venus. And many sinful carnal abominations were committed there for a long time, until, finally, Saint Helen cleansed this place and found the holy cross. Let us consider that devilish cunning: how did it want to destroy in people the memory of the suffering of Christ? Venus, the sin of carnal lusts and prodigal impurities. Indeed, the same thing is happening today! Is there a heart like Golgotha ​​with the Cross and crucifixion of Christ and having nothing else before its mental eyes except our Lord “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified!” (1 Cor. 2:2) For when sinful lust enters the heart and is held in it by voluptuousness, Christ is immediately forgotten there and deeply buried through oblivion, and in that place the devil places Venus, that is, the memory and love of some prodigal person, whom a sinful person will love and for whom he will be inflamed with lust. Turning to the present gospel history, we will see that at first Saint John the Baptist was in the heart of Herod: “For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and took care of him; I did many things in obedience to him, and listened to him with pleasure” (Mark 6:20). Then, when the sin of carnal lust - adultery - entered his heart, both John and his useful teaching were immediately buried in oblivion, and their place was taken by the idol of Venus, that is, Herodias. We, considering both stories: about Christ and John and comparing them, see that they are similar, consistent with each other. And therefore, holy Forerunner, to your question: “Who do you consider me to be?” - we now answer: you are like Christ, conformed to Him insofar as the life and death of Christ are reflected in your life and death, and your life and death - in the life and death of Christ! To St. John’s question: “Who do you say that I am?” - one could give many great titles in response - calling him an Angel sent before the face of Christ, a star and a lamp of light, a friend of the Bridegroom and other most honorable names. But all these names and titles are united and contained in one thing, when we call him similar to Christ, conformed to the Son of God, if not in everything, that is, not in His Divinity, not in His Divine power, then in humanity, and then, however, in part, as the aforementioned St. Ambrose: It was fitting that the Forerunner of the Lord should have something similar with the Lord, namely the following. Just as a burning candle has some similarity with the sun, for the sun, like a candle, illuminates and warms, but the sun does this incomparably more powerfully than a candle, so there is a similarity between Christ and John: Christ is like the sun, and John is like a candle, for he, as the Lord says, “was a lamp, burning and shining” (John 5:35). But although John has only some similarity with Christ, only in part, he still has, and has as much as the whole world cannot have, for “from among those born of women there has not arisen a greater one than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). So, my listener, we have already answered St. John’s question: “Who do you say that I am?” We consider him similar and conformable to the Son of God, Christ our Savior. I finished the conversation about the holy Forerunner, but did not finish the conversation about the sin for which Saint John suffered in prison and Christ on the Cross. They suffered, as it is said, for the uncleanness of human lusts. What do you, listeners, think about such people who wallow in the filthiness of the flesh without self-restraint and repentance? Who do you consider them to be? We consider them to be far removed from the image and likeness of the Son of God, we consider them similar and conformable to the vile devil, for “whoever commits sin is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). What do I say: like the devil! Do we consider him worse than the devil? For even devils abhor the bodily uncleanness of prodigal people, as the blessed one says. Augustine: “O accursed uncleanness, from which the Angels flee, and when the devils see it, they close their eyes!” Let's see how the devils close their eyes at the sight of human prodigal uncleanness. Let me remember one case here. A certain sorcerer, one of the so-called warlocks, according to the custom of his magical teachings, summoned the devil to himself for some service to him. The devil did not appear for a long time, but the sorcerer did not stop begging and calling on him. Finally the devil appeared to the sorcerer, appeared in human form and, standing in the distance, covered his nose with his fingers. Then the sorcerer asked the devil: “What does this mean?” And the devil answered him: the stench of your fornication does not allow me to approach you. O damned fornicator! What extreme repentance do you reach, that not only God and His holy Angels, but also the most unclean demons abhor your uncleanness and, seeing it, close their eyes, stopping their nostrils from its stench! In church legends we also find another story, how a man in confession said that when he committed lawless carnal uncleanness, the voice of the devil was heard, who, as if standing behind a wall, cackled terribly and said three times: “Fe, fe, fe”! Think about it! The demon himself, who loves the fall of man, stands behind the wall, as if not wanting to look at the uncleanness being committed. And Augustine’s words seem fair that the devils, seeing the prodigal uncleanness of man, close their eyes. Let us also remember here the terrible event about which Blessed Jerome writes, that on the night when our Savior Christ God was born from the Most Pure Virgin, everyone in the universe who found themselves committing the sin of Sodom was struck and killed by fire and lightning during their sinful deed. For, entering the world through His most pure Nativity, the Source of purity, Christ did not allow that sin to be committed in the world at the hour of His birth, which He once did not want to contemplate from the heights of heaven and in one hour destroyed the five cities of Sodom for it. Hear this and take heed, O most lawless and most vile Sodomite! Tremble in soul and body, so that God does not strike you from above with thunder and lightning, so that he does not command the earth to open its mouth under you and bring you down alive to hell! O carnal, lustful, sinful uncleanness! Uncleanness, which is worse than a dog, more nasty than a worm, more unclean than all uncleanness, disgusting even to the devil, but pleasant, sweet and most lovable to the lusty, lustful and sin-loving heart! I'm embarrassed to say this. Oh, if only we were ashamed to do what we should be incomparably more ashamed of at the Last Judgment of God before the darkness of those holy Angels and the council of all saints! With these words I will end my conversation, so that everyone knows how disgusting carnal, sinful lust is, how harmful and destructive, how hateful to God and His saints and disgusting even for demons. For her denunciation, the now celebrated Saint John the Baptist suffered from Herod. I don’t want to denounce her anymore, so as not to deserve anyone’s hatred, and I pray to my Lord that through the prayers of His most pleasing servant, Saint John the Baptist, he will drive away sinful, carnal desires from us and grant spiritual, heavenly, God-pleasing desires! Amen.