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Speaking about the genealogy according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and about the Ever-Virgin and Mother of God who gave birth to Him in virginity 516 1. Both David (Ps. 119:4) and Isaiah (Is. 53:8) revealed that in relation to the Godhead our Lord Jesus Christ has no pedigree; after them the Apostle confirmed this (Heb.7:3). Because how could He who is in the beginning, and He who is with God, and He who is God, and He who is God’s Word and Son (John 1:1) have a genealogy, and He who does not have a Father who came into being before Him, and He who has a name above every name and word? - Because the family tree runs through the leaders of the clan and consists of a number of different names. There is nothing older than God’s name; and this can be said regarding the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: because it 517 is one and does not differ in anything (in the concept of the Divine Nature). Indescribable, indeed, is the genealogy of Christ in Divinity; but it is proclaimed according to His human nature: because for the sake of the salvation of man, the Son of God deigned to become the leader of His kinship from people and to become the Son of Man. And this genealogy of His was set forth jointly by two Evangelists: Matthew and Luke. But Matthew (Matthew 1:1-16), according to today's reading from his Gospel, starting from his ancestors, does not remember anyone before Abraham, but starting with him, he comes to Joseph, whose betrothed was the Virgin Mary, who, according to God's providence, came from the same fatherland and tribe, so that on this basis Her family would be in no way inferior to his family. Luke (Luke 3:23-28), starting not from the ancestors, but from the nearest (relatives), from the Betrothed himself, ascending, ends not on Abraham, but, counting above, did not even stop at Adam, but also counted God among the Ancestors of Christ according to humanity, wanting, as it seems to me, to show that man was not only the creation of God, but also the Son in spirit 518, who then (at creation) Inhaling through the life-primary breath 519, He gave it to man along with his soul. He gave it, as it were, as a pledge: so that if, holding tightly to Him, he would keep the commandments, then thanks to this he would be able to become a participant in a more perfect unity with Him, by virtue of which he would be able to remain with God forever, having acquired immortality in himself. 2. Since, having heeded the evil advice of the destroyer, he transgressed God’s commandment and showed himself unworthy, he lost the pledge (he received from God) and damaged God’s plan; but since God’s grace is unchangeable and the intention is unfalse, the election is made from among those generated by Adam, so that after a long period of time the sufficient Receptacle of this Divine adoption and grace, fully cooperating with God’s will, may be found, and a Vessel worthy of being united in Him according to the hypostasis 520 of God’s and human natures, not only highly representing our (human) nature, will be revealed. nature, but correcting the entire human race in its image; the Virgin appeared as such a Sacred Vessel 521, the Virgin and Mother of God; that is why She was declared by Archangel Gabriel to be “Gracious”, as truly the Chosen One of the elect and a flawless and undefiled Vessel and worthy of the Divine Hypostasis, so as to accommodate and assist Her. So. God predetermines Her for Himself from eternity and from eternity chooses Her and honors Her with preferential grace than in relation to all, having made Her before Her miraculous birth - the Holiest of the Saints; which is why he was pleased that She should dwell in the Holy of Holies; having accepted that from Her very childhood She would remain with Him. He chooses Her not just from among many, but also from among all those who have been chosen from the ages and are remarkable and famous for their piety and prudence and generally useful and godly qualities and morals and for their words and deeds. 3. Look where this election originates: from among the children of Adam, the beautiful Seth was chosen by God, who, by virtue of his decency of character and self-restraint of feelings and the beauty of virtues, having revealed himself to be animated by heaven, was for this chosen by God, and from this election this Virgin was to arise - truly Heaven and the Chariot of the most heavenly God befitting God, and to call people to immortal adoption. For this reason, the entire family of Seth was called “sons of God.” Because from this generation he was to be born as the Son of Man, the Son of God; Therefore, the name “Seth” in translation means “rebellion,” or better said: “resurrection,” which in the full sense of the word is the Lord Himself, who promises and gives immortal life to those who believe in Him. And what a correspondence of the image! So, Seth became for Eve, as she says: “instead of Abel, Cain killed him” out of envy (Gen. 4:25); The Son of the Virgin - Christ - became for human nature instead of Adam, who, out of envy, was killed by the leader and parent of evil. But Seth did not resurrect Abel, because he was only an image of the resurrection; Our Lord Jesus Christ resurrected Adam: because He Himself is the true Life of people and the Resurrection, by whose power those from the race of Seth were worthy, on the basis of hope, of divine adoption, being called “sons of God.” And the fact that they were called “sons of God” on the basis of this hope is evident from the first who was so named and inherited this election. This was Enos, the son of Seth, who, according to what was written by Moses, “this one who first hoped to be called by the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:26) 522 is found in the translation of Aquila and in use in Bl. Theodorite; also in St. Gregory Palamas, in addition to this conversation, in his first conversation on the Entry into the Church of the Mother of God, sec. 6 different readings.. Do you see clearly that on the basis of hope he received the divine calling? If the Seventy say: “This one is the first to hope to call on the name of the Lord,” then by this they are by no means in disagreement with the others (translators of the Old Testament). Because Enos, living more godly than anyone else in those days, was the first after Seth to receive this hope from God, and calls on it and is named after it. From the children of Adam, God chooses Seth; why Luke also traces to him the genealogy of the entire family from which Christ descended in the flesh; Of the children of Seth, Enos was preferred by election, as was said; from those who descended from him - Enoch, who himself showed that virtue does not remain without reward and that this world, subject to death, is not a worthy dwelling for those who please God: because, having pleased Him, he was removed from the earth. Again, from those descended from him, Lamech was judged to be worthy of election; and after him his son, who after the Flood was the only father of the whole world, Noah, was honored to receive election; because in his time he was found alone, together with his household, who lived chastely, while the “sons of God” took the daughters of men as wives, as Moses relates, i.e. - descended from the Forefather of the Mother of God - Seth, but belonging to the number of the rejected, as unworthy, who were expelled with contempt from the clan of this Virgin Mother, having themselves completely lost the Spirit of God, Who later came to the Virgin, according to the words of the Archangel who announced to Her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High will overshadow Thee” (Luke 1:35); Who in advance brought Her precedence into fulfillment, selecting and purifying the family tree from above, and accepting those worthy or having to be fathers of wonderful (sons), and completely rejecting those unworthy. Therefore, the Lord God said regarding these rejected ones in those days: “My Spirit shall not abide in these men (for ever), for they are flesh” (Gen. 6:3); because if the Virgin comes from the flesh and seed of Adam, from Her according to the flesh is Christ, but by the Holy Spirit this race was purified from above in many different ways, when the election was made in the race according to dignity; therefore, Noah, “righteous and perfect in his generation,” according to what was written about him (Gen. 5:29), was awarded this election. 4. And judge to what extent the Holy Spirit makes it clear to those who have understanding that all God-inspired Scripture was written for the sake of the Virgin Mary. Because, beginning Her family tree with Adam, and passing through Seth and Noah and Abraham, and then David and Zerubbabel and those between them and after them, accurately mentioning, it brings the family to the time when the Virgin Mary appeared; the genealogy of other genealogies either did not begin at all, and if it did begin, it soon leaves it, consigning it to the abyss of oblivion, and mainly mentions those who were the ancestors of the Mother of God, who either by themselves or by deeds, as if in an image, prefigured the Christ Coming from the Virgin. Do you see in this Noah a clear image in those days of the One who had to be born of the Virgin, for whose sake this election was made: because Noah appeared as the Savior of the human race, but not of the entirety, but of his entire house (family), saved thanks to him: so Christ is the Savior of the human race, but not of the entirety, but of His entire House, i.e. His Church, but not - and the disobedient. “Noah” in translation means: “calm”; But who is truly Serenity, if not the One Born of the Virgin, Who Says: “Come to Me” - by the way of repentance - “all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), - granting you liberation and relief and eternal life? - Therefore, Lamech, having given his son Noah such a name, as if seeing in him the Christ coming later from his family, Who became the Calm of all the worshipers of God from time immemorial, 523 clearly prophesies in this name about Christ. Because it says: “He called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our works, and from the sorrow of our hands, and from the land whereby the Lord our God has cursed” (Gen. 5:29). These words were not spoken in relation to the fulfilled Flood: because the death of Lamech preceded the Flood; meanwhile, Lamech says: “He will calm us down,” and makes himself an accomplice in the calm he prophesies; and then not every person “thought diligently in his heart on evil (evil) all the days” of his life (Gen. 6:5); for which reason there came from God a worldwide destruction on the earth: on all those living on the earth. So who did these words refer to: “calm us down”? But it also says: “He will give rest from the land south (which) God has cursed”?! Who calmed us from this land? – Isn’t it the One who opened the heavens and raised our nature there and showed us in words and deeds the way to ascend to heaven and called us to this path? Even if the Flood was an image of tranquility, it was the destruction and cessation of sin, and not as relief and tranquility for sinners. 5. Thus and for this reason (his purpose: to be a prototype of Christ) Noah received election (to be the progenitor of the Mother of God); from among his children, Shem was accepted into the election of the family of the Mother of God; therefore, although Japheth showed himself to be pleasing to his father, only Shem hears from his father: “Blessed is the God of Shem” (Gen. 9:26): because from his lineage will come God. Because from him came Abraham, who, pre-elected, according to the election from all the descendants of Shem to inherit the lineage of the Mother and Virgin, was chosen and renamed by God and received this great promise, saying that in his seed all the tribes of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3); His seed, as Paul says, is Christ God according to the flesh (Gal. 3:16), born of the Virgin. What can we say about Abraham’s visions of God, divine signs, God’s promises, which foreshadowed and foreshadowed what relates to the Ever-Virgin and Mother of God and to Her Ineffable Nativity? But in order for us to quickly go through the rest, because time does not allow us to drag out the speech, let us remember: that of those born of Abraham, Isaac was again chosen; and of his sons, in turn, Jacob; from the sons of Jacob - the tribe of Judah, from which came the Root of Jesse; and from those who grew from this Root - David, the Psalmist, Prophet and King, regarding whom God proclaims: “His seed 524 will endure forever, and his throne is like the sun before Me, and like the moon is perfect forever: and a faithful Witness in heaven” (Ps. 89:37-38). 6. Who is this Witness? - Of course, He who sits on the heavenly throne, about whom, again, in another place, the Psalmist says: “His name abides before the sun, and in Him all the tribes of the earth will be blessed” (Ps. 71:17). Here we find a special genealogical tree of the blessed family of the Mother of God and Joseph, Her Betrothed: because both he and she came from the same tribe and fatherland, according to the Law. So, starting from here, the genealogical tree is compounded, based both on natural children and on children by law: it is intertwined and often converges with each other into one; but also often it is divided into two, so that it seems incredible that the same child is the child of two fathers who are brothers to each other: one having a father by law, since he did not give birth to him, but is considered such; having another as a father by birth from him, in him he raised the seed to his (childless) brother (see Deut. 25:5, Matt. 22:24): thus, through both fathers, the one born raises his family to David. Someone might notice that, in other words, this clan is a pair: the royal clan often and in various ways came together with the priestly clan. So, for example, Zerubbabel, who belongs to the divine tree of the Mother of God, was numbered among the priests through the generations of Nathan, and through those born from Solomon, who inherited the kingdom after David, traces his family to David. And, therefore, the Evangelists Matthew and Luke construct the genealogy according to the flesh of the Lord differently: one - natural fathers, the other - fathers by law, they are brought to the number of forefathers; one (Matthew) mentioned only those belonging to the royal family; Luke also brings in those who belonged to the Levitical rank or existing - the royal family refers to the priestly family or (remembers those related to their families through marriage. 7. Of course, Zerubbabel, since he was also pre-elected to be among the Forefathers of the Mother of God, and he himself appeared as the image of Christ and was worthy of great prophecies and deeds: because, born in captivity, because of his virtue and learning, he becomes the subject of admiration for Cyrus the king of the Persians, and teaches Jews and foreigners the power of Truth: and frees the Jewish people from captivity, and renews the church of God, like Christ did later, renewing not an inanimate church, but a church endowed with soul and mind - our nature, and redeeming from captivity not historical 525 and recent, but spiritual and ancient, and transferring followers not from one country to another, but transferring from earth to heaven. This same Zerubbabel is the Forefather of both the Virgin and the Betrothed (Joseph), but the Virgin is only by kinship by birth; he is Joseph’s ancestor both by kinship by birth and by kinship by law: because Joseph had two fathers: Elijah, according to Luke (Luke 3:23), and Jacob, according to Matthew (Matthew 1:16). Because since Eli and Jacob were brothers and traced their family to Zerubbabel, then when Eli died childless, this Jacob, on the basis of the appropriate law, gave birth to the family of Eli from his wife, Joseph. Yet these were plans and images of great mysteries: thus, it was necessary for the royal family to come into contact with the priestly family in various ways, forming a genealogy according to the flesh of Christ: because Christ is truly the eternal King and Bishop in various ways. The fact that the law determines that adopted children should be on an equal footing with their sons and that fathers by law should love their children by law no less, if not more, than their natural children - and accordingly the law regulates other types of kinship - this was a predestination and a clear image of what was from Christ, according to the spirit and according to the law of grace, Adoption (of us from God) and kinship and calling. Because the Lord Himself says in the Gospels: “He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven is My brother and My sister and My mother” (Matthew 12:49). 8. Do you see that the origin of Christ and the relationship with Him is accomplished not according to the law of nature, but according to grace and according to the law based on grace? which is so much better than the law given through Moses, insofar as the called sons, on the basis of this law, were not born of God and did not surpass nature; sons, acquired on the basis of the law of grace, were born from God and became higher than nature and through Christ were adopted as sons of Abraham and became closer to those who are blood sons. Because all who are baptized into Christ, who have put on Christ, as Paul says (Gal. 3:27), who are by nature children of other parents, are born above nature from Christ, who has surpassed nature to the extent that He Himself was incarnate without seed from the Holy Spirit and the Ever-Virgin Mary; He gave the believers in His name the power and authority to become children of God. Because to those who accepted Him - says the Evangelist - He gave them the power to become children of God, who believe in His name, “who were not born of blood, nor of the lust of the flesh, nor of the lust of men, but were born of God” (John 1:12-13). 9. Why, when he said that they were born of God, did he not say that they became children of God, but (says) that they received the power to become such? - Because, looking at the end and at that restoration, the perfection of the future age, the same Evangelist in his Epistles says: “Unless we appear, what shall we be: but when He appears, we will be like Him” (1 John 3:2) 526 .. So, then we will be children of God, seeing and experiencing the radiance of God and illuminated by the radiance of Christ’s glory and together with Him shining, as Moses and Elijah appeared on Mount Tabor in glory with Him, they appeared to us; because: “The righteous will be enlightened,” says Christ, “like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43); now for this we receive strength, thanks to the grace given in divine (holy) baptism. Because as a born child, he received from his parents the power to become a man and heir to their home and wealth; does not yet have this heritage due to his minority; but he will not accept this at all if he is kidnapped by death before this time; - so he who has been reborn in spirit, by the power of baptism into Christ, has indeed accepted the power to be the son and heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ, and will firmly and inalienably receive the divine and immortal adoption in the next century, unless he is deprived of this as a result of spiritual death: sin is this spiritual death; ordinary death comes to naught with the advent of the next century; spiritual death rules over those who brought it upon themselves while still here. 10. Therefore, everyone who is baptized, if he intends to receive the hoped-for everlasting bliss and salvation, let him lead a life free from all sin; and Peter and Paul, the luminaries of the face of the luminaries in the sacred Apostles, reveal this; Thus, the first, having said about Christ that “for I die, I die through sin alone: ​​but he who lives, lives for God (unceasingly)”, adds: “In the same way we must be dead, so that sin may be, and live God” (Rom. 6:10-11); Peter says: “For Christ I died 527 for us in the flesh, and we arm ourselves with the same thought 528—having previously suffered in the flesh, having ceased from sin—not for the lust of man, but for the will of God to live in the flesh for the rest of the time” (1 Peter 4:1-2). If the Lord lived for us, leaving us as an example the life that He lived on earth - He lived sinlessly - then we also need to live sinlessly in His memory; If He said to Abraham’s children according to the flesh: “If Abraham’s children were quicker, Abraham’s works were quickly done” (John 8:39), then how much more will He say to us, who have no kinship in the flesh with Him: “If you were My children, you would also do My works?” - So, behold, one who - after divine baptism, after the contract concluded in it with God, according to the power of receiving divine grace flowing from him - (however) does not follow the way of life of Christ, but transgresses and offends the Benefactor - consistently and rightly should be completely deprived of divine adoption and eternal inheritance. 11. But who will worthily sing, O Christ the King, the greatness of Your love for mankind: because that which You did not need, that which You Yourself did not do - I mean: repentance (because, by no means, He who is without sin needs repentance) 529, this is what You, as a mediator, gave to us, who sinned even after (receiving) grace! Because it is, on the basis of repentance, again a turning to Him and to a way of life according to His will. So, if someone even sins a mortal sin, but from the soul turns away from it and renounces it, and turns to God in deeds and truth, let him dare and have very great hope, because he will not lose eternal life and will not sin in the hope of salvation; because, although a child according to the flesh, if he dies, will no longer be resurrected by his parent, yet one born of Christ, even if he has fallen into mortal sins, if, having turned, he resorts to Him, to his Father, Who also raises the dead, he comes to life again and receives divine adoption, and is not deprived of cohabitation with the righteous, - which may we all receive for the glory of Him and His Beginning Father and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto endless ages. Amen. According to the 1861 edition, it is listed as No. 57, pp. 212–224. Here in the original, although it speaks of a person, the word “Son” is written with a capital letter, which we also retain; the word “spirit” is with a small letter, which we have preserved in our translation. Those. God breathed life into man. Those. in one Person, the Person of the God-Man. We inserted the words: “Sacred Vessel” on our own for the sake of clarity of the text. This translation of Genesis 4 instead of “trust in calling on the name of the Lord God”_ From St. Gregory: “Thy seed...” Orig.: “sensual”, i.e. material. “It has not yet been revealed what we will be, but when it is revealed, we will be like Him”: Orig. “And you will arm yourself with the same thought.” The parentheses belong to the original. You might be interested in: