Sacred History of the New Testament

Contents Preliminary information necessary for assimilation of the New Testament sacred history The eternal advice of God about our salvation The first message about the Lord Savior The time of the coming of the Savior What was the preparation of the human race to receive the Savior? Were all Jews equally ready to receive the Lord the Savior? Who were the Pharisees? Who were the Sadducees? Samaritan Schism Who ruled Judea at the time of Christ's coming? Great Sanhedrin of the Synagogue I. History of the birth and first years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ before the beginning of His open service to the salvation of the human race § 1. Prediction of the birth of John the Baptist. (Luke 1:5–25.) § 2. The Most Holy Virgin Mary and the Annunciation to Her of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Onion. 1, 26–38 § 3. Visit of the Blessed Virgin Elizabeth. (Luke 1, 39–56.) § 4. Birth of John the Baptist. (Luke 1, 57–80) § 5. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke 2:1–6) § 6. Worship of the Bethlehem shepherds to the born Lord. (Luke 2:7–20) § 7. Worship of the Eastern sages to the born Lord. (Matt. 2, 1–12) § 8. The flight of Joseph with the Child of God and His Mother to Egypt and his return to the land of Israel. (Matt. 2, 18–23) §. 9. Meeting of the Lord Jesus Christ in the church by Simeon and Anna. (Luke 2:22–39) § 10. The youth Jesus in the church. (Luke 2, 41–62) § 11. Preaching of John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:1–18) § 12. The baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ from John. (Matt. 3, 13–17; Mark 1, 9-11; Luke 3, 21–22) §13. The temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ from the devil in the desert. (Matt. 4, 1–11; Luke 4, 1–13) § 14. Testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus Christ. (John 1, 19–34) § 15. The first disciples of Jesus Christ. (John 1, 35–51) § 16. The first miracle in Cana of Galilee. (John 2, 1–11) II. The history of the open service of the Lord Jesus Christ to the salvation of the human race. The first year of Christ's ministry § 17. Expulsion of the merchants from the church. (John 2, 12–22) § 18. Conversation of Jesus Christ with Nicodemus. (John 3rd chapter) § 19. Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman. (John 4, 4–42) § 20. Healing of the son of a courtier in Cana. (John 4, 46–54) § 21. Preaching of Jesus Christ in Nazareth. (Luke 4, 16–30) § 22. Miraculous fishing in Lake Gennesaret. (Matt. 4, 18–22; Mark 1, 16–20; Luke 5, 1–11) § 23. Healing of the paralytic in Capernaum. (Matt. 9, 2–8; Mark 2, 1–12; Luke 6, 17–26) §24. Levi's calling. (Matt. 9:9-17; Mark 2:13-22; Luke. 5, 27–39) The second year of Christ’s ministry § 25. Healing of the paralytic at the sheep’s font. (John 5, 1–16) § 26. The teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ about the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 7:23–28; Luke 6:1–6) § 27. Healing of a withered arm. (Matthew 12:9–14; Mark 3:1–6; Luke 6:6–11) § 28. Election of the twelve apostles. (Matt. 10, 11–14; Mark 3, 13–19; Luke 9, 1) § 29. Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5–7 chapters. Luke 6, 17–49, 7 chapters) Teaching about the ways of bliss Interpretation of the commandments Teaching about alms, prayer and fasting § 30. Healing of the centurion’s servant. (Matt. 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10) § 31. Resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain. (Luke 7, 11–17) § 32. Jesus Christ in the house of Simon the Pharisee. (Luke 7, 36–50) § 34. The parable of the seed and the tares. (Matthew 13, 24–30, 34–43) § 35. The parable of the mustard seed. (Matthew 13:31–32; Mark 4:31–32; Luke 13:19) § 36. Taming the storm. (Matt. 8, 23–27; Mark 4, 35–41; Luke 8, 22–25) § 37. Expulsion of the legion of demons. (Matt. 8, 28–34; Mark 5, 1–20; Luke 8, 26–29) § 38. Healing of the bleeding woman and the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter. (Matt. 9, 18–26; Mark, 5, 21–43; Luke 8, 40–56) § 39. Sending the twelve apostles to preach and instruct them of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 10, 5–31, 40–42; Mark 6, 7–13; Luke 9, 1–6) § 40. Death of John the Baptist. (Matthew 14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9) § 41. Feeding the five thousand with five loaves. (Matt. 14, 13–23; Mark 6, 30–45; Luke 9, 10–17; John 6, 1–15) § 42. Walking of Jesus Christ on the waters. (Matt. 14, 24–34; Mark 6, 47–53; John 6, 16–21) § 43. Conversation of Jesus Christ about the sacrament of Communion in the Capernaum synagogue. (John 6, 22–71) The third year of Christ’s ministry § 44. Healing of the Canaanite daughter. (Matthew 15:21–28; Mark 7:24–30) § 45. Feeding four thousand people with seven loaves. (Mark 8:1–9; Matt. 15:32–88.) § 46. Confession of Peter. The Lord's prediction about His suffering, death and resurrection and the teaching of His followers about the cross. (Matt. 16, 13–18; Mark 8, 27–28; Luke 9, 18–27) § 47. Transfiguration of the Lord. (Matthew 17:1–9; Mark 9:2–9; Luke 9:28–36.) § 48. Healing of a demon-possessed deaf-mute youth. (Matt. 17, 14–21; Mark, 9, 17–29; Luke 9, 37–43) § 49. Miraculous receipt of a coin for paying taxes on the church. (Matthew 17, 24–27) § 50. Instruction on humility and kindness. (Matthew 18:1–5; Mark 9:33–37; Luke 9:46–48) § 51. The parable of the merciful king and the merciless debtor. (Matt. 18:21–36) § 52. Pardon for a sinner wife. (John 8, 1–11) § 53. Healing of a man born blind. (John 9, 1–41) § 54. Parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10, 25–37) § 55. Visit of Martha and Mary by the Lord. (Luke 10, 38–42) § 56. The parable of the covetous rich man and the servants waiting for their master. (Luke 12:13–21) § 57. The parable of those invited to supper. (Luke 14, 1–24) § 58. The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son (Luke 15:1-33) § 59. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19–31). § 60. Healing of the ten lepers (Luke 17, 11–19) § 61. The parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18, 1–8) § 62. The parable of the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18, 9–14) § 63. The blessing of the children (Matt. 19:13–15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17) § 64. Instruction to the rich young man (Matt. 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-25) § 65. Parable of the equal reward for those who worked in the vineyard (Matt. 20: 1-16) 66. Journey of Jesus Christ to Judea. (John 11, 1–16) § 67. The prediction of Jesus Christ about His death in Jerusalem and the request of Salome. (Matt. 20, 17–28; Mark 10, 32–45; Luke 18, 31–34) § 68. Conversion of Zacchaeus (Luke 19, 1–10) § 69. Raising of Lazarus (John 11, 17–58) § 70. Supper in the house of Simon the leper. (Matt. 26, 6–13: Mark 14:3–9; John 12, 1–12) III. The history of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ § 71. The solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. (Matthew 21, 1–17; Mark 11, 1–11; Luke 19, 29–46; John 12, 12–18) § 72. The curse of Jesus Christ on the fig tree. (Luke 13, 1–9; Matt. 21, 18–22; Mark 11, 12–14, 20–26) § 73. The parable of the disobedient son and the repentant one. (Matthew 21, 28–32) § 74. The parable of the evil vinedressers. (Matthew 21, 33–46; Mark 12, 1–12; Luke 20, 9–19) § 75. The parable of the marriage of the king’s son (Matthew 21, 1–14) § 76. Answers of Jesus Christ to questions: to the Pharisees - about tribute to Caesar, to the Sadducees - about the resurrection of the dead, to the lawyer - about the main commandments and the question of Jesus Christ about the Divine dignity of the Messiah (Matthew 22, 15-40; Mark 12, 13-40; Luke 20, 20-47) § 77. Praise to the zeal of the widow. (Mark 12, 41–44; Luke 21, 1–4) § 78. The Lord’s prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem and His second coming. (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) § 79. The parable of the virgins waiting for the groom. (Matthew 25: 1–13) § 80. Parable of the talents. (Matt. 25, 14–80) § 81. Image of the Last Judgment. (Matthew 25, 31–46) § 82. The betrayal of Judas. (Matt. 26, 1–5, 14–16; Mark 14, 1–11; Luke 22, 1–6) § 83. The Last Supper. (Matt. 26, 17–30; Mark 14, 12–26; Luke 22, 7–30; John 13, 1–30) § 84. Prediction to the Apostle Peter about his renunciation. (Matt. 26, 31–35; Mark 14, 27–31; Luke 22, 31–40; John 13, 33–38) § 85. Farewell conversation of Jesus Christ with the disciples and His high priestly prayer. (John 14, 15–17 chapters) § 86. Prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matt. 26, 36–46; Mark 14, 32–43; Luke 22, 39–46) § 87. Capture of the Lord Jesus Christ by the soldiers. (Matt. 26, 47–56; Mark 14, 43–52: Luke 22, 47–53; John 18, 1–5) § 88. The trial of Jesus Christ by the High Priest Ananus or Anna (John 18, 13, 19–24) § 89. The trial of the Jewish Sanhedrin over the Lord in the house high priest Caiaphas. (Matt. 27, 56, 59–68: Mark. 14, 53, 55–65; Onion. 22, 54, 63–71; John 18, 24) § 90. Peter’s denial and repentance; death of Judas. (Matt. 29, 58, 69–75, 27, 2–10; Mark 14, 25, 66–72; Luke 22 54–62; John 18, 15–18, 25–27) §91. Pilate's first trial of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 27:11–14; Mark 15:1–8; Luke 23:1–6; John 18:28–38) § 92. Jesus Christ from Herod. (Luke 23, 7–12) § 93. The second trial of Pilate over the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 27, 15–26; Mark 15, 6–15; Luke 28, 13–25; John 18, 39–40; 19, 1–6) § 94. Condemnation of Jesus Christ to death. (John 19, 7–16) § 95. The procession of Jesus Christ to Calvary and His crucifixion. (Matt. 27, 31–38; Mark 15, 20–28; Luke 23, 26–34; John 19–17–24) § 96. The suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. His seven words from the cross. (Matt. 27, 38–56; Mark 15, 21–41; Luke 23, 33–49. John 19, 25–37) § 97. Burial of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 27, 57–6b; Mark 15, 42–47; Luke 23, 50–56; John 19, 38–42) § 98. Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:1–15; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–11; John 20:1) § 99. Mary, Peter and John at the tomb of the Savior. (Matt. 28:1–8; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:12; John 20:2–10) § 100. Appearance of the risen Lord to Mary Magdalene. (Mark 16:9–11; John 20:11–18) § 101. The appearance of the Lord to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. (Mark 16, 12–13; Luke 24, 13–35) § 102. The appearance of the Lord to the apostles in Jerusalem. (Luke 24, 35,–47; John 20, 19–23) § 103. The appearance of the Lord to the Apostle Thomas. (John 20, 24–29) § 104. The appearance of the Lord at the Sea of ​​Tiberias. (John 21 chapter) § 105. The appearance of the Lord on Mount Galilee and His last instructions to the apostles. (Matt. 28, 16–20; Mark 16, 15–18; 1 Cor. 15) § 106. Ascension of the Lord. (Mark 16, 19; Luke 24, 44–53; Acts 1, 1–11) § 107. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. (Acts 1–2 chapters) The relationship of New Testament sacred history to church worship On the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a troparion is sung: Troparion of the Feast of the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Troparion of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God: Troparion of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ: Troparion of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: Troparion of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: Troparion of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: Troparion for the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem: Troparion for the Feast of Easter: Easter Hymns: Troparion for the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord: Troparion for the Feast of Pentecost: Troparion for the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Troparion for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord: Preliminary information necessary for mastering the New Testament sacred history. God's eternal advice about our salvation. The Lord God, knowing from eternity that the devil would tempt people to sin, determined to save us. The only begotten Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ, deigned to take upon Himself the work of this salvation. The first message about the Lord Savior. The first news about the Lord Savior was announced to our first parents, Adam and Eve, immediately after their fall, in the most joyful words that the seed of the woman will erase the head of the serpent. The Savior is called the seed of a woman, because he had to be born and was born of the Most Holy and Most Pure Virgin Mary. The time of the coming of the Savior. The Savior appeared in the world not soon after the fall of people, but after more than five thousand years, so that the human race could prepare to receive Him. This preparation of the human race to accept the Savior was accomplished in special, great ways. Divine providence in the times of the Old What was the preparation of the human race to receive the Savior? 1) A special people were chosen, among whom the Savior of the world would appear, namely the Jewish people. He descended from Abraham, to whom God promised more than two thousand years before the birth of Christ that it was from his offspring that the Savior of the world would be born. This people retained the true faith until the coming of the Lord. He was given clear signs by which he could recognize the Savior, namely, the race from which the Savior would come, from whom exactly He would be born, who would appear before the Savior, where the Lord would begin to preach, what miracles he would perform, how he would suffer and accept death for all of us, how he would become glorified and defeat all the enemies of our salvation. 2) Other nations themselves tried to free themselves from the scourge of sin, but they could not do this on their own and fell into idolatry and wickedness. Before the time of the coming of the Lord, they realized their powerlessness and expected the Savior as a Deliverer from evils and disasters. Were all Jews equally ready to receive the Lord the Savior? No. Many of them, unbeknownst to themselves, through the action of the devil, deviated from the path by which the Lord led them to accept the Savior, and became enemies and opponents of the Lord’s work. These Jews, who strayed from the true path, belonged to the two most widespread sects - the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were mostly scribes, that is, learned Jews, and outwardly they seemed to be righteous people, but they believed this righteousness only in observing rituals, and they were overly proud of this ritual righteousness. The word Pharisee means separate, special from other ordinary people. The Pharisees said to themselves: “I am not like everyone else.” Wanting to maintain a high opinion of themselves among the people, the Pharisees restrained themselves from actions that could bring them down in the eyes of others (although they secretly allowed themselves many illegal things), had a special gait (slowly, slightly bent and with a bowed head), wore long clothes, large shouts on them, expanded storage (with texts from the Law of Moses, which Jews place on the forehead and on the left hand against the heart during prayers), fasted, prayed and gave alms so that other people saw it and glorified them, in sacred and home meetings they took first places and loved to be greeted with the words: “teacher, teacher.” Of the errors into which the Pharisees fell, the following especially hindered the acceptance of Christ's teaching: 1) the opinion that the Savior would be a glorious king and conqueror, to conquer all the nations of the earth and subject them to the power of the Jews; 2) the opinion that all Jews, by virtue of their descent from Abraham alone, are the heirs of this kingdom; 3) an opinion about the extreme importance of the Sabbath and other Jewish holidays and rituals in general. Strict observance of the Sabbath rest, according to the Pharisees, is sufficient to atone for the most serious sins. Proud of their imaginary righteousness, they did not feel the need for repentance and atonement for their sins and did not accept the Savior, Who came not to reign in the world, but to enlighten us and suffer for our sins. The Sadducees 1 mostly belonged to the class of rich and noble people. They were burdened by the fulfillment of laws, both moral and ritual, and tried only to live cheerfully and bring more pleasure to themselves. They were adherents of foreign education, which was especially famous among the Greeks. Of the philosophical teachings of Greece, they especially liked the teaching of the Epicureans, who believed that the purpose of life was pleasure, and in order to weaken the demands and judgment of conscience, they denied the afterlife. The Sadducees taught (like the Epicureans) that human life ends with the death of the body, that there is no resurrection, no angels, no devils, that there is no Divine Providence, and everything depends on the free will of man or senseless chance. The moral teaching of the Sadducees was reduced to the wicked rule of the Epicureans; “Eat, drink, be merry, try in every possible way to enjoy life while you live, for with death everything ends.” The Sadducees shared the dreams of the Pharisees regarding the earthly kingdom of the Messiah and were much less capable of accepting the truth. In the very middle of the Jewish country lived a people known as the Samaritans. It originated from the mixing of the Jews who remained after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel 2 with the pagans settled in their country, and received its name from the former capital of this kingdom - Samaria. The Samaritans accepted circumcision and other rites of the Jewish faith, but in many ways they differed from the Jews. In general, the Samaritans presented themselves as schismatics in relation to the Jews. The following two were considered the main differences in the faith of the Samaritans: 1) the Samaritans recognized only the five books of the Law of Moses as sacred; 2) – had a superstitious reverence for the ruins of the church on Mount Garizin. This church was built, with the permission of King Alexander the Great, by one of the Samaritan rulers in the 4th century BC and 200 years later was destroyed by the Jewish ruler of the Maccabean family, John Hyrcanus. There was irreconcilable enmity between the Jews and Samaritans. Who ruled Judea at the time of Christ's coming? Before the coming of Christ, Judea fell to the rule of the Romans. First, they entrusted its management to the high priest, from the family of the princes of the Maccabees - John Hyrcanus; but he did not know how to keep power in his hands, and it passed to a certain Antipas, or Antipater, an Edomite by birth. From a servant or home secretary of the high priest John, this cunning and dexterous man became the civil ruler of Judea, leaving John with only the title of high priest-prince. One of Antipater’s sons, Herod, a highly cunning man who did not retreat from any means to achieve his goals, through bribery of influential persons in Rome and crafty flattery before the Roman generals (Antony and Augustus), achieved that the Roman Senate (37 years BC) proclaimed him king of the Jews. Extremely cruel and suspicious, he stained himself with a number of terrible crimes. After the death of Herod (in the 1st year AD), the Roman emperor Augustus divided his kingdom into three unequal parts between his three sons: Archelaus, with the title of ethnarch (known as ruler of the people), received control of Judea and Samaria; Herod Antipas, with the title of tetrarch (meaning tetrarch or ruler of the 4th part of the kingdom), received control of Galilee and Perea; Philip, with the same title, some areas on the border of Palestine, to the north, and adjacent to it. Ethnarch Archelaus, after 6 years of rule, was deposed by the Romans for his cruelty. Its region was annexed to Syria and placed under the control of Roman procurators (governors), under the main command of proconsuls living in Syrian Antioch. A year before the Lord entered into public service to the human race, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate began to rule Judea and Samaria. Herod Antipas and Philip remained in place until the end of the Savior’s earthly life. After the rulers appointed by the Roman authorities, the great Sanhedrin was important for the Jews. This was actually the Jewish supreme court. At the head of the Sanhedrin was a great bishop, or high priest in the proper sense. He was followed by senior priests (also called high priests, but not in the proper sense, but to denote seniority over others), elders of the people - princes, and scribes (scholars). The Sanhedrin had 72 members. During Roman rule, the power of the Sanhedrin was largely limited and made dependent on the Roman rulers. For example, the Sanhedrin could not carry out a death sentence without its approval by the Roman procurator. The main shrine of the Jews was the Jerusalem Temple, which was renovated and decorated by King Herod. Here only priestly service was performed, and Jews could make sacrifices to God. In addition to the temple, the Jews had many synagogues or houses of worship. Here they gathered together on Saturdays and other holidays to read the law and common prayer. These synagogues were built not only outside Jerusalem, but also in this very city, despite the proximity of the temple. In them, anyone who felt or in whom others recognized the ability to do so could speak and explain the law. Here the talents were revealed and the degree of learning of various famous rabbis was recognized. Thanks to this many houses of prayer, the weekly meetings in them and the preaching of expounders of the law, the Jews developed that keen interest with which they treated religious issues. From the Gospel story it is clear that even ordinary Jews and Samaritans knew the prophecies, thought about deep questions of faith and expected the coming Messiah to clarify all their perplexities. I. The history of the birth and first years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ before the beginning of His open service to the salvation of the human race. § 1. Prediction of the birth of John the Baptist. (Luke 1:5–25.) Behold, I send My Angel, and He will prepare the way before Me (Mal. 3, 1). Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet to you before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I, when I come, will not strike the earth with a curse (Mal. 4, 5, 6). During the time of Herod, king of Judea, there lived the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, people righteous before God. They were already advanced in years, but had no children; however, they did not give in to despondency, prayed to God and asked for a child. One day, when Zechariah, as part of his service at the church, entered the sanctuary to lay incense on the incense altar, suddenly the Angel of the Lord appeared to him on the right side of this altar. Zechariah, seeing him, was embarrassed, and fear seized him. The angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. He will be great before the Lord; he will not drink wine or strong drink (fruit drink), and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and will go before Him in spirit and strength." Elijah." Zechariah asked the Angel: “How am I?” can I be sure of this? I am already old and my wife is in her old age.” The angel answered him: “I am Gabriel, who stands before God, 3 and was sent to bring this good news to you. And because you did not believe My words, you will be dumb until they come true.” After laying the incense on the altar, the priest Zechariah was supposed to give a blessing to the people. The people were waiting for him and wondered why he hesitated so much in the sanctuary. When Zechariah finally came out of there, he could no longer utter words of blessing, but with gestures he made it known that he had become mute, and everyone understood that he had a vision in the church. § 2. The Most Holy Virgin Mary and the Annunciation to Her of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Onion. 1, 26–38 (Month of March, last year before Christ). Hear, daughter, and see, incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house. And the King will desire your beauty, for... He is your Lord; and you worship Him. All the glory of the King’s daughter is within: her clothes are sewn with gold. In speckled clothing, She is led to the King, followed by her virgins, her friends, who are led to You (Ps. 44, 11, 12, 14, 16) Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). In the sixth month, after the gospel of Zechariah, the Archangel Gabriel was sent to the city of Nazareth to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a relative of Elizabeth, Zachariah’s wife. The parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary were the righteous Joachim from the royal family of David and Anna (sister of Elizabeth) from the family of the high priest Aaron. God gave them a daughter - Mary, through their prayers, already in old age. Three years after her birth, they, according to the promise given, brought her to the Church of God. Here, far from the world, she spent her childhood and adolescence: she prayed often and for a long time, fasted, and diligently read the word of God. Finally, she wanted to devote her entire life to serving God and for this she made a vow to always remain a virgin 4 . But in the Jewish church there was no such custom that girls who had reached adulthood could remain at the church. Since the parents of the Blessed Virgin were not alive, the high priests, by inspiration from above, betrothed her to the eighty-year-old elder Joseph so that he could only be called her husband, and she would remain a virgin. Joseph came from the family of David, lived in Nazareth and worked as a carpenter. Even in Joseph’s house, the Blessed Virgin did not abandon the pious customs she had learned in the church. In her free time from work, she devoted herself to prayer and reading the word of God. Once she read the book of the prophet Isaiah and reached the place where he predicts the birth of the Savior from the Virgin. After reading this verse, she thought: “What a happy maiden she is, and how I wish I could be her last servant!” Suddenly the Archangel appears and announces to her that she herself is God’s chosen one. “Rejoice, full of grace,” said the Archangel to the Blessed Virgin: “The Lord is with You! Blessed are You among women!” Mary, out of deep humility, was embarrassed by the Archangel’s praise; however, she immediately regained control of herself and wondered what kind of greeting this would be. Seeing that Mary has calmed down, the Archangel continues his gospel and seems to be in a hurry to tell her (in such a wondrous mood) everything that was commanded to him from above. Having spoken of the birth of a son from her, whom she would call Jesus, the Archangel announced: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Maria asked: “How will it be when I don’t know my husband?” “The Holy Spirit will come upon You,” the Archangel answered her, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore, the Holy One who is to be born will be called the son of God. Here is Elizabeth, continued, holy Archangel, Thy relative, called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age, and she is already in her sixth month. With God, the Archangel concluded, no word will remain powerless.” Then Mary, with all faith and devotion to God, said: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” The order given from above to the Archangel was fulfilled. The mystery of our salvation was accepted by the holy Virgin, as it should be, with humility and faith, and the Archangel departed from Her. § 3. Visit of the Blessed Virgin Elizabeth. (Luke 1:39–56.) Among the wonderful qualities that adorned the soul of the Ever-Virgin Mary was her respectful love for her older relatives. Hearing from the Archangel about God's mercy towards Elizabeth, she hurried to her in the mountainous Jewish country to rejoice with her, entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. At that time, the baby leaped in Elizabeth's womb, and she, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaimed in a loud voice: “Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the fruit of Your womb! And where does this joy come from for me, that the Mother of my Lord came to me? For when the voice of Your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped joyfully in my womb. And Blessed is she who believed (you who believed the word of the Archangel), because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled.” The Most Holy Mary, having heard this greeting, was filled with joy and delight, and expressed her feelings in the following solemn song to God: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, because He has looked upon the humility of His servant, for from now on all generations will bless me, for the Mighty One has done greatness for me, and holy is His name.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and returned to her home. § 4. Birth of John the Baptist. (Luke 1:57–80). (Last year before P. X., month of June). The time came for righteous Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. On the eighth day, when, according to the law of Moses, the baby was to be circumcised and given a name, the relatives and friends who had gathered for this celebration wanted to name the baby Zechariah (in honor of his father); but Elizabeth said: “No, but call him John.” The relatives told her: “There is no one in your family who is called by this name,” and, turning to Zechariah, they began to ask him with signs what he would like to call him. Zechariah demanded a tablet and wrote: “His name is John.” At that very moment, the gift of speech returned to him, and he sang a song of thanksgiving and prophecy to God: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, that He has visited His people and brought deliverance to them, and raised up a horn of salvation for us from the house of His servant David.” “And you, little child,” he cried, turning to his son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.” The rumor about this wonderful event spread throughout the mountainous country of Judea, and everyone who heard said with fear: “What will happen to this baby?” § 5. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke 2:1-6). And You, Bethlehem. The land of Judah is no less than the provinces of Judah, for from you will come a Leader who will shepherd My people Israel (Mic. 5:2; cf. Matt. 2:6). The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Reconciler comes, and to Him the submission of the nations (Gen. 49:10). Finally, the time for the birth of the Redeemer of the world approached. The Most Holy Virgin and her betrothed Joseph lived in Nazareth, and the Messiah, according to the prophecy of Micah, was to be born in Bethlehem. The providence of God arranged it this way: just before the time of the birth of the Lord, a command was issued from the Roman Emperor Augustus to carry out a census of all his subjects. The peculiarity of this census was that everyone had to be registered in the city where his family was registered. Joseph and Mary were from the family of David, and therefore they went to Bethlehem, where David also came from. This city was so filled with visitors (on the occasion of the census) that Joseph and Mary did not find a place for themselves in the inn, but were forced to occupy one of the caves, where shepherds drove cattle in inclement times. In this cave, the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave birth to a Son, who is the Eternal God, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. § 6. Worship of the Bethlehem shepherds to the born Lord. (Luke 2:7-20). It was the night when the Lord deigned to be born. Not far from the cave of Bethlehem, shepherds kept night watch over their flock in the field. Suddenly, in the darkness of the night, a heavenly light shone upon them, and the Angel of the Lord appeared to them. The shepherds were afraid. “Do not be afraid,” the Angel said to them: “I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all people: for today a Savior has been born to you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” At that moment, suddenly, along with the Angel of the Gospel, many heavenly armies appeared, who rejoiced at the happiness of people and glorified God, exclaiming: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”* When the angelic armies disappeared and their voices fell silent, the shepherds found a familiar cave, saw the Baby lying in a manger, and worshiped Him. Then they told Joseph and Mary about the vision that had happened to them. All who heard were amazed at their words, and Mary composed all these words in her heart, i.e. remembered them down to the slightest detail, but did not boast or be proud of Her greatness, but only glorified and thanked the Lord in the depths of Her soul. § 7. Worship of the Eastern sages to the born Lord. (Matthew 2:1–12) I see Him, but now I am not there yet; I see Him, but not close. A star will rise from Jacob, and a rod will arise from Israel, and will smite the princes of Moab and crush all the sons of Seth (prophecy of Balaam. Numbers 24:17). The kings of Tarshish and the isles will offer Him tribute; the kings of Arabia and Sheba will bring gifts. And all kings will worship him; all nations will serve Him (Psalm 72:10, 11). In the land of Judea, not many people yet knew about the birth of the Lord the Savior, and yet the wise men were already coming from the east to worship Him. These were learned people, especially engaged in the observation of stars. For about two years now they had been observing an extraordinary star in the sky, and since everywhere at that time they were expecting the appearance of a great king, and specifically from Judea, they wondered if this great king had been born. Supported in this thought by a special insight from above, they, with rich gifts, set off for the land of Judea, came to Jerusalem and asked: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” The lawless Herod, hearing about this, was afraid, and all of Jerusalem began to move. Herod immediately gathers the high priests and scribes and asks them: “Where should Christ be born?” They answer directly: “in Bethlehem of Judea, because it was so predicted by the prophet 5. Herod, releasing the wise men to Bethlehem, pretended to say: “Go and carefully inquire about the Child, so that I too can go to worship Him,” and meanwhile, with a sly intention, he found out from them at what time they began to notice the star. When the wise men were walking towards Bethlehem, suddenly the familiar star appeared to them again, went in front of them and stopped over the very house where the Lord was 6. Entering the house, the wise men bowed to the Lord with deep reverence and brought Him gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. These gifts have a deep meaning: gold means the royal power of the Infant God, incense indicates His divine greatness, and myrrh meant that He would suffer and die for the sins of people. It is clear that the Magi brought these gifts by inspiration from above. The Lord admonished them not to return to Herod, and they went to their own country another way. § 8. The flight of Joseph with the Child of God and His Mother to Egypt and his return to the land of Israel. (Matthew 2:18–23) A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and weeping and a great cry; Rachel cries for her children and does not want to be consoled, for they are not there. (Jer. 31:16, cf. Matt. 2:18). Out of Egypt I called My Son (Hosea 11:1). Herod eagerly awaited the return of the Magi, but they did not appear. Then he flew into an indescribable rage and, in irritation, issued an inhuman command: to beat all male children from two years old and below, both in Bethlehem and in its environs. He hoped that with this general massacre of children, the newborn king of the Jews would also be killed. But the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph at night and commanded him: “Get up, take the Child and His Mother and run to Egypt and be there until I tell you.” Joseph hastened to fulfill the Angel's command and retired to Egypt. Meanwhile, in Bethlehem and its environs, the massacre of infants began and up to 14 thousand of them were killed. These were the first martyrs for the Lord Jesus Christ 7. Soon Herod was struck down by God with severe illness and death. Then the Angel of the Lord again appeared to Joseph and commanded him to return to Judea. Joseph, upon returning from Egypt, wanted to settle in Bethlehem, but, having heard that Herod’s son Archelaus (notable for brutal cruelty) reigned in this country, he retired to Galilee, to his city of Nazareth. §. 9. Meeting of the Lord Jesus Christ in the church by Simeon and Anna. (Luke 2:22–39) (1st year, P. X., month of February). The glory of this last church will be greater than the first, and in the seven place I will give peace (Hag. 2:9). And suddenly the Lord, whom you seek, and the Angel of the Covenant, whom you desire, will come to His church: behold, He comes, says the Lord of hosts (Mal. 3, 1). On the eighth day after birth, the rite of circumcision was performed on the Infant of God, and He was given the name Jesus, predicted by the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation. On the fortieth day after his birth, another sacred rite had to be performed over Him - to present Him to the church 8. At this time, there lived in Jerusalem an old man named Simeon, who was a priest by position. He was a righteous and pious man, he waited for the Savior with all his heart, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. He was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ. By a special inspiration from above, he came to the church of the Lord, took the Infant Jesus into his arms, blessed God and said: “Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word, in peace, as my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people: a light for revelation by the tongue and the glory of Your people Israel.” 9 After this, the holy elder turned to Joseph and Mary and, like a priest, blessed them. At the same time, he pronounced the following prophecy about the Lord Savior: “Behold, this One lies for the fall and uprising of many in Israel and for the subject of controversy... and for You yourself, he said to the Mother of God, a weapon will pierce your soul.” 10 There was also an elderly (84 years old) prophetess named Anna. She was married only for seven years and then served God all the time, without leaving the church, in fasting and prayer, day and night. For this zeal, the Lord granted her the great mercy of seeing the Savior of the world. The holy old woman glorified God and announced the Infant of God to all who were awaiting His appearance in Jerusalem. § 10. The youth Jesus in the church. (Luke 2:41–62) And a branch will come from the root of Jesse, and a branch will grow from his root, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness... and righteousness will be the girdle of His loins, and truth will be the girdle of His thighs (Isa. 11: 1, 2, 5). The Lord lived in Nazareth for about thirty years. Of this entire long period of His life, the Holy Gospel tells about only one event - the journey of 12-year-old Jesus with his parents to the Jerusalem temple. The Blessed Virgin and Righteous Joseph went to Jerusalem every year for the holiday of Easter. When the Lord Jesus Christ turned 12 years old, they took Him with them 11. These journeys were made by entire crowds of people and were enlivened by the singing of psalms. Before the end of the seven days of the festival, the parents of Jesus; with their relatives and neighbors, set off on the return journey and walked all day in the confidence that Jesus was also walking ahead of them with his peers. But at the first stop, to their horror, they saw that He was not on the way. Therefore, despite the darkness of the night, they returned back to Jerusalem to look for Him. They searched for Him for two days without success. On the third day in the morning they saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the church: He sat among the teachers, listened and asked them. Everyone who was here marveled at His intelligence and answers. At the end of the conversation, Mary said to Jesus: "Son, what have you done to us? Behold, your father and I sought you with great sorrow." The Lord answered them: “Why did you look for Me (in other places and not here)? or did you not know that I should be concerned with the things that belong to My Father?” In these words He pointed out to them His great calling; but Joseph and Mary did not understand them in all the depth of their meaning. After this He went with them to Nazareth and showed them obedience. As He grew, His wondrous spiritual gifts were gradually revealed. The special love of God for Him was revealed more and more clearly to those who were attentive; At the same time, the love for Him on the part of good people increased more and more. Towards the end of the thirty-year life of the Lord Jesus, the great Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord, John, appeared on the banks of the Jordan River. § 11. Preaching of John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18). (29th and 30th years A.D.). The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight; Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked places made straight and the rough paths made smooth. And all flesh will see the salvation of God (Isa. 40:3–5; Luke 3:4–6). John, the Forerunner of the Lord, lost his parents in his early years and, following the example of the prophet Elijah, retired into the desert. Here he spent his life like the strictest ascetic: he wore clothes made of coarse camel hair and was girded with a leather belt. His food was locusts (a genus of locust) and wild honey. In complete solitude, through fasting and prayer, he prepared for his ministry, and for a long time the life of this great man was unknown to the world. But behold, the Holy Spirit called John out of seclusion and commanded him to preach on the banks of the Jordan. The Jews did not have a prophet for more than four hundred years. One can imagine what an impression the sudden appearance of the greatest of the prophets must have made. John announced to the people about the imminent coming of the Savior and demanded from them repentance and correction of life in order to meet the Lord worthily: repent, for the kingdom of God has come near. Quite a lot of people from the surrounding cities and Jerusalem came to John. His thunderous sermon shook their hearts: many sincerely repented of their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, but some of the Jews, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees, were baptized more like others, expecting benefits from the Messiah, but were not aware of their sins. Then John sternly rebuked them: "You brood of vipers! (i.e., wicked, evil people) who told you to flee from the wrath to come? Produce fruit worthy of repentance 12 and do not think of saying to yourself, 'We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham.' At the same time, John threatened them with the wrath of the Lord. “Behold,” he said, “the ax (axe) is already lying at the root of the tree: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” At the same time, John taught the Jews how they could reject the action of God’s judgment and show their correction; this is, firstly, works of mercy; secondly, strict fulfillment of the duties that his rank imposes on everyone. “What should we do?” The Jews asked John. “Whoever has two clothes, give one to the poor; whoever has food, do the same.” Publicans 13, to the same question, he answered: “(when collecting taxes) do not demand from anyone more than what is specified for you.” He said to the soldiers: “don’t offend anyone, don’t slander and be happy with your salary.” Seeing what a strict life John leads and what power his word has, many wondered if he was the Christ? Some of John's disciples were even sure of this. But John with all firmness rejected this popular rumor and said to everyone: “I baptize you with water, but one mightier than me is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie (i.e., to be His last servant). He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 14 His fork is in His hands, and He will cleanse His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, and He will burn Sodom with unquenchable fire." § 12. Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ from John. (Matt. 3, 13–17; Mark 1, 9-11; Luke 3, 21–22). (31st year according to P. X., month January). The voice of the Lord is over the waters, the God of glory thundered, the Lord is over many waters (Ps. 28:3). The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and were afraid, and the deeps trembled (Ps. 76:17). What is the matter with you, O sea, that you ran away and (in you), Jordan, that you turned back? (Ps. 113, b). Together with others, the Lord Jesus Christ came to John to receive baptism from him. Although John was a relative of the Lord in the flesh, he still did not know Him. However, he immediately distinguished Him from other people and said to Him: “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” “Do not hold Me back,” Jesus Christ answered him: “So it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” 15 After this, John immersed Him in the waters of the Jordan. Others confessed their sins, and Jesus Christ, as sinless, immediately came out of the water and prayed. Suddenly the heavens opened: the Spirit of God descended on Him in the form of a dove, 16 and God the Father testified about Him: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” §13. The temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ from the devil in the desert. (Matt. 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13). (31st year according to P. X, months January-February). After baptism, the Removed Spirit led the Lord Jesus Christ into the desert. Here He stayed for forty days in fasting and prayer. At the end of this time, He became physically weak and felt hungry. Then the devil approached him and began to tempt Him. “If you are the Son of God,” said the devil, “then command that these stones become bread.” The Lord repelled this temptation with the word of God: “The Scripture says that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”17 Then the devil takes 18 the Lord to the holy city of Jerusalem, places him on the roof of the church and says: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written: He will command His angels concerning You, and in their hands they will bear You up, lest You dash Your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him: “It is also written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” 19 Finally, the tempter makes a third attempt to divert the Lord from His calling. The devil took Him to the highest mountain, from where one could see all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 20 and said: “I will give all this to You if You will worship me.” “Get behind Me, Satan,” Jesus Christ answered him: “for it is written: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and serve Him alone.” 21 Then Satan left Jesus Christ for a time, and the angels came and served the Lord. § 14. Testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus Christ. (John 1:19–34). The preaching of John the Baptist and the multitude of people who came to him to be baptized attracted the attention of the Jewish Sanhedrin, which sent priests and Levites to him to ask: “Are you the Messiah?” John did not want to appropriate a dignity that did not belong to him and with all decisiveness, once and for all, answered: “I am not Christ” 22. Since many of the Jews believed that the prophet Elijah, who had once ascended to heaven, would appear before the Messiah, the messengers asked John: “Are you not Elijah?” John acted in the spirit and power of Elijah, as predicted by the prophet Malachi; but he did not want to say anything to praise himself (leaving, if necessary, to say this to the Lord Savior) and also answered: “no.” “Are you not a prophet?” followed by a new question. Humble John answered this question: “no” 23. “Who are you?” asked him. In reference to the prophecy of Isaiah, John responded: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord.” 24 Among those sent were the Pharisees (especially zealous adherents of rituals), and they asked him: “How do you baptize if you are not Christ, nor Elijah, nor a prophet?” John said: “I baptize in water, but there is someone among you whom you do not know. He is coming after me, although he was before me. I am not worthy to untie the thong of His sandals.” The day after John testified about Jesus Christ before those sent from the Sanhedrin, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ coming to him. Filled with spiritual delight, John exclaimed aloud to his disciples and people: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. 25 This is the One of whom I said: A man is coming after me, who stood before me, because He was before me. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me: On whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” § 15. The first disciples of Jesus Christ. (John 1:35–51). The day after the solemn testimony of Jesus Christ, John stood by the Jordan and, seeing the Lord Jesus Christ again coming to him, exclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God!” Two of John's disciples who were standing here, having heard these words, decided to Follow the Lord and silently followed Him. Jesus turned and asked them: “What do you need?” “Teacher,” they said, “where do you live?” Jesus answered: “Come and see.” They went and saw where He lived 26 and stayed with Him that day until evening. Of these two disciples, one is named in the gospel: it was Andrew, who is therefore called the First-Called. The other is not named, but that is precisely why they think that it was the Evangelist John the Theologian himself. – Andrew met his brother Simon and told him: “We have found the Messiah.” Then he brought him to the Lord. Jesus, looking at him, said: “You are Simon, son of Jonah; you will be called Cephas, which means stone (Peter).” The next day after this, going to Galilee, Jesus finds Philip and says to him: “Follow me.” Philip joyfully followed the Lord. Philip had a friend named Nathanael. Philip hurries to convey to him the good news: “we have found the One about whom Moses and the prophets wrote: Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathanael objected to him: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” 27. Philip replied: “Come and see.” Jesus, seeing Nathanael coming to Him, said: “Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” Nathanael asked the Lord: “Why do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you when you were under the fig tree.” Nathanael exclaimed: “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree; you will see more than this. Truly, truly, I say to you, from now on you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." 28 Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ already had five disciples: Andrew, John, Peter, Philip and Nathanael. The Lord went with them to Galilee and came to Nazareth. § 16. The first miracle in Cana of Galilee. (John 2:1–11). Formerly the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were belittled; but what follows will exalt the seaside path, beyond the Jordanian country, pagan Galilee. The people walking in darkness will see a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death the light will shine. You will multiply the people, increase their joy. He will rejoice before You, as one rejoices during the harvest, as one rejoices when dividing the spoils. Is. 9, 1, 2, 3. Seven miles from Nazareth was the city of Cana. Here a wedding celebration took place, to which the Lord was invited with Materia and his disciples. The groom was a poor man and he lacked wine to treat those invited to the feast. The Blessed Virgin said to the Lord: “They have no wine.” With these words, she asked Her Son to help the poor, not wanting them to be embarrassed and grieve on the bright day of their joy. The Lord said to her: “What do you and I have, Woman? 29 “My hour has not yet come!” 30 However, the Blessed Virgin did not take these words as a refusal of her request and said to the servants: “Whatever He tells you, do it.” Near the entrance to the house there were six stone vessels for ordinary ablutions, which contained two and three measures 31 . The Lord said: “Fill these vessels with water,” and they filled them to the top. After this he said, “Bring it to the master of the feast,” and they did according to His orders. When the steward tasted the water, it turned out to be excellent wine, so he, not knowing about the miracle (only the servants knew so far), said to the groom with joyful bewilderment: “usually every person serves good wine first, and when the guests have already drunk enough, then worse, and you saved the best wine for the end.” So, at a peaceful family holiday, the Lord began His miracles and revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him II. The story of the open service of the Lord Jesus Christ to the salvation of the human race. The first year of Christ's ministry. § 17. Expulsion of traders from the church. (John 2:12–22). (31st year A.D. month March). Zeal for Your house consumes Me (Ps. 68:10; Gospel John 2:17). The Easter holiday was approaching, and the Lord went to Jerusalem with His disciples. When He entered the church, He saw that there (in the so-called court of the Gentiles) merchants were sitting and selling bulls, sheep, and doves for sacrifice, and near the pillars there were tables at which money changers were exchanging various coins for Jewish shekels. In the church there were loud arguments between sellers and buyers, the clinking of coins and the cries of various animals. The Lord became indignant and, making a whip out of ropes, drove all the merchants with their oxen and sheep out of the church, overturned the tables of the money changers and scattered their money, and said to the sellers of doves: “Take this from here and do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” The leaders of the church asked the Lord: “What sign will you prove to us that you have the authority to do this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Lord pointed here to the highest miracle by which He would prove His divine dignity, namely His resurrection from the dead. But the Jews did not understand His words and reproachfully said: “This church took forty-six years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?” During the Passover holiday, the Lord performed many miracles, and many of the Jews believed in Him. § 18. Conversation of Jesus Christ with Nicodemus. (John 3rd chapter) In Jerusalem there was a famous teacher of the law from the sect of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus. His heart drew him to the Savior, but he was afraid that someone would condemn him, and therefore he came to Him at night. “Rabbi,” he said to the Lord, “we know that You are a teacher who came from God, for no one can do such miracles as You do unless God is with him.” The Lord said to him: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 32 Nicodemus asked: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he really enter his mother's womb another time and be born?" The Lord told him that this rebirth of man is not physical, but spiritual, and can be accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh (that is, children infected with sin are born from sinful parents), and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ At the same time, the Lord explained to Nicodemus that this spiritual rebirth is a great mystery. “Do not be surprised at what I said to you: you must be born again. The Spirit (wind) breathes wherever it wants, and you hear its voice, but you don’t know where it comes from and where it goes; this happens to everyone born of the Spirit” 33. After which the Lord explained to Nicodemus what the Jews were wrong about His coming. They thought that the Messiah would be a simple man, only endued with God's power. Against such a misconception, the Lord said: “no one ascended into heaven except the Son of Man who came down from heaven and is in heaven.” 34 But, despite His divine power and strength, the Lord came not to rule over the nations (as the Jews wrongly thought), but to suffer for people. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” Then the Lord explained how people can acquire salvation for themselves - precisely through faith in Him as the Only Begotten Son of God. “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” And since everyone can believe, it means that salvation is open to both Jews and pagans (the Jews thought that they alone were worthy of the kingdom of God). The Lord's conversation made a deep impression on Nicodemus, and he became His follower, although he continued to hide this from the Jews. § 19. Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman. (John 4:4–42). (31st year according to P. X., beginning of December). After the first Easter, the Lord Jesus Christ preached for several months (April - November 31) within Judea proper and then went to Galilee. At the same time, the Jews usually bypassed Samaria, but the Lord, who came to call everyone to repentance and salvation, headed straight through this country, hostile to the Jews. Passing through Samaria, the Lord stopped to rest near the city of Sychar (ancient Shechem), at a well that was dug, according to legend, by the patriarch Jacob. His disciples went into the city to buy food. It was about six o'clock in the afternoon (according to our count at noon, at 12 o'clock), when one woman from the city came to the well and began to draw water. “Give me something to drink,” the Lord said to her. The woman asked in surprise: “How do you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? For Jews do not communicate with Samaritans.” The Savior told her: “If you knew who was speaking to you, and what gift God could give you, then you yourself would ask Him for a drink, and He would give you living water.” The Samaritan woman thought that the Lord was talking about spring water, which usually bubbles up in the depths of wells, and said: “You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, where do you get living water from?” The Lord said to her: “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, and whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water flowing into eternal life.” By this living water the Lord meant the grace of the Holy Life-giving Spirit and His divine teaching, which lays in man the beginning of a new eternal life, but the woman did not understand the words of the Lord and answered Him: “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty and will not have to come here to draw.” The Lord, wanting to draw her special attention to His words, said to her: “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman said: “I have no husband.” “You said the truth,” the Lord answered her, “that you have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.” Seeing that the Lord knew her whole life, the woman exclaimed: “Lord, I see that you are a prophet,” and turned to Him for a solution to the disputed issue between the Jews and Samaritans: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that the place where they should worship is in Jerusalem.” The Lord explained to her that until now the truth was on the side of the Jews, but “believe me,” He told her later, “the time is coming and has already come when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. The time will come and has already come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" 35. The woman felt that great secrets were being revealed to her, which she was unable to understand and comprehend, and her thoughts rushed to the Messiah, for whom the Samaritans were waiting just like the Jews. “I know,” she said, that “when the Messiah comes, he will tell us everything” (that is, teach us everything and resolve all our disputes). The Lord said to her: “It is I who speak to you.” The Samaritan woman was so amazed by these words that she forgot her waterpot, hurried into the city and announced to everyone: “Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done: is not this the Christ?” Many left the city and went to Him. The disciples at that time were already with the Lord, and He said to them: “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are white and ripe for harvest." These words meant: look how ready these simple, good people are to accept the truth. The residents of Sychar invited the Lord to the city, and He stayed with them for two days. Many believed in Him and said to the woman: “We no longer believe because of your words, but we ourselves have heard and learned that He is truly the Savior of the world – Christ.” § 20. Healing of the son of a courtier in Cana. (John 4:46–54) Strengthen your weak arms and strengthen your trembling knees. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will jump up like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing (Isa. 36:3,5c). In the country of Galilee, the Lord visited the city of Cana, where he performed the first miracle. One courtier came here from Capernaum and begged the Lord to come and heal his sick son. The Lord said to him: “You will not believe unless you see signs and wonders." The courtier replied: “Lord, come before my son dies.” Such faith in the Lord and at the same time fatherly love for his son breathed in these words that the Lord, without leaving Cana, fulfilled his request. “Go,” He said, your son is healthy.” When the courtier approached the house, his servants met him and gave him the good news (literally in the words of the Savior): “your son is healthy.” The courtier asked: “At what time did he feel better?” They told him: “yesterday at seven o’clock (according to our count at first noon) the fever left him.” The courtier remembered with joyful amazement that this was precisely the hour when the Lord told him about the recovery of his son, and he himself and his whole household believed. § 21. Preaching of Jesus Christ in Nazareth. (Luke 4:16–30) (At the end of the 31st year A.D.). Having healed the son of a courtier, the Lord went to Nazareth for the first time after declaring Himself the Messiah. On the Sabbath day He entered the synagogue with others. When, after the initial prayers, the time came for reading and explaining Scripture, which was allowed to every Jew who wished, the Lord stood up from His place, thereby expressing a desire to read. He was given the book of the prophet Isaiah, and He, opening it, found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor, and He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are tormented, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Having finished reading, He gave the book to the servant and sat down. Everyone's eyes focused on Him with intense attention, and He began to speak. His sermon consisted of explaining that everything the prophet said was fulfilled on Him. The listeners marveled at the sweetness of His speech, its power and fascination; but they were far from believing in Him. They were tempted by the fact that from an early age they knew Him as a simple man, and for their assurance they wanted Him to perform some miracle before their eyes. The Lord penetrated their thoughts and said: “Of course, you will tell Me the saying: doctor, heal yourself 36, do here, in your fatherland, what we heard happened in Capernaum.” “Truly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.” This was the answer to their first thought, and regarding the miracle, the Lord told them that it was not happening for show, but out of mercy for the poor, and, moreover, those worthy of this mercy. “There were many widows in Israel (in the land of Israel) in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up for three years and six months, so that there was a great famine throughout the whole land, and Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a widow in Zarephath of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel under the prophet Elisha, and not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” Hearing this, the Jews of Nazareth were filled with rage and took Him out of the city to the top of the mountain to overthrow Him from there. The Lord allowed Himself to be brought to the edge of the abyss; but here He stopped and then walked among them with such heavenly majesty that no one dared to touch Him. From that time on, the Lord left Nazareth and chose Capernaum as His place of residence, so that this city became known as His city. § 22. Wonderful fishing in Lake Gennesaret. (Matt. 4, 18–22; Mark 1, 16–20; Luke 5, 1–11). Capernaum lay on the shores of Lake Gennesaret. Nearby was the village of Bethsaida. While in these places, the Lord once taught the people on the shore of the lake. Two boats stood on the water, and the fishermen got out of them and washed their nets. These were: Simon-Peter, Andrew, John and Jacob. Since the crowd of listeners was arriving, the Lord found it more convenient to preach from a boat and entered one of the boats that belonged to Simon. Ordering him to stay at some distance from the shore, the Lord spoke from it to the people standing on the sloping bank. Having finished his sermon, the Lord ordered Simon to sail to the depths and cast his nets. Simon said to Him: “Master, we worked all night and caught nothing; But according to Your word I will let down the net.” Simon and Andrey cast a net and caught so many fish that even their net broke. In order to quickly unload the caught fish, they invited two comrades - John and Jacob. They arrived, and both boats were filled with fish, so that they began to sink. Seeing this, Peter, conscious of his unworthiness, threw himself at the feet of the Savior and exclaimed: “Depart from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man!” Horror gripped everyone who was with him from this extraordinary catch. The greatness of God’s power was all the more amazing for them because it was revealed on them and in their ordinary work. The Lord answered Peter with meekness and love, turning His speech to his comrades: “Do not be afraid, from now on you will catch people” (i.e., convert people to the true faith). This was for them a decisive calling to apostolic service - and they, pulling the boats ashore, left everything and followed Him. § 23. Healing of the paralytic in Capernaum. (Matt. 9:2–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 6:17–26). During His stay in Capernaum, the Lord Jesus Christ taught the people in one house. Many people were crowded inside and around the house. At this time, four people brought a paralyzed man on his bed and, not seeing the opportunity to get through the crowd of people to the doors of the house, they went up the stairs, opened the roof and lowered the sick man on his bed to the feet of the Savior. The Lord, seeing their faith (that is, both the sick man and those who brought him), said to the paralytic: “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” The Pharisees and scribes who were there thought: “He is blaspheming: who but God can forgive sins?” The Lord penetrated their thoughts and said to them: “Why do you think evil in your hearts? What is easier: to tell a paralytic - your sins are forgiven, or to say - get up, take your bed and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, I say to you,” he turned to the paralytic, “get up, take up your bed and go to your house.” The relaxed man immediately got up, took his bed and went. Everyone who saw the miracle was amazed and glorified God, saying: “We have never seen anything like this.” §24. Levi's calling. (Matthew 9:9–17; Mark 2:13–22; Luke 5:27–39). While in Capernaum, the Lord passed by the place where the tax was collected. Here a tax collector named Levi or Matthew stood at his mytnitsa (tent for collecting taxes). The Lord said to him: “Follow Me.” And he, leaving everything, followed Him. Matthew was very happy that the Lord paid attention to him (while the Jews usually despised tax collectors) and, as a sign of gratitude to the Lord, he arranged a supper in his house, that is, a feast, to which he invited many guests. The scribes and Pharisees, seeing that the Lord and His disciples were reclining at supper with the tax collectors, grumbled and said to the disciples: “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” The Lord answered them: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”37 After this, the disciples of John the Baptist approached the Lord with another question: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast a lot, but Your disciples do not fast?” The Lord said to them: “Can the sons of the bridal chamber grieve while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” 38 The second year of Christ's ministry. § 25. Healing of the paralytic at the sheep's font. (John 5:1-16). (R. X. 32, beginning of April). On the second Easter after His baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ again went to Jerusalem and continued here, as in other places of His stay, to teach the people and do good to the unfortunate. In Jerusalem, near the church, at the sheep gate 39 there was a special house, like an almshouse, called in Hebrew Bethesda (i.e., house of mercy). There was a healing bath with it, and around it there were five covered passages (or galleries), which housed many sick, paralyzed, blind, and lame. They were all waiting for the opportunity to bathe in the healing waters of the pool in order to be healed of their illnesses, because every year an angel of the Lord went to the pool and disturbed the water, and whoever was the first to enter the water immediately after it was disturbed was immediately healed, no matter what disease he was suffering from. Here was a paralytic who had been ill for thirty-eight years. The Lord approached him and asked, “Do you want to be healthy?” The sick man answered Him: “Yes, Lord, but I do not have a person who would lower me into the pool when the water is troubled; and when I come, another has already gone down before me.” The Lord said to him: “Get up, take up your bed and walk.” And he immediately became well, took up his bed and went. It was on the Sabbath day. Some of the Jews, seeing that the former sick man was carrying a bed, said to him: “Today is Saturday; you should not take a bed.” He answered them: “The one who healed me said to me: “Pick up your bed and walk.” "Who is that man?" asked him. The healed man did not know his Benefactor, because the Lord, having granted him mercy, hid among the people. After some time, Jesus met him in the church and said to him: “Behold, you are healed: sin no more, lest it become worse for you.” Then the former patient announced to the Jews that Jesus had healed him, but the Jews, instead of believing in the divine Wonderworker, began to persecute Jesus Christ and even wanted to kill Him for doing good on the Sabbath. § 26. The teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ about the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 7:23-28; Luke 6:1-6). Seeing the hostile plans of the Jews, the Lord, in the second year of His ministry, withdrew from Jerusalem to the borders of Galilee; but now the Pharisees followed Him, trying to catch Him in something in order to condemn and humiliate Him in the eyes of the people. One Saturday, the Lord Jesus Christ walked through the sown fields. His disciples, feeling hungry, plucked the ears of corn and, rubbing them with their hands, ate the grain. The Pharisees noticed this and turned to Jesus Christ with a reproach: “Why are you doing what is not allowed to be done on the Sabbath?” The Lord answered them: “Have you not heard what David did when he was hungry: how he entered the house of God, took the showbread, which no one should eat except the priests, and ate it himself and gave it to those with him? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath days the priests in the church break the Sabbath (they work to carry out the works of their ministry), but are not guilty? But I tell you that here is He who is greater than the church. The Sabbath is for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” § 27. Healing a withered arm. (Matt. 12:9–14; Mark 3:1–6; Luke 6:6–11). A week later, after rebuking the foolish zealots of the Sabbath, the Lord was in the synagogue and taught. Among the listeners was a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees and scribes were watching Jesus Christ to see if He would heal this man on the Sabbath in order to accuse Him of breaking the law. Knowing their thoughts, the Lord commanded the sick man to stand in the midst of the congregation, and then turned to the Pharisees with the question: “What should one do on the Sabbath—good or evil? Save a soul or destroy it?” The Pharisees were silent. "Which of you, continued the Lord, having one sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take it and pull it out? How many people are better than a sheep?" After this, looking at them with sorrow and indignation, he said to the sick man: “Stretch out your hand!” He held it out, and the sick hand became completely healthy, like the other. But the Pharisees not only did not believe in the Lord, but became even more embittered against Him and began to consult among themselves how best to destroy Him. § 28. Election of the twelve apostles. (Matt. 10, 11–14; Mark 3, 13–19; Luke 9, 1). (P. X. 32, month April). Upon arrival in Galilee, the Lord Jesus Christ directed His path to the borders of the Sea of ​​Galilee, and many people followed Him from all over Palestine to listen to Him and be healed of their ailments From the multitude of believers, the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to choose his closest helpers to preach the Gospel. Before this great deed, He retired to one mountain and spent the whole night in prayer. At dawn, while the people had not yet gathered, Jesus called to Him those whom He Himself wanted to be with Him and to send them to preach. He called these chosen ones apostles, that is, messengers. There were twelve of them: Simon-Peter, Andrew, his brother, James and John - the sons of Zebedee, Philip and Bartholomew (who is also Nathanael), Matthew otherwise Levi, Thomas, the so-called twin, James Alphaeus (called in contrast to James Zebedee the younger), Simon the Zealot (from the Zealot sect) or Canaanite (i.e., originally from Cana), Judas Jacob (brother of James the Younger) and Judas Iscariot (from the city of Kariota, which was in the tribe of Judah). Besides these twelve apostles, the Lord had 70 other disciples. There were also some women who, out of a feeling of grateful love, served Him, such as: Mary Magdalene, from whom He cast out seven demons, Mary of Jacob (the mother of the Apostle James, as they think, a cousin of the Mother of God), Salome, the mother of the Apostles James and John, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward (according to legend, that courtier whose son the Lord healed), and others § 29. Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5–7 chapters. Luke 6, 17–49, 7 chapters). I will raise up for them a Prophet from among their brothers, one like you. And I will put My words in His mouth, and He will speak to them whatever I command Him. Whoever does not listen to My words, which the Prophet will speak in My name, I will exact from him (Deut. 18:18-19). Having descended from the mountain with the chosen twelve apostles, the Lord Jesus Christ stopped on one of its ledges. Here He was surrounded by a large crowd of people who wanted to listen to His word. And he opened his mouth and began to teach. Teaching about the paths of bliss. 1. Blessed (happy) are the poor in spirit (humble), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 9 . Blessed are you when they revile you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven. In this teaching on the paths of blessedness, the Lord, with all sincerity and directness, in contrast to the erroneous opinions of the Jews, revealed what His followers should be like and what they can and should expect from Him. The Jews hoped that, with the coming of the Messiah, they would rule over the nations and enjoy earthly honors and pleasures, and the Lord demands from His followers humility, contrition for sins, meekness, purity of heart, and as a reward for this promises spiritual benefits: - consolation, a sense of peace with God, saturation with righteousness, etc. At the same time, the Lord does not hide the fact that His followers are expected to be deprived of earthly blessings, persecution, even martyrdom. For all this He promises a great reward, not on earth, but in heaven. When, therefore, the Lord immediately refuted all the false expectations of the Jews regarding His kingdom, they might have thought that He was destroying the commandments of the law, proclaimed by God through Moses, and all the teaching of the prophets. Therefore, the Lord further says that He did not come to break the law, but to complete and perfect it. In the Old Testament law, only that which, according to the conditions of that time, limited and constrained the requirements of the law of God in all their completeness and perfection, will be rejected. “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until it is all fulfilled.” "You have heard that it was said to the ancients: do not kill; whoever kills will be subject to judgment (Exodus 20:13); but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to judgment; whoever says to his brother - raka (empty man) will be subject to the Sanhedrin (the supreme court), and whoever says - foolish will be subject to hellfire." “You have heard what was said to the ancients: do not break your oath, but fulfill your oaths before the Lord (Lev. 19:12; Deut. 23:21); But I say to you: do not swear at all, but let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and anything beyond this is from the evil one.” “You have heard that it was said: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; but I say to you: whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer garment too; give to him who asks from you, and do not turn away from anyone who wants to borrow from you.” "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' If you love those who love you, what is your reward? Do not the publicans do the same? And if you greet your brothers, do not the Gentiles do the same? Teaching about almsgiving, prayer and fasting. “See to it that you do not do your alms in front of people so that they will see you: otherwise you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So, when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. Truly I tell you, they are already receiving their reward. When you do alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; - and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stop to pray in the synagogues and on street corners in order to appear before people. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” “And when you pray, do not say too much, like the pagans, for they think that for their many words they will be heard. Don't be like them. Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, amen.” “When you fast, do not be sad like the hypocrites, for they put on gloomy faces in order to appear to people as fasting. Truly I tell you that they are already receiving their reward. And you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to men as you fast, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” The people who heard the words of the Lord marveled at the power of His teaching and spoke of Him thus: “He taught not as the scribes and Pharisees, but as one who has authority.” § 30. Healing of the centurion's servant. (Matt. 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10). At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ came to Capernaum. Here lived a Roman centurion who had a faithful and devoted servant. This servant was in mortal illness, and his master wanted the Lord, about whose mercy and power he had heard so much, to heal him. However, being a pagan, he did not dare to personally turn to Jesus Christ, but asked the Jewish elders to ask the Lord for mercy for him. The elders came to the Lord and began to ask Him for mercy on the centurion, saying, among other things: “He is worthy that You do this for him, because he loved our people and built us a synagogue.” The Lord said: “I will come and heal him” (i.e., the sick servant). The centurion, having learned that the Lord was coming to him, was even more imbued with a sense of his own unworthiness and sent his friends to meet Him, who on his behalf said: “Do not work, Lord! I am not worthy for You to come under my blood; therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to You; but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I am a subject man; but having soldiers under my command, I say to one: go, and he goes; and to another: come, and he comes; and to my servant: Do this, and he does it.” Jesus was surprised that the pagan had such sincere and firm faith, and said to those accompanying Him: “Truly I say to you, I have not found such faith in Israel.” And then he pronounced a prophecy about the conversion of the pagans to faith. “Many,” said. Lord, "they will come from the east and the west and lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, and the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." After this, He turned to those sent by the centurion and ordered them to tell him: “As you believed, so be it for you.” And immediately his servant was healed. § 31. Resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain. (Luke 7:11-17). From Capernaum, at a distance of a day's journey (about the 25th century), there was the city of Nain. One day the Lord went there with His disciples. When He approached the city, the dead man, the only son of a poor widow, was carried out of its gates. She walked behind the bed, heartbroken, in despair and in tears. Many people walked with her from the city, sympathizing with her great sorrow. The merciful Lord first approached her and consoled her, saying: “Don’t cry,” and then ordered the carriers to stop and said to the deceased: “Young man, I tell you: get up.” The dead man immediately got up, sat down and began to speak. The Lord took him by the hand and gave him to his mother. Everyone who was present was filled with sacred horror and glorified God, saying: “The Great Prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited His people.” § 32. Jesus Christ in the house of Simon the Pharisee. (Luke 7:36–50). One Pharisee, named Simon, invited the Lord Jesus Christ to supper, and the Lord, concerned about converting His enemies to the truth, accepted this invitation. The Pharisee, however, greeted him coldly and did not show him the honor usually given to guests. In the same city there lived one woman, about whom everyone knew that she was a great sinner. But a saving revolution towards good had already taken place in her: just as great were her sins before, so great was her repentance now. This woman, having bought expensive ointment, came to Simon’s house and, standing behind, at the feet of the Savior, began to wash them with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her head, anointed them with ointment and kissed them, and the Lord did not reject these signs of reverent veneration. Seeing this, Simon reasoned to himself that Jesus Christ was not a prophet, otherwise he would have known which woman was touching Him and would not have allowed her to come near Him. The Lord, penetrating his thoughts, turned to him: “Simon, I have something to tell you.” The Pharisee replied: “Tell me, Teacher.” “One creditor,” said the Lord, “had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. But since they had nothing to pay, he forgave them both. Tell me, which of them loved him more?” Simon answered: “I think the one to whom I forgave more.” “You judged correctly,” said the Lord. "Do you see this woman? I came to your house, and you did not give water to My feet, but she washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You did not give Me a kiss, but since I came, she has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with myrrh. Therefore I tell you: her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much; and to whom little is forgiven, he loves little." 40 Then he said to the woman: "Your sins are forgiven." At these words, those reclining at the table began to say to themselves: "Who is this that forgives sins?" This time the Lord did not say by what right He forgives sins, 41 but pointed out the condition under which this forgiveness can be received. “Your faith has saved you,” He said to the forgiven sinner; Go in peace." § 34. The parable of the seed and the tares. (Matt. 13, 24–30, 34–43). “The kingdom of heaven,” said the Lord, “is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. While the people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed tares among the wheat and went away. When the greenery came up and the fruit appeared, then the tares also appeared. When they came, the lord’s servants said to him: “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where does the tares come from on it?” He told them: “The enemy of man has done this.” And the slaves said to him: “Do you want us to go and choose them?” But he said: “No, lest when you choose the tares, you pull up the wheat along with them. Leave both to grow together until the harvest, and during the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up the tares first and bind them in bundles to burn them, and put the wheat into my barn.” The disciples, left alone with the Lord, asked Him to explain this parable to them, and He explained it this way: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world: the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of this age: the Son of man will send His angels and gather the workers of iniquity and throw them into the fiery furnace; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.” Thus, the parable of the seed and the tares explains the origin and fate of evil on earth. God did not create evil. The culprit of evil is the devil. Evil is sown at a time when people are careless and inattentive. Now the Lord tolerates evil people in the hope of their correction. The final separation of good people from evil will follow at the end of the world. § 35. Parable of the mustard seed. (Matt. 13:31–32; Mark 4:31–32; Luke 13:19). “The kingdom of heaven,” said the Lord, “is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Although this grain is smaller than all seeds, when it grows, it is larger than all the grains and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air fly and take refuge in its branches.” The meaning of this parable is as follows: The Church of Christ, small at first, has spread throughout the earth so that many nations, like birds of the air on the branches of a mustard tree, take refuge under its shadow. Exactly the same thing happens with the kingdom of God in the soul of every person: the breath of God's grace, at first barely noticeable to a person, with his efforts, more and more embraces his soul, so that it becomes the church of God and the repository of various virtues 42. § 36. Taming the storm. (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25). Having finished teaching to the people in parables, the Lord Jesus Christ set off with His disciples in a boat to the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee. She was followed by several other boats with disciples and listeners of Jesus. It was late in the evening. Suddenly a strong wind arose on the sea and there was great excitement, so that the boat was covered with waves. And the Lord, tired from the day's work, slept at the stern at the head. Meanwhile, the danger intensified more and more, and the apostles were exhausted in the fight against the stormy elements. Then they approached the Lord and woke Him up, saying: “Lord! save us: we are perishing.” The Lord stood up and rebuked the wind, and then said to the sea: “Be silent, be still!” And the wind died down and there was great silence. Then the Lord turned to the disciples and said: “Why are you so fearful? How come you don’t have faith?” Everyone who saw this great miracle asked themselves in awe: “Who is this, that both the wind and the sea obey him?” § 37. Expulsion of the legion of demons. (Matt. 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–29). The Lord and his disciples went out to the other shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee, near the city of Gadara. As soon as He stepped on solid ground, a terrible-looking man suddenly appeared. He was a man possessed by a demon, who brought terror to the entire neighborhood with his suffering. He could not live in a house, but had a home in coffins. Many times he was shackled and tied with chains, but he broke these chains and shackles and no one was able to tame him. Day and night, in the mountains and coffins, he screamed and beat against the stones. One might think that the Lord took the path here to deliver this unfortunate sufferer. The possessed man rushed towards the Lord and shouted loudly: “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!” He said this because Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to leave him. In response to the request of the demoniac, the Lord asked him: “What is your name?” “Legion” 43, came the answer, “because there are many of us.” Then the demons began to ask the Lord not to send them into the abyss of hell, but to allow them to enter a herd of pigs that was grazing not far away on the seashore. It should be noted that the Jews kept pigs contrary to the law; therefore the Lord said to the demons: “Go.” The demons entered the pigs, and their entire herd (about 2,000 heads) rushed down a steep slope into the sea and died in the water. Frightened shepherds ran to the city and to the villages to tell about what had happened. Residents gathered and saw that the former demoniac, already in his right mind, dressed, was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Fear fascinated them; but instead of thanking the Lord for visiting their country, they began to ask Him to move away from their borders, because they felt sorry for their pigs. Jesus went to the boat, wanting to cross to the other side. Then the healed man began to ask the Lord to allow him to follow Him. But the Lord told him: “Go home to your people and tell them what the Lord has done to you and how he has had mercy on you.” And this man went and began to preach about the mercy of God to him, and everyone marveled. § 38. Healing of the bleeding woman and resurrection of Jairus' daughter. (Matt. 9, 18–26; Mark, 5, 21–43; Luke 8, 40–56). When the Lord Jesus Christ from the Gadarene country returned to Capernaum, He was met by a large crowd of people. The leader of the synagogue, named Jairus, came out of it, fell on his knees before Him and with tears asked for the healing of his daughter, who was dying. Although Jairus had faith, he was greatly depressed by grief and lost heart. Therefore, the Lord did not refuse him mercy and went to his house, but looked for an opportunity to encourage the unfortunate father and revive faith in his heart. In the crowd accompanying the Lord, there was a woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years, suffered a lot from many doctors, treated everything that she had, and not only did not receive any benefit, but came to an even worse state. She had such a living faith in the Lord that she said to herself: “If I even touch His clothes, I will get well.” She pressed her way among the people to the Lord, touched His clothes from behind, and immediately felt in her body that she was healed of her illness. “Who touched Me?” – the Lord asked those around Him. Everyone began to deny, and Peter and the other apostles said to Him: “Master, the people surround and crowd You, and You say: Who touched Me?” But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me, for I felt power coming from Me,” and he looked around to see the one who did it. The woman, in fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, fell before Him and told Him the whole truth. The Lord encouraged her and said: “Be of good cheer, daughter! Your faith has saved you; go in peace and be well from your illness.” At the sight of this amazing miracle with the woman, Jairus’s faith was revived, but he had to endure the test (faith needs the fire of temptation). Servants came from the house and said to him: “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher!” The Lord supported the unfortunate father here too, saying: “Do not be afraid, just believe: your daughter will be saved.” They came to Jairus's house; There was great confusion here and, in addition to relatives and friends, hired mourners and flute players were crowding in the courtyard, and crying and sobbing could already be heard. The Lord said: "Why are you embarrassed and crying? The girl is not dead, but she is asleep." These words seemed strange to many, and some even allowed themselves to laugh at Him. Then He, sending everyone out of the house, took with Him only the father and mother of the girl and three chosen disciples - Peter, James and John, and entered the room where the deceased lay. Approaching her, the Lord took her hand and said to her: "Talifah kumi”, which means: “maiden, stand up.” The girl immediately got up and walked away; she was about twelve years old. She was probably weakened by a serious illness; To strengthen her, the Lord ordered to give her something to eat. Those who saw this miracle were in great amazement, but the Lord strictly forbade them to disclose it. § 39. Sending the twelve apostles to preach and instruct them of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 10:5–31; 40–42; Mark 6:7–13; Luke 9:1–6). During His travels through Judea and Galilee, the Lord Jesus Christ saw that the people were in a distressed state, like sheep without a shepherd. This prompted Him to send apostles to different cities and villages of the land of Judea. At the same time, He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and heal all kinds of diseases, and admonished them with the following instructions: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter the Samaritan city. But go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. “Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts, nor scrip for the journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff, for the worker is worthy of food.” 44 “Whatever city or village you enter, visit who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave. And when you enter a house, greet it, saying, “Peace to this house." And if the house is worthy, then your peace will come upon it; but if it is not worthy, then your peace will return to you. 45 And if anyone does not receive you and does not listen to your words, then when you leave that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for the city to that." "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves: and so be wise as serpents and simple as doves. Beware of men, for they will hand you over to judgment courts and in their synagogues they will beat you. And they will bring you before governors and kings for Me, to testify before them and the pagans. But when they betray you, do not worry about how or what to say, for in that hour It will be given to you what to say. For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you. A disciple is not above his master, and a servant is not above his master. If the master of the house is called Beelzebub, how much more shall he be of his household? And fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell. It will not fall to the ground without the will of your Father. But the hairs of your head are all numbered. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the prophet in the name of the prophet; and he who receives the righteous, in the name of the righteous, receives the reward of the righteous. And whoever gives one of these little ones to drink only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, will not lose his reward.” Thus, the apostles, before the eyes of the Lord Himself, had already begun their preaching ministry. In the instructions that the Lord now gave them, responsibilities were defined and difficulties and dangers were indicated for preachers of the faith in the future. § 40. Death of John the Baptist. (Matt. 14:1–12; Mark 6:14–29; Luke 9:7–9). At a time when new heralds of truth in the person of the apostles were appointed and already sent, the glorious death of the great preacher of repentance, Saint John the Baptist, followed. Saint John the Baptist fulfilled the great work entrusted to him by God: by preaching repentance he aroused in the Jews the desire for salvation and prepared them to accept the Savior; testified about Him before the Sanhedrin and the people as the true Messiah and Son of God, who came to suffer for the sins of people; raised for the Lord and handed over to Him his best students. He sealed this great feat of life and testimony to the truth with suffering and martyrdom. The Galilean king Herod Antipas removed from himself his legitimate wife (daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia), and instead took a wife from his brother Philip, Herodias. John the Baptist denounced this shameful behavior of Herod and told him: “You should not have your brother’s wife.” For this denunciation, Herodias was especially irritated against John and in every possible way persuaded Herod to kill him, but Herod, although he was under the strong influence of Herodias, nevertheless resisted her for a long time, because he was afraid of the people who revered John as a great prophet, and he himself had involuntary respect for him: he did a lot according to his word and listened to him with pleasure. Finally, at the insistence of Herodias, he sent soldiers who took John the Baptist and put him in prison (in a fortress called Macheront). About a year has passed since then. Herod celebrated his birthday and threw a feast for the courtiers and nobles. At the conclusion of the feast, Salome, the daughter of Herodias and Philip, came out, and with her dancing she pleased Herod and his guests so much that he said to her: “Ask me what you want, and I will give it to you.” And then, flushed with wine, he confirmed to her with an oath: “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, even up to half of my kingdom.” The girl went to her mother to consult what to ask. Herodias rejoiced at this occasion and said to her daughter: “Go and ask for the head of John the Baptist.” Salome hurriedly went out to the king and said: “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter right now.” Herod was saddened when he heard this terrible request; however, due to the weakness of his character and fearing reproaches for failure to fulfill this oath, he did not refuse her. At his order, the armor bearer went and cut off John's head in prison, brought it on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. The disciples of John the Baptist, hearing about the death of their teacher, asked permission to take his body, and buried him with honor 46. After the murder of John the Baptist, Herod could not help but be tormented by his conscience for his terrible crime. In this state, he heard for the first time about the teachings and miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ and said with horror to his associates: “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and therefore powers work from him.” Wanting to at least somewhat calm down from the torment of his conscience, Herod looked for an opportunity to see Jesus Christ; but the Lord avoided him. § 41. Feeding the five thousand with five loaves. (Matt. 14, 13–23; Mark 6, 30–45; Luke 9, 10–17; John 6, 1–15) Soon after the death of John the Baptist, the apostles returned from preaching and told the Lord about everything they had done and taught. After the labors of the journey, they needed rest, and the people constantly surrounding Jesus Christ did not give them a minute of rest, so they had no time to even eat food. Therefore, the Lord, caring for them, said: “Go alone to a secluded place and rest a little.” It also happened that Herod was looking to see Jesus at that very time. To give the apostles rest and to evade Herod’s anger for a while, the Lord got into a boat with them and secretly went to the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee, to the desert located in the vicinity of Bethsaida Julia (in the domain of Philip). However, many of the people noticed the departure of the Lord and ran by land in the direction of His boat, so that when Jesus Christ came ashore, it was all dotted with people. The Lord took pity on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he preached to them for a long time, and healed many sick people. When the day began to turn towards evening, the disciples suggested that Jesus Christ let the people go so that they could go to the surrounding villages and buy food for themselves; but the Savior said to them: “Give them something to eat.” The Apostle Philip answered Him: “Two hundred denarii (about 45 rubles) will not be enough bread for them, so that each of them gets at least a little.” Jesus Christ said: “Go, see how much loaves you have.” They went. Soon the Apostle Andrew returned and said: “One boy here has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is this for such a multitude?” The Lord said: “Tell them to lie down.” When everyone lay down on the grass and settled down in the correct order, one hundred and one fifty people at a time, it turned out that the entire people, except women and children, numbered about five thousand. Jesus took the loaves and both fish and, having given praise to God, blessed them, then began to break them and distribute them to the disciples, and the disciples to those reclining, as much as anyone wanted. When everyone was satisfied, the Lord ordered the remaining pieces of bread and fish to be collected. They were collected and filled as many as twelve baskets. Seeing this great miracle, many of the people began to say: “This is truly the prophet who should come into the world,” and they wanted to take Him by force and take Him to Jerusalem to proclaim Him king of the Jews. Jesus did not allow the people to enter into an agreement with the disciples and ordered them to immediately get into a boat and cross to the other side of the Sea of ​​Galilee, while He Himself quietly withdrew to the mountain and there spent the whole night in prayer. § 42. Walking of Jesus Christ on the waters. (Matt. 14, 24–34; Mark 6, 47–53; John 6, 16–21). It was already evening when the apostles, at the command of the Lord, entered the boat, and it was getting dark. When the boat was in the middle of the lake, a strong wind blew and the sea became agitated. The disciples spent the whole night in great anxiety and fear, and at this time the Lord prayed on the mountain. Finally, to save them, He went to them by sea. There was a fourth watch (from 3 to 6 o'clock) 47 . The disciples, noticing in the darkness that someone was moving towards them in the depths of the sea, thought that it was a ghost (ghost), and were even more frightened and screamed in fear. But suddenly hear the soothing voice of the Savior: “Do not be afraid! It is I.” Peter, first of all, took heart and said: “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” The Lord said: “go.” Peter cheerfully stepped off the boat into the water and walked firmly as long as he believed. But then he saw terrible waves in front of him, he got scared, his faith weakened, and he began to drown. “Lord,” he cried, “save me!” The Lord stretched out his hand to him and said: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they entered the boat, the wind instantly died down, and suddenly they found themselves close to the shore. Then all the disciples stood up and worshiped the Lord Jesus Christ, saying: “Truly you are the Son of God.” § 43. Conversation of Jesus Christ about the sacrament of Communion in the Capernaum synagogue. (John 6:22–71). After the miraculous feeding of five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, large crowds of people began to follow Jesus Christ. The Lord, penetrating the secret thoughts of his followers, said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miracles, but because you ate bread and were filled. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever. And the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The Jews began to argue among themselves, saying: “How can He give us His flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food in truth, and My blood is drink in truth. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him." Hearing these words, many even of the disciples of Jesus Christ were tempted, and some even left Him. Then the Lord turned to the twelve apostles and asked them: “Do you also want to leave?” The Apostle Peter hastened to express his love and devotion to the Lord with the following words: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." The third year of serving Christ. § 44. Healing of the Canaanite daughter. (Matt. 15, 21 – 28; Mark 7, 24–30). It is not clear from the Gospel whether the Lord was in Jerusalem for the Easter holiday in the 3rd year of His ministry. It is more likely that He, evading the evil Pharisees, continued to preach in Galilee. About this time He sent 70 of His disciples to preach. The Pharisees, however, after the Easter holiday, did not hesitate to appear in Galilee. Avoiding their intrigues, the Lord withdrew for a while to the borders of the Phoenician country. When the Lord Jesus Christ was within the Phoenician cities of Tire and Sidon, I learned about. One Canaanite woman (that is, from the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, who was under the curse of righteous Noah), began to cry after him: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly raging.” The Lord seemed not to hear her cries at all and did not answer her a word. Zhenina, however, continued to cry out for help. Then the apostles said to the Lord: “Let her go, because she is screaming after us.” The Lord answered them: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Finally, the woman approached Him, fell on her knees before Him and prayed: “Lord, help me!” Jesus said to her: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (that is, to leave the Israelites and do good to the Gentiles). The woman said: “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table of their Lord.” The Lord was surprised at her faith and said to her: “O woman, great is your faith, may it be done to you as you wish.” Arriving at her house, she found that the demon had left her daughter, and she was lying in bed, calm and healthy. § 45. Feeding four thousand people with seven loaves. (Mark 8:1–9; Matthew 15:32–88.) Having left the borders of Tire and Sidon, Jesus Christ went beyond the Jordanian country, through the borders of the Decapolis. A lot of people gathered here to see him, and they had nothing to eat. The Lord said to the disciples: “I feel sorry for the people who have been with Me for three days already, and they have nothing to eat; if I send them away without eating, they will become weak on the way, for some of them have come from afar.” The disciples said to the Lord: “Where can we get so much bread in the desert to feed such a multitude?” Jesus Christ asked; them: “How many loaves do you have?” They said: "seven." Then He ordered the people to lie down on the ground. And taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples, so that they would distribute them to those sitting around. They also had a few fish: having blessed them, He ordered them to be distributed too. And they all ate and were filled, and they gathered up the fragments that remained, seven baskets full, and those who ate were about four thousand people, besides women and children. After this, Jesus Christ released them. § 46. Confession of Peter. The Lord's prediction about His suffering, death and resurrection and the teaching of His followers about the cross. (Matt. 16, 13–18; Mark 8, 27–28; Luke 9, 18–27). Within Caesarea Philippi (where the Lord also withdrew from the Pharisees who were watching Him). On the way, the Lord asked His disciples: “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They said: “Some for John the Baptist, others for Elijah, and others for Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” “And you,” said the Lord, “who do you say that I am?” To this unexpected question, the Apostle Peter answered with liveliness for everyone: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” The Lord solemnly confirmed this great confession of faith and said to Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because it was not flesh and blood (that is, not people, not human wisdom) who revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: you are Peter (the stone) and on the seven stone I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. 48 And I gave you the keys 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." 49 Seeing such faith in the apostles. The Lord began to reveal to them that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer much from the elders, high priests and scribes, and be killed and rise on the third day. The same Apostle Peter, who received such praise and promises from the Lord for his confession, began to contradict Him. Taking the Lord aside, he said to Him: “Be merciful to yourself, Lord; let this not happen to you.” Then the Lord turned to the disciples (because they also thought the same) and said to Peter: “Get away from Me, Satan 50 (adversary, evil adviser); you are an offense to Me, because you think not about the things of God, but about the things of man” (i.e., not in accordance with the will of God, but only according to human reasoning). After this, calling his disciples to him, he said: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 51. Whoever wants to save his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for My sake will find it. 52. What is it good for a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul? For what ransom will a man give for his soul? For the Son will come.” Man is in the glory of His Father with His angels and then He will reward everyone according to his deeds.” § 47. Transfiguration of the Lord. (Matthew 17:1–9; Mark 9:2–9; Luke 9:28–36.) From the conversation of the Lord with the disciples it was revealed that they believed in Him; but at the same time they are horrified by His impending suffering. Therefore, He wanted to at least confirm some of them in a special way both in the truth of His divine messenger and in the need for Him to suffer for the salvation of the human race. The Lord took the apostles Peter, James and John with Him and went up the mountain to pray 53 . The Lord devoted himself entirely to prayer, and the apostles soon got tired and fell asleep. Suddenly a strong light woke them up, and they saw the Lord Jesus Christ in extraordinary glory. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became white as snow. The prophets Moses and Elijah stood near Him in heavenly glory and talked with Him about the suffering and death that would await Him in Jerusalem. At this wondrous vision, the apostles felt inexplicable bliss and listened in silence to the conversation of the Lord with the prophets. But Peter noticed that the prophets wanted to depart from the Lord, and in an abundance of emotional excitement he exclaimed: “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you want, we will make three tabernacles (tents) here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He himself did not realize what he was saying. Suddenly, as if in exchange for the tabernacle offered to him, a bright cloud appeared. The apostles knew that a bright cloud in ancient times (at Sinai, in the tabernacle, in the church) meant a special appearance of God, and they were afraid, especially when they felt that they themselves were entering under the shadow of this cloud. Suddenly a voice was heard from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son, in whom is all my favor: listen to him.” The apostles fell to the ground in fear. After some time, the Lord came up, touched them and said, “Get up, don’t be afraid!” He was already in His usual form and forbade them to tell about this vision until He rose from the dead. § 48. Healing of a demon-possessed deaf-mute youth. (Matt. 17, 14–21; Mark, 9, 17–29; Luke 9, 37–43). When the Lord came down from the mountain after His glorious transfiguration, He saw many people. From a distance noise and arguments could be heard. Noticing the Lord, many ran to meet Him and joyfully greeted Him, letting them know that they especially wanted to see Him at those moments. In the crowd, the Lord noticed scribes heatedly arguing with the disciples and asked about the reason for the dispute. In response to this, one man from the people exclaimed: "Teacher! I beg You to look at my son. He is the only one with me. A spirit (unclean) seizes him and torments him, so that he emits foam, and forcibly (the spirit) retreats from him, tormenting him. I asked Your disciples to drive him out, but they could not." The Lord said: "Oh, an unfaithful and perverse generation! How long will I be with you, how long will I endure you? Bring your son here." As soon as the demoniac saw Jesus Christ, the demon shook him so that he fell to the ground and lay there, emitting foam. The Lord asked the father: “How long ago did this start with him?” The father said: “from infancy, and many times the spirit threw him into fire and water to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” The Lord told him: “If you can believe a little, all things are possible to him who believes.” The boy's father exclaimed with tears: “I believe, Lord! help my unbelief.” Then Jesus Christ said: “The spirit is dumb and deaf! I command you, come out of him (the boy) and do not enter into him from now on!" And the spirit came out with a cry and a strong shake of the boy; at that moment the boy seemed to die, so that many said: “He is dead.” But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up and gave him to his father. After this, the disciples, left alone with the Lord, asked Him: “Why couldn’t we cast him out?” “Because of your unbelief,” answered the Lord, for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” then it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” And then he added: “this race (of demons) can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.” After this, the Lord Jesus Christ returned to his city of Capernaum. § 49. Miraculous receipt of coins for paying taxes on the church. (Matt. 17:24–27). God established through Moses that every Jew, upon reaching the age of twenty, annually pay two drachmas (about 30 kopecks) for the maintenance and decoration of the tabernacle (Ex. 30: 11-16). This law remained in force even after the construction of the church. The tax collectors approached the house where Jesus Christ was, and, meeting the Apostle Peter, asked him: “Will your teacher give you didrachms?” – (i.e. two drachmas required by law). Peter said with confidence: “He will,” and immediately went into the house to tell the Lord about this. But the Lord warned Peter with a question: “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take duties or taxes? From their own sons or from strangers?” Peter tells Him: “from strangers.” “So, the sons are free 54,” said the Lord, “but so that we do not tempt them, go to the sea, throw a hook and take the first fish that comes along. Opening its mouth, you will find a statir and give it to them for Me and for yourself.” The Apostle Peter fulfilled the word of the Lord. § 50. Instruction on humility and kindness. (Matt. 18:1–5; Mark 9:33–37; Luke 9:46–48). While traveling with the apostles, the Lord once noticed that they were heatedly arguing with each other about something. When they arrived at the house, He asked them: “What did you talk about among yourself on the way?” Ashamed to reveal the subject of their conversation, the apostles were silent at first, but then, seeing that they could not hide, they decided to ask the Lord not directly about themselves, but in general terms: “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The Lord, sitting down, called the disciples closer to Him and said to them: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he called the child to him, placed him among them and, hugging him, said: “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So, whoever humbles himself like this child (that is, is also humble and gentle), he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” § 51. Parable about the merciful king and the merciless debtor. (Matt. 18:21–36). After the Lord gave the apostles instructions about humility and kindness, the Apostle Peter asked Him: “Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” The Jewish rabbis taught that one must forgive three times, and not forgive on the fourth. Peter more than doubled this number. But the Lord said to him: “I do not tell you until seven times, but until seventy times seven,” and, in order to more clearly present this teaching about the forgiveness of offenses, he said the following parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to test his slaves. When he began to check them, it turned out that one owed him ten thousand talents 55 . Since he could not pay this amount, the king ordered him, and his wife, and children, and everything he had to be sold and used to pay the debt. Then the unfortunate debtor began to beg him to wait and delay the payment of the debt. The king forgave him all his debt and released him. As soon as this servant left the king, he met one of his comrades, who owed him one hundred denarii - an insignificant amount in comparison with his debt to the king. However, he grabbed him by the throat and began to choke him, saying: “pay me back.” His comrade, unable to pay, threw himself at his feet and began to ask: “Be patient with me, I will give you everything.” But he did not want to condescend to any requests, but went and put him in prison until he repaid the debt. Comrades of both, having seen what happened! They were very upset and, when they came, they told the king about everything. Then the king ordered the merciless debtor to be called to him and said to him: “evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me; Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your companion, just as I had mercy on you?” And, angry, he gave it to the torturers until he repaid him with all the debt. “So is My Heavenly Father,” the Lord concluded, what will he do with you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart for his sins.” § 52. Pardon for a sinner wife. (John 8, 1–11). (33rd year AD; months September – October) On the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Lord Jesus Christ was in Jerusalem and taught in the church. A lot of people surrounded him. Suddenly there was a great noise. The scribes and Pharisees brought one woman to him, stood her in the middle of the meeting and said: “Teacher, this woman has been convicted of such a sin, for which Moses commanded us in the law to stone us: what do you say?” 56 Jesus, bending low, wrote on the ground with his finger, showing that he did not want to answer them. They considered this a sign of confusion on the part of Jesus Christ and all the more urgently demanded an answer to their question. Then the Lord, raising His head and fixing His searching and all-penetrating gaze on them, said: “He who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her.” After this, he bent low again and began to write on the ground. Hearing this and being convicted by their conscience, the accusers began to leave one by one, starting from the oldest to the last. Jesus, raising his head and not seeing anyone but the woman, said to her: “Woman! where are your accusers! Has no one judged you? - “Nobody, Lord!” - she answered. Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." 57 § 53. Healing of a man born blind. (John 9:1–41). (At the end of the 33rd year but P. X). At the beginning of December, the Jews celebrated the feast of the renewal of the church, in memory of its cleansing by Judas Maccabee of the idols erected by Antiochus Epiphanes. For this holiday, the Lord Jesus Christ came to Jerusalem. Miracle of healing. Walking through the City with His disciples, He saw a man blind from birth. Considering every misfortune a punishment for sin, the disciples asked Him; “Rabbi, who sinned: he or his parents that he was born blind?” The Lord said: “Neither he nor his parents sinned; but this is so that the works of God may be revealed in him.” After this, the Lord said: “I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day (that is, while My time on earth continues). As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” At the same time, he spat on the ground, made clay from the spit, anointed the sick man’s eyes with it and said to him: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” The man born blind went, washed himself and returned seeing. Rumor of healing among the people. The neighbors and everyone who knew the blind man asked each other: “Isn’t this the one who sat and begged?” Others said “it’s him”; others - that “only he looks like him.” He himself asserted: “It’s me.” “How did your eyes open?” - they asked him. He answered, “A man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’” I went, washed and received my sight.’ They asked him: ‘Where is He?’ The healed one said, “I don’t know.” Disputes of the Pharisees. The formerly blind man was taken to the Pharisees. He had to repeat the story of his healing before them. Since the miracle took place on Saturday, a dispute arose between the Pharisees. Some said about Jesus Christ: “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath”; others, on the contrary, said: “How can a sinful man perform such miracles?” At the end of the argument, they turned to the healed man himself with the question: “What do you say about Jesus, because He opened your eyes?” He answered briefly and firmly: “This is a prophet.” The measures of the Pharisees to weaken the dignity and greatness of the miracle. Wanting to weaken the people's faith in the divine Wonderworker, the Pharisees express doubt about the reality of the miracle and demand that the parents of a former blind man verify it. When they appeared, the Pharisees sternly asked them: “Is this your son, about whom you said that he was born blind? How can he see now? The parents were simple and timid people and, fearing the Pharisees (as if they would excommunicate them from the synagogue), they gave such an evasive answer; “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind; but how he sees now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know, he himself is at an advanced age, ask yourself: let him speak about himself.” The Pharisees turned to the healed man and at first, with gentle words, wanted to turn him away from the Lord: “Give glory to God (for your healing,” they told him, but we know that this man is a sinner.” The healed one answered them: “I don’t know whether He is a sinner; one thing I know is that I was blind, but now I see.” Then the Pharisees began to interrogate him, wondering if he would be confused in his answers: “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” “I have already told you,” answered the former blind man, “and you did not listen; what else do you want to hear? Or do you also want to become His disciples?” At these words, the Pharisees burst out with 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.” “I’m surprised,” the healed one answered them, that you (teachers, experts in the law) do not know where He comes from, but He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but! listens to the one who honors Him and does His will. From the beginning of time it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If He had not been from God, He could not have done anything like that.” The Pharisees shouted at him: “You were born entirely in sins, and should you teach us?” and they kicked him out. Meeting of a blind man who has received his sight with the Lord. The Lord, having heard that the Pharisees had driven out the man born blind, and having met him, asked: “Do you believe in the Son of God?” “And who is He, Lord, that I should believe in Him?” the former blind man asked Him. “And you saw Him, and He spoke to you,” said the Lord. “I believe, Lord!” – the healed man exclaimed and bowed to him. The miracle of healing of a man born blind with the accompanying circumstances is important for explaining why the Pharisees and Jewish scribes, despite the many miracles of the Lord, did not accept Him. They saw the miracles of the Lord, but did not believe in Him out of envy and malice; these passions so hardened their hearts that they used every effort to eclipse the glory of the Divine Wonderworker in the eyes of the people. § 54. Parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25–37). One lawyer, tempting Jesus Christ, asked Him: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The Lord asked him himself: “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” The lawyer answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” “You answered correctly,” the Lord told him; do this and you will live.” Thus the temptation was repelled: you are a lawyer, as if the Lord had told him so, and do what the law tells you. The proud lawyer wanted to justify himself in the eyes of Jesus Christ and raised a question that, in his opinion, is not clearly resolved in the law: “Who is my neighbor?” The Jews, under the name “neighbors,” meant only their fellow believers and fellow tribesmen, and the imaginary righteous, such as the questioning lawyer, excluded even many Jews from among their neighbors, and considered only righteous people like themselves as neighbors. Against such a misinterpretation, the Lord showed with a touching parable about the Good Samaritan that every person, no matter who he is, should be honored as a neighbor. "A certain man," said the Lord, "was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho and was caught by robbers, who took off his clothes, wounded him and left, leaving him almost alive. By chance, one priest was walking that road and, seeing him, passed by. Also, a Levite, passing by that place, came up, looked and passed by. Finally, one Samaritan, passing, saw him and took pity on him: he came up to him, bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine, and, putting him on his donkey, brought him to the inn and looked after him; and the next day, leaving, he gave the innkeeper two denarii and said to him: “Take care of him, and if you spend anything more, when I return, I will give it to you.” Having finished the parable, Jesus Christ asked the lawyer: “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the one who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer should have answered: “The Samaritan was his neighbor.” But such was the hatred of the Jews towards the Samaritans that the lawyer said in general: “who showed him mercy.” The Lord said to him: “Go and do the same.” In addition to the general idea that every person should be respected by his neighbors, the following instructions can be extracted from the parable: 1) do not wait for the needy to ask for your help, but help the need as soon as you see it; 2) help your neighbor in need with selflessness, regardless of your own danger; 3) do not stop the work of charity at the beginning or halfway, but bring it to the end. § 55. Visit of the Lord to Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38–42). About two miles and a half from Jerusalem, on the way to Jericho, lay the village of Bethany. Here lived a family devoted to the Lord, consisting of two sisters: Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. One day the Lord came to this house. Martha received Him and began to bother about the treat; Mary sat down at the feet of Jesus Christ and listened to His precious words with all her heart. Martha, seeing that her sister was not taking part in her troubles, approached Jesus and said: “Lord! Or do you not need that my sister left me alone to serve? Tell her to help me!” Jesus answered her: “Martha! Martha! you are worried and fussing about many things, but only one thing is necessary. But Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.” 58 When the Lord spoke, one of the women present could not contain her delight and exclaimed: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nourished You!” And He said: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” In this exclamation of the woman we see the first blessing of the Most Pure Mother of God, according to Her prophecy that all generations will please Her. The woman wanted to glorify the Lord, but at the same time she glorified His Mother, and she did this not according to her own guess and understanding, but by inspiration from the Holy Spirit. § 56. The parable of the covetous rich man and the servants waiting for their master. (Luke 12:13–21). One of the people said to the Lord Jesus Christ: “Teacher, tell my brother that he should share the inheritance with me.” The Lord answered him: “Who made Me a judge or to divide you?” And then, turning to the disciples and the people, he said: “See, beware of covetousness, for a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions,” and offered them the following parable: “One rich man had a good harvest in the field, and he reasoned with himself: “What should I do? I have nowhere to gather my fruits; This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather there all my bread and all my goods, and I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of good things lying around for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him: “You fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? “This is what happens to those,” said the Lord, “who accumulate treasures for themselves and do not become rich in God.” 59 Continuing his speech, the Lord convinced his disciples to be cheerful and always ready to meet Him at the second coming: “Blessed are those servants,” said the Lord, “whom the master, when he comes, will find watching; truly I say to you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them. So be you also ready, for at an hour when you do not think, the Son of Man will come.”60 § 57. Parable of those invited to supper. (Luke 14:1-24). One of the leaders of the Pharisees invited Jesus Christ to dinner. Noticing that the owner invited only friends, relatives and rich neighbors, the Lord said to him: “When you make lunch or dinner, do not invite friends, brothers, relatives, neighbors, the rich, so that they do not invite you (also for dinner) and you do not receive reward, but call the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed that they cannot reward you, for you will be rewarded at the resurrection of the righteous.” At the same time, one of those reclining exclaimed: “Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God!” The Lord answered him with the following parable: "One man made a big dinner and invited many. When dinner time came, he sent his servant to say to those invited: “Go, for everything is already ready.” Then everyone began, as if by agreement, to apologize. The first one said to him: “I bought land, and I need to go look at it; I ask you to forgive me.” Another said: “I bought five pairs of oxen and am going to test them: please forgive me.” The third didn’t even apologize, but only said: “I got married, and therefore I can’t come.” When the slave, returning, reported this to the master, he became angry and said: “Go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.” After some time, the slave informed him that everything had been carried out according to his orders, and there was still room. The master said to the slave: “Go along the roads and hedges and persuade those you meet to come, so that my house may be filled.” “I tell you,” the Lord concluded His parable, “that none of those who are called will taste my supper, for many are called, but few are chosen.” The meaning of this parable is as follows: the man who hosted the supper is God; supper - the blessings of the kingdom of heaven; those called in the beginning were the Jews in general, and in particular the Lord meant here the leaders of the Jewish people, the scribes and Pharisees, who knew the predictions of the prophets and could recognize the Messiah sooner than others; the sent servant is the Lord Jesus Christ (Isa. 52:13; 53:2; Philipp. 2:7). The leaders, and with them the majority of the Jewish people, abandoned the kingdom of God out of addiction to the blessings of this world. After this, the calling voice of the Savior turned to the poor and unfortunate among the people, publicans and sinners. Many of them turned to Him with zeal. Finally, the pagans will be called (from the roads and hedges) into the kingdom of heaven, so that there will be no shortage of those saved through the merits of the Redeemer. The general idea of ​​the parable: The Lord calls everyone to the kingdom of heaven; if someone does not enter it, it is through his own fault, and especially through addiction to earthly goods. § 58. Parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son (Luke 15: 1–33) The Pharisees and scribes grumbled at Jesus Christ because He mercifully deals with tax collectors and sinners: He receives them and eats with them. To admonish them, the Lord spoke the following parables: About the Lost Sheep. Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? And having found it, he will take it on his shoulders with joy and, having come home, will call his friends and neighbors and say to them: “Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep.” I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. About the lost drachma. Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a candle and sweep the room and search carefully until she finds it? And having found it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: “Rejoice with me, I have found the lost drachma!” So, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. About the Prodigal Son. A certain man had two sons. The youngest of them said to his father: “Father, give me the next part of the estate,” and the father divided the estate between them. After a few days, the younger son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to graze pigs. And he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate; but he was not given even this food (to his fill). Finally he came to his senses and said: "How many of my father's hired servants are eating bread in abundance, while I am dying of hunger. I will get up, go to my father and say to him: 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants.' He got up and went to his father. And when he was still far away, his father saw him, took pity on him and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. The son said to him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” And the father said to his servants: “Bring the first (best) robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf and kill it: let us eat and have fun. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.” And they started having fun. His eldest son was in the field and, returning to the house, heard singing and rejoicing. Calling one of the servants, he asked: “What is this?” He said to him: “Your brother came, and your father killed the fatted calf, because he met him healthy.” The eldest son became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. But he said in response to his father: “Behold, I have served you for many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends. And when this son of yours, who had squandered all his property, came and killed the fatted calf for him.” The father answered: “My son! you are always with me, and everything that is mine is yours, and we had to rejoice and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Under the image of the father in this parable, God, the Heavenly Father, is represented. The younger son is a sinner: the eldest is an imaginary righteous person, a Pharisee. The sinner is called the youngest son because seduction from the true path for the most part occurs in the stormy age of youth. Possessions are the gifts of God: physical and mental powers, and gifts of grace, communicated in the Church of Christ through the sacraments. The father gave part of the estate to the one who asked because forced virtue has no price: a good deed must come from diligence and love. The far side means the sinner’s alienation from God and from everything that reminds him of God (from the church, from the word of God, from the society of good people). Famine is various disasters sent by God to admonish the sinner. Herding pigs is an extreme degree of enslavement to passions and the sinner’s unsuccessful attempts to improve his disastrous state by any means of his own. The sinner comes to his senses, that is, he finally feels the bitterness of sin and begins to recognize his wretched state. The words: “I will arise and go to my father” express the sinner’s determination to repent and leave the path of sin: the words: “I have sinned before heaven and before you” express the deep repentance and confession of the sinner. The elder father, seeing his son from afar, runs to meet him, hugs him, kisses him and orders him to dress him in the best clothes: all this is an image of how the Lord, out of love for a repentant sinner, mercifully accepts his repentance and rewards him with spiritual benefits and gifts. In particular, the first garment signifies the grace imparted in Baptism; ring - the gifts of the Holy Spirit imparted through Confirmation; a well-fed calf - spiritual food given in the sacrament of Communion; the gift of shoes means the father’s confidence (so important for the repentant) in the correction of his returned son. The work in the field of the eldest son, his reluctance to enter the house, the reproach to his father for the lack of love for him, the insensitively cold review of his brother: these are living features of the Pharisees who fulfill the requirements of the law without love and zeal, cold, heartless, arrogant in their righteousness. The parable of the Prodigal Son so vividly and touchingly depicts God's love for sinners that some call it an abbreviation of the entire Gospel. § 59. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19–31). For the edification of the Pharisees, who were very lovers of money, the Lord Jesus Christ told the following parable; "A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen 61 and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a beggar named Lazarus 62 who lay at his gate covered with sores and wanted to be fed with the crumbs falling from the rich man's table, and the dogs came and licked his sores. The beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. He also died rich, - and they buried him. And in hell, in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom (near him, among his first friends). Then he loudly cried out: “Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.” But Abraham said: “Child, remember that you have already received your good things in your life, and Lazarus your evil things; now he is comforted here, but you are suffering. And above all, a great abyss has been established between you and us, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, and also from there they cannot cross over to us.” Then the rich man said: “So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, let him warn them so that they too do not come to this place of torment.” Abraham answered: “They have Moses and the prophets (that is, the writings of Moses and the prophets): let them listen to them.” The rich man exclaimed: “No, Father Abraham! But if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe.” The parable of the rich man and Lazarus teaches us that: 1) the rich should use their means not to satisfy their whims, but to help the poor; otherwise, they will be subject to the strict judgment of God for their hardness of heart. 2) The poor must endure their bitter fate with patience, awaiting consolation and reward in the kingdom of heaven. 3) The Lord, according to the strictest truth, distributes punishment as a reward: the rich man had some good qualities (discovers caring for his brothers in hell) and for this he received a reward in his life, and in the future he suffers punishment for his sins. Lazarus is the opposite. 4) To educate ourselves, we should not expect any special signs from above, but we must diligently read and listen to the word of God and fulfill it. § 60. Healing of ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). The Lord walked with his disciples to Jerusalem from Galilee through Samaria. At the border of these two regions, ten lepers met Him. Since the law did not allow them to approach healthy people, they stopped at a distance and cried out in a loud voice: “Master Jesus! have mercy on us." The Lord said to them: “Go, show yourself to the priests.” The Savior’s words gave them hope for healing, because only after healing did the lepers come to the priest to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and take testimony from him of their recovery. The lepers went and on the way they noticed that they had been cleansed of leprosy. But of all of them, only one returned to his Benefactor: he fell on his face before Him and thanked Him with all his heart, loudly glorifying God; and it is worthy of special note that this returnee was not a Jew, but a Samaritan. The Lord said: “Were not ten cleansed? where is nine? how did they not return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Then he turned to the Samaritan lying at His feet and said: “Get up, go: your faith has saved you.” § 61. Parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18:1–8) Inspiring the disciples to always pray and not lose heart, the Lord offered them the following parable: "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and was not ashamed of people. In the same city there was a widow. She came to him and said: “Protect me from my rival.” But for a long time he did not want, and then he said to himself: “Although I am not afraid of God, and I am not ashamed of people, but as this widow does not give me peace, I will protect her, so that she will no longer come to bother me. “Hear,” said the Lord, “what does the unrighteous judge say? Will not God protect His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night, although I tell you that He will give them protection soon?” § 62. Parable of the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisees were very proud of their virtues and clearly despised people whom they considered sinners. The Lord, to admonish them, spoke the following parable: “Two men entered the church to pray: one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, offenders, adulterers, or like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of what I’m purchasing.” The publican, standing in the distance, did not even dare to raise his eyes to heaven; but, striking himself on the chest, he said: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” “I tell you,” the Lord added, “that this one went to his house justified more than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” § 63. Blessing of children (Matt. 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16; Luke 18:15–17). Children were brought to Jesus Christ so that He could touch them, but the disciples sometimes did not allow those who brought them. Seeing this, Jesus was indignant and said to the apostles: "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter into it." And, embracing them, he laid his hands on them and blessed them 63. § 64. Instruction to the rich young man (Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-25). One day a noble and rich young man came up to Jesus Christ, fell on his knees before Him and asked Him: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, seeing that the young man took Him for an ordinary person, remarked to him: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone,” and then said: “If you want to enter eternal life, fulfill the commandments.” - "Which?" - asked the young man. The Lord briefly pointed out to him the commandments, which consisted of ten words: “do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said: “I have kept all this from my youth; what else do I lack?” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him: “You lack one thing: if you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me.” At these words, the young man became embarrassed and walked away sadly, because he was very rich, and he was sorry to part with his estate. Jesus Christ, looking around, said to His disciples: “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were horrified at His words. Then the Lord explained to them that it is not wealth itself, which is a gift from God, but attachment to it that hinders salvation, and said with special tenderness: “Children, how difficult it is for those who rely on wealth 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 to enter the kingdom of God.”64 The disciples continued to be amazed at the severity of the Lord’s teaching (against human addictions and passions, from which no one is free) and said: “Who can be saved?” The Lord, looking at them, said: “This is impossible for men, but with God all things are possible.” § 65. Parable of equal reward for those who worked in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16). "The kingdom of heaven, said the Lord, is like the owner of a house, who went out early in the morning (in our opinion at 6 o'clock) to hire workers for his vineyard, and hired them for the whole day for a denarius (the usual wages of a day laborer). When he went out about the third hour (in our opinion, the 9th), he saw others standing at the market with nothing to do, and said to them: 'You also go into my vineyard, and whatever is proper I will give you.' They went. Going out again around the sixth (12th in our opinion) and ninth (3rd pm) hours, he found others standing idly, and did the same. Finally, leaving around the eleventh hour (5th in the afternoon), he still found workers standing idle and said to them: “Why are you standing here idly all day?”* They answered: “No one hired us.” He said to them: “You also go into my vineyard, and you will receive whatever comes next.” When evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward: “Call the workers and give them their wages, starting from the last to the first.” Those hired arrived at about the eleventh hour and received a denarius. Those who came first thought that they would receive more, but having also received a denarius, they began to murmur against the owner of the house and said: “these last worked for one hour, and you made them equal to us, while we worked all day and endured the heat.” Then the owner said to one of them: “Friend, I do not offend you; didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take what you have and go. I want to give this last one the same as I gave you. Am I not the power to do what I want with my property? Or is your eye envious because I am kind?” “So,” the Lord added, “the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen.” The meaning of this parable is as follows: the owner is the Lord God Himself, the vineyard is the Church of Christ; workers are people called to the church; twelve hours of the day mean different periods of time in which the Lord called Jews and pagans into his Church, as well as different ages of life in which the grace of God calls every person to salvation; denarius - the benefits of the kingdom of heaven; evening and reckoning - God's judgment after our death and the second coming of the Lord. The general idea of ​​the parable: serve the Lord from the first years of your life and do not be proud of your virtues, but expect rewards solely from His mercy. But do not deprive yourself of hope in God’s mercy if you happen to turn to the path of repentance and correction at a later time in life and even in old age, for the power of God’s grace is great and it can make the last first. § 66. Journey of Jesus Christ to Judea. (John 11:1-16). In Bethany, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, became seriously ill. His sisters sent him to tell the Lord: “The one you love is sick.” The Lord answered the messengers: “This illness does not lead to death, but to the glory of God,” and stayed in the place where he was for two days, as if completely forgetting about Lazarus. On the third day, He suddenly invited the disciples to go to Judea. The disciples answered Him: “Rabbi, how long have the Jews been looking to stone You, and You are going there again?” Jesus answered: "Are there not twelve hours in the day? He who walks during the day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; but he who walks at night stumbles, because there is no light with him." These words meant that just as a certain time was appointed for the day, so the time was appointed for the ministry of Christ, and no efforts of the enemies could shorten this period. After this, the Lord revealed the reason for His journey and said, “Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep; I am going to wake him up.” The disciples said: “Lord, if you fall asleep, you will get well.” The Lord spoke about his death, but they thought that He was talking about an ordinary dream. Then Jesus Christ said directly to them: “Lazarus is dead. And I rejoice for you that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” No matter how sorry the Lord’s disciples were for Lazarus, they were afraid to go to Judea. Then Thomas, who was distinguished by his strong character, said: “Let’s go and we will die with him.” These decisive words inspired the disciples, and they went to Judea. § 67. The prediction of Jesus Christ about His death in Jerusalem and the request of Salome. (Matt. 20, 17–28; Mark 10, 32–45; Luke 18, 31–34). The closer the disciples were to Judea and Jerusalem, the stronger the feeling of fear took possession of them. The Lord walked ahead, and they, as if involuntarily, lagged behind Him. He called them closer to Him and with His characteristic sincerity and directness said: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled, for they will hand Him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock Him, and insult Him, and spit on Him, and they will beat Him, and they will kill Him: and on the third day He will rise again.” Soon after this, Salome approaches Jesus Christ with her two sons, James and John, bowing to Him and wanting to ask Him for something. "What do you want?" – the Lord asked her. Encouraged, Salome said: “Lord, command that these two sons of mine sit one on your right hand, the other on your left hand in your kingdom.” The Lord meekly told them: “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I will be baptized,” that is, participate in My suffering and death? James and John answered: “We can.” The Lord said: “You will drink my cup, and you will be baptized with my baptism, and it is not up to me to let you sit on my right hand and on my left, but to those who have been prepared by my Father.” Meanwhile, Salome's request aroused indignation among the other apostles, and they began to grumble against James and John. Then the Lord, calling the disciples closer to Him, taught them the following lesson of humility and brotherly love: “Whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant of all, and whoever wants to be great among you must be the servant of all; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” § 68. Conversion of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). When Jesus Christ passed through Jericho, a certain Zacchaeus, chief of tax collectors and a rich man, sought to see Him, but could not follow the people because he was small in stature. Running ahead, he climbed onto the fig tree, past which the Lord was supposed to pass. Jesus, approaching the fig tree, stopped and, fixing his gaze on Zacchaeus, said to him: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, today I need to be in your house.” Zacchaeus hastily got down and received Him into his house with joy. Many were unhappy that the Lord entered the house of Zacchaeus, and he, as if in response to this murmur, stood up and said to Jesus Christ: “Lord! I will give half of my property to the poor; if I have offended anyone, I will repay him fourfold.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” § 69. The Raising of Lazarus (John 11, 17–58) While Jesus Christ was walking to Bethany, Lazarus died and was buried. Martha was the first to meet the Lord and said to Him: “Lord! If I had been here, my brother would not have died, but even now I know that whatever You ask, God will give You.” Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise again.” “I know that he will rise again,” said Martha, “on the resurrection, on the last day”; but Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life: whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha answered: “Yes, Lord! I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, Who was to come into the world.” After this, Martha went to her house and said to her sister: “The Teacher is here and is calling you.” Mary immediately stood up and went to Jesus. There were many Jews in their house at that time, who had gathered to console the sad sisters. Seeing that Mary hurriedly left the house, they thought that she had gone to cry at her brother’s tomb, and they also followed her. Mary fell at the feet of Jesus and said the same thing as Martha: “Lord, if You were here, you would not have died to take mine!” When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who came with her crying, He Himself was grieved in spirit and shed tears. Then he asked: “Where did you put it!” They told him: “Come and see.” The Jews, seeing tears in His eyes, said to each other: “Look how He loved him”; and some said: “Could not this one, who opened the eyes of the blind, have ensured that this one also would not die?” The Lord, meanwhile, continuing to grieve internally, approached the tomb. It was a cave and the entrance to it was blocked with stones. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, protecting the grave peace of her brother, objected: “Lord, it already stinks: for four days he has been in the grave.” But He remarked to her: “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God!” The stone was taken away. The Lord Jesus Christ raised his eyes to heaven and said: “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I knew that You would always hear Me, but I said this for the people standing here so that they would believe that You sent Me.” After this, with a loud voice 65 he cried out: “Lazarus, get out.” And the dead man came out, entwined on his hands and feet with grave clothes, and his face was tied with a scarf. Amidst general amazement and fear, the Lord calmly said: “Untie him: let him go!” Many of the Jews, seeing this great miracle, believed in the Lord; and others hastened to the Pharisees to tell what had happened. The bishops and Pharisees gathered in council and reasoned among themselves: “What should we do? This Man will perform many miracles. If we leave Him like this, then everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take possession of both our place and our people.” Then the high priest Caiaphas said: “It is better for us that one man should die for the people, than that the whole people should perish.” Caiaphas himself did not realize what a lofty truth he had uttered, and he did not say it on his own, but prophetically predicted, as a high priest, that Jesus would die for the sins of all people 66 . Agreeing with the opinion of Caiaphas, the Jewish leaders decided to put Jesus Christ to death and promulgated a command that anyone who found out about His whereabouts should immediately report it to the Sanhedrin. Therefore, Jesus withdrew for some time to the secluded city of Ephraim, but six days before the Feast of the Passover he returned to Bethany. § 70. Supper in the house of Simon the leper. (Matt. 26, 6–13: Mark 14, 3–9; John 12, 1–12). (33rd year A.D. beginning of April; Saturday). The inhabitants of Bethany received the Lord with great joy. One of them, Simon the leper, prepared a supper for Him in his house. Among the guests who reclined with Jesus was Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. Martha was in charge of the treat, and Mary brought an alabaster vessel of precious ointment made of nard 67, broke it and began to anoint not only the head (as was usually done) with the ointment, but also the feet of the Savior and, instead of a towel, wiped them with her hair. The whole house was filled with fragrance. Everyone rejoiced, except for one of the disciples, namely Judas. He was very self-interested and was indignant at the fact that such expensive ointment was wasted; in his head he even made up an estimate of what it might cost. Finally, he could not resist and said: “Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor?” He spoke about the poor not because he cared about them, but because he was a thief. Since he had a cash drawer, he would like to appropriate this money, under the guise of giving it to the poor. Judas' words confused some of the disciples and especially Mary, who spared nothing for the Lord. The Lord protected and encouraged her. “Leave her,” He said, why are you embarrassing her? She did a good deed for Me. You always have the poor with you, but not always Me. She prepared to anoint My body for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be told in her memory.” III. The story of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. § 71. The solemn entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. (Matt. 21, 1–17; Mark 11, 1–11; Luke 19, 29–46; John 12, 12–18). (The first day on Saturday is now Sunday). “Come in, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people! Level, level the road; remove stones; raise a banner for the nations. Behold, the Lord declares to the end of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion: your Savior is coming; His reward is with Him and His reward is before Him” (Isa. 62:10, 11). “Rejoice with joy, daughter of Zion, rejoice, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving, meek, sitting on a donkey and the colt of a donkey, the son of the yoke” (Zech. 9:9). On the occasion of the approaching Easter holiday, people flocked to Jerusalem in large numbers. Everyone was talking about the new great miracle of the Lord - the resurrection of the four-day-old Lazarus and, knowing the princes’ decision to kill Him, they asked each other: “Do you think He will come to the holiday?” It became heard that the Lord was not far away, in Bethany; many wanted to go there to look at Him and Lazarus. The high priests decided to kill Lazarus along with Jesus. In the midst of such excitement, suddenly a rumor spreads that the Savior is going to Jerusalem. Instantly there is a desire among the people to solemnly meet and escort Him as a king. And a multitude of people, taking palm branches, went out to meet the Lord. The Lord voluntarily and solemnly went to Jerusalem, despite the evil intent of His enemies. Having reached the village of Bethphage, He sent two disciples there, and they brought to Him a donkey and a colt, put clothes on the colt, and the Lord sat on it. The donkey walked behind 68. The closer the Lord came to Jerusalem, the more people met Him. Many spread their clothes along the road, while others cut branches from trees and spread them along the road. Walking ahead and accompanying the Lord, the people exclaimed: “Hosanna (grant salvation, help God) to the Son of David! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest” (may the cry of our joy and the cry of our prayer be heard in heaven!) At the same time, everyone joyfully remembered and told each other about the miracles performed by the Lord. But amidst the general joy, the Lord was sad. When Jerusalem opened from the Mount of Olives, He shed tears and said: “Oh, if only on this day you knew what to serve for your peace! But this is hidden from your eyes. Behold, the days will come when your enemies will ruin you, beat your children, and not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” In Jerusalem, the Lord directed His path to the church and, having entered it, drove out all those trading there, overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, saying: “It is written: My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” After this the blind and lame came to Him, and He healed them. Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders made every effort to calm down the people's delight, and the people, fearing the leaders, fell silent. But they could not stop the children, who continued to exclaim even within the walls of the church: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Hearing these exclamations and seeing the miracles of Christ, the high priests indignantly said to the Lord: “Do you hear what they say?” The Lord answered them: “Have you never read: from the mouths of babes and sucklings You have ordained praise” (Ps. 8:3) and, predicting the day of His suffering, added: “If they are silent, the stones will cry out.” In the evening the Lord and his disciples returned to Bethany. § 72. The curse of Jesus Christ on the fig tree. (Luke 13:1–9; Matt. 21:18–22; Mark 11:12–14, 20–26). In the third year of His public ministry, the Lord told the parable of the “barren fig tree,” which the master had in his vineyard. “He,” the parable says, “came to look for fruit on it and, not finding it, said to his vinedresser: “Behold, I have come for the third year looking for fruit on this fig tree and have not found it: cut it down, why is it taking up the land?” But the vinedresser answered: “Sir, leave it for another year, while I dig it up and cover it with manure, see if it bears fruit; if not, then next year you will cut it down.” This parable has meaning in relation to all people in general and in particular to the Jewish people. In relation to everyone in general, it means that the Lord waits a long time for repentance from sinners, but if they persist in their unrepentance, then he finally cuts them off like dry, barren trees and condemns them to eternal destruction. In relation to the Jewish people, you mean that the Lord had already preached to them for the third year, but did not see the proper fruits from his preaching. And then this people already deserved the wrath of God and condemnation; but the merciful Lord left him another year to repent, and during this year he used special means to admonish him (the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem). But even in this last year of Christ’s ministry, the majority of the Jewish people, and especially in the person of their leaders, did not pay due attention to the preaching of the Savior. Finally, the significant parable of the barren fig tree ends not with words, but with a symbolic action of the Lord. The day after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus Christ went from Bethany to the city and on the way felt hungry. Looking around, He saw a fig tree covered with leaves. I went to her to see if there were any fruits, but found nothing except some leaves. Then he cursed her, saying aloud to his disciples: “Let there be no fruit from you henceforth forever.” This curse of the barren fig tree was an image of the rejection of the Jewish people. Just as a fig tree had leaves but no fruit, so most Jews, and especially their leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, had an outward appearance of piety, but did not have true faith and love in their hearts. In the curse of the fig tree, the Lord showed the Jews, as well as all unrepentant sinners, that they too would be condemned and rejected by God if they did not reform. The next morning, passing along the same road, the disciples saw that the fig tree, cursed by the Lord, had dried up to the very roots. The Apostle Peter said to the Lord: “Rabbi, look: the fig tree that You cursed has dried up.” The Lord answered: "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, if anyone says to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, whatever he says will be done to him. Therefore I say to you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and it will be done for you." § 73. The parable of the disobedient son and the repentant one. (Matt. 21:28–32). “What do you think?” - said the Lord, addressing the high priests and elders of the Jews: - “One man had two sons. He approached the first and said: “My son, go today and work in my vineyard.” But he answered: “I don’t want to,” and then, repenting, he went. The father approached the other son and said the same thing. This one answered: “I’m coming, sir,” but he didn’t go. Which of the two fulfilled the will of his father?“ The high priests and elders, not understanding the meaning of this parable, answered: “first.” Then the Lord said to them: “Truly I say to you, tax collectors and harlots go ahead of you into the kingdom of God. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and harlots believed; but you, having seen this, did not repent afterward to believe him.” By the first son, Jesus Christ meant publicans and other sinners like them, who at first did not fulfill the commandments of God, but then, having heard the preaching of John the Baptist, repented and entered Christ's church. By the second son he meant the high priests and scribes, who, apparently, fulfilled the law of God, but did not obey God and did not accept the preaching of the Savior. § 74. The parable of the evil vinedressers. (Matt. 21, 33–46; Mark 12, 1–12; Luke 20, 9–19). “One owner,” said the Lord, “planted a vineyard, surrounded it with a fence, dug a winepress in it (a pool or pit over which grape juice was squeezed), built a tower (for the guards) and, giving it to the winegrowers, went away. When the time came to gather fruit, he sent his servants to the vinedressers for the fruit. The vinedressers seized his servants, beat one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than before, and they did the same to them. Finally, having one son dear to him, he sent him to them, saying: “They will be ashamed of my son.” But the vinedressers, seeing their son, said to each other: “This is the heir; Let’s go, kill him and take possession of his inheritance.” And they seized him, took him out of the vineyard and killed him.” Having told this parable, Jesus Christ asked the high priests and scribes: “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do with these tenants?” Those who do not understand the meaning; parables, answered: “He will put these evildoers to an evil death; but he will give the vineyard to other vinedressers, who will give him the fruit in due time.” Jesus Christ told them: “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people bearing the fruits thereof.” * The high priests and elders said: “Let it not be” (i.e., it should not be). Then Jesus Christ, looking at them, said: “Have you never read in the Scripture: the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this is from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes” (Ps. 117:22). The meaning of the parable of the evil vinedressers is this: the owner is God the Father; vineyard - Jewish church; fence - Old Testament law; the winegrowers are the high priests and leaders of the Jews in general; slaves sent for fruits are prophets 69; the son killed outside the vineyard is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Whom the elders of the Jews crucified (and crucified) on Calvary outside Jerusalem: He is the stone rejected by the builders, and became the head of the corner, that is, the foundation and head of the church founded by Him; other workers of the vineyard are the apostles and their successors are Christian shepherds and teachers. § 75. Parable of the marriage of the king's son (Matthew 21: 1-14). "The kingdom of heaven," said the Lord, "is like a man-king, who gave a wedding feast for his son and sent his servants to invite those invited to the wedding feast; but they would not come. Then the king sent other servants, saying: 'Tell those who were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks, and what is fattened is slaughtered, and everything is ready: come to the wedding feast.' But this time those who were invited ignored his invitation and went – ​​some to their field, and some to their trade; the others, seizing his slaves, insulted and killed them. Hearing about this, the king became angry and, sending his troops, destroyed those murderers and burned their city. He said to his servants: “The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy; So, go to the crossroads and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast." And the slaves, going out onto the roads, gathered everyone they found: both the evil and the good, and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining. The king, going in to look at those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes, 70 and said to him: “Friend, how did you come here not in wedding clothes?” He was silent. Then the king said to the servants: “Binding his hands and feet, take him and throw him into the pitch darkness; There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, 71 for many are called, but few are chosen.” The meaning of the parable: the owner of the feast is God the Father; the royal son is our Lord Jesus Christ, who has the Church as His bride; By marriage we mean the kingdom of heaven. The Jews were invited to this marriage (to enter into the Church, and through it into the kingdom of heaven), first of all through the prophets and apostles, but most of them, especially the high priests and scribes, refused to enter the Church of Christ; Moreover, they even insulted the messengers of God and killed many of them 72). For this, God subsequently punished the Jews and destroyed their city and church. After the Jews, pagans were called into the Church. The Lord cleanses everyone who enters the Church from sins in the sacrament of Baptism and, as it were, gives him a bright robe of spiritual purity, which he must preserve. Those Christians who do not preserve the purity of the bright robe of innocence they received at baptism, or, having desecrated it with sins, do not cleanse it with tears of repentance, will be thrown into utter darkness at the Last Judgment of the Lord, where there will be eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth. The chief priests and scribes, having understood the meaning of the parables offered to them, were so irritated with the Lord Jesus Christ that they then wanted to lay hands on Him, but they were afraid of the people and walked away from Him with bitter malice in their hearts. § 76. Answers of Jesus Christ to questions: to the Pharisees - about tribute to Caesar, to the Sadducees - about the resurrection of the dead, to the lawyer - about the main commandments and the question of Jesus Christ about the Divine dignity of the Messiah (Matthew 22, 15-40; Mark 12, 13-40; Luke 20, 20-47). After the accusatory parables of the Lord Savior (about the disobedient and repentant son, about the evil winegrowers and about the marriage of the king’s son), the Pharisees began to consult whether it was possible to catch Him in any word in order to betray Him to their superiors or the power of the ruler and, finally, sent their disciples to Him (they themselves did not go in order to hide their intentions) with some of the Herodians (adherents of the Roman government, who could be informers). These, approaching the Lord, began to flatteringly praise Him: “Teacher! we know that You speak truthfully and do not look at faces, but teach truly the way of God; tell us: what do you think, is it permissible for us to give tribute to Caesar or not?” Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: "Why are you tempting Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin with which you pay the tax." They brought Him a denarius. Then Jesus asked them: “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, "Caesar's." “Therefore,” He said, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Hearing this, they were surprised at the wisdom of the Lord’s answer and, leaving Him, went away. On the same day, the Sadducees, who rejected the resurrection of the dead, came to Jesus Christ and asked: “Teacher! Moses said: if anyone dies without children, let him take his wife for himself, you had seven brothers: the first, having married, died and, having no children, left his wife to his brother, and also the second, and the third, even to the seventh: after all, the wife also died; - in the resurrection of which of the seven brothers will she be the wife?” The Sadducees seemed to reason like this: Moses was a great lawgiver who acted according to the teachings of God Himself; therefore, he could not give such a law that would put people in difficulty; This same law will undoubtedly put seven brothers who had one wife in a hopeless difficulty in the future life; This means, they thought, that Moses, when giving this law, did not have a future life in mind. The Lord Jesus Christ said to the Sadducees: “You are mistaken, not knowing either the scriptures or the power of God: for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but live as the angels of God in heaven. And about the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you (through the same Moses, from whose writings you cite an objection to this truth): “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? (God’s words to Moses when he called him to serve 73) God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” The people marveled at the teaching of the Lord, and the Sadducees were forced to remain silent. The Pharisees, hearing that Jesus Christ had silenced the Sadducees, gathered again to tempt the Lord again. And so the lawyer (a particularly skilled questioner in the law) asked Jesus Christ: “Teacher! What is the greatest commandment in the law?” 74 Jesus said to him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself: on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” The scribe said to the Lord: “Okay, Teacher! You have said the truth, that there is one God, and there is no other but Him, and to love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself, is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus, seeing that he answered intelligently, said: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” When the Pharisees gathered again, the Lord Jesus, continuing to teach in the church, asked them: “What do you think about Christ? Whose son is He?” They say to Him: “Davidov.” The Lord said to them: “How then does David himself call Him Lord, when he says: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool (Ps. 109:1). So, if David himself calls Him Lord, then how can He be his son? " No one could answer Him a word and no one dared to ask Him anything. Meanwhile, the people listened to Him with pleasure. § 77. Praise for the widow's diligence. (Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4). Once, when leaving the church, the Lord Jesus Christ stopped in front of the treasury and watched as those passing by put money into it. Some rich people put a lot of money into the box; among others, a poor widow came and contributed two mites 75. The Lord, calling his disciples to him, said: “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who put into the treasury: for everyone put in out of their abundance, but out of her poverty she put in all that she had—all her food.” § 78. The Lord’s prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem and His second coming. (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) When Jesus Christ left the church, the disciples, pointing to its magnificent structure, said: “Teacher, look at the stones and the building!” Jesus Christ answered: "Do you see these huge buildings? All this will be destroyed, so that not one stone will remain here on another." Having ascended the Mount of Olives, the Lord stopped and sat down opposite the church. From this mountain there was a beautiful view of Jerusalem, and especially of the church, which, in the evening light, shone with white marble and rich gilding. The Lord's disciples thought that when the church was destroyed, then along with this would be the second coming of the Lord to earth and the end of the world. And so, Peter, James, John and Andrew privately asked Jesus Christ: "Teacher, tell us, when will this (the destruction of Jerusalem and the church) take place? What is the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?" In response to this, the Lord Jesus Christ said: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is approaching. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; whoever is in the city, leave it; and whoever is in the surrounding area, do not enter it; for these are the days of vengeance. There will be great disaster on the earth and wrath on this people, and they will fall (the Jews) by the edge of the sword and be taken captive to all nations. Jerusalem will be We will be trampled upon by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Having predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ began to talk about the signs of His glorious coming and the end of the world. "And there will be, said the Lord, signs in the sun, moon and stars: the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the sea will roar and be troubled. People will die from fear and anticipation of the disasters coming to the world. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (the cross), and all nations will mourn and see the Son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens to the end of them. No one knows about that day and hour: neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only My Father, just as in the days before the flood people ate, drank, married and gave in marriage, and did not think (about destruction) until. The flood did not come and destroy everyone; so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come.” The Lord depicted the suddenness of His second coming and the severity of the judgment in the following parables: § 79. Parable of the virgins waiting for the groom. (Matt. 25: 1–13) Among the Jews, the wedding celebration lasted seven days. Among the Jews, the wedding celebration lasted seven days. On one of these days, the groom escorted the bride to her father’s house with as much pomp as possible. The bride's friends with lamps waited for the newlyweds to meet them and then entered the house with them and took part in the feast. “The kingdom of heaven,” said the Lord, “will be like ten virgins who took their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Of them, five were wise and five were foolish. The fools took their lamps, but took no oil with them. But the wise with their lamps took oil in their vessels. And when the bridegroom slowed down, they all dozed off and fell asleep. At midnight a cry was heard: “Here is the bridegroom, come out.” to meet him!“ Then all the virgins stood up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said to the wise: “Give us your oil, because our lamps are going out.” And the wise answered: “So that there is no shortage for both us and you, you better go to those who sell and buy for yourself.” When they went to buy, the groom came; those who were ready went in with him and the wedding feast, and the doors were shut. Then other virgins come and say: “Lord! God! open to us!” But he answered: “Truly I say, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour at which the Son of Man will come. By the groom in this parable we mean the Lord Jesus Christ himself, by the virgins - in general, all Christians called to participate in the kingdom of heaven. Wise virgins are true Christians, justifying their faith with good deeds and ready to meet the Lord. Foolish virgins are Christians more in name than in deeds, careless, not caring about a virtuous life. The wedding feast is the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. § 80. Parable of the talents. (Matt. 25, 14–80) “The Son of Man,” said the Lord, “to act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted them with his property. To one he gave five talents, and to another two, to another one, to each according to his strength, and set off. He who received five talents went, put them to work and acquired another five talents. In the same way, he who received two talents acquired another two. But he who received one talent went, buried it in the ground and hid the silver his master. After a long time, the master of those servants came and demanded an account from them. The one who received the five talents came and brought the other five talents, saying: “Master, you gave me five talents; here are the other five talents that I bought with them.” The master said to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in little things, I will put you over many things: enter into the joy of your master.” The one who had received two talents also came up and said: “Sir, you gave me two talents; here are the other two talents that I acquired.” The master said to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your master.’ Finally, the one who had received one talent came up and said: Master, I knew that you are a cruel man: you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, he went and hid your talent in the ground: here is what is yours.” The master answered him, "You wicked and slothful servant! you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter. Therefore, should you not have given my money to the merchants, and I, having come, would have received mine with profit. So, take his talent and give it to him who has ten talents: for to everyone who has it will be given and he will have an abundance, but from him who has nothing even that will be taken away." what he has; but throw the worthless slave into the utter darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The master in this parable means the Lord God, and the slaves mean people. God gives each person physical and mental strength and spiritual gifts, as well as external blessings, which he must use for the good of himself and other people and for the glory of God. When the Lord comes to judgment, He will require every person to account for the use of these gifts. Those who used them for good will be granted eternal bliss, and those who did not care about the good use of the powers given to them will be subjected to eternal torment. § 81. Image of the Last Judgment. (Matt. 25, 31–46) After the parables about the ten virgins and the talents, the Lord depicted His terrible judgment: When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory and all nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats: put the sheep on the right side, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." The righteous will answer Him: “Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you, and thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?” The king will answer them: “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.” Then He will also say to those on the left hand: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they too will answer him: “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve You?” The Lord will answer them: “Truly I say to you, because you did not do it to one of the least of My brothers, you did not do it to Me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. § 82. Betrayal of Judas. (Matt. 26, 1–5, 14–16; Mark 14, 1–11; Luke 22, 1–6). “Even the man who was at peace with Me, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, lifted up his heel against Me” (Ps. 40:10). · “And I will say to them: if it pleases you, give Me My wages; if not, don’t give it; and they will weigh out thirty pieces of silver as payment to Me” (Zechariah 11, 12.) Two days before the Easter holiday (Wednesday), the elders of the people and scribes gathered in the house of the high priest Caiaphas and in their council decided to take Jesus Christ by cunning and kill him, but not on the holiday, so that there would be no disturbance among the people. Unexpectedly, one of the twelve apostles, named Judas Iscariot, appeared in their meeting and said: “What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you?” They did not seem to pay much attention to the words of the traitor and offered him the price of an ordinary slave - thirty pieces of silver. Judas agreed to take this money and from that time began to look for an opportunity to betray the Lord to His enemies. § 83. Last Supper. (Matt. 26, 17–30; Mark 14, 12–26; Luke 22, 7–30; John 13, 1–30) On Thursday morning, the Lord commanded the apostles Peter and John to prepare everything necessary for the celebration of Easter. To their question: “Where to cook?” - said, “Behold, as you enter the city, you will meet a man carrying a jug of water; follow him into the house and tell the owner: “The Teacher commanded that My time is near; where is the upper room in which I can eat the Passover with My disciples?” and he will show you a large upper room, furnished: prepare there.’ They did as Jesus commanded them. When evening came, the Lord Jesus Christ came to the prepared upper room and lay down together with the twelve disciples. And the Lord always loved his disciples, but in these last hours His love for them was expressed in the most touching way. The Lord stood up from His place, took off His outer clothing; Taking a towel, he girded himself, then poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel with which he was girded. Everyone obeyed silently; but when it was Peter’s turn, he said: “Lord, do you (the Messiah, the Lord of the living and the dead) wash my feet?” The Lord said to him: “What I do now you do not know, but you will understand later.” Peter exclaimed: “You will never wash my feet!” The Lord answered: “If I do not wash you, you will have no part with Me” - “Lord!” - Peter exclaimed - “not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” The Lord said: “He who is washed only needs to wash his feet, because all 76 are clean, and you are clean,” He added, turning to the other disciples, “but not all” (the first admonition to Judas). Having washed his feet, the Lord said: "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you speak correctly. So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash one another’s feet (that is, serve one another with humility and love); for I have given you an example, so that you should do the same as I did to you." After washing the feet, the Old Testament Passover was celebrated with its characteristic rituals. When the Easter supper was served, the Lord Jesus Christ took bread (ordinary leavened bread) and, thanking God the Father, blessed it, broke it, gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat, this is My body, broken for you.” Then he took a cup of grape wine, which, according to custom, was dissolved in water, and, having given praise to God, he gave it to the disciples, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.” After the apostles received communion, the Lord commanded them to perform this sacrament in remembrance of Him. The Last Supper ended with the joyful singing of solemn Easter hymns, with which the Lord and the apostles left the Zion Upper Room and went towards the Mount of Olives. During the Old Testament Passover and at the Last Supper, the Lord admonished His betrayer several times. After hinting that not all the disciples were pure, He said: “Truly I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.” The disciples were horrified and began to ask anxiously: “Is it not me, Lord?” Judas was silent. Then the Lord, in order to have a stronger effect on his hardened heart, said: “The Son of Man goes (to suffer), as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it would have been better for this man not to have been born.” Excitement began again between the apostles and questions began to pour in: “Isn’t it me, Lord?” Fiery Peter gave a sign to John, who was reclining closest to Jesus Christ, to ask Him about the traitor. John fell to the Lord’s chest and quietly asked: “Who is this?” The Lord revealed to His friend the secret of the traitor, saying: “He to whom I will dip a piece of bread,” and, having dipped the piece, he gave it to Judas Iscariot. Only John only understood the significance of this action, but in the eyes of others it was a sign of the Lord’s special attention to Judas. Finally, Judas decides to break the silence and asks Jesus Christ along with others: “Lord, is it not me?” - “You said” - (i.e. - “yes, you”) - the Lord answers him. The Gospel does not say whether Judas was awarded communion of the Holy Mysteries; but we can believe 77 that the Lord did not deprive His betrayer of this highest sign of His love, and after receiving the bread (that is, after unworthy communion), Satan entered Judas and finally took possession of him. Seeing his anxiety, the Lord said: “Whatever you want to do, do it quickly.” Judas immediately got up from the table and went out. And now no one except John understood the words of the Lord, and everyone thought that the Lord was ordering Judas either to buy something for the holiday, or to give to the poor, since he had common money. § 84. Prediction to the Apostle Peter about his renunciation. (Matt. 26, 31–35; Mark 14, 27–31; Luke 22, 31–40; John 13, 33–38). Even before the end of the Last Supper, as soon as Judas left, the Lord said to the apostles: “Children, I will not be with you long. I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you love one another. Therefore everyone will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” The Apostle Peter asked: “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus Christ said to him: “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but later you will follow Me.” Peter objected, "Why can't I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You." The Lord answered him: “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied Me three times.” On the way to the Mount of Olives, the Lord said to the other disciples: “You will all be offended because of Me this night, for it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Peter exclaimed: “Lord, even if everyone is offended because of You, I will never be offended.” Jesus Christ said to him: “Truly I say to you, today, this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” Peter, however, continued to assure Him of his devotion. The other students said the same thing. § 85. Farewell conversation of Jesus Christ with the disciples and His high priestly prayer. (John 14–17 chapters) During the Last Supper, the Lord began and continued a touching conversation with the disciples on the way to the Mount of Olives. He assured them of His love and help, promised to send them the Holy Spirit, comforted them with the favor of the Heavenly Father and encouraged them to endure temptations and disasters. "Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God and believe in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; but if it were not so, I would tell you: I go to prepare a place for you." "I am the vine, and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." "As the Father has loved Me, and I have loved you, abide in My love. This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you." “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too; If they have kept my word, they will also keep yours. I told you this so that you will not be tempted: they will drive you out of the synagogues; even the time is coming when everyone who kills you will think that he is serving God.” "It is better for you that I go; for if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I do go, I will send Him to you. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak from Himself, but He will speak what He hears, and He will tell you the future. He will glorify Me, because He will receive of Mine and will tell it to you." "Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, that your joy may be complete. I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you; for the Father Himself will love you, because you have loved Me and believed that I came from God." The Lord concluded his farewell conversation with the following words: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart: I have overcome the world.” When they came to the Kidron stream, our Lord Jesus Christ raised His eyes to heaven and said a prayer to God the Father that He would preserve His disciples in the truth, in unity with Him and in mutual love, sanctify them with His truth and glorify them in heaven. “Father,” the Lord Savior prayed, “those whom You have given Me, I want them to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” This prayer is called the high priestly prayer. § 86. Prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matt. 26, 36–46; Mark 14, 32–43; Luke 22, 39–46). “He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our sicknesses... We all went astray like sheep, each turned to his own way, and the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all” (Isa. 53:4,6). When the Lord approached the Garden of Gethsemane (located at the foot of the Mount of Olives), He said to His disciples: “Sit here while I go and pray there,” and took with Him only Peter, James and John. “My soul is grieved unto death,” He said to these chosen disciples of His, “stay here and watch with Me.” Then he walked away from the apostles to throw a stone (that is, how far you can throw a stone), fell on His face and prayed like this: “Abba Father! All things are possible for You; Oh, that You would deign to carry this cup past Me! However, not My will, but Yours, be done." Returning after prayer to the apostles, the Lord found them sleeping and said: “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? (But you wanted to go to suffering and death). Watch and pray so as not to fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Having departed again from the apostles, the Lord prayed a second time, but His prayer was somewhat different. He knew that there was no other means except His suffering for the salvation of people, and he completely surrendered Himself to the will of the Father. “My Father! “- He said, “if this cup cannot pass from Me, lest I drink it, Thy will be done!” He came again to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Why are you sleeping?” He said to them, “get up and pray so as not to fall into temptation.” The apostles woke up: but their eyes were heavy, and they did not know what to answer Him. The Lord prayed the third time the same way as the second; but His prayer was even more diligent, so that His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. After this great feat of prayer, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him and strengthened Him. Returning to the disciples, He found them sleeping for the third time and said: “Are you still sleeping and resting? It’s over (the time has passed when you could help yourself and Me through prayer). The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being given over into the hands of sinners. Arise! Let’s go! Behold, the one who betrays Me has drawn near!” § 87. Capture of the Lord Jesus Christ by soldiers. (Matt. 26, 47–56; Mark 14, 43–52: Luke 22, 47–53; John 18, 1–5) “He was tortured, but he suffered voluntarily” (Ps. 53:7). “Behold, I come to do Your will, O God” (Heb. 10:7; Ps. 39:8,9). "Oh, sword! rise up against My shepherd and against My neighbor,” says the Lord of hosts: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” (Zech. 13:7). When the Lord finished the Gethsemane prayer, a crowd of soldiers and bishop’s servants appeared, walking with lanterns and armed with swords and stakes. Judas walked ahead of them, and so that in the darkness the soldiers would not take someone else instead of the Lord, he gave them the following sign: “Whoever I kiss is the one.” Approaching the Lord, he said: “Rejoice, Rabbi.” The Lord did not reject his kiss, but said to him: “Friend, why have you come? Judas, by kissing (this sign of love and friendship) are you betraying the Son of Man?” Then the Lord approached the crowd and asked: “Who are you looking for?” They answered him: “Jesus of Nazareth.” The Lord said: “It is I,” and said it with such force that the servants and soldiers, struck with fear, retreated back and fell to the ground 78. When they emerged from their sudden confusion, the Lord asked them again: “Who are you looking for?” They said, "Jesus the Nazarene." He answered: “I told you that it is I,” and added, pointing to the disciples who were trembling with fear: “If you are looking for Me, leave them: let them go.” This concern of the Lord for the disciples touched them and awakened in them a desire to protect Him. Voices were heard: “Lord, shouldn’t we strike with a sword?” Fiery Peter, without waiting for an answer, drew his sword and cut off the right ear of one of the bishop's servants, named Malchus. The Lord said to him: "Put your sword in its scabbard, for all who take up the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now ask My Father, and He will send Me more than twelve legions of angels? How will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that this must be so?" Having said this, the Lord touched Malchus’ ear and healed him. At this time, the Lord noticed in the crowd some of the elders and leaders of the church (either who came along with the soldiers, or who came up after, in order to more successfully complete the work they had begun) and said to them: “As if you came out against a thief with swords and stakes to take Me; every day I was with you in the church and taught, and you did not take Me, but let the scripture be fulfilled; now is your time and the power of darkness.” After this, the Lord voluntarily gave himself up to the soldiers; they tied him up and led him away. The disciples ran away in fear. Near the place where Christ was taken, one young man was sleeping (they think Mark, the son of Mary, to whom, according to legend, the garden belonged). The noise woke him up. He went out, wrapped in the sheet with which he covered himself, and followed the Lord. The soldiers became suspicious and captured him; he could barely escape, leaving his blanket in their hands. § 88. The trial of Jesus Christ by the High Priest Ananus or Anna (John 18, 13 19–24) “Why are the peoples in turmoil, and the tribes plotting in vain?” “The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed” (Ps. 2:1-2). After taking the Lord, the soldiers did not take Him along a straight road, but by a long detour (along the Kidron stream), and brought Him to the high priest Anan. This high priest had been retired from his position for a long time (about 20 years), but at that time he lived in Jerusalem and enjoyed honor due to the fact that the position of high priest was occupied by his son-in-law Kiaphas, who was close to the Roman authorities. The gentlemen were brought to him either because they think that Anan was the president of the Sanhedrin, or in order to have time to gather the appropriate number of members of the court in the house of Kiaphas and to find false witnesses. Anan gave such a view to the matter, as if Jesus Christ was the head of some secret conspirators with a dangerous goal, and asked Him: how large is the number of His disciples and what is His teaching. The Lord answered him: “I spoke openly to the world; I taught in the synagogue and temple, where Jews always gather, and I did not say anything secretly. Why are you asking Me? Ask those who heard what I told them; behold, they (the bishop’s servants) know what I said.” 79 This answer to one of Anan’s servants seemed offensive to his master, and he dared to hit Jesus Christ on the cheek, saying: “How do you answer the high priest?” The Lord answered him with meekness and dignity: “If I said something bad, show me that it’s bad; but if I said something good, why are you beating Me?” Anan did not find anything to object to the words of the Lord and sent Him bound to the high priest Caiaphas. § 89. The trial of the Jewish Sanhedrin over the Lord in the house of the high priest Caiaphas. (Matt. 27, 56, 59–68: Mark 14, 53, 55–65; Luke 22, 54, 63–71; John 18, 24). “As a sheep was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearers, so He opened not His mouth” (Isa. 53:7). The high priests, elders and scribes gathered in the house of Bishop Caiaphas. Since they had previously prepared to kill Jesus Christ, they now only needed to give this decision some form of legality. Many false witnesses were put forward; but they made such empty and absurd accusations that even the Sanhedrin, hostile to the Lord, could not attach any significance to. Finally, two false witnesses appeared who said: “We heard Him say: I will destroy this church made with hands and in three days I will erect another, not made with hands.” The Lord said something similar, meaning His body by the church, but false witnesses distorted His words, making them appear as if the Savior was speaking disrespectfully about the first shrine of the Jews - the church 80. Jesus Christ did not answer a word to all the accusations presented. The high priest Caiaphas stood up from his seat and angrily asked Him: "Why don't You answer? Don't you hear what they say against You?" The Lord continued to remain silent. Then Caiaphas exercised his right and asked Jesus Christ under an oath: “I adjure You by the living God, tell us: Are you the Christ, the Son of God?” The Lord Jesus Christ, out of respect for the public oath (oath), interrupted His silence and answered Caiaphas’ question: “You say” (that is, you definitely say the truth that I am the Christ) and, as many even of the right-thinking Jews were tempted by the fact that He calls Himself God, he added: “I tell you: from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God and coming on the clouds of heaven." These words were taken from the book of the prophet Daniel (7:13-14) and expressed the idea that the Lord calls Himself equal to God, in accordance with the prophecy about Him, and at the same time pointed out to the lawless judges the terrible judgment of God awaiting them. This answer of the Savior seemed to Caiaphas a terrible blasphemy. He, as if from great anxiety, tore his clothes and exclaimed: “What more witnesses do we need? Behold, now you have heard His blasphemy. What do you think?” Everyone answered: “Guilty of death.” Jesus Christ was taken to the courtyard, where He was to spend the rest of the night in custody. Here He was subjected to the most bitter humiliation on the part of the bishop's servants. They beat Him, spat in His face and strangled Him, and some, covering His eyes with their hands, hit Him on the cheeks and asked with ridicule: “Prophesy to us, Christ: who struck you?” And the Lord endured all these insults meekly in silence. Early in the morning, the high priests, elders and scribes again gathered at Caiaphas to finalize the matter. The Lord was brought into this meeting and asked: “Are you the Christ, tell us?” He said: “If I tell you, you will not believe; but if I ask you, you will not answer Me and will not let Me go”; but once again and with special force, in relation to the prophecy of Daniel, he repeated to them: “From now on the Son of Man will sit at the right hand of the power of God.” “So, You are the Son of God?!” - the Jewish leaders exclaimed angrily. The Lord answered them: “You (the truth) say that I am.” Then the members of the Sanhedrin said: “What more testimony do we need? we ourselves heard from His mouth,” and finally decided to betray Jesus Christ to death because He called Himself the Son of God. § 90. Peter's denial and repentance; death of Judas. (Matt. 29, 58, 69–75; 27, 2–10; Mark 14, 25, 66–72; Luke 22 54–62; John 18, 15–18, 25–27). “And the Lord said to me: Throw them into the church storehouse - the high price at which they valued Me. And I took thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter” (Zech. 11:13). When the Lord Jesus Christ was taken into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, the apostles Peter and John followed Him from afar. John was known in the house of the high priest Annas 81 and entered the courtyard without hindrance, while Peter remained on the street near the gate. Then John asked the maid to let Peter through. Letting him pass, she asked out of curiosity: “Aren’t you one of this man’s students?” Peter said: “No.” At this time, a rooster was heard crowing. From Anna, following the Lord Jesus, Peter went to Caiaphas. There, when it became cold at midnight, the servants lit a fire in the courtyard and warmed themselves, and Peter went to the fire. Seeing his concern, some of the servants asked: “Are you not one of His disciples? And the adverb denounces that you are a Galilean.” Then Peter denied Jesus Christ for the second time. Finally, a relative of that Malchus, whose ear he had cut off, came up to Peter and began to reproach him: “Didn’t I see you with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?” Peter was completely at a loss and began to swear and swear that he did not know Jesus. The rooster crowed a second time. At that very moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. The gaze of the Lord penetrated to the very depths of His heart. He remembered the words of the Lord, rushed out of the courtyard of Caiaphas and wept bitterly over his fall. His sadness was imbued with fiery love for the Lord and enlivened by faith in His infinite mercy. Judas also repented; but he lost all hope in God’s mercy, and despair took possession of his gloomy soul. In terrible anguish, he came to the church and invited the leaders to take back the money received from them, saying: “I sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They answered him coldly: “What do we care about that? See for yourself (your business).” Judas threw his pieces of silver onto the church platform and hanged himself out of despair. The high priests took the money thrown by Judas, but did not find it convenient to put it in the church treasury, because, as they said, this was the price of blood, and they decided to use it to buy land from a potter for burying strangers. People called this cemetery the village of blood. §91. Pilate's first trial of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 27:11–14; Mark 15:1–8; Luke 23:1–6; John 18:28–38). There is neither form nor greatness in Him... He was despised and humbled before men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with pain (Isa. 63:2,3). Death sentences of the Sanhedrin were carried out only with the approval of the Roman governor. Therefore, the high priests and elders, having condemned the Lord to death, ordered Him to be bound and taken to the Roman procurator Pilate, who, on the occasion of the Easter holiday, was in Jerusalem. Having washed themselves before the Easter holiday, they considered it a sin to enter the house of a pagan and called Pilate to a stone platform built in front of the praetorium (procurator's palace). Seeing the bound Jesus Christ, Pilate asked the elders: “What do you accuse this prisoner of?” The Jews, feeling that they are untruthful, do not answer this question directly and say: “if He had not been a villain, we would not have betrayed Him to you.” “Take him and judge him according to your law,” Pilate told them and wanted to leave. The Jews hastened to stop him and said: “We are not allowed to put anyone to death, but He deserves it,” but they presented Pilate with a completely different accusation against the Lord, and not the one on which they themselves condemned Him. “We have found,” they continued, “that He corrupts the people and forbids giving tribute to Caesar, calling himself Christ the King.” Pilate, in order to more accurately learn the truth, invited the Lord with him inside the praetorium. “Are You the King of the Jews?” – Pilate asked Jesus Christ. The Lord said: “Are you saying this on your own, or have others told you?” (i.e., did you yourself, through your confidants, find out about Me as a dangerous person for the Roman government, or are you asking only the Jews through a denunciation). Pilate answered proudly: “Am I a Jew?” (so that in You we see a rival to Caesar). "Your people and the chief priests handed You over to me? What have You done?" “My kingdom is not of this world,” the Lord told him. “If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight for Me, so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but My kingdom is not from here.” “So you are the King?” – Pilate asked Him. The Lord said to him: "You (rightly) say that I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth (who is able to listen to the truth, to whom it is dear) listens to My voice." At the same time, Pilate expressed the disbelief in which the majority of Roman society was at that time: “What is truth?” (Is it worth discussing, arguing about this), he said and, going out to the Jews with Jesus, announced to them: “I find no guilt in Him.” § 92. Jesus Christ from Herod. (Luke 23:7–12) The chief priests and scribes continued to insist before Pilate on the condemnation of Jesus Christ and, among other things, said: “He is disturbing the people, starting from Galilee to this place.” They deliberately mentioned Galilee, because Pilate, about a year before, had beaten the Galileans in the church for rebel plans against the Roman government. Pilate, however, did not attach much importance to this evil hint, but joyfully grabbed the solution that presented itself to him in the words of the accusers. “Is He a Galilean?” he asked and, having received an affirmative answer, ordered the Lord to be taken to the Galilean ruler Herod Antipas, who also came to Jerusalem on the occasion of the holiday. On the one hand, Pilate wanted to avoid an unpleasant matter, on the other hand, by showing honor to Herod, he acquired an opportunity to end the long-standing enmity with him. Herod Antipas was very happy when Jesus Christ was brought to him. He had long wanted to see Him, since he had heard a lot about Him. Previously, he was afraid of Him, fearing to see the resurrected John in Him, but now calm down and hoped that the Lord would perform some miracle to gain his favor. He asked the Lord various questions, but the Lord did not deign to answer any of them. Then Herod, mocking Him, ordered that white clothes be put on Him 82 and sent Him back to Pilate. From that time on, the hostility between Pilate and Herod ceased. § 93. Second trial of Pilate over the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 27, 15–26; Mark 15, 6–15; Luke 28, 13–25; John 18, 39–40; 19, 1–6) “I have given My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to the smiters; I did not hide My face from mockery and spitting” (Isa. 50:6). When Jesus Christ was brought back from Herod to Praetoria, Pilate said to the high priests, scribes and people: “Neither I nor Herod found anything in Him worthy of death; therefore, having punished Him, I will release Him.” With his last words, this unrighteous judge expressed his cowardice, because he wanted to punish the innocent, solely out of servility to the Jews, so as not to irritate them. The Jews immediately noticed this weakness in Pilate and relentlessly began to demand that he punish Jesus Christ with nothing less than the death penalty. Pilate now began to resort to various means to get out of the difficulty into which he had put himself. “You have a custom,” Pilate said to the Jews, for me to release one prisoner for you for the sake of Passover: whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ? Pilate deliberately compared Jesus Christ with Barabbas, the rebel and robber, without doubting that the people would prefer Jesus Christ to him. While negotiations were going on among the people, Pilate received admonition from above through his wife: “Do not do anything to that righteous man,” his wife wrote to him, because now in a dream I have suffered a lot for Him.” 83 Meanwhile, the high priests and elders made every effort to persuade the people in favor of Barabbas, and when Pilate again asked: “Whom should we let go?” everyone shouted: “Not Him, but Barabbas!” Pilate exclaimed: “What shall we do with Jesus, who is called Christ?” Everyone shouted again: “Crucify Him?” “What evil did He do?” - asked Pilate. The crowd heard even louder cries: “Crucify, crucify Him!” Pilate, however, insists on his first decision, that is, to punish Jesus Christ, in the hope that this will satisfy the malice of His enemies. At his command, the soldiers took the Lord inside the courtyard and there, tying him to a pillar, beat him with whips, then they wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, dressed Him in a scarlet robe 84 and began to greet Him with ridicule: “Hail, King of the Jews,” and beat Him on the cheeks. Finally, in this shameful form, by order of Pilate, Jesus Christ was brought out to the people. Pilate pointed out Him to the Jews, saying: “Here is a man.” 85 The people were silent, amazed at the sight of the Divine Sufferer, only the high priests and their ministers continued to shout: “Crucify, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them: “Take Him and crucify Him, but I find no guilt in Him.”... § 94. Condemnation of Jesus Christ to death. (John 19:7-16). “He was sculpted from the bonds of judgment, but who will explain His generation?” (Isa. 53:8). Seeing that on the first charge, namely seeking royal power, Pilate does not agree to condemn Jesus Christ, the high priests and elders of the Jews bring another charge against the Lord, the one on which they themselves condemned Him, and say: “we have a law (which you must respect) and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” Pilate had already been aware, albeit vaguely, that he was not dealing with an ordinary person, but when he heard these words, he was even more afraid. Having brought Jesus Christ again to Pretoria, he asked Him with involuntary trepidation: “Where are you from?” (i.e. from heaven, or from earth). The Lord did not honor him with His answer. From fear, Pilate switched to his usual arrogance and said with pride: “Aren’t you answering me? Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?” Then the Lord denounced the double-minded judge, saying: “You would not have any power over Me if it had not been given to you from above”; but he added (although you are guilty, because you do not judge according to your conscience, but): “He who betrayed Me to you has more sin” (i.e. on the Jews and especially their leaders). From that time on, Pilate sought a way to protect Jesus Christ from the evil Jews and to let Him go. The high priests noticed this and, in turn, decided to resort to an extreme remedy against Pilate’s indecisiveness, which they deliberately reserved for the end: “If you let Him go, they said to him: “Then you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself a king is an enemy of Caesar.” With these words, the Jews threatened Pilate that they would report him to Caesar for treason (and everyone knew the suspicious and cruel character of the then emperor of Tiberias). At this threat, all the firmness of the Roman ruler fell, and he hastened to complete his trial as soon as possible: he ordered Jesus Christ to be brought to him and took his judicial place. At the same time, Pilate was indignant at the Jews and, in his impotent anger, reproached them, saying with mockery: “Behold, your king.” The Jews shouted: “Crucify, crucify Him!” Pilate continued: “Shall I crucify your king?” Then the high priests (again hinting at denunciation) answered him: “We have no king except Caesar.” Pilate, seeing that nothing was helping, but, on the contrary, the excitement was intensifying, ordered water to be brought and, having washed his hands in front of the people, said: “I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous One: look you.” At this all the people shouted: “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then Pilate, to please the Jews, released Barabbas, and handed Jesus Christ over to their will to be crucified. § 95. The procession of Jesus Christ to Golgotha ​​and His crucifixion. (Matt. 27, 31–38; Mark 15, 20–28; Luke 23, 26–34; John 19–17–24). When Pilate handed Jesus Christ over to be crucified, the soldiers who were there took off His purple robe and dressed Him in their own clothes. Then the entire regiment of Roman soldiers gathered and, laying a cross on Jesus, led Him to be crucified, along with two robbers, condemned to the same death as Him. Exhausted by previous sufferings, Jesus Christ stopped several times and fell under the burden of His cross. At this time, a certain Simon of Cyrene was coming to meet the Savior and probably showed on his face compassion for the Divine sufferer. The soldiers immediately stopped him and forced him to carry the cross of the Lord; but, so that no one would think that Simon was being led to execution, they ordered Jesus Christ to go ahead, and Simon behind Him carried His cross. A crowd of people followed the Lord and women wept bitterly for Him. The Lord turned to them and said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, weep for yourselves and for your children, for the days are coming in which they will say: “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not suckled.” 86 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, to the hills: cover us, for if with the green tree (i.e. with Me, the holy and sinless) they do this, then what will happen to the dry one?” (i.e. with bitter Jews). Finally, through the judgment gate 87 they reached the place of execution. It was a small hill (200 steps from the judgment gate), called “Golgotha” or the place of execution. It was customary to give those crucified a drink of wine, sour as vinegar, and mixed with myrrh, bitter as gall. This drink somewhat clouded the heads of those being crucified and, dulling their senses, eased their suffering. This drink was also offered to Jesus Christ, but after tasting it, He did not want to drink it, because He wanted to suffer and die with full consciousness. According to Roman custom, a tablet was nailed over the head of the crucified person with his guilt written on it. Pilate, wanting to take at least some revenge on the Jews, ordered to write in three languages ​​- Hebrew, Greek and Latin - on a tablet to the cross of the Lord: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The Jews understood the mockery and demanded that Pilate change the inscription, saying: “Do not write: “King of the Jews,” but write what He said: “I am the King of the Jews,” but the ruler, who was so compliant at the trial, now showed useless firmness, saying: “What I wrote, I wrote.” Just before the crucifixion, the soldiers took off the clothes from Jesus Christ and divided the outer ones into four parts, that is, one for each, and since the lower clothes (tunic) were whole, not sewn, they did not want to tear it, but cast lots for it, who would get it. And in this circumstance, David’s prophecy was miraculously fulfilled: “They divided My garments among themselves and cast lots for My clothing” (Ps. 21:19 § 96. The sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross. His seven words from the cross. (Matt. 27, 38–56; Mark 15, 21–41; Luke 23, 33–49. John 19, 25–37) "My God! My God (hearken to Me); Why have you forsaken Me? I am a worm, not a man, reviled by people and despised by the people. All who see Me mock Me, saying with their lips, nodding their heads: He trusted in the Lord, let Him deliver Him, let Him save, if He pleases Him. I was poured out like water; all my bones were scattered; My heart became like wax; it melted in the midst of My being. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; My tongue clung to My throat, and You brought Me to the throat of death” (Ps. 21, 2,7, 8, 9. 15, 16). “He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities; the punishment of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed” (Isa. 53:5). “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God: I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and darken the earth in the midst of the bright day” (Amos 8:9). When the crosses were placed, the soldiers lifted the Lord Jesus Christ, spread His arms and nailed Him to the cross. On both sides of the Savior the thieves brought with Him were crucified. The Lord, during the crucifixion, did not utter a single word of complaint or murmur, but prayed for His enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!” (first word from the cross). There was a crowd of people on Golgotha; Many who passed by slandered Him and, nodding their heads, said with mockery: “He who destroys the church and builds it in three days!” save yourself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise, the high priests, with the scribes and elders and Pharisees, mockingly said: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself; if He is the Christ, the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and let us believe in Him; He trusted in God, now let God deliver Him if He pleases Him. For he said, “I am the Son of God.” Even one of the thieves crucified with the Lord, despite the terrible torment and his last hour, laughed at Him, saying: “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” But another of the crucified thieves began to calm his comrade and said to him: “Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same thing? And we were judged justly and accepted what was worthy of our deeds, but He did nothing bad.” And then, having found himself in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, with a feeling of deepest reverence, he said: “Remember me, Lord, when you come in Your kingdom!” The Lord, as having authority, answered him: “Truly I say to you, today he will be with Me in Paradise!” (the second saying of the Lord from the cross). From the sixth hour (12 according to us), as soon as the Lord was crucified, darkness fell over the whole earth and continued until the 9th hour (3 pm). Many walked away from the cross in fear. Those who especially loved the Lord took advantage of this and drew closer to Him. These were: His Most Pure Mother, her sister Mary of Cleopas, 88 Mary Magdalene and His beloved disciple John. Others of the Lord's followers stood at a distance and watched His suffering. The sight of the grieving Mother could only aggravate the Lord's suffering; but He, forgetting about Himself, showed the most touching concern for Her. "Wife." He said to her, pointing to John, “behold your son,” and to him: “behold your mother!” (third saying from the cross). With these words, the Lord entrusted His Mother to the care of a friend, and from that time on, John accepted the Mother of God into his home and took care of Her until Her blessed dormition. The most difficult thing in the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ was that He felt Himself abandoned by God the Father, as the greatest sinner (because He bore the punishment for the sins of the entire human race). And in this terrible situation, the Lord called out to God the Father with a loud voice: “Eli, Or! lima sabachthani, that is: My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? (the fourth saying from the cross). The enemies of the Lord took advantage of the consonance of the words “Or” - “Elijah” and said with ridicule: “Behold, He is calling Elijah,” i.e. on the cross he introduces himself as the Messiah. The Lord’s bodily torments were just as terrible, and when they reached their extreme degree, He exclaimed in terrible anguish: “I thirst!” (fifth word from the cross). One of the soldiers soaked a sponge in a vessel of vinegar standing there and, sticking it on a reed, brought it to Jesus’ parched lips. Others said: “Leave it, let’s see if Elijah will come to save Him?” Jesus, having tasted the vinegar, exclaimed: “It is finished!”, i.e., the predictions of the prophets were fulfilled, the redemption of the human race was completed (the sixth word from the cross). Finally, he cried out in a loud voice: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (the seventh and last word from the cross) and bowed his head and gave up the ghost. At that moment, the curtain in the church, separating the sanctuary from the holy of holies, was torn in two, from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks disintegrated and the tomb caves located in them opened up. At the same time, some of the dead saints were resurrected and, after the resurrection of the Savior, appeared to many in Jerusalem. The Jews returned from Golgotha ​​in trepidation, with their heads bowed and striking their chests; and the centurion standing at the cross and the other soldiers who guarded Jesus with him, seeing everything that had happened, said with fear: “Truly this was the Son of God!” About three hours remained before the start of Easter. The Jews, not wanting to leave those crucified on the crosses on Easter Saturday, asked Pilate for permission to break their legs in order to hasten their death and remove them from the cross. The soldiers broke the legs of both thieves who were crucified with the Lord; but when they approached Jesus Christ, they saw that He had already died. Therefore, they did not break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and suddenly blood and water flowed from the wound. In this circumstance, two prophecies were fulfilled: let His bone not be broken (the bones of the Passover lamb should not have been broken, and everything left over from being eaten should have been given over to the fire) (Isa. 12:46, see John 19:36) and also: - they will look at Him. Who was pierced (Zech. 12:10, see John 19:37). § 97. Burial of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 27, 57–6b; Mark 15, 42–47; Luke 23, 50–56; John 19, 38–42). “He was assigned a grave with evildoers, but He was buried with a rich man” (Isa. 53:9). After the Lord Jesus Christ betrayed His Spirit to God the Father, Joseph, a rich man from the city of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, went to Pilate and asked him for permission to bury Him in his garden, located near Golgotha. Joseph was still a secret disciple of the Savior and did not take part in his condemnation. Having received permission from Pilate, he brought a clean linen (shroud), and another famous member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, who came to Him at night and was also His secret disciple, brought an abundance of fragrant ointments, myrrh and scarlet 89 . They reverently removed the body of Jesus Christ from the cross, anointed it with ointments, wrapped it in a shroud and, with funeral singing, carried it to Joseph’s cave, and blocked the entrance to it with a large stone. This cave was carved out of solid rock, and no one had ever been buried in it 90. Mary Magdalene, Mary of Joseph and some other pious women were present at the burial ceremony. At the end of the burial, they sat in inexpressible grief in front of the stone that hid the body of the Lord. But the same love for the Savior that brought bitter tears from their eyes and encouraged them. Seeing with what honor Joseph and Nicodemus buried the Savior, they, for their part, wanted to express their zeal to Him and anoint His body with precious myrrh. At the same time, perhaps, they also remembered the words that the Lord once said to Mary, the sister of Lazarus, which she did wonderfully, anointing Him with myrrh and preparing Him for burial. They hastened to the city to prepare myrrh; but the evening had already arrived, from which Easter Saturday began, and they had to postpone their intention until the day following this holiday. This main Jewish holiday was especially honored this time because it coincided with Saturday. The high priests, however, did not know peace even on Easter Saturday. Early in the morning they came to Pilate and told him; “Sir, we remembered that this deceiver said: after three days I will rise; therefore, order that the tomb be guarded until the third day, so that His disciples do not steal Him at night and tell the people: He has risen from the dead; then this last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them: “You have a guard; go, guard as you know.” They went, placed a guard at the tomb and put their seal on the stone. Thus, although the high priests tried to denigrate even the memory of the deceased Lord, they did so that His tomb, as truly royal, was guarded by soldiers. § 98. Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt. 28:1–15; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–11; John 20:1). “You will not leave My soul in hell and you will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Ps. 15:10). “He will revive us in two days; on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before Him” (Hos. 6:2). "Death! where is your sting? Hell! where is your victory? (ibid. 13, 14). After midnight from Saturday to the day after it (now Sunday), our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of his Divinity, rose from the dead. The guard stood at the tomb cave, the stone lay, and the seal was intact. The earth only shook when the Lord came out of His tomb. Soon after this, an Angel of the Lord appeared, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb 91 and sat on it. His appearance shone like lightning, and his robe was white as snow. The soldiers assigned to the coffin died of fear; Having come to their senses, they started to run. Having run to the city, they told the high priests about everything that had happened. The high priests, having held a meeting with the elders, gave the guards money and said: “Tell everyone that His disciples came at night and stole Him while you were sleeping. If the rumor about this reaches the governor, we will persuade him and save you from trouble.” The soldiers, having received the money, did as they were ordered. § 99. Mary, Peter and John at the tomb of the Savior. (Matt. 28:1–8; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:12; John 20:2–10). The dawn had just begun and it was still dark when Mary Magdalene, Mary Joseph, Solomiya and some other women went with peace and spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus Christ. On the way they said to each other: “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” - because it was very large, and apparently they knew nothing about the guard assigned to the coffin and the bishop’s seal attached to it. Mary Magdalene (due to her special love for the Lord and the ardor of her character) approached the tomb before the other women and; Seeing that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, she ran back to the city to the apostles Peter and John and said to them: “They took the Lord away from the tomb and I don’t know where they laid Him.” The other myrrh-bearing women approached the tomb when it was already dawn, and on the right side of it they saw an angel sitting on a stone; his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The women were very scared. The angel said to them: "Do not be afraid; why are you looking for the Living One among the dead? He is not here. He has risen. Go, tell His disciples and Peter that He will meet them in Galilee." The women returned from the tomb with fear and great joy. Meanwhile, the apostles Peter and John, according to the word of Magdalene, hurried to the tomb. John ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. Looking inside the cave, he saw the shrouds lying there and stopped in amazement. The bright thought of the resurrection of the Lord shone in his pure and much-loving soul. Meanwhile, Peter approached and went inside the tomb cave. Here he saw the shrouds and cloths with which the head of Jesus Christ was tied, lying separately from the shrouds and folded correctly, and wondered what this meant. Following Peter, John also entered the tomb, and saw and believed that the Lord had risen from the dead. And so the apostles came out of the tomb: Peter - with bewilderment, - John - with joyful faith. § 100. Appearance of the risen Lord to Mary Magdalene. (Mark 16:9–11; John 20:11–18). Following the apostles, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb of the Savior and, standing at the entrance to it, wept bitterly. And while she was crying, she bent down to look and saw two angels in white robes; one sat at the heads, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus formerly lay. They asked her: “wife! Why are you crying? She answered: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing behind her. But through her tears she did not recognize Him and took Him for a gardener. The Lord asked her: “Woman! Why are you crying, who are you looking for?” Mary said to Him: “Mr. if you have brought Him out, tell me where you will put Him, and I will take Him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” By this word, she recognized the Lord, and exclaiming: “Ravuni!” (Teacher), threw herself at His feet. The Lord said to her: “Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brothers and tell them: I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” Mary hurried to Jerusalem with the good news and on the way met other myrrh-bearers. Because of the strong fear that had seized them, they had not yet told anyone about the resurrection of the Lord. Suddenly Jesus Christ appeared before them and said: “Rejoice!” They threw themselves at His feet in awe. The Lord said to them: “Do not be afraid, go and tell My brothers, so that they go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” § 101. The appearance of the Lord to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. (Mark 16:12–13; Luke 24:13–35). On the very day when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, two of His disciples were going to Emmaus, a village sixty stadia (10 versts) from Jerusalem. One of the disciples was Cleopas, a relative of Jesus, the other, one must think, was the Evangelist Luke himself, since he described this event in particular detail, but did not name himself, out of humility common to all evangelists. They walked in deep sadness and talked among themselves about the events that had happened in recent days. During the conversation, Jesus Christ quietly approached them and, drawing level with them, asked: “What are you talking about among yourself and why are you so sad?” Cleopas, not recognizing Him, answered: “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who does not know about what has happened in it these days?” "About what?" the Lord asked them. The disciples explained to Him how they believed in Jesus Christ and hoped that He was the Messiah sent from God, but the high priests also betrayed Him to suffering and death. Then they told Him about the myrrh-bearing women that they did not find the Lord in the tomb and heard the news from the Angels that He was alive. They wanted to hear confirmation of this from the apostles (Peter and John) who went to the tomb; but the apostles found only the tomb empty, but did not see the Risen One Himself. Noticing that the disciples were mainly embarrassed by the thought of the suffering of the Lord (which they could not reconcile with the dignity of the Messiah), the unfamiliar Companion began to explain to them, starting from Moses, from all the prophets, the truth that Christ should have suffered first and then become glorified. The disciples listened with pleasure to the consoling speeches of their Companion and quietly reached Emmaus. Having come to this village, the Lord showed that he wanted to go further, but they invited Him to come into the house with them and stay overnight. Jesus Christ agreed. When dinner was served, He took the bread, blessed it as He had done before, broke it, and gave it to the disciples. Now the eyes of the disciples were only opened, and they recognized the Lord; but at that very moment He became invisible to them. And they said to each other: “Didn’t our heart burn within us when He spoke to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And getting up from the table, they immediately hurried to Jerusalem: they came to the house where all the apostles had gathered together, and conveyed to them the good news that Christ had risen. The apostles answered them: He has truly risen and appeared to Simon. Then those who came from Emmaus began to tell everyone in detail. what happened to them on the way, and how they recognized the Lord during the breaking of bread. § 102. The appearance of the Lord to the apostles in Jerusalem. (Luke 24, 35,–47; John 20, 19–23). When the Emmaus travelers Luke and Cleopas were talking with the ten apostles, the Lord Jesus Christ suddenly appeared to all of them and said: “Peace be with you!” No matter how the apostles were prepared by the joyful news of this day to meet the Lord, they were greatly embarrassed at His appearance and thought that they were seeing a ghost before them. The Lord said to them: "Why are you troubled, and why do such thoughts enter your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet; it is I Myself. Handle Me and see: for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see Me." At the same time, the Lord showed them His hands and feet. The apostles still did not believe with joy and were amazed. To dispel their doubt, Jesus Christ demanded food. They gave Him a piece of baked fish and honeycomb, and He took it and ate before them. Having calmed the apostles, the Lord said: “This is what I told you about while I was still with you, that everything that was written about Me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms must be fulfilled.” At the same time, he opened their minds to the understanding of Scripture and continued: “So Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” “You,” the Lord added, “are witnesses (and should be preachers) of all this.” Then he said again: “Peace be with you! As the Father sent Me, so am I sending you.” At these words, the Lord breathed and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; those whose sins you forgive, they will remain.” And suddenly, after these words, the Lord became invisible to the apostles. § 103. The appearance of the Lord to the Apostle Thomas. (John 20:24–29). During the appearance of Jesus Christ to the apostles, Thomas was not among them. “When the apostles told him about the appearance of the Lord, Thomas did not believe them and said: “If I do not see in His hands the wounds from the nails and put my finger into the wounds from the nails and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” On the eighth day after the resurrection of the Lord, all the apostles again gathered in one house, where Thomas was with them. Suddenly in their midst, although the doors were locked, Jesus Christ appeared and said to them: “Peace be with you!” Then, turning to Thomas, he said: “Bring your finger here and see My hands; give me your hand and place it in My side and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer!” After this, Thomas exclaimed with all his believing heart: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus answered and said to him, “Behold, because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” § 104. The appearance of the Lord at the Sea of ​​Tiberias. (John 21 chapter). After the appearance of the Lord to Thomas, the apostles, as they were commanded, went to Galilee. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee (James and John) and two more disciples gathered here. Peter said: “I’ll go fishing.” “You and I are going too,” said the others, and they immediately got into the boat and went fishing, but that night they didn’t catch anything. When morning came, Jesus Christ stood on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize Him. He asked them: “Children, do you have any food?” They answered Him: “No.” He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will catch it.” They cast, and could no longer pull out their net from the multitude of fish they had caught. John was the first to recognize the Lord and told Peter about it. Fiery Peter, girding himself with clothes (because he was naked), threw himself into the sea and swam to the shore. The other disciples sailed in a boat to the shore, which was at a distance of 200 cubits (about 40 fathoms) from them, and dragged a heavy net behind them. Coming ashore, they found a fire laid out and fish and bread lying on it. The Lord also ordered them to bring fish that they had caught themselves. Peter went and pulled out the net. There were one hundred and fifty-three large fish in it, and with such a multitude, the net did not break through. The Lord said to the apostles: “Come, have dinner,” and then He Himself approached them, took bread and gave them fish as well. During dinner, the Lord turned to Peter and asked him: “Simon of Jonas, do you love Me more than these?” Peter no longer assures the Lord, as before, of his special love for Him, but humbly answers: “Yes, Lord! You know that I love You.” The Lord said to him: “Feed My lambs.” After this, the Lord asked Peter again: “Simon of Jonas, do you love Me?” He did not add more, seeing that Peter was deeply humbled. Peter answers Him with the same words: “Yes, Lord! You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him: “Feed My sheep.” Having asked Peter for the third time about his love for Him, the Lord restored him to the rights of an apostle and predicted to him his martyrdom, by which he would finally prove his love for Him and complete his apostolic works. § 105. The appearance of the Lord on Mount Galilee and His last instructions to the apostles. (Matt. 28, 16–20; Mark 16, 15–18; 1 Cor. 15). After the appearance to chosen friends on the Sea of ​​Tiberias, there followed the solemn appearance of the Lord in Galilee, which was foreshadowed by Himself and the Angel through the myrrh-bearing women. The place of this phenomenon was a mountain on which, in addition to the eleven apostles, there were more than five hundred believers. When the Lord appeared, the apostles and other believers worshiped Him with reverence, but some doubted. Then the Lord came closer to them so that everyone could see and recognize Him, and said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth; therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned; those who believe in My name will cast out demons; they will speak with new ones!” with their tongues they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink anything deadly, they will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Then, departing from them, the Lord combined all these Divine promises into one majestic word: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, Amen.” § 106. Ascension of the Lord. (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:44–53; Acts 1:1–11). “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord is mighty in battle. Lift up your heights, O gates, and be lifted up, O eternal doors, and the King of glory will enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of strength. He is the King of Glory! (Ps. 23:7-10). “You ascended on high, you took captivity captive, you accepted gifts for men, so that even those who resist could dwell with the Lord God” (Ps. 67:19). On the fortieth day after the resurrection, the Lord appeared to His disciples for the last time in Jerusalem and led them out of the city on the way to Bethany on the Mount of Olives. On the way, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem and to wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit. "John baptized you with water, the Lord said to them, and a few days after this you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the earth." Having said this, the Lord raised His hands and blessed them. And when he blessed them, he began to move away from them and ascend to heaven. The apostles looked with reverence as He rose before their eyes, until a cloud hid Him from their sight. At these moments, two Angels in white robes appeared before them and said to them: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing and looking at heaven? This Jesus, who ascended from you into heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw Him ascending into heaven.” Then the apostles bowed to the ascended Lord and with great joy returned to Jerusalem, glorifying and blessing God. The Lord ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, that is, in His humanity He received the same powers and glory that He had in His Divinity. § 107. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. (Acts 1 and 2 chapters). And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy; and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams (Joel 2:28:29, cf. Acts 2:17). According to the commandment of the Savior, the apostles remained in Jerusalem with one accord, in prayer, waiting for the Comforter He promised - the Holy Spirit. Among the twelve apostles, in place of Judas, Matthew, one of the 70 disciples, was chosen by lot. He was with the Lord throughout His ministry to the human race and witnessed His resurrection. The Holy Spirit descended on the apostles on the tenth day after the Ascension of the Lord. It was the day of the Jewish festival of Pentecost 92 . For the apostles, this day was doubly sacred because it was Sunday. From early morning they gathered together to pray. The Most Holy Mother of God was also here. At 9 o'clock in the morning (according to Jewish reckoning at 3 o'clock) a noise was heard from heaven, as if from a rushing strong wind, and filled the entire house where the apostles were. Suddenly cloven tongues, as if of fire, appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. This was a sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The apostles were illuminated with power from above and began to speak in different languages, having never learned them before. Now only they fully understood the teaching of Jesus Christ. All the words of the Lord were remembered with complete clarity and presented in their true meaning. At the same time, they acquired vigor and courage to preach St. faith and became ready to lay down their lives for it. They immediately began to preach publicly about the greatness of God. Meanwhile, the noise that preceded the descent of the Holy Spirit was heard by others. A lot of people gathered at the house where the apostles were. There were Jews and proselytes 93 from different countries who had come to Jerusalem for the holiday. Hearing the apostles preaching to each one in the language of his country, everyone was amazed and marveled at the great miracle of God. But some dared to mock the apostles, saying: “They got drunk on sweet wine.” Then the Apostle Peter preached a sermon that made a strong impression on the listeners. He pointed the Jews to Joel's prophecy that in the days of the Messiah God would abundantly bestow upon believers the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After this he began to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. "This one, according to the definite advice and foreknowledge of God, said the Apostle, you took... and killed; but God raised Him up, breaking the bonds of death, to which we are all witnesses. He, having been exalted by the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, poured out what you now see and hear." The listeners were touched in their hearts and asked the apostles: “What should we do, men and brethren?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Many accepted the words of the Apostle with all zeal, and about three thousand people were baptized that day. This was the beginning of the Christian Church in Jerusalem. The relationship of New Testament sacred history to church worship. The most important events of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ are remembered by the Church every day, especially during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, which the Lord commanded to be performed in His remembrance. When performing proskomedia, the priest remembers the birth and death on the cross of the Lord Savior. The Small Entrance is made in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who walked with His apostles through the cities and towns of the Jewish country and preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. The Great Entrance reminds believers of the Lord’s procession to suffering. In the prayers of thanksgiving, read by the priest before the consecration of the Gifts, everything the Lord has accomplished for our salvation is remembered. By pronouncing the words: “take, eat, drink of all of it,” the Last Supper is especially recalled. At the opening of the royal lie and the appearance of the Holy Gifts, the resurrection of the Lord and the appearances to His disciples are remembered; the last appearance of the Holy Gifts recalls His ascension. The words: “always, now and ever and unto ages of ages” remind us of the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with believers all the days until the end of the age. In addition, special days of the year, which are called holidays, are dedicated to the remembrance of the most important events of the Gospel history. Every week Sunday is celebrated in honor and memory of the resurrection of Christ, and every year there is a special holiday to remember and glorify the same great event. This is Easter, a holiday of holidays and a celebration of celebrations. After Easter, twelve holidays are especially celebrated; nine of them were established to remember the events of the Gospel story, namely: in honor and memory of the Nativity of the Mother of God - September 8, Her Entry into the Church - November 21, the Annunciation of the Mother of God - March 25, the Nativity of Christ - December 25 - this is the most joyful holiday after Easter, the Baptism of the Lord or Epiphany - January 6, the Meeting of the Lord in the church by Simeon and Anna - February 2, the Transfiguration The Lord's Day - August 6. The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem on the last Sunday before Easter and the Ascension of the Lord - on the 40th day after Easter. These sacred remembrances from the Gospel story are joined by memories: about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, with which is connected the feast in honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity - on the 50th day after Easter, the Dormition of the Mother of God on August 15 and the Exaltation of the honorable and life-giving Cross of the Lord on September 14. Divine services on the days of these holidays are aimed primarily at revealing the great significance of the remembered events in the matter of our salvation, but in particular the meaning of the holiday is expressed in the so-called troparia. On the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary the troparion is sung: Thy Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God, is a joy to proclaim to the whole universe: from Thee has arisen the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God, and having destroyed the oath, given blessing, and having abolished death, given us eternal life. Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, heralded the joy of the entire universe, because from You the Sun of truth, Christ our God, rose (from You the Lord Savior was born, who enlightened us with the Light of truth and justified us before God) and, having destroyed the oath (removing the curse from us), gave a blessing and, having abolished death (taking away the sting from death, defeating it), gave us eternal life. Troparion for the Feast of the Entry into the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary: On the day of God's favor, the transfiguration, and the preaching of salvation to men, the Virgin clearly appears in the church of God, and announces Christ to everyone. To that we too will cry out loudly: Rejoice in seeing the Creator’s fulfillment. Now is the foreshadowing of God's favor and the preaching of the salvation of men. The Virgin (who was foretold in the promise given to the first parents in the words: the seed of the woman will erase the head of the serpent) clearly appears in the church of God and announces Christ to everyone. To that (the Most Holy Virgin) and we will sing loudly (with a loud voice): Rejoice, fulfillment of the Creator’s vision (Rejoice, Virgin, Who fulfilled, or through Whom the good intention and providence of the Creator for us was fulfilled). Troparion for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God: The day of our salvation is the main thing, and the sacrament has been revealed since the ages, / The Son of God, the Son of the Virgin, is born, and Gabriel preaches grace, with the same we cry out to the Mother of God: Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Now is the beginning of our salvation and the revelation of a mystery that has been from time immemorial (proclaimed to our first parents in paradise, and predetermined before the creation of the world): the Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin, and Gabriel (Archangel) proclaims this great mercy of God. Therefore, we, together with him, cry out: “Rejoice, full of grace (full of grace, sought after by the special mercy of God), the Lord is with you!” Troparion for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ: Thy Nativity, Christ our God, arises the world's light of reason: in it, for serving the stars, learning from the stars, I bow to Thee, the Sun of righteousness, and I lead Thee from the heights of the East: Lord, glory to Thee. Thy Nativity, Christ our God, shone the light of truth to the world: for those who serve the stars (engaged in observing the heavenly bodies and worshiping them) from the star (which appeared to them in the east) were taught to worship Thee, the Sun of truth, and to know Thee from the heights of the east: Lord, Glory to Thee! Troparion for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: Rejoice, Blessed Virgin Mary, for from You has risen the Sun of Truth, Christ our God, enlighten those in darkness. Rejoice also, O righteous elder, being received into the arms of the Liberator of our souls, who gives us resurrection. Rejoice, blessed Virgin Mary, because from You has risen the Sun of Truth - Christ our God, enlightening those in darkness. Rejoice also, O righteous elder, who has accepted into your arms the Liberator of our souls, who gives us resurrection. Troparion for the Feast of the Epiphany: In the Jordan I am baptized to Thee, O Lord, Trinitarian adoration appeared, for the voice of the Parents testified to Thee, naming Thy beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove, the affirmation known to Thy words. Christ our God appears, and the world is enlightened, glory to You. When You, Lord, were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Most Holy Trinity appeared (the secret of the Most Holy Trinity was revealed and that all Three Persons take part in our salvation and all of them should be given honor and worship): the voice of God the Father testified) about You, calling You the beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit (descending on You), in the form of a dove, confirmed the truth of this (Divine) Word. Who appeared (apparently on earth), Christ God, and enlightened the world, glory to Thee! Troparion for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: Thou art transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, showing Thy disciples Thy glory, as unto a man: may Thy ever-present light shine upon us sinners, through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Light-Giver, glory to Thee. You were transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, showing Your disciples Your glory, how much power they had to see it. May Your ever-present light (always abiding with Your being) shine upon us sinners too, through the prayers of the Mother of God, Light-Giver, glory to You! Troparion for the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem: Before Thy passion, assuring the general resurrection, Thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead, O Christ God. Likewise, we, like the youths of victory who bear signs of victory, cry out to You, the Conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Convincing us before Your suffering of the truth that there will be a general resurrection, You raised Lazarus from the dead, O Christ our God. Therefore, we, like the (Jewish) youths, bearing (having in our hands) signs of victory, cry out to You, the Conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest (salvation from above, or help the Most High), blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Chrytos rose from the dead, trampling down death and giving life to those in the tombs. The angel cried out with more grace: Pure Virgin, rejoice! And again I say: Rejoice! Your Son has risen three days from the grave and raised up the dead; people, have fun! Shine, shine, new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Rejoice now and be glad, O Zion. You, Pure One, rejoice, O Mother of God, about the rise of Your Nativity Christ rose from the dead, by His death taking away the power of death and giving life to those in the tombs. The angel cried out with grace: pure Virgin, rejoice, and again I will say: rejoice. Your son rose on the third day from the grave and raised up the dead: people, rejoice! Be enlightened, be enlightened, new Jerusalem (Church of Christ), for the glory of the Lord has shone upon you; rejoice now and be glad, O Zion (of course also the church). And You, pure Mother of God, rejoice, (take comfort) in the uprising of the One born of You. Troparion for the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord: Thou art exalted in glory, O Christ our God, having brought joy to the disciple by the promise of the Holy Spirit, informed by the former blessing, for Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. You ascended in glory, Christ our God, bringing joy to the disciples (filling their hearts with joy) with the promise to send them the Holy Spirit, assuring them with a blessing (the Lord raised His hands to bless and so, with His hands outstretched for blessing, He ascended into heaven) that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. Troparion for the Feast of Pentecost: Blessed art thou, O Christ our God, Who art wise as fishers of things, having sent down unto them the Holy Spirit, and with them caught the universe, Lover of mankind, glory to Thee. Blessed are You, Christ our God, Who showed the fishers to be wise, sending down the Holy Spirit to them, and through them attracted the universe (all nations) to faith. Lover of humanity, glory to You. Troparion for the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary: At Christmas you preserved your virginity, at your dormition you did not abandon the world, O Mother of God: you reposed yourself to the belly, Mother of the Being of the Belly, and through your prayers you delivered our souls from death. At the birth (of the Lord Jesus Christ) You preserved your virginity, at your Dormition (blessed death) You did not leave peace, Mother of God. You presented yourself to the belly (to eternal life), being the matter of the Belly (the Chief of the Source of life), and with Your prayers you deliver our souls from death. Troparion for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: Save, O Lord, Thy people, and bless Thy inheritance, granting victories against resistance, and preserving Thy residence through Thy Cross. Save, Lord, Your people and bless Your heritage (as those redeemed by Your blood - they are Your heritage, Your property), granting victories over those who oppose you (the enemies of the faith, the church and the fatherland) and preserving Your residence through Your cross (those in whom You dwell by Your grace). The Sadducees got their name from one teacher (rabbi), named Zadok, who lived in the 3rd century BC. The kingdom of Israel, made up of 10 tribes that fell away from Rehoboam, king of Judah, was destroyed by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser in 722 BC. One of the seven archangels closest to God (Daniel 8, 61; 9, 21). Therefore, the Most Holy Mary is called the Ever-Virgin. Always means always. Ever-Virgin is always Virgo. According to the calculations of the famous scientist Kepler, 3 years before Christ there was a merger of the planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the constellation Pisces, which should have formed a huge star, visible even during the day. Saint Chrysostom believes that the star seen by the Magi was a certain spiritual force that took the form of a star (Demon 6 on Matthew). Memory of St. the child of the fourteen thousand, like those who were slain in Bethlehem by Herod, - December 29. This ritual was established among the Jews during their exit from Egypt. On the night of the exodus, the Angel of God struck the firstborn of Egypt, and the firstborn of Israel were delivered from defeat. In memory of this mercy of God to the chosen people, it was established that every first-born male child should be brought to the church by his parents and presented before the Lord, and then, as it were, they would redeem him from the Lord. At the same time, the mother of the baby had to sacrifice a one-year-old lamb and a young dove to God. The poor were allowed to bring another dove instead of a lamb. Mary appeared in the church, carrying the Divine Infant Jesus in her arms, and Joseph carried two doves in a cage - a sacrifice for the poor. The ransom for firstborn babies was set at 5 shekels of silver (about 3 rubles). Number 18, 16. The words of righteous Simeon can be translated as follows: now You allow me, Master, according to Your promise, to die in peace, for with my own eyes I saw the Savior, Whom You gave to all nations: I saw the One who would enlighten the Gentiles with the light of truth and glorify His people, the Israelites. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved, and those who oppose His teaching will perish. The Mother of God must endure many trials and tribulations. These sorrows will be so great that it will be like a sword piercing Her very heart. From the age of twelve, a Jewish youth received certain rights equal to those of adults. From then on, he began to wear a headband during prayer, appeared together with adults in the synagogue and traveled to the Jerusalem Temple on the main holidays: Easter, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The fruit of repentance is the direction of life and the change in the innermost dispositions of bad and sinful ones to good and righteous ones. There are things that can be washed with water, but there are those that water is powerless to cleanse, but require fire; like this, for example. gold, John, as it were, said so: my baptism cannot heal you from sinful ulcers and cleanse your spiritual defilements; The baptism of the Lord with the power of the Holy Life-giving Spirit will completely cleanse your soul, renew you, and ignite you spiritually. I must, along with other requirements of the law, fulfill yours - to be baptized in the Jordan, you must fulfill this duty by Me, no matter how much you tremble from the consciousness of the difference that exists between creation and the Creator. The dove has always been revered as a symbol of love, simplicity and meekness. The Lord's answer includes the following thoughts: 1) human life is in the hands of God and, according to the will of God, can be supported without the aid of bodily food; 2) there is food for the soul - the word of God, and it is more necessary than bodily food; 3) I came to earth not to bestow external blessings on the Jews, as many, taught by the same devil, thought and desired, but in order to teach them the truth and show them the way to the kingdom of heaven. The words cited by Christ are taken from the 5th book of the prophet Moses (Deut. 8:3) and were spoken to the Jews regarding their grumbling due to the lack of bread. Didn’t the devil think that the Lord, due to lack of food, would grumble, like the ancient Jews? The word takes means to lead someone or accompany someone (Matt. 17, 1; 20, 17 etc.) and Satan led Jesus or accompanied Him, of course, against His will, but not under compulsion. Plot. Evang. bishop Mikhail. T. I, p. 52 in notes. The power of temptation is to arouse a desire in Jesus - to force, so to speak, a miracle on God’s part, which would reveal spiritual pride on His part. The meaning of the Lord’s answer: one should not demand a miracle from God according to one’s will. The Lord worked miracles out of love and mercy for the needy, shied away from human glory, and wanted people to believe His teaching not because of miracles, but because of their heartfelt recognition of its deep and lofty truth. It must be assumed that the tempter showed Christ the kingdoms of the world by some magical, incomprehensible action, for which reinforcement can be found in the words of the Evangelist Luke: in a moment of time (4, 5. Interpretation of the Evangelical Bishop Michael. Vol. I, p. 54). The devil considered people given over to sin to be in his power and invited the Lord to now subjugate them to Him, under the condition of His own submission, instead of the feats, suffering and death on the cross that lay ahead of Him. The Lord reflects this most daring temptation first with the omnipotent word: “depart,” and then with the words of Scripture that worship is due to the only God. St. John the Evangelist gives special power to this word of truth of John the Baptist: “he declared, and did not deny, and declared: I am not the Christ” (1, 20). The Jews thought that, in addition to Elijah, the prophet Jeremiah would appear before the Messiah and bring the ark of the covenant, which, in their opinion, was hidden by them during the Babylonian captivity, and they expected him under the name of the prophet. This gave John the opportunity, observing strict truth and out of great humility, to answer negatively to the question of the Jews: “Are you not a prophet?” The Passover lamb and lambs in general, sacrificed by the Jews to God, prefigured the suffering Messiah (Isa. 58:7). John's words meant: here is He Whom the Passover and sacrificial lambs typified, i.e., the Son of God - the Messiah, who has to suffer and is already suffering (in taking on the human form of slavery) for the sins of people. Maybe in the desert, or with one of His friends. He knew that the Messiah, according to prophecy, should be born in Bethlehem of Judea. These words are taken from the book of Genesis about the dream of the patriarch Jacob. Their general thought: from now on, the closest communication of angels with people and the special influence of God’s mercies on people along with the Lord the Savior will open. The word: wife, in Hebrew, does not mean coldness, but, on the contrary, was used as the most respectful and tender (John 19:26; 20:13). I.e. I have not yet declared Myself as the Messiah. Each measure was 90 mugs, about 4 buckets. That is, do not rely on the fact that you came from the family of Abraham and know the law well and are trying to fulfill it; all this is not enough to inherit the kingdom of God; For this, a person needs to be completely reborn. That is, you can notice a grace-filled change in a person, which produces spiritual rebirth in him; and how this is accomplished is impossible to comprehend. In these words, the Lord pointed to one of His Divine properties - omnipresence and His eternal glory with God the Father; it was a declaration of His Divine dignity. God is Spirit. He, as a spiritual being, is pleased not with external sacrifices, no matter where and by whom they are made, but with the internal disposition of people, that is, feelings of love, devotion and gratitude emanating from the heart. But since a person is not a purely spiritual being, like, for example, an angel, but a spiritual-physical one, then it is necessary for him to express his spiritual prayer with reverent words and actions, for example, the sign of the cross, bows, and kneeling. These external expressions of prayer are only pleasing to God when they are true, that is, they express a sincere feeling of the heart. A Jewish proverb that has the following meaning: make an experiment on yourself, show your art; then we will trust ourselves to you. Here, by the righteous, the Lord did not mean the true ascetics of piety, who were always filled with deep humility, but the Pharisees, who, fulfilling the rites of the law, considered themselves righteous, not caring at all about correcting their hearts. These words of the Lord can be conveyed as follows: fasting is an expression of sadness: now there is no reason for my disciples to be sad. Now, when I am taken from them bodily, then they will express their grief by fasting. Plot. The Gospels of Bishop Michael, vol. I, p. 156. This was the name of the gate through which sheep were driven for sacrifice. It’s as if the Lord said to Simon: you, having conceived yourself as a righteous man, cannot appreciate the greatness of God’s love, which forgives sinners, and therefore you love little. This was sufficiently explained to the Pharisees before, on the occasion of the healing of the paralytic in Capernaum. (see above). Plot. Evang. Bishop Michael, vol. 1. Page. 246. A legion was a regiment of troops consisting of 6,000 people. That is, those for whom you will work will also take care of your food. That is, you will not lose at all if people do not accept you; to make up for this deprivation, the consolations of the heavenly world will pour into your heart in abundance. At Herod's court there was a devoted disciple of the Lord the Savior - John, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and, as they think, the mother of that youth whom the Lord healed in absentia. She, according to legend, buried the head of Predtecheva with honor. The execution of God befell Herod: he was soon deprived of his place and exiled first to Gaul, then to Spain, where he died. The legend has preserved the following information about Salome the dancer: while walking on the ice of the Rhone River, she stumbled and plunged into the water up to her neck, then the ice wiped off her head, and she remained on it, like on a platter. During the earthly life of the Lord Savior, the Jews, following the example of the Romans, divided the night into 4 watches, 3 hours each: 1st (according to your count) from 6 to 9 pm; 2nd – from 9 pm to midnight; 3rd – from midnight to 3 am; 4th – from 3 to 6 am. It was the custom of the eastern peoples to gather at the gates of the city, especially fortified in comparison with the city wall, for various meetings, for trial and reprisal of the guilty. Hence the expression “the gates of hell” means: all the forces of hell, Satan with all his servants. The same right was subsequently given to all the apostles. The word "Satan" means adversary, enemy. Give up your own will and surrender to the will of God, endure all the suffering and temptations that the Lord will send you in your life, and imitate My patience, meekness, and love for your enemies. These words of the Lord can be conveyed as follows: whoever wants to take advantage of the pleasures of this temporary life, with betrayal of Me, will destroy his soul, and whoever endures hardships and sorrows in life for my sake will save his soul. According to church tradition, it was a beautiful Mount Tabor, covered with rich vegetation from the base to the top. That is, I, the Son of God, am free from taxes collected on the church of God, My Father. Jewish talent was equal to 3,000 shekels (Ex. 48, 24–29); A shekel after the Babylonian captivity cost about 60 kopecks with our money. silver This means that in a talent for our money there is about 1,800 rubles, in 10,000 talents there are about 18,000,000 rubles (Interpretation of the Gospel of Bishop Michael, vol. I, p. 337). The Pharisees wanted to tempt Jesus Christ. If He had said that he should stone her, then, in addition to the reproach of hardness of heart, He would have been accused before the Roman government, which granted itself the right to punish the guilty with death. Otherwise, He would have been accused before the Sanhedrin as an opponent of the law of Moses. In these wise words, the Lord separated sins from the person committing them: he condemned the sin as a criminal act, and, seeing sincere repentance in her, forgave her under the condition of correction. The good part of Mary is to listen to the Gospel about the Kingdom of God, to devote more time to God than to ordinary everyday affairs, even if it is good in intention and motivation. This benefit is not temporary, but eternal, which is why it will never be taken away from her. To grow rich in God means to acquire virtues, for which you will receive a reward from God. The Lord explained how to use wealth for the glory of God below in verse 38: “Sell your possessions and give alms; prepare for yourselves things that do not wear out, a treasure that does not fail in heaven, where no thief comes near and where moth does not destroy.” The idea of ​​this parable is as follows: people unbound by worldly attachments and ready to meet the Lord will receive bliss in His kingdom in heaven. We see the literal fulfillment of God's promise at the Last Supper, when the Lord, like a servant, served His Disciples, and the Last Supper is an image of the kingdom of heaven. Porphyry - outerwear made of expensive red silk fabric; fine linen - undergarment, white, thin, linen clothing made from Egyptian linen. It is worthy of note that the rich man is presented in the parable without a name, and the poor man is called Lazarus, as if to certify that the names once famous on earth are forgotten, and the righteous, unknown to the world, are glorified in heaven. Properties of children worthy of imitation by adults: lively receptivity to teaching, complete and sincere faith, kindness, humility, love. To explain this expression, some, instead of the word “camel,” put: “rope made of camel hair”; others say that in the wall of Jerusalem there were gates that were called “eyes of a needle”; Some believe that there was a proverb of this kind to mean something difficult to accomplish, and the Lord used it for his speech. An expression of decisive will confident in unquestioning obedience. The high priest in ancient times was the direct bearer of divine revelation. At this time, the high priestly office fell into decline, but God can make even an unworthy person an instrument of His revelation for His wise purposes. Caiaphas, although unworthy, was a high priest, and in his malicious, by intention, words, the Holy Spirit prophesied that the Lord alone would suffer suffering and death for the sins of all people and, stretching out his hands on the cross, would gather into one the scattered children of God. Nard is a tree. Grows mainly in the East Indies. From its roots the best fragrant juice was drawn, which was highly valued. “Who does the donkey mean?” - asks St. Epiphanius answers: "the synagogue (i.e., the Jewish people), which under the heavy burden (of the law) was drawn to life and on the ridge of which Christ will one day sit. Who does the colt mean? The unbridled pagan people, on whom no one sat, that is, neither law, nor fear, nor angel, nor prophet, nor scripture, but only one God the Word" (Demon. in the week. Vaiy). “The untrained colt walked calmly and orderly: the pagans quickly and willingly submitted to the Lord. The donkey goes behind: when the Lord conquers the pagans, then the Jews will come to Him” (Interpretation of Chrysostom). Ave. Isaiah was sawn through with a wooden saw. Jeremiah is stoned, John the Baptist is beheaded with a sword. In ancient times, kings and princes, especially in the east, had the custom of giving outer garments to their close associates and friends, in which they appeared at the royal palace for feasts” (Interpretation of the Evangelical Bishop Michael, T. I, p. 404). In the room where the feast is taking place it is warm and light, but outside this room it is dark and cold. For example, Archdeacon Stephen, Apostle James and many others. etc. The scribes distinguished in the law between major and minor commandments, and disputes about the relative importance of one or another commandment could extend into infinity. A contribution is a quarter of a penny. Before the holiday of Easter, the apostles, like all Jews, performed the usual ablution: only their feet could become dusty from the journey. Based on church hymns set on Holy Thursday. All this was supposed to convince both the friends and enemies of the Lord that He went to death completely voluntarily. One time - it was in the 3rd year of the Lord’s ministry, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the high priests and Pharisees sent servants to bring Him to them. But the servants did not carry out this order. “Why didn’t you bring Him?” - those who sent them asked. The servants answered; “never has a man spoken like this Man.” Perhaps the Lord was now pointing out this case too. The Lord said; destroy, and false witnesses destroy. The words “made with hands” and “not made with hands” have been added. As some people think, for fishing. Either as a sign of the innocence of the accused, since the white color was revered as a symbol of purity and innocence, or in ridicule of Him, as an imaginary seeker of royal power, since it was the custom in Rome that those who wanted to be elected consuls put on white togas; hence the word candidate from candidus – white. Tradition says that Pilate's wife was called Claudia Procuda, she was a God-fearing woman (a Jewish proselyte), she saw in a dream the Last Judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ and subsequently became a Christian. A sleeveless red cloak, similar to what kings sometimes wore. Look how tormented and wounded He is! Do you really not feel sorry for Him even now? Or, as others explained, what a rare, worthy person. The mother suffers for herself and even more for her children; so on the day of judgment and execution of the Jews, those Jewish women who did not give birth to children will be happier, for they will suffer only for themselves. At the gate that led to Golgotha, a sheet with a judicial verdict was usually nailed, so that everyone would know why someone was crucified. Cleopas is the brother of the betrothed Joseph. About 100 liter; There are 12 ounces in a liter. Joseph probably prepared it for himself, wanting to be buried in the holy city. Not for Christ, resurrected by the power of His deity, but for visitors to His tomb, so that they would be convinced with their own eyes that “He is not here (in the tomb): He has risen.” This holiday was established in memory of the Sinai legislation. On this day, Jews brought the firstfruits of the spring harvest to God. Pagans converted to the Jewish faith. You might be interested in: