Отдел пятый. Дела и учение Иисуса Христа от третьей Пасхи до торжественного входа Его в Иерусалим

XVI. Conversation of Jesus Christ about the meaning of fatherly traditions. Healing the demon-possessed daughter of a Canaanite woman. Miracles in the Trans-Jordan region Among the listeners of Jesus Christ, “Jews” have recently become increasingly common, by which we mean not ordinary people, but scribes and Pharisees. Many of them, hearing about the preaching and miracles of the Savior in the Galilean cities, deliberately came here from Jerusalem to follow Him and prepare the ground for formally accusing Him before the Supreme Court of undermining the religion and law of Moses. The Savior's last conversation about communion apparently enraged them, and they sent word to Jerusalem so that all preparations could be made there for the holiday of Easter for the destruction of the hated Prophet. But Christ, seeing the dark plan of the forces of evil in this, this time did not go to Jerusalem and spent Easter in Galilee, continuing his ministry for the salvation of mankind. Having suffered a complete failure in this insidious plan, the Jews again appeared in Galilee after the holiday and began to follow the Savior and look for cases in order to accuse Him of breaking the law. An opportunity soon presented itself to them, but it only served to incriminate them. Jewish lawyers did not limit themselves to simply fulfilling the law of Moses, but over time added to it many unauthorized additions and additions, which sometimes began to be given even more importance than the law of God itself. These additions were observed with particular zeal by the scribes and Pharisees, who looked at them as a “fence” of the law, despite the fact that they often stood in direct contradiction to the latter and served as a cover for low hypocrisy. The Pharisees noticed that the disciples of Jesus Christ once did not wash their hands before eating. In their opinion, this was a great crime - the same, according to the teachings of the rabbis, as eating pork. “Whoever does not wash his hands when eating is subject to exclusion from society, for in washing his hands lies the secret of the Ten Commandments,” “he is worthy of death,” “like a murderer,” and so on, as interpreted by strict legalists. The Savior took this opportunity to teach the pitiful literalists a lesson that they must look at the spirit of the law, and not at its letter, otherwise they would find themselves in conflict with the very law that they think to protect. Responding to the reproach, He in turn asked them: “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded: honor your father and mother; but you say: if anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever you use from me is a gift to God,” he may not honor his father or his mother” (Matthew 15:3,5,6). That is when parents demanded from their children due respect and especially support, then, according to the Pharisaic tradition, it was enough to at least verbally declare that part of the property that should have been brought to the church to support the parents in order to consider oneself free from the obligation to support them or provide them with assistance, since what was dedicated to the church or God, according to the law, could no longer be used for other needs. This low hypocrite found his accuser in Christ. “Thus, He remarked to them, you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition. Hypocrites! "(Matthew 15:6–7) And then the Savior taught both the people and his disciples that in the Kingdom of Heaven, purity of heart is more important than purity of hands. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, theft, false witness, blasphemy” (Matthew 15:19). All this really “defiles a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person” (Jn. 15:20), and this rule itself is caused only by the everyday requirement of neatness, and does not at all have an unconditional moral character, as the Pharisees interpreted, these “blind leaders of the blind” (John 15:14). In order to avoid further attacks from the Pharisaic deceit and in solitude to calm his weary spirit, the Savior decided to completely leave Palestine for a while and go to the neighboring country of Phenicia. “And Jesus departed from there and went into the countries of Tire and Sidon” (Matthew 15:21). Phenicia at that time was living out its last historical glory and along its shores there were already more ruins than flourishing cities. It was the seat of idolatrous wickedness, the fatherland of Baal and Ashtoreth, who so often plunged Israel into the abyss of criminal temptation, a land of pagan darkness. But even here, at least one ray should have shone “light for the enlightenment of the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). And he shone in the temporary appearance of the Source of Light there. The glory of the Savior’s miracles had already penetrated into the borders of Phenicia before Him and there found a response in many believing hearts. There were also many who were weary and burdened, who longed to find rest for their souls in Him. As soon as the Savior entered the borders of this country, one woman, apparently longing to see Him for a long time, turned to Him with a tearful prayer: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! my daughter is furious! "(Matthew 15:22). But the Savior did not immediately answer her prayer, but, seeing the depth and strength of the faith of this Canaanite woman, he wanted to test her more clearly before His disciples. At first He did not even respond to her request at all. But the Canaanite woman did not lag behind. Tired of her persistent request, the disciples finally began to ask Him to let her go. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), the Teacher answered them, and turning to the weeping woman, he coldly added: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (John 15:26). Such an answer could have chilled her soul; and if the Savior had not foreseen that her soul was full of that rare hope that can see mercy and acceptance of a request even in its apparent rejection, then He would not have answered her like that. But all the snow of her native Lebanese mountains could not extinguish the fire of faith that burned in her heart, and she did not hesitate to give the glorious and immortal answer: “Yes, Lord! but the dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table!” (Matthew 15:27). And her faith triumphed. Not a minute more. The Savior did not prolong the torment of her waiting. "Oh, woman! , He exclaimed, great is your faith; Let it be done to you according to your desire” (Matthew 15:28). And immediately the wonderful word had its effect. “And when she came to her house, she found that the demon had gone out, and her daughter was lying on the bed (perfectly healthy)” (Mark 7:30). How long the Savior stayed in these countries and in what places he stayed is unknown. His removal from there was accelerated by the publicity that accompanied this miracle and which deprived him of the desired peace. Therefore, He chose to seek solitude again beyond the Lake of Galilee. On the way there, He performed two great miracles, namely, He healed a deaf, tongue-tied man, whose word of the Savior was: “Ephphatha, that is, open” (Mark 7:34) (accompanied by some external actions, such as putting fingers in the ears, spitting and touching the sick person’s tongue), “immediately his ears were opened, the bonds of his tongue were loosened, and he began to speak clearly” ( Mark 7:35). “And they all marveled exceedingly, and said, He does all things well, and makes the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak” (Mark 7:37). This miracle again gathered to the Savior a multitude of people, eager to listen to His words and take advantage of His miracles, and on the shores of Lake Galilee, Christ once again repeated the miracle of feeding the people, namely, feeding four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and five small fish, except women and children. After this, the Savior entered the country of the Decapolis. It was a Trans-Jordanian region, representing a union of ten free cities, with a ragtag semi-pagan population. The Savior had already been within this region before, and here, among other things, he healed a demon-possessed Gadarene, who became a zealous preacher of the Kingdom of God in this dark, semi-pagan country. His preaching apparently was not unsuccessful. The half-pagans, who had once asked Christ to leave their borders, now greeted Him with joy and hastened to take advantage of His miracles. And the Savior marked His stay here with great deeds of mercy. Thus, near Bethsaida Julian, He healed a blind man brought to Him. This healing did not happen immediately, but gradually. “Taking the blind man by the hand, Jesus led him out of the village and, spitting in his eyes, laid his hands on him and asked him: Does he see anything? He looked and said: I see people passing by like trees. Then he again laid his hands on his eyes and told him to look. And he was healed and began to see everything clearly” (Mark 8:23–25). The Savior forbade talking about this healing in the village, and this gave Him the opportunity to finally find the desired rest in order to talk privately with His disciples. XVII. Confession of the Ap. Peter and the prediction of the Lord Jesus about the suffering and death awaiting Him in Jerusalem. Transfiguration of the Lord Now Christ had already left the entire promised land and everywhere proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God, confirming His gospel with many miracles. The fame of Him and His miracles spread throughout the country, and it was difficult for Him to even find time and place for the necessary rest. Having finally found him in a semi-pagan country beyond the Jordan, the Savior devoted the time of this rest to conversation with His disciples. He knew that there were unclear and confusing rumors about Him among the people; but the Apostles, as the future successors of His work, had to fully know who He was and what the purpose of His ministry on earth was, so that they would not be embarrassed by those terrible events that were now quickly approaching. In a solitary conversation, having prepared the disciples for terrible revelations, the Savior quietly moved with them to the north of the country, towards Caesarea Philippi, and on the way there he addressed the disciples with a probing question: “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). The answer was sad. The chosen people, who had lived for millennia in great hope of the Messiah, now did not understand that the long-desired Messiah had come to them, and continued to wait for Him, mistaking him who had come only as one of the predecessors of the actual Messiah. “Some took Christ for John the Baptist, others for Elijah, and others for one of the prophets” (Mark 8:28). Obviously the people, blinded by the false teaching of the Pharisees, were not able to understand the time of their visit from above. Then all hope remained with the students. “Who do you take Me for? “(Mark 8:29) the Savior addressed them with a deeply significant question, a question on the solution of which the entire direction of Christ’s future activity depended. But the Spirit of God had already sowed in their simple souls a change in the knowledge of the truth, and St. Peter, on behalf of the twelve, solemnly answered his divine Teacher: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” (Matthew 16:16). This confession, now made with complete solemnity in response to a directly posed question, showed that the earthly ministry of the Savior was not in vain and that finally, at least to His most chosen disciples, the great secret, hidden from centuries and generations, was revealed. If not the entire chosen people, then at least the Apostles not only recognized in Jesus the Nazarene the promised Messiah of their people, but by the special grace of God it was revealed to them that this Messiah was not only what the Jews expected Him to be, not only the King, Ruler and Son of David, but more than that: he was the Son of the Living God. And the Savior confirmed this great confession with the greatest solemnity. “Then Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah; for it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: you are Peter (Πέτρος), and on the seven stone (πέτρα) I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:17–19). Never before have more significant and great words come from the lips of the Savior. This was His own testimony of Himself. It was a promise that blessed are those who can acknowledge Him. They revealed that only those who can be recognized by the Spirit of God can recognize Him. They forever declared to humanity that not by earthly reasoning, but only with the help of heavenly grace, a full understanding of this truth can be achieved. The cornerstone of the Church of Christ was being laid, and the occasion on which these memorable words were first spoken was subsequently to acquire enormous significance in the history of the world. It was a promise that the Church, founded on the Stone of divinely inspired confession, would remain indestructible under all the pressures of the forces of hell. This was the granting of the Church, in the person of its most glorious representative, the power to knit and decide, and the promise that this power, worthily used on earth, would be finally established in heaven. From that time on, the Savior could already consider one part of his great work on earth completed. His apostles were now convinced of the mystery of His existence and solemnly confessed their faith in Him as the Messiah; by this confession the foundation had already been laid on which, with Him as the cornerstone, the entire great edifice of the Church of Christ was subsequently to be erected. But He still forbade them to divulge this truth, since the Apostles themselves still needed further spiritual enlightenment in order to be able to reconcile the truth they had learned about the personality of His Divine Teacher with the fate awaiting Him on earth. They also needed to explain that although He is the Messiah, although He is the King, His Kingdom is not of this world; it was necessary that all idle earthly hopes for greatness and advantage in the Kingdom of the Messiah should disappear in them forever and that they would understand that the Kingdom of God does not consist in food and drink, but in righteousness, peace and the joys of faith. Therefore, He began to gradually and calmly reveal to them about His upcoming journey to Jerusalem, about His rejection by the leaders of the people, about the reproaches and torments awaiting Him, about the terrible death and His Resurrection on the third day. True, He had previously given them various and distant hints about the sufferings that lay ahead of Him, but now for the first time He spoke clearly about them in simple and expressive language. Even now He did not reveal to them everything about the terrible manner of His approaching death. He let them know that he would be rejected by the elders, the high priests and scribes, all the authorities, the religious and secular representatives of the people, but did not say that he would be handed over to the pagans. He warned them that He would be killed, but until the very last journey to Jerusalem He did not tell them the terrible truth that He would be crucified. However, even this revelation confused the disciples quite a bit, and St. Peter again, on their behalf, turned to Christ with a request, which showed that the Apostles were not yet able to understand the whole mystery of redemption. “Be merciful to yourself, Lord,” he told him, taking him a little aside; let this not happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22). But if ap. Peter in his great confession spoke on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who illuminated his mind with the knowledge of the deepest secret, but now he unconsciously became like Satan, as if tempting the Savior with the fear of impending suffering and turning Him away from fulfilling the redemptive work. Therefore, he had to listen to a strict reproach. “Get behind Me, Satan,” Christ said to him, “you are an offense to Me, because you think not about the things of God, but about the things of men” (Matthew 16:23). But, having expressed severe reproach to the arrogant Apostle for his unreasonable attachment and spiritual weakness, the Savior took advantage of this opportunity to expound the deepest teaching, with which He addressed not only His disciples, but also everyone in general (Luke 9:23). From the Gospel of Mark it is clear that even in this remote region a multitude of people followed Him (see Mark. 8:34), who usually walked at a distance from Him and the Apostles and was sometimes called to Him in order to hear the good teaching coming from His lips. Both the people and the disciples were still infected with the same false concepts that prompted Peter to rash intervention. Therefore, He addressed all of them with a teaching in which he explained to them that the essence of every highest duty, the meaning of every true life, which constitutes both the most pleasant service to God and the most ennobling example for people, lies in the law of self-sacrifice. It was on this occasion that He spoke those few words that had a highly beneficial influence on the conscience of mankind, raising its thought from the sensory world to the spiritual world: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) And then Christ once again announced to them that He himself would be brought to justice. Having revealed to His disciples the secret of the impending horrors of His earthly death, the Savior did not leave them in a helpless state, but soon confirmed their faith with the glorious revelation of His divine greatness. A week after the conversation described, Jesus Christ took with Him three of His chosen Apostles - Peter, James and John, and ascended with them to a high mountain. It is not known what kind of mountain it was, but legend has long understood Mount Tabor as it. The steep peak of this picturesque and forested mountain rises majestically above the surrounding plain and many glorious memories from the life of the chosen people were associated with it. There the Savior gave himself entirely to prayer, and this prayer lifted Him above all the sorrows and vanity of this world, which rejected Him. And so He was transformed, His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as snow. His entire being was illuminated with such a dazzling brilliance that the Evangelists could only compare this heavenly light with the sun, snow, and lightning. The apostles did not witness the beginning of this miraculous transformation. The Eastern man, having finished his prayer, wraps himself in his Abba (striped cloak) and, lying down on the grass in the open air, quickly falls into a deep sleep. The same thing happened with the Apostles: as later in the Garden of Gethsemane, so now they slept in a deep sleep. They were “burdened down” (Luke 9:32) with sleep, but suddenly awakening, they saw and heard everything. In the darkness of the night, shedding radiant light on the green slopes of the mountain, the glorious face of the Savior shone. Near Him, in the same radiance of glory, stood two elderly men, whom they recognized by appearance or words as Moses and Elijah. And this glorious trinity, amid the surrounding silence, carried on a conversation about the impending death in Jerusalem, about which the Savior had just informed the disciples. When the magnificent sight began to disappear, when the majestic visitors were ready to part with the Savior and He himself entered with them into the cloud that overshadowed them, Peter, amazed, frightened and delighted by this sight, not knowing what to say, but wanting to prolong their presence, exclaimed: “Mentor! It’s good for us to be here; Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Luke 9:33). There was no response to these thoughtless and inappropriate words; but while he was still speaking, a cloud - not a cloud of thick darkness like on Sinai, but a cloud of light - overshadowed them, and from it a voice was heard: “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5). The disciples fell on their faces and hid their faces in the grass (Matthew 17:6). And when, having recovered from the shock caused by this terrible voice and blinding light, they raised their eyes and looked around, then it was all over. The bright cloud disappeared, there were no longer shining faces, no dazzling white clothes; only Jesus was with them and only the stars quietly shed their light on the slopes of the mountain. At first they were afraid to stand up and even rise, but Jesus, their Teacher, the same as they had seen Him before in prayer, came up to them, touched them and said: “Stand up and do not be afraid!” (Matthew 17:7). The day dawned and they began to descend from the mountain. The Savior forbade them to talk about the vision until He rose from the dead. The vision was only for them; they had to keep it in the depths of their hearts, since to announce it to other students would mean arousing envy in them and flattering their own pride; Before the Resurrection, it could in no way contribute to the faith of others and could only obscure their understanding of His true work on earth. They fulfilled the command of Christ, but could not understand the meaning of the indication of the Resurrection. Did they ask each other or silently ponder within themselves, what does it mean to rise from the dead? Another serious question occupied their minds. They saw Elijah, and now more than ever they were convinced that their Teacher was truly Christ. “But how do the scribes say, they asked, that Elijah must come first and arrange everything?” (Matthew 17:10). To this, the Savior announced to them that Elijah had already come and they did not recognize him, and he suffered at the hands of his people the same fate that awaited Him. Then they realized that He was talking to them about John the Baptist. XVIII. Healing of a demon-possessed, deaf-mute youth. Miraculous receipt of coins to pay taxes on the church. The teaching of Jesus Christ about church judgment and forgiveness. The Parable of the Merciful King and the Ruthless Lender Upon returning to His other disciples, the Savior found them in great confusion and difficulty. A lot of people gathered around them, and by the way, a demon-possessed youth was brought in; his father turned to them with a request for healing, but they were unable to fulfill this request - giving rise to mockery from the malicious Jews and scribes proud of their learning. It was during this altercation that Christ appeared, making an even greater impression on the people because His face still shone with the unearthly glory of transfiguration. “What are you arguing with them about? "(Mark 9:16) He sternly asked the scribes. But the scribes were too embarrassed by His unexpected appearance and did not know what to answer. At this time, a man squeezed through the crowd, who, kneeling before the Savior, in a loud voice explained to Him his misfortune, that it was his son who was suffering from terrible fits of demonic possession, was completely deaf-mute and subject to suicidal mania, so that the unfortunate man had more than once thrown himself into both fire and water. He brought the sufferer to the disciples, but they were powerless to cast out the demon, and their failure only served as a reason for ridicule of them by the scribes. Having reproached the disciples for their lack of faith, which was precisely the cause of this failure, the Savior ordered the sick youth to be brought to Himself, and as soon as he was brought to Him, he was seized by a new attack of his illness, fell to the ground in terrible writhing and struggled with foam at the mouth. This was one of the most terrible forms of demonic possession, and the father, even in the face of the Savior, could not suppress the feeling of doubt in himself about the possibility of healing. But Christ solemnly declared to him that “all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23), and when the unfortunate father, wanting to suppress all doubt in himself, exclaimed: “I believe, Lord!” help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24), then the Savior immediately supported his believing spirit by healing his son. Addressing the sufferer, He commandingly said: “a dumb and deaf spirit! I command you, come out of it, and do not enter it again” (Mark 9:25). An even more frantic scream was heard and the unfortunate man began to spin around in even more terrible contortions; then falling to the ground, no longer writhing or emitting foam, he lay motionless as if dead. Some said he died. But Christ took him by the hand and, amid the exclamations of the astonished crowd, returned him to his father - calm and healthy. Jesus Christ had previously given His disciples the power to cast out demons, and this power was sometimes used in His name even by people who were not His closest disciples (Mark 9:38). And in this they did not fail. It is natural from this that the disciples took advantage of the first opportunity to ask Him about the reason for their latest failure. He told them directly that it was because of their unbelief. Perhaps the consciousness of His absence weakened their faith; Perhaps they recognized themselves as less able to cope with difficulties when Peter and the sons of Zebedee were not with them, and perhaps the sad news of the rejection and death of their Teacher had a sad influence on the minds of the weakest of them. In any case, He took advantage of this circumstance to teach them two great instructions: one, that there are types of spiritual, physical and moral evil so strong and inveterate that they can only be fought with prayer, combined with that self-restraint and self-denial, the most effective and powerful form of which is fasting, the other - that for perfect faith everything is possible. Faith, even the size of a mustard seed, can produce miracles. He who possesses it will command even a mountain to move from its place and be thrown into the sea, and so it will be. Teaching his disciples and people, the Savior gradually moved towards Capernaum, and upon arrival there a new miracle occurred. Since ancient times, the Jews had the custom of collecting, after every new census, a tax of “half a shekel, the shekel of the sanctuary,” from each Jew who had reached the age of twenty, as a “ransom for his soul to the Lord” (Ex. 30:11–16). This money went to the church and was used to purchase sacrifices, scapegoats, red heifers, incense, showbread and other items required in the church. After returning from captivity, this half-shekel turned into an annual voluntary tax equal to a third of the shekel (Neh. 10:32), but in subsequent times it again rose to the original amount. This tax was paid by every Jew, no matter what part of the world he was in, whether he was rich or poor; and in proof that all souls were equal before God, they were to pay “the rich man no more, and the poor man no less than half a shekel.” This collection yielded large sums, which were sent to Jerusalem with honorary representatives. It was for this tax that the collectors now came to Christ. Not daring to disturb Jesus himself, they turned to the apostle with their demand. Peter, and he, with his usual simplicity, conveyed this demand to the Teacher, hoping that He would help get out of the difficulty, since there was absolutely no money in the apostolic treasury. But the Savior taught him a high lesson on this occasion, accompanied by a new self-revelation of the Divine. “What do you think, Simon, He said to him: from whom do the kings of the earth take duties or taxes? From your own sons, or from strangers? "(Matthew 17:25) There could be only one answer: “from outsiders.” - “So, said Christ, the sons are free” (Matthew 17:26). I, the Son of the Heavenly King, and even you, who is also His son, although in a different sense, are not obliged to pay this tax. If we pay it, then this payment does not follow from a positive obligation, but is a matter of free and voluntary giving. “But so that we, He added, do not tempt them, go to the sea, throw a hook, and take the first fish that comes across; and when you open her mouth, you will find a satyr, take him and give him to them for Me and for yourself” (Matthew 17:27). In this way of paying taxes, the Savior showed that He, as a man, considered it his duty to obey the institutions of human society, but as God, at the same time, on this occasion, He showed His omnipotence, which extended not only to land, but also to the sea. Both from the events they experienced and from the instructions and solemn predictions that accompanied them, the students involuntarily came to the idea that some great change was about to take place in the fate of their Teacher. Hasn’t the time come for His earthly glorification, when He will cease to be the humble Teacher that He has been until now, but will appear in all the greatness of the Messiah, as exactly what His people expected, and will establish a great and glorious kingdom. Such a thought, exciting their spirit, at the same time awakened in them the prejudices they had in common with all the common people, and they began to take care of ensuring their best position in the kingdom of the Messiah that was about to open. Even on the way to Capernaum, a dispute ensued between them about which of them would be greater in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Savior heard this argument, and upon arriving in the city, he asked them what they were discussing during the road. This question awakened their conscience, and they were ashamed of themselves. Then Christ, taking the child, placed him next to them and exhorted them to be the same in their spirit as children are, i.e. innocent, humble and unassuming, and then only they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In such a visual way, He repeated to them the instruction that He had already taught in the conversation on the mount and which they had now completely forgotten. The question about unpretentiousness reminded the apostle. John about one circumstance that came across him during the sermon, and he now turned to Christ for an explanation of it. During their preaching journey they had to meet a man who cast out demons in the name of Christ; but since this man did not belong to their society, they forbade him. Did they do the right thing? No, Jesus answered, “do not forbid” (Luke 9:50). He who can do works of mercy in the name of Christ cannot abuse this name. Whoever is not against them is with them. And then, returning again to his conversation, still holding the child in his arms and making him the subject of speech, the Savior warned against terrible guilt and the danger of insult, temptation and seduction from the path of innocence and righteousness, teaching something bad or instilling some evil thought in one of these little ones, whose angels always see the face of His Father in heaven. Such evil deceivers, such executors of the devil’s work, He told them in unprecedentedly strong and menacing words, would face such a bitter fate that it would be better for them to hang a millstone around their necks and drown in the depths of the sea. There is no sacrifice so great, He continued, that it would not be necessary to make just to avoid the possibility of temptations to place such stumbling blocks in the path of one’s own soul or other people. It is better to cut off your right hand and enter the Kingdom of Heaven armless; It is better to cut off your right leg and enter the Kingdom of Heaven lame; It is better to gouge out the right eye and enter the Kingdom of Heaven crooked than to allow a hand, a leg or an eye to be an instrument of sin that would feed the undying worm and kindle the unquenchable fire. It is better in this world to drown with a millstone around your neck than to carry the millstone of moral and spiritual temptation, which can drown a guilty soul in the fiery lake of spiritual death. Just as salt is sprinkled on every sacrifice to cleanse it, so every soul must be cleansed by fire, or must have within itself a cleansing salt that protects it from decay. “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace among yourselves” (Mark 9:50). To confirm the duties of this mutual peace violated by them, and to show them that no matter how great the wrath of God may be against the seducers of others, they must never harbor hatred even against those who have done them harm, the Savior then instructed them how to deal with the sinned brother: first they must honestly admonish him, and then, if necessary, publicly, before the Church, but only meekly and with love. Adhering to the spirit of Jewish formalism, Peter would like to know exactly the limits to which the number of forgiveness should reach; but Jesus answered that this number could be unlimited, not just seven times, as Peter thought, but if necessary, then seventy-seven. He explained this instruction with the parable of a servant who, having received from his king the forgiveness of his debt of ten thousand talents, immediately after that he grabbed his own companion by the throat and did not even want to delay the payment of an insignificant debt of one hundred denarii, 1,250,000 times less than the amount that was forgiven to himself. For this hardness of heart, he himself was deprived of the mercy shown, and was subjected to all the severity of the ancient law in relation to debtors. “So also My Heavenly Father, Christ concluded, will do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart his sins” (Matthew 18:35). XIX. On the way from Galilee to Jerusalem. Inhospitality of the Samaritans. Embassy of the Seventy. Parable of the Good Samaritan. Visit to Martha and Marie. Lord's Prayer The Savior, busy preaching the Gospel and doing charity, spent at least a year and a half in the northern part of Palestine since his last visit to Jerusalem. His enemies deprived Him of the opportunity to attend the great annual holidays there, but the time was approaching for the final completion of His ministry, the fulfillment of times was approaching, and the Savior, considering the preparation of His teaching work to be completed, resolutely set about the work of redemption and again headed to Jerusalem, there again to proclaim His Divine dignity and to give the opportunity to the most important leaders of the people, who constantly treated Him with unbelief and hostility, to repent and acknowledge His The promised Messiah could not fulfill his purpose. It was autumn, one of the most remarkable Jewish annual holidays was approaching, namely the Feast of Tabernacles, which attracted a huge crowd of people from all regions of Palestine to Jerusalem. Many began to prepare from Galilee; The Savior set off somewhat earlier than the usual caravans of admirers, but this did not prevent the fact that many people gathered around Him, who enthusiastically followed Him, seeing in Him a great prophet, the honor and glory of their region. According to custom, the Savior took His favorite path through Samaria, where He had previously sown a change of gospel and where He found receptive soil. But now Christ also had to experience the extent to which tribal and religious enmity can reach. When the worshipers, tired of the journey, arrived at the first Samaritan village and wanted to find the desired rest in it, the Samaritans refused it and did not want to accept the Jews they hated. This refusal inflamed the Apostles James and John, who were entrusted with taking care of the preparations for the reception of the Savior and His accompanying disciples and pilgrims, with strong indignation. Filled with hope for the Kingdom of the Messiah, which at last, in their opinion, was already on the eve of its solemn proclamation, the indignant brothers wanted to open it with the flame of terrible vengeance, in order to thus encourage and revive the fallen spirit of the followers, who naturally became despondent from such a quick and decisive refusal. "God! Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and destroy them, just as Elijah did?” (Luke 9:54) “What is surprising,” says St. Ambrose, why did the sons of Gromov want to bring down lightning? This outburst of their indignation found justification not only in the revenge of Elijah, but also in the fact that the latter took place precisely in this region of Samaria. If such an action turned out to be necessary for the personal protection of a single prophet, then all the more it can be used to protect the honor of the Messiah and His followers! But Christ rebuked them and rebuked them. The heavens of God have a different purpose than throwing lightning. “You do not know,” He said to them, “what kind of spirit you are” (Luke 9:55). The Son of Man came to save, and not to destroy, and if anyone hears His word and does not believe, He will not condemn him (John 3:17; 12:47). And thus, without a single angry word, He went to another settlement, and St. John, who at the time of writing his Gospel already knew what kind of spirit he was, undoubtedly remembered these words of Christ when, together with Peter, he went to Samaria to confirm the converts and give them the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, the Savior at this time chose from among His followers seventy more disciples, who were to form, next to the twelve, the second circle of closest preachers of the Gospel and spreaders of the Kingdom of God. He now sent them two by two everywhere to prepare the way for Him and gave them instructions similar to those with which He instructed the twelve disciples. They are distinguished only by greater brevity, because they were given on the occasion of a more temporary duty; they omit the now unnecessary restrictions regarding non-visiting pagans and Samaritans. At the same time, they sounded in a sadder tone, obviously inspired by the sad trials of constant rejection. As they approached Jerusalem, more Pharisees and scribes began to appear among the people surrounding Christ, who were not averse to engaging in questioning in order to comprehensively explore the views of the Galilean Prophet. One of them approached the Savior and asked Him: “Teacher! What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). Jesus, discerning his cunning motives, simply asked him what answer to this question was given by the law, the study and explanation of which was the very purpose of his life. The lawyer gave the best exposition that was known at that time. Jesus confirmed his answer and said: “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). But seeking a little more than this and trying to justify the question, which even from his point of view was unnecessary and was asked, as he himself realized, with an ignoble intention, the lawyer decided to cover up his retreat with a new question: “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). Christ knew that if you asked a lawyer’s own opinion on this issue, it would be extremely narrow and false; therefore He answered Himself, or rather gave the lawyer a means to answer him - with one of His touching parables. He told how one day a man, passing through the rocky gorge leading from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell into the hands of robbers, whose frequent attacks gave the passage itself the ominous name of “the bloody path.” The Bedouin robbers, as often happens even now, left him on the road naked, bleeding and half-dead. The priest, returning this way to his priestly city, saw him, but immediately crossed from him to the other side of the road. A Levite also passed by, but looked at him with even colder indifference and passed by. But along the same road passed a Samaritan, the very sight of whom would have aroused in the unfortunate man the thrill of tribal enmity and whose very shadow he would have considered a desecration - the Good Samaritan, the image of that divine Preacher whom people rejected and despised, but who came to heal the wounds of humanity, which did not find healing remedies for themselves either in the ritual or in the moral law. He approached the unfortunate man, took pity on him, bandaged his wounds, put him on his donkey, walked himself along the hard, hot, dusty and dangerous road and did not leave him until he had completely ensured his safety and, in conclusion, even generously took care of his future needs. “Which of these three,” Jesus Christ asked the lawyer, was the neighbor of the one who fell among the robbers?” ( OK. 10:36) The lawyer, of course, was not so stupid as not to see who; however, feeling that he could in no way include either Samaritans or pagans in the concept of his neighbor, he did not have enough courage and frankness to pronounce “Samaritan”, but used a pitiful circumlocution: “who showed him mercy.” “Go,” Christ said to him, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). So the journey gradually approached the goal, and now Jerusalem was visible. But Christ did not immediately go to the holy city, but stopped for a while in Bethany, huddled on one of the slopes of the Mount of Olives. In this suburban village lived one pious family, which had already received visits from Christ more than once during His stay in Jerusalem, and each time they greeted the divine Guest with extraordinary cordiality and delight. It consisted of three members - Lazarus and his two sisters Martha and Mary. The arrival of the Savior at their home, according to custom, brought them into indescribable joy, which was even increased by the fact that the Savior had not been with them for a long time. Both sisters competed with each other in showing attentiveness and respect to the distinguished guest, and Martha especially began to fuss, running back and forth to better prepare His treat. Her sister Mary also took care of a decent reception for Him, but being of a more exalted character, she showed Him love and respect in other ways. Knowing that Martha was blissfully glad to do everything possible for His material convenience, she herself sat in deep humility at the feet of Jesus and listened to His word. Mary cannot be blamed for this, because her sister obviously joyfully devoted herself to fulfilling the requirements of hospitality as best as possible and, without any help, could do everything that was required for that. Martha also cannot be blamed for her troubles; Her only mistake was that in her external activities she lost the necessary balance with the demands of her inner life. When she was working and fussing so hard, something like envy disturbed her peace of mind at the sight of her sister “idly,” she thought, sitting at the feet of their tall Visitor and dumping all the troubles on her alone. If she had thought more about it, then of course she could not help but admit that in Mary’s avoidance from the worries of the household there was not so much selfishness as sensible reflection; but it is always difficult to be fair and generous, and when someone allows himself to succumb to a low feeling like petty envy, it is even impossible. So, in a fit of irritation, Martha, instead of kindly asking her sister to help her, if only this help was really needed - to which, as can be judged by the character of Mary, she would have responded quickly - she almost with annoyance and disrespect runs up and asks Jesus if He really doesn’t need her sister to sit with folded hands, while she alone should be busy with the housework. Would He tell her to go and help with the housework (Martha was obviously too conscientious to add the usual expression of obstinate people - that it was useless for her to talk about it herself). But this unnecessary fussiness met a loving reproach in Christ: “Martha, Martha,” He said to her in a tone of gentle reproach; You care and fuss about many things, but you only need one thing. Mary chose the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42). In the morning the Savior retired to a secluded place to pray. The disciples had seen Him at prayer more than once, but now, under the impression of solemn expectations of something great, they wanted to learn prayer from Him. When His prayer ended, they approached Him and stated their request, and the Savior immediately taught them that wondrous “Lord’s Prayer,” which formed the basis of all Christian prayers. In it, the Savior, in prayerful form, outlined the essence of what exactly the achievement of is necessary for the spiritual perfection of man. And before there were prayers, often distinguished by a remarkable height of thought and feeling, and the Jewish rabbis considered it their duty to teach their students the knowledge of prayers that embraced the whole law and the prophets; but only the Lord’s Prayer embodies everything that a sincerely believing and truly human heart can feel and thirst for. There is nothing in it that stems from any personal wishes; everything in it breathes with the consciousness of the common sonship of humanity in relation to the Heavenly Father, the coming of whose kingdom is presented as the most important desire of every pure heart. Of the material goods, only daily bread is asked for in it, as a necessary condition of existence; but with greater insistence we ask for forgiveness of our debts or sins, on the condition of our own forgiveness of the sins of others in relation to us. The world is surrounded by temptations, and man is weak, and therefore the Savior taught His disciples to pray that the Heavenly Father would not expose us to the danger of excessive temptations or trials, and in conclusion, to deliver us from the main culprit of temptation, namely the evil one. All these petitions to the Heavenly Father are completed with a solemn doxology: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:13). XX. In Jerusalem. Preaching of Jesus Christ at midnight and the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Healing a Man Born Blind The Feast of Tabernacles was one of the most solemn Jewish holidays and a huge crowd of people flocked to celebrate it, who hurried both to thank God for all the benefits of the expiring year and to take part in all the fun. The people at this time, having completed all their field work and harvested the grapes, felt especially free and indulged in both religious and worldly pleasures. The holiday itself served as a remembrance of the Israelites' wanderings in the desert and was celebrated with such general rejoicing that Josephus and Philo call it “the holiest and greatest holiday,” and among the Jews it was known as the holiday par excellence. It was performed for seven consecutive days, from the 15th to the 21st day of the month of Tisri, and the eighth day was held in sacred assembly. For seven days, the Jews, in remembrance of their wanderings in the desert, lived in small huts made of leafy branches of oil, palm and myrtle trees, and each carried in his hands a bunch of greenery (lulab), consisting of palm and willow branches, peach and lemon fruits. During the week of the holiday, all the priests took turns serving; seventy calves were sacrificed for the seventy nations of the world; the law was read daily, and daily the church trumpets sounded inspired and solemn hymns twenty-one times. The rejoicing was undoubtedly intensified by the fact that this holiday came only four days after the terrible rites of the great day of repentance, on which the solemn cleansing of the sins of the entire people took place. Such solemnity of the holiday could adversely affect the mood of the people. If the Savior had openly appeared in Jerusalem among enthusiastic fans, their enthusiasm could easily turn into political confusion, as happened more than once, especially with the Galileans, who were distinguished by the greatest ardor of the patriotic spirit. Therefore, He avoided any reason to do so, and even when asked by His “brothers” whether He would go to this holiday at all, He answered evasively that He would not go yet. And now, being not far from Jerusalem, He did not immediately go to the festival, but only a few days later, so that many thought that He would not be at the festival at all. Meanwhile, the festive people were indeed in an unusually enthusiastic mood. The fans who came from everywhere told each other with amazement about the extraordinary miracles they had seen of the Galilean Prophet and about His Divine teaching that they had heard. The glory of Christ was already thundering throughout the whole country and its echoes now merged into one solemn chorus of praise in Jerusalem. But where is the Prophet Himself? everyone asked. Will He really not be at this solemn national holiday? Days after days passed, but Christ was still not there, and the people had already ceased to worry about the thought of Him. But it was then, in the middle of the holiday, that Christ appeared to sow the seeds of his Divine teaching on the soil of a calm heart, not disturbed by passions. As usual, He spoke in the vestibule of the church, where the rabbis usually taught the people. It was enough only for this Divine Preacher to appear, Who taught in a way that man had never been able to teach, namely, he burned the hearts of people with the word of love and truth, and the people immediately surrounded Him, leaving the important scribes to occupy themselves with their casuistic subtleties, in which they believed the whole essence of religion and the law of God. Such a sudden appearance of the Galilean Prophet, who had not been in Jerusalem for a long time, greatly astonished the scribes, and the preference for Him on the part of the people aroused in them extreme envy and anger. The scribes, by necessity, had to join other listeners of Christ, but distrust in the knowledge of the Galilean Preacher began to spread among the crowd. “How can He know the Scripture without studying?” (John 7:15). Having heard these rumors, the Savior did not fail to teach a deep lesson that not every teaching is wisdom, and least of all the teaching that was taught in rabbinical schools, where Christ actually did not study. His teaching is superior. It comes from the One who sent Him, and anyone who does the will of God can comprehend the truths He preaches. Such an open statement about the source of Christ’s teaching irritated the scribes even more, and a bloodthirsty thought flashed through them of somehow forcibly getting rid of such a dangerous rival, who exposed all the falsity and emptiness of their legalism. But Christ immediately penetrated their insidious thoughts and publicly asked: “Why are you seeking to kill Me?” (John 7:19). Such a question, which instantly illuminated the dark secret of the evil scribes, should have plunged them into extraordinary embarrassment, and in order to suppress this embarrassment and together hush up the dangerous question, they found no other way than to declare Jesus possessed and insane. The scribes did not hesitate to convey their embarrassment to the Sanhedrin, and this supreme court immediately drew up a plan of action in relation to the Teacher who was unpleasant to its members. He sent a secret deputation that was supposed to collect information about the teachings of Jesus and then arrest Him. Meanwhile, the holiday was drawing to a close and its last day had come. On this day, a particularly solemn ceremony was performed. The people went to the church, and when the morning sacrifice was placed on the altar, one of the priests went with a golden vessel to the pool of Siloam, not far from the foot of Mount Zion, and there drew three logs of water, which was then brought in a solemn procession through the water gates to the church. As this procession entered the church, the Levites blew the sacred trumpets until the procession reached the altar itself, where water was poured into a silver vase on the left side, and wine was poured into a silver vase on the right side. Then the singing of the great “Hallelujah” began (psalms 115–118), and when they reached the verse: “Glorify the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” then each of the festively dressed pilgrims, standing at the altar, joyfully shook their lulab. In the evening, the people indulged in such jubilation that, as the rabbis put it, whoever has not seen this “joy of drawing water” does not know what joy means. The Savior at this time was also in the church and, taking advantage of this ritual, began to direct the thoughts of the people to spiritually draw from that source of living water, the one who drinks from it will not thirst forever. Standing among the crowd of people, He exclaimed: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38), i.e., under the influence of the Holy Spirit who has come, those who believe in Him will not only be reborn in their inner life, but will also be able to pour out streams of life on others through the spread of the Gospel of Christ. Such a sermon struck many with its irresistible vitality and at the same time mystery, and heated discussions began among the crowd about the Preacher Himself. Some argued that “He is definitely a prophet”; others went even further and directly said: “this is Christ” (John 7:40,41). And others, and namely learned scribes, passionately refuted this last opinion, citing a ready-made scientific argument against it. “Is it possible, they said, that Christ will come from Hailea? Doesn't the Scripture say that Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, from the place where David was? "(John 7:41–42) The discussions turned into a fierce dispute, and Christ’s opponents, unable to persuade the people away from Him with their convictions, simply wanted to seize Him; but His hour had not yet come, and “no one laid hands on Him” (John 7:44). Even those sent from the Sanhedrin did not dare to do this. Walking around the porches of the church, stopping among the columns so as not to be noticed by Him Whom they were lying in wait, they also could not help but hear something of the wondrous teaching pouring out of His lips. Having listened to Him, they could no longer fulfill their instructions. They submitted to the irresistible influence exerted by God. Teacher; some infinitely powerful force took away their will and undermined their resolve. To listen to Him meant not only to be disarmed in any attempt against Him, but almost to be converted from a worst enemy into a reverent disciple. “No man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:46) was all they could say about Him. The members of the Sanhedrin could only answer them with fruitless anger and contemptuous reproach, which is likely that they too were seduced and believed in this Prophet and the favorite of the ignorant, damned and pitiful crowd. Nicodemus, in whose heart a spark of faith had long been glimmering, gradually flared up into the full flame of conviction in God. dignity of Jesus, he dared to object that he should not first have known him well before condemning him. But this fair remark remained unheeded, and the members of the Sanhedrin again turned to unworthy ridicule and their ignorant legalism. “And are you not from Galilee? Look and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee” (John 7:52), they brazenly asserted, forgetting that Galilee had already produced several of the greatest prophets, and among them Elijah and Jonah. “And they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” (John 7:53; 8:1) there, in solitary prayer, to relieve His weary soul with blessed rest. The next morning, Christ again appeared in the church and continued His preaching. But His enemies were already prowling around the church in advance, plotting intrigues against the Teacher they hated. They apparently did not sleep all night, and were extremely happy when they found a way to unexpectedly put Christ in what was, in their opinion, a hopeless predicament. Among the fun and revelry of the Feast of Tabernacles, there were also acts of immorality and licentiousness, especially since due to the disruption of the usual order of life and the stay of the city population, together with huge masses of newcomers, in the country huts, there were more temptations to do so. They fell into the hands of a woman caught in adultery, and the scribes did not fail to take advantage of this opportunity to laconicly catch the Galilean they hated. It was essentially not their business to blame her, but her husband’s, and she, moreover, could not be subjected to legal punishment other than divorce if he himself was not a man of pure life. In difficult cases, however, it was the custom of the Jews to consult with some famous teacher, and it was precisely this custom that they wanted to cover up their insidious plan. If, they thought, Jesus would condemn her and insist on stoning her, according to the law (Lev. 10:10; Deut. 22:24), then this would harm Him in the eyes of the people, since this law had long ceased to be put into effect, precisely due to the too great prevalence of the crime itself. If, on the other hand, He lets her go, then they can accuse Him of weakening the law, since formally it was still obligatory. To condemn her to death, moreover, would be an encroachment on His part on a right that belongs exclusively to the Roman ruler. In any case, they thought that they would put Him in a hopeless position. Brazenly dragging a pathetic, disheveled harlot to Him, they said to Him: “Teacher! this woman was taken in adultery. And Moses commanded us in the law to stone such people: What do you say?” (John 8:4–5). The Savior saw their arrogant deceit, delighting in the moral shame and misfortune of their neighbor, and He was ashamed of His people. As if he had not heard the question addressed to Him, He bowed face down and silently wrote with his finger on the ground. Then, having calmed down in spirit, the Savior raised his thoughtful gaze and meekly remarked to the insolent questioners: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Having said this, He looked down again and continued to write on the floor. But that was enough. The cunningly conceived deceit crumbled into dust. Christ, avoiding legalistic reasoning regarding the criminal woman, brought the accusers themselves to the judgment of their own conscience. And they could not stand this trial. An awakened conscience revealed to them their own criminality, which deprived them of any right to condemn their neighbor. And so they, embarrassed and ashamed, one after another silently left the church, leaving the woman alone with Christ. The criminal stood reverently before her Divine Judge and did not leave, awaiting His final decision. Fixing His infinitely loving gaze on her, the Savior asked her: “Woman, where are your accusers? Nobody judged you"? “Nobody, Lord,” she answered. – “And I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more” (John 8:10–11), He gave His infinitely merciful decision, proving to them at the same time His right according to the Divinity to place mercy above the ordinary law. To further demonstrate His Divine dignity, Christ, continuing his sermon, pointed to another side of His being, namely, that “He is the light of the world” (John 9:5). These solemn words coming from the lips of the humble Galilean could only mean that the Preacher was not a simple man, not a simple Galilean teacher, as the commanding and arrogant scribes of Jerusalem contemptuously spoke of Him, but the true God, as the source of all light of truth. When the Jews objected to this, saying that He praised Himself without having sufficient grounds for it, Christ directly pointed out to them that He also had a Divine witness for Himself in Heaven, namely the Heavenly Father, with Whom He is one; and then declared to them that, due to their sins, they had become incapable of understanding His sublime teaching and in vain relied for salvation on their descent from Abraham, whom they nevertheless rejected by their opposition to Christ. If they were true sons of Abraham, then they would act according to his covenant and would not at all be at enmity against the One who was the fulfillment of the great promise to the father of believers. Abraham their father would not have done this. He, as the father of believers, “rejoiced to see my day; and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). These last words seemed strange and blasphemous to the Jews. Not understanding their real meaning, they said in surprise: “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” (John 5:57). To this Christ responded with an even more solemn revelation of His Divinity, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 5:58). In these words, He revealed to them the terrible secret of His habitual existence, His pre-existence before entering the church of a mortal body; but this great and terrible revelation to them about His Divinity only irritated the Jews even more. Unable to bear such preaching any longer, they grabbed stones to beat Christ as a blasphemer. But His hour had not yet come, and He left the church unharmed. This bloodthirsty outbreak of the Jews did not prevent Christ from appearing again a short time later in Jerusalem, and this time He proved His Divinity with a new amazing miracle, which entailed very important consequences. Passing by the church, the Savior saw a man blind from birth, who lived on alms from passers-by. The pitiful condition of this blind man attracted the attention of his students, who even took up the question of who was actually to blame for this man’s misfortune, whether he himself or his parents. The Savior answered them that this man’s blindness was not a consequence of either his own sins or the sins of his parents; it is not even a misfortune for him, but a great honor, since it is destined to serve as an instrument for the manifestation of the works of God. Then, once again declaring Himself “the light of the world,” the Savior “spit on the ground, made clay from the spitting,” and, anointing the blind man’s eyes with clay (John 9:6), ordered him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The blind man went, washed himself, and received his sight. Filled with extraordinary delight at such a miraculous gift to him of the greatest gift - sight, the former blind man naturally did not remain silent about the miracle that had happened to him. And he himself was very well known in Jerusalem, like a familiar blind beggar, and now his appearance as a sighted man caused great confusion. Those who knew him well hardly even believed his own statement that he was exactly the blind beggar who was so well known to them. They were lost in amazement and several times forced him to tell the story of his healing. But this story added to their amazement a new basis for Pharisaic indignation, because this healing also took place on Saturday. The rabbis forbade smearing even one of their eyes with clay on the Sabbath, except in cases of mortal danger. Jesus not only anointed both eyes of the blind man, but even mixed the saliva with dust! This work of mercy was in the deepest inner harmony with the very principles of the institution of the Sabbath and with those moral lessons of which it was intended to be a constant proclaimer. But the spirit of a dead letter and slavish pettiness in the execution of the law has long since relegated the Sabbath from the heights of its true purpose to the level of destructive superstition. The Jews were so imbued with this extreme pettiness that the extraordinary miracle of mercy aroused in them less amazement and gratitude than indignation at the violation of their superstitious worship of the Sabbath. As a result, with all the zeal of religious letter-worship, they took the former blind man to a conference with the Pharisees. Here followed a scene that St. John tells in the ninth chapter of his Gospel with inimitable picturesqueness. First of all, there were questions about how the whole thing was, followed by assurances that Jesus could not be from God because he did not keep the Sabbath; others responded to this that to insist on breaking the Sabbath means to allow the miracle itself, and to allow a miracle means to admit that the one who committed it cannot be the criminal that the first tried to present Him as. Then, completely perplexed, they asked the healed man himself what he himself thought about his benefactor; and he, not being privy to the secrets of their insidious plan, answered them with fearless directness that obviously “this is the Prophet” (John 9:17). Things were taking a very unpleasant turn for them. It was necessary at all costs to find a loophole that would give them the opportunity to deny or eliminate the miracle; they sent for the parents of the formerly blind man. “Is this your son of whom you say that he was born blind? How can he see now? (John 9:19). Perhaps they hoped by threats or bribery to force their parents to renounce their relationship or admit to deception; but the parents also adhered to the simple truth, and with the usual Jewish servility and cunning refused to draw any conclusions that might expose them to unpleasant consequences. “We know,” they said, that this is our son and that he was born blind; but how he sees now, we don’t know. You yourself are of advanced years, ask yourself; let him speak about himself” (John 9:20–21). Then the Pharisees, in terrible confusion, almost pitiable, again turned to the blind man. The Jewish authorities have already decided to pronounce excommunication from the synagogue to anyone who dares to recognize Jesus as the Messiah; therefore, the Pharisees apparently hoped that the person being interrogated would be satisfied with their advice to give glory to God, that is, to reject or not recognize the miracle and accept their decision that Jesus is a sinner. But the blind man was more courageous than his parents. He could not be intimidated by the authorities or confused by empty assurances. He felt completely free in the affected atmosphere of their imaginary holiness. “We know,” said the Pharisees, “that this man is a sinner” (John 9:24). “I don’t know whether He is a sinner,” answered the former blind man; I know one thing, that I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:25). Then they began their tedious and empty cross-examinations again. “What did He do to you? How did I open your eyes? (John 9:26). But he was already bored with all this. “I already told you and you didn’t listen; what else do you want to hear? or do you also want to become His disciples? (John 9:27). This bold speech finally brought the questioners out of patience, and they began to revile the former blind man, endowing him with all sorts of reproaches: “You are His disciple; and we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; but we do not know where He comes from” (John 9:28–29). “This is amazing,” he answered, that you do not know where He comes from, but He opened my eyes. But we know that God does not listen to sinners; but whoever honors God and does His will listens to him. Since the beginning of time it has not been heard that anyone (not even the great Moses himself) opened the eyes of a man born blind. If He had not been from God, He could not have done anything” (John 9:30–33). How? a simple beggar, an ignorant heretic by nature, born moreover in sins, dares to teach them? Unable to contain their outburst of indignation any longer, they kicked him out of the meeting and excommunicated him from the synagogue. But Christ did not leave His courageous confessor without spiritual help and made him a great revelation that illuminated his soul with light. Having met this man, He asked him: “Do you believe in the Son of God?” - “And who is He, Lord, he answered, that I should believe in Him?” - “And you saw Him, and He speaks to you.” - “I believe, Lord! "(John 9:35–38) he answered and bowed to Him. And thus the man born blind saw not only material light, but also spiritual light, receiving his sight to faith in the promised Messiah. XXI. In Galilee and on the way to Jerusalem through the Jordanian country. Parables and miracles After the Feast of Tabernacles, there was a gap of two months until another solemn Jewish holiday, namely the Renewal of the Church, and Christ took advantage of this intermediate time to once again visit his native Galilee and there, among his native nature and a small gathering of believers, to rest his souls from the worries he had experienced. And His stay there was marked by a whole series of new amazing parables and miracles. In the parables it is impossible not to notice the echo of the trials experienced, since they primarily expose the excessive attachment to the blessings of this world to the point of forgetting God and the soul, and at the same time, that spirit of dead Pharisaism, which blinded the leaders of the Jewish people to the point that they were unable to understand what greatest good they were depriving themselves by rejecting the promised Messiah in the face of Christ, is clearly reproached. The reason for exposing excessive attachment to the blessings of this world was one case when, during the preaching of Christ, one of His listeners suddenly interrupted His speech and turned to Him with a request to help him in dividing his property with his intractable brother in a profitable way for him. Such an inappropriate request clearly showed to what extent this man was a miserable slave of this world, and in order to show the unreliability and vanity of the goods of this world, the Savior, refusing, of course, to participate in settling the matter regarding the division of the inheritance, told a parable about a rich man who, having received an extremely large harvest, did not know what to do with this wealth. All he came up with was to expand his granaries, so that he could then enjoy this wealth “for many years” (Luke 12:19) in rude complacency. But he forgot that human life itself is completely in the hand of God, and since he thought to base his happiness solely on wealth, then God’s formidable sentence thundered to him: “You fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? “This is what happens, concluded the Divine Preacher, with everyone who stores up treasures for himself and does not grow rich in God” (Luke 12:20–21). Continuing to develop this thought, Christ exhorted His listeners not to indulge in the vanity of this world and, most of all, to care for the soul, which is greater than the body. The body is the lowest component of man, identical with the lower animals, and in order to satisfy its needs there is no need to devote himself entirely to caring for it. There are enough means in the surrounding nature to satisfy it. For example: Crows: “They neither sow nor reap; They have neither storehouses nor granaries, and God feeds them” (Luke 12:24). So, aren't people better than birds? The same goes for clothes. “Look at the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but Solomon in all his glory did not dress like any of them. If God dresses the grass in the field, which is there today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, then how much more so than you, you of little faith!” (Luke 12:27–28). Therefore, there is no need to take special care about food and clothing. “Seek above all else the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you” (Luke 12:31). And to this the Savior added encouraging words: “Do not be afraid, little flock! for it has been your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). But they must prepare for it by spiritual vigilance and repentance. “Be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, you will immediately open the door for him. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake” (Luke 12:36–37); he will reward them and honor them with a great treat, at which he himself will serve them with joyful cordiality. But if the slaves do not expect him, and upon his unexpected return he finds complete disorder, injustice and discord among them, then the guilty will be subjected to deserved punishment. During the Savior’s conversation, He was told about one sad event, which was often repeated during this troubled time. Several ardent Galileans immoderately declared their patriotism in Jerusalem, and the Roman procurator Pilate, who had already experienced great difficulties from such outbursts of the Jewish people more than once, subjected them to cruel punishment: he executed the rebels and mixed their blood with the blood of the victims they had made. Christ used this sad story to repeat His exhortation to repentance. God's judgment was carried out on the ill-fated Galileans; but one should not think that they were any extraordinary sinners. “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way” (Luke 13:3). Those unfortunate eighteen people who were crushed by the fallen tower of Siloam were no more sinful than others. Their fate also serves only as a warning for all of us. God’s very long-suffering has its limits, and the Savior explained this with the parable of the barren fig tree, which the master decided to cut down as a waste of land, and only at the request of the vinedresser postponed his decision for another year, so that then, if it did not bear fruit again despite all the special care for it, he would finally cut it down. By the barren fig tree Christ clearly meant the Jewish people. With his unbelief, as a spiritual barrenness, he exhausted the long-suffering of God, and the ax was already lying at his root. Only the intercession of the Divine Husbandman extended God's long-suffering for some time, but since even after this the people remained barren and unbelieving, the terrible judgment of God befell them - in the destruction of Jerusalem and the complete destruction of its political existence. This sermon undoubtedly made a strong impression on the people, to the great chagrin of the learned Pharisees, who, following in the footsteps of the Savior, came to Galilee to plot their usual intrigues there. This time they attempted to interrupt the preaching of Christ with a message about the danger threatening Him from Herod, who allegedly sought to kill Him. But this message could not frighten God. Preacher, and He ordered them to tell Herod himself, that pitiful fox on the ghostly throne, that His hour had not yet come and that hour would not come here in Galilee, but where so many prophets had already perished. “It does not happen that a prophet perishes outside of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33). In accordance with His statement, Christ continued His activity in Galilee for some more time and, among other things, performed two miracles, namely the healing of a crumpled woman who had suffered for eighteen years and a man suffering from dropsy. These healings, as those performed on Saturday, again caused grumbling among the Pharisees, but at the same time they also served as a new reason for the Savior to find out the true purpose of the Sabbath, the spirit of which does not at all contradict the doing of good to others. If these petty lawyers don’t think about doing good on Saturdays even to animals, when they pull out, for example. a donkey or an ox from a well, then it is all the more permissible to do good to our neighbors. These arguments shamed those present, and they remained silent. The last miracle was performed in the house of one of the Pharisee leaders, who invited Jesus Christ to “eat bread,” having, of course, the main goal of “watching Him” (Luke 14:1). But the Savior Himself’s observation of them was more insightful than their observation of Him. By the way, Christ noticed how those invited to this supper, with the usual petty ambition, vied with each other to occupy the first and most honorable places at the table. In contrast, the Savior proposed a wiser and better rule of public modesty, which at the same time contained within itself the deepest lesson of spiritual humility. Just as in earthly society an annoying, arrogant, self-deceived person must always be ready for strong rebuff and is often forced to give way to modest merit, so in the heavenly world “everyone who exalts himself will be humiliated, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Then Christ did not overlook the weak side in the character of the owner of the house himself. He organized the dinner not out of any lofty goals, but simply out of a vain desire to show off his wealth and his imaginary generosity, which clearly, however, betrayed the hope that the guests would repay the same. Such hospitality has no moral significance. Kindness shown to the poor will receive richer retribution than the flattering treats of friends and the rich. When receiving friends and relatives, we must not forget the helpless and suffering. Calculated charity is nothing more than disguised selfishness. The rich Pharisee would have acquired a much more reliable and indestructible blessing if he had invited the unfortunate man suffering from dropsy to stay with him, if the poor people who watched his feast were also among his guests. At this point, one of the guests, perhaps thinking that such an instruction was unpleasant and harsh, inserted a remark that, under the circumstances, barely rose above the level of ambiguous and flat wit (Luke 14:15-24). “Blessed is he who eats bread in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15), he exclaimed, as if wanting to make up for the unpleasantness of the impression with this impersonal remark. Instead of taking advantage of this Divine edification, he apparently would have been more pleased if the whole matter had been put on the back burner for a distant future, as if he were completely confident in that bliss of which he obviously had the most vague and crude idea. But the Savior will turn his empty remark into a new occasion for a memorable lesson. He told a parable in order to show them that “eating bread in the Kingdom of Heaven” requires conditions that precisely those who were so completely confident about eating it would not want to accept. One man, He said, sent out many invitations to a great feast; but when dinner time came, everyone refused. One was busy with his farm, and he needed to go and see the newly purchased plot of land. Another had just bought a pair of oxen and thought it necessary to test them. The third had just gotten married and was so busy with his family business that his arrival was out of the question. Then the owner, angry at these disrespectful and unresponsive guests, ordered his slaves to immediately go through the streets and alleys and call all the poor, crippled, lame, blind; when this was accomplished and there was still room left, he sent his slaves to call even homeless wanderers along the fences and roads. The moral application of the parable was obvious to everyone present. A heart devoted to the world, whether absorbed in household chores, the accumulation of wealth, or simply the sensuality of a self-satisfied life, is incompatible with a true desire for a feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. Pagans and pariahs, harlots and publicans, roadside workers and street beggars may be there sooner than the scribes with their arrogant learning, and the Pharisees with their ostentatious piety. “For I tell you,” the Savior added on his own behalf, in order to apply this moral teaching closer to them, “that none of those invited will taste My supper.” And so “many are called, but few are chosen” (Luke 14:24). This parable was a picturesque depiction of the activity of Christ Himself. He called everyone to the feast of His gospel, but the majority of those invited, those to whom He first of all addressed the gospel, abandoned Him, being absorbed in the vanity that deceived them. The most important leaders of the people and the upper classes in general, as it now became obvious, finally refused to accept the gospel. But he was responded to with complete sincerity by all those suffering and burdened, all the poor, the maimed and the lame, all the tax collectors and sinners who, as the dispossessed in this world, more easily opened the door of their hearts to the new gospel, which proclaimed to them the Kingdom in another better world. When the scribes and Pharisees finally became hostile to Christ, He remained in the company of these tax collectors and sinners, who gathered in a crowd around their Divine Comforter. For the proud scribes and Pharisees, such a community of Him seemed especially humiliating and shameful for the Prophet, and they loudly murmured among themselves, saying: “He receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). The lower classes of the Jewish people were in a difficult situation at this time. Civil wars and the Roman invasion filled the country with ruins and ashes. The Herods, it is true, tried to restore the destroyed cities and were distinguished by their passion for buildings, but this only satisfied their ambition, and for the people this only entailed new taxes, which further burdened them and dragged them into unpayable debts. It is not for nothing that Christ’s parables so often take examples of unpaid debtors. There were many of them in real life. This was facilitated by the Roman system of collecting taxes through companies of tax farmers, who, through their collectors or tax collectors, sucked the last juice out of the people. The economic misery of the common people was further aggravated by the fact that the upper classes did not at all care about improving the lot of their smaller brothers, but, on the contrary, treated them with complete contempt. Those same scribes and Pharisees who considered themselves zealots of religion and law looked with heartless coldness at the poor masses of their people, and even elevated their contemptuous attitude towards them into a special rule of the law. That is why, when the Savior began to address His gospel primarily to this abandoned and oppressed mass, the rumor about Him quickly spread throughout the whole country, and from various dens of misery and misery, all these weary and burdened people, who had hitherto met neither love nor greeting from their arrogant leaders, gathered to Him. But the Savior did not limit His love to this; He extended it to those who were the complete rabble of this world, namely sinners and tax collectors, the very contact with whom was for the pious Pharisees and strict lawyers a kind of defilement that required countless ablutions. To the unspeakable horror of these soulless lawyers, Christ “received sinners and ate with them!” It is not surprising that they began to murmur against Him for this, in their opinion, blatant violation of public decency; but when their murmur reached the ears of the Lord, He taught them a highly edifying lesson in this regard - in a number of striking parables. “Which of you,” He said, “having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?” And having found it, he will lay it on his shoulders with joy; and having come home, he will call his friends and neighbors and say: rejoice with me; I found my missing sheep. I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety righteous people who have no need of salvation” (Luke 15:4–7). With the example of a woman rejoicing over the discovery of a lost drachma, the Savior further confirmed the same thought, adding that “even so there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). But God’s endless mercy towards repentant sinners was depicted with especially picturesqueness in the famous parable of the Prodigal Son. In it, the youngest son of a rich father prematurely wanted to take advantage of his independence and, taking the following part of the property from his father, retired to a foreign country. There, with his luxurious and criminal life, he quickly squandered his wealth and even began to endure hunger, to satisfy which he was forced to hire out as a pig herder, that is, take the most humiliating position to which a Jew could fall! He also had to eat with pigs, the same carob fruits that are used to fatten pigs in the east, and at times, in extreme need, poor people also eat. A silent stay in the company of these dirty animals gave the ill-fated young man the opportunity to go over in his soul all the events of his insanely ruined young life. He also remembered his father’s home, where he had once been surrounded by love, contentment and honor from numerous servants. He himself is now also a servant, but a hungry servant, humiliated and rejected by everyone, and yet in his father’s house the servants themselves enjoy contentment and a tolerable human position. And he remembered these servants with envy. How glad he would now be to occupy in his native home - not the position of an heir-son (which he did not dare even dream of), but at least the position of one of the hired workers! He was now afraid to appear before the face of his once loving father, whom he had so deeply offended by his insane act; but hunger and misfortune triumphed in the spiritual struggle, and he decided to return to his father and sincerely repent of everything. And so he, hungry, dirty and ragged, “got up and went to his father” (Luke 15:20). Here are the outskirts of my native country; but every familiar hill and source served as a terrible reproach for him, and even more so he should have been afraid and ashamed of familiar people who could now see him in this disastrous and pitiful situation. What will father and brother say? But the father’s heart already felt the approach of the ill-fated young man. “And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:20–21). He wanted to add a request that had already been prepared in advance: “Take me as one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:19), but his father did not let him finish this. He immediately ordered to bring the best clothes, dress him, put on shoes and decorate him with a ring; then he ordered the fattened calf to be killed for a family feast and rejoiced with his family about his son, who for him “was dead and has come to life; was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). But then the eldest son came, who, approaching the house, was extremely surprised to hear singing and rejoicing in it. Having learned what was the matter, he was not only not happy about the return of his younger, missing brother, but he was extremely angry and did not want to enter the house to take part in the fun, reproaching his father for treating his dissolute son with such generosity, who now returned only because he had nothing else to live for, and at the same time never even gave even a kid to him, his elder brother, who was in the sweat of his brow. worked for him. To this heartless reproach of his eldest son, the loving father exclaimed enthusiastically: “My son! you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. And in this you should rejoice and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:31–32). The Savior did not tell how this heartless brother acted; The Pharisees who listened to Him had to resolve this issue by their own behavior towards despairing sinners and together they had to understand all the moralizing power of the parable, which with such irresistible force exposed their own heartlessness. The Savior offered similar teachings in parables throughout His last stay in Galilee. On another occasion, while talking with his disciples, He told them a parable about an unrighteous steward who squandered his master’s property and, having heard about his threatened resignation, entered into special deals with the master’s debtors, reducing the amount of their debts on their receipts, so that later, in case of need, he could find friends in them. This act exposed his particular shrewdness in managing property, and the Savior, based on this example, exhorted His listeners to manage their property in general in such a way that, in the event of impoverishment, they would have friends who would accept them into eternal abodes. These friends, of course, can only be those poor and wretched people, whose alms can give them the right to enter the eternal abodes. The Pharisees also heard this parable, and since they were extremely money-loving, such a teaching of the Savior seemed extremely funny to them, especially the final words of the teaching that one cannot serve two masters - God and mammon. The Pharisees served two masters and considered themselves such great righteous people that the very first and most honorable places in the Kingdom of Heaven had long been prepared for them. To show them their pathetic error, the Savior told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In it, before the astonished Pharisees, He revealed the terrible truth for them, that God judges people differently than earthly scribes and lawyers, and the one who here enjoyed all the blessings of the world, there, in the afterlife, had to endure terrible but deserved suffering for his heartlessness and see how the unfortunate Lazarus, to whom he did not want to show any alms and allowed only his dogs to lick his rotten wounds, покоился в блаженном лоне Авраамовом. This is the only fate the Pharisees can avoid! fulfilling what the law and the prophets commanded. Unfortunately, in their imaginary righteousness they were complete practical unbelievers, and even Lazarus could hardly have convinced them of the truth of what was said, if, at the request of the unfortunate rich man, he had been sent back to earth with a sermon about repentance and the afterlife. Meanwhile, the time had come to go to Jerusalem again, and the Savior, without ceasing His teaching and charitable activities, began to gradually move south and headed to the Trans-Jordan region to take advantage of a calmer route. But human grief sought His beneficent help along this path. On the border between Galilee and Samara, at the entrance to one village, a dull, hoarse, plaintive cry reached Him. He looked and saw ten lepers, united into one society by their terrible illness. They stopped at a distance because they did not dare to approach, since their approach entailed desecration, and they were obliged to warn everyone approaching them with a soul-rending cry of “tame, tame” - “evil spirits, evil spirits!” Leprosy - it was, so to speak, a living death, represented the most terrible image of suffering and disaster, decomposed and spoiled the very sources of life-giving blood in a person, disfigured the face, made the very touch disgusting, slowly infected and covered the whole body with ulcers of a disease more terrible than death itself - those struck by it always aroused the heart of the Savior with deep and living compassion. But she never aroused more active participation in Him than now. As soon as I heard them cry: “Jesus the Master! have mercy on us!” “He immediately, without even waiting to approach them, loudly told them: “Go, show yourself to the priests!” (Luke 17:13–14). They understood the meaning of this command: they knew that He commanded them to go and ask the priests to recognize them as healed, to certify that they had been restored to all the rights and benefits of public life (Lev. 13:2; 14:2). Already at the sound of this miraculous voice, they felt a flow of healthy life, restoration of strength, purification of the blood flowing in their veins, “and as they walked, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:14). They received the greatest and most precious gift, but the abyss of human ingratitude is great! Those healed did not think to return to their God. To the doctor, to give Him due thanks. Only one of them returned to their shame, namely the Samaritan, who “glorifying God with a loud voice, fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him” (Luke 17:15–16). No matter how accustomed the heart of Christ was to all ingratitude, it was also outraged by such a blatant, so shameless and such a monstrous example of it. “Were not ten cleansed,” He asked with sad surprise; where is nine? How did they not return to give glory to God, except this foreigner? "(Luke 17:17–18). But if the ingratitude of the other nine was so black and shameful, then in comparison with it, the gratitude of this Samaritan was even more precious. And the Savior did not leave her without reward. Having healed his body, He also healed his soul, lovingly saying to him: “Get up, go; your faith has saved you!” (Luke 17–19). Around this time, the seventy disciples returned from preaching. They conveyed to Him with joy the success that accompanied their preaching. By the power of the name of Christ they could even drive out bass. On this occasion, the Savior taught them that good is infinitely more powerful than evil and that the victory over Satan, who fell from heaven like lightning, has been won and will continue forever. Over all the powers of evil He gave them power and victory, and the word of His promise was to serve as a protection to them from every source of harm. They will tread on the asp and the basilisk, they will trample the lion and the dragon; because He loved them, He will deliver them; He will protect them because they have known His name. But they have an even more sublime, more spiritual source of joy, namely, that their names are written in the book of life and will never be erased from it. This simple faith and boundless hope of the disciples filled the heart of Jesus with joy; but He also rejoiced in spirit because although He was rejected and despised by the scribes and Pharisees, He was loved and adored by tax collectors and sinners. The poor to whom He preached the gospel, the blind to whom He opened their sight, the sick whom He healed, the lost whom He sought and saved - all of them crowded around their good Shepherd and great Physician with sincere and enthusiastic gratitude. He gave hope and blessing in every possible way to all those who were weary and burdened. In the parable of the troublesome widow, He taught them the duty of faith and showed that persistent, fervent prayer will certainly be answered (Luke 18:1–8). In the parable of the arrogant Pharisee, self-satisfied with his honor, his fasting and his alms, who came to the church only to boast before God and therefore always left less justified than the sinful publican, who with downcast eyes, striking himself in the chest, only repeated the cry about the mercy of God - Christ taught that God loves repentant humility more than simple external service, and that a humble heart and spirit contrite - these are the sacrifices that He will not despise and which are most pleasing to Him. XXII. In Jerusalem. Testimony of Jesus Christ on the Feast of the Renewal of the Church about his consubstantiality with God the Father Winter came with its rains and damp cold winds, and at the end of the month of Kislev the Jews had a new great holiday, namely the Feast of the Renewal of the Church - in memory of that joyful event for the people when the church was renewed by Judas Maccabee after the terrible desecration of it by the insane outrage of Antiochus Epiphanes. Like Easter and the Feast of Tabernacles, it was celebrated for a whole week and was accompanied by great celebrations, heightened by the custom of lighting fires, as a result of which the holiday itself was sometimes called the Feast of Lights. The Savior again found it possible to visit Jerusalem on this holiday in order to once again proclaim His Messianic dignity among the gathered people. And He declared it under very remarkable circumstances. According to custom, a lot of people gathered in Jerusalem for the holiday, but the celebration was largely spoiled by the damp and cold weather, so the festive crowd had to seek shelter from the rain under the roof of the vast colonnade of the so-called Solomon's Porch, that is, that part of the church that survived its defeat by Nebuchadnezzar and, in its renewed and decorated form for the holiday, served as the best monument to the former glory of the people. Here Christ was among the people, and He could not hide from the watchful eyes of the Pharisee party. During the absence of Christ, this party had to think a lot about the question of who this Galilean really was, who taught with such Divine wisdom that even the greatest teachers of rabbinical schools could not equal Him, and at the same time performed miracles, which could be denied only with the obvious intentionality of not recognizing anything miraculous. The common people call Him a Prophet and even a Messiah; but it is strange that He Himself does not proclaim Himself the Messiah and does not at all think of acting as that formidable conqueror, the thought of which has been cherished for several centuries in the minds of not only the simple people who have suffered from political humiliation, but also its leaders, in whom the true concept of the Messiah has long been obscured. It is finally necessary to clarify the matter, and the Pharisees tried to do this precisely on this holiday. And so they approached Him with a decisive question: “How long will You keep us in bewilderment! If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). This was a significant question, showing that finally the Pharisees could no longer deny His extraordinary teaching and great deeds. But Christ foresaw their hidden thoughts. They did not at all need the Messiah in His true, spiritual dignity, since He, in the current state of these imaginary righteous people, would only be a terrible denunciation for them; but a political Messiah was needed who would overthrow the hated Romans and their henchmen Herods, conquer the whole world and install these same Pharisees and scribes as rulers of the nations. Passionately wanting to see Jesus as the earthly national Messiah, they hatedly rejected Him as the Son of God, the Savior of the world. That He was the Messiah in a more sublime and spiritual sense than they dreamed of, He often expressed this in clear words; but He was not and did not want to be the Messiah in the sense in which they desired. Therefore, He, in order not to mislead them, and not to say to them: I am your Messiah, but only refers to that repeatedly expressed teaching, which proved how clear His right to this dignity is, and to the deeds that testified about Him (John 5 and John 8). If they were sheep of His flock - and at the same time He remembered the conversation that He taught them earlier, during the Feast of Tabernacles - then they would listen to His voice, and He would give them eternal life and they would not perish under His protection, because no one would then be able to snatch them from the hand of His Father. “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) – He solemnly added. The meaning of these words was clear. In them He declared Himself not only the Messiah, but also God. The Pharisees undoubtedly understood this, and in the depths of their hearts, as far as feelings of truth remained in it, they could not help but recognize the truth of these words on the basis of everything that Christ had accomplished. But this destroyed their earthly dreams, and earthly benefits were most important to them, more important than the truth itself, and like miserable slaves of this world, they could not bear such an exalted testimony and again, as at the Feast of Tabernacles, they fiercely grabbed the stones, of which there were many near the unfinished buildings of the church. If His hour had already come, He would not have escaped the painful death to which His first martyr Stephen subsequently suffered. But His imperturbable majesty disarmed them. “I have shown you many good deeds from My Father,” He said, “for which of them do you want to stone Me?” "(John 10:32) - "We do not want to stone You for a good deed, they answered, but for blasphemy and because You, being a man, make Yourself God" (John 10:33). To justify Himself, the Savior referred to Holy Scripture, where even God-enlightened people in general are called “gods” (Ps. 81:6), and even more so have the right to be called “Son of God” by He Who proved by His teaching and His deeds the right to such a name. He referred to His life and His works as irrefutable proof of His unity with the Father. If His sinlessness and His miracles were not proof that He could not be the impudent blasphemer that they wanted to beat Him for, what other proof could be presented to them? Shouldn't this have been a sign for them that He who came to fulfill the law and proclaim another more exalted law in its place is the One to whom all the prophets testified, for whom John prepared the way, Who spoke as no man had ever spoken, Who did deeds that no one had done since the creation of the world, Who confirmed all His words and gave meaning to all His deeds with immaculate beauty, absolutely sinless life - Did He really speak the truth when He said that He is one with the Father and that He is the Son of God? The proof was irresistible, they did not dare stone Him; but since He was alone and defenseless among them, they tried to seize Him. But they couldn’t do that either. His appearance frightened them. They parted before Him and, with faces burning with hatred, looked at Him as He moved away from their midst. After this it became even clearer that it was impossible to continue teaching among them. They could not rise to His concept of the Messiah, just as He could not descend to their concept. To remain between them would only mean needlessly exposing His life to constant danger. Judea was therefore closed to Him, just as it was closed to Him (after the famous encroachment of Herod) and Galileo. In all of His native land, there was only one region left for Him where He could still be safe, namely Perea, the Trans-Jordanian region. Therefore, He again withdrew to the Trans-Jordanian country, and stopped there for a while to once again rest His soul before the greatest feat that lay ahead of Him. XXIII. In the Trans-Jordanian country. Blessing of children. Rich young man. A parable about equal pay for workers in a vineyard. The news of Lazarus' illness and the departure of Christ to Judea During his stay in Perea, the Savior, as usual, was engaged in acts of charity, teaching the people and talking with His disciples. He had been in this area more than once, and the people knew Him as a loving Teacher and Prophet, not only whose word, but also whose blessing was accepted with reverence. His endless love, so unlike the cold contempt of the proud Pharisees and scribes, also attracted women-mothers to Him, who considered it a special happiness for themselves to receive a blessing from Him for their little ones. Jewish mothers in general had the custom of bringing their children to the rabbis for blessing, but they approached the Savior with special eagerness, in full confidence that He would not reject them. And the Savior loved children extremely, seeing in them an example of innocence and purity and hope for the future. On one occasion, mothers with particular persistence and in large numbers brought their children to Him. The apostles, thinking that this made it difficult for Him in the matter of higher ministry, stopped allowing mothers with children, but the Savior immediately stopped their inappropriate jealousy, telling them: “Let the children in, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:4). And then, hugging the children and laying His Divine hands on them, the Savior taught the disciples and people that “whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God as a child,” that is, with all innocence and selflessness, “he will not enter it” (Luke 18:17). Following the example of the Savior, the Church founded by Him began to accept children into its bosom through baptism, without delaying this until they reached maturity. Пробыв в Перее несколько времени, Спаситель опять повернул на юг, чтобы в последней раз идти в Иерусалим. He thus left this area forever, and everyone rushed to take advantage of His spiritual advice for life. By the way, a very noble and rich young man ran up to Him and, falling on his knees before Him, exclaimed: “Good Teacher! What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Having reproached him for some pomposity and flattery of the title, which exposed his lack of heartfelt simplicity, the Savior told him that this required keeping the commandments. The young man apparently expected some new and extraordinary instruction from such a great Teacher and asked Him: what are the commandments? When Christ listed to him the most important commandments of the Decalogue and the Law of Moses, with special reference to the commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself, the young man noticed in amazement that he had kept all this from his youth and he would like to do something else besides this. The Savior loved him for this desire for achievement, but at the same time he saw the excessive arrogance of this man and, in order to expose him to himself, made him a high offer. “If you want to be perfect,” He said to the young man, go, sell your property and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). This proposal immediately shattered all his arrogance. He was a slave to his wealth and did not have the strength to part with it. “Hearing this word, the young man went away sad; because, the evangelist notes, he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:22). Christ extracted from this incident the subject of a new teaching for His listeners, telling them how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man (wholly devoted to his wealth as the source of the blessings of this world) to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). Since there are few such rich people who would not be attached to their wealth, when they heard this, the disciples shuddered at this thought and involuntarily exclaimed: “So who can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). Like all Jews, they were accustomed to look at wealth as a special blessing from God and, moreover, secretly continued to cherish the thought of the earthly kingdom of the Messiah, in which they should have the best lot. If so, then what will become of them? “Behold,” Peter remarked, “we have left everything and followed You; what will happen to us? "(Matthew 19:27). Then Christ, comforting them, revealed to them their glorious future. “Truly I say to you, He said, that you who have followed Me, in the end of life, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His Glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). But so that this great promise does not awaken a sense of pride in them, the Savior immediately added that they should not attach especially great importance to their primacy in following Christ, because the Kingdom of Heaven has its own special assessment, so that “many will be the first last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30). To explain this idea even more fully and clearly, Christ told them a parable about paying workers in a vineyard. The owner of the vineyard hired workers in three stages, so that the first ones he hired worked the whole day, the second for several hours, and the third for only one hour. He hired the first at a denarius a day, and offered the rest, as if they were standing idly in the market, to work without any specific conditions, promising only to reward them properly. When paying in the evening, the owner ordered his manager to pay the workers and start paying with those hired last. Since they went to work at the first invitation, with full confidence in the owner, and apparently tried diligently to make up for the short time, the owner ordered them to be paid for a denarius as for a whole working day. Such generosity of the owner aroused in other workers the hope that, in accordance with their longer work, he would pay them a larger amount, that is, pay them more than the agreed upon denarius. But when their owner also paid them a denarius per person, they raised a murmur and reproached him for comparing them with the last ones, who worked only one hour, while they endured the heat and hardship of the whole day. But this murmur revealed in them infidelity to the obligation they had assumed and an unfounded expectation of getting more compared to what they were going for, and such discontent was met with a just reproach from the owner, who said to one of the dissatisfied: “friend! I don't offend you; Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take yours and go; I want to give this last one the same as I give you. Don't I have the power to do what I want? Or is your eye envious because I am kind?” (Matthew 20:13–15). Thus, the reward in the Kingdom of Heaven will depend not on primacy in the time of calling and not on the length of stay in this calling, but on the degree of fidelity to duty, diligence in work and the all-wise goodness of God, which evaluates people not so much by external labor, but by their inner being. That is why, Christ added again, “the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). These farewell conversations apparently date back to the last days of Christ’s stay in Perea, and when He approached the border of Judea, He received sad news from Bethany that the one He loved “was dangerously ill” (John 11:1). With this news they sent to Him a special messenger from the sisters of Lazarus, who, seeing no hope for the recovery of their beloved brother, asked Christ to come to them as soon as possible and, with His Divine participation, to somehow help them in the grief that had befallen them. The request was persistent, but Christ did not immediately set off. Busy with His great work of spiritual enlightenment of people, He sent only the news that “this illness does not lead to death, but to the glory of God” (John 11:4), and stayed in Perea for two more days. Only after they had passed did He say to His disciples: “Let us go again to Judea” (John 11:7). The disciples reminded Him how recently the Jews wanted to stone Him, and asked how He wanted to go there again; but He answered that during the twelve hours of His working day He could walk safely, because the light of His duty, which constituted the will of the Heavenly Father, protected Him from danger. And then He told them that Lazarus had fallen asleep, and that He was now coming to awaken him. At least three of them must have remembered how, on another famous occasion, the Savior spoke of death as a dream; but either others said it, or they were too stupid to remember it. Since they understood His words and the meaning of a simple natural dream, He had to tell them directly that Lazarus had died (John 11:14) and that He rejoiced in this for their sake, so that they would believe, because now He was coming to raise him to life. “Let us also go,” said the Apostle Thomas, who generally had little faith in the possibility of resurrection from the dead, “let us die with him” (John 11:16), as if to say: this whole undertaking is useless and dangerous, but let us go anyway. And they set off. XXIV. In Judea. The Raising of Lazarus. Definition of the Sanhedrin against Jesus Christ. A foreshadowing of death on the cross. Salome's request. Healing of the blind in Jericho and the conversion of Zacchaeus. Anointing the feet of Jesus Christ with myrrh at the supper in Bethany Having walked the path ahead of them, the Savior and his disciples approached Bethany, but did not immediately go to the house that was welcoming to Him, but stopped at some distance from the village. Its proximity to Jerusalem, from which it is only three and a half miles away, and the outstanding wealth and nobility of the family attracted many noble Jews who came to console the orphaned sisters and grieve with them; and among such determined enemies it was obviously necessary to act with caution. But while Mary, true to her contemplative and solitude-loving nature, sat at home, not knowing about the approach of the Savior, the more active Martha had already learned about His arrival and immediately went to meet Him. Lazarus died on the very day Jesus received news of his illness; After that, He spent two more days in Perea, and the fourth day was spent traveling. This slowness was supposed to serve for even greater glory of God in the great work ahead. Christ resurrected Jairus' daughter immediately after her death; the son of the Nain widow - when he was carried to the cemetery, and now He wanted to prove His omnipotence by resurrecting a man who had already been touched by decay. But Martha could not understand this sad slowness on His part. “Lord, she met Him with a tone of some reproach: if You had been here, my brother would not have died!” (John 11:21). But immediately faith and hope took precedence in her over all other feelings, and she added: “But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you” (John 11:22). The Savior immediately confirmed her faith with a solemn declaration: “Your brother will rise again!” (John 11:23) He said, deliberately using an ambiguous expression in order to raise Martha's faith from simple personal interest to sublime thoughts. Martha understood this saying only in the sense of the general resurrection of the dead, and since she hoped for something closer and more immediate, this answer only added to her sorrow and she only answered with sadness: “I know that he will rise again, on the resurrection, on the last day” (John 11:24). Then the Savior, seeing that her thoughts were somewhat freed from personal interest, made to her a solemn revelation of His Divine being, in which lies the source of our resurrection. “I, Christ told her, am the resurrection and the life: whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. Do you believe this? "(John 11:25,26). “So, Lord,” answered Martha, now convinced: “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world” (John 11:27). Such a conversation completely encouraged her, and she followed her sister Mary, to whom she secretly conveyed the joyful news for her: “The Teacher is here and is calling you” (John 11:28). Mary immediately followed the instructions of her sister and, seeing her beloved Teacher and Lord, fell at His feet and with a dejected heart said the same as her sister: “Lord, if You were here, my brother would not have died!” (John 11:32). This unanimous faith of the sisters in the omnipotence of Christ over death and life, together with the soul-wrenching grief that befell this good family, touched the Savior extremely, and He could hardly say: “Where did you lay him?” - “Lord, come and see” (Jn. 11:34), the weeping sisters answered Him. As He followed them, silent tears flowed from His eyes. These tears did not go unnoticed, and while some Jews with respectful sympathy saw in them a proof of His love for the deceased, others asked with doubt and almost mockery: could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man prevent His friend from dying? They did not hear how He raised the dead in a remote town in Galilee, but they knew that in Jerusalem He opened the eyes of a man born blind, and this seemed to them an equally amazing miracle. But Christ knew and heard their talk, and once again this whole spectacle - real grief, hired mourners, unquenchable hatred - all this gathered around the terrible work of death so shook His spirit that, despite the impending resurrection of the dead man, He was once again carried away by the storm of sorrowful feeling and cried. The tomb of Lazarus, like most of the tombs of rich Jews, was a recess cut longitudinally into the rock and closed at the entrance with a slab or mass of stones. Jesus Christ ordered that this golal, as the tombstone was called, be taken away. But Martha, partly due to her conviction that the soul had already completely left co-presence with the smoldering body, partly fearing, due to understandable delicacy, the possibility of a repulsive spectacle that would open with the removal of the stone, objected to this. In that hot climate, burial necessarily takes place immediately after death, and since it was now the evening of the fourth day since the death of Lazarus, there was every reason to think that decomposition had already set in. But Christ solemnly reminded her of his promise, and the stone was rolled away from the cave where the dead man lay. The Savior stopped at the entrance, and all the others involuntarily recoiled back, fixing their gaze on this gloomy and silent cave. Everyone held their breath when Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and thanked God for the impending hearing of His prayer. And then, raising His voice to a stunning and commanding authority, in strong short words, usual with Him on all such occasions, He exclaimed: “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43) and to the horror of all those present, the dead man rose from the grave and came out again into the light of God - in his terrible funeral attire. Christ ordered the burial shrouds to be removed from him, and Lazarus was free to go home, and the entire crowd of people present watched the resurrected man in fear and amazement and talked about the One who performed such a great miracle. Many believed in Him; but there were also those whose stubborn unbelief could not be overcome by Lazarus, who returned from the afterlife, and they only hurried to Jerusalem to report what had happened to the Sanhedrin. The rumor of Jesus' new greatest miracle greatly confused and excited the members of the Sanhedrin, who immediately met to discuss what to do now. The Prophet of Nazareth was obviously becoming dangerous for them, since even many of the noble Jews present in Bethany believed in Him. The miracle may receive especially great publicity and the whole people will follow Jesus, and this may threaten great danger and arouse the suspicion of the Romans, who will take advantage of this opportunity to finally deprive the people of their political existence. The dispute was heated, since the parties in the Sanhedrin, which had always been at odds with each other, now reached the point of bitterness. The Pharisees would have benefited from the Prophet of Nazareth himself, if only He had agreed to act as the national-political Messiah, as they only imagined the Messiah, and had not exposed their inner hypocrisy and false piety with such severity; but the Sadducean party, which owed all its prosperity to the present humiliated state of the people and which, thanks to the Roman proteges - Herods, held in its hands the high priesthood, which was for them, a major source of enrichment was afraid of any popular confusion and was ready to resort to all sorts of measures in order to eliminate the reason for any suspicion and discontent of the Romans. The spokesman and herald of this party was the then high priest Joseph Caiaphas. He was made high priest by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus, who had recently left the post of governor of this province. Being in all respects a creature of the Romans and, as a result, not enjoying any respect from the people, he put his personal benefits at the basis of his reasoning and, covering them up with the good of the people, turned to the Sanhedrin with a sharp speech, saying: “you know nothing” (John 11:49); otherwise you wouldn’t argue so much and ardently in vain. You did not take into account the main thing, namely, what will become inevitable if we allow the complete triumph of Jesus the Galilean. The Messianic movement, now apparently threatening to break out, will undoubtedly attract the Romans, who will come with their legions, close the church, destroy all national institutions and above all the Sanhedrin, deprive the people of all independence and, in case of resistance, devastate the country with fire and sword. Therefore, Caiaphas concluded with ominous solemnity, “it is better for us that one man should die for the people, than that the whole people should perish” (John 11:50). Caiaphas's thought was clear to everyone. He apparently demanded the death of Christ as a necessary condition for the salvation of the people; but he himself did not understand what a lofty prophecy he was uttering, predicting “that Jesus would die for the people, and not only for the people, but that he might also gather together the scattered children of God” (John 11:51–52). “From that day they decided to kill Him” (John 11:53). The guards were given orders to carefully monitor Him in order to arrest Him at the first opportunity and subject Him to a merciless trial of death. As a result of this, it was impossible for the Savior to remain in Judea any longer, and since His hour had not yet come, He withdrew for a while “to a country near the desert, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples” (John 11:54). There, in complete safety from all the plans and machinations of His mortal enemies, He calmly and happily spent the last weeks of His life, surrounded only by His disciples, whom He, in this peaceful solitude, prepared for great work in the ripening harvest of the world. It is unknown how long this involuntary stay in Ephraim lasted, but the Passover holiday was approaching, that holiday when, along with the legalized lambs, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world was supposed to be slain. Caravans of admirers, as usual, reached Jerusalem from everywhere; Jesus Christ also set off with His disciples. He was immersed in great thought about the greatest feat ahead, and the disciples, following Him, did not dare to interrupt His thoughts. Finally He stopped and called them to Himself, and then once again, precisely for the third time, with fuller, clearer, more amazing and terrible details than ever before, He told them that He would be betrayed to the high priests and scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; the pagans would mock Him and beat Him, and now for the first time He clearly revealed to them the most terrible event, that He would be crucified, but on the third day He would rise again. But their minds were still filled with earthly messianic hopes, they were so preoccupied with the thought of the impending arrival of the Kingdom of God in all its greatness, that this prediction seemed to completely fly past their ears; they did not understand him, and they did not want to understand him at all. And this was amazingly proven by a new event that saddened Christ. During this very journey, some of the disciples made an extremely untimely and selfish request, showing to what extent the souls of even the closest disciples were still little enlightened by the light of the Gospel. Salome, one of His constant companions, approached Jesus Christ with her two sons, James and John, and asked Him to promise them special mercy. Christ asked what they desired; and then the mother, on behalf of her ardent and ambitious sons, asked that in His Kingdom He would place one of them on the right hand and the other on the left. Christ responded meekly to their selfishness and delusion. In their blindness they asked for a position which only a few days later, as they were to see, was occupied in shame and torment by two crucified robbers. Their imagination pictured twelve thrones before them, but He told them about three crosses. They dreamed of earthly crowns, but He spoke to them of the cup of bitterness and the baptism of blood. Could they drink this cup with Him, or be baptized with this baptism? Perhaps now more understanding the meaning of His words, they boldly answered: “we can” (Mark 10:39); and then He said that they would really have to justify their words, but that only those who had been prepared by the Heavenly Father would have to sit on His right and left sides. And then calling all His twelve disciples, Christ once again taught them how erroneous their views on the Kingdom of Heaven were, and once again explained to them its true meaning as completely different from the kingdoms of this world. But the travelers crossed the Jordan and entered the plain of Jericho. This is one of the most luxurious places in Palestine. The mild climate produces tropical vegetation. Its fig tree groves were famous throughout the country and produced rich harvests. Balsam plants, filling the air with a sweet aroma, were at the same time famous for their healing power for wounds; the maize yielded two harvests, and the wheat ripened a month earlier than in Galilee. Countless swarms of bees found rich food on the succulent aromatic bushes and flowers, of which the most expensive species grew only here, filling the air with a sweet fragrance and giving a special charm to the area itself. The plain slowly rises from the deep hollow of the Jordan, which lies much below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, towards the west, and twelve miles from the river, at an altitude of seven hundred feet above its level, lay that famous city that was once the first to fall before the children of Israel when they entered the Promised Land. He survived many vicissitudes in his historical fate and now, despite the spell placed on him by Joshua, he again proudly towered over the surrounding area, shining in the sultry sun with the whiteness of his fortresses and palaces erected by Herod the Great. As Christ slowly rose with His disciples towards this city, one of the last miracles for the benefit of suffering humanity took place at its gates. At the gate sat two beggars who asked for alms from passers-by, and the name of one of them was Bartimaeus. From the fans passing this way, they could hope for a good collection of alms, but they did not imagine what happiness awaited them. Hearing the extraordinary noise of the passing people, who were in a particular state of excitement, they learned that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, the fame of whose miracles resounded throughout the country. This immediately awakened sweet hope in them, and they, forgetting about all other alms, began to shout to Him: “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:31). The people wanted to silence them, considering this loud cry obscene in the presence of Him who was to enter Jerusalem as the Messiah of His people. But Christ heard their cry, and His compassionate heart was touched by it. He stopped and ordered them to be called to Him. Then the people change their tone and say to Bartimaeus (who most declared himself by shouting for mercy in misfortune): “Do not be afraid, get up, he is calling you” (Mark 10:49). In a burst of joy, he hastily threw off his cloak, jumped up and approached Jesus. "What do you want from me?" (Mark 10:50) asked the Savior. “Rabbi,” he answered, giving Jesus the most honorable title he knew, “so that I may receive my sight” (Mark 10:50). “Look,” said Christ, “your faith has saved you” (Mark 10:51). He touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed Him, praising God. In Jericho it was necessary to rest before setting out on the difficult and at the same time unsafe from robbers path that leads to Jerusalem. It is a difficult, almost continuous six-hour climb, the bottom of which is much lower, and the top is almost 3,000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea. The two most prominent classes in the population of Jericho were the priests and publicans. Since this was a priestly city, it would be natural to expect that the King, the son of David, the successor of Moses, would be received in the house of some descendant of Aaron. But the place that Christ chose to rest was determined by other circumstances (Luke 19:1–10). There was a settlement of publicans in the city to collect duties on the extensive trade in balsam, which was mined here in greater quantities than anywhere else, and to supervise the import and export trade carried on between the Roman provinces and the dominions of Herod Antipas. One of the leaders of these publicans was Zacchaeus, doubly hated by the people as a Jew and as he performed his office near the holy city. His position of authority only strengthened the people's dislike for him, because the Jews considered this position as a reward for his special zeal in the service of their oppressors, the Romans, and looked at his wealth as evidence of unscrupulous bribery. This man had a deep desire to see with his own eyes what kind of person Jesus was; but being short in stature, he could not even look at Him because of the dense crowd. Therefore, when Jesus passed through the city, he ran ahead and climbed the spreading branches of a fig tree that stood by the road. Jesus Christ was supposed to pass under this tree, and the publican had the full opportunity to see Him - that extraordinary Prophet, who not only did not harbor the usual hatred for publicans, but found among them the most zealous listeners and even elevated one of them to the rank of apostle. When Jesus Christ approached, Zacchaeus actually saw Him and rejoiced at it; but his heart beat with even greater joy and gratitude when the great Prophet, the recognized Messiah of His people, stopped under a tree, looked up and, calling him by name, ordered him to quickly come down, because he intended to be in his house. Zacchaeus had to not only see Him, but also receive Him into his home, dine with Him and offer Him lodging for the night - the despised publican had to have the glorious Messiah as his guest. With joy, Zacchaeus hastened to get down from the tree and took the great guest to his house. But the people unanimously and loudly complained: for them it seemed obscene, incongruous, humiliating for the Tsar, in the very midst of His enthusiastic followers, to stay in the house of a man whose occupation was a symbol of national humiliation and who, even in this rank, as was openly said in the crowd, did not enjoy good fame. But the merciful word of Jesus meant more to Zacchaeus than all the murmuring and all the insults of the crowd. It reborn him and with life-giving power resurrected in him all the good qualities of his soul, which were suppressed by self-interest and the contempt that surrounded him. Delighted with the great honor shown to him, Zacchaeus, rising from the table, solemnly declared: “Lord, I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone, I will repay him fourfold!” (Luke 19:8). This noble self-sacrifice of the despised publican, who with such straightforwardness cast down the idol of his life, justified the honor given to him by Christ, and the Savior graciously exclaimed: “Now salvation has come to this house, because he also is the son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9), in the best sense of the word, as the son of the father of believers. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), He added. Since not only the simple people around Him, but also the disciples continued to harbor the false expectation that the Kingdom of God in its sensual sense would soon open in Jerusalem, Christ told them an instructive parable about a high-ranking man who “went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and return” (Luke 19:12). The image itself is taken from a circumstance well known to the Jews that recently occurred before Archelaus, after the death of his father Herod the Great, went to Rome to obtain royal dignity for himself from the emperor. Before leaving, he distributed a mina of silver to his slaves so that they could use it before his return. Despite the opposition of many citizens, he received the kingdom and upon his return paid tribute to both his enemies and slaves, depending on their loyalty and merit. One lazy and unfaithful slave, instead of putting into circulation the mina of silver entrusted to him, hid it in a scarf and returned it to his master with an obscene and impudent complaint about his cruelty. Therefore the silver was taken from him and given to the most deserving of the good and faithful slaves; the latter were generously rewarded; disobedient citizens who opposed his accession were captured and put to death. This parable had a multifaceted application: it pointed to the imminent removal of Christ the Savior from the world, to the hatred with which they rejected Him, to the duty of fidelity in the use of everything that was entrusted; to the unknown of the time of His return; to the certainty that upon His return everyone will have to give a strict account; to the condemnation of the lazy, to a great reward for all who faithfully serve Him, and to the final destruction of those who rejected Him. Meanwhile, the procession was approaching its goal, and here were the already familiar skeletons of the Mount of Olives. Most of the people accompanying Christ hastily descended from the mountain to settle down for the night among the green slopes of the mountain, in sight of the holy city, but Christ Himself chose to stay in his beloved village in Bethany, where the pious Bethany family was already waiting for Him with love and greetings. There a dinner was prepared for Him, during which a grace-filled conversation took place, which again won Christ several believers among the noble Jews who came to personally see the miracle performed on Lazarus. But this conversation was marked by one remarkable event, which prepared the decisive moment in the earthly life of the Savior. While Martha, as usual, was busy with the household chores, Mary sat at the feet of Christ and listened to His sweet conversation. Being in the presence of her adored Master and her beloved brother, who was a living witness of the messianic omnipotence of Christ, she felt an irresistible need to express to Him in some way her love, her gratitude and her reverence. And so, getting up, she took an alabaster vase of the Indian precious spikenard world and, quietly approaching Jesus from behind, broke the vase and poured the precious fragrant moisture first on His head, and then on His feet, and then, as if not seeing any of the strangers present, wiped His feet with long locks of her flowing hair, and the air was filled with the sweet fragrance of the spilled world. It was an act of completely devoted love, extraordinary self-denial, and the poor Galileans who followed Jesus, so little accustomed to any luxury, but nevertheless understanding the price of this gift, naturally could not help but be amazed that such a treasure was wasted in an instant. In one of them, this noble deed of Mary awakened a low feeling of annoyance and anger - namely, in Judas Iscariot. His low nature, which could not be ennobled by the grace-filled community with Christ, began to become strongly marked, and he, disappointed in the benefits that he expected from joining the society of Christ, began to reward himself by stealing from the community circle. And now, at the sight of Mary’s generous sacrifice, which, if translated into money, would have amounted to a significant amount for the apostolic reliquary, which was at his complete disposal, his soul was filled with indignation and rage. The devil has already taken possession of her. Tormented by the spirit of greed, he sullenly remarked with feigned philanthropy: why such waste? “Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor?” (John 12:5). Christ with sorrow foresaw the insidious and greedy thought of Judas, but this time he only indirectly reproached him, defending Mary, who had already become the subject of remarks unfavorable to her. “Why are you embarrassing a woman?” He said. “Leave her alone; she did a good deed for Me. For you always have the poor with you, but not always Me. She has kept this ointment for the day of My burial” (Mark 14:5–8). And to this He added a prophecy, miraculously fulfilled to this day, that wherever the Gospel is preached, there her work will be told with honor. The rumor that in Bethany Jesus Christ had converted several more noble Jews to faith in Himself quickly reached the Sanhedrin, and it fell into such a furious frenzy that it even thought of killing Lazarus, as an irrefutable witness to the miracles of the Galilean they hated, but at the same time, with even greater determination, it began to strive to prepare His own death. You might be interested in: