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John 14:21. If you have My commandments and keep them, then you love Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and appear to him 950 Pointing out that primarily then there will be the clearest revelation of the sacrament in us, when we contemplate ourselves alive in the likeness of Him, he says: “As I live, you will also live” (John 14:19), in which the mind of each is confirmed no longer by what he has heard and believed only, but by what he can have, having already received the fulfillment of the promise. Execution of words is, of course, the most powerful means of persuasion and authentication. But lest we think that the enjoyment of such a glorious gift can belong to everyone indifferently, even if some were not good and illuminated with Divine fear, He, immediately introducing into speech the face of those who love Him, thereby clearly showed that no other people can receive such incomparable grace as soon as they decide to lead the best life. Such are those who love Him. Even if Christ resurrects the bodies of all people, for the good and the evil will rise, but not everyone will be given the opportunity to live to glory and bliss. Obviously, some, having received the resurrection only for punishment, will have a life worse than any death, while others, spending eternal years in bliss, will live a truly noble and holy life. That those who, during the trial, receive a sentence of punishment from Christ will remain unparticipated in the blessed life, although they will receive a common revival with the saints, this is indicated in the words: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). Note that although everyone, both good and evil, expects the resurrection, yet those who are subject to accusations of disobedience, he says, will by no means see life, without a doubt, calling life not only the resurrection, but with all justice the resurrection in peace and glory and bliss, of course spiritual, and not any other. The spiritual image of bliss is the perfect knowledge of God and the exact revelation of the mysteries of Christ, which shows us not in a mirror again and in a riddle, as now, the unclear features of what we are looking for, but is entirely clear and bright in us and makes the knowledge most perfect, “for whatever is in part will be brought to nothing,” according to the words of Paul (1 Cor. 13:10). So, our Lord Jesus Christ, teaching us that the promise of the (future) revelation (of glory) is most appropriate and characteristic of those who do His Divine instructions, and not of those who think and do the opposite, very beneficially added to what was said the words: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, this is he who loves Me.” “He has commandments” is one who has accepted the faith and, through good memory, has brought into his mind the pure and clear instruction of the Gospel commandments, and also fulfills them actively and tries to be distinguished by the glory of his deeds. So, he is perfect and completely devoted to piety, distinguished by both faith and deed as having been attested to holiness corresponding to the teachings of Christ, for “every word must stand in the mouth of two or three witnesses,” according to what is written (2 Cor. 13:1; Deut. 19:15). God the Father will justly love such a one, but no less the Son, for just as He is consubstantial, so He is the co-willer (συνεϑελητής) of His Parent. With one essence, of course, the desire and the goal are the same in everything, and there is no disagreement or division into different desires. And to those worthy of Divine love, He promises to give a glorious reward and crown them with gifts that exceed the word, for “I will show,” He says, “to him Myself.” Pure speeches about the vision of God will be among pure (people), Christ shines among them, obviously, through His Spirit, guiding them in everything they need and revealing Himself and appearing as some kind of ineffable lights in their minds. And once those who accepted Him will be blessed and zealous for Him. To such, it seems to me, the prophet David says: “I will listen to what the Lord God speaks in me” (Ps. 84:9). Likewise, the Divine Apostle himself, writing to us in the Epistle: “Or do you require proof of what Christ says in me?” (2 Cor. 13:3). For He speaks to the saints through the Spirit, revealing secrets both about Himself and, in addition, about others. That is why, having clearly understood them, they say: “God has revealed it to us through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:10), then again: “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), calling His Spirit “mind.” John 14:22. Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him: Lord, what happened when you wanted to appear to us and not make peace? 951 Out of love, the disciple asks a question, although he turns out to have misunderstood the Savior’s speech. Our Lord Jesus Christ promises the saints some special knowledge, not similar to the knowledge of all other people. The reason is that the features of the Divine mysteries in divine people shine more strongly and much brighter, while in people who have not yet reached such purity of thoughts as to be able to clearly perceive through the gift of the Spirit the knowledge of objects that exceed the mind, knowledge manifests itself in simple reasoning (conclusions) and consists, perhaps, in the knowledge alone that Christ is God and truly the Son of God by nature. But although such a great difference is noticed between the knowledge of ordinary people and the knowledge characteristic of saints, the disciple does not make this distinction and asks the question why He promises to reveal Himself not to all the inhabitants of the universe, but only to the saints. And in his exclamation “what happened,” he seems to want to point to something similar to the following. The purpose, he says, of Your coming to us, Master, is, of course, not to be separately cognizable by some people, but not by others. After all, we heard from the prophets that “all flesh will see the salvation of God” (Isaiah 40:5), but you yourself also proclaimed: “Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and will dwell in your midst, says the Lord, and many nations will come together to the Lord on that day, and they will be His people” (Zechariah 2:10-11). Yes, we ourselves, being and living together, heard Your voice when You spoke to us: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:32), and you also said to the Jews themselves that “I also have other sheep that are not of this fold, and these I must bring, and they will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). So, if Your grace is expected to spread to everyone, and just as You yourself clearly promised to attract us all to the knowledge of God, and the voice of the holy prophets testifies to this, then “what happened”? Where, he says, has the purpose of the promise deviated and been transferred? Why do You not reveal Yourself to everyone living in the world, but only to us alone? This, I think, and not another, is the meaning of the student’s words. And what distracted him from the true understanding (of the words of the Lord) must be shown. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “In a little while, the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me” (John 14:19). But, without a doubt, it was completely clear that in these words he does not call the world those who are in this life or live on earth, for everyone in this world is both evil and good, but he called the world those who preferred to think on earthly things and gave up their minds to the vanity of the world (cf. Phil. 3:19). Not really understanding this, the disciple thought that He was saying that He would be hidden from the sight, obviously internal and hidden, of all other people who live in this earthly space, and would become completely invisible and unknown to anyone except His disciples alone. This was the reason for his ignorance. After all, if he had understood at the beginning, he would not have approached Him with the question: “What happened (why did it happen) that you have to show yourself to us and not to the world?” He was brought to such an understanding (of the Lord’s words) by accepting the word (peace) in a general and usual meaning for others. After all, according to the generally accepted and common usage of words, we usually call those who live throughout the whole world a world, just as we can call those who inhabit an entire city a city. However, the student is worthy of praise for these words. Notice how he desires that the glory of the Savior, like the sun, should appear to those living throughout the whole earth, although he, having the promise of knowledge (of the Lord), could be content with his own good alone, if he cared only about himself. But the good promised to him, as it were, individually, was not enough for his happiness. And since he was both God-loving and brotherly, he wants the glory of the Savior to spread to everyone and grace to be offered to all brothers in general. Indeed, what can compare with the calling to an accurate knowledge of God? John 14:23. Jesus answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him 952 Noticing that the disciple still does not fully understand (His words), he again returns to what was said at the beginning and clearly teaches that He will reveal Himself to His loved ones not only through visionary knowledge, but they will have a certain significant and inaccessible to others way of enlightenment. After all, simple people, who have just escaped from the delusion of idols and are called to the knowledge of the true God by nature, contain faith in a simple mind free from inquisitiveness, having learned to think, perhaps, only that “there is nothing idol in the world” (1 Cor. 8:4), but only one God by nature. And those who adorn their souls with every virtue and are capable of knowing the Divine and hidden mysteries will receive enlightenment through the Holy Spirit and with their spiritual eyes will contemplate the Lord who has dwelt in them. So, the knowledge of the saints is not common with others, but something special and significant, with a great difference. Thus Christ helps us in every way and manner. Firstly, it clearly defines who is the one who loves Him, showing, as it seems to me, one should correctly think that the perception of the gift of grace is not available to everyone, but only to those who have the inherent dignity of closeness to Him through keeping the commandments. Then He speaks about how He will shine upon them and how He will dwell in them, in the words: “My Father will love him.” This is because whoever, by his faith in the Son, honors His Parent, will have the fruit of this (the Father’s love for himself). Further, what will happen from here and what profit will be for him is clearly represented in the words: “Let us come to him,” I and the Father, “and we will stay with him.” As soon as our Savior Christ dwelled in us through the Holy Spirit, then at the same time, of course, His Parent will also dwell in us, for the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the Father Himself. So the divine Paul calls the Spirit sometimes the Spirit of the Father, sometimes the Spirit of the Son, not contradicting in his words, but expressing the truth in both cases, for He (the Spirit) is such by nature. Therefore, he (the Apostle) says in one Epistle that “He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His indwelling Spirit” (Rom. 8:11), and then again: “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba the Father” (Gal. 4:6). You see how one and the same Spirit is both the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son. So, when the Only Begotten dwells in our hearts, the Father is not absent, for the Son has His Parent in Himself, being of one essence with Him, and He Himself is naturally in the Father. This is the definition of faith and irreproachable doctrine. But at the same time, I would with great pleasure pose one question to those who, out of their great ignorance, decided to think differently and arm their tongues against the glory of the Spirit. What will they answer when we ask them: if the Spirit, in your opinion, is created and alien to the essence of God, then how does God dwell in us through Him? How does one who receives the Spirit participate in God? After all, if it is permissible that we become partakers of the Divine and ineffable Nature through some entirely created essence, then what could be preventing God and the Father from rejecting the Spirit and through any other creature he wishes to be in us and sanctify us? But this is impossible. No one can be a partaker of God by nature through anything other than through the Spirit. Consequently, the Spirit is God and from God, and is not numbered among the creatures, as some thought. In addition, however, this should be kept in mind. Something that participates in something, as being higher in essence and having a different nature compared to the nature of the participant, must necessarily be different in nature compared to what it participates in. Therefore, if the Spirit is created or created, then what will the creature participate in? Is it not, no doubt, for yourself? For in this case creatureliness turns out to be common to both. But, being by nature created and created, we became partakers of the Spirit, as being different in nature from us. Therefore, the Spirit is not created. If this is true and truly so, then the Spirit is God and from God, as we said. After all, nothing that exists can escape the property of creation, except only God by nature, from whom, obviously, the Holy Spirit proceeds (πϱοιόν) ineffably, just as He Himself, from whom He is, dwells in us, for He (the Spirit) is of the same essence with Him (God) and is, as it were, the quality of His (God’s) holiness. This is against those (false teachers). And against the Anomeans and those who take up arms against the Son, who suffer from a kindred and close insanity with the now named (false teachers) madness, I will say what is necessary. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and abide with him.” What, dearest ones, will you say when someone wants to ask and find out from you whether we will have two gods living in us, the Father and the Son, or whether God alone is thought of in us and really exists? After all, if the Son is completely different in nature and is thought of in some of His own nature, then is it not necessary to believe that there will be a duality of gods in us when we keep the commandments? If we are called churches, obviously of one, and not two gods, when the Father and the Son dwell in us, then what basis will there be for reducing the two into unity, since there is no place for the sameness of essence, in your insane opinion? Or is it necessary to affirm that Christ told us a lie and only the Father dwells in us through the Spirit. Or He (the Son) dwells in us, but the Father is absent, which is absurd. But there is one God in us when we accept both. Consequently, the Only Begotten will no longer be alien to His Father, but from Him and in Him (is), as in light - the radiance (emanating) from Him. This, and no other, is the true meaning of the mystery (the consubstantiality of the Divine persons). So the divine Paul called us churches not of two gods, but, obviously, of One and the same, when he says: “Know ye not that you are the church of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). You see that, bringing the Father and the Son to the identity of essence, he represents us as churches not of gods, but of God. Why do you reject the power of truth with empty reasoning and infuse the poison of your wickedness into those who are in the habit of foolishly attacking the Holy and Divine Scriptures? John 14:24. Don't love Me, don't keep My words Having clearly foreseen and precisely defined who those who love Him are and what good things they will be partakers of, he immediately moves on to others who have not yet wished to love (Him). They, he says, will not be guardians of My words. This means the expression: “He will not keep My Word,” as if spoken about one or about one, although it has a broad and general meaning. This is also very fair. After all, if keeping the commandments or His word should be a clear proof of love for Him, then, without a doubt, the opposite should also be true, namely, neglect of the commandment and rejection of His commandments, as something capable of causing harm, should be proof of reluctance to love Him. But as He promised the guardians of the law that He Himself would dwell in us together with God and the Father, in the same way, I think, He will completely retreat and move away from those who are not like that, for Solomon will tell us the truth in the words: “For wisdom does not enter into an evil soul, nor does it dwell in a body subject to sin” (Wisdom 1:4). After all, you can find the same state of affairs with us. Doesn't everyone prefer to move around among like-minded people and leading the same lifestyle as themselves over others? “Every animal loves those like itself,” as it is written, “and a man becomes attached to those like himself” (Sir.13:19-20). If we ourselves consider it worthy of special effort to be together with people who are like us, then shouldn’t we think so much more about God? Being good by nature and the beginning and source of all virtue, He dwells not in the lovers of evil, but in the creators of virtue, and turns away from everything unclean, and quite rightly. So, just as we ourselves try to cleanse our homes of dirt and stench, refusing to live in them if anything like that is found in them, so shouldn’t our Most Pure and All-Holy God move away from the defiled soul and turn away from the heart darkened by the impurity of sin? But this is certain. That one who does not keep the commandments should turn out to be like this and not another, like an unclean lover of dirt, the very meaning of the interpreted saying will teach you this again, for in non-observance of the Divine commandments the origin of sin is found. In fact, just as the deprivation of light introduces the opposite, I mean darkness, so the reluctance to create virtue leads to the generation of evil. After all, according to the law of opposites, I believe, mutually exclusive qualities cannot be present in one and the same object. Thus, vice and virtue are separated from each other by opposing qualities - or no matter how anyone calls it - there is no sin - and in no one can they be present at the same time and fulfilled in activity. Either someone is vicious or virtuous, at least not to the extreme limit of viciousness or virtue. Therefore, when one thing strengthens in us, another, that is, the opposite, weakens, without a doubt. If keeping the commandments is a form of virtue, then isn’t it obvious that non-observance is the beginning of depravity? And just as the one who keeps the commandments is destined to have within himself the Father and the Son, which serves as the beginning and foundation of all bliss and glory, so the one who does not keep it is destined not to be a partaker of the Divine ineffable Nature, which is the deprivation of all good. So, if it seems to someone a beautiful and worthy (deed) to be a partaker of the Divine Nature and to have the Father and God of all through the Son in the Spirit dwelling and dwelling in the treasuries of his heart, let him cleanse his soul in every possible way, and even more so through all virtue, and wash away the filth of his depravity. Then it will be called the actual church of God, and God will rest in it and dwell in it, according to what is written (cf. John 14 and 1 Cor. 3:16). He will not be like the lawyer mentioned in the Gospels, who, without waiting for grace (calling) from the Savior, self-proclaimed to follow Him and, delighting himself with such a wonderful honor, says: “Teacher! I will follow You wherever You go." But what did the Lord answer him, as if in a parable and riddle? “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:19–20). He called foxes and birds of heaven the malicious and unclean demons and all these worldly and airy spirits that move and dwell in the hearts of people devoted to (worldly) pleasures, finding in them the fulfillment of their desires and so oppressing the unfortunate souls of those who receive them that God finds no place to dwell in them at all. This is what the expression “bow your head” means. Let us, therefore, cleanse our hearts from all filthiness, for only under such a condition will God dwell in us and show us above all devilish influence, make us blessed and zealous (His servants) and show us as partners of His Divine and ineffable nature. John 14:24. And the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me Again, he prudently introduces something necessary and directs to correct reasoning, and again presents (to his students) something through which they should have even more learned the proper understanding of the deep mystery. And he strengthens the minds of the listeners, so that no one, carried away by the ignorance of the Jews and inclined to think according to their assumptions, begins to neglect the holy and gospel teaching. What I want to say is this. The law, having a shadow and an image, “until the time of correction” (Heb. 10:1, 9:10) was appointed, according to Paul, “to become our teacher to Christ” (Gal. 3:24) and introduced, as it were, some preliminary concern for the virtue of piety, so that it would not depart from the truth if someone called the Mosaic laws a warning in true and spiritual worship. That is why “the law brought nothing to perfection” (Heb. 7:19). Our Lord Jesus Christ no longer showed us images of things, but the truth itself, showing us with our own eyes, not in prototypes and in disguise, outlining virtue for us, which Moses did, but presenting it, as it were, naked and obvious, and completely preparing a person for piety. Thus, the teaching contained in the words of Christ was the transformation and translation of images into truth. And since the truth had already shone, it was no longer necessary to cling to the shadows, and Christ legitimized those who came to Him through faith to no longer revolve in legal images. And this greatly saddened the Jews, since they thought that Christ came to destroy the ancient law, although they heard Him clearly cry: “I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it: for I say to you, one jot or one tittle will not pass from the law until all things are done” (Matthew 5:17-18). Indeed, true virtue, introduced by the laws of Christ, serves as the fulfillment of the shadow of the law, as we have just said. And since the Jews, with a foolish mind, fell into unbelief and reached the point of zeal for the law not according to reason (Rom. 10:2), they thought by rejecting the teachings of Christ to defend the law, therefore He, in order not to seem to anyone defining some new or his own laws, contrary to the will of God and the Father, beneficially and necessarily added that “the word that you hear is not Mine, but Him who sent Me.” Let no one, he says, of those who come to Me through faith think that I have uttered any word that contradicts God and the Father. It is also Him, and not anyone else, who is preaching the Gospel, so that He was not at all ashamed, so to speak, of the ancient laws (Mosaic), and no higher commandment has now been invented, but only the prototype was turned into truth at the appropriate time. After all, He who spoke those laws through Me to the ancients then and these now to you (He speaks), for I am the Living Word, the Interpreter of the ineffable will of God and the Father (John 1:1, 18), which is why I am called the “Angel of the Great Council” (Is.9:6). Either in this way we must understand the saying, I mean “the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father who sent Me,” or else we must understand it differently. He calls his word the word of God and the Father, so that those who keep it may know that they honor God when they obey His (Christ’s) words. Those who fall into the opposite of this and do not hesitate to insult this commandment by disobedience, sin against Nature herself, who reigns over all. Again, in two ways the minds of the listeners can be strengthened. Either to induce faith through the arousal of the desire to honor God, or to achieve the same through the arousal of the fear of offending Him. In both cases, reasoning turns out to be useful and appropriate. And saying that “is not My word,” of course, does not at all deviate us from His own person, since He is the Word and God. But he says this as one who still had the form of a slave and appeared in human form and was truly like us, and does not want His word to be considered human, but truly Divine and royal, necessarily referring it to the face of the Father, so that, by dividing Himself, he would not give reason to recognize two sons, being one Son both before the incarnation and after the incarnation, for there is one Christ, and not two, as some think. Being God, the Word from the Father became flesh, according to the word of John (John 1:14), - it did not turn into flesh, but made the church from the Holy Virgin His flesh. So that in this way we do not consider His word human and do not alienate the teaching of the Gospel from the Divine nature, but believe that it is from God who is above all, He prudently and very beautifully, as He appeared in human form, again assimilates His word to the Divine nature, in the person of God the Father, from Whom and in Whom He is by nature, as the radiance and Word of Him and the reflection of His hypostasis (Heb. 1:3). John 14:25–26. These are the verbs to you, staying with you. The Comforter is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send to you in My name, He will teach you everything and remember everything to you, even Reh Az This speech also has a human character and does not move away from our (human) limits as soon as the meaning of a given passage is properly understood. In fact, when, someone will seriously ask, is Christ not among us, of course, by the power of the Divine, if He fills everything and is not absent from anything at all, but embraces both earth and heaven with ineffable power, and does not even leave the depths of hell without Himself? For where is there no God? Therefore, when he says: “I said these things to you while I was with you,” then we must understand this by His humanity. And since he had to withdraw from our eyes, I mean, of course, according to the flesh, then, having prepared for his departure to heaven, he says this. And the most perfect and most accurate revelation of the mystery to us, he says, will be accomplished through the Comforter, that is, the Holy Spirit, sent from the Father in His name, that is, the Son, for as Christ is His Spirit in us. Therefore he says that “He will teach you everything that I have told you.” And since He is the Spirit of Christ and His mind (1 Cor. 2:16), according to what is written, nothing else, different from Him, in relation, of course, to natural identity, although it appears and exists separately (ἰδίως), then He knows everything that is in Him (Christ). Paul testifies to this in the words: “For who knows human things except the spirit of a man which is in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). So, as one who knows the will of the Only Begotten, He (the Spirit) declares everything to us, having knowledge not through teaching, so as not to appear occupying the position of a servant and conveying the words of someone else, but as His Spirit, as we just said, and without teaching, knowing everything that is from Him and in Him, reveals to the saints the Divine secrets. Just as, without a doubt, the human mind, knowing everything that is in it, manifests outwardly through the spoken word, for example, the desires of the soul, to which the mind belongs, mentally contemplated and called as something else, different from it, but by nature not being different (something different from it), but as a complementary part of everything (the whole) located in it and considered to come from it. But the Divine and ineffable Nature is higher than this, for the significance of the example is very insignificant (for the clarification of Divine persons), even if the comparison were expressed subtly. Thus, perfect teaching is generated in the saints through the Spirit. So the divine Paul writes in one Epistle: “And I, having heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and about your love for all the saints, I give thanks without ceasing for you (God), making remembrance in my prayers, so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of your calling, what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what the immeasurable greatness of His power upon us who believe, according to the power that He wrought in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:15-21). In the revelation of such truths, ineffably accomplished in us through the Spirit, we contemplate the depth of the Economy with the flesh (the Incarnation) and the meaning of the hidden mystery. And that the presence of Christ Himself and His power is filled by His Spirit, dwelling in the saints, and teaches everything that He has spoken to us, and Paul will make this no less clear to us in the words: “For this cause I bow my knees before the Father, from whom the whole fatherland, both in heaven and on earth, is named, that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts, so that you, rooted and established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to understand the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19). It should again be noted that in the words about the revelation of all things to the saints through the Spirit, he does not give them to another teacher - do not think so, but gives them to Himself through the Spirit, as one already invisible with bodily eyes, but contemplated by the spiritual vision of the heart, as befits God. John 14:27. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid Having brought to memory to the holy apostles His ascension into heaven and with the words “I told you this while I was with you,” letting them understand that in this sense they would be left alone, He, being God by nature, immediately clearly understands that these words put great horror into them, greatly frightened them and, depressing them with heavy sadness, confused the spirit of everyone. Indeed, what could be more unbearable than sadness? What is so hard as the taking away of something pleasant and the unexpected deprivation of especially favorite objects? So, he imagines them to be confused with sadness and fear. The reason and root of the sadness, namely that He had to move away from them and go to the Father, were partly very just, and they could not without reason suspect that they would be subjected to all kinds of suffering when the One who was able to protect them was no longer visible to the physical eye. How does He strengthen them or how does He instill in them the joy of complacency and lead their spirit again to Divine peace? “I give,” he says, “to you peace” and “I leave with you My peace.” Often, he says, I have spoken to you that “I will not leave you orphans” (John 14:18). You will not live on earth alone, deprived and without a helper. I will be with you again and, absent in body, I will again protect you with My favor as God, I will put you above all fear, no one will surpass your courage. All fear will disappear, timidity will go away and some Divine power will shine in you, which, with a calming of spirit and peace of heart, will lead you to the revelation of secrets that exceed the human mind. Now “I give you peace” is not just “My peace.” By this He clearly expressed nothing more than that He would communicate the Spirit and be present Himself in those who receive Him. And that the peace of Christ is His Spirit, to verify and prove this, I think, does not require a long argument. However, I think it is necessary to say about this. After all, if He is peace in heaven and on earth, then will it not be clear to everyone that, as we said, peace, without a doubt, is His Spirit? So the divine Paul wrote in one Epistle: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds” (Phil. 4:7). Isn’t it fair to think that this is not about this world, understood in the usual sense and meaning? After all, a character that is not inclined to enmity and averse to war, as far as its own inclinations and its own desires are concerned, has peace and achieves it. But we can never consider the world so understood as something hypostatic and existing separately, but we must recognize it as being in the character of those who love peace. How can anyone imagine such a world as surpassing all intellect? That which by no means has a special existence, how can it be conceivable that it is higher and superior, for example, to people, or Angels, or even higher beings? After all, they too, as we think, are the mind. So, the world, which surpasses principalities, powers, thrones or dominions and every mind, is the Spirit of Christ, through whom the Son reconciled everything with God and the Father, since he does not want anything else and does not want to think or do and cannot go into apostasy through deviation to evil. Nothing prevents here from presenting some, not devoid of thoroughness, reasoning about this. As the Son, since He is Life by nature and wisdom and power, and the Spirit is called and is His Spirit, the Spirit of life and wisdom and power, so, since He Himself, and not another who, is truly and properly the world, should rightly be called and thought again, like Him, the world His Spirit. That is why, especially assimilating His peace, that is, the Spirit, to His nature, he says about Him: “My peace I leave with you.” And that the Holy Prophets also call the Spirit of Christ this way, you can fully understand and learn from the words of Isaiah: “O Lord our God, give us peace, for You have repaid us with everything” (Is. 26:12). Since the law did not make anything perfect and its righteousness was not able to raise a person to full piety, he prays that the Divine Spirit be given, through whom we, having been reconciled with God and the Father, are called to love, having previously been fugitives (from God) “because of the sin that reigned over us.” Give, he says, therefore, peace to us, Master, for You have rewarded us with everything. By this, I believe, he wants to express this. Give, says the Master, peace, for then we will have to admit that we have everything, and there will be no shortage of any good for the one who has once received the fullness of Christ, for the filling of every good is the dwelling of God in us through the Spirit. And since the Spirit is completely sufficient to calm all the confusion of our mind and destroy all timidity in us, it promises to provide, as it were, some kind of aid suitable for arousing courage and tranquility, in the words: “My peace I leave with you, do not let your heart be troubled and let it not be afraid.” John 14:28. Hear that Az Reh is to you: I am going and will come to you From the mouth of no one else, but from Me, you learned, he says, about My departure from here, for you yourselves were listeners of My words. What did I, who cannot speak a lie, promise you? “I’m leaving and will come to you.” If My speech threatened you with an inconsolable departure (from you) and constant abandonment (of you), then, of course, you should, for this reason, be in great sorrow and fall into extreme despondency. But since I told you that I will not only leave, but will also return at a certain time, then why, he says, having allowed only sad things into your souls, do you degrade with your oblivion what is capable of joy? Let that which can heal oppose that which afflicts, and let the power of joy oppose that which causes sorrow. So I intend to ascend to the Father and God, but I promise to return again. Thus, finding excessive sorrow in the disciples, he calms it down. And just as some truly child-loving and kind father, forced by some necessity to retire on a journey, seeing the tears of his children watering their tender and sweet cheeks, persuades them in every possible way and, constantly exposing to the future good from this removal, in some way contrasts the sadness with the most pleasant hope, so our Lord Jesus Christ moderates the sorrow of the souls of the saints. After all, He knew, of course, being the true God, that His abandonment would be extremely difficult for them, although through the Spirit He was always with them. And this serves as the highest proof of their love and holiness, for the desire to be with Christ is not what most of all befits truly saints? So the wondrous Paul, having this intention in himself, says that it is better to “be allowed to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). That the Son is in no way less than God and the Father, on the contrary, is equal and similar to Him by nature John 14:28. If they loved Me more quickly, they would rejoice more quickly, for I am going to the Father, for My Father is in pain. He turns the cause of sadness into the basis of joy and clearly accuses them of not rejoicing, on the contrary, in what they are now grieving about. At the same time, he tries to teach that those who want to acquire genuine and true love for others need to care not about what is pleasant and kind only for themselves, but also about what is useful for their loved ones when circumstances require this. That is why Paul, in one Epistle, says: “Love does not boast, nor is it puffed up, nor is it disorderly, nor seeks its own” (1 Cor. 13:4-5). Also in another place he says that he should seek not his own, but (the benefit of) others (1 Cor. 10:24). The point of true love is not that we care only about our own benefits, but also try to benefit our neighbor. The Savior convinces His disciples to think this way in the words offered. Let us try again, on ourselves, as on a board, imprinting with the finest writing the meaning of the speculation contained in this saying, to rise from here to the mystery of Christ. After all, the image contained in lower objects often makes it possible to comprehend incomparably higher objects. So, let’s say, it is pleasant for Paul’s disciples to always be with him, but for Paul it is higher to “be allowed to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23), as he himself states in the Epistle. Therefore, the work of those who loved him was to try to fulfill their love for him and not always limit themselves to what was pleasing to themselves, but also to take care of what was useful for the departing teacher, for he sought to be with Christ. So, you have the shadow of this speculation in us. But let us try to clearly show the truth itself, painting with different colors, as if a picture, the meaning of the sacrament (Incarnation) of Christ. The Only Begotten, being in the form of God and the Father and in equality with the Spirit, did not consider to be equal with God by abduction, but out of love for us, He made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6-7), and underwent this state in order to direct us all to every kind of virtue and, through the incomparable brilliance of His miracles, prepare for us the means to become contemplators of the omnipotence and glory inherent in His Divine nature and supernatural power. In this way, it was possible to force those who had fallen into extreme ignorance to rise again to understanding and no longer worship the creature instead of the Creator, but to honor the one and true God by nature. And in other respects the Only Begotten brought us benefit by His incarnation. Thus, He overthrew the power of death, destroyed the power of sin, and gave us “to tread on serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Therefore, for ourselves, as well as for the holy disciples, it should have been quite natural for us to be pleasant and amiable and worthy of all respect, to constantly be with the giver of so many benefits to us, Christ, and to have Him always co-present and cohabiting with us. But for Him it was not very useful for such long centuries to be in a humiliated form, favorably accepted out of love for us, as we have already said before. On the contrary, after the Economy of the Incarnation had already been properly completed, it was fitting for Him to ascend again into His own glory and, with the flesh assumed for our sake, to return to equality with God and the Father, which, not counting as abduction - for He had to have this as His own good - He descended into human disgrace. After all, while He was still on earth, although He was the true God and Lord of all, those who did not know His glory did not consider Him superior to any of us - people. So, He was strangled, and spat on, and crucified, and was subjected to ridicule of the wickedness of the Jews, who dared to say: “If You are the Son of God, now come down from the cross, and we will believe You” (Matt. 27:40; cf. Matt. 27:42). When, having completed the mystery of incarnation, he ascended to the Heavenly Father and God, after the time of humiliation had already passed and the terms of voluntary humiliation had ended, then he appeared as God before the higher powers. After all, heaven did not know the Lord of all who had ascended, but those who stood at the highest gates received a command to let the Lord of hosts through, although He flew with the flesh, and the Spirit gave a sign to open the gates to Him, saying: “Open the gates, your rulers! Open the eternal gates! And the King of glory will come in! The Lord is mighty and strong, the Lord mighty in war, the Lord of hosts, He is this King of glory” (Ps. 24:7-8, 10). “The manifold wisdom of God, which he accomplished in Christ,” became known to the principalities and powers (Eph. 3:10–11), as Paul says. Thus, having ascended to the Father, although he seemed greater in comparison with Him, since the Father remained in the state in which he had always been, and the Son, having undergone voluntary humiliation, descended in the form of a servant, He ascended again into His glory, hearing: “Sit thou at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Ps. 109:1). And so that it would not seem that He forcibly, and not voluntarily, forced the Heavenly Father and God to seat the Son at His right hand, the Father Himself was introduced saying this, “Sit at My right hand.” And of course, no one with intelligence will say that the Father, having the Son at the right hand, receives a secondary honor, but, on the contrary, he will think and judge this way: after all, to be thought of as being at the right hand and to have a place free from any suspicion of his lesser dignity was indeed not appropriate, of course, for the Father, but, on the contrary, for the Son, for the sake of His voluntary humiliation and submission, accused of inferior dignity (compared to Father) on the part of those who are unable to understand the mystery of Him. Therefore - at the right hand of the Father, who cannot at all be subject to diminishment, so that equality of honor with the Son is preserved. We considered it necessary to present these explanations in the present case, which turn out to be quite useful for the passage being interpreted. But, going back and again repeating the whole, so to speak, meaning of the explanation from the beginning, I will finally say that, of course, it was pleasant and kind for us through prayer to always be with the Savior Christ, although He emptied Himself for our sake, as it is written (Phil. 2:7), and appeared in the form of a servant and in the disgrace of human nature, for what is human nature in comparison with God? But this was not useful for the Son Himself; on the contrary, it was fitting for Him to ascend to the Father and again receive His glory and power and Divine dignity, now openly, and not hidden. And He sat down at the right hand (of God), which the Father Himself desired, for He loves Him as His offspring and as the fruit of His essence. That is why he says: “If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than Me.” Indeed, the proof of love for Him was not to grieve so much for the sake of His apparent removal and necessary departure, but, on the contrary, to reflect on the fact that He was going to His due and proper glory and to the original dignity, that is, obviously, to the Divine. So the Psalmist, speaking mysteries through the Spirit, says: “All nations clasp your hands” (Ps. 46:2). Then, explaining the reason for the celebration, he pointed to the Savior’s ascension into heaven in the words: “God ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet” (Ps. 46:6), calling with a shout and a trumpet the loud and distinct voice of the Spirit when he commanded the powers on high to open the gates and called Him the Lord of hosts, as we just said. But we will also find the choir of saints in great joy for the same reason, which is why they said in one place: “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice” (Ps. 97:1), and in another again: “The Lord reigns, He is clothed in splendor, The Lord is clothed with strength and girded” (Ps. 92:1). He was a man with us before the resurrection from the dead, when he ascended to the Heavenly Father, then he put on his own splendor and girded himself with the power inherent in Him from the beginning, for he sat down to reign with the Father. Therefore, it is rightly fitting for those who love Him to rejoice that He has ascended to the Heavenly Father in order to again receive His glory and reign with Him again, as it was in the beginning. “Greater” he calls Him (the Father) not because he sat on the right hand, like God, but because he was still with them (Christ), that is, like us, precisely as having still had the form of a slave and since the time had not yet come for Him to ascend, he says this. Therefore, when he was honestly crucified for us, the Jews offered vinegar and gall to Him, who was thirsty, and, drinking, he said: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Then the time of humiliation was fulfilled and He was crucified as a man. But he defeated the power of death no longer as a man, but, on the contrary, as God, I speak in relation to strength and glory and power in victory, and not in relation to the flesh. So, the Father is “greater,” since the Son was still a slave and like us. And when He calls Him (the Father) His God, then this also refers to His human image. After all, if we believe that He humiliated and humiliated Himself, then shouldn’t it be obvious to everyone that He descended from a certain superiority to humiliation, or better yet, from equality with the Father to inequality? But the Father did not undergo any of this, but remained and is as he was from the beginning. Thus, He is “greater” than He who providentially chose humiliation for Himself and was in it until He did not ascend again into that, I mean His own and natural, good in which He was at the beginning. As if by some kind of His own and natural place, His equality with the Father should be rightly represented, which He could have had without hindrance, without considering it a robbery for our sake. Since in previous books we have already had an extensive discussion about the equality of the Son with God and the Father, then perhaps we should already begin to explain the following verses, leaving further discussion on this at this time. But since one of the reckless heretics, who received from the Jews a very extraordinary knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, trying to interpret this passage, wrote down terrible blasphemies against the Only Begotten, I considered it completely unacceptable for me and not at all appropriate for me to pass over in silence such a terrible madness of the mentioned (heretic). Therefore, I think that it is necessary to speak out against him and clearly prove that his reasoning is rotten and old woman’s fables, completely devoid of common sense and representing a series of empty conclusions. But I will give you verbatim what he dared to compose, interpreting the meaning, as he himself thought, of this saying. “By clearly preaching the Father as greater than Himself, He not only showed the good-naturedness due to Himself, but also exposed the lies of those who allow a merger between both.” Having struck the opinion of Savely in these words, he, terrible and strong, as he thinks, attacks those who assimilate the Son’s equality with the Father, further saying: “Some have also reached the same level of foolishness, who consider it completely impossible to say that the Father is greater than the Only Begotten Divinity, but think that He is superior only in comparison with the flesh (in humanity). Thus, they are unable to understand even that dissimilar objects cannot be compared at all. In fact, no one will say that a person is wiser than a cattle or a horse runs faster than a turtle, but a person is considered more intelligent than a person, and a horse is faster than a horse. Now, since only homogeneous objects allow comparison with each other, it is necessary for them to admit that the Father turns out to be greater than the Only Begotten Divinity itself, for those who hold the opposite opinion by their comparison with the flesh (interpretation of the saying “The Father is greater than Me” according to the humanity of the Son), as far as it concerns them, destroy paternal dignity.” Such is the nonsense chatter of this heretic. A closer look at it will prove that he, without noticing it, is struggling with his words. In fact, he admits that the Son retains the good sense due to Him when he says: “The Father is greater than I.” But I wonder how he didn’t pay attention to this: what could have forced Him to touch theology (His Divinity) right now? After all, no one with prudence neglects to know the time required for both word and deed. What need was there for such untimely theology (speech about His Divinity), when the disciples were despondent because He intended to leave the world to the Father and God? What kind of comfort could such a speech bring them? Why does he almost even accuse them, saying: “If they loved Me, they would rejoice that I go to the Father, because the Father is greater than Me”? Really, tell me, did the disciples feel encouraged or freed from such pious sadness by the fact that He was “going to the greater Father”? What kind of encouragement can be seen in this? When Philip asked and said: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (John 14:8), it was precisely then, since the time had come for theology, showing the Father in Himself and Himself from His side in the Father, and then (showing) that He is in no way less than Him (the Father) and has equality with (Him) in everything, it was quite opportune for Him to say: “How long have I been with you, and did not know Me, Philip! He who has seen Me has seen the Father; Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me: I and the Father are one” (John 14:9-10). But then He spoke about this in good time, causing just amazement in us. Now, what need required or what purpose could cause these words, except the desire to calm the sadness in the disciples and impart to them, as it were, a (medicinal) means of consolation in the command to rejoice that He is going to the Father? Shouldn’t it really be clear from the very fact that He commanded those who loved Him (the disciples) to rejoice precisely because He was in a hurry to return again to His glory with the Father, offering them, along with others, this very kind of consolation? But let us leave this now and not dwell long on the extravagant opinions of this heretic. Better to move on to the next one. After all, he thought, perhaps, that when comparing the flesh with the nature of the Divinity, we make a completely vain opposition when we say that the Son was humiliated because he became a man. But this is not true at all. Why? Speaking of the Divine glory of servile limitation and servant-like dignity, we affirm that the Son is less than the Father, inasmuch as He became man, but He was again restored to a state of equality with His Parent after His departure from here, putting on not a new or (only now) acquired and not an unusual (for Him) glory, but again finding itself in the same as He was at first with the Father. So our divine master, I mean Paul, no longer assimilating to Him the humiliation due to people after His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven, writes in the Epistle: “Even if we knew Christ in the flesh, now we no longer know” (2 Cor. 5:16). About himself he again says: “Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ, not of men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:1). Why is it that when He says that He will come again to us, transforming “the body of humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21), it is now denied, saying: “Not of men, nor through man,” although He was ordained an apostle through Jesus Christ? Why does he say that he does not know Him at all according to the flesh? Really, tell me, did he deny the Master who redeemed him (2 Pet. 2:1)? No, he argues correctly. After all, when the time of humiliation or humiliation of the Only Begotten had already taken place and reached its end, the Apostle tries to preach Him and know Him not from the side in which He is humiliated, but from the side in which He is God by nature. After it was once recognized and accepted (by believers) that He became a man, then the believers should have learned that He is also God by nature, why, over others, the Apostle prefers such expressions about Him as are appropriate for God. I am surprised that he (the heretic) is not ashamed to say that as soon as only homogeneous objects “allow comparison with each other, then they must admit that the Father turns out to be greater than the Only Begotten Divinity.” Let him answer the question that we consider necessary to pose: comparisons of similar objects with each other from which sides should be made - from those that relate to the commonality of their nature, or from those that appear and disappear, are present and not present, for various reasons? I will use the same example that he gave: whoever wants to compare man with man, bearing in mind their single and common essence, will not find any difference in both. After all, man is by no means different from man in that he is a rational animal, mortal, capable of mental activity and science, for this is the same definition for everyone of the very essence (of man). Also, a horse does not differ from a horse precisely because it is a horse. But man differs from man in relation to some science, such as grammar, or in some other similar respect. And this no longer concerns the essence, but has another reason (differences). Also, a horse can be faster than (another) horse, or smaller, or fuller in body, but the superiority or insufficiency in this, as we see, does not lie in the concept of essence. Otherwise, the objects to be compared with each other would not differ in any way from each other. How, for example, could (one) person be thought of or called lesser or greater than (another) person, since (both) they are people? So, in all homogeneous objects the nature is equal in measure 954. The difference turns out to be in what is present and located in the object, as something that appears from the outside and is accidental. Therefore, as soon as, according to their assumption or expression - I will adhere to it, in fact, only homogeneous objects allow comparison with each other, then, firstly, let him admit that the Son is homogeneous with the Father, that is, consubstantial, for this is how you should understand homogeneity, if he (the heretic) admitted that man should be compared with man and horse with horse. And then let him indicate the reason why the Son, compared with God and the Father as homogeneous to Him, has (compared to the Father) diminishment in any respect - and in what way should we find this less (in the Son before the Father), when homogeneous objects are assigned one limit of essence? After all, each essence is not perfect in some objects and imperfect in others, but is one and equal in all. But we believe that each of the properties that occur or appear in any way has other causes. To clarify my words, I will again give the previous example. A person, of course, is no different from a person at all, since they are precisely people. But one turns out to be pious, another evil-minded, a third sick and with bodily injuries, another healthy and strong, this one envious, and that one kind. But when someone begins to carefully examine the reasons for these (differences), he will find these reasons not in the limit (different measures) of essence, but will assimilate them to bodily or spiritual passions. That is why, as soon as the Father and the Son conceive and have one limit of Divinity - or otherwise, as anyone will call it, does not move away from the truth, because They are compared as homogeneous - for the sake of the need for clarification, I will also use his (the heretic's) words - then let the unfortunate ones indicate what, in their opinion, causes the Son to be diminished before God and the Father? Is it passion, or negligence, and everything that usually happens to those who have a created nature? But who is so absurd and reckless as to decide to allow this blasphemy even to be heard? When, therefore, being homogeneous with Him Who is God by nature, He Himself is obviously God by nature, for He is compared with the Father and nothing prevents Him from being the same as the Parent, how can He be less? But since the enemy of truth, reasoning in his above words very ignorantly and stupidly, was not afraid to say that “The Father is greater than the Divinity of the Son,” we will now, having somewhat shortened the speech about the Economy of the Incarnation and for the sake of reproof, having abstracted our thoughts from the passage being interpreted, we will begin to compare the Divinity of the Son with the Divinity of the Father, as they express it. And first of all, we will ask the one who dares to assert this to answer us whether he considers the Son to be true God by nature or something else and not God, so that He is only honored by the title of Godhead, as, no doubt, many gods and lords in heaven and many on earth are called (1 Cor. 8:5). If it is asserted that the Son is worthy of only the simple title of Divinity, but He does not truly and by nature prove to be what He is and is called, then we, reasoning correctly, must exclaim loudly: but if He is not God by nature, then we still worship a creature, and not the Creator, and not only we who inhabit the earthly region, but also the very multitude of holy Angels. Finally, we must condemn every saint who called Him God by nature and in truth, and especially before everyone we will accuse blessed John, who said about Him: “We know that the Son of God came and gave us understanding, that we might know the true God, and we (are) in His true Son Jesus Christ: This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). If the heretic, ashamed of the entire Divinely inspired Scripture, must call Him truly God and recognize Him as such, and yet thinks and believes that He is in any respect less than the Father, then does he not introduce us to another God, completely separated from natural existence with the Father and conceived in some of His own being 955, but not in the essence 956 of God and the Father? But I think this matter is obvious to everyone. If nothing is greater or less than itself, but something is thought to be greater than something less or less than something greater, then is it not absolutely necessary to recognize precisely two gods by nature and true, so that one is thought to be greater and the other less than it? Thus, the faith of the Church is already disappearing and distorted in their teaching. God is not one above us, but already two. Whom, therefore, are we called churches, according to the Scriptures? Isn’t it obvious that He is the One who infuses His Spirit into our souls? Therefore, when we find in the Holy Scriptures that the Spirit is called not only (the Spirit of) the Father, but also the Son, what shall we think? How should one reason? Which of the two will we reject, and the other will we recognize as God? After all, if we accept two gods, the lesser and the greater, then we will have to assert that both of them inhabit our souls through their spirits, we will already find ourselves as churches of the gods. And two spirits dwell in us, a greater and a lesser, according to the nature of those who gave them. Who can endure such abominations? Who will not notice that their reasoning is ignorant and ridiculous if they pay attention to the meaning of what we have just said? But, perhaps, forced to recognize two gods by nature, as soon as one is greater and the other lesser, the heretic will turn to his usual and hackneyed method, that is, to the doctrine that the Son has some of His own nature, if not completely free from the created nature, nor completely deprived of the nature of God and the Father. After all, those who do not hesitate to openly call Him a creature and a creature resort to embellishments of such words in order to come up with a more polite blasphemy. But when we recognize the Son as such, so that He is neither wholly God by nature, nor wholly located among creatures, but is a certain middle, both devoid of the dignity of God and the Father, and surpassing the glory of creatures, then, firstly, we will say that no basis allows them to legitimize and say what they want. Either let them convince us from the Holy and Divine Scriptures, or, in the absence of anything to certify their teaching, let them be ashamed to give definitions regarding faith from their own opinion. Then, since this speech also appeared to them as a result of recklessness and mental damage, I will move on to their statement and again ask them finally: if only homogeneous objects can actually allow “comparison with each other,” and the Son deigned to compare Himself with God and the Father, very clearly saying: “The Father is greater than Me,” then isn’t it necessary to think of the Father as the same as you will call the Son? What from here? All your reasoning turns into nothing. After all, while the Father is called by you greater than the Son, and the creation is less (the Son), then the nature of the Only Begotten, in your opinion, is some kind of middle (between God and creation). But as soon as the essence of the Father is brought down into the essence of the Son, between what will He finally be the middle, if there is still nothing higher and more excellent? If, according to the words of the heretic, He (the Son) is compared with the Father as homogeneous with the same, then how will both have more than one essence? If you refuse to recognize the Son as consubstantial with the Father and, on the contrary, consider Him less than and reduce the glory of the Father to the glory of what you think is lesser and lower (the Son), then don’t you finally see your own blasphemy growing like thorns? Doesn’t “the root of bitterness that grows upward” (Heb. 12:15) sadden the heart of those who reason in this way? Why, therefore, having abandoned the direct teaching of truth, come to such absurd thoughts? Please allow the homogeneous, as you put it, to be in equality with God and the Father, for in this way there will be one God, in the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, worshiped and glorified both by ourselves and by the saints, the Angels. John 14:29. And now Reh you before even being, yea, when it comes, you believe 957 A firm guarantee of the fulfillment of expectations is a prediction about them. Therefore, Christ strengthens the hearts of the disciples and convinces them to firmly believe that He truly ascends to the Heavenly Father and God in order to co-reign with Him and co-seat as God and from Him by nature as God born. Do not consider, he says, My physical and visible removal - for I will always be with you as God - equal to the removal of the holy prophets. After all, they, as having come from the earth and having paid a debt to their nature, withdrew and were subjected to the law (death) befitting people. I, being God by nature, will not be subject to the same fate as My creatures, awaiting the time of resurrection. I live always, being Life by nature (John 14:19). And I will send an Advocate, and I will also give you My peace (John 14:26–27) and I will not deceive you. But so that you, having received the fulfillment of the promise and being enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, are convinced of the truth of My words, remembering them after their fulfillment, as I said, and so that you firmly believe that I am co-present and co-reign with the Father, I predicted this to you in advance and expressed it. Thus, the fulfillment of the promise must guarantee the truth of My words. After all, if I, he says, am not life, if I am not co-seated with the Father and God, how could I myself give Divine and spiritual gifts? But I will distribute, as I promise, and impart both Spirit and peace. Is it not therefore indisputable that I am life and reign with the Father? In fact, to adorn those who love Him with Divine gifts is by no means the work of the non-existent and incapable of anything, but of the existing and omnipotent and always reigning. So, through these words, Christ taught that He did not give a prediction about the future in vain. But, he says, He spoke these words so that they would have a stronger faith in this, coming to the thought and remembrance of what was foretold after actually receiving the gifts. John 14:30–31. I don’t talk to you much anymore, for the prince of [this] world is coming, and in Me you will have nothing 958. But let the world know that I love the Father as I love the commandment [St. Cyrus: He gave me the commandment] My Father, this is what I do 959 As if the wicked Jews had already appeared with the guards and their leader, who had promised to betray Him, and were already planning to take Him and soon take Him to crucifixion and to the suffering that preceded the crucifixion, He said that He would stop His speeches to them. Time has been shortened, he says, and there is no more of it left. Since the murderous plans of the Jews against Me have reached their extreme and are finally ready to be fulfilled, the time has come not for words to you, but for suffering itself. Here he comes, he says, “a worldly prince and has nothing in Me.” I will die, and very willingly, I will undergo death for the lives of all, out of respect for the Parent and love for Him, voluntarily allowing even what is contrary to My soul in order to fulfill His will (cf. Matt. 26:39, 42) 960. Such a goal can be clearly seen in the above words. But revealing more precisely the meaning contained in them, let’s say this. Our ancestor Adam, under the Divine curse, suffered death for the crime of the commandment given to him, being accused both by himself and by the devil. And he is subject to this, of course, for a very good reason. After all, punishment must follow with all justice to the one who sinned through negligence. And the second Adam - our Lord Jesus Christ - could not be accused of anything, for He “committed no sin, neither was flattery found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). He underwent suffering for us, being Himself completely innocent and giving Himself up to suffering as a ransom for the lives of all, since He “loves the Father,” who desired the salvation of the world. The work of the One who loves the Father was, without a doubt, that what was pleasing to Him (the Father) and recognized as necessary should not be neglected at all, but should be tried to be carried out. What was it? He wanted to reduce His Own Son, although He had Him to be like Himself and possessed equality with Him in everything, to such humiliation that He (the Son) became a man for our sake and was not ashamed of death for the life of all. This is what the Son did, loving the Parent, about whom (the Son) says that He (the Son) was commanded (by the Father) that He, by His power, through the suffering of the flesh, would kill death, destroy the power of corruption, revive the decayed and again restore for them the original glory. That is why he says that the time of His words is short, but suffering is already coming and the daring malice of the Jews against Him has flared up. I will suffer, he says, voluntarily, since I came for this. However, “the prince of the world comes and has nothing in Me.” That is, I will not be found to have sinned, but the Jews will not have a valid excuse for being furious against Me. The devil has nothing of his own in Me. After all, property, as it were, is evil, and the origin of sin has its beginning in him (the devil). And that the word of the Savior is true, everyone can see this especially from the very sequence of thoughts. In fact, how could He sin who knew no sin, true God by nature, completely inaccessible to change to anything unjust? No less than this, we can see this through the very writings of the holy Evangelists. So the wise John introduced Pilate saying: “I find no guilt in Him” (John 18:38), and again, after laying the crown of thorns, proclaiming the words: “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him” (John 19:4). And Matthew says that he (Pilate) reached such a disgust for evil that he even washed his hands before the Jews and said: “I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous One” (Matthew 27:24). And presenting Him to us brought to the bishops themselves, he says this: “The bishops and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false witnesses against Christ in order to kill Him, and did not find them, although many false witnesses came” (Matthew 26:59-60). But although accusations against Him were sought through people, the devil used them as instruments and servants of his inherent evil - and it was he himself, and not others, who tried to find any sin in Him. So, it is true that the devil had nothing of his own in Him, whom he called “prince of peace” in this case, not because he was truly a ruler, but as like one of the ferocious barbarians, who through violence took possession of what does not belong to him. After all, he has subjugated man through sin and, as if he had alienated some homeless herd from God, he takes possession of someone else’s. That is why he is rightly deprived of the power gained in this way, for Christ has reigned over us, which is why he says: “Today the prince of this world will be cast out, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Me” (John 12:31-32). John 14:31. Get up, let's get out of here 961 The custom and generally accepted meaning of this saying makes it clear that since the time of Jewish madness had almost arrived and almost showed the already erected Honorable Cross of the Savior, He, together with His holy disciples, hastens to go to those places where a detachment of servants (bishops) found and took Him. And this meaning of these words is, of course, natural. But in addition, it seems that he wants to point out another meaning, that is, spiritual and hidden. Wanting specifically to point out the migration from one place to another and the transition from worse to better, coming through Him and with Him to all of us, he proclaims: “Get up, let’s go from here.” According to this, in reality we must understand the transition from death to life, from corruption to incorruption, from one place to another, through Him and with Him, as I just said. So, it says this beautifully: “Get up, let’s get out of here.” Or we can understand this saying in another way regarding ourselves. After all, we must already move from the habit of thinking about worldly things to the determination to desire to do what is pleasing to God and, in addition, to rise from slavery to the dignity of adoption, from earth to the highest City, from sin to righteousness, obviously through faith in Christ, from human impurity to holiness through the Spirit, from dishonor to glory, from ignorance to understanding, and from cowardice and powerlessness to courage in goodness. So, imagining this world as a place for our sins on earth, he says: “Get up, let’s go from here.” And although, as far as the manner of speech is concerned, He appears to have united Himself with us, this should not in the least hinder us, since He usually does this. So in another case, He will find himself saying to his disciples: “We must do the works of Him who sent us while it is day; the night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4). You hear how He joins us in doing what is appropriate, although He is not obliged to do our deeds with us. But among ourselves we will find this way of speech no less common. Likewise, the divine Paul boldly reproaches the Corinthians and writes the following: “But this, my brethren, I have applied to myself and to Apollos, so that you may learn from us not to philosophize beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6). And that He is not subject to our weaknesses, but that we have in Him a guide in all good things and in turning from primordial passions to the best, not an intercessor, not an Angel, but the Lord of all (Isa. 63:9), there can be no doubt about this, for we are redeemed not through ourselves and not through any other created being, but through our Savior Christ Himself. So, when, as you, together with us, moving away from evil in the world, he says: “Get up, let’s go from here,” he expresses this not as guilty with us and subject to human passions, but as the leader and primate and mentor of the entrance into incorruption and life in holiness and love of God. That the Son is consubstantial with God and the Father, and not alien or heterogeneous, according to the perverse teaching of some John 15:1. I am the true vine, and My Father is the worker 962 Wanting to show that we should try to acquire love for Him, and also how great benefit we will gain from unity with Him, He calls Himself a “vine”, as if in the form of a parable, and “branches” - united with Him and, as it were, grown together, having already become sharers of His nature, through the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1: 4), for He unites us with Christ the Savior, His Holy Spirit. After all, the union with the Vine of those who come to Her is voluntary, and Her attitude towards us is receptive (with love), for by good will we came (to Christ) through faith and became His race (Acts 17:29), having received from Him the dignity of sonship. So, according to the words of St. Paul, “he who is united with the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17). As in other places, in the voice of the prophet, He is called the foundation and support (cf. Isa.28:16) - for in Him we are built up, being called living and spiritual stones, “for a holy priesthood” (1 Pet.2:5), “for the habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph.2:22), but in any other way we are not able to be built up to this, if Christ were not the foundation for us (1Cor.3:11); so here, in a similar sense, He calls Himself the vine of the branches growing out of it, as their mother and nurse, for from Him and in Him we are reborn by the Spirit to a fruitful life, not old and old, but new, consisting of faith and love for Him. And we must try to be as if united with Him and relentlessly adhere to the holy commandment handed down to us - try to maintain the dignity of nobility, that is, not allow anything to offend the Holy Spirit who has indwelled us, through whom God is thought to dwell in us. How we abide in Christ and He in us, this will be shown to us by the wise John himself in the words: “In this (through this) we know that we are in Him and He in us, from the Spirit (through Christ) whom He has given to us” (1 John 3:24), and again: “In this (through this) we know that we are in Him: he who says that he abides in Him must also walk as He walked” ( 1 John 2:5-6). And presenting this more clearly to his listeners, he says again like this: “He who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him” (1 John 3:24). Indeed, if keeping the commandments serves as the fulfillment of love for Him and we are united with Him through love, then doesn’t this reveal the truth of His words? After all, just as the trunk of a grape communicates and distributes to the branches the use of its own and its inherent natural quality, so the Only Begotten Word of God, giving the Spirit, as if the affinity of the nature of both God and the Father, and His own communicates to the saints, as united with Him through faith and every kind of holiness. And He (the Spirit) nourishes godliness and produces in them the knowledge of all virtue and holiness. He calls the Father “farmer” - for what reason? Of course, the Father does not remain idle and inactive in relation to us, when the Son nourishes and supports us for well-being in the Holy Spirit, but the work of the entire Holy and Consubstantial Trinity is the dispensation of us (in goodness) and desire and power pass through the entire Divine nature in all Her deeds. Therefore, in one person She is entirely glorified by us. We call God Savior, not separately to the Father, separately to the Son Himself or the Holy Spirit, giving thanks for the fact that we have received mercy, but really calling our salvation the work of the one Divinity. And although it may seem that each person separately assimilates something that happened to us or happened to the creation, nevertheless we believe that everything is from the Father through the Son in the Spirit. Therefore, with all justice, you must present the matter in such a way that the Father feeds us to godliness through the Son in the Spirit. And he cultivates again like the earth, that is, he oversees and observes and is worthy of providential care through the Son in the Spirit. To reason this way, in our opinion, is much fairer than any other way. After all, if we each separately assimilate something that happens to us, which we do not consider belonging to the Other, then wouldn’t there be no doubt that since the Son is now called the vine, and the Father a farmer, then we feed separately and are maintained in prosperity by the Son alone, and from the Father we have only supervision? For it is the nature of the vine to nourish its branches, and of the farmer to observe. But if we think correctly, we must, of course, admit that neither one (nutrition) without the Father, nor another (observation) without the Son or the Holy Spirit can be accomplished at all, for everything is from the Father through the Son in the Spirit, as we said. Very prudently, even now, the Savior called the Father “farmer.” And what the reason was for this is not at all difficult to say. So that no one would think that the care of us belongs only to the Only Begotten, he introduced God and the Father as a co-creator, calling Himself a “vine”, imparting life and the ability to bear fruit to its branches, and His Parent as a “farmer”. And through this he again teaches that another, as it were, some kind of effectiveness of the Divine essence is of course in the matter of observing us. Indeed, it was necessary to teach us that God not only made us partakers of His nature, understood in the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, but also very carefully observes us, which is presented in the present case very appropriately and beautifully under the image of agriculture. Since the “vine” and the “branches” from it were previously named, is this not a proper indication of the “tiller of the earth,” introducing the Overseer of all and the Provider, that is, God? If we believe that the Son is naturally and truly in His Father and Himself in His nature has His Parent, then everything must be accomplished through Both in the Spirit as from one Divinity, and neither the Father should stand outside the nourishment of us (to be imagined as not feeding us), nor the Son should be thought of as alien to cultivation in relation to us. This is natural. Where there is the most complete and perfect identity of nature, there is the inseparability of effectiveness, although this effectiveness may appear to someone differently and diversely. And if one essence, that is, if the true and by nature Divinity is thought of in three hypostases, I mean the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, then is it not completely undeniable evidence that when any action is called the action of One, it is the work of the whole and single Divinity, precisely in relation to the natural force (performing it)? So our Lord Jesus Christ, presenting the Father as a co-worker with Him in everything, once turned to the wicked Jews with these words: “I have shown you many good deeds from My Father, for which of these are you stoning Me?” (John 10:32). And again, about activity on the Sabbath he says: “My Father is working hitherto, and I am working” (John 5:17). No one, I believe, will think that He says that the Father separately does anything in relation to the creation and the Son separately. But since the Father did everything through the Son and in no other way at any time, for He is His wisdom and power, therefore He again called the Father the doer of His works, saying: “I do nothing of Myself, but the Father, abiding in Me, does the works Himself” (John 8:28, 14:10). Therefore, I think, we should understand (the interpreted words) in no other way than in this way, that Christ is presented as a vine, and we are united with Him like branches, as if feeding on grace and drinking through the Spirit the power to bear spiritual fruit. But since we, who have chosen the right path, are again deafened by the bitter words of our opponents and are trying to convince us that it is not proper to think, we will clearly present to the listeners in short words what one of them stated in long lines. Strongly, he says, the Only Begotten exposed and presented as ridiculous those who think that He is consubstantial with God and the Father, for He clearly calls Himself a vine, and the Father a farmer. Just as a vine and a farmer, he says, are not the same in essence, for that one is a tree, and this one is a man, and they are foreign and completely different in nature, so the Son is not consubstantial with the Father, but differs in many ways, and the property of the essence separates them, just as One is a vine, and the other is a farmer. That some will unreasonably try to transfer this to the work of the House of God with the flesh (attribute these words to the incarnation of the Word), this is certain. After all, He does not call His flesh a vine, but, on the contrary, the Divinity. Indeed, for whom, he says, may it not be clear that our body is not united with the flesh of the Savior, like the branches of a vine, nor is the fruit of the saints carnal, but spiritual? Therefore, leaving the flesh aside now, we must attribute the meaning of this saying to the Divinity of the Son Himself and call His Divinity the vine, with which we are united through faith. He (the heretic) came out with such chatter, in a variety of ways, according to his complete arbitrariness, setting aside the correctness of Divine dogmas and, with great cunning, perverting them in accordance with his intended goal. But we, adhering to the truth everywhere, will not reason like this, and far from it - guided by the understanding of our holy fathers, we will follow the dogmas of truth. How we should understand the meaning of the words being interpreted, let us examine this not without knowledge of the matter, as far as it is available to us. We must consider again how we need to arm ourselves and fight against their reasoning. True, if we pass over in silence (these reasonings), then no harm will come from this to the minds of the simple, and we can, rightly neglecting to engage in empty reasoning, move on to considering the words that follow. But since such a teaching, accepted by someone, can cause considerable harm, shouldn’t we, driven by the love of God and zeal, enter into battle through reasoning and words? And then the cunning of the opponents will be completely clear. And first of all, we will say that it is very stupid and inappropriate to understand as an indication of nature or essence that which is taken as an example and given to compare an object. After all, those who want to correctly understand each word (of the sacred text) must, as I believe, pay attention to the purpose of the saying and consider with great care what the one who utters the word means when he conducts a conversation. And from the very saying before us (and being interpreted), notice again whether our words seem to you to be completely fair. The Savior Christ did not have in mind to teach his disciples that He is different by nature and the Father is different from Him by nature, and this is not why He considered it necessary to call the Parent the Farmer, and Himself the Vine. After all, if this was His goal, then why didn’t He stop speaking there, without adding anything else? Without any obscurity, He would have made an indication of His purpose, in our opinion, if He had named only Himself and the Father. Now, having presented Himself in front as a vine, and calling us united with Him like branches, then having taught the Father the occupation of agriculture, 963, I think, clearly and obviously, makes it clear to everyone that it does not at all indicate anything similar to what you assume, but through seemingly material examples presented to the bodily gaze, he wants to convince listeners that the power of all spiritual fruitfulness for us is from Him, as, without doubts, and the quality of the branches growing on the trunk comes from it (the trunk). After all, everything that we have that is good is given to us (from God). In God, not at all, for He Himself is the source of His advantages, glory and power, which is due to Him alone. Therefore, Christ is, as it were, the “vine”, and we are the “branches”. If you called the Father “farmer,” then do not say that he (called him that) as having a different essence. This is not what he wants to express, as we said, but he wants to point out that the Divine Nature has become the root and beginning of spiritual fruitfulness and life in us, in addition to the said benefits, as if in the capacity of a kind of farmer, bestowing and bringing to those called through faith into communion with Her a manifestation of love. Thus, the dissimilarity of examples should not have any significance in relation to the essence, for it was not the intention of the Savior Christ to say anything about this now, but the image of the teaching (here) has a different purpose. But since a fool, due to his inherent unreason, wants to assert a lie and says that no reason will prevent, as if distracting this saying from its direct goal, from directing it to the incarnation of Christ - after all, we are not united with Him in the body, and the Apostles did not at all remain in the body of Christ, like branches, were not united with Him in this particular way, but (were united with Christ) by their mood and sincerity. by faith; then we need to briefly say something against this, showing everywhere its foolishness and deviation from the straight path of the Holy Scriptures. That we are spiritually united with Christ both by our spiritual disposition in accordance with perfect love, and by right and uncorrupted faith, as well as by a good-loving and pure mind, this cannot at all be denied by the meaning of our dogmas. We even admit that what they say is quite fair. But to dare to assert that we have absolutely no fellowship with Him in the flesh, this, as we will show, is completely contrary to the Inspired Scriptures. Indeed, is it not indisputable, or can anyone of common sense even the slightest doubt, that Christ is the vine in this regard, and we, representing the image of the branches, receive life from Him and from Him into ourselves - when Paul says that “we are all one body in Christ, because we are many of one bread, for we all partake of one bread” (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 10:17). Let someone show us the reason and at the same time explain the meaning of the sacramental Eucharist (εὐλογίας). After all, why does she come to us? Is it not in order to physically infuse Christ into us through the communion and communion of His holy Flesh? I believe that I am saying this correctly. So Paul writes that “the Gentiles became fellow-partners and partakers and joint heirs” of Christ (Eph. 3:6). So, how did they appear as co-workers? Precisely such that, having received the sacrament of the sacramental Eucharist (εὐλογίας), they became one body with Him, as, without a doubt, each of the holy Apostles. Otherwise, for what reason did he call both his own members and even the members of all members of Christ? After all, he writes like this: “Do you not know that your members are members of Christ? So, having taken the members of Christ, will I make (them) members of a harlot? Let it not be” (1 Cor. 6:15). But the Savior Himself says: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56). Here we must especially pay attention to the fact that not only by mood, which consists in spiritual disposition, will Christ abide in us, as He says, but also by communion, of course natural. Just as if someone, having united one wax with another and melted it on fire, makes something single out of both, so through the communion of the Body of Christ and the Precious Blood, He Himself is in us and we, for our part, are united in Him. After all, it would otherwise have been impossible for something that had undergone corruption to become capable of life, if it had not been physically combined with the body of Him who is Life by nature, that is, the Only Begotten. And if you are not convinced by my words, give faith to Christ Himself who exclaims: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you do not have life in yourself: whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:53-54). Do you hear how He finally clearly says that if we do not eat His flesh and if we do not drink His blood, we do not have eternal life in ourselves, that is, in our flesh. By eternal life we ​​must quite rightly understand the flesh of Life, that is, (the flesh of) the Only Begotten. She will resurrect us on the last day. How and in what way, listen to this, and I will not hesitate to tell you. Since she became the Flesh of Life, that is, from God and the Father of the shining Word, she passed on to the power of life (received the power of life), and it is impossible for life to suffer defeat from death. Therefore, as soon as life appeared in us, it can no longer endure the bonds of death, but must, of course, conquer corruption, since it cannot be subject to its power. After all, “corruption does not inherit incorruption,” according to the words of Paul (1 Cor. 15:50). In fact, if Christ says with particular expressiveness that “I will raise him,” then it is not only His flesh that acquires the power to resurrect the dead, but, being one with His flesh, God the Word, who is in it, says: “I,” and quite rightly. For Christ is not divided into two sons, and no one can imagine His body as alien to the Only Begotten, just as, without a doubt, no one will call our body alien to our soul. Thus, from these considerations it becomes clear to us that Christ is the vine, and we are the branches, since we have communion with Him not only spiritual, but also physical. Therefore, why are you in vain chattering at us, pointing out that since we are not in physical communion with Him, but through faith and mood, according to the law of love, then, you say, He did not call His flesh the vine, but, on the contrary, the Divinity? But why, one might ask, having left the image that is closest and more appropriate to the meaning of the saying, do you rush to a much more distant one? Isn’t it more natural to imagine Jesus as a vine precisely because of the communion of the flesh, and ourselves as branches because of the unity of nature? After all, its branches are of the same nature as the vine. We affirm this not with the intention of destroying our unity with Christ through both right faith and sincere love, but wanting, on the contrary, to show that both spiritually and physically the vine is Christ, and we are the branches. No matter how simple and clear the word of truth is, the adversary maliciously refuses to recognize that Christ is a vine bodily, as giving life to His branches, that is, to us, like a sensual and earthly vine to the branches growing on it, but forcibly applies the meaning of this saying to His Divinity alone. He again found an opportunity to slander him (the Divinity of the Son), ignorantly reasoning like this: “If the vine is the Son, and the farmer is the Father, and the Son is again alien in nature (with the Father), as with the vine (farmer), then the Son will not be consubstantial with the Father.” But although he thinks that he is putting forward some deep, strong and irrefutable consideration against church dogmas, here too he will turn out to be no less an idle talker. And firstly, not considering the Son to be the Only Begotten by nature and considering Him outside the essence of the One who gave birth, how can one already call the Father father and the Son son? After all, if He was not begotten, that is, did not come from the essence of the Father, as he says, just as their generation comes from people, then how will He be the true Son? And then, how will he (the heretic) reject the words of blessed John: “He who denies the Son and the Father will deny, but he who acknowledges the Son acknowledges the Father also” (1 John 2:23)? This word is true, for both must be destroyed and exist together. There cannot be a father when there is no son, and one cannot imagine a son if one does not think of the parent along with him. If therefore he denies the Son, because he considers Him foreign, then he has rejected the Father Himself. What, my dear, do you say to this? In whom will there finally be faith? Where is the glory of the Holy Trinity? Nature, which rules over everything and is indicated to us in simple sayings in the Holy Scriptures, is already being destroyed and disappears. These are the absurdities to which their madness and idle talk makes us reach. But, perhaps, fearing the enormity of blasphemy, he claims that although (the Son) is foreign, he is nevertheless born of God and the Father. In this case, we, for our part, will again demand an answer to us: what kind of birth does he recognize and allow? If, as one of the creatures, in relation to the love and will (of God), for everything, as they say, is from God, then he will no less be guilty of the same blasphemy. If he calls the birth true and at the same time recognizes Him as alien in nature and calls him heterogeneous even after that, then, without a doubt, he will dishonor Himself who gave birth, for he will present God as having allowed something that even the nature of creatures does not allow. Is not what is truly born of something by nature consubstantial with the one who gave birth? And isn't this obvious to everyone? So, the creation comes into being according to the proper law, for it does not give birth to what is foreign, but only we will find God allowing the contrary (to this law), just as He begot the Son who was foreign and not from His nature. Our enemy should no longer object to this. But since he does not renounce his inherent unreason and continues to consider the Son alien from God and the Father, we will not cease to defend the dogmas of truth and prove that he (the heretic) calls God and the Father co-natural (ὁμογενῆ) with creation. How and why, let him listen again. He clearly states that it is not the flesh that is called the vine, but the very Divinity of the Only Begotten. Let's assume that this is so. So, I will ask (the heretic), and let him answer us again, whether He recognizes the Son as true God or not, but call Him not true and having this dignity in sounds alone. But if he does not recognize Him as God by nature, then let him accept the testimony of the Only Begotten Himself, who says about Himself: “I am the truth” (John 14:6). After all, truth does not at all allow anything untrue and false. Let him, in addition, listen to the wisest John himself, who clearly exclaims: “And we are in the true God Jesus Christ, who is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). But if, being ashamed of this and ceasing to persist, he recognizes the Son as the true God, then to refute his words we will not turn anywhere, but will use his own words. Is it really true that just as the farmer turns out to be alien to the grapes, for this is a man, and this is a tree, so the vine should not rightly and truly be thought of as the only begotten with its branches? I believe that no one would want to go to such lengths of madness as to dare deny something so obvious. Therefore, He, being the true God, is consubstantial with the true God by nature, that is, the Father, and at the same time, if He is the vine, and we are branches, obviously therefore of one nature with the vine, then how can we not also turn out to be gods by nature, as if leaving our (created) nature? But to think so is the height of all wickedness and evil, for we are created, and the Son is God by nature. So how can this be? How can this saying about Him be true if the branches are of the same nature as the vine? It is necessary either for us to rise to the nature of the true Divinity, or to bring It (the Divine nature) down to us, for the branches are of one nature with the vine. And as soon as the Son appears saying: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), then we and Him ascend to likeness in everything with the Father, or the Father Himself, together with the Son, of one nature with us, is brought down to our likeness. You see how much blasphemy arises from here. Therefore, let us better follow true reasoning and recognize that by way of comparison and example the Son said: “I am the vine, you are the branches, My Father is the farmer.” John 15:2. Every rod that does not bear fruit in Me I will cut off; and every rod that bears fruit I will cut off, that it may bear fruit 964 Our connection with Christ is acquired by us, has the meaning of voluntary communication with Him and is accomplished through love and faith. Faith takes root in our souls, delivering the pure light of God-knowledge. And love requires compliance with the commandment He set for us. Thus, in one place, introducing a lover, He Himself said: “He who loves Me will keep My commandments” (John 14:23). It is appropriate, therefore, to know that we, uniting with Him in verbal confession alone, without strengthening the bond of this communication with deeds of love, although we will be “branches,” will be dead and fruitless - for without works, faith is dead, according to the word of the saint (James 2:20; cf. James 2:26). If, therefore, anyone turns out to be this kind of “branch,” so to speak, hanging fruitlessly from a grape trunk, let him know that he will certainly be subjected to the farmer’s knife, for He will, without a doubt, cut it off and give it to the fire as worthless dry meat. This is the judgment on the barren, just as on the fig tree, taken in the form of a parable, the lord of the field says to the farmer: “Cut it down, why is it occupying the land?” (Luke 13:7). So here too, I believe, God and the Father of all cuts off the barren and withered mass of branches hanging uselessly on the spiritual vine. I think that the Guardian of our souls, that is, God, through this parable wants to show what kind and how great harm a soul will suffer if it is cut off from communication with Him. After all, it will turn into nothing and will be useless in any good deed - moreover, without a doubt, it will be punished and become food for the all-consuming fire. So again, through the prophet Ezekiel, wanting to express the same thing as clearly as possible, he said: “Son of man! Of all the trees among the trees of the forest, what will the vine tree be? Will they take a log from him for carpentry work? Or in order to hang all kinds of utensils on it? The fire carries out its annual purification, and it is completely destroyed; will it be suitable for the product?” (Ezek.15:2-4). Understand from this that once what is cut off and finally rejected turns out to be completely unsuitable and cannot be used for anything necessary, suitable only for one fire. Isn’t it clear, therefore, that even though we have become a “branch”, having broken away from polytheistic error and confessed faith in Christ, if we find ourselves deprived of communication with Him through works, then, without any doubt, will we not suffer the fate of the worthless branches? So what then? We are completely cut off, for we will be consigned to fire, deprived of that life-giving moisture that we once received from the vine. After all, what Christ said about the one who buried his talent, everyone can see it being fulfilled even over those who were subjected to complete cutting off. Just as the talent is taken away from him, so, I believe, the Spirit is taken away from the branch in the form of some kind of moisture or quality. And for what reason is it weaned? So that together with those who have to descend into the fire, the Master Spirit does not seem condemned by the Judge. If earthly rulers do not hastily award anything to those who have once been awarded honors and are distinguished by royal favor, but if someone were caught in something for which he should suffer a just punishment, he would be subjected to this (punishment) not before being deprived of the distinctions (deserved by him) - then is it not necessary that the soul, sentenced to punishment by the Supreme Court, before being subjected to evil, would first be deprived the grace of the Spirit? This is what the barren branch will undergo, He says, wonderfully and strongly strengthening our souls in the desire to have love for Him, obviously through the practice of virtue and immaculate faith. Likewise, the fruitful branch, he says, will by no means remain deprived of the care of the farmer, but will be purified in order to have the strength to bear more fruit. After all, those who have chosen the best and possibly perfect life for themselves and decided to do good and walk in every God-loving life, God Himself assists, using the power of the Spirit, as if with a kind of knife, and cutting off in them, on the one hand, the pleasures that always cause the love of the flesh and bodily passions, and on the other, those vices that usually appear in human souls, polluting the mind of various types with evil. This, in our opinion, is that circumcision not made with hands and understood in the spirit, about which Paul speaks in one place: “For circumcision is not in outward appearance as a Jew, nor in outward appearance in the flesh is circumcision, but in hiddenness is the Jew, and the circumcision of the heart in the Spirit, (but) not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:28-29), or again in another place: “In Him also When you believed, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands” (Col. 2:11). And we, after a careful consideration of the matter, must fully agree with those who say to this that if there must be some kind of cleansing of the branches of the spiritual grape, and this cannot happen, as I believe, without difficulty, for it must undergo the same thing to which a tree is usually exposed, then, therefore, it is appropriate for us to think about the saints in the same way. After all, our God who loves virtue instructs us through labor and sorrow. So the prophet Isaiah tells us: “For the Lord will wash away the uncleanness of the sons and daughters of Zion, and the blood will cleanse them from among them in the spirit of judgment and the spirit of heat” (Is. 4:4). In addition, the divine Paul himself: “If you endure punishment, then God treats you as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not punish?” (Heb.12:7). And the choir of saints themselves, surpassing all surprise, does not refuse the punishment characteristic of saints; on the contrary, they very willingly allow it, saying: “Punish us, Lord, but in judgment, and not in anger, so that you do not make us little” (Jer. 10:24). In anger there will be a complete cutting off of barren branches, for it sends as punishment. In court - on the contrary: that is, in consideration and to a moderate degree there is a purification of fruitful (branches), combined with very little labor to induce fruiting and the resulting fertility. Therefore, some, accepting this, exclaim: “Lord, in little tribulation your punishment is upon us” (Is. 26:16). The sorrow of purification is very insignificant, but it gives us higher teaching and makes us blessed. Let blessed David also be accepted as a witness, so exclaiming: “Blessed is the man whom the Lord chastises, and you will teach him of Your law, to tame him from the days of evil” (Ps. 94:12-13). Truly terrible and evil days are for those who are finally cut off and must retire for punishment by fire - the days of the incorruptible Judgment - but then God subdues (the punishment) to those who are instructed. Such a one will by no means be subject to condemnation and punishment, just as he soon turned out to be not a fruitless branch. Therefore, let the ardor of deeds be combined with the confession of faith, and let deeds be added to words about God. Then we will be with Christ and will gain firm and strong power of communication with Him, avoiding the danger of being cut off (from Him). This (all) has been said by us now, since it seemed necessary to us to give the interpreted saying a spiritual meaning. But it seems that the Lord wants to point out something else, clearly saying: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit he tears it off, and every branch that bears fruit 965 cleanses it, so that it may bear more fruit.” The branch, cut off by the Father from communion with Christ, in my opinion, denotes the Jewish people incapable of bearing fruit, with whom the ax was laid, as the blessed Matthew says, adding that the tree that is cut down will be consigned to fire (Matthew 3:10). The branches that are not subject to final cutting, but remain on the vine and must be cleansed by Divine care, are both those who believed from the Jews themselves, and after them those who converted from the pagans, for whom although there is one cleansing, for it is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, according to the Scriptures, there is a different kind and a different type of cleansing. The Israelis’ desire to continue to live and act according to the Law of Moses is cut off, and from the hearts of idolaters the infatuation with ancient delusions and the unclean rubbish of unreasonable morals are removed, so that they can bear the fruit of Divine and Gospel teaching that is pleasant and truly pleasing to God. And that in this sense the saying is also true for us, it is not difficult to verify this from the Divine Scriptures themselves. Thus, the divine Paul, in one of his Epistles to the Jewish believers, when they, neglecting the gospel dogmas, again returned back, honoring the shadows of the law, writes: “You have separated from Christ, who are justified by the law, and have been cut off from grace” (Gal.5:4), and again: “I tell you that if you are circumcised, Christ will be of no use to you” (Gal.5:2). If the desire to be justified by the law makes them alien to Christ, then is it not completely indisputable that putting aside life according to the law should make it possible to communicate with Christ? Therefore, Israel is circumcised in this way, and who once served the creature instead of the Creator, on the contrary, is cleansed, overthrowing the original illness. And really, what does Paul tell them? “If, although we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). He accuses and says in another place: “Now, having known God, or better yet, those who are known from God, why are you again turning to the weak and poor principles of the world, to whom you want to be slaves again?” (Gal.4:9). When, in this way, those who want to enslave weak principles are alienated from Christ, and, on the contrary, those who do not want to enslave creatures instead of the Creator are united, then should it not be considered generally accepted that the image of purification for the pagan believers will consist in the most useful cutting off of primordial delusion through the Spirit, in return for which it brings us all kinds of benefits in a variety of ways? Indeed, when evils are removed and eliminated, the beauty of virtue is introduced in their place, for where the shameful is removed, there the honorable ascends and appears. It should be noted that although circumcision, which accomplishes the work of cleansing in us, happens through the Spirit, the giver of the Spirit is the Son, for “of His fullness we have all received,” according to the word of John (John 1:16), and He Himself said to us: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Thus, the cleansing in us, as if in the form of circumcision through the Spirit, is accomplished by the Father through the Son. Therefore, the tart and wicked insolence of our opponents turns out to be empty, who were not afraid to say that if the Son called Himself a vine, and God and the Father a farmer, then He should not be of the same nature with Him, for no reason, he says, will allow us to ever consider the farmer and the vine to be of the same nature. When in this way the Son turns out to be a farmer through circumcision by the Spirit, then let them finally admit that if farmers are similar to each other, since they are people by nature, then it is obvious that the Son is not alien to consubstantiality with the Father and God. John 15:3. You are already pure for the word, you have 966 verbs As if to prove the clear and indisputable art of the Purifier, he presents the disciples themselves. “Already” they themselves, he says, have been purified, having received this not from anyone else, but only “for the sake of” the “word” spoken to them, that is, the Divine and Gospel instructions. And this word is from Christ. In fact, will any sane person doubt that, as it were, a certain knife and hand of the Father is He through Whom all things exist, that is, the Son, performing the action of agriculture in us, which he assimilates to the face of the Father, teaching that everything is from the Father, however (no other than) through the power of the Son? So the word of the Savior cleanses us, although agriculture over us is assimilated to God and the Father, for He is His living and sharpest Word, “piercing to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Penetrating to the depths of everyone’s soul and having, like God, the intention hidden in everyone open to Himself, It subjects our empty enterprises to a sharp cut through the action of the Spirit - this, in my opinion, we should consider cleansing - and what can benefit us in the pursuit of virtue, It makes us multiply for fruitfulness, of course in relation to piety. If, therefore, agriculture is carried out on us in the most perfect way by the Father through the Son, then it is vain - how could it be otherwise? - the unnecessary and malicious effort of our opponents to prove that the Son turns out to be of different natures with the Father and God because He Himself is called a vine, and the Father a farmer. Let him consider again and clearly understand that He does not represent His disciples as pure separately and separately, that is, without the Only Begotten and with the action of God and the Father in them, but insofar as they listened to His word. Therefore, as the life-giver He appears through the Son and in the Son, in the same way, I think, He should again rightly appear as a farmer or guardian of our souls only through the Son. If (our enemies) consider it necessary to adhere to the untruth once expressed, exposing a teaching opposite to us, and if they, in view of the fact that Christ called Himself a vine, are, as if by necessity, forced to assimilate (the Son) a different nature (with the Father), then what, finally, prevents us from taking the path of similar shamelessness and, identical with their chatter, forcing them even to an involuntary decision to move away from such childish and completely meaningless performance? After all, if, as they think, He is deprived of a natural property with God and the Father for the very reason that it is called a vine, and is entirely different in essence, since the vine and the farmer do not have the same nature, then why shouldn’t we, contrasting them with exactly the same absurd and reckless reasoning, say this: should only the branches benefit from the care of those engaged in agriculture, and should art only benefit those hanging from the trunks? (farmer) or will the nurse of the branches itself, that is, the vine, with which the branches growing from it are grown and naturally united, also need care? But this, I believe, will not need proof. The enemy himself will immediately agree with us that if there is no care for the trunks, then nothing good will happen for the branches themselves. When, therefore, Christ calls Himself a vine, and, without a doubt, the very trunk of the vine must need the care of the farmer, otherwise all sorts of harm will certainly be caused to it, then we must finally reason that the Son is like us and together with us needs care from the Father, so that He Himself does not turn into something else compared to what He is, and does not lose His dignity, that is, His inherent immutability. After all, this is what ultimately leads to the childish objection of those who are accustomed to fight against God. But may this disease of great recklessness disappear and may the speech about the holy apostles appear before us. “Already,” he says, “you are pure because of the word that I have spoken to you.” This is as if he said this: the image of spiritual cleansing in the Spirit and through the Spirit was accomplished by the Father “for the sake of” My “word” over the first of you - here you are, having cast aside the blindness of vain customs and the deadness of the world, you are ready to bear fruit pleasing to God; Behold, you have been freed from the subordinate, useless and vain rituals of the Jews; My word has purified you: after all, you no longer live like Moses or in the image of the letter of the law, not in food and drink, not in the teachings of cleansing and not in bloody sacrifices you will seek sanctification, but in firm faith you hope to achieve perfection and through every good deed you try to please God. After all, these words indicate spiritual worship. Thus, those who must be purified will, he says, be like you. Having just escaped the snare of the devil and freed from the snares of idolatry, they will be taught to no longer live according to his (the devil’s) laws, but having shaken off, as if useless dust, the impurity of their primordial morals, and thus having already found themselves capable of bearing fruit in works of godly virtue through Divine grace, they, like branches, will be in communion with Me and, united by love with By Me, they will fatten the heart with the influxes of the Spirit and live, drinking the grace of My goodness, and feed on piety. And the Israelites, when they join Me by faith and they themselves hang on Me like branches, then they, “for the sake of” My “word,” having accepted purification into their minds, will no longer engage in the study of the letter and, without betraying their hearts, as now, to the images of the canopy, will bear fruit to God true worship in the spirit, “for the Spirit is God, and those who worship Him in spirit and truth must worship" (John 4:24). Thus, at the same time, He clearly, as if by example, shows His disciples the future beauty of those who are about to undergo purification, and at the same time very strongly encourages them to assimilate even richer virtue, showing them that the effort and instruction from the teaching that was before them, obviously the Gospel, was not in vain, through which they were supposed to benefit all the inhabitants of the universe, presenting themselves as an example to those who believe in Christ. After all, it is written about the saints that it is appropriate to look at the “outcome of their life” and imitate their very faith (Heb. 13:7). And Paul exhorts God's servants to be imitators of himself (1 Cor. 11:1). John 15:4. Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a rod cannot bear fruit for itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me 967 Through a careful consideration of the above saying, we again learn that the first step of necessary and godly concern is to be accepted from Christ through pure and true faith. This is what it means to be among the branches growing on the true vine, that is, Christ. And the fruit of the second care, in no way less than the first, even requiring even greater care for oneself, in my opinion, is to be in unity and constant communion with God through love, understood in deeds, which is the fulfillment of the holy and Divine commandment. After all, this gives us the opportunity to constantly be in God and be in communion with Him, according to the words of the Psalmist: “My soul cleaves to You” (Ps. 63:9). Therefore, for complete blessedness, that is, for the sanctification accomplished by Christ who sanctifies us, it will not be enough for us to be accepted as branches. In addition, I say, it is also necessary to sincerely follow (the teachings of Christ) through perfect and unceasing love, for this is what primarily consists and preserves the power of unity or communion, understood in the Spirit. When, therefore, Christ said to His disciples: “You are already pure for the sake of the word that I have spoken to you,” then, so that one of those who were once cleansed would not think that he could remain without falling, even if he did not use any effort for his well-being, He considers it useful to add the instruction that one must abide in Him. What is this supposed to mean? Nothing else, in my opinion, than what is clearly and beautifully said by Paul: “So let him who thinks to stand take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). After all, thousands of falls may lie ahead for those who consider themselves already firmly standing, but do not make greater efforts to hold fast to the state in which they find themselves. I think that we should have every care and concern for ourselves, even if, perhaps, someone seemed firmly standing thanks to previously demonstrated success in doing good. And so, what kind and how great harm is suffered by everyone who is cut off from communion with God through deviation, through negligence towards what is not proper, - it is necessary to indicate this by adding: “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself if it does not abide on the vine, so neither can you, if you do not abide in Me.” After all, if a branch does not receive, as if from its mother, from the vine the life-giving moisture imparted to it, then how can it give birth to a bunch, or what kind of fruit and from where will it produce? You should understand this saying about ourselves in a similar way. Of course, no fruit of virtue will ever grow in us if we fall away from communion with Christ. And to those who are in unity with Him who has the power to satisfy and nourish godliness, as if with life-giving water, and through the gift and grace of the Spirit, the power of bearing fruit will easily belong to them. And knowing this, the Only Begotten said in the Gospels: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37), which the spirit-bearing Evangelist, very beautifully interpreting for us, testified in the words: “This he spoke of the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were to receive” (John 7:39). And besides, blessed David himself prayed to God and the Father in these words: “For with You is the fountain of life, and You will give them a stream of sweetness to drink” (Ps. 35:10, 9). And by the source of Divine and spiritual life and the flow of sweetness, who else can be understood except the Son, Who nourishes and irrigates our souls with the life-giving and bright grace of the Spirit, as if in the form of branches united with Him through love and faith. John 15:5–6. I am the vine, you are the birth [branches]: abide in Me and I in him, this bears much fruit, for without Me you cannot create anything 968. If anyone does not abide in Me, he will be cast out like a rod and dry up, and they gather me up and throw him into the fire and burn up 969 Our Lord Jesus Christ clearly says that He called Himself a grapevine for precisely one reason, so that we would clearly understand and see with almost bodily eyes, as if in some material and sensory and very clear example, that those who try to unite with Him and wish to be in inseparable communion with Him will have the power and ability to generate virtue and spiritual fruitfulness, obviously receiving from the grapevine. vines, like from the mother, the strength and ability to do this. On the contrary, those who are rejected and, as it were, cut off from communion with Him through turning to a life inappropriate and displeasing to God will not have any ability to perform virtue, nor the opportunity to be decorated with the fruits of good deeds, but, on the contrary, as if due to inevitable necessity, they will be doomed to destruction by an all-consuming fire. After all, what is useless for piety turns out to be fit only to endure punishment, just as, without a doubt, everything that has dried up on the branches can only be useful to fire. You can obtain indisputable and true proof of what has been said, not by examining the heads of the ancient saints, but by directing your mind to the holy apostles themselves. After all, they, without showing any negligence of love for Christ, but abiding in Him and preferring nothing to piety towards Him, became all-glorious. And they showed the fruit of their virtue to the universe and, presenting themselves as an example of a God-loving life, as if some brilliant image for the inhabitants of the earth, they acquired for themselves an unfading crown of glory from God (1 Pet. 5:4). And caught in destruction, I mean the frivolous and corrupt Judas, cut off from the spiritual vine, that is, Christ, “withered” in some way, along with the dignity of discipleship, having lost the life-giving power of the Spirit, for “he is thrown out,” according to the word of the Savior, that is, excommunicated and given over to fire like straw as punishment. So, our Lord Jesus Christ considered it beneficial to point out to the listeners the welfare for them from their efforts to be in unity with Him, and to contrast this with the harm from separation (from Christ), offering a twofold method of salvation: either from a desire aimed at glory and life, or from a desire to avoid punishment by fire - we must try with all the strength of our souls to have communion with Him. He calls the Father a farmer, appropriating the Divine nature of looking after us, as we have explained in detail in the previous discussion. And He Himself must be presented as the hand of the Farmer, not different from Him in consubstantiality and conceivably existing from Him and in Him, as can be seen in ourselves. And that everything is through the Son as through the hand of the Father, about this listen to the words of Him Himself about the creatures: “My hand has created all these things” (Is. 66:2; Acts 7:50), although everything happened through the Son, according to the Holy Scriptures (John 1:3; Col. 1). It should be noted that the divine Paul also points to the cutting off that is meant here, although not directly about the grapes, saying this: “So you see the goodness and severity of God: severity to those who have fallen, but kindness to you, if you continue in goodness, otherwise you too will be cut off” (Rom. 11:22). John 15:7. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask if you want, and it will be done for you 970 The root of the highest favor towards them, he says, will be their desire to be with Him in inseparable unity and, as if some kind of Divine and spiritual guarantee, to preserve in their souls the truly true and in a pure mind science of the Gospel instructions and dogmas of faith. This is precisely what the entire teaching of the Savior will consist of for us if we want to explore the purpose and meaning of the Gospels. After all, shouldn’t we call Christ’s announcement of the immediate communication of blessings to those who ask a completely clear promise? But, I believe, it is necessary to examine precisely and in detail the purpose and meaning of the (given) saying: “If you abide,” he says, “in Me and My words abide in you,” (then) “whatever you wish, ask, and it will be done for you.” In fact, is it not possible to admit the possibility of being in Christ and, however, not having His words in oneself? Of course yes, those who are distinguished by their prudence will rightly say. Let the inquisitive remember that we, exploring the image of love for Christ and carefully determining what it is and how it manifests itself, spoke about a twofold path, that is, about the path of faith, perfect in all respects, and about the path of active life, which is accomplished through pure love. If we believe that this is really so, then those who have a not very strong and unstable communion or unity (with Him), professing faith in words alone, but not assimilating love brought to perfection through deeds, of course, remain in Christ, precisely by communion (with Him) by faith and thanks to the fact that they do not deviate to any other religion, but at the same time, however, they will not find themselves having the words of Christ in themselves. What we want to say is not at all that, having consigned to oblivion the Gospel preaching, they are completely oblivious to the words of the Savior, but that they do not deign any attention to life in Christ, leaving everything to their own pleasures and having an unbridled attraction to thoughts about only earthly things, thanks to this, turning away from the spiritual and holy grapes and with their lust, pushing away from themselves the grace of communion (with Christ). Christ Himself said about all this: “Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord, Lord!” He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). That faith alone, without good deeds accompanying it, will not be able to provide communion with God, this is also indicated by Christ’s disciple in the words: “You believe that there is one God; but the demons also believe and tremble” (James 2:19). Indeed, in this case, we can already say to those who believe that empty faith alone will be enough for them to acquire higher communion: will the very crowd of demons itself rise to communion with God, as soon as it recognizes and believes that He alone exists? But how can this be? After all, it is useless to know only that God is the one Creator of everything and the Creator. But, I believe, faith should also be accompanied by adornment with reverence for Him. This is the one who abides in Christ and turns out to have His words, according to what is said in the book of psalms, as if to God: “I have hidden Your words in my heart, so that I may not sin before You (Ps. 119:11). Just as 971 if someone hides fire in a copper vessel, he will make it (the vessel), without a doubt, partake of the warmth emanating from (the fire), so the mind, containing in the soul and heart the Divine and heavenly word, through striving for all virtue, is always warmed through it (the word) for this, for it is written: “Your word is very hot, and your servant has loved it” (Ps. 119:140). So, he says, whoever has put himself in such a state and has already risen to such a praiseworthy height that he also abides in Me, and at the same time has My words within himself, let him immediately begin and then let him ask with great boldness for what he finds pleasant for himself, and without delay it will be given to him, for I will be pleased with him, he says. But is it really possible that if someone asks for something bad, he will immediately receive it, and the Loving Virtue (God) will be the dispenser of this (bad thing) too? Away from such madness, man! Nothing is more impossible than for God to give something shameful. On the contrary, it is necessary to think like this - wouldn’t it be fair and correct? - that he who abides in Christ and has His words within himself, obviously as good and well-behaved, can think only about one thing that is completely pleasing to God. After all, He allowed those who had the Divine Word in their hearts to ask for whatever they desired, whatever was due, not being unaware, obviously, that they were striving to receive spiritual and Divine blessings. Since in these words our Savior Jesus Christ clearly defined who and what kind of life a person who prays should be and whom He deigns to receive what he desires from God, we must conform our lives to this if we want to receive the highest favor. If you do not recognize yourself as Christ has just shown us, then do not work in vain. But if this matter seems important to you, then, adding praiseworthy good deeds to faith - for this means abiding in Christ and having His words within you - proceed boldly and without delay you will receive everything you ask from God. John 15:8. For this my Father is glorified, so that you may bear much fruit and become my disciples 972 Glorified, he says, is His Father and God, who rightly evokes reverence for His incomparable goodness and, as if with a certain crown, is adorned with the manifestation of mercy reaching the last limit, “for He so loved the world,” according to what is written, “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). So, the fruit of the mercy of God and the Father is the life of all, obviously accomplished through Christ. Therefore, Christ Himself once said, addressing a word to God and the Father: “I have glorified You on earth, having completed the work that You gave Me, that I might fulfill it” (John 17:4). The Only Begotten, entrusted from the Father, fulfilled the salvation of us all in the most perfect way, not as a servant allowed to do this, but being the self-wisdom and power of the Parent, without which nothing at all could have happened, for “all things are through Him” (John 1:3), according to the Holy Evangelist, especially concerning us. So blessed David, as it were, prays that the House of God for us and the gift of life to all would be entrusted by the Father to the Son as His strength and wisdom, he says: “Command, O God, to Thy Power, strengthen, O God, what Thou hast done for us” (Ps. 67:29), then again: “O God, give Thy judgment to the King” (Ps. 72:1). The work of One, co-reigning with God and the Father (the Son), was to correct all the damaged earth and restore it to the image that was in the beginning. So, “My Father was glorified” by giving His Son as a ransom for the life of the world and deigning to see among us the One who is above every creature, of course not in order to arrange any good for His own nature - for He is all-perfect and does not need anything, having power over everything - but so that “you” might “bear more fruit and be disciples of Me.” After all, if He had not become a man, then we, who were honored with an affinity with Him, and who grew together with Him like branches, and endowed from Him with the ability to bear fruit through the communion of the Spirit, would by no means have given birth to the fruit of a godly life, which He calls “many,” placing lower the fruit from subordinate service and declaring it less. “For the law perfected (brought to perfection) nothing,” according to the words of Paul (Heb. 7:19). Therefore, He spoke to the holy disciples, even to all of us, through faith and complete love united with Him: “Truly, truly, I say to you: unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20), and again: “...every scribe who is taught about the Kingdom of Heaven is like a rich man who draws out new things from the treasury and old” (Matthew 13:52), that is, as if from the treasury of the heart - Mosaic messages and remembrance of ancient scriptures. On the contrary, he who is obedient and inquisitive and filled with the light of the Gospel has much and double wealth, I mean wealth in the Spirit, for he brings out the new and the old - the shadow of the law and transforms the service under the law into the image of the gospel life, for what the law revealed through types, Christ revealed unconcealed in truth. That is why he said: “I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it,” and again: “Truly, truly, I say to you: one jot or one tittle will not pass from the law until all is done” (Matthew 5:17-18). So, “much fruit” is the gospel ministry in spirit and truth, when the Only Begotten became man for the glory of God the Father. And thanks to this, the inhabitants of the earth became His “disciples.” Thus, he once spoke to the ancients through the prophets (Heb. 1:1) as God, but to us and about us he spoke: “And they will all be disciples of God” (John 6:45). To us who believed in Him, He conveyed the Word from Him (the Father), without any other intermediary, and there was no transmitter of His will to us, like Moses - to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, or after Moses, the prophets - to their contemporaries, but Christ Himself taught us. And through this we are all disciples of God. We would never have become His “disciples” and would not have given birth to the “fruit” of love for God, and “many” at that, if the “Father” had not been “glorified” through mercy, deigning that the Logos, arising from His essence, would become man. This is how we should understand when we hear the words of Divine Scripture that (the Father) gave His Son, for He deigned it to Him who wished to suffer for us, which is why it is said that (the Father) gave (the Son), and quite rightly. John 15:9–10. As the Father has loved Me, and I have loved you: abide in My love 973. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love 974 Again, with the sharpest gaze of the mind, we must examine the mysteries contained in the given passage, for these words are profound and give us a complete, so to speak, explanation of the House-building with the flesh. He affirms that He is loved by God and the Father and that He Himself, on His part, loved us in the same way, that is, in the way in which He Himself is considered beloved by His Own Parent. Then what did you add to it? That we must remain “in the love” of Him. But it gives, as it were, a certain foundation or the most necessary reason for the fact that He is quite rightly loved by the Father, namely, that He “kept His commandments,” and He commands us ourselves to strive to fulfill this and thus remain “in His love.” With what has been said, as much as necessary, we have briefly explained the general meaning of the passage cited. But since, I think, (in the above words) there is something that can greatly confuse the minds of inexperienced simpletons, I find it necessary to also talk about how and in what way we should understand the meaning of the above words. So, our Lord Jesus Christ presented Himself to us as a certain type and example, as for this reason he was under the law and did not disdain to accept the measure of our poverty, so that, economically in accordance with our morals, he would appear as a leader for His (followers), as a model, for the perception (by us) of such behavior and such a life that are unusual for us (in themselves) and completely inaccessible. Therefore, we must examine where or what commandment of the Father He kept and how He, as He says about Himself, is loved by Him (the Father). But let the wisest Paul appear and speak secretly about Him, that He was in the form of God, “but He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, being in the likeness of men, and being found in the form of a man, He made Himself of no reputation, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:7-9). Do you not hear how, although he was true God and conformed to the Father who begot Him, he humbled himself by being obedient to death? Since God wanted to save the earthly race (human), but not a single created being could do this, for this deed exceeded all the inherent power of creation, then the Only Begotten God Himself 975, knowing the will of God and the Father, raised this Economy. He voluntarily condescended to such submission that he even underwent death, and, moreover, the most dishonorable one. After all, can hanging on a cross be honorable, and not, on the contrary, is it not above all dishonor? And since He underwent this, he says, God exalted Him. So, you have (in the person of Christ) the fulfillment, with voluntary obedience, of the desires of the Father, which, as the Son says, were with Him (the Son) as commandments (the Father). Knowing, as the Logos, the intentions of the Father and comprehending the depths of Him who gave birth to Him, or rather, He Himself, being the Wisdom and Power of the Father, brings into reality the will (of the Father), putting it in the place of the commandment and calling it so, in accordance with human speech. See in this also the measure of love, for God has exalted Him, he says. He already exalts and glorifies the high and glorified, although He is God by nature and true, not being one of the creatures, according to the identity of essence with Him, and therefore both conceivable and actually existing above all spiritual heights, and even being the Lord of Glory, according to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures (1 Cor. 2:8). Yes, he says, He is exalted and glorified, but how or when and in what way? Obviously, when he was in the form of a slave and in a humiliated form, that is, a person similar to us. After all, He also ascends with the flesh to co-exaltation and co-glorification with the Father. He was precisely loved by Him, and not for the first time when he fulfilled voluntary submission, but, on the contrary, understand this (before the incarnation). Just as, always being high and glorified by His nature, he is called glorified and exalted when he became a man, being deprived of Divine glory in relation to humanity, so from the beginning, always and eternally, the beloved is called beloved in the flesh, for for this he appeared like us, that is, he was called and became a man, so that he who was once hated for the sake of the original crime and the sin that invaded at the same time could be made beloved of God. Therefore, Christ appeared for us as the door (John 10:7, 9), and the beginning (John 8:25), and the path (John 14:6) of all good things, according to His word. Therefore, finally, isn’t it right to say about Himself that He is beloved because He kept the “commandments of the Father”? And isn’t this mysterious saying difficult for you and the depth of the House-building completed for our sake turns out to be inaccessible to your mind? But “to those who understand clearly and have the knowledge of everything,” according to what is written (Proverbs 8:9). So, “abide,” he says, “in My love,” that is, following the path of all diligence and zeal, work and strive to be worthy of such love from Me as I have from God and the Father. After all, I was an obedient fulfiller of the desires of the Father, which is why I remain unceasingly loved. But as soon as you yourself become keepers of My commandments, then in the same way you will, of course, “abide” in My “love.” Your negligence in this, he says, will be unreasonable, for you will not carry out this work without reward. I will appear as showing you the same love that I Myself have with the Father, and crowning the guardian of My words with almost equal (with My) honors. After all, the Father has exalted Me and given me “the name that is above every name,” for I am revealed to be the God of all. But I will not turn out to be envious or envious of you in such benefits, for I have revealed you - people and therefore having received a slave nature - as gods and sons of God, having illuminated through grace with virtues that exceed your nature, accepted you as fellow members of My kingdom, made you conform to My “body of glory” (Phil. 3:21), and honored you with incorruptibility and life. But this is in hope and is observed for the age to come. What about the present? Have I not shown you glorious and glorified? Didn’t you make all lovers of God respectable? Now you have received the power to rebuke wicked demons, allowed you to heal “every disease and every infirmity” (Matthew 4:23), proclaimed it, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you: he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater things than these he will do” (John 14:12). Examining the meaning of these words, we must think that it is He who speaks to the holy disciples. We, however, always subordinating the mind to the dogmas of truth and the emerging speculations of the art of piety, as much as possible, correctly turning to the benefit of the listeners, we will avoid recklessly falling into temptation, for in the book of psalms it is written: “There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no offense for them” (Ps. 119:165). John 15:11. These words are spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be fulfilled 977 Having made a mention to us about grapes, and then taught that a branch that is rejected and, as it were, cut off from the mother that nourishes it, will be completely unusable and must be destroyed by fire, He thereby instilled considerable fear in the disciples before this. After all, hearing about something terrible, even if it is not even present in the present, can cause considerable fear, especially when the uncertainty of the future can give rise to suspicion in someone that this could happen to them. So, someone who intends to cross this sea, since there is an opportunity to experience a storm and the pressure of fierce excitement and indomitable waves, even if he has not yet seen their approach, but in only concerns about the unknown, he undoubtedly experiences fear as if already before the approaching one. Therefore, in the Apostles, who trembled and, perhaps, came into fear from hearing about the horrors and were numb before the test of future troubles, he considers it beneficial to resume a courageous mood and, abandoning sad words, speaks to them about joy in God. Not for the sake of this, he says, My disciples, I am now speaking to you in order to arouse in you a fearful mood or to frighten you with the unknown (of the future) and to see you in advance already crushed by future evil and timid to do good, but so that the opposite of this will happen and so that you have My joy or “My joy abides in you.” But what this means and what Christ wants to teach us through this, I consider it necessary to consider more precisely. This must be understood in two ways. Or in a sense that has nothing special, it can be interpreted so that you have joy in Me or towards Me. After all, you yourself can achieve this with your own strength, meaning the reward of super-worldly blessings, the future reward for your labors and the greatness of glory from God. Or, having in mind and understanding something else, we will not hesitate to come to deeper speculation, for, I believe, with all our might we should piously seek the goal of all speculation. So, what does the expression mean: “That My joy may be in you”? Is it not that the Only Begotten became like us, that is, a man, but only without sin, having decided to endure and suffer everything that the damned madness of the Jews forced Him to experience? Thus, we will find Him subjected to insults, persecuted, insulted by bitter reproaches, spat on, strangled, experienced the blows of whips and finally, for our sake and for us, nailed to the cross. With all these such terrible torments, He did not fall into sadness and was not afraid to endure inglorious sufferings, but was filled with joy and joy befitting Him when he contemplated the multitude of those being saved and the will of God and the Father being fulfilled. Therefore, he turned dishonor into joy, and considered suffering as pleasure. And although many and unheard of impudent insults were directed at Him, we will find it written about Him that then Jesus “rejoiced in spirit and said: I confess to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes; Yes, Father, because I was so (such) well pleased with You” (Luke 10:21). Do you hear that when he contemplated those who were once infants and fools as wise, he rejoices and rejoices through the Spirit and, as it were, brings joy to the saving Father for us. And also, when he passed through the Samaritan country and was tired “from the journey,” as it is written, “he sat down by the fountain” of Jacob (John 4:6). When the harlot woman (τὸ γύναιον) pointed out to Him the need to draw (water) and He spoke to her in an appropriate manner and waited for the Samaritan people to come, then He appears to have neglected even the necessary food. What did He say to the disciples who advised Him to take the food? “This is my food, that I may do the will of My Father and finish His work” (John 4:34). Wasn’t it clear from here that he intended the fulfillment of his father’s desires, that is, the elevation to salvation of those who had fallen into destruction, to be his joy and joy? This is certain. So, “this,” he says, I am expressing everything to you so that “My joy may be in you,” that is, so that you would want to rejoice only in that which I am about, so that you would be courageous in your exploits and, girded with the hope of those being saved, even if you had to suffer for this, would no longer fall into inactive carelessness, but would then rejoice even more abundantly at how quickly and through you the will of “everyone” is fulfilled. who desires to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). This is what I rejoiced about and considered the labors very pleasant. So, when, he says, you decide to have the “joy” that I considered appropriate for Myself, then you will have it completely and completely. Indeed, we consider the most complete and perfect “joy” that is in God and for God’s sake and in good deeds, because of the firmness and immutability of hope and because it concerns such objects that it was common for us to enjoy, not only for us, but also for Jesus Himself. We call worldly joy imperfect because it turns out to be impermanent and related to what it should not be, that is, to worldly objects that disappear like ghosts and shadows. We also call perfect hatred that which happens in us towards something justly and correctly, as, without a doubt, blessed David says about the opponents of the glory of God: “With perfect hatred I hated them” (Ps. 139:22), but we call perfect love that which makes those who choose it in God and for God to surrender themselves entirely to God, and not to some earthly and worthless objects. John 15:12–13. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you 978. No one has more sowing love, but whoever lays down his life for his friends 979 By adding these words, the meaning of what was already said more clearly is represented, that the disciples should have His joy within themselves. He clearly says that I am commanding this and teaching this to those who want to follow Me, to do and to think, namely to strive for the kind of love for each other that I have already shown and fulfilled earlier. So, what limit of Christ’s love everyone should imagine, he himself showed this again, saying that there is nothing greater than such love, which commands one to give one’s very soul for those loved. In all these sayings, he seemed to command His disciples that they should be so far from fear of the exploits for those being saved, that without hesitation and willingly they would submit to even the most carnal death, for the power of our Savior’s love reached this limit. But to say this meant to do nothing else but to encourage the disciples to excessive and extraordinary courage, to encourage them to the highest brotherly love, to create a brave and God-loving mood of the soul and to arouse some kind of invincible and insurmountable jealousy for the ardent desire to do everything that is pleasing to Him. Paul showed himself to us as such in the words: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is profit” (Phil. 1:21), and again: “For the love of Christ compels us, who judged so that One died for all, therefore we all died” (2 Cor. 5:14-15), and, in addition, also: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or oppression, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? (Rom.8:35). Do you not hear how he proclaims that absolutely nothing can be able to resist or cut them off from the love of Christ? And since even keeping the flock and tending the lambs of Christ is also a matter of love for Him, then shouldn’t it be quite clear that, He says, he who preaches the saving word to those who do not know God will be above death, stronger than persecution and the sword, and will leave all oppression in complete disregard? If it is necessary to briefly express the meaning of the Savior’s saying and express in general what He wants His disciples to do, then He commands them to strictly and keeping their spirit without any fear to sacredly preach the word of faith in Him and make the Gospel known to the inhabitants of the entire universe. The same voice of Isaiah says: “Come up to the high mountain, O preacher of Zion! Raise your voice with strength, O preacher of Jerusalem, be strong, do not be afraid!” (Isa.40:9). And we see that the holy disciples themselves could do this, asking from God in the most fervent prayer, when, accusing the foolishness of the Jews, they said: “And now, Lord, look at their threats and grant to Your servants to speak Your word with boldness” (Acts 4:29). Those who minister the Gospel of Christ are, without a doubt, very many who are opposed and wickedly hindered. But even though strong fear and terrible waves of evil intentions appear, for true disciples suffering means nothing until their deeds of love are realized, I’m talking about the kind of love that the Savior showed to us, “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2), in order to bring salvation to those who had sinned. And if He had not wanted to suffer for us, we would still be dead, servants of the devil, “foolish and blind” (Matt. 23:17), remaining deprived of all good and slaves of pleasure and sin, “having no hope and ungodly in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But now the Savior, out of love for us, laid down His very soul for us and, showing some incomparable love for mankind, showed us to be zealous and blessed, not lacking in any good at all. In this sense, I believe that the words cited will befit the Divinely inspired heads of the disciples. If we extend this saying to everyone, that is, “this is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you,” then the study will yield very great benefits. After all, if love for brothers contains and fulfills the entire commandment of our Savior, then isn’t the one who primarily tries to fulfill it blamelessly and impeccably worthy of great surprise, since it is, so to speak, the head of all virtues? For second only to love for God is love for one another, and all the power of godliness towards God lies, as it were, in this one “word, namely: You will love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14). John 15:14–15. You are naturally my friends; if you do, I command you 980. I no longer say you servants, for a servant does not know what his Lord is doing: but you have been called by others, for all that I have heard from My Father has told you 981 He again contrasted the horrors that should once befall them for their good obedience and virtuous mood of the soul with the benefit of love for Him, so that with the joy of this and the desire for the highest, the severity of those (horrors) will be destroyed and what once seemed sad will turn into nothing. Labor is sweet to lovers of God when the reward is close and abundant. But who can imagine anything greater and who is able to indicate something more glorious than to be and be called a friend of Christ? Note that this dignity far exceeds the very limits of human nature. After all, all creatures are slaves of Him who created them, according to the voice of the Psalmist (Ps. 119:91), and there is not a single creature that does not submit to the yoke of slavery, since this befits the Creator and the creature. In fact, the created cannot be equal to its Creator - in no way - on the contrary, God, who is above all, rules and rules over His creatures. If, therefore, everything is subordinate to God and bows its servile neck to Him, then the Lord raises the saints to a glory that exceeds their nature, if they turn out to be willing to do what is pleasing to Him, and, as if as a gift (fruit-bearing), He places impeccable submission to Him. Therefore, the reward is glorious and worthy of competition. In addition, in this saying one should pay attention to this, for it will bring considerable benefit: if “friendship” with the Son is enough for some to be awarded freedom and no longer be called “slaves,” then how could He be a slave or a creature and created, according to the crazy opinion of some? Of course, he who has his own nature deprived of it (freedom) will not be able to give others the honor of freedom, for, I think, first of all, one must be one himself, and then it will be decent to give one’s benefit to (other) poor people. But among the holy Apostles, or among others in general, who through faith ascended into friendship with our Lord Jesus Christ, this dignity could only be received and given as an honor, and not in the same way (with Him). By being like Him, those who have achieved the glory of freedom prove that it is inherent in Him alone by nature, for what is acquired is always likened to what is natural. However, it should be noted - I think it is necessary to thoroughly examine everything that is useful and contains the necessary explanation - that justification from faith in Christ is revealed much earlier than justification by the law and that, in addition, the knowledge of Divine mysteries is revealed to those who believe and obey Christ, and the will of God and the Father is explained by the Son who knows it, but not at all to those who do not believe. And we will also try to prove this through the Inspired Scripture, for the benefit of dwelling on this a little. Thus, in one book of Moses it is written that he believed “Abraham God” (Gen. 15:6), and at the same time faith was credited to him “for justification, and he was called a friend of God” (James 2:23). What kind of faith was there, or what was the name of the friend of God? Listen. “Get out of your land and from your kindred and go to the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Likewise, when he received the command to sacrifice his only begotten (son Isaac) in the image of Christ, he comprehended the purpose hidden in God. So the Savior said about him in a conversation with the wicked Jews: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw and was glad” (John 8:56). So, for his obedience and sacrifice, the Divine Abraham was called the friend of God and was clothed with the praise of righteousness. And not only this, but he was also rewarded with Divine words and learned the advice of God relating to the last times. After all, at the end of the ages Christ died for us, the truly sacred and holy sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). But please pay attention again to the fact that the same thing happens to those who through faith have risen to friendship with our Savior Christ. They also heard: “Get out of your land.” And they did it willingly, listen to what they say: “For we do not have a city that abides here, but we seek the one to come, whose builder and creator is God” (Heb. 13:14, 11:10). After all, they are strangers and migrants on earth; have their residence in heaven, leaving the earth, as much as can be said regarding the God-loving mood of their souls, and rushing to the highest abode. The Savior showed them this monastery in the words: “I will go and prepare a place for you; when I come, I will take you with Me, so that where I am, you too may be” (John 14:3). They also heard about leaving their kinship. But how do we prove this? Let us quote the words of Christ Himself: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). And that kinship with God is preferred to earthly and carnal kinship, and love for Christ is placed much higher among those who truly honor Him, this is certain. And blessed Abraham was commanded to offer his own son as a fragrant aroma to God, and those girded with righteousness from faith were commanded to offer not others, but themselves, as it is said: “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, as your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1), - when it is also written about them: “Whoever is Christ Jesus has crucified their own flesh with the passions and lusts” ( Gal.5:24). They also knew the mystery in Christ, for they know the “powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:5) and the things that are to take place in the last times, because they will receive rewards for their labors and receive recompense for piety towards Christ. So, we will be called righteous and friends of God, like Abraham. But much older than the subordinate life of the Gospel, that is, through faith and love for God, manifested then in the first Abraham, as the head of the carnal race, that is, Israel. What has now come, as from an image to the truth, is perfectly realized in the holy disciples themselves, as in the firstfruits of a spiritual race and a people taken into possession, which is called a holy people and a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9). Therefore, to the mother of the Jews, I mean the synagogue, in the voice of the Psalmist it is said: “In place of your fathers have become your sons” (Ps. 44:17). Although they were the sons of the Jewish synagogue, the Divine disciples, for they were brought up on the Mosaic laws, but they turned into fathers, taking the place of Abraham, and became the beginning of a spiritual race, which is why they were installed as leaders throughout the entire universe, ministering the Gospel of Christ, just as he (Abraham) did Isaac as a prototype of Christ. We say this, not at all placing blessed Abraham outside the glory due and fitting for him, but showing in him, as in an image, the economic accomplishments of Christ in the last times. Thus, the honor of friendship with God follows and, as it were, is coupled with freedom through faith, which was manifested then in the first Abraham, but now again, as in the firstfruits, in the holy disciples. The divine Paul authorizes us to say this, not a little competing with the Jews that the righteousness of faith is much older than the righteousness of the law. Thus, when he spoke about circumcision according to the flesh, he argued that it was given to the firstfruits of the race, that is, to Abraham, for no other reason than to be “a sign and seal of faith in uncircumcision” (Rom. 4:11). If before the law there was uncircumcision, with which came faith, and after came circumcision, which has no praise from faith, and Abraham believed in uncircumcision, then how can righteousness through faith not be older than living under the law, how quickly (people) are justified and freed through friendship with God, like Abraham? Indeed, in this way He will also be “the father of many nations” (Rom. 4:18), because of the promise, not according to the flesh. This is what we now considered useful to express, because the Lord said: “I no longer call you servants: you are my friends, because everything that I heard from the Father” I announced to you. John 15:16. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and set you, so that you go and bear fruit, and your fruit remains, so that if you ask the Father in My name, He will give you 982 Neither with too heavy words does he allow the holy disciples to fall into despondency, as God, knowing the great tendency of human thoughts towards weakness, nor with excessive joy does he allow them to be inclined to fall, for this too is, as it were, a kind of bitter illness; but, from both, as if forming a middle, it properly leads them to a safe path and provides them with knowledge of a way of life that is solid and free from any error. Thus, having given them quite sufficient consolation with words and what, apparently, should have saddened them, prompting, on the contrary, to joy, with the commandments of hard work, he again encourages them to a courageous mood and commands that, using all zeal and exercising the highest form of love for each other, they should benefit those who do not yet believe, and with pious words and deeds they should try to catch those who are mistaken in the desire for communication with God. through faith. So, having presented Himself as an image and example of the deed and brought into view what He had already accomplished with them, he convinces them to imitate, saying: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” - and what follows. Understand, as if he were saying this: clothe yourself, my disciples, with love for one another! After all, you yourself must think and do in relation to others the same thing that I have already done in relation to you, for “I chose you”, and “not Me”, on the contrary, “you”. I brought you to Me and to you, who did not know Me, I made Myself known by My supernatural mercy and raised you to such a strong mood that you can ascend or strive always to the highest and bear fruit to God. And through this you can reach such boldness that even “whatever you ask,” finally “in My name,” you will receive it. So, as soon as you follow My words and laws and have adopted the mood appropriate for true disciples, then you should not stop in simply waiting for someone to accept faith on their own impulse and adopt piety according to their own inclination. On the contrary, for those who do not yet know (Me) and who are in error, you should show yourself as leaders, lead (to faith) those who have not yet decided to learn the saving sermon and exhort them to willingly go to the perception of the true knowledge of God, even if the minds of the listeners have already hardened in unbelief. Then they too would be like you, that is, they would prosper and constantly move on to the highest in bearing fruit to God, so that they would have fruit that always abides and remains, and a prayer so pleasing (to God) that they will receive whatever they desire, if only they ask in My name. So - we must again briefly repeat the meaning of the interpreted saying and present it clearly to the listeners - he convinces the disciples to have such love for others and wants them to show such readiness for the completely rigorous capture of the souls of those who have not yet believed in piety, which He Himself had already previously shown in relation to us or them (the apostles). After all, there is no doubt that He Himself chose His disciples, and I consider it unnecessary to say how and under what circumstances each one was called. However, that the Savior’s saying contains the purpose that I just said, the words that follow it also convince us of this: John 15:17. This, he says, I told you, love one another 983 In fact, shouldn’t we recognize as a matter of the highest love the election and calling to obedience to God of those who have not yet believed and are erring? But this, I believe, is undoubtedly what Paul tried to do, saying: “For Christ’s sake we are ambassadors, since God exhorts through us; for Christ’s sake we plead: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). So Peter boldly said to the Jewish people: “And now, brothers, I know that you have acted in ignorance, just as your leaders did: repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 3:17, 2:38). See how willingly they come to meet those who have not yet believed and offer a teaching that they are not yet looking for, not allowing the ignorant themselves to be the first to be called teachers, but warning in this even the one who does not yet want to learn anything necessary. And since in the words of our Savior there is also: “Yes, you go and bear fruit, and your fruit (may) remain,” then it is necessary to examine what these words mean. What should we understand and how in this saying that “the fruit endures” of the disciples? I think therefore (because the fruit is called the fruit of the disciples) that the Savior calls lasting fruit that which happens through the teaching of the Gospel, and not through righteousness according to the law. After all, it became dilapidated because it could not do anything, for the law did not make anything perfect, according to the word of Paul (Heb. 7:19), but instead of it a new one blossomed and grew, making the old one and eclipsing the former and bringing in truly abiding and remaining fruit. That is why the divine Paul says, turning to us, that he gladly and willingly renounced legal righteousness in order to gain Christ, that is, through faith in Him, the righteousness and fruitfulness of the gospel, for such fruit remains and will be permanent, capable of making the human soul more perfect in godliness. After all, another new teaching cannot be added to the gospel preaching, making the old one old, as undoubtedly happened with the Mosaic Law, but the Word of the Savior must stand forever, as He Himself once said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). John 15:18. If the world hates you, tell me that it hated Me before you 984 I think that we will find in no way inferior to the experience and considerable skill of doctors the Savior’s method of teaching, which He uses on every subject, always delivering benefit to the listeners everywhere. After all, doctors sometimes eliminate the upcoming evil course of bodily suffering by skillful means. He blocks the further path of evil, with some protective commandments, as if protecting the soul of everyone. When, therefore, the disciples were to become representatives not of just one people and not of one country, but to be leaders of the whole earth and preach the Gospel Divine teaching throughout the entire universe, to direct listeners to what is pleasing to God alone, to turn away from sin to the desire to do what is appropriate for them, and to make the law of their lives, I mean the Gospel, the rule of their lives, then they must necessarily command them to consider hatred from the world, that is, from those who are worldly minded and have chosen a voluptuous and wicked life. But what is the point of this again? Really, tell me, someone might ask, did Christ consider it necessary to give such a command to His disciples in order to show that hatred is a necessary thing in general or indifferently and even in completely useless subjects? Further from such recklessness, His speech does not reach such an extreme. He advises not to be too wary of hatred from everyone at all, but he says definitely, clearly and separately: “If the world hates you,” that is, if those who honor the worldly and think only about earthly things have you as the object of their hatred, know then, he says that the Teacher has previously endured this. And that the Savior’s commandment will bring considerable benefit to teachers of good, this is very easy for everyone to see if they pay attention to the nature of things. For lovers of filth and those who have reached the extreme limit of worldly filth, it is, of course, always pleasant and even generally the subject of an effort to push away wisdom teaching as both painful and hateful to them and, following only their own pleasures, to attack those who are trying to spread the best teachings, through which people can become better than they were before. Thus, the Jews, holding to only the letter of Moses and giving their minds to what was done in images “until the time of correction” (Heb. 9:10), did not give any importance to the gospel teaching and believed that its preachers should be considered more hateful than their worst enemies. And those who shared another error and the ineffable glory of God, who had assimilated the creation, I mean the pagans, were also not very willing to accept the teaching that could enlighten them. Imbued with primordial evil, they considered their ignorance most pleasant and were very reluctant to move away from their congenital illness. Given this state of affairs, who can doubt that the Savior’s disciples should have been hated by the Jews and despised by those who suffered from Hellenic error, and most of all less pleasant, even unbearable, by those who indulged in voluptuousness and chose an empty life of luxury? But if the Savior’s disciples must endure hatred from any of the people already listed and, with all the more zeal, try in every possible way to gain love from those who suffered from such ailments, then isn’t it obvious to everyone that they would not become glorious if they proposed a teaching that could not bring any benefit to anyone, but, on the contrary, they would direct their concerns to flattery and, leaving aside the bold reproof from the face of God, they would begin to speak and expose only enjoyable for everyone? So, it turns out that an admonition is necessary not to try too hard to acquire friendship and not even to consider being hated by someone at all if it would benefit him from admonition. As we see, Paul did this and said clearly: “Do I now please men or please God? Or am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant” (Gal. 1:10). Also, having reproached one of the Corinthians and learned that he had fallen into very serious grief, he said: “If I grieve you, then who will make me happy if not the one who is grieved by me? For sorrow according to God surely brings about repentance unto salvation” (2 Cor. 2:2, 7:10). Therefore, it must be absolutely indisputable that a word that serves to please the listeners and does not direct them to what is useful will bring flattery to the world more than bring benefit. He who obeys the words of the Savior will not preach like this - is this possible? - for he will rather prefer to please Him and will consider even hatred from the cruelest enemies of virtue to be spiritual wealth for himself. If, therefore, he says, hatred from the world ever turns out to be aimed at opposing your good glory, then let this obstacle be removed victoriously by not rejoicing very much in honors from friends if they do not allow such teaching that can be useful for them. Hatred does not turn out to be a heavy burden, as I, your Lord and Teacher, endured it before you. And that those who prefer to think about worldly things and despise heavenly blessings hate Christ Himself to the destruction of their own heads, this, I believe, is not difficult to show. After all, He Himself said to some in the Gospels: “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify about it that its deeds are evil” (John 7:7). Thus, here again, presenting Himself as an example for the holy Apostles, he commands them to follow the same path, when in another place he again clearly said: “Blessed are you, if they persecute you and reproach you and say all kinds of evil against you, lying for my sake: rejoice and be glad, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). John 15:19. If you were quicker from the world, the world would love its own: just as you are not from the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you 985 With great skill he makes the heaviest things easy and in an amazing way makes you rejoice at something that should have been a lot of sorrow. After all, hatred from someone is really difficult, due to the harm and unexpected slander that sometimes arises from it, but it is pleasant and for the sake of God and, when it happens for the sake of piety, serves as the clearest proof that the one who endures this from someone is not a worldly person. As in bodies, so, I believe, there must be affinity in morals, and the identity of morals and similarity in everything can serve as an expression of closeness by blood. “Every animal loves what is like itself,” according to what is written, “and a man will cleave to one who is like himself” (Sir.13:19-20). And since the unity of morals testifies to the law of love for each other, then a saint should cohabit with a saint and it will be very pleasant and agreeable for them to be together - in the same way a person of the same mood will communicate with a sinner. That is why the law of Moses made a distinction between the holy and the profane, keeping them separate from each other and not mixing with each other (Lev. 10:10), in accordance with the law of love, “for evil conversations spoil good character” (1 Cor. 15:33), - and different morals are always almost at enmity with each other and opposing moods seem to blame themselves mutually, since each approves only of its own manifestations. Therefore, a lover of virtue necessarily arouses hatred towards himself by what should arouse respect for him, precisely by exposing evil and bringing out the shame of bad people by the opposite of his morals. After all, with the manifestation of good, the shame of evil is necessarily revealed. For this reason, I think, those who are not jealous of a lifestyle similar to theirs rage against lovers of virtue. So, He does not allow His disciples to grieve, even though they see themselves hated by the world for their virtue and piety toward Him; on the contrary, He teaches them to rejoice as those who receive hatred from the world as proof that they will be glorious with God and worthy of all praise. Look how He pointed out the danger if they do not want to endure what they had to decide on. After all, hatred from someone, no doubt, is not entirely harmless, but God does not free one from it; on the contrary, there is some great profit in the desire to endure it. If the hated one is considered by those who think worldly to be, as it were, outside the world, then it is necessary to think that the one for whom there is no hatred is himself already involved in the evil of the world. So, what did Christ teach through this? So that they preach boldly and, out of fear of any wicked people who do not want to obey the Divine preaching and interfere with the teaching calling for chastity, do not leave the listeners without benefit, but, neglecting the harm that can often come from hatred, have an ardent and unhypocritical determination, not considering anything at all and not believing anything more useful than to please God. Paul, beautifully revealing this, writes: “Do I now please people or God? Or am I trying to please people? If people still liked me, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). After all, it is absolutely impossible to please evil people and God. Can both be combined together if the desires in both cases reach complete opposites? One is directed towards virtue, and the other towards evil. Therefore, the one who wants to serve God alone undividedly and considers nothing better than piety towards Him, is necessarily persecuted by those who love the world when he convinces him to have thoughts that move away from the abomination of the world. Advice that calls for a different mood is unbearable for sensualists, as, no doubt, are useful, although bitter, medicines for people with a body spoiled by these passions. John 15:20. Remember the word that Az Reh told you: the slave of his master is not a slave: if they cast me out, they will drive you out, and if they keep my word, they will keep yours 986 After he has very clearly shown that hatred is a useful thing if the time demands it - for what happens for the sake of God and can give strength to overcome obstacles is easily bearable and even troubling - he adds beneficially that which, as God, knew that this could force them to be indecisive and slow in preaching the teachings of heaven. After all, since those appointed to disseminate the teaching for the most part have to be exposed to dishonor and danger when their words turn out to be unpleasant for those admonished, and it also happens to endure persecution if their teaching is not accepted, then he commands them to be fully prepared to bravely and willingly endure this too. In every possible way and comprehensively, as it were, he foretells what will happen due to hatred on the part of those whom they are supposed to instruct. He expressed this in other words, namely: “Woe to the world because of temptations, for temptations must come” (Matthew 18:7). Everywhere, presenting Himself as an example, He instructs them so that, striving for more, they should not disgrace themselves in another way, but, as if by necessity walking behind the glory of the Lord, they should not try to be higher than Him. Thus, without a doubt, it indicates that they will be subject to dishonor, in the words: “There is no slave (no slave) greater than his master.” Here, he says, they, the unfortunate ones, scolded me with their unbridled tongue, not leaving out all kinds of insults - they called me mad (John 10:20-21 etc.), a wine drinker (Matthew 11:19) and the fruit of fornication 987. However, I did not demand immediate punishment, but, remaining unhurt by their abuse, continued to communicate to the listeners the saving teaching. Therefore, do not untimely seek more and do not neglect the measure of humility of the Lord, Who for your sake reduced Himself to such humiliation, for the benefit of everyone. So, it forces them to be above cruelty in words, and the wickedness of those who are accustomed to condemn, as, without a doubt, the blessed prophet Jeremiah, struggling against the same thing, said: “My strength has failed among those who curse me” (Jer. 15:10). The divine Paul, who became even more famous in this and labored much against the wickedness of his offenders, says: “We bless those who are insulted, we exhort those who are reviled” (1 Cor. 4:12-13). The desire to overcome this is the work of a mind that is poor in spirit, according to what is written (Matthew 5:3), and adorned with a completely humble mood. Generosity and kindness in this predominantly manifest their nature and, as it were, grow from a good root. The inability to be patient with offensive words and with all kinds of blasphemies from someone serves as a clear sign of the character of a vain person and a soul that is not completely free from the love of worldly glory. Indeed, what can do or what offense can harm a lover of modesty? On the contrary, for one who is carried away by worldly glory, will not reproach from someone be an incurable grief? So, it rightly commands to have a mind that rises above this emptiness, I say, and is honored in the world with glory and soars above all this. But it also indicates, as it were, some necessary confirmation that they should desire to be such, and, as if as a means of inducing this, he cites the consideration that we spoke about at the beginning, namely, to walk behind the glory of the Lord and with full joy endure what will have to happen at a certain time, when they will be glorified for the sake of God, without deviating due to dishonor to useless laziness, without being deprived of how soon they will be subjected to bitter insults from anyone, boldness in the matter of teaching and not neglecting the Divine commandments, but, on the contrary, holding on to love for the brothers and in every way trying to benefit those who are in error. Having thus convinced them to disdain temporary worldly glory, he tries to give them something else, useful and necessary. “If I,” he says, “have been persecuted, (then) they will persecute you too.” And these words have a meaning akin to the previous ones. He urges us to have patience and adds a warning about the weakness of those reasonings that should be expected in us. After all, it was certain that the Savior’s disciples, falling under the wrath of the enemies of the truth, would be subjected to all the horrors of persecution. But they, in all fairness, should have kept in mind that, spreading the preaching of the glory of Christ, they would, without any doubt, receive abundant mercy from Him, so that there would be no obstacle to such a wonderful zeal for them, but they would overcome all fear and danger and would not be subjected to anything at all that could cause sorrow; on the contrary, they would enjoy honors from everyone as preachers of their saving teaching. And there is nothing unnatural in the fact that those who strive for the call to eternal life and turn out to be the makers of God’s gifts for the listeners should expect this and strive for this. But just as everyone directs the attraction of his will to what he desires, and turns to what he desires and gives him pleasure, so there must also be those who are hostile to the truth, who are subordinate to evil pleasures and recognize the need to fight with those who turn them away from these pleasures. The teachings heading towards this are unpleasant for sensualists. So, it was natural, as if by necessity, to expect that there would be those who, appearing as enemies, would persecute, insult and invent all kinds of temptations. Thus, Christ commands them to be courageous against this, not hiding that this will happen, but, on the contrary, by commanding them to be bold, preaching that persecutors will appear. After all, “if they persecuted Me,” he says, “they will persecute you too.” This is as if he said: “I, the Creator of everything, having everything in My power, both in heaven and on earth, did not put a bridle on their souls and did not forcibly stop the will of each of the listeners, on the contrary, I allowed everyone to choose what they liked and do what they wished. So, persecuted, I endured, although I had the power to prevent. When therefore you too are subjected to persecution, immediately suffering attacks from your haters and not being very annoyed at the ingratitude of those who owe you, but, following My Dispensation, be guided by the same desires, so that you may receive the same glory, for those who suffer will also reign together (2 Tim. 2:12).” And having added the third, namely: “If they have kept My word, they will also keep yours,” does not allow one to fall into despondency if sometimes their teaching is not accepted. And he does it very well. After all, the one appointed to this (spreading the teaching) thinks that his work remains useless if some do not want to follow his words. But that's not true. Nobody thinks that. Why? Because the mentor, having once expressed and offered information about what was useful, did what was possible for him - the rest should depend on the mood of the listeners, for it is easier for them to turn to what everyone wants - either obedience, or the opposite. Therefore, teachers of goodness and imparting with faith the power to accomplish what is not available to us, we should not be lazy to infuse with Divine power a word that can be useful even for the desperate. We will find this actually former or beautifully depicted in (the parable of) the distribution of talents. One turns out to have received ten, another five, a third two, and, besides these, a fourth - one who, having refused the profit, buried the talent in the ground. That’s why I heard: “You wicked and lazy slave! You should have given my money to the merchants, and when I came I would have received what is mine with a profit” (Matthew 25:26–27). After all, just as those who dedicate their labor to agriculture and have such an occupation, plowing the ground with plows and then burying the seed in the arable land, no longer attribute the rest to their experience, but leave the rest to Divine power and grace, I mean the rooting of what was sown and the return to perfect fruit, so, I believe, the teacher of good should only communicate the teaching, and leave the rest to God. So, the Savior communicates to His disciples a means that frees them from cowardice and carelessness, and an admonition at the same time. Never, he says, do not decide to be lazy in continuing the teaching, even if some of those who once received instruction did not attach any importance to the teaching taught to them, but, finding My words sometimes not accepted by many, do not strive to surpass My glory and, remaining behind Me in this too, distance cowardice from yourself. And this instruction was very necessary for the holy Apostles, since they had to preach the Divine and saving teaching to all people. So the divine Paul, as appointed by Christ to the apostleship, appeared before us precisely as such and often turns out to show courage in these cases. That he considered it necessary to despise vanity and completely disdain persecution, but highly valued the preservation of courage, even if some did not at all accept the word once sown in them, this is easy to prove. So, he writes to some: “You are wise in Christ, but we are fools for Christ; We are weak, but you are strong; We are in dishonor, but you are in glory; until this present hour, we hunger and thirst” (1 Cor. 4:10-11), and in addition, he adds: “We have become like the scum of the world,” he says, “we have become the rubbish of everyone until now” (1 Cor. 4:13). You see how he was above worldly glory, following the commandments of the Savior. Also, showing courage in persecution, he said: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or oppression, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Rom.8:35). He also writes to others that “it is not lazy for me to say the same things, but for you it is firm” (Phil. 3:1). But also to the Galatians: “My little children, whom I will bear again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). You hear how lazily he repeats the same word, how quickly it was not accepted the first time and at the beginning, and again, he speaks beautifully, giving birth to some until the image of Christ shines in them. But, of course, the Word is the creator of this, transforming the listeners through faith to the love of God and into the image of Christ. John 15:21. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me 988 Those who decide to dishonor the holy Apostles will have no other excuse than His name, for it will be blamed on the worshipers of God and will serve as a cause of enmity towards them on the part of those who do not know Him. And since it is obvious to everyone that no one will endure anything for the sake of God for free, for a glorious crown awaits for this, it encourages again to courage and arouses a courageous mood, with the hope of a reward driving away the severity of expected suffering. Thus, even disasters were presented as profit and the goal of desire - and what was able, perhaps, to frighten someone even with the mere expectation of its occurrence, this frees them from all fear and convinces the disciples to even accept it with joy. Thus, once summoned to the wicked judgment seat of the Jews and subjected to blows on the body for the sake of Christ, they came out “from the presence of the Sanhedrin rejoicing,” according to what is written, “that they were worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of the Lord” (Acts 5:41). He also clearly commands us to suffer for this and not to be distressed at all, even if something very difficult happened for the sake of Christ. “Let none of you suffer,” it is said, “like a murderer or a thief or a villain; But if you are a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God for this name” (1 Peter 4:15-16). Consequently, it is pleasant to suffer for Christ and sweet is danger when the reason for its invasion is love for God. Notice how here again, showing His unity with His Father, he says that the Jews, as having to persecute the preachers of the name of Christ, know neither the Father nor the Son. Undoubtedly, of course, a hater of the Father is one who considers it a proper thing to dishonor the Son, since he obviously sins not against any other nature, but rebels against the very dignity of the Divine by nature. After all, no one will be found insulting the Son if he honors the nature of the Father. Who knows well that there is a Father by action, how can he not know that He has begotten from Himself? Or will not the plant be reproached by the one who blasphemes the fruit generated from it? So, sin against the Son serves as indisputable proof of ignorance of both God and the Father. And since now he did not say: “because they do not know” My Father, but: “He who sent Me,” then, in my opinion, He wants to express this: His goal, as it seems, was that those who subject His followers to persecution would clearly be represented as bringing upon their heads a kind of double iniquity. Almost, he says, they will not find themselves ignorant of the One from whom I exist, and not only will they receive a fair accusation of atheism, but they will finally be convicted of blaming the very Wisdom of God and the Father. After all, if I sent His Own Son to restore the fallen, renew the broken and impart life to those in the world, and they hinder and wickedly oppose those who want to preach the Organizer of all this, then how will they not turn out to be complete ignoramuses and enemies of Himself who sent Me? Through the term “message” it gives us an indication of the whole dispensation with the flesh. But he who does not know the “Sender” at the same time does not know God and dishonors the mystery of the message. John 15:22. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin: now they have no guilt [apology] for their sin 989 The above words should be understood in a double meaning. If anyone thinks that we are talking here about the Hellenes and Jews, then we will say this: if there had not been a Divine and heavenly sermon to all the inhabitants of the earth, that is, the Gospel, showing everyone the path of salvation and clarifying the works of righteousness, then perhaps the most complete ignorance of the will of God would have served as a powerless basis for the apology of those who were not particularly diligent in virtue - in view of this, such could ask for forgiveness from God. But since the word of instruction is given to everyone, then, finally, what excuse can there be or what grounds would anyone use before the Judge if he is accused of shame after knowledge (of good)? If the Lord says this about some Jews, as those who heard, and often, the teaching from Him and, however, did not learn anything from what He commanded to think and do, then understand this: He says, they will not accept your teaching, but they will inflict temptations and persecutions, and they will invent all kinds of obstacles for you, and out of frustration they will be kindled to unjust hatred, being unable to point out any sin, but blaming your love for Me alone. As if defending the cruelty of their madness and washing away the shame of voluptuousness, they will in every possible way expose Moses and his commandments and hypocritically hide behind domestic laws. But if I, having come, had not shown a commandment much better than Moses, if through many words I had not confirmed that the time of types had finally passed and that the images and shadows were enough, it was time for the truth itself to shine - if I had not shown this from the law itself, very clearly saying: “If you believed Moses, you would have believed Me, for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46), if I had not shown My word to be in agreement with the testimonies of the prophets and My coming - already predicted and preached, then they would have solid reasons for their madness against Me and you. But since nothing was omitted, but everything necessary that needed to be said was said, then the basis that they come up with to justify such naked sin is in vain. This, I think, the meaning should in the present case correspond to the words of the Savior. But showing (the disciples) that the guilt of those who sin against them is unforgivable, and saying that those who dare to do so will one day be punished, destroys and wisely takes away most of the sorrow, which, naturally, could excessively strengthen them. After all, violence sometimes becomes tolerable for those who are offended, as soon as they think that the perpetrators of violence will certainly receive punishment for their crimes. Knowing this, the Lord of all Himself says: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). But also, blessed Paul himself, when he was struck by one of the bishops, had no other consolation in the bitterness of his suffering, except this. What did he say? “God will beat you, whitewashed wall!” (Acts 23:3). Thus, this, that is, the expectation of punishment for those who habitually cause offense, serves as a cure for human weakness. However, above human cowardice, and, moreover, in an incomparable measure, the Lord, “for when he was scolded, He did not answer with abuse (did not rebuke), while He suffered, He did not threaten,” as is written (1 Pet. 2:23). And when he was strangled, he did not say anything offensive, did not threaten anyone who dared to hit Him, but very meekly and very long-sufferingly said: “If I said something bad, bear witness to the bad thing, but if it’s good that you beat Me?” (John 18:23). Truly therefore is the word of the prophets: “For who in the clouds can be compared with the Lord, or who can be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?” (Ps.89:7). John 15:23. Hate Me and Hate My Father 990 Clearly defines the guilt of godlessness in those who decided to hate Him due to their wicked mood and perverted mind. And this is true. After all, those who dishonor the Son or who recognize it as their duty to hate Him will not, of course, be free from sinning against the Father. Just as those who do not value the sun’s rays as useless and useless for anything, the accusation of worthlessness and condemnation for this extend to the sun itself, from which they emanate, and as soon as someone takes it into his head to blaspheme the smell of any flowers, then he will, of course, apply this censure to the one (flower) from which it comes; in the same way, I think, it should be in relation to both the Only Begotten and the One who gave birth to Him. It is in no way possible for those who condemn the creation of something to praise that from which it is. That is why Christ said to the Jews: “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit” (Matthew 7:18). And when he commanded to make a careful and precise distinction regarding this (Matthew 12:33): “Or judge the tree to be rotten (worthless), and its fruit rotten (worthless).” After all, what clearly turns out to be true in relation to one of them, I believe, common sense must necessarily force to extend to both. Given the same nature, how can they not have in common both that which turns out to be a disadvantage, and, on the other hand, that which clearly serves to their advantage? And whatever someone does with what (comes from) any source, he will, of course, do the same with the source itself. That is why Christ says that “he who hates Me also hates My Father.” He beneficially transfers onto the face of the Father everything that may be directed by some against Himself. Indeed, through these words, no less (other words) will certify us that He is not another in comparison with Him (the Father), in the sense of the sameness conceivable in everything. But at the same time he frightens the listeners, showing that it is also dangerous to have the sin of hatred towards Him, and asserts that the one who decides not to worship Him will be easily caught and defenseless, as if rebelling against the very face of the Father, for He, as one who is offended, will undoubtedly be indignant along with His Son. That by this He instilled courage in the saints, and precisely in relation to faith, is this not completely clear? But at the same time, I think Christ did something else that was necessary and wise. And I will also say about this. Out of incomparable insanity and excessive madness, some thought that by sinning against the Son and opposing the words of the Savior, they were pleasing God, the giver of the law, and, by always trying to give precedence to the Mosaic commandments, they would turn out to be some kind of genuine guardians of the love of God. It was necessary, therefore, to show the vanity of their pride and teach the universe that those who oppose the laws of the Savior rebel against the entire Divine Nature, which is insulted in the Son through disobedience and such long-lasting and causeless unbelief, which, according to His statement, is committed not only especially in relation to His own person, but also to those who preach the doctrine for Him and for His sake. Thus, the one who decides to oppose the holy apostles themselves turns out to be an atheist and an insulter of all ineffable and inexpressible Nature, for they preach not themselves, but God and the Lord of all, that is, Christ. John 15:24. Even though I had not done works in them that no one else had done, they had no sin: now you have seen and hated both Me and My Father 991 And in these words, Christ no less clearly indicated that the Jews had no reason left not to be punished and not to fall into terrible disasters. He appears to have left nothing that could benefit them, after a lengthy reasoning was offered to them, through which it was very easy to come to salvation, and miracles were shown that none of the inhabitants of the world had ever seen. In fact, which of the saints equaled the Savior in miracles? But since the Jews turned out to be so far from reverence for Him that, due to their wicked mood, they even preferred to hate Him, shouldn’t a heavy burden of accusations fall on them? Of course, it was much better and more useful for them that they neither heard His wise words nor perceived with sight such ineffable miracles. In this case, perhaps they would have come up with this, not devoid of meaning, reason for self-indulgence: we neither heard anything necessary nor saw anything leading to faith. But since they learned (everything necessary) not from one of the holy prophets, but from Christ Himself who came from heaven and was sent to us, and were also spectators of amazing miracles - after all, Christ opened the eyes of the blind, although no one else was ever able to do anything like that - then what will be able to free the Jews from madness? Or what reason will remove punishment from them? After all, having heard and seen, “they hated both the Son and the Father.” Hated how? Such that they did not honor the word from the Father through the Son, but also, for the works of the Divine Nature, without showing the reverence due to them, they will turn out to be obvious impious to all the Divine Nature, the performer of them. After all, the Father Himself was present with the miracle-working Son, without any doubt, not as another through someone else, performing deeds worthy of reverence, but as existing in the Son because of the identity of nature and the indifference of essence. Thus, the pitiful Jews turn out to be ungrateful and guilty of the greatest ingratitude in that they did not attach any importance to the incomparable teaching of the Savior, and in addition, through the Son and in the Son they did not honor the nature of the Father, although it turned out to be a performer of miracles for them, thanks to which even the most stubborn and rude man could naturally acquire and finally demonstrate the ability to think what is proper and through what it was necessary to honor God. John 15:25. But let the word that is written in their law be fulfilled, because they hated Me [Ps.68:5] 992 It clearly shows that this was not unknown to the law that foretold everything. However, the law predicted this, we believe, not so that the hatred of the Jews would unrighteously flare up against the Son and Father, but since it was expected to be on their part, it proclaimed the Divine and Sacred Law in advance, showing that the Spirit knows the whole future. Thus, in the book of Psalms it is written on behalf of Christ, accusing the madness of the Jews and saying that “they hated Me with wrongful hatred” (Ps. 24:19). In fact, were not those who should have been so far from hatred irritated (against Christ) with wrongful hatred that, on the contrary, if we fairly judge the nature of what was in relation to them (on the part of Christ), they should have wanted to follow Him with all zeal and love. Indeed, let any defender of Jewish unbelief tell us what cause of enmity could anyone have? What did Christ do that is worthy of hatred or enmity? Is it that He took us away from death and corruption? What did he free from the cruelty of the devil, and destroy the dominion of sin, and raise slaves to sonship with God? What kindness and mercy showed those killed by sins to be righteous? What did he make us partners with the Holy Spirit and the Divine Nature, gave us the very dwelling of the holy Angels and made heaven accessible to people? And is it really fair to be hated by the One who became the giver and preparer of such blessings to us, and not, on the contrary, to be blessed with incessant praises and receive constant thanks for this from us? But nothing, I believe, will incline a cruel Jew to the desire to think what he should think. After all, he “hated for nothing” the One Who, on the contrary, should have been loved with all his soul and crowned with the honors of good obedience. However, here too the Lord showed Himself not to be ignorant of the evil of the Jews, but to have predicted and foreseen that it would happen, and, however, to have shown meekness and patience. After all, even in such their lawless disposition, He offered them a word calling for salvation, strengthening with miracles their confession of faith in Him, if anyone turned out to be kind and grateful. This also gives the disciples useful teaching so that they patiently offer saving teaching even to those who try to offend them and in this very way appear to be following the virtue that shone in Himself and was the first to shine. After all, if there is anything good, then it is in the first Christ, and (already) everything good comes to us from Him. John 15:26–27. When the Paraclete [Comforter] comes, which I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you testify that from the beginning you have been with Me 993 Having said that He and the Father are hated by the foolish Jews, and, moreover, freely and without any reason, he beneficially brings in the Spirit, at the same time presenting in his reasoning the completion of the Holy Trinity and Him (the Holy Spirit), also showing him to be dishonored (together with the Father and the Son), so that the spectators of miracles, who raged so strongly against the Son, would be exposed as offenders of such a supernatural omnipotence of the Supreme Essence, not only by the fact that they believed it was necessary not to accept Christ, although He performed amazing miracles to certify them, but also by what they had already done, they dishonored Him so much that it’s scary to even think about it. Here, for you, foolish Jew, so anyone can say, Christ was the creator of miracles that exceed the glory of Moses and the splendor of every saint, for the words of the Lord: “If I had not done works among them that no one else had done” (John 15:24) give us such an idea. However, you crown the servant and performer of much lesser works, I mean Moses, with such brilliant honors, and you are not ashamed to so unreasonably reject the incomparably superior Performer of much higher works, although He brings the once announced end of Moses' revelations and finally concludes the shadow in the truth. So, our Lord Jesus Christ considered it necessary, together with Himself and the Father, to make mention of the Spirit. At the same time, He also proves the truth of what He said before, that is, that if anyone decides to hate the Son, then he, without a doubt, will hate the Father, from whom He was born. Why and how, look again. Right now, calling “Paraclyte the Spirit of Truth,” that is, Himself, he says that He “comes from the Father.” This is because He is both the Son's own Spirit, naturally existing in Him and proceeding through Him, and also the (Spirit of) the Father 994. And to whom the Spirit is common, the properties of the essence are not, of course, shared. Let some of those who are accustomed to wickedness with their ignorant reasoning not lead us to what is not proper to think, namely, that the Son, fulfilling a certain office, communicates to the creature the Spirit, which is from the Father. After all, some foolish people were not afraid to express this. On the contrary, one should believe that since He is His own, as, without a doubt, God and the Father, He sends Him to His holy disciples for sanctification. If they want to think and say something sharp, presenting the Son again and here as our servant and performer, then shouldn’t they say: “foolish and blind” (Matthew 23:17), you do not realize where you are going again, and rebel against the glory of the Only Begotten, composing pitiful reasonings due to your inherent ignorance? After all, if the Son gives the Spirit from the Father, wholly considered as a kind of servant, then is it not necessary to admit that He (the Spirit) is completely alien to His essence, and perhaps higher and much better than Him, if this is so, as you assert in your ignorance? In fact, if the Son, in your opinion, does not come 995 from the Father, that is, from His essence, then shouldn’t the Spirit be presented as higher than the Son? But in this case, what shall we say when we hear the words of the Son about Him, that “He will glorify Me, because He will receive of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14)? To what has been said, as if by necessity, one more thing should already be added. If you consider the Son to perform a ministerial activity in communicating to us something alien, that is, from God and the Father, Holy by the nature of the Spirit, then the Son is not holy by nature, but by communion, like us, for according to the ignorance of the wicked it is affirmed that He is alien to the essence of the Father, from which comes the Spirit, given through Him. In this case, we must admit that if the Spirit is not the Son’s own Spirit, but He Himself has acquired holiness, like the creation, then He may someday fall away from this inherent holiness. After all, what is purchased as an application does not allow for the possibility to be absent? But who would not run away from such dogmas? I think this kind of speech is more correct. So, truth and dogmas of truth are dear to us. And we will not follow those (false teachers), but, following in the footsteps of the faith of the holy fathers, we affirm that the Son’s own is the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, and does not come from outside or is acquired in Him, as in those who receive holiness, whose being is from non-existence, but consubstantial with Him, as, without a doubt, the Father. Thus, the meaning of church dogmas should not lead us to polytheistic fables, but the Holy Trinity is concentrated into one representation of the Divine. At the same time, therefore, showing the unity of essence, I mean My own, and God and the Father, and calling the Paraclete the Spirit of Truth and saying that He comes from the Father, thereby clearly and indisputably exposes the fighter against Christ as a complete and God-fighter. After all, whoever wanted to rage against the Son in every possible way should rightly be thought of as having sinned against Himself, from Whom He is. So, “when the Paraclete comes,” he says, “the Spirit of Truth,” that is, Mine, “which comes from the Father, He will testify about Me.” How will he testify? It is by performing miracles in us and through us that the righteous and true will be a witness of My Divine power and omnipotence. After all, it is My Spirit that works in you. But both Mine and God and the Father. Therefore, it is necessary to think that at the same time those who performed miracles through the one good Spirit to confirm faith, as if in the person of Christ, in whom, according to Paul, dwelt not any part of the ineffable Godhead, but “all the fullness of the body” (Col. 2:9) are also offended. But with the testimony of the Spirit, he says, you yourself will also bear witness. After all, you have become witnesses and spectators (Luke 1:2) of what has been accomplished among your fellow tribesmen, always being with Me as disciples. :glava16 John 16:1. These are the words to you, so that you will not be tempted 996 Having clearly presented to His disciples the madness of the Jews, the Savior, perhaps, intended to add to the words about this the fact that the unfortunate would reach such stubbornness, so close their ears, come, miserable ones, into such hatred of God and subject the words about the truth to such disdain that even if two witnesses of His glory appeared, even then they would not want to accept it, although the law clearly proclaims that one must believe and, without doubt, accept everything that can be witnessed by the voice of two or three (Deut. 19:15). But it is good that he does not say this now, for he would have instilled a great deal of despondency in them and, having crushed His disciples with despair, would have opened up unhindered access to cowardice in them. After all, it was quite natural for them to reason within themselves in such a way that if the Jewish people would not obey anyone at all and would not even consider the Paraclete Himself as anything, although he amazed with miracles that exceeded the word, nevertheless, however, and after this they would turn out to hate Christ, and with Him the Father, then what need would there be to use vain labor? Why shouldn’t we free ourselves from business, preferring silence towards the disobedient to teaching? Probably knowing, of course, that the students will think this, he skillfully omits what was too painful to present and could contribute to cowardice and laziness in the matter of teaching. But he beneficially turns the power of his word to prepare and courageously strengthen them in advance for what was to happen to them or expected them from those (the Jews). After all, what comes unexpectedly and suddenly can confuse even a very strong soul. And what is expected to appear and come in advance, comes easier and is not as hard to bear as what has already been foreseen and preceded by the hope of undoubtedly impending suffering. I think Christ also wants to point out something like this. If, he says, I have already performed such miracles, and this is with you as witnesses, and the Paraclete will also begin to work miracles for you, and meanwhile the audacity of the Jewish madness will not weaken, on the contrary, they will be in the same mood, and even worse, then, he says, “do not be tempted” when you yourself find yourself in the same state, but always remember My words: “For a disciple is not higher than his teacher, nor a servant higher than his master” ( Matthew 10:24). John 16:2. You will be separated from the hosts. But the hour will come, and everyone who kills you will think of offering service to God 997 He reached the very, so to speak, last degree of horror, to the prediction of mortal danger, not in order to instill powerless fear in his disciples - this was not appropriate for Him who wanted to encourage in every possible way the fearless preaching of the Gospel teaching - but so that, driving away strong fear as already foreseen and therefore becoming easily bearable, they would overcome all evil and would not attach any importance at all, even if and some of the seemingly most unbearable evils happened. For to those who do not fear the greater, what harm could the less do? And those who are capable of overcoming the horrors that reach them to the last limit, what else could they be embarrassed by? So, so that they have a soul ready to willingly endure everything and to such resistance to harm from the Jews, so as not to be afraid even, if necessary, of the impending cruel death, he says that not only the usual will happen and that the treachery or resistance of the Jews will not stop there, just to excommunicate them from the synagogue, but also predicted that their wickedness will reach such cruelty that their extreme inhumanity will no longer be considered the path piety leading them to God. And that among the Jews, those who were embraced by love for Christ were excommunicated from the synagogues and at the very beginning of their work were subjected to such punishment, this will become clear from the words of the Evangelist, that “many, however, even of the rulers believed in Him, but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess, so as not to become excommunicated from the synagogues” (John 12:42); and again: “The scribes and Pharisees have already agreed that if anyone confesses Him that He is the Christ, he should be excommunicated from the synagogue” (John 9:22). But if, he says, these evil intentions of the Jews turn out to be unbearable for some, then you should know from here that the attacks on you will not stop there. But, he says, do not be sad at all if you happen to be subjected to this. The audacity of their wickedness will even reach the point that killing you will be considered as a godly service, which is what happened, as we see, with Saint Stephen, the firstfruits of martyrs, and with the Divine Paul. Having accused Stephen of blasphemy and hiding behind godly jealousy because of this, they inflicted death on him by stoning (Acts 7:59). Also, some of the Jews were so furious with the holy and wise Paul that they “swore not to eat or drink until they killed him” (Acts 23:21). We will find this written in the Acts of the Holy Apostles. Therefore, the prophecy is excellent and very useful, softening in advance the fear of disasters, preparing students for courage, as if already exposed to this. After all, the severity of the misfortune should be somewhat moderated for those who suffer when it is foreseen and makes its attack weaker. John 16:3. And they will do this, because they have not known the Father or Me 998 He showed the Jewish “zeal not according to understanding,” as Paul says (Rom. 10:2), but very misguided and not following the straight path, although he thinks about himself that it is manifested for the sake of God. After all, by defending the commandment of Moses, they thought that they were pleasing God, the giver of the law, and by fighting the commandments of Christ, the unfortunate ones hoped to receive considerable glory. That is why they strongly attacked the preachers of the Gospel teaching, but did not know that they were about to fall into complete madness and that through dishonor in relation to the Son they were sinning against God and the Father Himself, even more - they turned out to be completely ignorant of who the Father is and also who the Son came from Him. And an amazing thing - they hastened to crown the wisest Moses with the highest honors, who was a servant of the law, who through the Angels (cf. Gal.3 and Heb.2:2), and our Lord Jesus Christ, who revealed the ineffable will of the Father, who said clearly: “I do nothing of myself, but the Father who sent me gave me commandment, what I will say and what I will speak” (John 8:28, 12:49), they did not hesitate to invest the most recent dishonor, although God and the Father performed miracles for Him through a sensual voice from heaven testified, clearly exclaimed and said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Thus, there is no doubt that if anyone decides to cruelly attack the preachers of the Divine Word, he will find himself in ignorance of the entire Holy and Consubstantial Trinity. After all, he who, in his own imagination, places the Logos that emerged from Him outside the glory due to Him, does not know the Father either. In fact, shouldn’t it be accepted without any doubt among those who can most intelligently understand the nature of things that, as soon as He is consubstantial with the Father, He will speak, of course, in accordance with the will of the Father, and since he who has Him as a partner in glory will have Him, of course, also offended by everything with which anyone attacks Him (the Son). Thus, in these words, our Lord Jesus Christ defends himself and, as it were, accuses the Jewish insolence, therefore imposing a heavy and destructive sentence on those who dishonor Him with their cruelty towards the holy apostles themselves. After all, the sin should not actually be directed at them, but should be directed at Him Himself who imposes the ministry of the Divine Apostleship, as, without a doubt, Saint Samuel once spoke about the sons of Israel, “that they did not humiliate you, but they humiliated Me” (1 Sam. 8:7). So, it turns out to be a very dangerous thing not to want to give the saints the honor due to them, for the sin against them must also extend to the One who sent them. John 16:4. But these words are spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, remember them, as Az Reh to you 999 It was not for the sake of anything else, he claims, that He spoke to them about this, but so that they would know that, for His sake, having undergone the temptations of sin, they would certainly receive glory for it. After all, he says, I did not prophesy in order to weaken the strength of your soul and cause premature fear in you from meeting someone who is waiting for you. On the contrary, I let you know this in advance so that you would benefit from it in two ways. Firstly, remembering what I predicted, you will be amazed at My foreknowledge, and the very time of the onset of trials will serve you to satisfy and strengthen your faith, for who knows the future, how can he not be God by nature? And besides, another thing, namely: someone who is prepared and knows in advance what is going to happen to him will be subject to a weaker fear, will easily overcome everything that seems terrible, and will acquire a firm mind in the trials themselves, for suffering that happens unexpectedly, contrary to expectation, I think, strikes much more powerfully. So the Psalmist says: “I was prepared and was not dismayed” (Ps. 119:60). So, he commands the disciples to remember that He usefully and necessarily predicted the future for them, for it was undoubtedly that, believing and therefore that He is the True God - after all, the True God tends to know everything - they will easily believe in what will deliver them from disasters. John 16:4–6. From the beginning these were not Reh for you 1000, as if they were with you. Now I go to Him who sent Me, and no one asks me from you: where are you going? 1001 But because these words are spoken to you, fill your heart with sorrow 1002 Christ also took care of other useful and very necessary things in advance. After all, it was undoubtedly that, having been called by Him at first to discipleship, always being and living with Him, having witnessed many miracles and having experienced His incomparable power and omnipotence, they assumed that they would defeat every temptation and overcome all disasters in general. Was it proper for those who had received favor from one who could perform such miracles to doubt and be cowardly? But since Christ foretold that, contrary to expectations, they would be exposed to dangers, so that they would not be too embarrassed by this, reflecting and saying this: have we been deceived in our original hope and mistaken in our goal, considering ourselves called to all good things, and in the end falling into such unexpected disasters, the Lord considers it necessary to explain the reason why He did not predict this at the beginning, and says: “I did not tell you this at first, because I was with you.” . When He was still with them, He could easily save them, deliver them from every temptation, and in all cases give them the proper teachings and corrections. When he departs to the Father, He beneficially and at the appropriate time reveals to them the inevitable onset of what will await them. After all, if we ourselves are concerned about not making mistakes about the appropriate time (for something), then shouldn’t this be all the more befitting of God? Thus, the time of silence was at the beginning, when the need to give them instruction (about the future) had not yet arisen. But when he went to the Father, the time came to speak. So, did the Savior move away from the disciples, returning to the Father, and was with them by the action and power and grace of the Spirit? How or in what way? After all, he does not deceive when he says: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). However, as far as the matter (moving away from the disciples to heaven to the Father) concerns the flesh and presence with the body, this is beyond any doubt. But the Savior knew that human nature would require the ascension of His own flesh into heaven, and, like God, He also did not know that the hearts of the disciples were filled with bitter sadness, for they were greatly saddened by the departure of Christ, while they wanted to remain with Him always. But, as having already decided to do this, they did not ask why exactly and for what reason He should leave or what prompted and forced Him to go to heaven. Thus, He knows that out of love for Him they endure even this and that they untimely remained silent, which did not allow them to know the reason for His departure, although knowledge of this was very useful to them. John 16:7. But I tell you the truth: if you have no food, I will go: if I do not go, the Paraclete will not come to you 1003 Strong sadness, he says, consumes you and heavy grief confuses you, for you, reasoning quite rightly, assume that My removal will not be without disasters for you. You will certainly fall into those temptations that I have already predicted, and you will be subjected to the cruel wickedness of the persecutors. Therefore, thinking that one should always prefer what is useful to what is pleasant, I will tell you “the truth: it is good for you that I should go away.” But although we must (unquestioningly) recognize (true) all the thoughts of the (infinitely) superior Savior Christ, yet these words, I think, can greatly confuse some of the simpletons. After all, one can think and reason within oneself that if it was better for Christ to leave, then, therefore, His presence was not completely devoid of any harm. And if there was benefit to us in His ascension or return (to the Father), then shouldn’t the opposite consequences (for us) have appeared from His non-removal from us? Such bewilderment may confuse some simpletons. But guided by Divine admonition to an accurate understanding of these words, I believe that one should not be at all tempted; on the contrary, one should examine the proper meaning of the saying. First of all, I believe, one must have in mind and clearly know that, according to what is written, “there is a time for every thing” (Eccl. 3:1, 11), and everything is good in its time. Therefore, at one time, the presence of the Lord with the flesh in this world was useful. Likewise, again at the appropriate time and corresponding to the (God) given purpose of each object, He returns beneficially to the Father. And His presence with the disciples for the sake of His departure, which later became necessary, should not be accused of being not very useful; just as the benefit of His departure should not be blamed for anything for the sake of the benefit of His presence. After all, both were done beneficially at the right time. But in order to briefly reveal the meaning of this subject and present it more clearly for the brothers, we will try to say, repeating the previous reasoning, in a few words about the reason for the incarnation of the Only Begotten and, in addition, about the benefits of His departure. So, in order to free those condemned by that primordial curse (Gal. 3:13) from corruption and death, He became man, as if sending Himself down into our nature, being Life by nature, for in this way the power of death was defeated and the power of corruption that had come into us was destroyed. And since the Divine nature is completely free from the attraction to sin, He carried us through His flesh. After all, we are all in Him, since He appeared as a man to put to death “our members that are on the earth” (Col. 3:5), that is, the passions of the flesh, and to abolish the law of sin, which has acquired tyranny in our members (Rom. 7:23), and, moreover, again, to sanctify our nature and be a model for us and a teacher of the path to godliness, as well as pure knowledge of the knowable truth and right life. This is all Christ arranged when he became a man. So, it was necessary to raise human nature to the edge of all good and not only free it from sin and death, but also raise it to the very heavens and show man as a cohabitant and accomplice of the choir of Angels. And by His Resurrection He gave us new power both to avoid corruption and to open for us the entrance to heaven and to stand before the eyes of the Father for those who, due to the crime in Adam, were removed from His presence. So the divine Paul, understanding this, said: “Christ entered not into holy things made with hands, nor into the image of the truth, but into heaven itself—now to appear to the face of God for us” (Heb. 9:24). Do you hear that, always being before the gaze and in the nature of His Parent, due to the identity of the essence, now He appears not for His own sake, but for us. On this matter, what I have already said, I will say again. He places us in the sight of the Father, being the firstfruits of mankind when He went to heaven. Just as, being Life by nature, He, it is said, died and rose again for our sake, so, always seeing His Father and mutually visible by His Father, now, it is said, He appeared, that is, when He became a man, not for His own sake, but for us, as a man - and, therefore, as if leaving (or ceasing) the dispensation of us (on earth with the flesh) was our ascension into heaven itself, as in the firstfruits and the first Christ. After all, he ascended as a forerunner and into them (the heavens) for us (Heb. 6:20), as the divine Paul himself says somewhere. And just as a man, He can also be thought of as the bishop of our souls and the paraclete (intercessor) and propitiation (sacrifice) for our souls. And as God and Lord by nature He sits together with His Parent, but also on ourselves, nevertheless, glory also passes from this. That is why Paul says about the Father that “he raised us up and made us sit in the heavenly (regions) in Christ (Eph. 2:6). Thus, with the end of earthly work, it was fitting to fulfill the rest, that is, the ascension to the Father. Therefore he says: “It is good for you that I should go away, for if I do not go away, the Paraclete (Comforter, Intercessor) will not come to you.” Let us add something else to these considerations, useful and true. Now everything that should be done on earth has finally been arranged, as we have just stated. But we had to be fellows and partakers (2 Pet. 1:4) of the Divine nature of the Logos, or, leaving our (earthly) life, be transformed into another and move on to the renewal of a life pleasing to God. But it was possible to achieve this only through communication and the communion of the Holy Spirit. And now the appropriate and appropriate time for the sending of the Holy Spirit and His descent to us, obviously, came at last in good time after the departure from here of our Savior Christ. After all, when He was still in the flesh and was with those who believed in Him, He was, I think, the giver of great good. But since time and need called Him to return to the Father who is in heaven, was it not right for Him to abide with those who honor Him through the Spirit and to dwell in our hearts through faith, so that, having Him within us, we would boldly exclaim: “Abba the Father” (Gal. 4:6) and move unhindered to all virtue, and in addition, would still prove powerful and invincible against the evil deeds of the devil and rebellions from people, as possessing an all-powerful Spirit. And that the Spirit transfers those in whom He will be and dwell into some other state and transforms them into renewal of life, isn’t it easy for everyone to prove this from both the Old and the New Scripture? Thus, the Divine Samuel, when speaking to Saul, said: “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will be turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6). And Blessed Paul: “But we all, beholding with open face the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord by the Spirit; But the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18, 17). You see that the Spirit transforms, as it were, into another image those in whom He finds himself indwelling. It is he who easily transfers from the desire to think about what is on earth to directing one’s gaze to only what is in heaven - and from powerless timidity to the most daring mood. And that we will find the disciples in exactly this state and not only strengthened by the Spirit, so as not to fear the attack of persecutors, but also completely devoted to the love of Christ, this cannot be subject to any doubt. So, the word of the Savior is true, saying: it is profitable for you to go into heaven for Me, for that was the time of the descent of the Spirit. John 16:8–11. And he came to expose the world about sin and about truth and about judgment 1004. About sin, for I am going to the Father, and you will not yet see Me 1005. About judgment, as the prince of this world is condemned 1006 1007 Having shown that His departure to the Father is the time necessary for the descent and sending of the Spirit, and through this having sufficiently moderated the grief that oppressed the holy disciples, it also usefully shows what the Paraclete will accomplish: “Having come,” he says, “he will expose the world about sin and about righteousness and about judgment.” He also precisely indicated what the reproof would consist of regarding each of the named objects. However, since for some it seems to be very difficult to comprehend the meaning of this saying, I believe it is necessary to interpret in more detail and express the meaning of these words more clearly. So, in the first place he puts the reproof “about sin”. How will he “convict the world”? When He is in those who love Christ, as worthy and have already believed, then He will judge the world, that is, those who have not accepted the teaching and do not yet believe and are obsessed with worldly passions, as guilty of their own sins and must die due to their sins. After all, God will by no means be partial and will not (allow) to give the Spirit to some on earth without a good reason, and not to others, but in some worthy ones He will infuse the Paraclete, who with sincere faith honor Him as the True God and confess Him as the Creator of all and Lord. Thus, what the Savior Himself previously said to the Jews: “If you do not believe that I am you, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24), this Paraclete “having come” will show it to be true in practice. He will also “reprove” the “world,” he says, “about righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see Me no more.” It will be fair to help those who believed in Christ after His ascension into heaven, as justly justified, for they accepted Him as the True God, Whom they do not see at all, but believe that He sits with His Father. Indeed, everyone can very easily find out that Christ called the believers blessed by remembering what Thomas said and did. Still doubting that the Son came to life, he says: “Unless I put my hand into His side and see the marks of the nails, I will not believe” (John 20:25). When he believed, and Christ allowed him to do what he wanted, what words did he hear? “Because you saw (see) Me, you believed (believe); Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). So, those who believed without vision are justly justified, but the world is far from receiving the same thing (justification), not allowing the truth from faith and voluntarily revolving in its evil. However, it is necessary to know that the two denunciations we have just named through the Paraclete will not be against the Jews alone, but also against every stubborn person who does not believe. After all, the word “world”, although it also means one who constantly revolves in sensual passions and does not move away from the devil’s abomination, but also means those who are scattered and living throughout the world. Consequently, this double reproof is general and applies to everyone. After all, Christ calls to Himself not only Judea, as was the case in the beginning (during the earthly life of the Lord), and not only the seed of Israel, but the entire fallen race of Adam. Grace does not extend to one part, but the benefit of faith has come to the whole universe. The third conviction through the Paraclete will be, as the Savior says, the most just condemnation of “the ruler of this world.” In what sense and how, I will explain. After all, He will also testify to the glory of Christ and, showing Him as the true Lord of all, will “convict the world” as having gone astray and having abandoned the true God by nature, and as worshiping and serving one who is not God by nature, that is, Satan. In fact, the trial carried out on him, I believe, is sufficient to prove that this is really the case, for he would not have been condemned and would not have lost his power, would not have been punished for fighting against God, bound in hell with the bonds of darkness, if he had been God by nature and had invincible strength and glory. Now we see his power to save his honor being so insufficient that it even falls under the feet of the spirit-bearers or the faithful who confess Christ as God. They trample him when he both tempts and attacks. And if indeed everyone sees that the crowd of unclean demons is frightened and driven away by their prayer and the action and power of the Holy Spirit, then will there not be every reason to say that Satan is condemned? He is condemned by the fact that he can no longer rule over those sealed by the Holy Spirit into righteousness and holiness through faith in Christ. Otherwise, how, tell me, would we trample all his power, according to what is said in the psalms to every person who lives “in the help of the Most High... you will tread on the asp and the basilisk and trample on the lion and the dragon” (Ps. 90: 1, 13)? When, therefore, the Heavenly Paraclete will be in the holy souls and will appear to them justly sent for their unshakable faith, then He will show the world to those who have become guilty of their own sins and deprived of the highest grace, since they turn away from the Redeemer. He will also “accuse” him for the fact that he unjustly accuses those who have already believed of sin. After all, they were rightly justified because, although they did not see Christ go to God and work miracles, they nevertheless honored Him with faith. I think Paul had something similar in mind when he said: “Who will come to accuse God’s chosen ones? God is the one who justifies, who is the one who accuses?” (Rom.8:33–34). All iniquity has shut its mouth, according to the voice of the Psalmist (Ps. 106:42), being unable to accuse those chosen through faith and those clothed with the glory of justification by faith. “The world will be exposed” as being in error and placing its hopes in one who is so condemned that he has fallen from all his original glory, has been subjected to due contempt and is considered nothing by those who worship God. God (the Lord) called him “the ruler” of “this age,” not because he is such in reality, and not because he has the dignity of his essence, I mean the power to rule, but because he acquires this glory for himself by deception and violence, and because he rules and rules over those who continue to err, because of the most vicious inclination inherent in them, by which they, having given their minds to error, fall into the inevitable network of captivity, although it is within their power to escape it, having been brought to the knowledge of the True God through faith in Christ. Thus, the name of the ruler is false with Satan, as not inherent in him naturally, but preserved by the abomination of those who are mistaken. John 16:12–13. The imam still says a lot to you, but you cannot wear it now 1008. When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; It is not enough to say to have from Himself, but if anyone hears, say to have, and the one who comes will tell you 1009 Seeing the disciples already dejected with sadness and frightened from acquaintance with what awaited them in the future - for, he says, sadness filled their hearts (John 16:6), - He thought that he should not burden them with the addition of others (messages about future temptations), but, as it were, buried in opportune silence that which, apparently, could have amazed them a lot, and preserved the knowledge they lacked for revelation through Spirit and for light-guiding, which had to be in due time. Perhaps, having noticed them also incapable of perceiving the sacrament, since they had not yet been enlightened by the Spirit and had not yet become partakers of the Divine Nature, “for the Holy Spirit was not yet,” according to the holy Evangelist, “because Christ was not yet glorified” (John 7:39), he says this, without a doubt, wanting to point out that He could still reveal very deep and surpassing the human mind mysteries, but refuses now, and very fair, seeing them still very unprepared for this. But when, he says, My Spirit makes you from one to another and transforms your mind so that you will already desire and be able to despise the legal images and choose the beauty of serving in the Spirit and prefer the truth to shadows, then, he says, you will be able to quite easily understand what relates to Me, for among you there will already be a teaching that is easily acceptable and widely revealed. This, one might think, is what the Lord considered it necessary to say to His disciples. In this case, it will be similar and coincide in thought with what was just said, which He also said, as if in the form of examples: “No one, having torn a patch (patch) from a new garment, puts it on an old one” (Luke 5:36), and also “they do not put new wine into old wineskins” (Matt. 9:17), otherwise “the skins will burst and the wine will spill out, but the wine The new things must be put into new wineskins” (Luke 5:37). After all, those who have not yet been transformed through the Spirit to a renewal of life and together with knowledge are not yet able to access the new teaching of the Gospel preaching and, no matter how, the mysteries about the Holy Trinity are not acceptable. Therefore, the explanation of even deeper mysteries is beneficially preserved for the future spiritual renewal through the Spirit, which does not allow the mind of believers in Christ to continue to be attached to the old letter of the law, but, on the contrary, forces it to be transformed to a new direction of thought and imparts such speculations through which the beauty of truth can be contemplated. And that before the Resurrection of our Savior Christ from the dead and before the communication of the Holy Spirit, the disciples lived, perhaps, more like Jews and adhered to a subordinate way of life, although the sacrament of Christ is much higher, everyone can see this very easily. Thus, blessed Peter, although he was the leader among the holy disciples, when the Savior once explained His suffering on the cross and beneficially announced that he had to undergo the daring furies of the Jews, he began to object and said: “Be merciful to yourself, Lord! Let this not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22). And this despite the fact that the holy prophets clearly and loudly proclaimed that they would not only suffer, but also what and how much they would suffer. In addition, the following must be kept in mind. As it is written and as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, one day Peter was hungry and wanted to eat. Then, seeing a tablecloth descending from heaven by its four ends, in which all sorts of animals were visible - earthly, watery and airy, and hearing a voice coming from heaven: “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” - He objected with these words: “No, Lord, because I have never eaten anything bad or unclean.” And for this he was rightly rebuked, hearing again: “What God has cleansed, do not defile” (Acts 10:10–15). It was also necessary, of course, to remember that our Savior often said to the Jews: “What does not enter into the mouth defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11). Look how necessary it was for him to have light through the Spirit. You see how necessary it was for him to be transformed into another state, better and wiser than that which was characteristic of the Jews. And so, when, having been enriched by the highest and heavenly grace, they changed, according to what is written (Is. 40:31), in strength and in knowledge they became better than before, then we heard them saying with boldness: “But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). The mind of the Savior means nothing more than the Holy Spirit coming upon them, revealing in a manner appropriate for them everything that was to be known and known. “When He comes,” that is, the Paraclete, “the Spirit of Truth, will guide you into the whole truth.” Look how precise the speech is! What caution in words! Having predicted that the Paraclete would come to them, he called Him the “Spirit of Truth,” that is, His own, for He is the Truth. Indeed, so that the disciples can see what promises to give them not the influx of an alien and foreign force, but Himself (only) in a different way, He calls the Paraclete the Spirit of Truth, that is, (the Spirit of) Himself, for the Holy Spirit is not thought of as alien to the essence of the Only Begotten, but comes naturally from it 1010 and, as for the identity of nature, there is nothing else that is comparable to Him, although it is thought of as having a personal existence 1011. So, the expression “Spirit of Truth” should lead us to a full knowledge of the truth. Just as he who knows exactly the Truth, which He is the Spirit, will not partially reveal it to those who honor Him, but will completely communicate the secret about it. After all, even if we now know in part, as Paul says (1 Cor. 13:9), it is as if in (some) little knowledge He made the beauty of the truth shine to us, whole and undamaged. Therefore, just as no one knows what is in a person, according to what is written, except the spirit of man who is in him, in the same way, in my opinion, or rather according to the word of Paul, no one knows “what is in God except the Spirit of God who is in Him” (1 Cor. 2:11). “When he comes,” it is said, “he will not say anything from himself,” instead: he will make you understand and will reveal the secret of the Truth. And He will not say anything at all that contradicts Me, and He will not preach alien teachings to you, for He will not introduce any of His laws. And since He is the Spirit and, as it were, My mind, then He will speak what is in Me. And the Savior says this not so that we consider the Holy Spirit to be ministerial, according to the ignorance of some, but, on the contrary, out of a desire to assure the disciples that, being nothing other than Him in terms of consubstantiality, His Spirit, of course, “will speak” and act and will in this way. That is precisely why he added that “he will also tell you what is to come,” as if to say: this will be a sign to you that undoubtedly from My essence there is a Spirit and, as it were, My mind, exactly what He says in the same way as I, for I predicted, although you could not know everything. After all, He would not have predicted the future in the same way as I, if He had not existed in Me, and had not happened through Me, and had not been the same essence with Me 1012. I am ancient. vm. heat their . Ancient t Al. That . Ancient and heat My Father, but Al. from My Father - for sure. Vm. him now. in others and . All added. Himself, but in Greek. No. Greek D ἐστί vm. γέγονεν. Al. lithargy - reveal to yourself. G Mar. N sya show up. Arr. and before that SGMO Al. acc. one Greek, but AZ Mir. no cheat acc. other Greek and Al. to the whole world OZAM Peace. Without everything Sav. GN Al. World. but not before suit . and sya when you appear. Ass.: verb to him Jesus. OMZASG Mst. ideve - create, Nick. idea - create Pandas. Arch. Legal Good Type. Sim. Const. Su. Amph. Al.: come. But Reim.: come - let's create. In Greek new driver In language the dual number is not used. Omission. rekh, read in glory. and many Greeks. That is, a person or a horse cannot be a person or a horse to a greater or lesser extent, but in general, just a person or a horse. Έν ἰδίᾳ τινὶ ὑποστάσει – the term “hypostasis” is used in the meaning of “essence”. Al. before even being and Reim. before tender . The others are all: before it won’t even happen, Kut. not to be . World. Z A G S N approx.: as Az Rekh agrees with you. D and some. [Zlat. and some lat.: ὅτι ἔχω εἰμὶ]. But O Mar. R Yu Mst. Good Type. Sim. Carp. Const. [at Amph.] Al. no cheat acc. author. Greek Believe O Vengeance. Al. vm. others: you have faith. Greek author. without τούτου, but others and glory: this world. St. Al. exactly compliant Greek: worldly prince – ὁ τοῦ ϰοσμου ἀϱχῶν. Already O G Mst. Al. vm. south others and only late. and printed to whom - a departure from antiquity for the worse. Reim. I will say accordingly. future Greek exactly Ass. to you . Gal. Al will come. nothing vm. nothing else. One Evang. XV century [at Amph.] king vm. prince All glory. commandment according to one Greek vm. Cyrus. and other Greek: he gave me a commandment. Arr. all before the world Z G A World. RN, no cheating. all O S Mar. Al. Vm. Al means. vest and sitse vm. taco Gal. wrong: but you mean without the world. (? αὐτοῦ) πληϱώσω βούλησιν. Al. stand up. Ancient stand up. Legal Mst. Good Type. Al.: true grapes are better. In some Greek approx.: you are the branches. So St. Cyril in his interpretation of the verse, especially at the very end [Pusey pag. 547]; and also in the middle 540. But maybe St. Cyril does not cite the 1st verse, but gives an interpretation in view of the 5th verse. At least in the Syriac fragments of the interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews by St. the father quotes the verse without this addition [Pusey, III. 439], as in Sir. Peshito, but Jerusalem. edit. Erizzo in two places [pag. 97 and 343] without an increase, but in one [pag. 241] with the addition after My Father the worker is the words: and you are branches. From this we can conclude that St. Kirill read the addition: “you are the branches,” as in some. Legal vine Mst. Good rod Legal Mst. get cut. Nick. make fun of . Legal Mst. get off . Nick. fuck off. Al. the one that does not bear fruit - it will take up - and the one that bears fruit - and multiply, late. and Ostrozh. and now: the most numerous, ancient. boliy, - ancient: creative. To the point. at Kir. ϰαϱποφοϱοῦν as D. Klim. no. lat. instead of τὸ ϰαϱπὸν φέϱον author. That's all Al., but for the sake of words. Mirosl. shit. Code. D op. 3–4 tbsp. Greek μειν... other μεν... to ϰαϑώς nek. approx. γὰϱ. – οὐδέ ὑμεῖς author. and others ϰαὶ ὑμεῖς Al. you will remain in others will be . A World. like bo O Z Mst. G Yu Type. Good Nick. Yako Bo Mar. Const. Al. late as if without bo Sav. as well as . Al. bring Ass. Z Mar. GN create O Sav. Mst. World. create. Al. will not remain, other will be. Ass. G Mst. in one place World. N on the vine Yu. Mst. in other m. Good. Type. Const. Al. in grapes. Al. taco below you Zogr. neither you nor you etc. tacos and you. Al. exactly: unless you abide in Me, others: unless you abide in Me, Sav. you won't. In Greek no. approx. γάϱ, read. οὕτος and omission. οὐδέν. In glory vm. vine Jur. Good Type. Const. and Al.: grapes. About Ass. Sav. World. Nick. and you, but Mar. Z Const. Al. no cheat acc. Greek birth of Sav. Ass. About the joy of ZMar. horn G. birth Al., but Jur. Good Type. loziye, loziye Const. lozier Al. Kut. abide, Mst. Carp. like others who will remain, like Al will remain. St. will bring good fruit O Ass. World. Gal. with create . Nick. and will create the World. create Sav. create. Const. and late he will create. World. Zogr. can't . Ass. create, Al. nothing other nothing . Greek μείνῃ Cyrus. and μένη, – αὐτὰ Kir., and others αὐτὸ. Slav. Ass. will dry up, etc. will dry up. Al. if not anyone - literally O Al. like Sav. and like As. Z Mar. World. GN like Sav. World. Carp. Nick. op. and before the world dries up. and take Ass. Al. I am other yu. Al. and will burn out. Sav. Legal and will burn, in Zogr. omitted, others: Yur burns out. Good contain the World. Carp. Al. sweep in . others: enclose . Sav. If he abide... my verb will abide. Drevneslav. him as well as Ass. and to him, but Jur. and Mst. in one place: it’s still as late as it is. and now. Better Al. and Kut. even more. World. you have a vm. in you. St. Cyrus read: μείνητε – μείνῃ – ϑέλητε – αἰτήσεσϑε in the text and αἰτήσετε in the interpretation. The words: “as if ... to this” are quoted by Nikita and one catena on Ps. 119:7. Note Puzey. According to me, Assem. mi, in Greek μοι, but all others are famous. mine, code. D μοῦ. Without further ado about this O As. Mar. World. Const. and later, but others about this. In Greek no. Ass. become famous, Al. - Nick. - this is all, but others are past. became famous. acc. Greek vm. do other things but Sav. and Gal. create. Al. you will remain - more precisely, vm. etc.: you will. Cyrus. in the text μένετε, in plain English. μενεῖτε, other Greek. diff. τηϱήσητε and – ετε, – ϰἀγω and Cyrus. and ἐγώ, – ἐντολάς τοῦ πατϱός μοῦ and τοῦ n. μοῦ τάς ε. Like az without and Mar. Zogr. Ac. Spicy Al. But Sav. Gal. Nick. and Az Mar. Ass. I'll get lost vm. observoh. Sav. op. also... in My love cf. Greek Syn. Sav. commandment Al. in his love Sav. Ass. Spicy Gal. World. Mst. Nick. Mar's love in him. Zogr. love good Type. to him in love Pandas. in his love [Amph.] Peace. You will keep my commandments and I will continue to love you. Ἐνώπια, but glory. "rights" Siya Const. Al. and late vm. se Mar. Zogr. Gal. and si Ostr. Ac. World. Nick. At St. Cyrus. in the text and interpretation of μείνῃ, like Al. will remain, vm. η others and Kir. in interpretation twice and glory. all others: will be . Slav. approx. same acc. some Greek But Al. Const. and late no acc. author. Greek Si. Oh As. Mar. World. Gal. Mst. Al. Se Zogr. Nick. Sl. cheat τις – who agrees. one Greek, and other Greek. no cheat no one is Ace. Mar. Zogr. O G N. not to them. no one is from the World. Op. not Al. Const. other late Al. commandments vm. love. Greek ποιῆτε and Cyrus. and glory create, but others ποιήσητε Pandas. and Al. create . Const. and late Elika resp. Greek ὅσα, others eliko, Greek. ο and α. Ass. and Sav. commandments vm. I command so on. acc. Greek Gal. already ancient. no longer. Al. you are no longer... acc. other Greek Only late. XV et seq. centuries as now: I tell you to no one - much worse than the ancients. You, except Gal. Zogr. Nick. to you . Al. zane vm. Friend. like, but Gal. slave bo. Ass. and Al. Mr. Vm. others: Lord [Al. his lord]. Nick. create, others: creates resp. Greek Al. Nickname: from the father, others: from the father. Spicy Al. rekokh, others: rekh. Καὶ ἔϑηϰα ὑμὰς nek. op. and glory Good at Amph. Cyrus. τέϑειϰα. – ἵνα ὑμεῖς – glory. Cyrus. in interpretation and author. Greek, but no. op. ὑμεῖς op. and Kir. in the text. Ost. and you are like no. Greek Alexander. and some samples πολύν at ϰαϱπόν. Cyrus. μένη [Tishend. erroneously μείνῃ, as some. and Slavs. apparently - will remain - bring .] Cyrus. in the text αἰτήσετε as one, but in the interpretation as others αἰτῆτε and slav. in appearance ask . Legal Good Const. and late [Amph.] his own, Al. as much as possible, others: his same number. Ass. Legal Nick. Al. from the father, others from the father, in Greek. no excuse. Al. I will give, reading δω, as large. and better and taking for the first person, but Cyrus. syn. and glory δώσει or δοη others - will give. Mst. the oldness in you is a mistake. Sav. will be given. Greek ταῦτα Al. and late and tep.: this, Sav. here, Nick. sy, others: si - O As. Mar. Zogr. World. Gal. Met. Gal. Nick. approx. all before the world. Ass. and also the whole world. In Zogr. no you acc. to another Greek Thurs. Al. first. World. to hate. Sav. will hate. Ass. Gal. Nick. approx. all - all before the world - the world. Legal this-St. and Nick. once [chosen you from this world]. Oh As. Mar. Gal. Mst. Nickname: my own, Sav. [own] Zogr. Legal Dor. Type. Al. own, World. Carp. and one from the 15th century. at Amph.: theirs. Carp n [but] like , Panda. and like Amph. In Greek D and some. op. ὅτι δε, Sin. Copt. Sire. ier o ϰόσμος μίσει ὑμάς. Prison Kut. late and heat remember, but everything is ancient: remember. Al. My word according to late oz. Greek In Greek various τὸν λόγον ον, ου, – τούς λόγους, slav. and Kir. follow the first. Gal. and Al. Mr. Sav. Ass. Nick. Me vm. me. A: rekokh. Mar. Ass. Carp. I will comply with observosha Nek. Greek op. πάντα. In Zogr. World. Al. Const. late and heat create vm. they will create others - Greek. ποιήσουσι and some. ποιήσωσι. All glory. according to you Greek ὑμῖν, but Cyrus. and other Greek εἰς ὑμάς. V O Sav. Al. late not bykh - not Bysha, but other ancient: not beat - not bi. Mar. Ass. Sav. Gal. Mst. approx. and before Al's guilt. I have not [?] told about their sin. Kyiv. and heat on the field: apology. Al. precisely and literally: those who like me hate me. Sav. approx. then hate. Cyrus. here and to John 15:26–27 μηδεῖς ἄλλος vm. οὐδεῖς - everything. Ancient Some were created by no one else, others approx. do not before create. Sav. Mar. World. and now: no one else corresponds. Greek and Mene acc. author. Greek Oh Mar. Z Nick. Al., but Sav. World. Const. late and heat omission and how little Vm. bykh - Bysha O Sav. G Al. beat and beat Peace. Nick. and bow Z and Mar. In Ass. the entire verse is omitted. Zogr. affairs vm. affairs . Al. will be fulfilled, everything else: will come true. Slav. written After them in law is Cyrus. acc. one, but glory. before this acc. to others. Like a descent. Nick. Vm. Me World. Mene. Cheat. tune Const. Al. late and heat vm. ancient: spyti Sav. Mar. Zogr. Ass. World. Nick. [experience] and madness Ostrom. Gal. Mst. In Greek vm. πέμψω and απ’ some. πέμπω and ἐξ approx. μοῦ after πατϱός and omission. δε. Oh Sav. Mar. Zogr. World. Gal. Reim. Nick. Al. Const. Cheat. Paraclete, but Mst. Legal Type. and late 15th–17th centuries and Kyiv. and heat Comforter. Reim. to you O G Mst. true Mar. World. Al. true Zogr. true, Reim. True Nick. true Sav. devout Karp are devout Kyiv of truth. Al. he is all the same, World. and t. Reim. ta . Slav. testifies, but in Greek. bud. μαϱτυϱήσει. Sav. tell - tell vm. witnesses Al. from the beginning, etc. from time immemorial. Reim. from the beginning and witnessing, the future will come. acc. Greek, but you will testify, although in Greek. present Ὥσπεϱ γάϱ ἐστιν ἴδιον Πνεῦμα τοῦ ϒἱοῦ φυσιϰῶς ἐν αὐτῷ τε ὑπὰϱχον ϰαὶ δἰ αὐτοῦ πϱοϊὸν, οὕτω ϰαὶ τοῦ Πατϱός. Ἐϰ τοῦ Πατϱὸς ἐϰποϱείεται. Siya Al. se Sav. Reim. si - others. In Greek Wat. op. the second ὑμᾶς, and in Al. τῷ ϰυϱίῳ vm. ϑεῷ. In ancient Slav. In Assem. and Sav. no, you are deprived of the hosts - a variant that has not yet been found anywhere either in the West or in the Eastern texts. Ancient come, but Al. is coming. Ancient and Al. Godina Al. imagine, ancient I think, Kyiv. and heat imagine . Zogr. World. Al. Bogovi, others: God. Ancient si and se Al. this. Legal in one M. Karp. Const. Al. and late and heat no cheat Afterwards they will do to you like some Greek people. and Kir. But according to Friend. Greek cheat OSAG Mst. Mar. World. Z. Reim. will create OSA Mar. GR., create Z Mst. World. Al., in Greek. ποιήσουσιν, no. – σωσιν. Father nor Mene acc. Greek OSG Mst. Mar. World. R, but A neither Father nor Mene Al. nor Mene Const. below Mene [exactly]. Karp and Ev. 15th century at Amph. My father is like one Greek. at Tishend's. P 2. In Sir. syn. the entire verse is omitted. In Greek no. op. ἀλλά, other ταῦτα this Al., other si and se. In Greek no. op. ὑμῖν. Also some cheat. ὥϱα without αὐτῶν, other approx. and Reim. remember OAU Carp. other plural late remember TK Mst. commemorate Mar. remember Sav. World. Al. change R. Second αὐτῶν Cyrus. and more cheat and glory si or se, but Al. them, and Reim. op. as no. Greek Kyiv. and heat If you remember, it’s not exactly. Greek more author. μνημονεύετε, no. late μνημονεύτε, very nelen. – σητε. Ostrom. rekokh. So some, some others. ὑμῖν is placed after ἐξαϱχῆς, but more. author. before ἐξ ἀϱχῆς and some. omission glory OZ Mar. Gal. Mst. Al. these same to you from the beginning [Al. from the beginning] not rekh [Oh rekokh]. Ac. these same az did not Rech you from the very beginning Sav. they didn’t fix them. Al. zane vm. like . Sav. and no one is asking you, Al. and not a single one of you will ask Me, other ancient times. does not ask Me or Me. Al. [Type. Finished. at Amph.?] where vm. camo Al. Siya vm. ancient si and se. Oh, fill Sav with sorrow. Mar. scrub and use ZAG Mst. World. scrub and perform Al. be filled with sorrow. A Z Mar. World. G Mst. your heart OS your heart Al. your heart. All acc. Greek various Wed. also Cyrus. to John 16:12–13. To John 13Cyr. cheat ἐγὼ before ἀπέλϑω and μὴ ἀπέλϑω. Wed. to 17:18–19 beginning. 20:22–23 and Pusey 3, 578, where οὐϰ ἐλεύσεται vm. οὐ – μὴ ἀπέλϑη other places. OAZA I tell you. Sav. G Mst. Mar. World. I tell you. Slav. ancient I'm going - I'm not going Al. I'm not going Zogr. kinder vm. une friend. Al. crawls to you - for sure. Better: useful to you. OSAZG Mar. World. Al. Paraclete Mst. Legal Type. and late Comforter. The end of verse 7 in St. Cyrus. omitted here, but by 17:18–19 and 20read. ὅταν δε ἀπέλϑω and εαν... vm. ποϱευϑῶ, obviously under the influence of previous ἀπέλϑω. It is remarkable that these words are not read in Sav. Zogr. and World., obviously under the influence of the text of interpretative works. Vm. πιστεύσουσι no. οὐϰ ἐπίστευσαν. Slav. don’t believe – no. Greek var. Dr. Thurs. approx. μοῦ My cheat. Legal in one m. Type. Good Const. Al. late Not read: OSAG Mst. Z Mar. World. vm. I'm coming. Al. and you will not see you yet. and whoever you don’t see. Ancient and tep.: condemned quickly. Type. Condemn Al. condemn, Greek ϰέϰϱιται - convicted. World . Sav. and late AZ of the whole world, and about Mar. World. Mst. Al. peace. ‛ϒμῖν ἔχω λέγειν, and to 17:18–19 Pusey 2, 718, but Greek. or ἔχω υ. λ. or ε. λ. υ. slav.: Imam says to you Sav. and Type. to you. Good op. to you . Ancient a lot, Kut. and heat many letters. resp. Greek Legal pick up Good in one m. Type. Al. bear . Wed. Cyrus. to John 17:18–19 Pusey 2, 718. εἰς τ. αλ. πάσαν, – other Thu. ἐν τη α. π. Cyrus. ὅσα αν, others without αν. Cyrus ἀϰούση as one, others ἀϰούει tr. – συ About the true Sav. and instruct. Ass. Al. for the whole - exactly vm. all sorts of other ancient ancient history. very much. But Al. spruce for sure. Ancient not about myself bo Ass. oops bo. Al. for sure: he doesn’t talk about himself. Ancient about myself vm. heat Push . Ass. great hedgehog also Ass. Gal. Al. hears VM. will hear Dr. Legal. Mst. Good Type. coming VM coming . Al. litharge – the second. Sav. op. and the one to come will announce. Πϱόεισι φυσιϰῶς ἐξ αὐτῆς. Ἐν ἐμοί τε ὑπάϱχον ϰὰι δἰ ἐμοῦ πϱοϊὸν, ϰὰι τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας ὑπάϱχον ἐμοί. You might be interested in: